About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

Humanism And The Biblical Worldview  

In 1970, at the age of 18, I came of age in the Lord.  I graduated from the simple Sunday school stories taught to me as a child.  I embraced the more mature Biblical worldview by which I could make sense of my existence in both the cosmic and cultural world in which I lived.     

I define a worldview in photographic terms.  It is a belief system that is the lens through which one views his existence in relation to the natural and cultural environment in which he lives.  Our current western cultural worldview is rooted in the belief that truth originates in the mind of man and thus may vary from person to person, from place to place, and from time to time.  It's called relativism; the belief that there is no absolute, fixed, universal truth to which all must adhere.  This concept of truth has formed the basis of the western worldview since its re-emergence in the beginning days of the Renaissance period of history.     

Our western culture's view of truth fails the test of logic.  Believing something is true for you but not necessarily true for me defies the very essence of what is true.  In contrast to this illogicality, Biblical truth originates in the mind of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is universally absolute, eternal, and constant.  It applies to everyone, everywhere, at all times.  It is the bedrock on which the Biblical worldview is built.   

In response to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's Evangelical Christians began to contrast their Biblical worldview with the secular worldview of the day, otherwise called "Secular Humanism."  So, being evangelically orientated, some of us could no longer hide our heads in the sand of cultural indifference.  We proudly rose from our pews.  We took to the streets to promote our Biblical worldview in the cultural marketplace in the hope of Christianizing culture.    

Depending on the issue, our effort to Biblicalize a non-Biblical culture took different paths.  One path that I and others took was to promote our pro-life stance by picketing abortion clinics in protest to that cultural sin.  

Another path we walked was the political path that was born in the late 1970's with the emergence of the Conservative Christian Right in America .  While living in southern Virginia in the early 1980's, the birthplace of this new conservatism, I involved myself in the 1982, mid-term, congressional election.  Despite being Canadian and unable to vote, I co-ordinated canvassing activities on behalf of our local Republican candidate for congress.  My mission was to promote Biblical values through the political process.  My goal was to implement the Biblical worldview in a non-Biblical culture.   

You can judge for yourself if our efforts over the last forty years have led to any Christianizing of our secular humanistic culture.  One sad emerging fact from these efforts is that Evangelical Christians are now seen as a political movement instead of the Christian movement it was intended to be.  Now, as we approach 2020, Evangelical Christians are arguing and fighting over political issues in the public arena for all to see.  Such political disputes kill our cause and disgrace the Lord we claim to serve.  Was this our intended goal when we ventured down the political path back in the late 1970's?  It certainly was not.          

In many respects our efforts to Christianize culture through social activism have been aborted because they are just as humanistic as the humanistic culture we have been trying to convert.  In the process of being socially active in the name of Biblical values we have neglected our Biblical mandate to proclaim the gospel of Jesus and make disciples for Him from all cultures. 

You may be right in thinking that the appointment of one more judge to the U. S. Supreme Court will tip the balance of power that will legally ban abortion, but we all know that will not stop the murder of pre-born humans.     

Historically speaking, legislating a Biblical worldview into a non-Biblical culture has never worked.  You cannot legislate morality.  Morality is a matter of the heart, not a matter of law.  In case you have forgotten, that is clearly attested by our Biblical worldview. 

To be consistent with our Biblical worldview, a change of heart by the indwelling Spirit of God, is the only way to change a life.  That, in turn, leads culture one step, or one life, closer to our Biblical worldview.  We get the cart before the horse, so to speak, when we try to Christianize culture without Christianizing individuals within the culture.  That is humanism, something our Biblical worldview warns us against.  Galatians 3:3 reads:    

"Are you so foolish?  After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?"

Promoting the Biblical worldview apart from the Holy Spirit's involvement is a technique that secular humanists employ in advancing their cause.  For the Christian, it is both foolish and futile.     

Foot note

If you are interested, I have developed my thoughts on this issue further in my paperback and e-book entitled, 'The Politics of God and the Bible.'  You can purchase it on all Amazon websites.