Worldview Comparison Chart
There are eight major worldviews. Other worldviews exist but are based upon one or more of these eight: Theism, Deism, Naturalism, Nihilism,
Existentialism, Pantheism, New Age and Post Modernism.
Seven propositions are used to broadly compare these eight basic worldviews. They are:
1. What is the nature of God or ultimate reality?
2. What is the nature of the cosmos?
3. What is the nature of humanity?
4. What is the result of human death?
5. What is the basis of human knowing?
6. What is the basis of ethics?
7. What is the basis of history?
The following data was presented in 2013 and 2014 in a worldview series at Moline Baptist Church over multiple evening services. The primary
source for the information was taken from “The Universe Next Door” by James W. Sire; InterVarsity Press, 2004. The primary intention was to
increase understanding about the other worlviews in our society that vie for attention and influence people’s lives. Gaining this fundamental
understanding can aid personal evangelistic efforts, the Christian’s greatest charge. The following chart is a brief synopsis of the most basic
information. To obtain a more thorough description of each worldview refer to James W. Sire’s book, search the internet or pick up another
reference at a Christian bookstore.
BACKGROUND
Deism – Deism evolved in the 17th century as Christian Theism became chaotic and quarrelsome between denominations. Knowledge changes
location and authority from God to humanity. By the 18th century Deism was virtually abandoned because of too many conflicting and untenable
positions. The danger is that Deism proved to be a transitional worldview between Theism and Naturalism.
Naturalism – Naturalism evolved between the 17th and 18th centuries. It is a dangerous contender that endures even today. It’s strongest assertions
are that “matter” is all that matters and reason is the sole basis for truth.
Nihilism – Nihilism evolved in the late 18th century. Friedrich Nietzsche mostly credited with founding Nihilism and he wrote the most damaging
statement that, “God is dead”. Nihilism is the logical conclusion of all worldviews except Theism. It is characterized by the denial of everything,
absence of meaning and nothingness.
Existentialism – Existentialism gained popularity in the mid-20th century and it took Nihilism seriously. Its greatest goal was to transcend
Nihilism. Two major forms are followed: Atheistic Existentialism which is a parasite to pure Naturalism and Theistic Existentialism which is a
parasite to pure Theism. Only the Atheistic form is compared in the chart.
Pantheism – Pantheism originated as a worldview in the mid-17th century, but aspects existed in ancient forms of Hinduism since 1,000 BC.
Philosopher Baruch Spinoza argued against Descartes’ dualist theory of a separate body and spirit. It gained popularity in America in the 1960’s.
New Age – New Age roots trace back to ancient Gnosticism. It appeared in America in the 1960’s with a growing interest in the 70’s and a wide
awareness in the 80’s. By the 1990’s it achieved general acceptance. It is highly syncretic of all other worldviews, especially Pantheism and
Animism (not compared here). It depends heavily upon the notion of and pursuing altered states of consciousness.
Post Modernism – Post Modernism has similarities to Naturalism and Existentialism. It evolved in the mid-20th century and is marked by a
pluralism of perspectives and a plethora of philosophical possibilities. Its defining concepts include relativism, absence of truth and antiideologies. Metanarratives don’t exist but their stories are meaningful and useful. Nevertheless, no story has absolute corresponding truth.
Worldviews
Propositions
God
Or
Ultimate
Reality
Cosmos
Naturalis
m
Post
Modernism
Theism
Deism
Nihilism
Existential-ism
Pantheism
New Age
God is
infinite,
personal,
transcendent,
imamnent,
omniscient,
sovereign
and he IS
good
God is
transcendent
God is
NOT
imamnent,
personal,
omniscient or
sovereign
God is
neither
good nor
evil
God does
NOT exist
Only matter
exists
eternally
and is all
there is
Nothing
comes from
nothing
There is no
spiritual
element
God does
NOT exist
Only matter
exists
eternally
and is all
there is
Nothing
comes from
nothing
Reality itself
is in doubt
God exists
God (universe/
nature) is all and
in all, the totality
of all and identical
with divinity
God is NOT a
personal being
God is the One and
ultimate reality
The self is the prime
reality
The self’s
perception is
reality, including
imagination
The self creates
reality
The self is God and
a universe unto
itself
God does NOT exist
Matter exists
eternally but can’t
be fully known
Truth about reality
is forever hidden
We are left with
telling stories
about reality which
can be useful but
void of absolute
truth
God
created
the
cosmos
ex nihilo
The
universe
is orderly
The
universe
is open
God
created
the
cosmos
like a
clock/
machine
The
universe
is closed
It’s in its
normal
state, it’s
not fallen
The cosmos
is a
uniformity
of cause and
effect
It is a closed
system
No change or
reordering is
possible
from within
or from
outside
The cosmos
is a
uniformity
of cause and
effect
It is a closed
system
No change or
reordering is
possible
from within
or from
outside
God does NOT exist
Only two types of
being: objective
and subjective
Objective is matter
and law of cause
and effect
Subjective is
awareness,
intellect and
freedom
The subjective is
merely a shadow of
the objective
Humans are
subjective beings
that control and
create meaning
