Despite what people may believe, there are really only two worldviews that exist: one with God and one without God. Here are some helpful definitions of terms explaining the difference between the two. Defining words is always entirely helpful and these can really help make it easier to get at truth when you speak with someone who does not share your worldview.
Worldview – the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world; a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group
<>< THE CREATION WORLDVIEW
The consistent biblical creationist is one whose worldview is based on the Bible; this is his or her ultimate standard. As such, the creationist believes that an all-powerful [Mat 19:26], all-knowing [Col 2:3], triune [Isa 45:5; John 8:18] God created the universe in six ordinary days [Exo 20:11] thousands, not billions, of years ago (based on genealogies such as Genesis 5:4-32). Today, God upholds the universe by His sustaining power [Heb 1:3] in a logical and consistent way that we call the “laws of nature” or “laws of science” [Jer 33:25]. The method by which God created the universe is not the same method by which He sustains it; God ended His work of creation by the seventh day [Gen 2:2]. The world was a paradise when it was first created [Gen 1:31; Deu 32:4]. The first man (Adam) was given charge over all creation [Gen 1:28, 2:15]. Adam rebelled against the Lord [Gen 3:6]. As a result, God cursed His creation [Gen 3:14-19], which is why we now have death and suffering in the world [Rom 5:12, 8:21-22]. Since all humans today are descended from Adam [Acts 17:26], we all have a sin nature, and we too rebel against God – disobeying His commandments. Like Adam, we deserve death and eternal separation from God. In Christian theology, this is why God became a man [John 1:1, 14] and died on a cross. Jesus took our place as an act of mercy and has offered forgiveness for all who receive Him as Lord [Rom 10:9-10]. God had created the original animals and plants “after their kind” [Gen 1:11, 21, 25], indicating that there are discrete barriers between basic animal and plant kinds, but that there can be variation within. The animals and plants we observe today are all variations of the original kinds (though some kinds have gone extinct). Natural selection happens … animals and plants can adapt somewhat to their environment. However, the processes involved never increase the information in the DNA and thus never result in a new kind of organism. God once flooded the entire earth in response to man’s wickedness [Gen 5:5-7, 17] but spared a few people in response to Noah’s obedience [Gen 5:9, 18] and preserved them and the animal kinds by an ark [Gen 6:19]. Creationists believe that most of the fossils found on earth today are a result of this global Flood. This is only a very brief summary of the creationist position. For those unfamiliar with the above concepts, I highly recommend The New Answers Book (volume 1 and 2).
Biblical Creation – the supernatural events, occurring over 6 approximately 24-hour days, described in Genesis 1 and 2, by which God caused the formation of the heaven and earth and everything in them
Created Kind (baramin) – the original organisms (and their descendants) created supernaturally by God as described in Genesis 1; these organisms reproduce only their own kind within the limits of preprogrammed information, but with great variation
Catastrophism – the doctrine that changes in the geologic record are a result of physical processes operating at rates that are dramatically higher than are observed today
Catastrophic Model of Plate Tectonics – based on rapid movement of the plates associated with Noah’s flood
Operational (observational) Science – a systematic approach to understanding that uses observable, testable, repeatable and falsifiable experimentation to understand how nature commonly behaves
Operational Theory – an explanation of a set of facts based on a broad set of repeatable and testable observations that is generally accepted within a group of scientists
Anthropic Principle – life in our universe requires physical constants, laws and properties that fall within certain narrow ranges; the universe appears designed to support life
~ APPLIES TO BOTH BIBLICAL CREATION & EVOLUTION
Presupposition – a belief that is accepted as true and is foundational to one’s worldview
Faith – belief in things that cannot be directly known or observed
Religion – a cause, principle or belief system held to with zeal and conviction
One of the most helpful and important things you can remember when talking with someone is that both God and human evolution lie outside the realm of science because both are beyond human observation and, therefore, cannot be proved by science.
- Definitions of the evolution worldview: A world without God
- Definitions of the 2 worldviews: Creation (God) and evolution (no God)
P2ALM 