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Developing a
Biblical Worldview
Part 1
Gaining Christian Discernment in a World of Confusion
Written and Illustrated
by
Jay Wegter
@2020 by Faith Christian School PSP & Gospel for Life (Revised December 2022)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of a brief quotation embodied in critical article or reviews with the proper credits given.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (unless otherwise indicated).
Printed in the United States of America
Cover art: acrylic painting of Mt. Paran by Jay Wegter
Mt. Paran is in the wilderness of Jordan. The Israelites camped there in their wilderness journey. In the blessing of God which Moses gave to the children of Israel, Mt. Paran is mentioned as a location from which God’s majestic glory shone forth. Before entering Canaan, Moses pronounced a blessing upon them. “He said, ‘The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; at His right hand there was flashing lightning for them’.” (Deuteronomy 33:2).
Just as the Lord’s flashing glory shone from Mt. Paran, giving the Israelites a renewed perspective of God’s majesty and faithfulness, so also our study of Biblical worldview illuminates our thinking so as to operate from the divine viewpoint.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8).
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2).
About the Author - Jay Wegter
:
University Professor, Speaker, Writer, Fine Artist, Founder & Executive Director of Gospel for Life
An experienced pastor and Bible teacher, Jay has a B.A. degree from
Christian Heritage College and a Master of Divinity degree from The
Master’s Seminary. He is adjunct professor of Theology, Christian
worldview (Apologetics and Evangelism), Biblical Discipleship, and Grace-
Driven Sanctification at The Master’s University. He also has developed
courses in Christian Theology for biblical counseling majors at The Master’s
University.
Because of his passion to help the church recover her New Testament mission, Jay founded the non-profit corporation, Gospel for Life in 2005. GFL is a training ministry which assists local churches in fulfilling The Great Commission through evangelistic outreach and through curriculum designed to keep the Gospel central in discipleship. GFL provides equipping in leadership development, evangelism, apologetics and discipleship, and in grace-driven sanctification (www.gospelforlife.org).
Table of Contents:
Escaping the Sacred-Secular trap
1. The Importance of Building a Biblical Worldview………………………………..…………….1 2. The Need for Biblical Discernment in a Hostile World………………………………………10
The World’s Philosophy has split truth
3. Worldview Diagnostic Questions in Pre-Evangelism…………………………………………20
The 4 Diagnostic Questions of Worldview. The Fear of the Lord - the only true Knowledge Gate
4. Viewing All of Life from God’s Perspective Brings Joy…………………………………….…28
Why unified Christian Worldview brings joy. One’s Knowledge is tied to one’s Perspective
Know your God
5. Introduction to the Doctrine of God………………………………………………...……..….……38 6. The Importance of Knowing God……………………………………………...………………………48
Why we study God
Living according to our Created Purpose
7. Humanistic Philosophy & Evangelism………….……………………………..………………….…59
How humanist philosophy distorted Western thought. How to evangelize
8. Realism of a Christian Worldview………….………………………………….………………………71
Freedom is living according to our created purpose
The Battle for Origins is Worth the Fight
9. Creation and the Image of God………….……………………………………………...………….…81
The central importance of creation and the Image of God in Christian Worldview
10. Darwinism………….……………………………………………...……………………………………………92
Is it science or an unproven religious philosophy?
11. Naturalism and Creationism………….……………………………………………...…………….…103
Learning how to engage our culture. Why creationism is the foundation of Christian Worldview
Clashing Civilizations: Whose Perspective is Authoritative?
12. Dissecting the Lie in Eden………….……………………………………………...…………………...113
Why being precedes knowing.
13. Romans 1: Man – a Truth Suppressor……………………………………………………………..126
Romans One teaches that the natural man is a studious truth-suppressor.
End Notes…………………………………………….……………………………………………...…………………..139 Glossary of Terms ………………….…………………………………………………………...……………………142 Verses………………..………….……………………………………………...…………………………………….……152 Appendices………………………………………….……………………………………………...……………………155
Learning Concepts and Outcomes:
- To diligently apply and trust God’s truths in every area of life and thereby develop a comprehensive faith that will stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture’s non-biblical ideas. We designate these false ideas as plausibility structures.
- To understand the ways that our culture has been ‘duped’ by deceptive philosophies and false religions— and to realize that humanity has torn itself away from God’s “blueprint.” This will assist in developing an informed compassion for the lost.
- To capture and embrace more of God’s worldview, and trust what God says with unwavering faith in order to be able to make right decisions, and form appropriate responses on moral issues, and deepen our discernment of culture.
- To develop a ‘total truth’ unified worldview so as to bring one’s entire life under the lordship of Christ.
- To step out of ‘privatized Christianity’ and to equip oneself to engage our culture directly in effective evangelism (1 Pet 3:15).
- To study Christian worldview as a tool to evaluate the erroneous worldviews of the unbeliever, and in so doing, to learn to tear down the fortresses raised up against the plausibility of the gospel (2 Cor 10:3-5).
- To commit ourselves to the process of transformation which occurs through the renewing of the mind, and to develop and learn to use our cognitive faculties to the love God and to bring Him glory by seeing the entire cosmos in light of biblical worldview (Rom 12:1-2).
- To cultivate an affection for a biblical apologetic and its worth in preaching, counseling, evangelism, and other situations when the truth must be defended before a pagan world, cult setting, or before a disobedient Christian.
- To establish a biblical understanding of evangelism and a working understanding of the Gospel—and to take this Gospel knowledge into the world—learning to be effective in evangelism by sharing the Gospel on a regular basis (Mt 4:19).
How to Use the Lesson Assignments:
Teacher Lesson Preparation:
- Videos are available from Jay Wegter’s TMU class.
- Read the material, review the questions and class examples in the margin.
- Structure and layout the class time o Pray for the class outside the class and pray with the class before starting. o Check the questions from the previous lesson.
o Review the text in depth and give illumination for any difficult sections or vocabulary words. o Dialogue with the students, give examples and stories, and use the margin ideas for class time. o Remind the students of the homework for next time.
- Course planning: o Number of lessons (26) o Assigning homework to be completed after the lecture of the lesson. o Correct the homework o Optionally, assign papers – give topic selections, get student’s topics, give rubric, get thesis statement, outline, rough draft, and final draft.
Student Expectations for this Workbook:
- Students should expect to read this at least two times – This is not material that can be skimmed.
- Each lesson is about 2 hours a week of reading and answering questions (about ½ hour a day 4x week meeting 1x week for a lecture)
- Students will participate in the lesson’s lecture and work through the workbook reading and questions.
- This book is meant to be a workbook as well as a resource book that students can look back on when faced with specific worldview related questions.