Thought and Discussion Questions

Chapter One

1. Do you know anyone who has lost his or her faith after high school? Have you talked to this person about it? Did they describe their experience with lots of emotion, or not so much?
2. What did it feel like for you to talk to this person about it? Did it feel threatening to your own faith? Did the person come up with questions that have been bothering you and you’d like to know more about?
3. Where are you with Christ right now? Is your faith pretty solid? What happens to your faith when you have questions and doubts?
4. Can you think of any good solid examples of people who have come through college with strong faith, who were able to make a strong public stance for Christian faith, who were able to lead others to Christ? Talk to them and try to learn from them!

Chapter Two

1. An old Christian watchword is “faith seeking understanding.” When it comes to a Christian’s confidence, what parts do faith and knowledge play? Does knowledge about stuff come first, then faith? Does faith happen with knowledge not really mattering at all? Or does faith come first, but then add to knowledge?
2. Do you personally want to be a more effective in communicating your faith? Why or why not?
3. Dig down deep: Do you personally want to be a more confident, effective public representative of Christian faith in an increasingly pluralistic world? Does that goal scare you or excite you? Can you talk to God about it in prayer?

Chapter Three

1. What is the definition of worldview? Do you agree that everyone has a worldview, even though not everyone has a religion?
2. Often people will say, “I don’t believe in organized religion.” Maybe they’ll say, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” How would helping such people to realize they (like everyone else) have a worldview that functions as a religion make the playing field more level in your conversations?
3. Can you see that all human beings start from some sort of bottom-line faith position regarding worldview? What are some implications of this for sharing the gospel with others?
4. Why do people hide behind a veneer of objective authority, believing that they can avoid the issue of faith? Why is bringing their worldview assumptions out in the open so important?
5. In your own words, describe how each and every human being is narrowed by his or her worldview.
6. Is Christian faith just one among many worldview opinions? What, if anything, makes Christian faith unique among the other worldviews?

Chapter Four

1. Take out six pieces of paper. At the top mark each of them with the name of one of the six major worldviews. Now, think about any books, plays, movies, school projects, musical groups and so on that might fit into each worldview category. Share your ideas with someone else and see what they came up with.
2. As we have seen, each worldview has certain inflexible rules (or absolutes) that must never be broken. Can you name some of the rules or absolutes for each worldview? What are “the rules” for the Biblical worldview? How have Christians in the past misunderstood what these rules are? How are Christians today goofing up in understanding these absolutes?
3. What do the the main worldviews have in common with each other? Can you group them according to certain concepts, categories, practices or beliefs? Can you set them against each other in concepts, categories, practices or beliefs?
4. Follow each worldview to its logical conclusion. What does each worldview say about the dignity of the individual? About the love of God? About the meaning of life?

Chapter Five

1. Which of the worldviews put God in a box (i.e., put restrictions and conditions on God) more?
2. Who’s to say it’s impossible for God to communicate clearly? How could we humans, limited as we are, know that if it were true? If God really exists, might there not be some way for God to break through?
3. If someone asked you to explain the Biblical worldview, how would you show that it is a unique, powerful, and attractive worldview that answers our deepest questions and human needs?
4. Do any of the major worldviews stand out to you as offering the most relevant resources for envisioning and working toward the kind of world that fulfills our deepest (and universal) human aspirations for individual dignity as well as a just and peaceful society? Which one(s) and why?

Chapter Six

1. What does it mean to you personally to be made “in the image of God”? How does that truth affect how you look at others? (For insight, read 2 Cor. 5:16 in its context.)
2. What do all peoples, nations, tribes and tongues share in common in terms of everyday experience? In terms of spiritual experience?
3. If sin is a universal human experience, what are some important things to keep in mind as we as Christians consider our “stance” in the marketplace of ideas?
4. How can Christians better communicate the gospel to people who have a worldview partially similar to the biblical, but who have some really jacked ideas about God?
5. How can Christians better communicate the gospel to people who have an entirely different worldview than they do?

Chapter Seven
     Check out Analyze This! 65 Common Worldview Sayings. Try to identify each of the sayings according to the most likely worldview(s) it represents.
     Try to draw a simple diagram of each major worldview on a napkin. If you can remember how to do this, it’ll help you have many fine conversations with people.

Chapter Eight
     So, have I convinced you that a person’s worldview is more important than the religion or philosophy they say they believe? Agree or disagree, but support your answer.

Chapter Nine
     What’s the hardest thing about saying, “I don’t know?” What do you have to lose by admitting that you don’t have all the answers?

