[7] The Biblical Worldview – Part 2

In the previous post I demonstrated how for rational justification we have to deduce our propositions from Scripture. So, how do we know? Because God has told us in the Bible. Now, we will study in depth about the metaphysical aspects of Biblical epistemology. What is knowledge? How does man gain knowledge? It is to these aspects we will now turn. So before we study about how man gains knowledge, we need to know about the nature of man and about the nature of knowledge. After this, we can study about how man gains knowledge.

The Image of God

The Biblical doctrine of creation states that man is made in the “image and likeness of God.” Since man is made in the “image of God,” we should discuss about God before we discuss about man. That is the logical order. Anthropology presupposes theology proper and that is way the topics are arranged in any text of systematic theology. Just because man is made in the “image of God” does not mean that he mirrors God’s attributes in every way. God is omniscient. We are not. God is omnipotent. We are not. God is eternal. We are not. We need to know about God’s attributes and which of those has limited expression in man – in other words, God’s communicable and incommunicable attributes.

The Bible begins by stating about the act of creation and the method God employed in the process. Based on just this one chapter alone, we can come to some elementary conclusions about the image of God. The first act that God does is to speak, for “In the beginning God said….” God spoke the whole of creation into existence (Genesis 1: 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26). Man was created “in the image of God” on the sixth day as the crown of all creation. Even if we do not look into the other passages in the rest of Scripture that throw light on this, we can come to some valid conclusions as to what the image is, based on the first chapter of Genesis alone.

First, we see that God spoke. We can at least expect that the image must include linguistic ability. And after God created man, He spoke to him and gave him a command – that is, words to obey (Genesis 2:16,17). This implies that Adam was created with faculties of understanding and reason, to process verbal information. He had to at least know the difference between obedience and disobedience to God’s commands. He did not learn this by experience. God instilled that in his mind when he created him.

God modeled clay and then breathed into it the breath of life, and then man became a living being – both body and spirit put together (Genesis 2:7). It is the image of God that separates us from the rest of creation. Let us look at some verses which throw further light on this:

“But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty that gives him understanding.” Job 32:8

“[God] who teaches more to us than to the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?” Job 35:11

“for God did not endow [the ostrich] with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.” Job 39:17

Thus, the “breath of the Almighty” is what gives man understanding, “teaches” him more and makes him “wiser” than animals. He was given “wisdom” and “good sense” as opposed to the Ostrich which was not endowed with these. Hence, it is not an exaggeration to say that the image of God refers to a rational mind. Some will say that the “image of God” refers to morality. But, what they fail to notice is that man is moral precisely because he is rational. Let me explain.

God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of life. They transgressed and Fall continued. Now for Adam and Eve to obey God, the needed to understand His commands in the first place. They needed to understand what is good and what is evil. They needed to discern the difference between obeying God and disobeying Him. Now all of that is a matter of rational thinking. In other words, morality presupposes rationality.

We don’t call a dog immoral because it mates with more than one female dog during mating season. We don’t speak about righteous cows or wicked horses. Animals are not moral because they are not rational. Moral judgments do not apply to animals because they are not rational. They cannot understand the commands of God, which is why they cannot obey them. On the other hand, man is a rational being. He can understand the commands of God, and is expected to obey them. Refusal to do so constitutes sin. Thus, in the most basic essence, sin is a lapse in rationality. And this is what happened during the Fall. The “image of God” was not destroyed, but distorted.

Since then, man’s ability to think correctly has been greatly hampered. This is referred to as the “noetic effects of sin.” He cannot think correctly about God, though God has made such knowledge clear to him, as explained in Romans 1:18-32. Men suppress the truth by their wickedness. God had already made things plain to them. Since creation, God’s divine attributes have clearly seen so that men who refuse to acknowledge God are without excuse. Their “thinking” was futile and their “foolish hearts” were darkened. They deluded themselves to be wise, when in fact, they were actually fools. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped created things rather than the Creator. Also, their rejection of the knowledge of God has caused them to indulge in reprehensive behavior which is morally deviant, violating God’s ontological status for sexuality.

