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TestingWorldviews.com
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- R. Totten - (c) '99
The theistic worldview holds that there is an infinite personal God who is the creator of the universe, and also supernaturally acts on things in it. Although the theistic worldview is also basically held by Judaism and Islam, the following discussion will most clearly represent the predominant theistic view, which is biblical Christianity.
The Basic Propositions of the Theistic Worldview
1. God is perfectly and absolutely holy, infinite, all-powerful, personal (Triune) and good.
Considering the five parts of this first proposition, first of all: God is absolutely holy. This is the prime characteristic of God. Being "holy" means that God, in his character and nature, is separate from everything else; He is transcendent : above and beyond everything in all the universe, including all mankind, and all other beings ; He is totally unique and unequaled.
God is infinite. This means that he is beyond limitation by anything else ; He is eternally without beginning or ending, and has life in himself, and every living thing is dependent on him for life ; He is self-existent, and is uncaused by anything else, and thus, is called a "necessary" being. God is the prime reality, and the source of all other reality and being.
God is all-powerful. He is all-mighty, all-knowing, all-wise, and omni-present (everywhere at the same time). He is sovereign, and from eternity, has unchangeably decreed and planned whatever happens in all of history. No other thing or being can possibly challenge or diminish his power, or change his eternal plan in the slightest way.
God is personal. God is not a mere power or force, but he has the attribute of personhood, and thus has the qualities of self-awareness and self-determination ; likewise, He has intellect, emotions, a moral makeup, and a self-will. God is a "someone". In addition to this, the Bible teaches that the one indivisible being of God eternally exists in three distinct "persons" (self-distinctions): Father, Son and Holy Spirit ...each of whom possesses equally and fully all the attributes of deity ; These three personal-selves in one being is called the "triunity" of God.
God is good. Goodness and righteousness is the essence of God's character and nature. His nature is perfectly and absolutely good and righteous, and no hint of evil or wrong is in him. He truthful and cannot lie. Some great expressions of God's goodness, are his love, faithfulness, grace and mercy, as well as his hatred of sin and evil. He is perfectly just, a law unto himself, and he will ultimately judge and condemn all wickedness.
2. God created the Universe out of nothing; it is totally subject to him and dependent on him.
The universe (including all the phenomena in it) is not eternal, nor infinite. Its existence is totally dependent and contingent upon God, both for its beginning and for its continuance.
3. Man was created in God's image, and so, is personal, but man has fallen into sin and death.
Since man is personal, he too, with limitations, has the qualities of personhood, including self-awareness and self-determination, as well as intellect, emotions, a moral makeup, and a self-will. Man too is a "someone." ...Man was created good, but in the "Fall" he rebelled and disobeyed God, and every facet of man's being became damaged and perverted by sin, so that all mankind is born guilty of sin, and is separated from God. The result of this separation is death, which begins as spiritual death, and ends as eternal death, if not remedied. Fallen man is incapable, in himself, of restoring himself to a condition of goodness, life and favor with God. Because of this, Jesus Christ came and died to pay the penalty for the sins of men who would believe and trust in his redeeming work, to save us from God's just punishment for our sins.
4. When man's body dies, his soul (spirit) continues forever, either in heaven or in punishment.
5. The basis of ethics and morality is in God's nature and character, which is reflected in man.
As mentioned, God is a moral being who is perfectly good ; He is the absolute standard of all goodness and ethical behavior. God is the essence of goodness. Sin is anything that does not conform to God's holy character or his righteous commands (as described in the Bible). Since man is made in the personal image of God, man is a moral being whom God has given a responsibility to live in a good and ethical way. But man's ability to live righteously in goodness has been ruined in "the Fall", and ruined in every facet of his being. Thus, man is totally unable to live up to the required absolute standard of moral perfection, which God is.
6. History is a linear sequence of events, reaching a meaningful goal, as God planned it.
Though many events seem very similar, none of them are exactly the same, nor do they repeat in a cyclic fashion. Also, history is not reversible or alterable (as in "time travel" fantasies). Instead, history is "teleological", proceeding on to an end, pre-determined by God, and sovereignly worked out by him. History will work out to the praise and glory of God.
Evaluation of the Theistic Worldview
Positives of Theism:
Theism (in general) is attractive because it offers what the majority of mankind consider to be satisfying answers to the questions answered by developed worldviews. Theism offers an answer to the question of the ultimate first cause of everything. In addition, there is a good basis for morality in living, and for meaning in human existence ----giving life value.
Criticisms of Theism ---With Theistic Responses:
Atheists, pantheists and others, however, have questioned theism with various objections. Some of the main ones are:
1.) The universe doesn't need an ultimate and infinite first cause.
Theists reply that finite things (or "beings") ultimately need an infinite cause ---as the principle of causality states that "every finite (dependent & contingent) being needs a cause." Thus, (as Thomas Aquinas said) the cause of all finite things cannot itself be finite. The universe is merely a large number of finite things (...eg, there are about 10^80th sub-atomic particles in the universe), and every atom and force and finite thing (or being) that now exists, is "dependent", meaning that the universe exists because it is the result and effect from some prior being. Adding up all "dependent" parts will only result in a "dependent" and finite whole, which is also the resultant effect of something prior. There cannot possibly be an infinite series of finite things (beings), because no matter how many finite individual things there are, it is possible to number them ---and you could always have more--- confirming that an infinite number of dependent actual things (beings) is impossible. So, there must be an INdependent and INfinite being in the ultimate beginning, upon which all dependent beings (things) are ultimately dependent for their existence. That infinite and independent being is called the "first cause." The theist calls that infinite first cause "God."
The theistic view is coroborated in reality, because the origination of the universe (including its matter, forces, dimensions and time) are what astrophysicists say have arose out of the "Big Bang" event some 15 billion years ago. This confirms that the finite things (beings) of this universe had a beginning cause -----and the theist asserts that the ultimate "first cause" of the universe, was God, which accords with the facts as we know them.
2.) If God made the universe, then what made God?
Theists answer that at the beginning of all dependent finite things (beings) there must ultimately be an independent, non-contingent being which is uncaused ...and that uncaused being is God. God is not self-caused, but uncaused. Ultimately, something must be uncaused, and is also called a "necessary being" ...and God is that necessary "first cause."
3.) The universe, including life, does not need to be made by a designer, but can be explained by natural processes apart from an intelligent designer.
Theists reply that the chance processes of nature do not adequately explain the universe or life as they now exist. The levels or organizationally specified complexity is far too high to be reasonably probable through any chance processes. Several articles in this web-site point out the illogic, and disharmony with the facts, of the assertion that the chance processes in nature are adequate to explain such phenomena.
Further Discussion:
- Is There Any Viable Alternative to the Biblical Worldview? - by Dennis Prager
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