*** SHOW NOTES (not a transcript) ***

Lead:

Series: learning to spot distinctions in worldviews.

Intro:

As Os Guinness puts it, “Contrast is the mother of clarity.” So when it comes to worldviews, what are the most foundational distinctions? That’s where we’re going in our Reflection segment today, and we’ll focus on what to look for when we’re talking with — and hopefully listening to — someone.

Yesterday’s journey through the book of Matthew highlighted the beginnings of Jesus’ preparation for His earthly ministry, including his temptation by the devil.

Today’s reading from The Bible Project is a little longer than the last couple days, and it’ll be entirely just hearing Jesus speak some of the most famous words in the Bible usually referred to as the sermon on the mount. And we won’t even finish. But as I often say on this show, sometimes it’s just good to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen no matter what part of the Bible we’re reading, but today we’ll hear directly from the horse’s mouth. Wait…did I just call Jesus a horse?

Sponsor:

Today’s sponsor and provider of background music is Pip Craighead’s The Dandelion Project, and the new track is Night School.

Bible segment (read along with The Bible Project):

Passage: Matthew 5-6
Translation: NIV (New International Version)
Verses: 82
Words: ~1733

Thinking/reflection segment:

This isn’t intended to be comprehensive, but introductory. If you’re a Christian, you’re called to be ready to give an answer — make a case — for the hope (see how I snuck that in there?). Making distinctions is where to start.

Remember a couple things as we start the series:

A “worldview” is the lens through which we see the world — how we see reality.
There are different systems of categorization, and I like more than one.
This series values simplicity and conversational skills — it’s not comprehensive in a purely academic sense.

Here’s the big question to ask: Zero, one, or more than one?

Zero gods: a-theism
One god: (mono)theism or monism
More than one: polytheism
I don’t care: apatheism

Key: The important category to pay attention to is ‘one god,’ because whether or not God is separate from or part of the universe is a huge deal. More tomorrow.

Wisdom segment:

Passage:
Translation: NIV (New International Version)
Verses:
Words:

Love you!

-R

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

I love giving credit where credit is due. The above is amalgamated from several sources:

Tom Price and David Montoya, "Belief Mapping: Discover Your Unique Way of Seeing the World" (handout presented in a contemporary spirituality class at Oxford Centre for christian Apologetics -- Business Programme, July 4, 2019). Learn more at BeliefMapping.com.

Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1990), 2. This, by the way, is a brilliantly organized work on apologetics, approachable if you don’t have a doctorate in philosophy or theology, and is a book I’d heartily recommend.

Cameron Blair, “Worldviews” blairs.id.au (blog), 2005, http://blairs.id.au/worldviews/. Accessed August 24, 2019. This is a brilliant flowchart if you want to go more deeply.

#863: Matthew 5-6 | Spotting worldview distinctions, part 1