Sin’s effect on the mind has been comprehensive. It has affected his whole thinking. Theologians call this “total depravity.” Before redemption, man is in spiritual darkness. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Because of this, he cannot think correctly about God, even though God has revealed true propositions to sinful man in his mind. This is called general revelation, because this is given to all men at all times, regardless of geographical and cultural boundaries. Psalm 19 and Romans 1 illustrate this point. God’s handiwork is seen in creation. Some people can try to smuggle in an empirical interpretation of this passage. They say that man can “see” God in nature. We earlier saw the futility of empiricism. Rather, the correct interpretation is that God has given the necessary presuppositions to man, so that when he sees God’s creation the appropriate response should be worship.

But this is not the case. Because of their wickedness, men deliberately suppress this knowledge and practice abominable things, thus inviting further divine judgment upon themselves. Thus, general revelation in itself does not have a salvific purpose. To attain redemption, man needs special revelation, that is, propositional content from the Bible which gives true statements about God, man, sin, salvation, and judgment.

Thus, as long as man is in this state of spiritual blindness, he cannot understand and believe true propositions about God. Ephesians 4:17-19 describes the spiritual state of man before conversion. Unbelievers live in the “futility of their thinking,” “darkened in understanding,” and separated from the life of God because of the “ignorance” that is in them because of their hardened hearts. Unbelievers are the way they are because they don’t think correctly, that is, Biblically, about God. And the cure to this also targets the mind. So, when God grants repentance, people are led to “a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25).

Only Christ can lift the sinner out of the epistemological abyss and grant him “the light of the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). In Ephesians 4:23-24, we are told to be “made new in the attitude of our minds.” So, to not be like the unbelievers, we must no longer think we way we used to do, before our conversion. We have to put on the new self which is being “renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10).

Can you see the Scripture’s emphasis on defining the “spiritual life” in terms of intellect? Just because something is “spiritual” doesn’t automatically mean that it is mystical, or something esoteric. The Biblical model of spirituality is centered on the mind, and this should be the target in evangelism and discipleship. When man is born in sin, the “image of God” is in a distorted state, and at conversion, God begins to work on it restoring it gradually to conform it to the likeness of Christ.

It takes a sovereign work of God whereby he converts sinful man’s mind and grants him faith. Since this article is not a treatise on soteriology, I cannot provide detailed exegetical arguments. Please refer any text on Reformed dogmatics (Grudem, Berkhof, Hodge, Calvin, to name a few) to understand soteriology comprehensively. God has given us everything we need for sanctification through knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3). The subsequent development as a Christian consists of growing in knowledge and grace (2 Peter 3:18), renewing the mind, which leads to transformation, so that we can know and do the good pleasing and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

In Psalm 32:9 God says, “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Therefore, to despise rationality is to mock and insult God’s wisdom in the way He made us. If we shun knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the things of God, we are not acting like “mature Christians” but like brute beasts which have no understanding.

The Biblical View of Knowledge

Now, we need to understand about the nature of knowledge. What is knowledge? What is the difference between knowledge and opinion? What is the link between knowledge and truth? Are they same or refer to something different? These are the questions that we will unwrap and answer.

Something is considered to be knowledge when the information is true. When we are talking about knowledge, there is a cognitive claim. That is, the idea of truth is implicit when the word “knowledge” is used. Otherwise that proposition is called an opinion or something else. Knowledge, is therefore, based on truth, and something which is not true cannot be reckoned as knowledge. Vincent Cheung defines knowledge as the “intellectual retention and comprehension of true propositions.” We can claim to have knowledge when the propositions we affirm are true.

