This an introductory course to the analysis of worldviews. These lectures were given at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida during the spring of 2002.
| 1. Introduction |
Discussion of the content of a worldview and the criteria used to evaluate worldviews. |
| 2. Liberalism and Conservatism |
Discussion of liberalism and conservatism, and statism and anti-statism. |
| 3. Political Positions |
Political systems fall along a continuum between the extremes of anarchism and totalitarianism. |
| 4. Statism and Anti-statism |
People favoring statism support extensive government involvement in education and social programs. |
| 5. Evaluation of Statism and Anti-statism |
From a biblical point of view, statism is evil. |
| 6. Justice |
Discussion of justice on an individual and corporate level. |
| 7. Capitalism and Socialism |
An economy based on capitalism has much less government involvement than an economy based on socialism. |
| 8. Interventionism |
Interventionism is a capitalistic economic system in which government gets involved to allow free exchange within a framework of laws. |
| 9. Defense of Capitalism |
Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of capitalism. |
| 10. Economics |
Two basic concepts of economics are limited resources and the choices we make that reflect our values. |
| 11. Marxism |
Marxism is an economic system based on the idea of a class struggle with the goal of a classless society. |
| 12. Real Accounting Fraud |
Article from The Free Market |
| 13. Socialism and Capitalism |
The Bible and Socialism, Moral Defense of Capitalism |
| 14. Money and Wealth |
We are responsible to be a good steward of the wealth God gives us to manage. |
| 15. Poverty |
Some of the root causes of poverty are government, social and religious systems. |
| 16. Liberation Theology |
Liberation theology is an ideology promoted by people trained in Marxism. True liberation theology delivers people from tyranny, poverty and sin. |
| 17. The Religious Left |
Christians ought to care about poverty and oppression. People who hold differing economic and social theories propose very different approaches and solutions to these problems. |
| 18. Representatives of the Evangelical Left |
Discussion of the differences between evangelical liberals and conservatives. |
| 19. Inflation of Rights |
Guest Lecturer, Alejandro Moreno-Morrison discussing the inflation of rights. |
| 20. Legal Positivism |
Guest Lecturer, Alejandro Moreno-Morrison discusses legal positivism. |
| 21. Environmentalism Overview |
A balanced approach toward environmentalism is needed because it can be a serious threat to individual liberty. |
| 22. Types of Pollution |
Discussion of how people work in a capitalistic system to address environmental concerns. |
| 23. Problems with Public Education |
The public school system in the United States has fostered functional illiteracy, cultural illiteracy, and moral/spiritual illiteracy. |
| 24. A Possible Solution |
Discussion of the pros and cons of setting up a voucher system to fund the education system. |