Our major task in life is to discover what is true and to live in step with that truth (Colson/Pearcey).

Introduction

The purpose or aim of this blog is to put forth the idea of a Christian worldview, and what that looks like in people’a day-to-day living as believers in Christ. (I approach my faith from a Reformed perspective, e.g. the Westminster Confession/1698 Baptist Confession of faith.) But exactly what is a worldview? When I speak of a Christian worldview, what do I mean? This blog over the years contains several articles pertaining to worldview [here], [here], [here], [here], [here]. Although I want to avoid unnecessary repetition, I think it is time once again to clarify how a worldview is formed, and specifically what makes up a Christian worldview. I want to build on the blog article I wrote nine years ago in 2016 [Thinking, Reading, and Living “Worldviewishly”]. Building on James Sire’s description of worldview in his work The Universe Next Door, I want to specifically stress the notion of commitment, as well as some of his updated thought in the most recent edition of that work. In addition to Sire, I will draw from Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey’s work, How Now Shall We Live? The very title of that work indicates the influence of Francis Schaeffer, his writings, and his work at L’Abri.

Worldview Explorations

So what is a worldview? To take it at its most simplistic level, a worldview is a way of life. But that description leaves many unanswered questions regarding a practical understanding of what a worldview consists. James Sire, in his work, The Universe Next Door, offers an extended definition of worldview. Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey talk in terms of worldview from the perspective of Francis Schaffer in their thorough work, How Now Shall We Live? While there are many other scholarly writings from a Christian perspective, both of these works provide a good starting point for understanding worldview in general and specifically a Christian worldview.

James Sire’s Catalog of Worldviews

Although I will not repeat Sire’s extended definition verbatim, I will highlight what he proffers as the major components of a worldview. First, Sire, draws on the work of James H. Olthuis who describes a worldview as a framework by which we live built on a set of fundamental beliefs. He calls such a framework a vision of life. Human beings draw on such fundamental beliefs to give direction and meaning to life. Hence a person’s worldview is both interpretive and integrative. Olthuis states becoming aware of one’s worldview is significant step toward self-awareness, self-knowledge, and self-understanding.

Sire, however, expanding on what Olthuis presented, believes that a worldview is more than merely a logical connection of a set of propositions. People may or may not fully and logically understand the implications of their worldview; nonetheless, they move through life according to their worldview, whether or not they can fully delineate it. Sire’s extended description of a worldview contains several components. First, a person’s worldview is a fundamental orientation of the heart. People, regardless of the level of their awareness, hold a set of beliefs about how reality is constituted. One’s worldview provides a foundation on which we live, move, and have our being. (See Acts 17:28).

Second, and most importantly, according to Sire, a worldview is a commitment. One’s worldview is a matter of the soul, a spiritual orientation. Biblically, the heart is the center of who one is and thereby, one lives from the heart. A worldview then is situated in the self. Whether or not people are fully aware of their worldview is superfluous to the reality that they nevertheless live out their worldviews in relation to self, reality, and others. Indeed, in his extended description of worldview, Sire holds that a worldview can be stated in a story or a set of propositions, which may or may not be consistent.

A third component of Sire’s extended description states that a worldview provides a foundation on which one lives. Sire highlights an important aspect of a worldview within this component. The simple fact is that not only may individuals be unaware of their worldview, but also what they state as their worldview may not align with how they live. Such a delineation recognizes the old adage that actions speak louder than words. How one lives belies one’s self-knowledge.

