My Worldview: Final Bible Blog

As Mr. Hinz said, I’m going to try to be as concise as possible.

What is Prime Reality?

Prime reality comes from God’s creation. God created everything in the beginning, and it was good. Reality is God’s Creation. He created everything. You get where I am going, God created everything, so all reality comes from him.

What is External Reality?

External reality includes heaven and miraculous deeds. I believe that God created miracles to show us his wonderful power, we see him through Jesus’ miracles in the Bible. Heaven is where we go after death, if we have given our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ

What does it mean to be human?

A human is created in God’s image. A human has dominion over the earth (Genesis 1), but was sinful and Jesus saved us from sins by dying on the cross (Matthew 28). Humans are born into sin, but gain life through giving our lives to Christ. Christians are also a light on earth to share God’s good news.

What happens after Death?

After death, if you have given your life to God, you go to heaven. It doesn’t matter how many good deeds you’ve done. All that matters is that you’ve repented your sins to God. If you have not given your life to Christ, you will go to hell, which is controlled by satan.

How do we know right from wrong?

Christians know right from wrong based on what God has told us through Jesus’ life and the Bible. We know that humans are sinful, but by repenting our sins to God, we are eternally forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross.

What is the meaning of human history?

Human history shows us how God works. For example, we get to see not only Jesus’ life, but also how he worked in the disciples. We get to see how the jews were freed from Egyptian slavery. I could go on and on…

What personal, core commitments are consistent with this worldview?

• Your sins are forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross.
• We are lights for God’s word on earth.
• We are told to go and tell all the nations about the good news.
• Heaven is waiting for us after our earthly death and we we will be there for eternity.

Mr. Hinz, I would like to thank you for all the work you have put into this class, but most importantly, all the knowledge you have given us. I know that what I have learned this year is priceless information about my faith and I will take it with me forever. I was really challenged this year and I appreciate that because having gone to this school for so long, a challenge was long over due. Thank you for creating the blogs as an outlet for those of us who don’t always like to speak up in class and can better express our thoughts through words. They have really stretched me. Thanks for playing such a huge part in my faith journey.

Naturalism

Jurassic Park and Pop Culture

Jurassic Park is a movie that almost everybody knows in our culture today. The themes affect how our culture sees things, so much so that the themes have become a cultural “norm.” There is a sense of cohesiveness that is missing from the Naturalist perspective. The inherent gaps in logic that naturalism supports are clearly presented in this nature-focused movie.

One of the most clear gaps is the fact that the basis of their reality, is the driving force behind everything they do, and their lives revolve around nature, yet, they don’t know all of the (scientific) knowledge. This leaves obvious gaps because what they don’t know is what they don’t know, there isn’t an external reality beyond nature. Christianity clearly believes differently, but when addressing this in pop culture, we need to be sensitive. Most people believe what they believe because it is what culture promotes (i.e. Jurassic Park). As Christians, we need to explain that life doesn’t revolve around nature, but instead, around God, an external idea, person, or reality.

Reality for Naturalists is also centered around survival of the fittest and fate. A Christian worldview would appose this. Jurassic Park presents this theme as the characters attempt to escape the wrath of the dinosaurs (nature), but also as the dinosaurs trying to survive in the created world. I think that this is a topic that Christian’s can approach with compassion, by showing them the compassion that God gives us in life. It is way less stressful and more calming to know that we are not trying to survive, but instead, knowing that we are loved and supported. I would defend my Christian worldview against Jurassic Park with a contradiction to the main lesson of nature’s control. Nature does not control my life; my faith in God does. I have confidence in God, not the questionary knowledge that science gives Naturalist. They don’t know everything, but God does.

