LP. BIB 223. Philosophy of Living. 3.1
Objective: To equip each student to personally appropriate the Christian story.
 Let’s discuss the question, The Why is it important to have a developed worldview? {Reflections are due today.}
Introduction: Today we will talk about worldviews. Specifically…
What is a worldview? > A set of convictions that guide life.
How do they differ from each other? > They differ at the “beginning” (what we believe), and at the “end”
(how we act, often under pressure).
Why is it important to know our worldview? > To be prepared for life; to make the best of every situation we may find ourselves in.
What is the best way to use our worldview? > As a source of direction, and basis for confidence—not as a reason for conflict.
 But, How can our worldview become a source of direction and confidence in the face of life’s challenges? > It needs to be well-constructed.
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We all have a worldview. We have convictions about important things that have been given to us by the important people in our lives.—Questions:
Do you know where your convictions come from?
Are they consistent with each other?
Have the convictions or values given to you by others become yours? (You may still be deciding what you believe.)
As you think about what you believe and why, you are beginning to construct your own worldview.
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Constructing a solid worldview: Thinking Critically
Our worldview ought to be coherent. That is, it ought to involve no serious inconsistencies.
Our worldview ought to be something we, and the other important people in our lives, can live with.
A Problem: Most of the time we may think and talk as though there were no absolutes, because this just sounds right in our time.—Yet, if we are ever mistreated we insist there are absolutes after-all. > That’s not right!
 Is this just the language we use, or is there a real right and wrong that transcends human culture and opinion?—This is the question Lewis is asking in Bk. 1 of Mere Christianity.
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Going Further. What is your worldview?
Let’s first define worldview.
Let’s then discuss why it is important to identify our worldview.
Then, let’s begin to identify our worldview.
We will use the article, “Me and My Worldview,” by R. Wesley Hurd. http://www.mckenziestudycenter.org/philosophy/articles/wrldview.html
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Defining Worldview.—Let’s read from Hurd’s article.
What is a worldview.
Why it matters.
Identifying your worldview. > The five questions.
 What is the source and nature of "primary" reality? In some worldviews primary reality is God or spirit. In others it is matter and energy.

Explanation: You might think of this in terms of the question, What existed before there was anything else, and ultimately caused everything else to be? > “Before the world as we see and know it, there was …?”
 What is a human being? How do we define the true nature, meaning, and destiny of humankind?
Explanation: Think about yourself. You are … an individual … you have worth … you are rational and moral … you have inner yearnings ….
What do you want? Why? –
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On what basis do we establish morality and ethics? How does a person or society decide what is right and wrong, and on what grounds is ethics determined?
Explanation: Moral and ethical standards are a part of our lives. We all are expected to live by the rules. But, what is the foundation or the ultimate reason for the moral rules that we live by?
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On what basis do we believe what we know is true? How does a person know? How do we justify or verify our knowledge and our process of knowing what we think we know?
Explanation: You live with a certain amount of knowledge. But when you say you “know” something, what do you really mean? How can human beings really know anything?—Start with what you believe you know, and ask how you know it. Can this knowledge become the basis for knowing other things?
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What is death? What is the meaning and significance of death? Is there an afterlife of any kind or does man merely return to the basic material elements of which he is obviously made?
Explanation: Death is a fact of life. Have you thought about your own death? What do you think will happen when you die? Are you ready? > Write a statement about you that you would like someone to say at your funeral.
Humans assume that life has significance, and that death is usually to be feared. Why?
 Let’s introduce C. S. Lewis and Mere Christianity. > Who he is; why he writes.—Let’s read from
Bk. 1.1.
Discussion:
Which of the worldview questions is Lewis answering?
How is he seeking answers to them?
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Introduction to C. S. Lewis, and Mere Christianity.
 See the preface.—What does Lewis mean by “Mere” Christianity?
Answer: He has written a book attempting to explain why an educated person of the modern world should find anything of value in the Christian faith.
The Christianity he describes is the essentials, or what anyone who claims the name should adhere to. He will explain the least one should believe if one is a Christian.
And he writes for the person who is a skeptic, or an unbeliever.
After understanding and accepting the things he explains Lewis insists one should then become a part of a
Christian fellowship that best reflects God’s light, truth and holy nature.
 The value of C.S. Lewis:
We are going to use C.S. Lewis’ book, Mere Christianity, to help us to clarify our thinking, and provide us with a way to think rationally about the existence of God.
Lewis began as an atheist, but came to faith essentially for the reasons he gives us in this book.
Explanation: Why Lewis was an atheist. paraphrased
“Why was I an atheist?— First, I did not believe in God because I was angry about all the injustice and cruelty that I had seen in my life. I directed my anger toward the being that I believed did not exist; and in a sense I was especially angry with God because He did not exist.—At other times, when I was not angry, I was happy with the world as I believed it to be: free and unfettered. At those times I did not want there to be a God. I simply wanted to be left alone.”