Sire indicates that one’s worldview is grounded in how a person answers eight basic questions: 1) what is prime reality – what is really real? 2) what is the nature of external reality? 3) what is a human being? 4) what happens to a person at death? 5) why is it possible to know anything at all? 6) how do we know what is right from wrong? 7) what is the meaning of human history? and 8) what personal, life-orienting commitments are consistent with one’s worldview? Sire delineated the first seven questions in his earlier editions of The Universe Next Door. I want to focus on the notion of commitment because Sire added this eighth question to the latest edition of his book. This question also gets at something Sire said earlier, and it also aligns with one of the categories I delineated for an understanding of a Christian worldview in particular, that is thought/action. Do people’s actions align with the worldview that they claim to hold? Sire explicated nine worldview: 1) Christian; 2) Deism; 3) Naturalism; 4) Nihilism; 5) Existentialism; 6) Pantheistic monism; 7) New Age Spirituality; 8) Postmodernism; and 9) Islamic Theism. Followers of each of these worldviews will live out question eight differently. Each individual has his or her own take on reality. People evidence their commitment to a worldview by the way they live out their lives in the world. Whether or not people realize it, or even want to admit it, they have and live by a worldview. They may believe that these eight questions are superfluous and/or cannot be answered. Such a stance evidences a worldview they already hold: skepticism that leads to nihilism. It was Socrates who said the unexamined life is not worth living. As Sire states, each individual is caught in a worldview. The question becomes do people care to examine what they claim to be their worldview and whether or not they are consistent in living it out.

Colson and Pearcey’s Challenge

Francis Schaeffer first authored the work, How Should We Then Live? Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey built on his thought in their How Now Shall We Live. In that work they challenge Christians to live out their worldview. This entails both Christians’ sanctification and their possession of Biblical wisdom in knowing how to live out their faith (thought/action). The authors challenge believers with the notion that the way they live out their moral and spiritual choices are realized in the world, whether or not they know or want to admit or embrace that truth. Every action a believer takes is either furthering the kingdom of God or not. The actions believers take either mesh with the fallen and broken world, or they align with God’s decree to transform the world in a manner that reflects His righteousness. Believers in Christ either live out their Christian worldview consistently, albeit not perfectly, or they live in a manner that is inconsistent with what they purport to believe. The dominion mandate, or what Colson and Pearcey call renewal, will occur when Christians are committed to living out their faith, seeing the world as God sees it, viewing reality through the lens of divine relation . . . Our choices are shaped by what we believe is real or true, right and wrong, good and beautiful. Our choices are shaped by our worldview. As with Sire, Colson and Pearcey believe that worldviews are intensely practical. People’s worldviews are the sum total of their beliefs about the world, and those beliefs direct their actions and all the decisions they make. Genuine Christianity is a way of seeing and comprehending all of reality. It is a worldview.

Conclusion

One of the chief aims of this blog is to explore what it means to live out the Christian worldview. What Sire, Colson, and Pearcey have explicated should help all Christians come to an understanding of what a worldview actually entails, that they have one whether or not they realize it, and that they are living either consistently or inconsistently with their purported faith. In terms of the categories I have delineated throughout this blog, the Christian mind should seek the wisdom that comes with knowing God as believers grow in their sanctification. Believers can find meaning and purpose in their pursuit of knowing God. Christians develop their values and morals according to God’s precepts. Morals are not simply chosen willy-nilly. Believers in Christ should develop the humility, becoming aware that they are in God’s hands, dependent on His providential care and guidance. Finally, for those who proclaim to be Christian, their actions should align with what they purport to believe. Thought and actions should be in alignment. Taken all together, such a way of life is a worldview. And as Sire, Colson, and Pearcey stated, Christianity is a worldview. Renewal or the dominion mandate will come about when Christians, by God’s grace, live out their proclaimed beliefs.

No doubt, this is a tall order. And all individuals are still products of the Fall. The challenge with which the above authors present Christians is to live the examined life, know that they have a worldview, and by God’s grace and strength seek to live out that worldview consistently, knowing that they will fail at times. But God’s lovingkindness is for everlasting (Psalm 103:18).

[References]: Colson, C. & Pearcey, N. (2004). How Now Shall We Live? Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Sire, J. (2020). The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog [6th edition] [originally published 1976]. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Press Academic Revised.

John V, Jones, Jr., PhD/April 14th, 2025

THEMATIC/ Worldview