Here's another paper for a different theology class; just as wishy-washy a set of instructions, identical result...
A Biblical Worldview:
A Biblical worldview is simply a
Christian’s perspective, impetus and boundary for his or her spiritual and physical life. In the essay to follow, I will describe what Paul
says in Romans 1-8 about the natural world, human identity and relationships,
and culture in those same terms, spiritual
and physical, and demonstrate how they
affect a Biblical worldview.
Paul’s greeting (1:1) describes that spiritual and physical duality by introducing himself as both a bond-servant (spiritual slave) and apostle (his physical role). This duality is further
expressed in 1:5, where grace (the spiritual
commission) and apostleship (the physical
commission) are introduced. His programmatic statement in 1:16-17 declares the
Gospel as the over-arching theme for his book, as N.T. Wright confirms: “…the covenant faithfulness of God…” [A] and
therefore the ratification for our Biblical worldview. We can address the
following inescapable questions: “is
there a God?”, “who are we?”, “what is our purpose?” in terms related
to our commission to spread the Gospel with the perspective, impetus and
boundaries of our Biblical worldview informing our spiritual and physical
existences.
The
Natural World:
Rom
1:18-32 describes God’s wrath concerning the deviations from His plan regarding
the natural world. The passage describes His invisible attributes, eternal
power and divine nature in the natural world, thus prompting both the inescapable
question, “is there a God?” and
revealing the answer of His existence through creation itself (1:18-20). Man is
without excuse in the breaking of these natural laws and perversion of the
natural order (1:20). The natural world, as determined by God, required not
only adherence to the natural use of the physical
body (and by implication stewardship of the earth), but also the adherence to
the spiritual aspect of the natural
world, manifested in gratitude to God (through right worship) and
acknowledgement of His sovereignty and divinity through honoring and
thankfulness (1:20-21). The remainder of the chapter describes the punitive
reaction of the natural world towards mankind’s actions (the physical natural world) and thoughts
(the spiritual natural world). Mankind’s
wisdom became foolishness, and its speculations (actions) futile. The natural
world-order of death as the punishment for sin, established by God at the fall
(Gen 3), is described clearly in 1:32 as the result of mankind’s failure to
obey the law of the natural world spiritually
and physically. Verse 32 again
delineates the spiritual and physical aspects of this, describing
their practice and the “hearty approval” of those actions (spiritual acquiescence). The
natural world is thus under the condemnation of the Law and our Biblical
worldview is forced to acknowledge this condition.
Human
Identity:
Mankind’s
inescapable desire to know “who am I”
in the ‘scheme of things’, is addressed in the definition of his identity. As a
result of the spiritual and physical rejection of the natural world,
man’s wisdom became foolishness, and his speculations (actions) futile (1:21),
thus changing his identity from a worshipful, thankful creation to an
idolatrous prideful creature, a parody of God’s image (Gen 1:27). Romans
2:1-3:20 provides a clearly defined picture of mankind’s identity, using the
concept of Jews and Gentiles as defined by circumcision. We are shown that
human identity is defined by our spiritual
status as Jew or Gentile, and manifested physically
by the action of circumcision, but that regardless of our physical identification as Jew or Gentile, circumcised or not, our
ultimate spiritual identity is
validated by our relationship with God. Human identity can be further defined
in light of the over-arching Gospel-centric theme of Romans as important to God.
He established the Law and its punishment for sin, and thereupon sacrificed His
first-born for the many of His children; defining our human identity as blessed,
beloved of God and freed from the Law (8:1), and thereby shaping our Biblical viewpoint, enabling us to encompass our
identity as the reason for both the Gospel and our commission as believers.
Human
Relationships:
Of
course, the over-riding human relationship is that one he has with his Maker,
expressed by Him paternally to us, and through honor and thankfulness by us.
This is inherent throughout Romans, but is specifically addressed in 3:28-30
and 4:16. Our relationship to the Abrahamic race is alluded to in chapter
3:21-31.[B]
Our
relationship to the Law is clearly defined in chapter 7:1-6, where Paul frames it
in terms of another important relationship; that of husbands to wives. A unique
dimension is expressed here in terms of the natural world concept of adultery
(again, spiritual and physical). CA relationship to a husband (here, a metaphor
for our sinful condition under the Law) is considered adulterous if the
‘husband’ is not dead; our relationship to our new husband (Christ), is
sanctioned, and we are free from that Law. Mankind’s spiritual relationship (and, arguably, his physical relationship as noted in Gen 3:8) with God was destroyed
through idolatry, and the physical
relationship between men and women was perverted through unnatural sexual
relationships (Romans 1:18-32). Our relationships with one another are
described in terms of condemnation for judging others hypocritically (Rom
2:1-3), and what our relationship should be to sin is clarified in chapter
6:1-14: we should be dead to it! Our Biblical
viewpoint is hereby further informed by the notion that the manifestation of
our efforts to present the Gospel is through our relationships, both spiritual and physical, thus hinting at the answer to the inescapable question “what is our purpose?”, which shall be
addressed more fully in the next paragraph.
Culture:
Culture,
historically and currently, is enslaved by the Law (8:2,15), and by the
relationship it has with the father of sin, Satan (Jn 8:44, Eph 2:2). Cultural
norms of idolatry (spiritual), enmity
with God’s children (physical, persecution),
wide-spread acceptance of the lusts of the flesh and eyes (both spiritual) and pride of life (physical) all result in spiritual
and physical turpitude. These are
described in great detail in Romans 1, as they relate to the natural world.
Romans 7:15-25 speaks to the impetus (inherent in the believer) to desire to do
the right thing in our relationships, both immediate and to society/culture as
a whole. This is contrasted with our lack of ability, in spite of our desire, to
achieve it without God. Society evidences, both spiritually and physically,
a culture of Lawlessness (3:10-18),
an ethno-cultural division between
Jews and Gentiles, and a slave-culture
manifested in our societal servitude to money and human wisdom. These cultural
concerns were rampant during Paul’s writing of Romans, and have been throughout
history. The inescapable question “what
is our purpose?” can be answered in the believer’s directive to embrace
life by living according to the Spirit, free from the Law, as heirs of God, to
please Him (8:12-30) and to actively strive to model Paul’s programmatic
statement (1:16-17). This will have a positive kingdom-oriented impact on
culture through the emancipation of creation (8:19-25)! We can therefore add to
our Biblical worldview the idea that
cultural change can be manifested through the combined faith of “the sons of
God” (8:19).
Conclusion:
Paul’s
programmatic statement in Romans 1:16-17, his presentation of the Gospel as the
central theme of Romans, and his thoughts concerning the natural world, human
identity and relationships, and culture all serve to enliven a Biblical
worldview. I have demonstrated that the natural world, enslaved to sin and
under the Law, is condemned, and that our human identity is the reason for
God’s salvation and the ensuing commission to spread the Gospel to all mankind.
I also posited that our relationships, with God and our fellow man, are the
media through which we set about to perpetrate cultural change. Accordingly,
the most important “inescapable” questions: “is there a God?”, “who am I?”, and
“what is our purpose?” have been answered in light of our Biblical worldview
which states that our perception, impetus and boundaries inform our spiritual and physical lives.
[B]
Wright, N.T. Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E.
Elizabeth Johnson, 1995, 33-49. Minneapolis: Fortress. Web n.d. http://ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Romans_Theology_Paul.
February 28th 2015
C Athanasius, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria. On The Incarnation. Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press 1977. 25-44. Print.
C Athanasius, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria. On The Incarnation. Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press 1977. 25-44. Print.
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