It's been a whole week since we returned from the Worldview Weekend in Cincinnati, and I've had interruptions and distractions galore, but--as promised--I'm going to try to get a few notes down about the Worldview Weekend, sponsored by Baptist Bible Hour. It really was a very helpful time with other believers.
One side note: The folks at Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church, where the event was held, were so gracious and warn that it added quite a bit to our experience. Special kudos go to Sister Chau Huffman, who I was told was responsible for a lot of the food (she baked 10 cakes the week before!) and some of the ambience. Snacks were timely and wise (fruit, juices, coffee, and cookies were some of the offerings); the meals were delicious and beautifully (and thoughtfully) presented, and the sisters at the church were intent on serving in a gracious way. Their smiling faces added to the ambience!
Jeff Baldwin, Research Director for Worldview Academy and Creative Editor for the book Understanding the Times (by David A. Noebel), was the invited speaker. Jeff lives in Colorado with his wife Linda and their three children, but he had traveled to Cincinnati directly from a Worldview Academy Camp in Pennsylvania. He has been a busy man this summer, leading several of these camps in different parts of the country, and we were blessed to have him with us.
I'm not clear if Jeff gave these next two quotes, or if I heard it elsewhere during the weekend, but I liked them and wrote them down in my notes: " . . . viewing the world through the Bible, instead of viewing the Bible through the world." As someone wrote to me last week, we need to "recognize the value of such a study to any of us who daily confront a culture increasingly based on some other world view than the one on which our nation was built. I too am thankful for the leadership of Elder Bradley and Elder Huffman as they follow the leadership of the Spirit in trying to meet the needs of the flock over which the Lord has made them overseers."
The other quote that I especially liked was that we need to have and to be able to articulate " . . . a purposeful worldview shaped by the Bible...". And that's what the weekend was offered to help us to do.
Jeff Baldwin spoke of (and some of the following may also have come from his website):
Two distinctions and two dichotomies should be considered. In the Christian worldview, the two distinctions are:
1. Creator / Creature
2. In the world / not "of the world"
Those seem to be somewhat self-explanatory to me, and since I'm a little short on time at the moment, I won't addresss them here further at this time. Please e-mail me if you want me to address these further.
The two dichotomies which seemed to have come about in recent years are:
1. Faith / Reason
2. Sacred / Secular
I don't have a lot of notes on these, because I had been already studying worldviews for several years. But they are false dichotomies -- there is no dichotomy between faith and reason, and there's no division between sacred and secular. "All knowledge is God's knowledge".
On Jeff's website, there is a listing of Christian views of God, man, Scripture, and knowledge. Under the "knowledge" heading is the last quote in the last paragraph. Under the Christian view of God, we believe the following distinctive things about God: 1.Trinity 2.Incarnation 3.God's Holiness and grace and 4. God as Creator.
Under the Christian view of man, we believe: 1.Man is created in God's image; 2.Original Sin; Under the Christian view of Scripture, we believe: 1.Trustworthy revelation 2.People of the Book 3.Needs good, careful readers.
Our "presuppositions" are assumptions that determine how we view the world. And "only Scripture allows humans to know anything for certain". So many statements from science are theories and presuppositions.
A Chrisian Worldview -- Understanding the key distinctions of our faith.
One of the most interesting times during the lecture was when Jeff addressed the question, "What is the nature of man?". He pointed out that the Christian worldview says that man is inherently sinful. And pointed out that this doctrinal truth provides a "framework for understanding reality". He compared other beliefs (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslim. and others, and showed what they believed about the nature of man, and how we could answer their challenges with light instead of heat.
Jeff reminded us that we are called to love God with our hearts, souls, strength, and minds, and are to "take every thought captive", and we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds". We are to be aware, with our minds and hearts, of four things about our individual worldviews: Heritage, Identity, Purpose, and Destiny. He pointed out that everyone has a worldview (which includes presuppositions about the world), and everyone has faith. Another statement he said that "rang true" was that a false worldview is "not a lack of intellect, but because of blindness". You probably are all aware of the Scriptures that support this, so--because of lack of time--I won't add them here.
One portion of Saturday's presentation was telling of several instances where one man influenced culture's beliefs about issues. These were mostly good examples (Wm. Wilburforce's being responsible for getting slaves freed in England, David Brainerd and his work with American Indians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer in World War II (which cost him his life) standing against Nazism and its evil results, and others. He also mentioned Adolf Hitler in Germany, and Margaret Sanger (who was the founder of Planned Parenthood) as negative influences on society. Thankfully, he didn't spend much time on these, just enough to show how one person can make a difference.
Jeff Baldwin reminded us that "God still works in history" and that "Grace breaks through", and that "Ideas have consequences". "Only Christianity fits reality" said Jeff.
I will leave you here, because of time and space, but feel free to e-mail me, or comment below.