and value
The cosmos is a
uniformity of cause
and effect
It is a closed system
The human
subjective realm is
an open system
The objective world
is eternal but the
subjective is not
God is all that exists
Anything that
appears to exist
that isn’t God is an
illusion
Distinction requires
thought, but
Pantheism
searches for the
oneness in
everything
Each self is a
universe unified
unto itself
The cosmos is two
realms of visible as
experienced
through ordinary
awareness and the
invisible as
experienced
through altered
states of
consciousness
The visible is real,
orderly and open
Doubt is cast on the
law of cause and
effect as objective
reality
It is a closed system
that accepts the
incongruence of
chance and
internal reordering
by nature,
evolution and
survival of the
fittest
Humanity
Humans
are
created
in God’s
image
Humans
are
personal,
limitedly
transcendent,
limited
knowing,
know
right
from
wrong,
desire
community
and are
creative
Humans
are
personal,
intelligent
and have
capacity
for community
and
creativity
Humans
do NOT
have
determination
or individuality
apart
from the
machineery
Humans are
only
complex
machines of
matter
The
invention of
computers
fuel their
position
Insist that
humans are
unique due
to reason
and speech
Human
thought and
sense of
ethics gives
us value
above other
matter
Humans are
only
complex
machines of
matter, just
part of the
system
Freewill is an
illusion, just
part of the
system
Strict
determinism, mere
pinballs in
the machine
Awareness is
just a part of
the machine
looking at
itself
In the objective
realm essence
precedes existence
In the human
subjective realm
existence precedes
essence
Humans define
themselves by
awareness and
determinacy
Each human is free
to think, act and
dream; he is king
of his own
subjective world
Death
Each
individual is
transformed
Either
glorified
in an
eternal
existence
with God
- or –
Condemned to
eternal
Deism
offers no
explanation for
death or
what
comes
after it
It’s a
normal
part of
the
clockwork
Death is
extinction of
personality
and
individuality
Matter in the
body is disorganized at
death
Only a sense
of immortality exists
through
progeny,
work in
Death is the
extinction of
personality
and
individuality
Matter
merely
returns to
matter
Death is the
extinction of an
individual’s
subjectivity
The subject returns
to an object in the
objective world
Death is the
ultimate absurdity
which creates
anxiety
Atman is Brahman
– the human soul
is the soul of the
cosmos; each
person’s soul is
God
All roads lead to the
One
Awareness,
personality,
knowledge and
ethics disappear
when one becomes
one with the One
It’s about
techniques not
belief or faith
Waking life leads to
dreaming life, then
deep sleep and
finally awakened
life of pure
consciousness
Death is the
extinction of the
individual
The soul can’t pass
out of existence
Karma and
reincarnation rule
this view
to reordering
The invisible is
“next door”, with
different ordering
and laws
The spirit
dimension is
characterized by
brilliance and color
Humans are God;
prime reality
Increasing
awareness propels
one toward a
radically
transformed being
The Age of Aquarius
bring perfect
health, happiness
and transcendent
joy in a utopian
Nirvana
Humans are a unity
beyond physical
form
Death is a transition
to another stage of
life
Near death stories
or experiences are
valued
Believe in past
recall, channeling
and reincarnation
Friedrich
Nietzsche
critiqued
Descartes’ “I
think therefore I
am” by turning it
around and
asked does the
thinking create
the “I”?
Such radical
doubt caused
radical damage
to any sort of
human certitude
Death is extinction
Only a sense of
immortality exists
through progeny,
work in society or
enduring influence
upon others
However, they don’t
claim that they can
really know
Knowing
Ethics
existence
separateed from
God in
hell
God gives
the
ability to
know
We can
know the
universe
We can
know
God
through
“special
revelation in
God’s
word
Ultimate
“special”
revelation is
found in
Jesus
Christ
God
created
everything
and all
systems
including
ethics
God’s
character
is goodness and
he is the
standard
of ethics
– not
humanity
society or
enduring
influence
upon others
Humans
have
intellect
but
Deism
doesn’t
understand
how
God is
and can
only be
known
behind
nature
Empiricism,
reason
and
experience is
the only
way to
know
Ethics is
limited
only to
observing
nature
Nature is
right,
(whatever is, is
right)
Deism
affirms
Theistic
ethics
but NOT
their
basis for
Empiricism,
reason and
experience
is the only
way to know
Nothing is
revealed
from outside
the closed
system
Empiricism,
reason and
experience
is the only
way to know
Nothing is
revealed
from outside
the closed
system
Observation and
experience is the
only way to know
The knower
assimilates
knowledge which
becomes the
knower
Knowledge passes
away and is an
illusion because it
requires dualism
between the
knower and what
can be known;
Pantheism insists
on oneness in all
Knowing is based in
personal
experience
The self creates
reality
What one sees,
imagines and
experiences is
reality and what is
known
Confidence is lost in
human reason and
ability to know
anything
Nothing we think
we know can be
proved by outside
reality
Language is a
human construct,
the cosmos doesn’t
speak
We make the self
through language,
there is no
substantial self
Language and
stories give power
to the teller
Ethics
applies only
to human
beings
Value is a
construct of
humans, not
of nature
There are no
ethics in
nature
Ethics stem
from
societal and
situational
experience
Moral
absolutes do
There is no
