What is my worldview in terms of what I think can be known,

why that is the case, and how we can best understand the

world?

A worldview is a set of beliefs used to understand the world.  We all have

questions like who am I, how did I get here, why am I here and what am I

supposed to do while I am here.  The answers we ascribe to these questions

form our worldview.  Everyone has a worldview.  Everyone has a set of

principles by which to judge right and wrong and truth from error and which

guides them in everyday living. Our worldview shapes our moral opinions and

our resulting actions.

Why do we do the things you do?  Because we are accustomed to doing them

in a manner that is consistent with what we believe.  In other words, we

behave according to our worldview which is based on our beliefs. Our

worldview affects what we believe about God, the origin of the cosmos,

marriage, politics, social structures, environmental concerns, educational

requirements, economics, the raising of children, what kind of foods to eat,

and much more.  It affects everything, because all of that which is around us

and all of that with which we interact must be interpreted and must be

understood in light of our worldview. Our world view is a lens through which

we look at the world.  Most important, our worldview forms the basis of how

we interpret reality.

My worldview is the one that best meets two essential criteria. 

1.) It corresponds to truth through empirical evidence and the reasoning

process and 2.) it must cohere.  Finally, it is based on the premise that the

truth is definable, knowable, and verifiable.

Definable –   I hold to the belief that all truth is absolute and that truth

provides the very best answers to the most fundamental questions of life

which are:  1. Origin 2. Meaning 3. Morality 4. Destiny. My definition of truth

holds that all truth is absolute truth and there are no relative truths.  This is in

contrast to the often held postmodern worldview that truth is relative and un-

knowable.  Truth can generally be defined as that which agrees with objective

reality.

Knowable – The reality of the origin of the observable cosmos, the

universe, the solar system, and all that exists including the planet and it’s

inhabit are framed in truths that can be both tested and confirmed.  My

worldview is one that acknowledges that the truth is knowable through

empirical evidence and a logical reasoning process.  The evidence is often

documented fact of science or based on historical evidence from recorded

eye-witness testimonies during the lifetime of other eye witnesses and can be

found in ancient manuscript writings, archaeological finds, prophecies, and

statistical analysis. I believe that the Christian Bible is the very best source for

this empirical evidence for it is the most thoroughly tested and affirmed

writings in its claim to be truth.  I therefore believe that the Bible is the inspired

Word of God, the author of the Bible and the intelligent creator of all.  It is

without mistakes as originally written. It is the complete revelation of God the

creator’s will for salvation and the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for

the Christian life.

Verifiable – Logic and reasoning dictates that truth is knowable. The

viability of Christianity stands or falls upon the fundamental concept that truth

exists and we can know it.   Truth is propositional and that means it is

something we can put into word, phrases, and sentences that make sense

and coheres. This is the factor which explains the uniqueness and remarkable

coherence of the Bible. Forty writers spanning a period of over 1500 years,

across four continents and with such dissimilar traits and characteristics that it

could never have achieved that unity as a result of human effort alone. Yet the

unity is there, not as the product of numerous human minds, but of one mind

—the mind of God—interacting with, and directing, the grand sweep of biblical

authors in many unlikely forms, but always in such a way that their own

personal emotions, feelings, personality and individual writing styles were

employed. God inspired the message, but it was conveyed through language

and vocabulary that was peculiar and natural to each man. The Bible is thus

an inspired human vehicle through which God the creator has chosen to

convey His revelation to mankind.

Through the use of known truths and laws, such as the known laws of nature

(e.g. thermodynamics, general relativity, entropy), logic and reason (e.g. law

of non-contradiction), we can come to know truth and separate truth from

error.  Applying laws of science and reason to the things we desire to test, we

can objectively verify that which is true.  Some of the best material in science

that provide the evidences for the truth of the Bible as confirmed by today’s

most advanced scientific research can be found in the writing and publications

of leading scientists, philosophers and authors such as Dr. Hugh Ross, Dr.

Stephen Myers and Dr. Michael Behe and Dr. R.C. Sproul to name a few.

How can we best understand the world? I believe in absolute truth

as opposed to relative truth, which holds that if something is true, then it is

true everywhere in the cosmos, at all times and for everyone.  Relativism is

the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only

relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and

consideration.   I believe relativism is self-defeating.

My view is that we can best understand the world by starting with a worldview

that accepts the view that truth is absolute and knowable.  As a Christian, my

worldview holds that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God and

without mistakes as originally written.  It is the complete revelation of His will

for salvation and the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the Christian

life.  As such it served and the essential guide for instruction on how to best

understand the world, answer the basic questions of life and how we are to

best live it.