How might a biblical worldview influence the way you treat and speak to others on a daily basis?

Answer 1

A "biblical worldview" is a wide-ranging variety of perspectives. However, for the sake of shortening your answer, we will discuss a fairly fundamentalist (or strict) denomination of Christianity, the Pentecostals.

The Pentecostals believe that the world was created between six- and twelve- thousand years ago (depending on what part of the United States the church is in). Within this mindset, evolution of single-celled organisms to man is not accepted. Mankind is God's creation, and cannot biologically improve as it will never change; therefore, any attempt to better mankind as a creature or hope to become something more through evolution is futile. The best that mankind can hope for is to pass along stories of God and Jesus from generation to generation in order to save souls that are otherwise doomed to burn in Hell.

This affects interpersonal relationships with Humanists (non-Christians). Many who do not subscribe to Biblical mythology may misinterpret a well-meaning attempt to "save" someone as a personal insult. One fundamental difference between Christians and Humanists is that Humanists believe (usually) in evolution. Instead of seeing mankind as a forever-flawed creature in need of saving because of Original Sin, Humanists believe that mankind is a species with the potential within itself to change and grow over time.

The perceived insult is that the Christian points out flaws in the Humanist as unfix-able by himself. By extension, you have insulted his entire family as flawed.

As a world-view, the Christian is taught in the book of Genesis that the Earth and all the creatures in the sea and on land are there for man to subdue and exploit. God takes care of the planet and causes things to grow for man to use. There is no need for conservation or ecological concerns, because it is under God's protection.

Fundamentalist Christians are also taught to shun and distrust those who

• believe in other gods
• question The Bible
• practice sorcery (science)

These tenets of Christianity drive a social rift between themselves and anyone who does not subscribe to their belief system. Christians are taught to believe that anyone outside of this circle of belief is either brought into the circle by being saved; or (depending on the severity of the particular church) pitied, shunned, or killed.

The Christian view of the world-at-large as a social construct is affected by the belief that the messiah is coming back to destroy the world. Most believers think that this time is "any day now." With this belief, the Christian is less concerned about improving the world (which he believes is lost) and more concerned about readying a flock of other believers in order to abandon the world to its fate.

This can affect the decisions of everyday life. For example, some who believe that (at the time of this writing) Jesus will return on May 21, 2011 have given all of their money to the church, or left it in trust to loved ones whom they do not believe are saved. Outside of this small group, there are other Christians who give to churches as their charities to further the end of spreading Christianity instead of giving to charities whose purpose is to help battered women or to help build art programs.