But now, how do we know which propositions are true? Everybody believes some propositions or the other, the sum of which constitutes his worldview. When there are various worldviews, how does one judge which worldview is true? Answering this would require us to go into the fine details of apologetics and bibliology, and that is beyond the scope of this article. However, I will briefly state a few points which would present the answer in an embryonic form. Later, in another essay, I will elaborate on this.

John 17:17 says, “Thy word is truth.” Truth is defined as God’s Word itself. Notice that the verse does not say “Thy word is true.” This would mean that there is some higher standard of truth, and being “true” would mean conformity to that standard. Rather it says, “Thy word is truth.” This means that truth is God’s Word itself. There is no standard for comparison, since the Bible is the ultimate standard. Every other worldview is judged by the Biblical worldview. The Biblical worldview consists of all the propositions of Scripture and all propositions validly deduced from them. Every non-Biblical worldview is false since they do not start to reason from true premises. Any proposition in any worldview should be evaluated from the vantage point of Scripture. Since God is the ultimate reference point and authority for everything, He alone has the exclusive right to define truth and falsehood, right and wrong. To not believe His Word is rebellion and sin.

Now, we need to know about the nature of knowledge. As I mentioned earlier, for us to discuss about how man gains knowledge, we need to know the nature of man and the nature of knowledge. We have already examined Scriptural data and concluded that the “image of God” in man refers to a rational mind, endowed with understanding, with the capacity to process propositional content in a logical fashion. However, because of sin, man’s ability to reason syllogistically from true premises has been severely skewed. At conversion, this is reversed and the Christian is taught by God from His Word to think correctly.

Now, knowledge refers to true propositions. And when we say that something is “truth,” we are referring to a particular proposition or set of propositions which are true. So, in that sense, knowledge and truth are synonymous. I will be using these terms in that sense from now on. In John 17:17 we saw that God’s Word is truth. The Bible contains the self-justifying claim that all it contains is the truth. Now we have to look study about the nature of truth.

I am stressing the importance of the “nature” of truth again and again because there are a lot of funny ideas floating around. Many say that truth is an experience, an encounter, an emotion, truth is pictorial (“A picture is worth a thousand words”) and so on. However, none of these are true, as we shall see shortly. Some of you might feel that I am delving too much into all this. But this is important. Wrong theory will lead to wrong practice. So, it is worth spending some extra time learning the correct theory, so that apply we can it appropriately and glorify God. Here are some verses which throw light on the nature of truth.

Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. (Psalm 119:142)

Yet you are near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. (Psalm 119:151)

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalm 110:160)

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. (Psalm 33:4)

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. (Revelation 3:7)

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. (Revelation 3:14)

Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9)

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5)

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” (Revelation 22:6)

As the above verses state, it is the “words” which are true. We can now conclude that truth is propositional. A proposition, as defined in logic textbooks, refers to a sentence which can be either affirmed or denied. A sentence consists of a set of words connected in a meaningful fashion. A proposition is a “technical” term for a sentence. Words and clauses without context do not constitute a proposition. I am stating and explaining all this to the minute detail, because this has wide implications for what follows.

According to the Bible, truth is propositional, since only a proposition can be true or false. Truth is not pictorial. A picture is not worth a thousand words. Read Daniel chapter 2. King Nebuchadnezzar has a strange dream where he sees a lot of images and is deeply troubled by it. He calls in the courtiers to tell him the dream and interpret it. Nobody is able to do so. Daniel intervenes and God reveals the dream to him and the interpretation of it. The king did not understand the meaning of the image in gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. The king did not understand what was meant by the stone striking the feet of the image and the image crumbling down. Both the image and event by themselves did not convey an iota of meaning to the king. Later on, Daniel, having been given the revelation by God, explains the meaning in propositions to the king and then it makes sense to him.