One side note: The folks at Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church, where the event was held, were so gracious and warn that it added quite a bit to our experience. Special kudos go to Sister Chau Huffman, who I was told was responsible for a lot of the food (she baked 10 cakes the week before!) and some of the ambience. Snacks were timely and wise (fruit, juices, coffee, and cookies were some of the offerings); the meals were delicious and beautifully (and thoughtfully) presented, and the sisters at the church were intent on serving in a gracious way. Their smiling faces added to the ambience!
Jeff Baldwin, Research Director for Worldview Academy and Creative Editor for the book Understanding the Times (by David A. Noebel), was the invited speaker. Jeff lives in Colorado with his wife Linda and their three children, but he had traveled to Cincinnati directly from a Worldview Academy Camp in Pennsylvania. He has been a busy man this summer, leading several of these camps in different parts of the country, and we were blessed to have him with us.
I'm not clear if Jeff gave these next two quotes, or if I heard it elsewhere during the weekend, but I liked them and wrote them down in my notes: " . . . viewing the world through the Bible, instead of viewing the Bible through the world." As someone wrote to me last week, we need to "recognize the value of such a study to any of us who daily confront a culture increasingly based on some other world view than the one on which our nation was built. I too am thankful for the leadership of Elder Bradley and Elder Huffman as they follow the leadership of the Spirit in trying to meet the needs of the flock over which the Lord has made them overseers."
The other quote that I especially liked was that we need to have and to be able to articulate " . . . a purposeful worldview shaped by the Bible...". And that's what the weekend was offered to help us to do.
Jeff Baldwin spoke of (and some of the following may also have come from his website):
Two distinctions and two dichotomies should be considered. In the Christian worldview, the two distinctions are:
1. Creator / Creature
2. In the world / not "of the world"
Those seem to be somewhat self-explanatory to me, and since I'm a little short on time at the moment, I won't addresss them here further at this time. Please e-mail me if you want me to address these further.
The two dichotomies which seemed to have come about in recent years are:
1. Faith / Reason
2. Sacred / Secular
I don't have a lot of notes on these, because I had been already studying worldviews for several years. But they are false dichotomies -- there is no dichotomy between faith and reason, and there's no division between sacred and secular. "All knowledge is God's knowledge".
On Jeff's website, there is a listing of Christian views of God, man, Scripture, and knowledge. Under the "knowledge" heading is the last quote in the last paragraph. Under the Christian view of God, we believe the following distinctive things about God: 1.Trinity 2.Incarnation 3.God's Holiness and grace and 4. God as Creator.
Under the Christian view of man, we believe: 1.Man is created in God's image; 2.Original Sin; Under the Christian view of Scripture, we believe: 1.Trustworthy revelation 2.People of the Book 3.Needs good, careful readers.
Our "presuppositions" are assumptions that determine how we view the world. And "only Scripture allows humans to know anything for certain". So many statements from science are theories and presuppositions.
A Chrisian Worldview -- Understanding the key distinctions of our faith.
One of the most interesting times during the lecture was when Jeff addressed the question, "What is the nature of man?". He pointed out that the Christian worldview says that man is inherently sinful. And pointed out that this doctrinal truth provides a "framework for understanding reality". He compared other beliefs (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslim. and others, and showed what they believed about the nature of man, and how we could answer their challenges with light instead of heat.
Jeff reminded us that we are called to love God with our hearts, souls, strength, and minds, and are to "take every thought captive", and we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds". We are to be aware, with our minds and hearts, of four things about our individual worldviews: Heritage, Identity, Purpose, and Destiny. He pointed out that everyone has a worldview (which includes presuppositions about the world), and everyone has faith. Another statement he said that "rang true" was that a false worldview is "not a lack of intellect, but because of blindness". You probably are all aware of the Scriptures that support this, so--because of lack of time--I won't add them here.
One portion of Saturday's presentation was telling of several instances where one man influenced culture's beliefs about issues. These were mostly good examples (Wm. Wilburforce's being responsible for getting slaves freed in England, David Brainerd and his work with American Indians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer in World War II (which cost him his life) standing against Nazism and its evil results, and others. He also mentioned Adolf Hitler in Germany, and Margaret Sanger (who was the founder of Planned Parenthood) as negative influences on society. Thankfully, he didn't spend much time on these, just enough to show how one person can make a difference.
Jeff Baldwin reminded us that "God still works in history" and that "Grace breaks through", and that "Ideas have consequences". "Only Christianity fits reality" said Jeff.
I will leave you here, because of time and space, but feel free to e-mail me, or comment below.
1 Comments:
Elaine, I would be interested in some more detail about the comparisons of "other beliefs (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslim. and others, and showed what they believed about the nature of man, and how we could answer their challenges with light instead of heat."
I ask because I have a very good friend who is Mormon, though she has been Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist in the past. She is easily misled and deceived and I have been for years trying to understand how to enlighten her without driving her away. Any help or resources you might suggest would be greatly appreciated.
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