After Worldview part II

Part II: Concern and critiques, comprises essays by George N. Pierson, Aron Reppman, and Calvin Seerveld.

Pierson in a particularly insightful piece examines the worldview confusion among evangelicals. He argues, convincingly, that many evangelical scholars 'have misunderstood and, therefore, misuse the concept of worldview' (p. 29).

He sees four problem areas:
1. The failure to distinguish between theoretical and pre-theoretical thought
2. the failure to recognise the distinction between structure and direction
3. the failure to recognise the religious nature of all of life; and
4. the failure to distinguish between normativity and morality.

This diagnosis is spot on. It remains to be seen how evangelicals respond to this.

Aron Repman addresses the question: 'Does promoting a Christian worldview fulfill the mandate of Christian education?' His answers is yes and no! Yes in that some aspects have been remarkably fruitful and no in that aspects of worldview have not (yet) been fully recognised and developed. Again he comes back to the misunderstanding of the pre-theoretical. Worldview is a way of framing the question rather than a recipie for finding pre-packaged answers - 'a place to stand ... rather than a 'rocking-chair on which to sit' (p.51).

Seerveld looks at 'the damages of a Christian worldview'. He provides a timely reminder that a Christian world-and-life vision can become idolised and a shibboleth to determine who's in and who's out. He stresses that a Christian world-and-life view is not a 'cut and dried paradigm you can be cocksure about - one size fits all feet; it is also not just a tentative guess about what you should be duly hesitant' (p. 71).