This proves that a picture is not worth a single word, let alone thousand words! If it is really so, that a picture is worth a thousand words, then why not convey that very idea through some picture? Why waste seven words to explain that idea when you can try to communicate that through a painting or some other pictorial equivalent? Obviously, it is impossible to communicate that idea through any picture. That is why they use words and not pictures to say that a picture is worth a thousand words! These statements might sound romantic but are stupid to the core. As children of the light, we should not parrot the clichés that the children of darkness repeat so very often. They don’t know what they talk about most of the time. In contrast with them, we should think before we speak.

I had mentioned that words or clauses without context do not constitute a proposition. In Daniel chapter 5, another king, Belshazzar sees the handwriting on the wall. There are four words, and the king is clueless as to what they mean. Daniel is called in, God reveals the necessary propositions to him, and then he makes sense of those words. This proves that single words, or phrases by themselves, without a context are meaningless and do not convey anything. After Daniel explains, the king knows and understands. Before that he was in an emotional frenzy. He was frightened, his face turned pale and his knees were knocking together. None of this emotional hype gave him truth. It was Daniel’s explanation in propositions that gave him truth. This also serves to reinforce that emotional excitement or fright will not convey any truth. Only propositions will convey truth.

In conclusion, it is worth quoting Vincent Cheung again: “knowledge is the intellectual retention and comprehension of true propositions.”

Biblical Epistemology

Having discussed the nature of man and the nature of knowledge, we are now fit to discuss about what the Bible teaches about how man acquires knowledge. The introductory chapters of 1 Corinthians provide an outline of Christian epistemology besides teaching other things. In 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, we learn that God has made the wisdom of the world to be foolish in His sight. God had determined that human ingenuity would not discover the truth about God, “for in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know him” (v 21).

Commenting on these verses, Mathew Henry says, “All the valued learning of this world was confounded, baffled, and eclipsed, by the Christian revelation and the glorious triumphs of the cross. The heathen politicians and philosophers, the Jewish rabbis and doctors, the curious searchers into the secrets of nature, were all posed and put to a nonplus. This scheme lay out of the reach of the deepest statesmen and philosophers, and the greatest pretenders to learning both among the Jews and Greeks. All the boasted science of the heathen world did not, could not, effectually bring home the world to God. In spite of all their wisdom, ignorance still prevailed, iniquity still abounded. Men were puffed up by their imaginary knowledge, and rather further alienated from God.”

In chapter 2:9-10, we learn about God’s plan. “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard (empiricism), no mind has conceived (unaided rationalism), what God has prepared for those who love Him – but He has revealed it to us by His Spirit.” Notice the contrast that is being drawn up here. Man, with his own effort, could not do anything to reach out to God. But God has taken the step to reach out to man and reveal knowledge to him.

Based on sensations (“eye has not seen, ear has not heard”) man could not learn or discover anything about God. We earlier saw how on the basis of empiricism, one cannot know anything truly, let alone know about God. On the basis of unaided rationalism, one cannot know the true premises (“no mind has conceived”), so the entire reasoning is arbitrary and haphazard. Empiricism and Rationalism cannot provide man with knowledge of God. So, what is the way out of this epistemological abyss? REVELATION!

Scripture continues and says “God has revealed it to us by His Spirit” (2 Corinthians 2:10). Empiricism and Rationalism (that is, unaided rationalism) have failed to provide humanity with the knowledge of God. Quoting Mathew Henry again: “all the boasted science of the heathen world did not, could not, effectually bring home the world to God.” In spite of all their meticulous efforts, “ignorance still prevailed.” With all the hype of civilization, men still had only “imaginary knowledge” and were “further alienated from God.” What pitiable state of affairs for those without the knowledge of God! But this was so, because God determined this is the way it ought to be (1 Corinthians 1:21). This was to frustrate human effort, pride, and wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:29). This was so that man could never boast.