Independent Discovery

From my research, I have learned that Naturalism is a contemporary idea and is an up and coming theme in pop culture. It is an idea that is captive to earthly ideals, perfect for the first world culture of Hollywood. It claims to be comprehensive, but my question is how can it be completely comprehensive if they don’t believe in anything outside of nature? Their official website says that “nature is enough,” but is it really? Everything from movies to music to art in pop culture contains naturalism, you just have to look for it. For example, I didn’t realize how much art is focused on nature, but if you think about it, it make sense. Art creates naturalistic ideals. It focuses on what is in nature, nothing beyond it. Movies also create themes that culture conforms to. There is a formula in the movie world for it. Naturalism is one of these themes because it can be so easily portrayed for people to depend on nature for everything and anything. Overall, pop culture is heavily affected by naturalism and it’s ideals. Naturalism is an idea that people adapt without comprehensively analyzing it, which is really important to know when talking to people who believe it. Knowing the backstory of a worldview helps us in explaining our own worldview to others.

Naturalism in Conversation :: Jesus and His Life (Deity, Miracles, etc)

A summed up naturalists perspectives on this is that supernatural/external reality doesn’t exist. The following is how I would handle it.

First I would ask how they came to that opinion and present them with evidence from the Bible. Specifically in Matthew 28 when the stone is rolled back from the tomb and Jesus’ body is gone. Here is what I would dictate towards them, as compassionately as I could. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead after saving us from our sins is a huge example of a miracle happening, and how much God loves us. God shows us his loving power through miracles and Jesus’ life. It is truly amazing what God can do. His miracles are an example of how Jesus’ life was so amazing and how He did so much for us. God shows his love through capacities more than the mind can handle, which may make you question it, but he loves you so much and this is how he shows you that.

The Clockwork Universe

As we had a lot of examples of deism given to us in class, I chose three examples that I think are the most prevalent for forming a worldview and were the most effective for me. This is my analysis of how a deistic worldview fits into pop culture/modern culture, and how Christians should respond.

Concepts of Deism portrayed in Hugo (based on book by Brian Selznik)

The plot revolves around a boy who works in a clock. (cough cough clockwork universe cough cough).  The boy meets Papa George and at first they are enemies, and I’m not going to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but I’ll just say that they become friends after meeting many different people inside the train station.

The overall clockwork theme seems to be the obvious hint towards deism, but there are lots of other subtle hints. The first one I would like to point out is the fact that all Hugo knows is what is in the train station, when he ventures out, it’s a big deal. This shows how the deistic worldview exists only in what is known, there isn’t anything outside of it. The kids explore the movie theater and it’s a big deal, and when they discover Milles’ movies, they are pretty much mind blown. This leads into the point of how the world works like a machine. In the train station, everybody has their specific role, and if someone is doing the wrong thing, or walking in the wrong direction, they are out of place. Deism believes that the world is a machine, so therefore Hugo portrays this in small and large ways.

Examples in US Teenagers

The common ideals of US teenagers point to a deistic view, some greater than others. I honestly didn’t really think of this, but I totally see it after reading this article. Since this class is about forming a worldview, I think it is important to analyze what is happening amongst our peers.

Teenagers prioritize the world they know, not anything above them. They know that God exists and people go to heaven, but they prioritize being happy in their life. They don’t involve God in their lives. Teenagers have this ideal and its what they strive for for making them happy. I think that social media has created a lot of these expectations for happiness in life. Teenagers want to feel good about themselves, but are constantly being disappointed because everything seems to be better than what they have in their heads. Hence how this relates and points to deism, they are stuck in an one reality without anything beyond it. God isn’t a major part of life and doesn’t intervene/fit into what creates the ideal happiness.

The Jefferson Bible: Jefferson’s creation of a deistic Bible

Jefferson created his own interpretations of the Bible and put into writing. He didn’t include miracles (external world), so the resurrection has been omitted. He had an extremely deistic worldview and shaped this Bible into being a deistic example. The thing that I think is worth pointing out the most is that miracles are excluded. Because they don’t fit into the machine that is constantly working the same, deists don’t believe them.

The Jefferson Bible ironically promotes morals that aren’t in line with what the Bible says. Yes, Jefferson came from a higher education, but that doesn’t justifying his omitting and rearranging of the Bible. The deistic view wants everything to work perfectly in a machine like a clock, so it makes sense that he re wrote it to make it work with what he believes, but it really doesn’t agree with the Bible, especially with how miracles are handled.

