Contours of a Bible-Based, Christ-Centered Worldview Analysis

This essay delves into the multifaceted concept of worldviews, focusing on a Bible-based, Christ-centered perspective. It begins by defining worldviews as fundamental belief systems shaping daily life and then explores Christian theism, emphasizing the existence of a personal God, His creation, and the various ways humans perceive Him. The essay contrasts this with Hindu perspectives on theism. It then examines Christian deism, discussing God's transcendence and the universe's clockwork-like nature. Finally, it analyzes Naturalism, which posits matter as the prime reality, and human beings as complex machines. Throughout, the essay provides comparisons with Hindu perspectives on God and reality, highlighting the diverse interpretations of these fundamental concepts.

Running head: CONTOURS OF A BIBLE-BASED, CHRIST-CENTERED WORLDVIEW
Contours of a Bible-based, Christ-centered Worldview
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONTOURS OF A BIBLE-BASED, CHRIST-CENTERED WORLDVIEW
Introduction
The topic of this essay centers on the topic of worldviews. The basic or preliminary
notion about the worldviews is the factor that it is a set of beliefs that are fundamental in the
daily lives. The framework of the worldviews is very much evident according to the notion of the
human minds. The worldviews are very much in relation to the basic beliefs of the human minds
and they are largely unquestioned in most of the times. The concept of lives will have to be
according to the system (Sire 2009). The worldviews are not that much interconnected with the
philosophical thoughts. If the worldviews can be studied properly, the strengths, weaknesses,
positivity and negativity can be brought out with intensive effects. The cultural and historical
development of a society and a nation is very much dependent on it. The worldviews are very
much important for the development of the human beings in common. The concept of the
worldviews lie deep in the minds of the human self and they try to bring out the things within the
hearts of the human beings. These worldviews are the basic foundations on the basis of which
the human beings live (Sire 2009)
Worldview 1
The first question centers on the Christian theism (Moreland, Sweis and Meister 2013). It
is believed that the personal God of the Bible really had an existence in this world. The
worldviews relying on the Christian theism has been well evident in this matter. The Universe
and the world were created by the God Himself. The battles in the ancient and medieval times
were fought on the basis of theism. If the question can be raised on how the human beings know
about God or his existence. The answers can be different. These different answers would include
by reason, revelation, faith, means of contemplation or by having the authority to approach the
God in a direct way (Milne 2012). These various answers were based on the various ways to look

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at the creation of God Himself. The basic things that are addressed in the Christian theism are
based on some of the following issues like the nature of God, nature of humanity and many
more. The first question can be answered in different sections (Wainwright 2013).
God is an infinite being and all the doubts about His existence are beyond any measure.
Nothing or no human being is able to challenge his existence. All the other things except the God
are unnecessary. God is the ultimate being in this world so he decides everything (Wainwright
2013). It can be addressed regarding this aspect that God is the ultimate and prime reality in this
world and His existence cannot be questioned at all. Another thing that can be discussed and
come to a conclusion that God is many more than just being the prime reality. Besides being the
prime reality,
God has the capability to transcend everything. This means the fact that God is beyond
everyone and everything (Kasper 2012). God is always with us and He always takes much care
about His children. God is beyond the ways the human beings can imagine himself to be. God
has the sovereign power to rule this world. He is omnipotent and omnipotent as well. He is the
ultimate sovereign power in this world and he can understand everything that is happening just
because he knows everything in this world (Torrance 2016). No knowledge and intelligence is
beyond his reach but he is beyond the reach of everything else. God is everywhere and he
controls everything in this world. As God has the sovereign power, he is infinite as well. God is
considered to be good as well. God takes care of everything that exists in this world so he is
definitely good. God is holy and he spreads love everywhere. God is so holy that no evil can
surpass his shadow. God gives love to every living being in this nature. He saves every being
from the clutches of evil (Torrance 2016).

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Christian Theism scriptures
1. “God changes His mind” (Exodus 32:14).
2. “God regrets” (Genesis 6:6).
3. “God is surprised” (Isaiah 5:3-7).
4. “God didn’t know what people would do” (Kings 22:20-22).
5. “God shows uncertainty about the future” (Exodus 4:9).
6. “God tests people to learn what they will do” (Genesis 22:12).
Hindu response to this worldview
In the religion aspects of Hinduism, I must say that the question of the theism and
atheism comes up as we are able to objectify the existence of the phenomenon of God. God is
not separate from the human beings. I must say that we live in such a world about which we do
not know that much. We really have very little idea about where God came from. God has been
manifested in many ways but He cannot be manifested in the congregations. I think miracles can
be attributed to the magic of God and this can be a major theme of the Hindu theism. The
believers of Hindu theism suffer from the lack of the ground to establish their beliefs. This is
how theism can be viewed from Hinduism.
Worldview 2
The second worldview that has to be focused in this context is one about the Christian
deism. The rise of deism was like a peacekeeping from a chaotic situation of the philosophical
and the theological discussions. These kinds of chaotic situations had been arisen in the
seventeenth century. Very trivial and mostly unimportant gave rise to this worldview. The
important factor that could be held responsible for the rise of deism could be the fact that there

