The Perception Of The World In The Christian Worldview

A worldview, this is easy to say its self-explanatory, but it’s much more than that. A worldview can be defined as, “a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world” (Google Dictionary). Another idea is, how a Christian worldview is defined. A Christian Worldview means that you are only a mere alien to earth, and heaven is your forever spot, and that you should not get caught up in what the world throws at you to distract you. This means that the world is constantly trying to pull you away from Christ and force you to move further from Christ through ungodly ideas. We need a well-defined Christian Worldview. Because the better defined your worldview is, the better arguments you can “defuse.” Also, if you are well prepared, you know how to act around others to bring them to God and to get yourself closer to God.

First, I will explain what values should guide Christian behavior. According to James 2:17, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” This means just saying you are a Christian you will not make it to Heaven. Faith with action is what brings you closer to God. The way we should behave, or act was given to us through Jesus through the Sermon on the Mount and many other accords through the bible. For example, in Matthew 5:13 it says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” This means you should be doing good, showing others what Christians really are, and not paint a fake picture about what they should be. It also means that if you simply say you are a Christian, you have lost the salt and you should be “thrown out” because of the picture you painted. An example of this is, saying you are a Christian, but instead of paying for your groceries you steal them instead. This is against one of the Ten Commandments, do not steal. Another good example is from Got Questions, a Christian website for questions about the Bible and many other things, saying “’ offer your bodies as living sacrifices’ (Romans 12:2). This, ultimately, is the essence of true Christian behavior – surrendering our hearts and yielding our bodies to Christ so He might continue God’s work through us.” The last example I will say is, possibly the most important and has been mentioned throughout the Bible countless times. The last example is, to pray every day. This is a very important value for Christians to follow; because, if they do this their faith grows stronger every day. Another very important value is to read your Bible. The reason reading your bible and praying every day is important is because it will teach you how to act, and when to act like that, all while strengthening your faith. In conclusion, there are many values that you should follow but these are fundamental in your walk with Christ.

Moreover, people are skeptical about how the Bible is reliable, accurate, and the true word of God. For instance, in the bible instead of giving an estimate of how many men fought in a battle, it gave exact numbers. What I mean by this is instead of saying 400 men it instead gives you 439 men. This is important because it shows that the overall accuracy is to an exact point. Another way it is reliable is through archaeology. There was a find in 2002 that has been researched by many scientists theorizing that it was James, Jesus' brother. James was martyred in A.D. 62, according to Premier Christianity. The find dates to A.D. 63. This means it was around the time James was killed. On the top, there is an inscription that states, “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus.” This inscription has been inspected by many archaeologists but two, of a highly renown position, have believed it to be true although some still believe it to be fake. The last example to prove the bible is accurate is through the documents from his time, not from the Bible. There are records of a Jesus roaming the Roman Empire preaching the word of God. An example of these records would be Tacitus’ work in which he corroborated the New Testament very clearly. In his work Annals, he says, “The founder of this name, Christ, had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate” (Biblical Archaeology Society). The way to prove The Bible is reliable is from how it was written. This means that instead of the Bible being made immediately after it was finished, it got confirmed by eyewitnesses that were alive at the time, and many churches. With this evidence, it is clear there was someone by the name Jesus who walked the Earth exactly like the Bible says helping prove the Bible is reliable.

Furthermore, the Bible helps state what is right from wrong. Firstly, I must define the difference between morally wrong and wrong. Morally wrong can be defined through this example: if you commit adultery it is morally wrong, but it is legal in many places. The definition of wrong would be something like murdering someone it is both wrong and morally wrong. Then comes the definition of what is right. Right means “morally good, justified, or acceptable” (Google Definitions). An example of this would be, giving a person their dollar back when they drop it on the ground, and they do not realize they dropped it. Doing what is right is how we differentiate what is morally wrong. With this understanding, you might ask what a Christian’s view is of right or wrong is, this is generally found in the bible. One occurrence of what is right or wrong in the Bible is in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were a basic guideline of what is wrong in a Christian's view in the Old Testament, later revised by Jesus. Some of the Ten Commandments, plus a couple of extra commands, can be summed up in Mark 7:20-23 saying, “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” This is what Christians perceive as wrong because God himself gave these commands to Jesus who then passed it on to us. This was passed down through oral tradition, and eyewitnesses, eventually ending up in the Bible which has become what it is today. All these ideas are what make up what is wrong in a Christian view. Personally, when I feel like I'm about to do something wrong, or already have, I get a feeling in my gut from guilt. Guilt is how I tell if what I did was morally wrong. I also know many other people who get this feeling too, and I know most people experience guilt from something they did wrong in their lives. When Christians make a morally wrong choice, they should repent. This means that they should ask for forgiveness from God. In the end, it comes out to what is morally right and what is morally wrong which is more based on self-judgement. In conclusion, what is right and what is wrong can usually be found in the Bible, and if not, they are usually found through what morals you have, or in my case the burning feeling of guilt.

