Friday, August 8, 2008

Naming the Elephant

'Naming the Elephant' by James Sire focuses on the concept of worldview. Sire has done lots of work on this previously and is author of 'The Universe Next Door'. In this book he reviews and modifies his previous definition and understanding of what a worldview is.

Some helpful insights...

  • The way you conceive of a worldview is in itself influenced by your own worldview

  • It is necessary to start with ontology (the nature of being) rather than epistemology (how we know things) in formulating our worldview - the triune God is the proper starting point for all thought.

  • Worldviews can be expressed in propositional statements but also in stories.

  • To understand someone's worldview you look at how they live, not simply what they say they believe. All of us live inconsistently with what we say we believe. Every time we fail to trust God or sin in any way, we are living in consistently with our professed Christian worldview.

His final, revised definition of a worldview is as follows...

A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true of entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.” James Sire, Naming the Elephant, p122

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Chaos theory and the sovereignty of God

Chaos theory is all about extreme sensitivity to initial conditions - change the initial conditions a tiny bit and the final implications are huge. The classic example is a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa and a week later there's a hurricane in the Atlantic. The event is chaotic in the sense that it is unpredictable and we cannot know all the factors that led to the event. When huricanes do occur, no-one tries to find the butterfly that's responsible!

The possibilities of these sorts of events in human spheres is well demonstrated by the film 'Sliding Doors'. There, one small decision to move a child out of the way of someone in a hurry, or not to move the child, causes that person's life to head off in two very different directions. Who knows how many seemingly small decisions we have made have eventually made sizeable differences to our lives or the lives of others?

Well, God does. Chaos theory helps us to understand why God must be sovereign not just over big events or decisions but over absolutely everything that happens, from the flapping of a butterfly's wings to my choice of toothbrush. There is simply no way of us knowing the eventual impact of these seemingly insignificant events and choices. God rules history today, not primarily by suddenly intervening in dramatic ways (though he may do that) but rather by his providential ruling over even the smallest of things. In this way God works all things for the good of those who love him, that his church is built and the earth filled with His glory.