A Christian Perspective of Deism

How to handle a deistic perspective is a hard topic, you want to be compassionate, but it also isn’t okay to omit the facts of the Bible. One of the things I would really like to address and provide a great verse to use in conversation. The deistic view of striving for happiness to get into heaven doesn’t fit into a Christian worldview. The storing up of treasures on earth isn’t going to get you into heaven, it’s your faith in God. Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I love the last verse for this worldview debate. If you put your treasure in happiness, your heart isn’t with God. Another thing that Christians need to address is the view of miracles and an external world. Deists acknowledge that God exists, but not that he is active in daily life. The clockwork universe isn’t the only part of the world.

This examination of Deism has taught me that even though a religion can stem from what you believe, the morals and values can be completely different. I also didn’t realize how prevalent Deism is in modern culture. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about Deism in an environment where I can be prepared for real-world situations.

The Debate on Creation

The cliche, over used verse to describe creation is “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Yes, it is overused, but it should also be the premise and foundation for how we examine creation.

The Bible describes creation as over six days, and despite the fact that this is what is stated in the Bible, it produces many debates. The most famous debate could be between Ken Ham and Bill Nye (young earth and old earth). Ken Ham stands for what the Bible says, but Bill Nye holds an evolutionary perspective. Bill Nye is infamous for his evolutionary scientific views and being “Bill Nye: The Science Guy.” Ken Ham is known for being a creationist, per se, and strongly standing up against “a world hijacked by secularists.” He uses (this link is a good timeline, is a little critical towards Christians, but the overall timeline is helpful) the Bible as a foundation and basis for his debate, while Nye uses evolutionary, scientific jargon.

Creation, as described in the Bible, was over six days, and on the seventh day, God rested.   God had a purposeful creation, not a Big Bang. This is because of his immense love and care for us. He created us in the image of God. As Christians, God’s love for us in undeniable and creation is the best example of this. Without creation, we wouldn’t have life.

My personal belief is that God created in six days. While the length of the days is unknown, this is what God tells us. As I mentioned before, the purpose behind creation is undeniable. The purpose points to God’s incredible design and love. I believe that all earthly creations need a creator and God is the ultimate creator. I always wonder how long the days were, but in the overall scheme of things, this doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that God showed great love for His people by creating us to serve Him.

It is undeniable that creation is created by God. The first verse in the Bible says that he created from nothing. No bang, explosion, or whatever else evolutionists can dream up points to God and His purpose. I think it is also important to talk about the purpose God had behind humans. He created us purposefully in His image. No bang could ever do that. The sheer design we are created with and the idea that we are created in His image points to a young earth view.

The intricacy of God’s design could not have been created by a chemical reaction or big explosion. The beauty of the earth and the insane things that the earth can do because of God points to a creation by God himself. God spoke this marvelous creation in to existence. The sheer magnificence of detail is awe-inspiring. I think that with all of this in mind it is hard to deny a creation by God himself, not an explosion.

Something that I mentioned earlier, but would like to detail more is the fact that God’s love for us is undeniable, and all points to Him. As Christians, we can use this to be lights for him and an example that love can be shown in great depth, but also small details. We also can use this as inspiration to be good stewards of God’s creation and that we can constantly learn about it as well. It wouldn’t be nearly as inspiring if all of this just came from a big boom, with no detail, no design. The feats of design that God has made are points of inspiration for us.

For summary, I would like to go back to the points of Bill Nye and Ken Ham. Yes, I am really biased towards a creation by God perspective. I tried really hard to see these perspectives from a non-biased view. To be honest, it was really hard for me not to lean towards Ken Ham’s perspective. The amount of depth behind God’s creation is incomparable to the random ideas of an evolutionary stance. I hope that as more scientific discoveries are made, more people will see how God’s creation is so amazing. There are a lot of examples in the past that people have used science as support for evolution, but recently these have turned towards toward seeing God’s design. The beauty of the earth points to a creation by God alone.