1) A worldview is a fundamental orientation or story that provides a foundation for how we understand reality, humanity, knowledge, morality, and our most basic problems. 2) Engaging with other worldviews involves identifying their key components, evaluating their coherence and correspondence with reality, and finding both points of contact and tension with the Christian worldview. 3) The goal of Christian apologetics and spirituality is to lead people into a relationship with Christ that transforms their entire worldview and life, not just their intellectual beliefs.

1. Worldviews &
Cultural
Apologetics
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your mind and
with all your strength. . . .
Love your neighbour as
yourself.
Mark 12:30–31, NIV
Works of art ‘are not
simply the oozings of
subconscious
impulses; they are
the result of beliefs
and goals on the part
of the artist.’
Nicholas Wolterstorff
All stories teach, whether
the story-teller intends
them to or not. They teach
the world we create. They
teach the morality we live
by. They teach it much
more effectively than
moral precepts and
instructions.
Philip Pullman
Surface see it as entertainment
Middle realise that there is a
message
Deep realise traces of
worldviews
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Traditionally, most philosophical
investigation took place in the
universities, and most spiritual
reflection took place in the
churches. However, in recent years
that seems to have changed. Now,
arguably, most philosophical
investigation and spiritual reflection
takes place in the cinema.
Nick Pollard
! No single piece of our
mental world is to be
hermetically sealed off
from the rest, and there
is not a square inch in
the whole domain of
our human existence
over which Christ, who
is Sovereign over all,
does not cry:‘Mine!’
Abraham Kuyper
WORLDVIEWS
‘‘
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A worldview is a commitment, a
fundamental orientation of the
heart . . .

2. ‘‘
’’
. . . that can be expressed as a
story or in a set of presuppositions
(assumptions which may be true,
partially true or entirely false) . . .
‘‘
’’
. . . which we hold (consciously or
subconsciously, consistently or
inconsistently) about the basic
constitution of reality . . .
‘‘
’’
. . . and that provides the
foundation on which we live and
move and have our being.
James Sire,
Naming the Elephant, p. 122
To think intelligently
today, means to think
worldviewishly, to
come to terms with
the mosaic of
meaning systems
which make up
modern thinking.
Os Guinness
© Jordan Brock, used under a Creative Commons licence
lenses
My own eyes are not
enough for me, I will
see through those of
others. . . . Reality,
even seen through
the eyes of many, is
not enough. I will see
what others have
invented. Even the
eyes of all humanity
are not enough. . . .
. . . in reading great
literature I become a
thousand men and
yet remain myself.
C.S. Lewis,
‘An Experiment in
Criticism’
‘‘
’’
A worldview is an interpretation of
influences, experiences,
circumstances and insight.
J. Mark Bertrand
Rethinking Worldview

3. REALITY ontology
What is the nature
of reality?
cosmos time
HUMANITY ontology anthropology

4. What is a human being? self community
KNOWLEDGE epistemology
Why is it possible to know
anything at all?
hermeneutics MORALITY ethics

5. How do we know what is
right and wrong?
value community
SOLUTION TO THE MOST
BASIC HUMAN PROBLEM
SALVATION soteriology
What do human beings
need above all else?
FIRST-ORDER ISSUES ontology

6. epistemology hermeneutics
ENGAGING WITH
WORLDVIEWS
‘‘
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How to relate the Christian
worldview to a non-Christian
world has been the dilemma of
Christian spokespersons since the
apostle Paul addressed the Stoic
and Epicurean philosophers in
Athens.
Kenneth D. Boa & Robert M.
Bowman Jr.
Faith Has Its Reasons
‘‘
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Communication is far more
interesting, creative, and spiritual
than most scholars and students
recognize. The study of
communication should take us
beyond the ordinary in life to
ultimate matters of life and death.
Quentin Schultze,
Communicating for Life, p. 14
double listening
These voices will
often contradict one
another, but our
purpose in listening
to them both is to
discover how they
relate to each other.
Double listening is
indispensable to
Christian discipleship
and Christian mission.
John Stott
The Contemporary Christian

7. ‘‘
’’
The Bible wants us to receive
people’s questions, and to ask our
own questions about reality. Not
asking questions means our faith
is weak. It means we don’t trust
God to sustain us in the process of
crisis and confusion. . . .
‘‘
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There is no growth without asking
questions. In verses five and seven
of the fourth chapter of Proverbs,
we are commanded to get
wisdom. This means that we don’t
already have it. One of the ways to
start getting it is by asking
questions.
Ellis Potter
Three Theories of Everything
POSITIVE
DECONSTRUCTION
Identify the worldview
(analyse)
Analyse the worldview
(evaluate)
Coherence –
does it make sense?
correspondence –
does it fit with reality?
pragmatism –
does it work?
Affirm the truth
(celebrate)

8. Discern the error
(challenge)
points of contact points of tension
REALITY
humanity
knowledge
Where do we find wisdom?
morality
salvation

9. ‘‘
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Spirituality concerns how humans
relate to reality – to themselves,
to each other, to the world around
them and (most importantly) to
ultimate reality –via their
worldview beliefs, concomitant
attitudes and subsequent
behaviour.
Peter S. Williams
Practices (orthopraxy – actions)
Attitudes (orthopathy – attitudes)
Worldview (orthodoxy – beliefs)
‘‘
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I am only interested in an
apologetic that leads in two
directions, and the one is to lead
people to Christ, as Saviour, and
the other is that after they are
Christians, for them to realize the
lordship of Christ in the whole of
life . . . if Christianity is truth, it
ought to touch on the whole of
life . . .
‘‘
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Christianity must never be
reduced merely to an intellectual
system . . . After all, if God is there,
it isn’t just an answer to an
intellectual question… we’re called
upon to adore him, to be in
relationship to him, and,
incidentally, to obey him.
Francis Schaeffer
‘‘
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Likewise, apologetics isn’t just
about getting people to change
their minds, but their fundamental
spiritual allegiance; and spirituality
is a matter of worldview beliefs
married to attitudes that sustain
actions.
Peter S. Williams
‘‘
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Our hope is to bring facets of the
richness of the gospel to bear on
the lives, beliefs, values, and
identities of lost human beings.
Gregory E. Ganssle
What does it see as the
point of life?
What do humans need in
order to flourish?
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