Christianity gets the human condition right. All worldviews have to answer the key question: “What is a human being?”
Naturalistic Worldviews
Naturalistic philosophies see the physical world as all that exists. Humans beings are the result of mindless, chance causes and processes. Humans are essentially animals – highly evolved, but no different in significance than any other living thing. Thus naturalistic views demote humans. But this view leaves a lot unexplained. Why do humans practice altruism, benevolence, or acts of heroism? And what explains acts of incredible evil?
Transcendental Worldviews
In these philosophies, the physical world is illusory. Only the spiritual world is ultimately real. Humans are an expression of the divine spirit that is the essence of all things. If naturalistic views demote humans to the level of animals, transcendental views promote human beings. God is not “out there” somewhere; we are God. God is all, thus God is us. But this view doesn’t explain real evil. Why are people selfish? Why do they hurt others? What accounts for personal acts of evil like rape or terrorism.
Pascal and the Christian Worldview
French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “Man’s greatness and wretchedness are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach both.” Any philosophy that cannot fully account for human greatness and human depravity at the same time should be abandoned because it misses something obvious about the human condition. Christianity has a valid explanation for human greatness: people are made in God’s image. Thus we have dignity, value, and capacity. Christianity also explains human evil: the image of God has been defaced by sin. Our great capacity gets used for the wrong purposes. Our creativity is placed in the service of evil and our best intentions twisted for selfish gain. Something has gone wrong. While other worldviews unduly demote or promote humanity, Christianity gets the tension just right.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- What do naturalistic worldviews get right about humanity? What do they get wrong?
- What do transcendental worldviews get right about humanity? What do they miss?
- How do you respond to the quote: Humanity is both “the glory and the refuse of the universe”?
- How does this video help you understand yourself more fully?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
This topic is adapted from the Colson Center YouTube channel.
