Introduction
In the course, we have deliberated the perception of the worldview and looked at, including Secularism, Postmodernism, New Religiousness, Christianity and Marxism. The main aim of this paper is to generating the comparison and a contrast between Christianity and Secularism in this final paper. The essential notions of each worldview will be addressed, comparing and contrasting, a coherent rationalization for one of the discussed worldview, and a conjoint basis of the worldviews.
Central Ideas, Concerns, and Goals of the religions
Christianity can be defined to be both a philosophy and a religion of life in which God is viewed as the universal supreme beings. Christianity’s groundwork is known to be revolving around the life of Christ, the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ, who is believed to be God’s sent as only son and known to be “messiah” whose purpose was coming and savings the world. In addition, Jesus’s birth in the world and crucifixion was to give forgiveness to sinful Christians. In addition, there is an understanding that Christians must pay for their sins since they believe that “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Holy Bible, 2016). Furthermore, the Christianity have a known devotion to Jesus Christ and God and have a strong belief in the Bible which is viewed to be a sacred book that has according to Kids of Courage (2013). “Important scriptures that outline Jesus’ teachings, the lives and teachings of major prophets and disciples, and offer instructions on how Christians should live”.
Conversely, Secularism can be described as a living religious conviction and philosophy that perceives the supreme being of the universe to be a man. In contrast to Christianity, Secularism strongly rejects the existence of any supernatural, including God. Rather it just believes in the goodness of man. Secularists have a thought in that “People should feel good about themselves regardless of their behavior” (Abounding Joy, n.d). They also have the belief in humans being portion of natural setting and a belief that people have regulation over fortune. The secularism is built on the basis that believes that lack of enough education and ignorance brings about problems in Secularism. In response to the rejection of the idea of the existence of God, Secularism strongly believes in an alliance of education, knowledge as well as science towards the improvement of the world. (Secularism.org n.d) states that the Secularism principles includes equality of all humanity, including the non-religious and religious, state and church separation and belief freedom.
Comparison-and-Contrast: The Ten Ways of Looking at the World
Theology
On theological dimensions, Christians have a belief in everlasting God and that heaven and hell exist. Myers & Noebel, 2015, states that Christianity posits God’s existence as a relational, personal and a being who made himself known through the scripture and nature. In addition, Christianity believes that God makes everyone in His image and that God is the designer; Christianity also lays its belief in that everyone can experience the power of redemption and that each human being was made to serve a specific purpose. In that, the Christians have proclaimed the existence of a “personal, triune God who desires to be in a relationship with those who bear his image” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 480). In contrast, the main concern of Secularism is on now and here and an opposed belief in eternity. The secularists, in addition, do not believe in the existence of God. “God is nonexistent or irrelevant” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 479). Rather, they are believed to be atheists and believe in nature and man.
Philosophy
Christians believe that “sensible [order] via Jesus Christ, the personification of the logos, enables them to know things” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 481). Christian philosophy focuses on reconciling science and faith, beginning with the use of natural reasoning explanations in conjunction with Christian revelation. Christians think that science and faith should coexist healthily. Materialism, naturalism, and atheism are among the beliefs held by secularists, according to Myers & Noebel (2015, p. 473). According to Secularism, matter exists indefinitely. “The material universe if all that exists, and the phenomena have a natural explanation,” Myers & Noebel (2015, p. 481) declare to Secularists. Any immaterial “the soul, the afterlife, God – do not exist by definition” as nature is all that exists (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 481). To a Secularist, only the scientific methods can describe reality. Secularists believe that man, evolution, mind, body, and soul result from natural selection rather than the supernatural design.
Ethics
On the basics of ethics, Christianity is highly concerned with preserving moral order. “All that is good, true, and lovely is based on God’s character,” Christians believe (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 483). Christians believe that being truthful is the greatest matter that should be observed. “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” Proverbs 12:22 (Holy Bible, 2016, ESV) says, “but those who act truly are his joy.” Since God is believed to be everywhere, Christianity asserts that “an ethical system founded on his character will live in every soul, across all civilizations, and at all times” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 483). The foundations of secular ethics are based on logic, reason, empathy, or moral perception. The Secularist perspective holds that there is no existence of bad or good, or wrong or right. Hence it must not be in existence.
Biology
In a biological view, Christianity perceives that God created humankind, and Christianity accepts science as the orderly creation of God. “Science is the study of God’s orderly creation” (Geneva College, n.d., p. 2). In the Christians’ view, God’s providence generates the basis of viewing the universe’s constancy and order. The secularist’s beliefs lie in the evolution as the human creation cause. Which is defined as “natural selection acting upon genetic mutations, where random changes in DNA lead to adaptions which may improve the ability of some organisms to survive and reproduce” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 267). The secularists in this matter argue in the sense that natural selection is the root of human creation.
Psychology
Psychologically, Christianity believes in personhood in that they perceive God to be a person. They also believe that humans are God’s product, “required thinking, planning, artistry, and execution – all qualities God shared with us, his image-bearers” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 485). On the other hand, Secularism is based on self-actualization as the way to keep someone happy and healthy. The secularism fundamentals push the secularists to believe that God is a myth and that we evolved from animals. In Secularism, all the psychological intrusions are controlled by nature.
