Essay Sample on Personal Worldview and Other Philosophical Beliefs

At this time my worldview is Christian Theism which I choose over Naturalism, Existentialism Atheistic, and New Age, influenced, in part, by the worldview test, Christian Theism. The Christian theistic worldview believes in a transcendental, infinite, God that is revealed through the official scripture, the Bible (Lamoureux, 108). This is the main difference between Christian Theism worldview and other worldviews. The Christian God is immanent and transcendent, omniscient, and triune. God is also believed to be good and sovereign. There is no other God like Him and he is the only true one. Unlike other worldviews, the characteristics of God cannot be seen from the forms of nature or in the stars and moon but rather He is revealed only in special circumstances as He wishes. The truth of God is He is a Trinity; three beings in one (Lamoureux, 110).

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The universe in Christian Theism is orderly (Lamoureux, 108). Ex nihilo was created by the cosmos God and it is to operate uniformly in terms of cause and effect and it does so in an open system. Ex nihilo was not created by some mass or from Himself but rather from nothing. The universe came to be through the word of His mouth. The natural laws that maintain the form of the universe were created by God and the earth functions in ecological harmony with it. The orderly creation of the universe is a sign that God presents human beings with clarity and not confusion. The worldview draws conclusions from the nature of the universe to the character of God which is seen as orderly. This characteristic of God is critical in the Christian Theistic worldview as it provides a foundation for morality, purpose, and science. The worldview does not begin with the human being but rather with the sovereign God. The answers that human beings pose, for example, about the source of life, are all answered as God is the source of everything (Lamoureux, 115).

The human being is created in the image of the creator of the universe. The characteristics that human beings share with God are intelligence, knowledge of right from wrong, morality, creativity, and gregariousness. The meaning of the image of God is still not settled on but most Christian Theistic believers understand the statement as meaning that human beings and God have similar nature although human beings are imperfect and possess finite powers. The similarities allow for Christians to be in fellowship with God. God is the ultimate judge of what is right and what is wrong. Human beings have the same capabilities but have been corrupted by sin. The acts of the human being on earth are all seen by God. After death, the people who lived according to the writings in the Bible go to Heaven, a spiritual place where God reigns forever. Those who did not live according to the teachings go to hell where they endure suffering for eternity.

The Christian Theism worldview was chosen after research of the beliefs from different scholarly articles of the same. The Bible was studied and of all the worldviews that were presented, Christianity was the most viable. The foundation of the Christian faith corresponded with beliefs I had, especially about the creation of the universe and the prime reality, God, being in charge of the universe and everything in it. The different worldviews can be analyzed by analyzing the merits of the worldview using the 4 Cs: Consistency, Congruity, Consistency, and Coherence.

Naturalism

The prime reality of the naturalistic belief is that matter is eternal and is all. There is no God in any form. The only reality experienced is nature and everything in the universe can be explained through nature (Bhaskar, 12). The universe is eternal and has always existed that operates on laws that do not change. There is no existence outside the universe. Reality is only what can be sensed by the human being. The basis of the belief is explicitly in the natural world. There are no supernatural powers or a possibility of miracles happening on earth. Explanations of events are through scientific methods. The cosmos is the only reality as God is not a possibility (Bhaskar, 26).

The human being is a complex machine that can be studied to explain more about the universe. Human beings are not greater than the world around them and are just a part of the cosmos. The creation of humans was not by an intelligent creator as there is no one and nothing beyond the cosmos. The personalities that people have are not a reflection of the creator but an interrelation of physical and chemical properties that are still not fully understood (Bhaskar, 28). The belief in science that nothing can be created from nothing is the main difference between Naturalism and Christianity. The something that everything has to be created from is the cosmos and not God. Not all naturalists believe in this with some rejecting the logic that there has always been something in existence. They, however, argue that the universe came about as a result of pressure, temperature, and density.

Matter to the naturalists is anything that exists and can be seen, felt, or tasted and occupies space (Bhaskar, 54). This is the beginning and the end of the prime reality of naturalists. This is basically the cosmos. This is all that exists and will ever exist. Generally, the universe is only made up of one single substance in different forms. The universe cannot be reordered internally or externally, that is, by a god or by human beings themselves, and it thus closed. Human beings cease to exist physically and mentally after death and all the mysteries of the world are understood through the analysis of natural phenomena.

