Secularism and Christian Viewpoint About Living

Human beings have different ways of viewing the world regarding their perspectives. I will choose to compare and contrast the worldview of my Christian worldview with secular humanism. The rebirth of humanism in recent years can be primarily ascribed to its open-mindedness and lack of defining principles, which appeal to a generation longing for political correctness and blurring the boundaries of what is definite (Bråten & Everington, 2019).

Humanism rapidly adapts to various terms and forms, changing the culture of the time. The biblical worldview has inadvertently become susceptible to definition rather than Scripture over the past 50 years. From creation to salvation, there are as many “beliefs” held under the flag of Christianity as there are people. In this phase, we will compare and contrast Secular humanism and biblical worldviews.

The viewpoint of definition will be established by answering the question of how our identity as humans would change if we were produced naturally or by a higher power. According to the biblical worldview, man is considered a unique creation superior to all other creatures. The Bible explains that this line of demarcation stems from the fact that we were made in God’s likeness and had a triune nature, which consists of an intangible eternal soul and a material, physical body (Taves, 2018). There are similarities since humanism also believes that a person has an ethereal portion called knowledge and a physical body. Despite this commonality, the two’s relationship perspectives are in stark contrast. Humanism connects a person’s identity to how life naturally unfolds, is self-made, and constantly changes with the cosmos. The biblical worldview tells us that our identity is given through our divine relationship with our creator rather than developed inside ourselves.

The other perspective to compare between the two worldviews is morality. Christians have a theistic worldview and base their moral code on the Bible, God’s revelation. The Bible also holds that everyone is born into sin and is prone to deviate from God’s moral and ethical principles (Taves, 2018). According to this perspective, man needs to be saved and entirely depends on God’s favor. Humanism and Christianity both hold that people have moral duties to fulfill. The distinction can be apparent in the criteria used to assess morality. Humanists believe character is based more on human experience and culture than the Bible.

The issue of destiny serves as the final defining feature. Christians hold that only two eternal states exist for all people: “heaven or hell.” Scripture has these two states as genuine places where every man will ultimately reside, either in God’s presence or apart from it. The sole determining element of one’s final fate is their belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation. The shared perspective of the two ideologies is that our physical lives are limited and should be lived to the fullest. Although not in the context of eternity, Scripture likewise encourages us to recognize our fleeting nature. Humanism’s scientific view of death, which regards the mind or spirit as nothing more than a manifestation of the physical brain, accounts for the discrepancy (Coleman III et al., 2018). Scripture teaches that even though everyone will experience bodily death, there is a blessed hope of eternal life that can only be attained through faith and cannot be grasped by science or verified.

In conclusion, the need to shape our worldview in light of the Bible has never been greater. Believers must be confident in their beliefs and communicate well in a constantly changing culture. It is equally vital for believers to be knowledgeable about other people’s worldviews to display the truth of the Gospel.

References

Bråten, O. M., & Everington, J. (2019). Issues in integrating religious education and worldview education in an intercultural context. Intercultural Education, 30(3), 289-305.

Coleman III, T. J., Hood Jr, R. W., & Streib, H. (2018). An introduction to atheism, agnosticism, and nonreligious worldviews. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10(3), 203.

Taves, A. (2018). What is nonreligion? On the virtues of a meaning systems framework for studying nonreligious and religious worldviews in everyday life. Secularism and Nonreligion, 7(1).

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Secularism and Christian Viewpoint About Living

Write a 3-page paper that answers the following question, “What does Secularism say about how we should live”? Then, in the paper’s final paragraph, compare and contrast the difference between the Secular viewpoint on how we should live and the Christian viewpoint.