Sociology
According to the Christian perspective, the family is the most important social institution. The family, in particular, is crucial to society’s evolution. Except for family, everything else might fail or fall. The family is in charge of instilling and carrying out the Lord’s moral responsibilities. There are no religious orders or faith leaders in Secularism because there is no God. “Society forces us to do what we do: we aren’t making choices, but responding to external stimuli,” according to secular sociology (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 486) and that nature can explain a lot of the Secularists’ beliefs.
Law
The only lawmaker, according to Christians, is God. “God gave us divine laws and the means to discover them,” the Christian faith claims (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 489). Over ceremonial, civic, or judicial components, Christian law emphasizes the eternal moral precepts of the divine law. The grace-over-law theology is the most appealing. As they “reject the ideas of fallenness,” secularists can only rely on themselves to build the legal system (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 488). Furthermore, the church and state should be kept distinct.
Politics
In the political measures, God is ordained in numerous organizations in the Christian religion, and He plays a crucial part in the caretaking of His creation. “The worth of persons, a balance between society and person, and the valuable functions of the government, family, and church,” according to Christianity (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 486). God influences the laws that God gives to His followers, according to the Christian worldview. The Ten Commandments serve as a set of guidelines for Christians to follow. Secularists believe that man and his environment are the outcomes of evolutionary forces. Secularists measure the significance and purpose of human existence on a human scale. Secularists think that their issues, ideas, and philosophies can all have importance.
Economics
In the Christian view, “No economic system can save us or usher in the Kingdom of God,” says Christianity (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 491). The Bible serves as a guide to economic ideals, such as righteousness. Secularists have a thought that “people are essentially good and smart enough to establish a good society without divine guidance,” which is a socialist viewpoint (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 491). “Material prosperity diminishes the felt need for religious solace, resulting in religion playing a smaller role in society and politics,” according to Secularism (McCleary, 2010, p. 43).
History
History, according to Christianity, is the “epic unfolding of God’s ultimate plan for all people” (Myers & Noebel, 2015, p. 493). In the historical view, Christians can better grasp their everyday roles and the history of their choices and lives by learning about God’s history. Secularists think that ” our beliefs evolve, as we progress,” according to Myers & Noebel (2015, p. 493). Secularists believe that the history of evolution can give us with necessary history and information for both creatures and societies.
A Logical Defense
In my view, I find that the Christian understanding is more fascinating in comparison to the secularism worldview. Secularists, in addition, argue that mathematics and science are responsible for human life. In addition, they argue that theories such as the big bang theory are responsible for the existence of both living and non-living organisms. Referring to Keefe (n.d., First Cause Argument, para. 2), however, I do not comply with this since he explains “based on the instinct of mind that we all share: the instinct that says everything needs an explanation. Nothing is just without a reason why it is.” In addition, Kreeft argues that “the whole universe is a vast, interlocking chain of things that come into existence. Each of these things must therefore have a cause.” Secularism does not have a good explanation for this. Therefore it is further argued that there must be the first cause of everything. According to Keefe, if there is no cause for something, it “violated the Principle of Sufficient Reason for everything” (First Cause Argument, para. 5).
Another reason why I boldly compel that evolution is not the cause of existence is because there is a huge difference between animals and human abilities. For instance, the complexity of the mind of a human. According to Keefe (n.d., Argument for Design, para. 5), it “is the most intricate piece of design in the known cosmos.” Humans are capable of amazing things, leading one to conclude that a Designer is behind their function, creation, and ability. In addition, because of its intricacy, human DNA had to be created by a creator or an outside force, as “we cannot escape the presence of intelligent (very intelligent) design” (Every Student, n.d., Is God Real, p. 3). Our DNA is significant because it further proves that God is our creator. The intricacy, design, and variety of our human bodies are all due to God, and thus I approve of the Christian worldview.
Common ground
Although Secularism and Christianity are greatly contrasting, several similarities are in both worldviews. For instance, the belief in the moral codes is shared between both the worldviews and has a common goal of living peacefully. In addition, both worldviews have common contemporary discussion topics generated in both of them. For instance, abortion and homosexuality are discussed in both worldviews. Furthermore, the two are believed to have a common economic justice ground. In the sense that both the worldviews have common characteristics, both religions can converge and create a stronger cohesive religion that would work efficiently.
Conclusion
Throughout the worldviews that we discussed, the paper has tackled religion based on Secularism and Christianity. The contrast and comparison between the two religions have ultimately pointed out that there are several differences and similarities between the two religions. Furthermore, the paper has generated a logical defence for the Christians and also discussed the common ground that happens to exist between the two religions. And thus, the research on the paper has shaped the understanding of Christianity and Secularism worldviews.
References
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Geneva College. (n.d.). Integration of Christian Faith and Biology. https://www.geneva.edu/dept/biology/pages/bio_integration-print#
History.com Editors. (2017). Christianity. https://www.history.com/topics/history-of-christianity
Keefe, P. (n.d.). Arguments from Design. https://peterkeeft.com/topics/design.htm
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Kids of Courage. (2013). Comparing Christianity and Secular Humanism. https://www.kidsofcourage.com/?p=7422
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). (2016). https://www.biblegateway.com
