Biblical Landmarks

The Image of God

A worldview, by definition, is the idea that all areas of life can be viewed from the mountain top of certain principles. In this series, I’ve concentrated on just one of those principles, But I have assumed — or presupposed — another two principles at all times. The reason they are presupposed? They are inescapable concepts; you can not do anything without including them in your assumptions.

Behind our theory of knowledge (epistemology – how do we know things, and how do we know that we know) is an underlying assumption about ourselves, other people, and the world that we comprehend around us. This is our theory of being – metaphysics, it often called. Now while we are using a word that appears to have originated with Aristotle, the concept itself is much older. It literally means “beyond physics” and its a useful concept if we think of metaphysics the study of things outside of science.

Science depends upon some assumptions that are not scientific. It assumes there is a physical world outside of ourselves that can be investigated and explored. It assumes that mankind is capable fo discovering things, and identifying those things when they are are discovered. It also assumes that the investigators themselves can make distinctions between useful and not-so-useful information, and chose the “right” information to advance their investigations.

Now where do those assumptions come from? Get out your Bible and read the first three chapters of Genesis. Yes, you are capable of reading Genesis and understanding what it says. You may, if you are not careful, make some wrong judgments as you read. But you are capable of recognizing those wrong judgments and correcting yourself to make the correct judgments.

“In the beginning, God created. . . .” There it is. Everything except the Creator had a beginning. He really did make trees. They exist. They are not a figment of your imagination. And yes, your senses of sight, sound and smell can be trusted to give you reliable information.

Man. . . made in the image of God. Not identical to God, but in His image. This is why there is such a thing as a worldview.

And when you get this part of the worldview concept straight, you will begin to understand why natives in Papua-New Guinea used to eat one another, kill one another, hate one another, yet they still liked to cover “that” part of the male anatomy with a penis gourd. Why?

The aboriginals in Australia never built a permanent home, never developed crop rotation. And in a land inhabited by millions of flies, they never invented the fly screen. Why not?

What allowed one part of mankind to go out and “take dominion” over the earth and move from two-field rotation to three-field rotation? This idea alone reduced the amount of plowing each year, while giving more land under crops and a wider variety of food.

Why did one part of mankind develop the crank – the ability to combine rotary with reciprocal motion at the same time — without which, we would not have our modern motor cars?

Get the idea? A worldview allowed the development of our civilization so that you’re reading this e-zine delivered electronically.

The idea of a uni-versity — as opposed to a multi-veristy — is an indication that a worldview provided the challenge of unifying knowledge. Things are not just abstractions (things in themselves) but actually exist in relationship to other things

So when you pick up a book — or receive an e-zine — you really can receive and give meaningful communication. And so it is with the Bible. You don’t have to become the ultimate skeptic or agnostic never finding truth because your worldview does not allow communication horizontally man to man, or vertically God to man. Rather, the biblical worldview provides a basis for real and meaningful communication person to person.

It is the metaphysics of our worldview that provides the epistemological answer. Without both of these mankind is sunk. Communication is impossible. It is the equivalent of locking every person on the planet in his or her own sealed room, with no doors, no windows, no communication with anyone outside the room.

Which is why there is no other worldview. Believe it.