Naturalism lacks consistency as not all the naturalists agree on the foundation of the faith. Some believe that the universe was always in existence while others believe that the universe did not just exist but came from something else. All the aspects of naturalism are nevertheless understood with the belief offering an explanation for all the aspects of humanity and the world around making naturalism comprehensive. There is congruity of all the arguments of naturalism as every aspect is harmonious with others and there are no contradictions, although there lack s explanations for some aspects, such as, the workings of the human body. Naturalism is based on what can be seen or studied with the human brain, that is, nature, making it highly coherent.

Existentialism Atheistic

Existentialism Atheistic is a philosophy that places special focus on the isolation and uniqueness of the experience of the individual in an indifferent or even hostile environment (Vail et al, 1288). Existentialism Atheistic regards the existence of human beings as unexplainable and the freedom of choice is stressed as well as responsibility of ones choices and actions. This philosophy is generally atheistic although some of the philosophers that believe in this have made attempts in adopting theistic paradigms into the philosophy (Vail et al, 1289).

There is no god in the Existentialism Atheistic philosophy. Matter is viewed as it is by Naturalism and is eternal. The only true things are those that can be seen using the human senses and nothing beyond that exists. Nature is matter and is perceived both objectively and subjectively. As in Naturalism, human beings are complex machines that have the power to choose the things that affect their lives as they have the final say. After human beings die, they do not experience an afterlife but simply cease to exist. There is no possibility of knowing everything because everything is viewed differently by the different human beings. The difference between right and wrong is not dictated by a book but people decide on their own what is good and bad making it different from person to person. The history of human beings is linear with cause and effect but serves no purpose in the present world. The core commitment is self, meaning, the person is not committed to anyone but themselves and every action or choice made is for the benefit of the person (Vail et al, 1293).

Existentialism Atheistic philosophy has a number of merits. The basis of the philosophy is self. The human being is the centre of every aspect of their life. They view the world around them subjectively and that is the only true way. Every human being has a different view of the world and the view is the only reality they know. Further, the human being is only answerable to himself meaning that all the actions are done for human glory. They have the power to decide aspects of the world that are determined by religious scripture in other worldviews. These arguments show a consistency in the worldview as the human being is the greatest and there are no contradictions anywhere else. The arguments in Existentialism Atheistic are also coherent. It is logical to think that, as the human being is a powerful, complex creature that is capable of reasoning, he is capable of making decisions based on this. This can be seen in the daily life with every day happenings making it factually possible and logical. As stated above, the focus of the philosophy is the self and there is no sovereign god. All the other aspects of the worldview such as the universe and the nature that surrounds the human are explained while maintaining the human being and his uniqueness as the centre. Everything is in harmony with these thoughts making the Existentialism Atheistic worldview congruent. The worldview is also comprehensive as all the major facets of it have an explanation. The history, presence, and after-life of the human being are explained clearly. The universe is explained as coming from matter and all other aspects are explained.

New Age

The New Age worldview is also known as cosmic Humanism and is unique from other philosophies in that it neither embraces theism nor atheism (Aupers et al, 201). New Age disagrees with the preeminence of any special revelation that is purported over any other. The New Age believers believe that the Bible is not the word of God but a simple book and is in no way greater than the books used in other religions such as the Quran. There place no worth on religious text. As the text is useless to New Age believers, the content in the books are not believed in any way. Their view on Christianity is that the life of Jesus Christ was not for the redemption of the human race but rather showed that human beings have the capability of achieving perfection. The human perfection can even transcend and reach god status. The subscribers to this worldview believe that God is not above everything in the universe but rather every human being is a part of God, meaning that God and humans are one ontologically (Aupers et al, 202).

In this philosophy everyone is God and everybody possesses the qualities of God as well as His powers. Because of these beliefs, the New Age believers channel spirits that apparently cement this thought. Thus, the questions that human beings pose about who they are are simply answered in the statement, I am God (Aupers et al, 219). They believe that everybody is God and God is everybody. Reincarnation is a big part of the religion and everybody has the power to reincarnate after death rather than completely ceasing to exist. Other than human beings being God, the New Age believers believe that everything is God. Everything that is sensed is God. The creation and the creator are both worshipped as there is no difference between them (Aupers et al, 211).

The New Age philosophical belief shows consistency. The believers interpret the world around them while considering the values of other worldviews. What others believe is analyzed and conclusions are made after independent thinking. There is consistency in the arguments made, with the main one being about who God is. The believers believe that God is everybody, everywhere, and e...