WORLDVIEWS Lars Wilhelmsson “My people are ... - Vital Christianity

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WORLDVIEWS
Lars Wilhelmsson
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).
“A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy
bringeth men’s minds about to religion.” 1
--Sir Francis Bacon
The term worldview refers to any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement or
religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world and
man’s relations to God and the world. Specifically, a worldview should contain a particular
perspective regarding each of the following disciplines: theology, philosophy, ethics, biology,
psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics and history.
1 Chronicles 12:32 is foundational to a Christian worldview:
“. . . men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”
This verse announces that just two hundred individuals who “understood the times”
provided the leadership for an entire nation.
“I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward
some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though
we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine
power to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:2-5).
“See to it that no one takes you captive though hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world
rather than of Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
Secular Humanism and Marxism/Leninism are also religious because they have
theologies. There is a Secular Humanist theology and a Marxist/Leninist theology.
America is often described as a Christian nation. Over one hundred and fifty years ago,
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote,
“There is no country in the whole world, in which the Christian religion retains a
greater influence over the souls of men than in America; and there can be no greater
proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is
most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation on earth.” 2

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Was this true when de Tocqueville made his tribute?
Is it true today?
FOUR WESTERN WORLDVIEW MODELS
SECULAR HUMANISM MARXISM/LENINISM COSMIC HUMANISM CHRISTIANITY
SOURCES
Humanist
Manifesto
Writings of
Lenin and Marx
Writings of
Spangler,
Ferguson, etc.
Bible
St. Augustine
THEOLOGY
Atheism
No Afterlife
Atheism, Marx,
Lenin
No Afterlife
Pantheism
Reincarnation
Theism
Resurrection
PHILOSOPHY Naturalism
Dialectical
Non-Naturalism
Supernaturalism
Materialism
ETHICS
Relativism
Proletariat
Relativism
Absolutes
Morality
BIOLOGY
Darwinian
Evolution
Darwinian
Evolution
Darwinian
Evolution
Creation
(Genesis 1:1)
PSYCHOLOG
Y
Self-
Actualization
Behaviorism
Collective
Consciousness
Mind/Body
SOCIOLOGY
Non-Traditional
Family
Abolition of Home,
Church
and State
Non-Traditional
Home, Church,
State
Traditional
Home, Church,
State
LAW
Positive Law Positive Law Self-Law Biblical and
Natural Law

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POLITICS
World
Government
(Globalism)
New World Order New Age Order Justice,
Freedom, Order
ECONOMICS Socialism Socialism Universal
Enlightenment
Production
Stewardship of
Property
HISTORY
Historic Evolution Historical
Materialism
Evolutionary
Godhood
Historical
Resurrection
MARXISM/LENINISM
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Today, Marxism is the dominant view in some African and Latin American countries
(under the guise of Liberation Theology) and, incredibly, on many American university campuses.
In an article titled “Marxism in U.S. Classrooms,” 4 U.S. News and World Report reported that
there are ten thousand Marxist Professors on American campuses. Georgie Anne Geyer says that
“the percentage of Marxist faculty numbers can range from an estimated 90 percent in some
midwestern universities.” 5 Arnold Beichman says that “Marxist academics are today’s power
elite in the universities.” 6 Similarly former Yale professor Roger Kimball points out,
“With a few notable exceptions, our most prestigious liberal arts colleges and
universities have installed the entire radical menu at the center of their humanities
curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate level.” 7
In 1985 Turner founded the Better World Society; presently he is willing to present
$500,000 to anyone able to invent a new worldview suitable for the new, peaceful earth.
According the Turner, Christianity is a “religion for losers” and Christ should not have bothered
dying on the cross. “I don’t want anybody to die for me,” said Turner. “I’ve had a few drinks and a
few girlfriends, and if that’s gonna put me in hell, then so be it.” 8 Turner also maintains that the
Ten Commandments are “out of date.”
NEW AGE/COSMIC HUMANISM
A fourth worldview is commonly referred to as the New Age movement and is more
accurately described by the term Cosmic Humanism. Because it is still in its formative stages and
professes a marked disdain for dogma claiming that their worldview has no religious doctrine or
teaching of its own. This attitude results from the New Age belief that truth resides within each
individual and, therefore, no one can claim a corner on the truth or dictate truth to another. “The

New Age,” explains Christian writer Johanna Michaelsen, “is the ultimate eclectic religion of
self: Whatever you decide is right for you is right, as long as you don’t get narrow-minded and
exclusive about it.” 9
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“In its broadest sense, New Age thinking can be characterized as a form of utopianism,
the desire to create a better society, a ‘New Age’ in which humanity lives in harmony with itself,
nature and the cosmos.” 10 While the New Age movement still appears to be fragmented and
without strong leadership, it has grown at a remarkable rate. The Stanford Research Institute
estimate that “The number of New Agers in America could be as high as 5 to 10 percent of the
population—[20-30] million or more people.” 11 Others have put the figure as high as 60 million,
although this includes people who merely believe in reincarnation and astrology.
SECULAR HUMANISM
Secular Humanism is the root, Marxism is the branch. At the heart of both worldviews are
atheism, materialism, spontaneous generation, evolution and moral relativism.
Christianity begins with “In the beginning God.” Marxism/Leninism and Secular
Humanism begin with “In the beginning no God.” Cosmic Humanism begins with the declaration
“Everything is God.”
The U.S. Supreme Court, in its decision in Torcaso v. Watkins (June 19, 1961), declared
that “Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a
belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and
others.” 12 A few years later (1965) the Supreme Court allowed Daniel Seeger conscientious
objector status “because of his religious beliefs,” even though he claimed to be a Secular
Humanist.
“Education never takes place in a moral and philosophical vacuum. If the larger
questions about human beings and their destiny are not being asked and answered
within a predominantly Judeo-Christian framework (worldview), they will be
addressed with another philosophical or religious framework—but hardly one
that is ‘neutral.’” 13 (Emphasis added)
Peter Angeles represents an atheistic viewpoint:
“I am not a Christian . . . I do not believe in God and in immortality; and . . . I
do not think that Christ was the best and wisest of men, although I grant Him
a very high degree of moral goodness.” 14
“Without God, what is left? Man and the Universe. That should be enough.
That has to be enough because that is all there is.” 15

