Christian Worldview Handbook

David S Dockery, Trevin Wax

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781535970075
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Riferimenti biblici

The Christian Worldview Handbook features over 100 articles by notable Christian scholars to help Christians better understand the grand narrative and flow of Scripture within the biblical framework from which we are called to view reality and make sense of life and the world. Guided by general editors David S. Dockery and Trevin K. Wax, this handbook is an invaluable resource and study tool that will help you to discuss, defend, and clearly share with others the truth, hope, and practical compatibility of Christianity in everyday life.

Contributors Include: Jason K. Allen, Bruce Riley Ashford, Darrell L. Bock, Ted Cabal, Graham A. Cole, C. John Collins, Paul Copan, Choon Sam Fong, Gregory B. Forster, Timothy George, Douglas Groothuis, George H. Guthrie, Thomas S. Kidd, Steve Lemke, Jennifer A. Marshall, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Russell D. Moore, Christopher W. Morgan, David K. Naugle, Mark A. Noll, Karen Swallow Prior, Mary J. Sharp, Kevin Smith, Robert Smith Jr., John Stonestreet, Carl R. Trueman, Malcolm Yarnell III, Christopher Yuan, and more.

World Religions and Competing Worldviews

Where Did Other Religions Come From? by Winfried Corduan

Judaism by Elijah M. Brown

Islam by Micahel H. Edens

Hinduism by Elijah M. Brown

Monism, Pantheism, and Panentheism by Paul Copan

Agnosticism and Secularism by Robert M. Bowman Jr.

The New Atheism by R. Albert Mohler Jr.

Polytheism in Biblical Times by Kenneth A. Mathews

Spiritualism by Felix Theonugraha and Zachs Gaiya

Postmodernism by Justin Carswell

The New Age Movement by Taylor B. Worley

The (Religious) Problem with Political Conservatism and Progressivism by Bruce Riley Ashford

The (Religious) Problem with Political Liberalism by Bruce Riley Ashford

The (Religious) Problem with Libertarianism by Bruce Riley Ashford

The (Religious) Problem with Nationalism by Bruce Riley Ashford

The (Religious) Problem with Socialism by Bruce Riley Ashford

Where Did Other Religions Come From?

Winfried Corduan

The Bible never states how nonbiblical religions got their start. Genesis begins with the one true God. There certainly were people who lived in defiance of him (e.g., Cain and Lamech in Gen 4), but there is no account therein of people making substitutes for God. We know that Abraham’s family had worshipped other gods in Ur (Josh 24:2), but when Abraham met Melchizedek (Gen 14:20), he turned out to be a priest of El Elyon, “God Most High,” an expression that in this case clearly refers to Abraham’s God (Dan 4:2,34; Num 24:16; Ps 78:35). We finally see mention of idols as they are brought up by Jacob’s entourage (Gen 31:19; 35:4), but by then owning such objects is already an established pagan custom.

We see a major eruption of idolatry in Exodus 32—and it concerns the people of Israel themselves and the golden calf. The Bible assumes the nations worshipped false gods, but they are only mentioned when they directly affect the Hebrews. Scripture’s concern is to trace the history of God’s covenant people, and it does not immediately pay attention to other nations that do not worship him. Similarly, when we learn more about Canaanite religion, it is not in the context of condemnation of Baal worship per se (though it is certainly implied) but as a prohibition for God’s people to worship him alone (Num 25:1–5). So there is no biblical narration of the historical origin of idolatry.

The Bible does make it clear that the reason for false religion was for people to seek independence from God or, more bluntly, to be their own gods. This attitude characterized the fall (Gen 3), when the serpent claimed that Adam and Eve could become like God and they were lured by the idea. The apostle Paul elaborates on this theme in Romans 1. He states that humans could know that there was a transcendent Creator who should receive their worship and gratitude. Yet they worshipped the creation instead. They applauded one another’s genius, committed acts contrary to nature, and recruited others to join them.

This suggests a puzzle: if people wanted to rid themselves of God, why did they start to worship other gods and spirits? We will attempt to solve this puzzle in four steps.

1. First, one cannot excise from human nature our need to worship.

This fact was brought out clearly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries during debates on the evolution of religion. Many scholars reasoned that the earliest religious beliefs must have been “primitive,” consisting of the recognition of a magic force pervading the world or the veneration of ancestor ghosts. These scholars sought to prove their thesis by pointing to modern tribal cultures having little material sophistication, who practiced appeasement of spirits and magic rituals; they assumed their religion was akin to that of earliest humankind.

These scholars, however, did not differentiate among those cultures that accurately reflect the earliest cultures and those that had clearly diverged from a previous pattern. Subsequently, scholars such as Andrew Lang and Wilhelm Schmidt demonstrated that those cultures that were closest to original human culture actually held to monotheism along with a high standard of morality.

2. We live in a world that was created by God, and its very nature leads us to recognize the reality of the one who made it.

Many people come to this conclusion simply by an intuition based on the grandeur of the universe, its beauty and complexity, from the smallest level of subatomic particles to the largest realm of galaxies. These reflections can also be expressed rationally by means of the classic arguments for God’s existence, that unless there is a God, this universe could not exist.