The Bible says that we know about God because God has chosen to reveal knowledge about Him through the words of the Bible. “All Scripture is God breathed,” that is, (in the Greek) literally, from the mouth of God. Again, read the section on bibliology from any text on systematic theology to understand the doctrine of the Word comprehensively. God has given us knowledge about Him in His Word, the Bible. Theology is possible because God has revealed knowledge. If God did not reveal it, we would not know about it. “The secret thing belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Now, the Bible teaches that God creates, controls, and facilitates all operations in the universe, whether it is the death of a sparrow, or knowledge acquisition by man. When it comes to knowledge of God, though He has revealed truth about Him in His Word, not every person reading it can understand it or believe it. Because, even there, man is dependent on God for understanding and believing truth. Here are some verses which teach that.

All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:47-48)

When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. (Acts 18:27)

And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” (Romans 10:20)

If God decides to reveal knowledge to somebody He will do so, and if He decides to withhold knowledge from another person, He will do so. Knowledge acquisition by man is solely dependent upon the power and pleasure of God.

At the same time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure.” (Mathew 11:25-26)

No other view of epistemology will be more humiliating and frustrating to human effort and pride. But this is precisely the reason, why God determined it this way – so that no man may boast before Him. Knowledge is possible because God reveals it to man through the Bible and reinforces it in his mind and makes him understand it when he sees or hears propositions from it.

However, some will say that one still has “see” the words that are written on the paper in the Bible or “hear” the words of the Bible when it is being read aloud. That is, they still want to hold on to empiricism. We have already refuted the futility of empiricism, and we need not repeat it here. They make this objection not because empiricism is defensible, but because the noetic effects of the Fall is strong in their minds, and they need Divine operation to blast the strongholds of empiricism. God have mercy on them.

Knowledge is conveyed and retained in the form of propositions. Knowledge is retained in the mind. God engraves knowledge in the mind of man. So what then, is the role of “seeing” and “hearing”? Are they the means of conveying knowledge? NO! That is what we refuted in the earlier part of the essay. To answer this, we again we turn to 2 Corinthians 2:9-10. Here we see that neither seeing nor hearing can provide us with knowledge of God. But “God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.” It’s God’s Spirit who imparts knowledge of God in the form of propositions to the mind of man. So, knowledge does not reach us through seeing or hearing. Sensations do not provide any means of knowledge. God’s Spirit conveys the propositions directly to the mind of man without any sensations coming in between. Verse 11 and 12 go on to explain that no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. And God conveys His thoughts to us through His Spirit, so that we may understand what God has given us.

Sensations are merely the occasions during which God conveys knowledge to the mind of man. That is, upon the occasion of reading the Bible, God directly conveys knowledge to the mind of man and causes Him to believe what is written. Upon the occasion of hearing the words of the Bible, God directly conveys knowledge to the mind of man and causes him to understand and retain it. So, knowledge NEVER came from sensations. The sensations are merely the occasions during which God directly conveys knowledge to the mind of man. This also explains why those people who are deaf and blind from birth can still understand the Bible using the special means of communication available for them. Hence, this view is also called occasionalism, which refers to the fact that upon the occasion of the concerned sensation, God directly and immediately conveys knowledge to the mind without any secondary means.

This is Biblical epistemology and it is consistent with the Biblical view of the nature of man and the Biblical view of the nature of knowledge. Biblical occasionalism is the only hope for finding the way out the epistemological darkness.

[6] The Biblical Worldview – Part 1

It would help to read through essays [1] and [2] again, because unless you grasp the core issues of the first principle, it will be impossible to evaluate any worldview. So, I repeat it again that it would be worth reading those essays before you read this essay.

Now, I prefer to use the term “Biblical” worldview over “Christian” worldview because the former is more specific as to the content, when the latter is more likely to arouse feelings of the cultural ambience that goes along with Christianity. Moreover, in the present-day religious climate, there are so many things done under the name of “Christianity,” such as Catholicism, and other cults which borrow Christian terminology, when in fact, they are diametrically opposed to Christianity. For this reason, when the term “Biblical worldview” is used, it would point to a very specific source of content – the Bible.