Chapter Ten

1. Describe the worldview into which the Bible was written. Try to bottom-line it for a friend. How does it relate to what you remember from your high school Greek and Roman mythology stories?
2. A TV executive recently said that young audiences “skew toward ghosts” and a recent Gallup survey says that 32% of Americans believe in ghosts * . Do you see any evidence among your friends or acquaintances of the Haunted worldview?
3. Why is historical and cultural context so important in understanding any literature? Why is it important in understanding the Bible?
4. If it is true that Genesis 1 is pre-scientific and pre-Darwinian, addressed to the mindset of people thousands of years ago: Is its message still valid today?
5. Some of our assumptions and questions are different from those of the original hearers. But because of our common humanity, what are some assumptions and questions that might be the same?
6. Since all of us bring our own perspective to any text, and we can’t ever totally rid ourselves of those prior ideas, what can we do mentally to try to “really hear” the message of an ancient text like Genesis 1?
7. Here are some purpose-in-life questions: What do the Haunted and the Biblical worldviews say about our purpose in life? Which does a better job of preserving human dignity and meaningfulness? Which elicits more thankfulness and the desire to be good?

Chapter Eleven

1. A friend of mine used to have a two-line poster on his wall. The first line read like this: God is dead. -–Nietzsche. The second line said: Nietzsche is dead. –God.
   What is your opinion of this poster? Would your friends appreciate the humor and irony of it? Would it turn them off? Why or why not?
   
2. Many leaders in the Glory-to-God Enlightenment were Anglican (Church of England) and strong believers in Christ. Below please find a list of some of them**. Do a quick internet study on a couple of them to get a better appreciation for how they applied their Christian faith in the context of the rise of modern science and the rapid expansion of new knowledge.
3. What do you think of the Two Enlightenments idea? From what you know, does it hold up? Do you think it needs to be thrown out or revised?
4. Can you think of any examples of the Radical Enlightenment from friends, teachers, TV shows, books, movies, plays or musical groups you have experienced? How about the Glory-to-God Enlightenment? Write down your recollections of either or both.
5. The subtitle of this book is “Making Sense of the World’s Spiritual Chatter.” Since the Naturalist/ Materialist/ Atheist worldview denies the spiritual world, do you think the subtitle fits for this chapter? Why or why not?

Chapter Twelve
     Take one of the authors or subsections that interests you and do some of your own study on it. See if, in your opinion, what I’m saying holds up.

Chapter Thirteen
     Take one of the authors or subsections that interests you and do some of your own study on it. See if, in your opinion, what I’m saying holds up.

Chapter Fourteen
     Look up the file on “Examples of Supernaturalism in the Bible” (currently I have dug up 186, but I know there are more). Look up any that interest you. See if, in your reading and studying of the Bible, you can find more. I’d love to enlist your help to make the list grow.

Chapter Fifteen
     Practice what you’ve learned in this chapter with two people you know. Share this worldview-encounter experience with another person.

Chapter Sixteen
     Okay, the topic is the notoriously difficult one of postmodernism. Try to explain in the simplest terms, in your own words, what postmodernism is.
     Do you see this attitude around you? What are some examples from your own experience?

Chapter Seventeen

1. What is the main message of this chapter? How important is this message for the sake of the church in today’s culture?
2. How can the Biblical worldview as expressed in the White-hot Core be used as a way to enhance Christian unity?
3. How can the Biblical worldview as expressed in the White-hot Core be used to show the errors behind various cults?

Chapter Eighteen

1. Now that you’ve seen how the principles of worldview can be used to evaluate various religions and philosophies, apply it to one you’re familiar with that we didn’t mention.
2. How do you feel about using the word “heresy?” Do you think I was too squeamish in seeking to avoid the term?
3. It’s important to realize how Islam and Christian faith differ. But it’s also important to love our Muslim neighbors with the love of Christ. Think of how to live with this tension in a way that honors God and does not create big walls of fear and hate to come up between you and your Muslim acquaintances and friends.
4. What goes for Muslims goes for the other groups as well. Think through where your friends are at with respect to worldviews and religions. How can you live your life in a way that brings them closer to Jesus?

Chapter Nineteen
     Do the Bible studies in the file “Trinity, Schminity.”

Chapters Twenty and Twenty-one
     There are already plenty of application questions in this chapter. Pick two or three and write out your responses to them in your spiritual journal, or in an email letter to somebody you know.

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   Analyze This! 65 Comon Worldview Sayings
   Chapter-by-chapter Discussion Questions
   Supernaturalism in the Bible
   Bible Study on the Trinity