3. Some prominent atheists have conceded that they sometimes feel a need for a divine being in their lives.

For example, in the area of morality, we may have to choose between satisfying our own interests and doing what is right. Even people who do not believe in God as the Author of moral standards will usually still attempt to act morally. And so they are confronted with the fact that at times they have rationalized themselves into breaking the rules. In moments of clarity they may recognize that they have acted immorally or sinfully, and their wrongdoings affect other people as well as their own identities, consciences, and souls. Aware of their shortcomings and knowing that as humans they are unable to undo them, they must seek a superior being to forgive what they have done.

Anyone who goes through life with his eyes open recognizes that it is impossible to steer the ship of one’s own life. A person may claim that God is unnecessary, but it is a different thing to maintain that stance when one’s own child is sick, his crops fail, his marriage crumbles, or his life is in danger. In such times one realizes that he is not truly in control, so he takes recourse to spiritual powers.

4. But to which powers will one turn?

A person could pray to God, but he appears remote and not as someone with whom one can negotiate toward a desired outcome. On the other hand, in an animistic or polytheistic context, the powers are often weak and subject to manipulation; they come with the false promise that if one meets certain conditions, the desired solution will occur. So, even if the outcome should be negative, the person who turns to these powers feels he is somehow in control since the lack of success was his fault.

The monotheism of the earliest humans required a high level of behavior, but with little ritual attached to it. People made offerings as thanks and acts of devotion to God, but God did not need to be fed or persuaded to be good, and carrying out these simple ceremonies lay entirely in the hands of householders and patriarchs.

But as soon as people shifted away from worshipping the one true God toward gods with less knowledge and power, religion could become a profitable business. There arose experts, such as shamans or priests, on how to negotiate properly with the spiritual world. They claimed exclusive rights to the rituals, which they carried out mechanically, and bound people to their religion with fear.

Summary

While the Bible does not give us the history of false religion, it makes clear that the motivation for it was the quest for human autonomy. Nevertheless, the story of the Bible does offer all people reconciliation to the true God through the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. Through Christ, true worship of God is made possible for all people, regardless of their spiritual history.

Judaism

Elijah M. Brown

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children” (Deut 6:4–7).

These vibrant words continue to be recited by observant Jews as the central component of their daily morning and evening prayers. Known as the Shema, it is the dominant expression of the fundamental axioms of Judaism: (1) absolute monotheism, (2) unwavering and holistic love for God, and (3) steadfast commitment to the teachings of Scripture as rightly interpreted and applied.

History of Judaism

Repeated six times in just the book of Genesis, God entered into a special covenant relationship with Abraham and his Hebrew descendants with a promise of blessing should they remain faithful (Gen 12:1–3; 18:18–19; 22:17–18; 26:2–5; 28:13–15; 35:9–12). The Torah, meaning “teaching” or “law” and known in the OT as the Pentateuch, relays the Jewish understanding of creation, the election of Abraham and his family, the salvific redemption of the exodus, and the promulgation of the initial laws that form the foundation for faith. The Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings), subsequent sections in the Tanak, the Jewish acronym referencing the totality of the OT, offer an expanded understanding of faith as well as a theological reflection on the extent to which Jews historically embodied that faith.

Traces of modern Judaism are perhaps first located in the actions of Ezraa. As theologically interpreted by multiple prophets, repeated failures in monotheistic belief, corporate societal injustice, and individual unrighteousness resulted in seventy years of Babylonian exile beginning in 597 BC (Isa 28–30; 39–40; Jer 2–6; 25; Lam 1–2; Hab 1–2). When the Jews returned home to start a multigenerational process of painstaking restoration, a key architect was Ezraa. He is remembered today as the “Father of Judaism.” This moniker stems from Ezraa’s reestablishment of corporate ritual purity, Torah obedience, and protected ethnic homogenization maintained through marital endogamy, a practice that has helped the Jews remain a unique people group even in the midst of frequent dispersion (Ezra 8:15–10:17; Neh 8–10).

Additional developments following the years of Ezraa include a religious shift from temple, priestly, and sacrificial focus to lay-rabbinical leadership and prayer and faithful study of the Torah. This corresponded with the slow emergence of synagogues, “houses of assembly” for prayer and study, and the office of Pharisee and Sadducee. Perhaps most significantly was an intensification of theology anticipating a salvific Messiah who would fully restore the Jewish nation in the vein of King David that endures even today as an expectant but unfulfilled hope. For many Jews, a crucified and resurrected Jesus remains an anathema.

When Roman forces destroyed the Jerusalem temple in AD 70, allegiance to the divinely revealed law strengthened and transitioned. Rabbis began teaching that at Mount Sinai, God handed down a two-part revelation. The first was the installation of 613 laws codified in the Torah and divided into 248 positive commandments and 365 negative ones. Moses was also gifted with a second revelation: the Talmud. The Talmud is an “oral Torah” comprised of two major sections, the Mishnah and Gemara, imparted first by Moses, preserved by prophets, and sealed by qualified rabbis around AD 500. With sixty-three tractates, the Talmud is a central text of contemporary Judaism and channels the static, written laws of the Torah into an official interpretation of dynamic application to daily living that allows flexibility and ongoing adaptability of Jewish practice.

The razing of the temple further reinforced a migratory Diaspora of Jews living as minorities within other lands. Throughout medieval Europe, Jewish life ebbed and flowed often in newly emerging ghettos, special Jewish quarters frequently surrounded by walls with gates that closed at night. While this allowed the flourishing of a distinct ethnicity, religion, languages, and cultural customs within foreign lands, it foreshadowed darker measures. By the twentieth century, in many important respec...