The First Principle – Biblical Infallibility

The first principle of the Biblical worldview is “the Bible alone is the Word of God.” A first principle should be the starting point, should be self-authenticating, make knowledge possible, and the rest of the propositions in the worldview should be deduced from it.

Now, no first principle can be “proved,” in the sense that it cannot be argued for on the basis of some other proposition. If that is so, then it is no longer the “first” principle. If you want proof for everything you can have proof for nothing, since, to prove A you will need B, and to prove B you will need C, and you will land up in an infinite regress. If that is so, the worldview cannot even begin! So, the idea that we should have “proof” for everything is nonsense. What “proof” do you have for the very idea that you should have proof for everything?

But just because one does not have “proof” for the first principle does not mean that it cannot be logically defended. In the following essay, this is what I intend to do regarding the Biblical worldview.

The Starting Point

The first principle should be the starting point of the worldview. There can be no proposition higher than this from which it is derived. This is the ultimate proposition in the entire worldview, and this means there can be no other proposition greater than this. The first principle of the Biblical worldview is Biblical infallibility. This means that the Bible is cannot make a mistake when it talks about something.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16).

“Prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)

This means that all the propositions in the Bible are true. This is so because God revealed all the propositions in the Bible. All of Scripture – ALL of it – carries God authority, and this means you cannot selectively take some propositions from Scripture and reject others. When you come to the Bible, you accept it as a whole. If you take some propositions and reject others, by what epistemological standard are you doing so? If you affirm the first principle of the Biblical worldview, then you are committed to affirming all that the Bible states.

There is another term – inerrancy – which means that the Bible does not make an error when it talks about anything. Though these two terms are somewhat similar in meaning, the term infallibility is more specific since it denotes the actual potential (the Bible cannot make a mistake) than the actual state of affairs (the Bible does not make a mistake).

Now, every worldview has its first principle. No one can deny us taking our first principle as Biblical infallibility. Every worldview begins somewhere or the other, and we begin with the proposition that God has revealed all the propositions in the Bible. This is called presuppositionalism.

The critics will say that we first assume the existence of God, and then we come to the Bible to prove it. But if you notice, I am not concerned with proving the “existence” of God at all. Merely proving that God “exists” means nothing. Which God (? god)? The God of the Bible, or the Koran, or some New Age idea of Cosmic Consciousness? I am not assuming the existence of God independent of the Bible, and then coming to the Bible to prove it. Rather I first come to the Bible, and then know that God exists, and that He has revealed Himself in the words contained therein.

Self-authentication

Next, a first principle should be self-authenticating. That is, it should satisfy the very demands it is making. In case of the Biblical worldview, the first principle is self-authenticating. How do we know the Bible is the word of God? The very Bible tells us so!

“Thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)

“Every word of God is flawless.” (Proverbs 30:5)

Now, there are those who will say that this amounts to circular reasoning – using the conclusion as a part of the premise. But you should note that we are dealing with the first principle. You cannot have a higher authority to validate the first principle. Since the first principle is the ultimate proposition in the worldview, it should not depend on any other proposition for its justification. So, how do I know the Bible is the word of God? The Bible tells me so.

Just take a look at the first principles of other worldviews. In agnosticism, the first principle is that one cannot know anything about reality. But this first principle cuts itself because one has to know something about reality in order to state that nothing can be known about reality. One assumes some knowledge of reality in order to deny it in the first place. Thus, agnosticism cannot stand logical scrutiny at the level of the first principle.

Next, in empiricism, the first principle is that “all knowledge comes through sensations.” Does this first principle justify itself? Did the very idea that all knowledge comes from sensations, come from sensations itself? No. Then, where did it come from? You see, the first principle of empiricism does not validate itself. Moreover, how do you know the senses are reliable? The reliability of sensations has to be established prior to that, which has not been done, and one cannot proceed to do so, on the basis of this first principle which collapses right at the start.

