Tag Archives: worldview

Dualistic worldview

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Transforming Worldviews book coverLast time I began sharing some thoughts from Paul Hiebert’s Transforming Worldviews. The book is of special interest to those interested in missions, though I think many of the thoughts are relevant to the whole church.

One such thought was about the dualism created by modernity. Hiebert says:

Modern Neoplatonic dualism has left many Western Christians with a spiritual schizophrenia. They believe in God and the cosmic history of creation, fall, redemption, final judgment, and new creation. Yet they live in an ordinary world that they explain in naturalistic terms—one in which there is little room for God. (Kindle location 3156)

Because of this, says Hiebert, religion was pushed into a private sphere. Science and humanities are taught publicly, but religion is expected to be taught privately. That leads to a natural secularization of society.

I think we can also see this in the way Christians relate to science. Frankly, many Christians don’t know what to do with science, especially when it seems to contradict their faith.

Believing in the unseen

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Transforming Worldviews book coverI’ve been looking over some of my notes from when I read Paul Hiebert’s Transforming Worldviews. It’s an excellent book about culture and how it affects our outreach to the world. Might be a bit academic if you don’t spend a lot of time with the subject, but an amazing work overall. Hiebert was a pioneer in the field of missionary anthropology; in fact, you could argue that before him there was no such field of study.

One concept that jumped out at me this week was the idea that literate societies emphasize sight over the other senses while other cultures almost universally favor hearing. Because of this, literate societies have trouble believing in what they can’t see, much more trouble than non-literate societies have.

Not an earth-shattering idea, I guess, but it made me think. I have to feel that this is one big reason the modern world has trouble accepting the claims of the Bible.

Do you disagree?

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Overlapping viewsYou should probably disagree on something. Something pretty big. Something of substance.

If you identify yourself with a certain political party, be it the Whigs or the Tories or the Green Party, there should be something that clashes with your Christian worldview.

If not, then it’s quite possible that your political views are shaping your views of Christianity more than your Christianity is shaping your politics.

No real good without the good news

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idolOn Friday, I posted a link to Evil Spirits and Electricity Problems. In that article, missionary Amy Medina tells a story of political corruption in Tanzania. Medina points out that this case of corruption doesn’t just represent a personal failing on the part of a politician; it demonstrates the effects of an animistic worldview.

Here’s a quote:

In Africa, animism is the predominant worldview. Even among many who claim to be Christian or Muslim.

Animism is the belief system that the world is governed by capricious, irrational spirit beings. They are unpredictable and usually mean. There is no rhyme or reason to what they do. You cannot control them and there is very little point in trying.

Thus, many Africans believe:
We are poor and will always be poor.
Why try to change it?
There is nothing we can do.
We are trapped in poverty.

Those who are in power–the chiefs, the government officials, even many times the pastors–they are higher in the spiritual hierarchy. If you mess with them, you mess with the spirits. If you mess with them, you’re bringing a heck of a lot of trouble on yourself.

She then goes on to say something that needs to be heard, that needs to be repeated, that desperately needs to be understood as we think about missions:

This is why Africa does not need more government aid. This is why Africa does not simply need more wells or more shoes or more schools.

Until the underlying worldview is addressed, there will not be change in Africa. This is why Africa needs the gospel to penetrate its worldview.

Doing good doesn’t do longterm good unless it includes the gospel! Not the idea that all people need is some sort of “get out of hell free” card, but the idea that the good news of Jesus transforms lives, worldviews, and cultures. If we aren’t changing worldviews, we aren’t changing anything. We aren’t helping people, not really. We’re not doing lasting good.

Feed the hungry. House the homeless. Clothe the naked. But give them the good news they need to truly change their lives!

photo by Kevin Connors on MorgueFile.com

Worship styles as cultural differences

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old churchI’m finally reading Paul Hiebert’s Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change. Hiebert was a pioneer in the field of missionary anthropology. I had looked at the book a few years ago when searching for a textbook for a sophomore level missions class. I saw that the book addressed the themes of the class, but that it was too advanced for sophomores.

Now I’m finally getting back to it. Being a student of culture and culture change, I’m finding the book fascinating. I’m reading the Kindle edition, which allows you to highlight passages. I told Carolina that the highlighted passages outweigh the non-highlighted passages!

I found one chart very interesting, a comparison of three church styles: high church, evangelical church, and charismatic church. Interesting to see them analyzed as different worldviews.

Services in a high church focus on mystery, awe, and holiness. They take place in cathedrals, using the following forms of expression: rituals, chants, liturgy, candles, procession and high order. People often kneel or prostrate themselves. The overwhelming focus is on God the Father.

Evangelical church services, according to Hiebert, focus on peace, order, and hope. They take place in churches, using preaching, hymns, testimonies, silence and meditation. People stand, sit and bow their heads. The focus is on Jesus.

Charismatic churches focus on ecstasy, power, and action. They take place in meeting halls, and have prophecy, choruses, dancing, clapping, and healing. People lift their hands and raise their faces. The focus is on the Spirit.

It seems to me (not Hiebert) that much of the “worship wars” have to do with people in one tradition wanting to incorporate elements from another tradition. It’s also about people judging their outlook to be correct and the others as “boring” or “entertainment-focused” or not “decent and in order.”

Any insights that you pick up from this?

photo from MorgueFile.com