In this postmodern time, when doubt reigns, and certainty about anything seems hard to find, we need
Lewis. Lewis can help us to think, and he can restore our confidence in a healthy use of reason.
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Going Further: Getting into Lewis’ argument. > Let’s read from Bk. 1.1.
Do humans have a sense of right and wrong—a higher standard to which they innately appeal?
Why is this law called the “law of human nature”?
How can we explain the human feeling of guilt?
Are there some acts that are clearly wrong and immoral?
How do we know?
Explanation: In our postmodern environment we are encouraged to consider how great is the influence of a community (i.e., family, church, nation, etc.) in a person’s life to shape their values and their sense of right and wrong.—But, could there be something outside of, and greater than, our communities that accounts for the common sense of guilt and right and wrong? C.S. Lewis, for one, thinks so. Let’s see what we think.
 Beginning to evaluate Lewis: What do you think of Lewis’ point in Bk. 1.1-2?
Any exceptions?
How do we account for people whose conception of right and wrong seems completely different from ours? > Let’s read from p. 19.
Comment: Do you see how Lewis defends his argument in ch. 1? > What is the point of appealing to the moral code of several different cultures?
 Next time: Study guide for Test # 1.
We will go over the study sheet.
Let’s read and discuss Mere Christianity, Bk. 1.1 & 4.
 Is there a ‘moral law’? > Let’s read from MC 1.1.18-19.
Did the Nazis know they were wrong?
How does Lewis defend his idea? (pp. 19-20)
 If so, what may lie behind it? > Let’s read from MC 1.4.31-32.
If Lewis is right, what must be behind the law?
LP. BIB/PHI 223. Philosophy of Living. 3.2
Objective: Test preparation and introduce Mere Christianity.
 Let’s go over the study guide.
Let’s go over concepts from the two essays by Hurd. http://www.mckenziestudycenter.org/philosophy/articles/postmod.html
http://www.mckenziestudycenter.org/philosophy/articles/wrldview.html
Today, let’s …
Introduce Lewis and discuss MC, 1.1-2.
Discuss what we mean by “God.”
Comment: By “God” we mean the necessary source for the good that we long for, and the moral order that we perceive. God is the cause for that part of human nature that is rational and purposeful.
Consider:
Humans have minds that are aware, conscious, able to comprehend the world, and distinguish truth from falsehood.

We live in a world that is understandable, predictable, in which both moral and scientific progress are possible.
We care, communicate, and desire; we know when things are not right and want things to be better.
We know right and wrong, and can admit that we sometimes do the wrong thing. As a result, we experience guilt.
Understanding God begins with the answer to this question: What can account for beings like us, and the world in which we live? {The atheist has no answer to most of these questions.}
 Hand out worksheet on M.C. Bk. 1.3-5. We will go over it on Thurs., Feb. 7.
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MC, Bk. 1. ch. 2. “Some Objections” – Lewis makes two primary points in the first ch.: That … (read from p.
21). Further, that people seem everywhere to regard certain acts wrong (mass murder, child abuse, etc.). His question in these chs. is, How can we account for this?
 Let's put Lewis' point to the test.
Can you think of any exceptions to what Lewis is saying?
What examples confirm his point?
Detail: Let’s take a closer look at ch. 2 (pp. 22-26), “Some Objections.” Is this sense of right and wrong merely…
“Herd instinct”; or an inborn trait that characterizes our species? > In fact, humans have several instincts: the instinct to be helpful to others, and the instinct of self-preservation, among others. But the moral law that tells you how ought to behave will tell you which human instinct to follow. It is not one of our instincts, it is the guide from within telling which instinct to obey.
“Social convention,” or the product of education? > The laws of morality are taught in society, and in our various communities. But that does not mean that there is nothing, no greater truth or Moral Being, behind the laws. We can know there is a greater source for the law when we think carefully about two points:
First, the moral codes of different cultures are so similar.—Second is the fact that it is possible for people and societies to improve their moral practices. But what is the standard of these improvements? There must be a standard of right wrong that is really there that we all grasp if only partially.
 Illustration:
Question: Are we better as a nation because we no longer enslave Africans, and allow women more rights?—Why?
> See ch. 2, p. 25.—If our moral standards can be improved this implies the existence of a standard independent of our standards against which they are measured.
Conclusion: Now, what does this mean? > That there must a greater Cause or Source for these truths and values that humans reflect, but always imperfectly.
 Reactions?
 Going Further: What do we mean by God?—{Is there room in our worldview for God?}
What we can know from experience: First Cause, or Creator; A rational, moral Being; an eternal Being.—
The God of deism.
What the Christian faith says: Creator; Redeemer; God of Israel and the covenants; the true King or
Sovereign of the world; the Father of Jesus Christ, who sends His Spirit to empower holy living…. He is the author of the story (metanarrative) that encompasses everyone. God’s story is the story of creation and new creation.—The God of Christian theism.