Next, in the scientific worldview – scientism – the first principle is that something is true only when “proved” by science. Ignoring the logical fallacies in the scientific method for now, was that very proposition – that everything should be proved by science – proved by science itself? If everything should be proved by science, then you also have to prove that very proposition by science – which cannot be done. The first principle of the scientific worldview digs its own grave.

In contrast with these irrational worldviews, the first principle of the Biblical worldview states that God has revealed Himself in the words of the Bible. And how do I know that? From the Bible itself! So, the Biblical worldview is self-justifying.

But, just because any worldview claims infallibility does not mean that it is, indeed infallible. For example, the Koran also claims infallibility. But when we examine the Koran and look at the other propositions in it, we will find that it contradicts itself and thus self-destructs. I will write about this in a separate post in the near future.

The Possibility of Knowledge

Next, the first principle of the worldview should make knowledge possible. For example, if I choose a first principle such as, “a guitar has six strings,” such a proposition may be true but does not tell me about the nature of the universe, or why murder is wrong. So, a first principle must be broad enough to make knowledge possible.

Any worldview has components such as epistemology, metaphysics, anthropology, ethics, soteriology, and eschatology. The first principle should be epistemological. If the first principle is metaphysical or ethical, it cannot be self-authenticating and cannot proceed. For example the proposition, “God exists,” does not make knowledge possible. How does one know about the existence of God in the first place? So, the first principle should be the epistemological foundation of the entire worldview.

In the Biblical worldview, the first principle is that “the Bible alone is the word of God.” So, on this basis the rest of the categories can be derived from taking the propositions from Scripture and validly deducing other propositions from them.

Network of Propositions Deduced From the First Principle

Finally, it is important to remember that a worldview is a network of propositions. That is, all the propositions will be related to each other. If they are not related and end up contradicting each other, then the worldview will self-destruct. Also, all the propositions in the worldview should be derived and deduced from the first principle. If a proposition is not derived from the first principle, then it means its rejects the first principle, and depends upon some other worldview’s first principle. This reeks of inconsistency and contradiction, and such a worldview should be rejected straight away.

I have shown you earlier that the other worldviews cannot even begin on the basis of the first principle, let alone validly deduce other propositions from it. In contrast with this irrationality, in the Biblical worldview, we start of with the first principle of Biblical infallibility and deduce the rest of the propositions from it. This is called systematic theology, and to this we will now turn.

Components of the Biblical Worldview – Systematic Theology

To know the components of the Biblical worldview one needs to study systematic theology. In systematic theology, we gather all the verses regarding a particular topic and validly deduce conclusions from them. The topical arrangement that is followed in most systematic theologies corresponds to the philosophical outline which I had outlined earlier.

The doctrine of the Word of God (Bibliology) is the theological equivalent of epistemology, which is the theory of knowledge? How do we know? Because God has told us so in His Word.

Next, moving on to doctrine of God (Theology Proper), we are told about the nature and attributes of God. We learn about creation, providence, and the beings of the spiritual world such angels and demons. This corresponds to metaphysics, which deals with the nature of reality (Greek, meta = beyond; physics = material world).

Next, we move on to anthropology and we learn about the creation, purpose, and nature of man. A subdivision of anthropology is the doctrine of sin, or hamritiology. We are told about what went wrong with man and the state mankind is in.

Next, there is soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation. But prior to this, there is Christology, or the doctrine of Christ, where we learn about the nature and attributes of Christ, and about the work He has accomplished for His people. As a result of this we study about the application of this in soteriology.

Finally, there is eschatology, or the doctrine of the end times, which is the Christian theological equivalent of the doctrine of time. We learn that time is not cyclical, but linear, and that God will bring history to a grand finish at Judgment Day, when He will judge the world through Christ.

This is a succinct summary of the components of the Biblical worldview. In systematic theology textbooks there are other components such as pneumatology, ecclesiology, and missiology, but those are not the core doctrines which accentuate and separate the Biblical worldview from the rest of the worldviews.