Isaac Asimov served as the director of the American Humanist Association from 1989 to
1992. Writing in Free Inquiry, Asimov leaves no doubt regarding his personal theology:
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“I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I’ve been an
atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable
to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge I didn’t have. Somehow
it was better to say I was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I’m a
creature of emotion as well as reason. Emotionally I am an atheist. I don’t have
the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect he
doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time.” 16 (Emphasis added)
Accepting Feuerbach’s conclusion that God is a projection of our imagination, Marx
boasted, “Man is the highest being for man.” He claimed that such a view is the demise of all
religion: “The criticism of religion ends with the teaching that man is the highest being for
man . . .” 17
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways;” says Marx, “the
point, however, is to change it.” 18
Theists everywhere recognize, as did Feyodor Dostoeski, that “The problem of
Communism is not an economic one. The problem of Communism is the problem of atheism.” 19
Stephen Schwartz states:
“Theism, the belief that God is, and atheism, the belief that God is not, are not
simply two beliefs. They are two fundamental ways of seeing the whole of
existence. The one, theism, sees existence as ultimately meaningful, as having
meaning beyond itself; the other sees existence as having no meaning beyond
itself.” 20 (Emphasis added)
This attitude is voiced also by Clarence Darrow:
“The purpose of man is like the purpose of the pollywog—to wiggle along as
far as he can without dying; or, to hang to life until death takes him.” 21 (Emphasis added)
Kai Nielsen, who signed the Humanist Manifesto II, proposed a “no-truth thesis” that states
that no question of the truth or falsity of moral values can sensibly arise. Humanists believe that
man’s conduct should be based on man’s insight and reason. Therefore he must face his problems
with his own moral and intellectual resources, without seeking supernatural help.

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CHRISTIANITY
C. S. Lewis argues that if there is no intelligence beyond the universe then nobody
designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. Thought is merely a by-product of some atoms
within my skull. “But if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?” asks Lewis. “But if I
can’t trust my own thinking, of course, I can’t trust the arguments leading to atheism, and
therefore have no reason to be an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I can’t believe
in thought; so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God.” 22

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NOTES
1
Select Writings of Francis Bacon, ed. Hugh G. Dick (New York: Random House, 1955),
44.
2
Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, cited in Francis Nigel Lee,
Communism versus Creation (Nutley, NJ: The Craig Press, 1969), 68.
3
Adapted from David A. Noebel, Understanding the Times (Summit Ministries, 1995).
4
David B. Richardson, “Marxism in U.S. Classrooms,” U.S. News and World Report
(January 25, 1982), 42-45.
5
George Anne Geyer, “Marxism Thrives on Campus” (August 29, 1989), B7.
6
Ibid.
7
Roger Kimball, Tenured Radicals (New York: Harper and Row, 1990), xiii.
8
Cal Thomas, “Turner’s Takeover Tender,” The Washington Times (November 6, 1989),
F2.
9
Johanna Michaelsen, Like Lambs to the Slaughter (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 1989),
11.
10
Jonathan Adolph, “What is New Age?” New Age Journal (Winter 1988), 11.
11
Ray A. Yungen, For Many Shall Come in My Name (Salem, Oregon: Ray Yungen, 1989),
34.
12
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, two volumes (New Rochelle, NY:
Arlington House, n. d.), Vol. 1, 294. Elsewhere he declared, “The Americans combine the notions
of Christianity and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive
the one without the other,” 279.
13
David B. Richardson, “Marxism in U.S. Classrooms,” U.S. News and World Report
(January 25, 1982), 42-5.
14
Russell, “Why I am not a Christian, in Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell, 586.
15
Ibid.

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16
Isaac Asimov, “An Interview with Isaac Asimov,” Free Inquiry (Spring 1982), vol 2, no.
2, 9.
17
Marx and Engels, Karl Marx-Frederick Engels: Collected Works, 40 volumes (New York:
International Publishers, 1976), vol. 3, 175.
18
C.S. Lewis, Broadcast Talks (London: 1946), 37-38.
19
V.I. Lenin, Complete Collected Works, forty-five volumes (Moscow: Progress Publishers,
1978), vol. 10, 83.
20
Roger Kimball, Tenured Radicals (New York: Harper and Row, 1990), xiii.
21
Marx, Theses on Feuerbach, in Marx, On Historical Materialism (New York: International
Publishers, 1974), 13.
22
Lewis, Broadcast Talks, 37-38.