Weltanschauung, Schismogenesis

             for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-23)

The Eight Core Worldview Issues: Origin, Identity, Meaning/Purpose, Morality, Destiny, Ultimate Reality, Nature of the World, Knowledge

                The German word for “worldview” is weltanschauung, and it is described as “a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world, especially from a specific standpoint” (Merriam Webster) It seems to me as if someone wanted to claim a concept higher than religion or philosophy. This might partly be because they saw religion as limited to “spiritual” ideas (or as only a corporate entity) and philosophy to “material” (or as only an individual entity) but I don’t see a functional difference among the three. They all explore the nature of the universe (including its creator or ruler – if any) and our relationship therewith (including with its other residents).

                Another big word you’ve probably only heard from me (if then!) is schismogenesis. It is the process by which we create divisions. It’s how we generate “us v them.” Generally speaking, it results in every good quality being attributed to “us” and every bad quality to “them.”

                In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul crushes the “us -good, them-bad” concept. As the verse above puts it, we're all sinners, and even claiming that our sins aren’t as bad as theirs doesn’t work. Most worldviews don’t go so far as to say we need God to fix our moral failings. We not only can do it ourselves, but we must. Fewer worldviews contend that our morality doesn’t matter. In most cases, morality is tied to destiny in some way. If you’re good enough, you get a good destiny. But the verse above makes it clear that no one is good enough to merit the good destiny, but God provides it anyway, through Jesus Christ.

                Some people object that Jesus should be the means, or the only means, by which God redeemed us. But that’s just another manifestation of their rebellion, and another example of why Jesus came to pay the price for our redemption.