In addition, we can apply Christian worldviews through Media, Entertainment, and Art. The way we do this is by making sure we do not become corrupted through ungodly ideas. This means that if you are watching a show with good morals and has a little violence it is still fine, but if the show is overly inappropriate or violent and does not have any good morals then it is ungodly. It is also fine to watch a show that is educational about these ideas and other things related to it, but if it praises it, it is morally wrong and should not be watched. Another example would be, watching a television network that is against what God wants. An example of this would be if you watched a network that shows a lot of bad graphics and praises something like Satan. Another way this is applied is if you were to show an R rated movie to a kindergartner; many will say that it is wrong. This is wrong because you are teaching a little child to act as they should not; hence, it is bad because it is against what God wants. Lastly, how do you apply it to art, which can be defined as, a way to express ideas through making a visual representation of those ideas. This worldly activity is how people express feelings or just things they do as a hobby. The way to identify what is bad art versus good art is, through the artist themselves. If the artist is bad, then you shouldn’t support them. For instance, if the artist is obsessed with drugs, violence, and gangs then it is not best to follow them because they paint an ungodly picture in your head slowly corrupting it. When the artist is good, then they don’t paint a false picture of what you should follow; hence, how you find the difference. In conclusion, all these ideas are a way of expression, but if you let it corrupt you, it will change the way you think.

Equally important, is the misconception of Christians and evolution. It is no doubt that humans have evolved over the years, I just don’t agree with the evolutionist’s way of thinking. There are several different ways evolutionists believe on how humans came to be. The first, being the most probable, is microevolution which states, “evolutionary change within a species or small group of organisms, especially over a short period” (Google definitions). As humans we mutate, the longer we live, and the more offspring produced, produces more mutations overtime proving part of the theory of microevolution. “Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence of a cell's genome and are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic chemicals, as well as errors that occur during meiosis or DNA replication' (Wikipedia). Another thing that some evolutionists believe, is that the Universe was created by a small chance through a random explosion, this is called the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory has been called many times by many scientists the foundation of the Earth. This is what Christians don’t believe; they believe that God created the Earth from his own power.

This is called theism or “belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures” (Google Definitions). Since the theory of evolution started being taught in school, Christians have been called wrong for their belief. This has led many to say that Christians are bad scientists. Your belief does not make you a bad scientist, in fact, it could make you even better. This means that anyone has the potential to discover new things. For instance, you can be a Christian biologist and discover a breakthrough in cellular studies or you can be an evolutionist. The only thing that can change is if you apply a religion or theory to it. If I were to say that cells reproduce only if you believe in God, this is linking religion to an idea that causes others to not believe in it. Another idea is, the Bible contradicts science. This means the events in the Bible are too unlikely and goes against everything we have learned about science. It is true that some events in the Bible are out of this world, almost literally, but so are some of the theories of evolution. I’m saying it is just as unlikely that the Earth was created from random chance than for it to be created from some deity. Lastly, what the Bible teaches about Creation. Creation in the Bible can be summed up in Genesis 1:1-2 saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The main thing creation does not tell us is where God came from. To sum it up, science and Christianity have more in common, but they should instead combine the research and not repel each other.

Lastly, Christians and education. Over the years, people have been pushed away from their own religion because of rules such as you cannot have a Bible on your desk in certain public schools. This is certainly unconstitutional many would think; well that is not true. The Constitution’s first amendment clearly says that only the government cannot discriminate or praise against any religion; hence, the school has control over you because it is controlled by the state. This evades a lot of Christian teachers to go and teach at a private school so they can have that freedom the public schools never give. The United States Federal government plays a part in what the schools teach, but not as much as you may think. The amount of money spent on education from the Federal Government is spent almost entirely on special needs programs. For instance, if your child was raised in a low-income household the Federal Government would grant money for education. Because there is a common misconception that the government is the one discriminating against the teachers, this is important. In Tennessee, there was a state law passed that you can only teach Christianity. A teacher in the state decided to test the legality of the law itself, so he went to court. The trial was originally turned to the state’s side and the man got a $100 dollar fine only to get overturned. This trial is known as the Scopes Trial. After this trial, many other states attempted to pass a similar law only to be defeated in court. These ideas leave people that want to be teachers with other jobs because they want academic freedom. Most people would probably tell them to be a pastor or a missionary. I personally want to become an engineer and I feel like God has called me to do so. This means that any Christian does not have to be a pastor or missionary to reach what God is calling many to do. This can be achieved through many ways. To be a Christian does not mean you have to sacrifice every aspect of your life to be a missionary; God has called everyone to do different things to affect the world. For instance, you can be a highly paid software engineer but spend your weekends and breaks at church or helping others and this could be what God is calling you to do. Romans 11:20 states, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” In conclusion, nobody has to be a teacher or pastor to educate others about the Bible and God.

In conclusion, this paper has taught me a lot about what I believe and where I need to improve on my knowledge. Authoring this paper set one goal in mind for me, and that was to expand on these ideas so I will be better fit for an argument later in life. In the future, I hope that I do not become too distant from God and bring others to him with facts and evidence. A goal God has been calling me toward is engineering; I know this because, ever since I was a kid, I always loved to make things and more recently I have been pursuing that passion. This paper made me realize I need to work on my values. The main value I need to work on, that is a huge part of my engineering passion, is to remember that science does not always have to collide with religious people and non-religious people it can be a collaborative environment. In the end, this paper has made it easy to express my view and even expanded it, and I hope that I will learn more even after this.

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