What about truth in other worldviews?

Now a question which might arise is, what about truth in other worldviews? What about other religions? Aren’t all religions just the same? Don’t we all reach to the same God? Most of the amicable folks who want to promote “world peace” and “religious harmony” keep harping on such statements again and again. But repeating something again and again does not make it true. Most of those who say that there is truth in all religions, that all religions are basically the same, and that we can learn from all of them, betray their ignorance in wide measure. In fact, if they take the minimal effort to study world religions, the contrast between the worldviews will be glaringly obvious.

To affirm that there is some truth in every worldview means that the person making the claim already has all the truth, so he is able to recognize it in each and every worldview. Unless one has omniscience, one cannot declare one worldview true and the other as false.

In Colossians 2:3, we are told that in Christ are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” There is no wisdom, knowledge, and revelation elsewhere in any other religion or worldview. In Revelation 19:13, Christ is also called the Word of God. Hence, by deduction we can state that all knowledge and wisdom is found the Word of God – the Bible. Of course, this does not mean that God has revealed exhausted His mind in the Bible, but it means everything He wants us to know is revealed in the Bible. The Bible was given to reveal truth and not to conceal it. God is omniscient, and He has revealed a portion of His mind to us in Scripture. This is not an excuse to shout “mystery” to justify our laziness or unbelief, but to pursue the knowledge of God with all ferocity and vigor since “everything we need for life and godliness” is revealed to us in Scripture (2 Peter 1:3).

The Bible provides us with sufficient information for all intellectual and pragmatic endeavors. To deny this is spiritual treason. Since God has revealed Himself in the Bible, and His knowledge is infallible, it means that everything the Bible speaks about is completely true.

There are some who say that worldviews can be partially true, and partially false. But this is just a subtle attempt to cover up their incompetence. To say that a worldview can be partially true means that there are some propositions which are true and other which are false. However, on what basis will you decide which propositions are true and which are false? This means that you should presuppose another worldview and judge the worldview under question on the basis of that worldview. But how do you know whether the worldview which you use to judge the other worldview is completely true?

Unless you have infallible information revealed to you by an omniscient mind, there is no way for you to authoritatively judge any worldview. This is what God has done in the Bible. He has infallibly revealed His mind to us in the words of Scripture. So, on the basis of Scripture we judge each and every worldview that exists.

The Biblical Worldview vs other worldviews

Strictly speaking, there are only two worldviews – the Biblical worldview and the rest of the worldviews. Right at the dawn of history, God ordained this conflict (Genesis 3:15), maintains it. The contrast between the worldviews is so glaring that the Bible refers to it as the contrast between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). This is why conversion from any other worldview to the Biblical worldview entails a complete revamping of one’s thought life wherein he or she is taught to think on the basis of Scripture (Psalm 1:2).

Darkness is not a dim light, but rather the absence of light. That is the intellectual state of all the other worldviews. The Biblical worldview is not “more” rational than the other worldviews. The Biblical worldview is the only rational worldview and the rest are irrational gibberish, no matter from where they come from (Romans 1:22).

So, what does the Bible say about other worldviews? From Psalm 147:19-20, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, we are told that God revealed His Word only through the prophets of Israel and the apostles in the New Testament. He has not revealed His Word elsewhere. So, on the basis of the Biblical worldview, we affirm that there is no possibility of truth elsewhere. On the basis of the Biblical worldview we affirm that every other worldview is false and will lead to damnation (John 14:6).

Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, they have no light of dawn!” What is peculiar about the light of dawn? It has very minimal light, since it is just recovering from the night. That is the way it is with anyone who does not speak according to the Bible. They do not even have that minimal light and understanding. They are in intellectual and epistemological darkness. So, how does one get out? Not until God sovereignly grants understanding to their mind. We will now look at this in detail.