Talking about truth and worldviews can be pretty confusing. It’s easy to get lost in the discussion and to give up and not know what’s going on. This happens because not only do we not talk about this very often, but its also easy to get mixed up with how certain words are being used and being defined.

But, in the end, not only is the topic of worldviews important, because we literally use our worldview all the time, but it can also be much simpler to understand than we think.

So, how does truth and worldviews work together? Well, rather than using the word “truth” I will use the word “real.” Too often the word “truth” is confused with belief. Rather, truth is what is really real, what exists and is unchanged whether anyone believes in it or does not believe in it. A good example of that would be gravity. Whether or not someone believes in gravity or not, gravity will always exist because it is real, it is true. The same principle can be applied to something bigger like God. I am not arguing for God’s existence here, I am just pointing out that the reality or truth of the matter is that God either exists or He doesn’t exist. God cannot exist and not exist at the same time. So, whether or not people believe in Him or not, God still either exists or doesn’t exist.

This is where worldviews and beliefs come into play. My worldview is my view of what is real (true). They are the glasses in which I see the world. Some people say that everyone has their own “truth.” But, that doesn’t make sense, because if my worldview says that gravity doesn’t exist then my worldview (or belief) is wrong. I guess what I am trying to say is that everyone has a right to their own opinion (belief), but that doesn’t mean all opinions (beliefs) are right.

So, in the end, our goal is to have our worldview match up with reality, to have a clear view of what is real and to live by that reality. Some people have said that it doesn’t matter whether one’s worldview matches up with reality or not, whether its true or not, as long as one is self-fulfilled and happy. But, to be honest, I know I for one would definitely want to make sure I had the right view of whether there is a God or not, whether or not there is an afterlife or not, and so forth.

There are five things that we must understand about worldviews*:

1. Not everyone has a religion, but everyone has a worldview. Its part of our common humanity, whether not its realized, thought through or verbalized. People usually assume the way they view the world is the right way. No matter if someone calls themselves religious or not, “ALL PEOPLE LIVE RELIGOUSLY BY THEIR WORLDVIEW”

2. ALL worldviews begins with a set of assumptions that can ONLY be taken by faith. No worldview is established by shear logic. No one knows everything about the universe. To claim there is no God or to say that if there was a God we wouldn’t be able to know him assumes something and involves faith. Nonbelief is an article of faith. Everyone has a faith starting point.

3. Worldview assumptions are rarely acknowledged openly, questioned or challenged by those who hold them. We use our worldview all the time and don’t think about it. We act on what we really believe and not so much on what we say we believe. For example, someone might say that “What is right/wrong for you is not what is right/wrong for me” until you slash his backpack open and all his books fall out or on a bigger level, when they are suddenly left to defend the acts of terrorism on 9/11. That person’s moral relativism is overcome by his worldview that slashing someone’s stuff or people flying airplanes into buildings is wrong.

4. No worldview is totally open-minded. Every worldview forces some type of narrow-mindedness. All worldviews make truth claims that exclude other worldviews. It’s what makes a worldview a worldview. What’s funny is that some worldviews try to side-step this issue by condemning narrow-mindedness. They think they are being open-minded and accepting of all worldviews by saying there is no truth. But, by doing that, their truth relativism overrides all other truth claims of other worldviews. People used to think you could be neutral, in regard to worldviews, and use reason to get to the truth of things—That is a myth! EVERYONE IS BIASED. This happens especially in high-school and college classrooms when professors teach as if they are coming from a neutral standpoint on various issues.

5. Every worldview has strict rules or absolutes that must never be broken. I am not talking about just moral absolutes, instead, I am talking about foundational assumptions and internal logic that govern a worldview. These are revealed in superstitions, philosophical ideas, our views of what we can/cant know, etc. These strict rules are unmistakably present in EVERY worldview. All worldviews expect for their rules to be followed and they may be either religious or philosophical.

In the end, it’s important to recognize that there is a reality, and there are different worldviews that say different things about this reality and what is true. As a result, it’s important for us to think about whether or not our worldview matches up with reality. Because our worldview will affect the way you life the rest of your life.

-Eric Kuehl

P.S. Make sure to join us for the next couple of weeks as we bring in expert panels of professors and pastors to answer any questions you have about the relationship between faith and science and religions!

[*Content of 5 points about worldviews derived from "Blah, Blah, Blah: Making Sense of the World’s Spiritual Chatter," by Bayard Taylor]