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was a change in the location of the authority related to the knowledge of the divine. As I am a
Hindu I must say that I believe that God is the ultimate power in this universe and He controls
everything. I also believe that this deism thing is a bit confusing whereas the Christian deism is
very much relevant in the Christian Scriptures. It is the nature of life that has been described in
this context. All the things have come from heaven and that is where all the strength lies in the
cosmos. As per the first question, it can be argued that the God is transcendent. According to the
deism, there is no place for the personality of God in any matter. He can be considered to be a
force or energy that is transcendent. One of the experts has stated that human beings can only
affix one cause to the name of the god and that is the First Cause, the cause of all the things. The
second question discusses about the fact that God created cosmos is determined. This universe
has been created as a uniformity of cause and effect within a closed system. It is believed that the
universe is closed to the reordering of the human beings as because it has been locked up within
a fashion that revolves like a clock. The third question centers on the fact that the human beings
are personal but they are the parts of the clockwork of the universe. The fourth question in this
worldview consists of the doubt that the human beings may or may not have any existence
beyond their earthly existence which is very much physical.
External reality has been viewed in many ways in Hindu religion. I must mention that the
Rishis in the early Vedic literature suggests that the nature of reality can be viewed from two
different angles. One can easily observe the world of diversity in the universe and it transcends
all the earthly bonds. It is also absolute and cosmic in nature. The reality is experienced by some
of the Holy people in Hinduism. These people are called Brahmans. The pure consciousness is
transferred in the minds of the people who want to manifest God. The word Atman depicts the
soul of the human beings that help them to see the God and make connections with them. Subtle

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objects are observed by the human beings when they are in a subconscious mind. I believe
Brahmans are the first principle from which others have arrived.
Hindu response to this worldview
Hindu deism or the pan-deism is considered to be the one of the major worldviews in
terms of Hinduism. Another important theological doctrine that has been mixed within this
theory is the Pantheism. This theological worldview says that God had created this universe and
he had created his own separate identity after creating this universe. The believers of deism in
the Hindu sects believe in the existence of God. However, they do it on the basis of the
rationality. They do not depend on the revealed religion at all. The believers of Hindu deism
believed that God did not open himself to the humanity. This thought has been reverberated in
the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament as well. I have chosen Hinduism because it attracts
me more than the other religions in terms that God has been given a supreme position in this
religion while his worship is not seen to be thing above respecting the humanity.
Worldview 3
The third worldview talks about Naturalism where the very existence of God is not there
anymore. The basic naturalism talks about some of the questions that have been elemental in
many ways. The first question is about the fact that Prime reality in this universe is the matter. It
is all about the Matter and the astonishing truth is that god does not exist at all. In the earlier
worldviews the topic of discussion was about the nature of God in many ways. However, in
Naturalism, the nature of God does not come to question since the matter of God does not exist
in this worldview. Cosmos becomes the prime reality in this case. Scientists had believed in the
eighteenth century that matter has a close relationship with energy. The second question in this

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question rises about the uniformity between the cause and effect within a closed system. In this
part, the underlying fact is that universe does not act like a clock work system. It cannot be
reordered from the outside. The third question that can be focused on is the fact human beings
can be considered as the complex machines. Personality is considered to be the uniformity of the
interrelation between the chemical and physical properties that the human beings are not yet to
understand completely.
Like Christian religion, Hinduism has also created some connections with the God and
His self. The highest and the absolute God in Hinduism is called the Brahman. Brahman is the
human being who transcends all the human bonds. God id the supreme self in this world and
Brahmans are the closest persons who can reach the God. God has to be perceived by inner
senses and he has to be felt. God has created everything in this earth and he has the supreme
power to destroy them as well. All the ritual activities are observed in Hinduism so that God can
be understood and the question of Dharma and cosmic order in this world can be understood.
Unlike the objective quality of the human beings, God possesses the subjective quality.
Brahmans are the microcosmic aspects of the atman or the soul. Atman and Brahman are
probably the same entities.
The believers of Hindu theism have interpreted the existence of God in many ways. They
believe in Gods and Goddesses. The supreme God has been called by several names. These
names are Paramatma, Parameshwar, Parampita, Iswara, Purushottama and many others.
These names of the God have been found in the various Hindu scriptures like the Vedas,
Upanishads and others. The God is supreme and He has an infinite power indeed. There are two
paths to follow the religion and they are Shaivism and Vaishnavism The god is the supreme
power on this earth and God is believed to appear in this earth to save the mankind from the sins.

