towards building a Christian world and life view

[rmwilliamsjr]

reading recommendations for building a Christian Worldview

Adult Education class at church is working on topics in building a Christian world and life view, i need to build a reading list and post it to amazon when complete.

the text is:

Lifeviews
by R. C. Sproul (isbn 0800753577)

i have ready to read:

Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview
by J. P. Moreland, William Lane Craig (isbn 0830826947)
the definitive work

Stained Glass: Worldviews and Social Science (Christian Studies Today)
by Paul A. Marshall, Sander Griffioen, Richard J. Mouw (Editor) (isbn 0819172537)
(short collection of essays)

i have already read:

Worldview: The History of a Concept
by David K. Naugle, Arthur Frank Holmes (isbn 0802847617)
a 5 star must read in the topic

The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
by James W. Sire (isbn 0830818995)
which is the classic in the field as an introduction

Every Thought Captive: A Study Manual for the Defense of Christian Truth
by Richard L., Jr. Pratt (isbn 0875523528)
intro to presuppositional apologetics, use this one to get into that topic

Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life As a Christian Calling
by James W. Sire (isbn 0830822739)
use this to get into the use of reason and intellect in the Christian's life
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/1T6ZASO9TXJKC/ref=cm_aya_av.sylt_sylt/104-8956941-2196750
my recommended reading list on "how to get past the anti-intellectualism of the conservative Christian Church"

and on the recommended list is:

Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism
by Peter Somers Heslam, Abraham Kuyper (isbn 0802843263)

[Defenestrator]

I've browsed through Moreland and Craig's book and it looks like it is very complete. I've read Heslam's book on Kuyper and I enjoyed it very much although I'm not sure if it would be the best for a sunday school class (which is probably why it's on your recommended list).

Other books I can suggest:

Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview
by Albert M. Wolters

The transforming vision: shaping a Christian worldview by Middleton and Walsh

The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior in the University Years by Steven Garber (although it says its for university students, I think everybody would benefit from it)

Heaven Is Not My Home: Living in the Now of God’s Creation by Paul Marshall

An excellent book that is more philosophical (but if they can handle Moreland and Craig's book they can handle this) is The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories by Roy Clouser.

[rmwilliamsjr]

An excellent book that is more philosophical (but if they can handle Moreland and Craig's book they can handle this) is The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories by Roy Clouser.


it is excellent. a most useful recommendation. thanks.

[Defenestrator]

No problem. You also might want to check out this website: http://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/

It has excellent booklists that you can browse by vocation or by topic, plus the owner writes monthly book reviews which I always enjoy reading.

[learning]

This might be too late, but I really think this book should be in a 'Christian Worldview' book list
'Rich Christians In an Age of Hunger' by Ronald J. Sider.
btw, a homeschool catalogue or two that I'll mention here, they have books on 'Christian Worldview' If you think that they are of any help, please look into them. The thing I like, is that they have a little blurb explaining what the books are about
www.treeoflifeathome.com They have video series by R.C. Sproul, and a book called 'Understanding the Times' by David A. Noebel is one I'ld like to look into. It is also in the other homeschool catalogue by Homeworks. I'll have to look up the Homeworks web site as I can't find their catalogue now, but they have some books by others that have to do with worldviews. In 'Tree of Life' the book 'Lifeviews' by R.C. Sproul looks good too.
Here's what they say about the book
"R.C. catalogs the major philosophies that compete with Christianity in our culture. He traces the origins of lifeviews such as secularism, existentialism, pragmatism, and hedonism. He then exposes the fallacies and hopelessness offered by each. Lifeviews also contrasts how Christianity and its competitors influence various aspects of our culture: economics, science, art, literature, and government.

The video series called 'The Consequences of Ideas' looks very good, says at the end 'Great world view course!' but it is $95.00 U.S. where as the above book is only $10.00 It is 9 tapes for the video course, 25 of 23 minute messages.

These are found in the 'Christian Life/Family' Reference section.

The web site for worldview books that I couldn't find is www.thehomeworks.ca
this is a homeschool catalogue too, but they have different books on Christian Worldview too, I think it is just before their History section begins.

[rmwilliamsjr]

Skip _lifeviews_ it is poorly documented, no reading lists, no footnotes. here is my amazon review

_Lifeviews: Make a Christian Impact on Culture and Society_
R.C. Spoul My mother told me repeatedly 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all'.
so i will start this review with the one paragraph in the book that i found useful.

One of my all-time favorite anecdotes concerns the meeting of a theologian and an astronomer. the astronomer was frustrated with the theologian for making religion too complicated. He said, "why are you fellow so obscure? You talk about supralapsarian this and traducsianism that. You quibble over fine points of predestination and God's omniscience. For me religion is simple; it's the Golden rule do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"I understand your frustration," replied the theologian. "You astronomers often confuse me with your talk of expanding universes this and exploding novae that. You're always talking about astronomical perturbations and galactic anomalies. For me astronomy is simple. It's twinkle, twinkle little star." pg 170

R.C. Sproul is a gifted and well thought of theologian, and this book does not do him justice, copyrighted 1986, my copy was purchased new, recently reprint date 2001. It really should have been fixed back in 1986 and not to have gone through 8 printings in the shape it is in.

What is so wrong? Over simplification, dumbing down, no references, no further reading lists, no endnotes, no book titles, but a certainty of writing that suggests that this is a sufficient look at a very complex set of issues. Simplifying things, popularizing ideas is important, i think of D. Dennett or R. Dawkins or SJ Gould or C. Sagan, but essentially what this book is, is a popularization of F. Schaeffer who himself simplified C. Van Til, so what happens is several layers of dumbing down. To the point that the information is not just simple, but simply wrong, misleading and conductive of a mindset that has enough information to be immune from the greater truth. This would not be a fatal error if Sproul had 1-put a single name of a book associated with the authors he talks about in the body of the writing 2-put a single foot or endnote referring the interested reader to anything else to read to find out how the author arrived at this point, or leads to research 3-wrote with just a little more humility or uncertainty in the choice of words or style/tone 4-put a list of readings for further research or even a short bibliography in the back.

As is the book is misleading. It does introduce the idea of secularism as an umbrella for the various pieces of a worldview. But the rest of the book causes more uncertainty and desire to rebuttal than it is worth as a read. Sorry, the author deserves better and really ought to correct these things before the next edition, for the book does have a place in adult religious education, if fixed.

It is an adult education text at the church, and that is the only reason i finished it.

[learning]

The video series is by the same author, so maybe he expands on the book more. Too bad, I thought the book might have been of some help.

Have you heard of the other 'Understanding the Times' by David A. Noebel?
Here's the blurb about it. It is more expensive, so I assume it is a thicker book.
'The modern Christian is constantly bombarded with ideas, worldviews, and opinions from every direction. Many of these viewpoints are offered as ideal solutions for the pressing problems of our day, but at the core they are anti-Christian - and frequently we are not even aware of it. How can we tell which views are biblical and which aren't? How can we understand the times in which we live? This book can help."

The Homeworks web site has books by F. Schaeffer and C.Colson about worldviews, as well as others.I think one of them is 'How Shall We Then Live'
In 'Tree of Life' there is also a book I really want to get, maybe thru inter-library loan if it's available, called 'Postmodern Times' by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
here's the blurb about it
"This book gives us a critique of the nature, character, and implications of the denial of truth, meaning and individual identity that permeates our culture. Veith carefully explains and undermines postmodern claims." This is under the 'Education' section of their catalogue.