Worldview Paper

Mali Lin

HUM 226

Section 40

November 12

Christian worldview V.S. Deism

In a Christian worldview, God is the ultimate source of everything. He is sovereign because He created the whole world, and He is in charge of everything. However, He is also a personal God because He not only created the world but also sustained it; not only created human beings in His image but also cared about them. Besides, He is everywhere, everyone is dependent upon His presence. The world that the all-powerful God created is real and it is not an illusion. It is a good world.

However, in the perfect world that God created, all human beings are sinners. Thus, sin is man’s basic problem. It is the source of all the problems that we face. As the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (NIV). However, even though human beings are sinful and fallen, they are able to be redeemed through the person and work of Jesus. In Romans 5:8, we know that “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”(NIV). Therefore, the solution to human beings’ problems is through God who sent His only son to die for our sins. The chief purpose of all human beings is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Like 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”(NIV).

From a Deist perspective, however, some of their views are similar to a Christian worldview but some of them are different. First, God is still an infinite God and He created the whole world. But He is not personal any more because He created the world but does not sustain it. He is like a watchmaker who created the watch and then let it run by itself. Therefore, human beings have no intimate and personal relationship with God. Deists believe that the world is still good because it was created by the all-wise God, but it is more like a big clock.

What is more, “many Deists believe that...