Advanced Worldview Analysis

Dr. Ron Nash

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.

 

 

 

Political Philosophy and the Christian Worldview
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.

The Christian Worldview and Economics
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.

The Worldview of the Religious Left
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.

The Christian Worldview and the Philosophy of Law
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.

The Christian Worldview and Environmentalism
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.

Philosophy of Education and the Christian Worldview
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.