Personal Worldview
The author of this report is to answer the seven worldview questions as offered by James Sire from the text. These questions include queries about prime reality, the nature of the world around us, what a human being is, what happens to a person when they die, how it is possible to know anything at all, how someone knows right from wrong and what the meaning of human history happens to be. These are questions that vex and perplex even the wisest of persons at times but the author of this report will venture to answer them anyway. While no one knows the answers to the questions with scientific certainty, there are some that are more certain than others.
The first question is the one about prime reality. Indeed, it pertains to the concept and idea that there is something or someone out there that is never-ending, eternal and that was not created by a greater being. The manifestation of this "prime reality" for many people is their belief in God as described in the Christian Bible. Indeed, Muslims and Jews believe in similar strains of that same thought pattern. The author of this report would ascribe to the concept of God in the Christian sense. While there is no scientific proof of such a deity existing, the explanations offered in terms of the Big Bang and such have gaping holes including how the process actually started. Even so, there could absolutely be a parallel between the Big Bang/evolution and the concept of God. The author of this report is open to both theories being true to some degree rather than them being mutually exclusive. As far as the nature of God, that would be a being that is all-knowing, all-seeing and has a wisdom that is beyond our comprehension. Indeed, many people wonder and are perplexed by the meaning of life or the ostensible lack thereof. However, perhaps we are not smart and developed enough to be able to answer that question and perhaps we need to leave it to God.
As far as the nature of the world around us, the concept of God would entail that the nature of the world around us was created and formed by a greater being. Beyond that, we are but one planet in a huge universe that is full...
It is absolutely physical and there would indeed be a spiritual nature to it as well, even if we cannot comprehend precisely how this is defined and how it manifests. The author thinks this because there are places and events that elicit feelings and premonitions that are seemingly not random but yet cannot be defined. Call it a connection to the earth, spirits or whatever…or maybe it is just in the mind of the feeler. It is hard to say. As far as human beings, the nature of man is seemingly two-sided. As a Christian, we are told to believe that we are made in God's image but we are also told that we are sinners and are unable to remove ourselves from that condition. While the former of those assertions is not the easiest thing to quantify and discuss, the latter is much easier to justify based on what some people say and do.
As far as what happens to people at death, the conventional Christian belief is in Heaven or Hell. Others assert that there is nothingness or that there is reincarnation. However, the Bible would seem to suggest that there is one life and then a judgment that leads to Heaven or Hell. However, some Christian sects (e.g. Catholics) have added or changed some details (e.g. Purgatory). As far as how it is possible to know anything at all, this would come from our creator and him/her giving us the faculties to learn and absorb knowledge, feelings and experiences. As far as knowing things about the world outside of us, we can see things with our eyes but so much about perceptions, assumptions and so forth are all in our mind and can quite often be partially or completely wrong.
As far as right and wrong, there is indeed some credence to the fact that we have to learn by example and that we have to be taught. However, there are other things that would seem to be inherent and born inside of us. For example, if one takes a toy from a baby and that baby starts crying, that is a reaction that is coming from a place that has not been taught or defined since the baby cannot speak or comprehend human words. If the…