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He creates everything and He is the source of every power of every power. The God’s creation is
supreme and his Divine Energy has been manifested in various ways. Her has unlimited powers
and he establishes his entire creation by his powers.
Hindu response to World
Spiritual naturalism has been seen as a traditional thing in the Indian Hindu society. This
worldview says the fact that it affects the human spirit or soul contrasting to that of the material
or the physical things. There are many reasons why I hold a Hindu view of the world. It is not
only I am a Hindu, but also the Hindu religion depicts the world in different ways. I am not that
much comfortable like others when I am called to explain the religious views of the world.
Hinduism is not only about celebrating the Diwali or doing the daily rituals of sandhya-vandana.
One important aspect in this is the world tolerance that can be held as a plus point for Hinduism.
The Vedas are believed to be the words of God himself. The various things that can be included
in this view are the facts of total pacifism, tolerance over evil and many other things.
The prophets of the Hindu religion have found the basic aspect of the tolerance of all
religions within Hinduism i.e. called sarva dharma samatva. Many educated Hindus have the
habit of looking himself through the Christian eyes. There have been no prophets who was there
to spread the Hindu religion like Christianity and Islam. The Rigveda is considered to be the first
scripture in the Hinduism. This is eternal and it has always existed in the heart of Hinduism. I
have also come to know about the mathematical proof of the yogic principles in the famous work
by the great Patanjali named Yogasutra. The Vedic civilization and the scriptures from Vedas
and Upanishads have been elemental in finding the truths of the ancient world. The scientific
things have been found in these scriptures as well. Hinduism is not a revealed religion in the

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world. There are no single books or authors to whom this religion can be ascribed. I can say with
authority that the religions like Christianity and Islam have scriptures. The followers of these
religions must follow these scriptures. On the other hand, Hinduism scriptures are the guidebook
for the followers. One can choose a particular path from them.
The followers of Hinduism can follow their own path in believing the God. However,
the revealed religions have to acknowledge the intermediary in his relationship with God. The
people who do not acknowledge this intermediary is called a non-believer. This is why I think
the Hindu view of the world is a perfect one for the believers. The Hindu God is considered to be
the personal God. The ancient Hindu sages have defined the fact of the existence of God that god
is not some creature or a thing that can be counted as the pebbles on roadside. This is why the
monotheism becomes an important aspect. These are the reasons why God can be viewed in
various angles in Hinduism. Therefore, I suppose Hinduism is one scientific and systematic
religion to follow since it is free of prejudices and intermediary existence.
Worldview 4
The fourth worldview in this aspect regards around the topic of Hinduism, Buddhism and
New Age Thinking. This worldview states that Hinduism and Buddhism have some things in
common and this is why they can be put in the same line. The new Age Thinking concerns about
the fact that some of the Eastern world thinking can be adopted into the Western culture.
Reality
This worldview says that everything is concerned about God and His powers in the
world. All the people share the same reality in these religions that can be compared with that of
the Christianity. In Hinduism it is called the ‘Brahma’ and in Buddhism it is called the ‘Nirvana’.

9CONTOURS OF A BIBLE-BASED, CHRIST-CENTERED WORLDVIEW
This worldview question sets forth the question that God is the source of all the power in the
world. The philosophy that says about the unity of all the things is called the Monism. The New
Age Thinking of God depicts that God is an impersonal identity, force or energy.
Matter
This worldview says that this material world in which we live is not real. This can be
compared with a dream or a fantasy. There is no such thing in this material world that can be
valued properly. The perception of salvation comes when the human beings can escape from this
matter. The New Age Thinkers put a little more focus on this world than these other two
religions.
Morality
In this worldview, sin is believed to be ignorance from the reality of the universe. All the
people in this universe can search for enlightenment of mind and heart rather than repenting for
the sins being committed. The believers in Hinduism and Buddhism suffer from the evils of
reality. They have been busy in finding a proper response to this fact. The experts of Hinduism
say that it does not matter about if a person is good and bad. Good and bad are considered to be
as parts of the same coin and they are both relative indeed. New Age Thinkers have put much
emphasis on the fact that if anything feels to be good; it must be done at the first place.
Conclusion
The paper can be concluded by saying that Christian theism is one of the most important
aspects in the world of Christian worldview. All the worldviews are interconnected with each
other and they are centered on one thing i.e. the God himself. Jesus Christ is considered to be the

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God in the form of a human being. All the things like the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus,
the incarnation and other aspects are all part of the history. From the Hindu point of view, it can
be said that God is the supreme power in the universe and he has the ultimate command over
everything in this world. The Scriptures are very useful to describe this situation since it helps to
understand the purposes of teachings of Jesus.

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