right and
wrong in
nature
Humans have
no morality
in a closed
system
Absolutes do
NOT exist
There is no right
and wrong in the
objective world
Action affirms one’s
values and is
therefore good, no
one can choose evil
Good is only
measured from
within one’s
subjective world
The only evil or
wrong is passivity
Good and evil pass
away because
ethics require
distinction which
is fundamentally
opposed to
oneness of all
things
Only the visible
realm of ordinary
consciousness
observes ethical
standards
The invisible realm
of altered states of
consciousness
transcends ethics
Ethics flow from the
construct of
language
Ethics and truth are
what a community
agrees upon
Truth is whatever
those in power say
it is, there’s no
appeal to a higher
authority
Rules are
oppression, no
rules or agreed
rules are freedom
History
Ethics are
absolute
History is
linear,
sequential and
is leading
somewhere
History
has
meaning
History is
a record
of God’s
involvement in
creation
and with
humanity
them
History is
linear
It isn’t
leading
somewhere
It doesn’t
have
meaning
It isn’t
important in
itself
History
unfolds
in no
other
way than
it has
NOT exist
History is a
linear record
of cause and
effect
It has no
direction or
purpose
It entails all
matter with
a subset of
humans
History has a
selfactivating
origin, i.e.
Darwinian
evolution
Humans are
not the goal
of history or
evolution
History is a
linear record
of cause and
effect
It has no
direction or
purpose
It entails all
matter with
a subset of
humans
History has a
selfactivating
origin, i.e.
Darwinian
evolution
Humans are
not the goal
of history or
evolution
History is a linear
record of cause
and effect
It has no direction
or purpose
It entails all matter
with a subset of
humans
History is selfactivating without
explanation
Humans are not the
goal of history or
evolution
Oneness with the
One passes beyond
time and space
Time is an illusion
History is
essentially cyclical
(consider vantage
points along a
river)
History is
disregarded as
irrelevant
History is linear
Humanity is
moving toward a
higher
transcendent state
There’s no proposed
statement of origin
Post Modernists
engage in
revisionist history
by creating the
past in the image
of the present and
according to the
judgment of the
historian
These historians
practice
subjectivity and no
longer use
scholarly footnotes
PROBLEMS
Deism – It is an inconsistent and unstable worldview. Ethical system is illogical since they claim nothing is inherently right or wrong. Knowledge
works outward from the empirical specifics to general, universal truths, however, no human can understand enough specifics to draw confident
conclusion about the general. Humans can’t be significant or have individuality in a closed universe. This is determinism which leads to apathy
and hopelessness.
Naturalism – It is a circular reasoning of complexity of matter. This worldview takes a determinist view based on inexorable cause and effect, but,
insists upon freewill. Without freewill there can be no morality. Extinction at death poses a major problem regarding any sense of purpose.
There is no tenable explanation for the origins of the universe.
Nihilism – Logic and reason are not provable. The closed universe is boxed in (it’s inconclusive without outside measurement or comparison).
Extinction is psychologically unsettling. Chance is offered as a means for freewill but that’s not possible in a closed system. Knowledge, meaning
and ethics are also boxed in and can’t be proven without outside measurement or comparison. Nihilism denies the meaning of everything
including art, yet, its strongest adherents are artists and writers.
Existentialism – Relegating ethics to one’s own subjective judgment leads to solipsism. There’s no answer to death or the concept of eternity deep
within one’s being.
Pantheism – It insists upon an impersonal God and impersonal soul. However, karma acts like a moral personal being that judges an individual
being determining success and failure and what in form a person should be reincarnated. Techniques leading to the One require actions like
chanting and meditation but they are professed illusions themselves and therefore ultimately meaningless. Improving one’s karma is not love for
another’s sake but is self-serving.
New Age – A closed universe denies a transcendent God which also denies the basis for absolute ethics. This leads to solipsism, egoism and
megalomania. They believe in demigods, demons and spiritual guardians that haunt the inner space which must be placated by rituals or
controlled by incantation. Knowledge and truth is based in the self which leads to epistemological nihilism. Proposing the self to be God leads to
infinite regression of “am I the dreamer or the dream”?
Post Modernism – Post Modernism states that too much confidence has been placed in human reason. They state that language is closely related
with power and authority. These points the Christian Theist generally finds agreement. The rejection of any and all metanarratives (overarching
explanation for life and reality) is itself a metanarrative. The proposition that we can’t know reality but only tell stories about it is self-referential.
Using language to claim that language is indeterminate is a paradox. Claiming that human reason and certitude is insufficient rests on the
sufficiency and certainty of human reason. All these positions are contradictory but have increasingly gained acceptance in American society.
Moline Baptist Church
www.molinebaptist.org
Shane Vande Vrede
Sr. Pastor