Everyone holds to a worldview—a philosophical outlook on life—no matter how ill-defined. Whether one is a believer or not, their worldview is formed and molded by their family, culture, education, books they read, etc. One Christian writer defined a worldview as,
. . . a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.1
The Christian worldview looks to God (Hebrews 11:6) through Jesus Christ for our origin (Genesis 1:27) and our destiny (Romans 10:9; Luke 23:43). We intuitively know of God through His "clearly seen" creation (Romans 1:20), even though it has been corrupted by sin (Genesis 3). This belief system also states there are moral absolutes (Exodus 20) and there is truth (John 14:6). Indeed, all truth is God's truth. This is why a Christian's involvement in science is so intellectually satisfying: science is the search for truth—His truth!
Many holding to a secular worldview embrace Mr. Darwin's 1859 book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection not because it is scientific (he never discussed the origin of species and the first fifty pages was a bland discussion of pigeon variation), but because his book described creation without a Creator. Many in Darwin's day—like today—found such secular explanations academically agreeable, leading the "dean of evolutionary biology," Ernst Mayr to say:
The Darwinian revolution was the most fundamental of all intellectual revolutions in the history of mankind. While such revolutions as those brought about by Copernicus, Newton, Lavoisier, or Einstein affected only one particular branch of science, or the methodology of science as such, the Darwinian revolution affected every thinking man. A world view developed by anyone after 1859 was by necessity quite different from any world view formed prior to 1859.2
Sadly, Mayr was correct. This pervading worldview has corrupted society. For example, large corporations have long ago adopted a win-at-any-cost, survival-of-the-fittest mentality as the business animal claws itself to the top of the corporate ladder. American business practices—even the vocabulary—are often based on Darwinism. The Christian influence in this critical area has been minimized.
Peter states, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15). Being ready to share the Christian worldview anywhere in society involves a thorough study of God's Word (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 28:18-20). Let each of us know why we believe what we believe—especially in terms of our origin and destiny—and pass this wonderful news on to others (Romans 10:13-17).
References
- Sire, J. 1976. The Universe Next Door, Inter-Varsity Press, p. 17.
- Mayr, E. 1988. Toward a New Philosophy of Biology, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, p. 182.
* Mr. Sherwin is a zoologist and seminar speaker for ICR.
