David Naugle on living at the crossroads…

There is no such person as an “unbeliever.” There are no “non-religious” people. Though many may claim the contrary, though many may protest such a designation, all people everywhere as living, thinking, feeling and acting persons are persons of faith whether they want to be or not. Human beings are creedal beings whose lives are based upon diverse confessional perspectives, whether they realize it or not.

The question, therefore, is not whether a person has a belief system or religious outlook or faith orientation, whether traditional or untraditional. The only real question is which belief system, religious outlook or faith orientation a person possesses. The only real question is the object or content of one’s ultimate concern and basis of trust. …

[T]heological claims about the heart as the core of the person are supported by the fact that the Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments teach that it is the seat and source of the intellect, affections, will, and spirituality as the location where we think, feel, choose and worship. Proverbs 4: 23 and 27:19 state respectively that “from the heart flow the springs of life,” and that “the heart of man reflects man.” Jesus stated in Matthew 6: 21 that what a person values most as one’s treasure in life resides in the heart, and in Luke 6: 43-45 He adds that from it flow all our words and deeds, “for the mouth speaks out that which fills the heart.” St. Paul prayed that “the eyes of the heart” would be enlightened so that believers might understand the magnitude of their callings in Christ (Eph. 1: 18). Thus, in the OT, for the Savior, and in the teaching of the Apostle Paul, the heart is the cornerstone of human existence.

On this basis it seems to me that life proceeds “kardioptically,” out of a vision of the heart. And that’s what I think a worldview is! It is a vision of the heart, a vision of God, the universe, our world and our selves rooted and grounded in the human heart. To say it in other words, the heart of the matter of worldview is that worldview is a matter of the heart with its deeply embedded ideas, its profound affections, its life-determining choices, and its essential religion. What first flows into the heart and shapes its essential content, eventually flows out of the heart as one’s fundamental vision of reality, constituting the “presuppositional basis of life.” As heart-based, foundational, unifying, centers in human experience, it is no wonder, then, that people are so deeply attached to their convictions and traditions, to their customary ways of understanding and living in the world. It is no wonder that most people take them for granted, having never considered looking at the world in any other way. Worldviews, whether held consciously or unconsciously, are, indeed, religious constructs upon which people stake their very lives, and in some cases are the beliefs for which they are willing even to die.

There are of course a number of alternative, competing worldviews that adorn the 21st century cultural landscape. The differences between them, I believe, help explain the fierce clashes of civilizations and the culture wars that mark out time. More and more people are beginning to realize that the conflicts we are experiencing today at every level are actually conflicts between underlying worldviews.

How important, then, it is to have a working knowledge of these diverse visions of the human heart that are shaping private experience and public life. To know where people are coming from worldviewishly, and to understand the reasons why they think what they think, do what they do, promote what they promote, and live the way they live is absolutely indispensable for intelligent, skillful living in the world today. …

In a culture that excludes religion and in a religion that excludes culture, many Christians today tacitly assume the legitimacy of … a dualistic lifestyle.  Though they believe, enthusiastically so, nonetheless, they function as practical atheists in the bulk of their lives. …

Consequently, in our culture, a wall of separation has grown up, not only between God and government, but also between God and education, God and science, God and technology, God and law, God and business, God and economics, God and the arts, God and entertainment, God and athletics, and between God and the real business of everyday life. These and other areas of public culture are devoid of theistic influence, but instead are characterized by an all-encompassing and increasing humanism, relativism, pragmatism, hedonism, eroticism, materialism, paganism, and so on with frightening results. …

Out of obedience to the call of the gospel and in the light of this current crisis of culture, devoted followers of Jesus Christ, recognizing their biblical responsibility and the current need, ought to be motivated to develop a substantive and powerful Christian mind and to figure out appropriate, God-honoring ways of speaking historic Christianity into contemporary culture. They ought to be about the business of being transformed by Scripture in the spirit of their minds, and learning how to be salt and light in a wise and skillful way on behalf of the kingdom of the God in the context of their daily callings in life. They ought to be in serious pursuit of cultivating a biblical worldview as the vision of their hearts whereby they seek to image God effectively in all aspects of life under the Lordship of Christ. …

These excerpts are from“The Christian Mind and the Crisis of Culture,” a talk given by Dr. David Naugle to The Wilberforce Forum in September 2004.  This talk is available on his website, which includes a remarkable collection of his writing on worldview, the Christian mind, C. S. Lewis, and a host of other topics—it’s a MUST visit that can be found here.

Dr. David K. Naugle is chair and professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University.  His Worldview: The History of a Concept was selected by Christianity Today magazine as the 2003 book of the year in the theology and ethics category.  He has published two other books, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness and Philosophy: A Student’s Guide, a volume in the series Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition.