Anabaptism as Worldview

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
Mrs.Nisly
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Anabaptism as Worldview

Post by Mrs.Nisly »

This past weekend I was privileged to enjoy eight sessions on the topic of Anabaptism as Worldview by Steven Brubaker from Guys Mills, Pa. I believe these were condensed from a class he teaches at Faith Builders with the same title. Steven was a guest speaker at Center Amish Mennonite Church Friday evening, Saturday evening, Sunday Morning, and Sunday Evening.

I also attended a special talk by Steven for the Pilgrim Christian School staff and related parties on Saturday morning. His topic for the school was on the vision of Biblical Integrated Education.

Of course his talks were packed full of ideas that need considerable time to unpack and begs discussion and analysis. I took notes the best I could from his power point presentations. The sessions are available to listen to from the Center AM Church website.http://www.centeramishmennonite.org/

I would like to have this thread to be a place of discussion on the things he shared. I don't know if he is a member of MN or if he would consider weighing in on this discussion if he was.
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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So I am familiar with the concept of worldview since I was introduced to it through home school resources and material. I have and read a few books dealing with the topic that have been helpful and formative to me in developing a big picture understanding of my own worldview and the world view of others.

Some of the resources I have are Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society since 1500 by Glenn R. Miller, Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview by Michael W. Goheen and Craig G. Bartholomew, The Meaning of History by Ronald H. Nash, and the one I am currently reading is The Universe next Door by James W. Sire.

The closest thing to an Anabaptist worldview that I have read is the essay by Melvin Lehman found on the FB website titled The Kingdom of God. So I was very interested and excited to hear how Steven Brubaker would frame this idea of an Anabaptist Worldview.

The first session was an introduction to the term "Worldview" and its definition.
Some of the quotes from my notes that he used to define this concept.

"Worldview is that which is good, acceptable, and perfect." This is found in Romans 11:33-12:2

"My Worldview is the way I make sense of the world...what I think is normal."

"A worldview is:
-the set of head and heart commitments
-what I believe and value
-about the way the world really is, and the way I think it is.
-that which shapes what I do and how I do it."
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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Slightly off topic here, but relevant to the weekend.

Almost as enjoyable as the speaking topics themselves was the congregational acappella singing of the Center Church congregation. The church where I attend doesn't do too badly, but wow! sitting in the midst of the congregational singing of this church is like finding yourself in the middle of a 200 member choir. The energy and joy that flows from the music is amazing, and the sense that you are actively engaged in worship with others is profound.

This is not by accident. I see first hand the careful training at the school that goes into students from first grade on up in their Music classes. Sure, not everyone is musically inclined, but training and discipline in this particular subject makes everyone a better singer and it benefits the church.

The church uses the "Purple Martin" hymn book.
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Dan Z
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

Post by Dan Z »

Just to let you know I'm with you here Mrs. N...I really appreciate Steven...and the topic.

I'll post once I listen to enough to be a helpful part of the conversation.
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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Thanks,Dan, I would enjoy hearing your perspective.

So in the second part of this first session Steven defines the "Worldview of this age."

This is what we are dealing with. This is what "the world" thinks is good, acceptable and perfect. This is what the world thinks is normal.

It doesn't take much time on Facebook, glancing at tabloid magazines, cracking open periodicals, listening to music or commentary on the news to get a sense for what the world thinks is good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, perfect or sub par. Like he said, "it is in the air." I can see that for some of us that have been out of the mainstream, "the World" seems shocking and alien. But for others of us, it fairly normal and even understandable.

So he broke down what the worldview of this age consists of by answering three key questions.
The first is, What is reality?
or "What is?"

The answer is,that matter is all that is, or the Physical is all that is. This is Naturalism.

So a question to all of you, what are examples of this view of the world that you have seen or have you identified?
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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One opinion I have that the society has a naturalist worldview, is the insistence that any mention of God, any public prayer, or Christian religious study in public education is a violation of the separation of church and state. I think a naturalist world view is what drives secularism.
So if naturalism is the worldview, it stands to reason that government/public schools teach children from this worldview.

If the naturalist believes that what is good, acceptable, and perfect is that there is no soul, only body and there is no mind, only brain, then there is no God, only atoms.

James W. Sire explains in The Universe Next Door, that naturalism comes from Deism. Both of these philosophies see the cosmos as a closed system. The Deist acknowledged that God created the cosmos but then left it to function on it's own by cause and effect. The naturalist goes further and says there isn't even anything outside of the cosmos that began the cosmos, it was simply chance.

So, my thoughts here, if we reject the idea that the cosmos is a closed system, and believe that in fact, it is open and controlled by something or someone outside of the realm of human intelligence or reasoning, then that leaves open the possibility that this entity could well be governing even the very minutest detail.

I'm not sure I always function at this level of belief.
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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Ok, so the second question Steven addresses of the worldview of this age is; Does truth exist?

This question is captured in these ideas:
All Religions are true
Truth is relative
There is nothing universally true

This is called Relativism.

My questions:
Has relativism developed from naturalism and if so, how is it linked?
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Josh
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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These sessions are excellent, and I wish I had time to hurry up and finish listening to all of them.

Our current state of epistemological swamps where people doubt if truth exists or even doubt if they themselves exist is a result of a poor understanding of metaphysics, philosophy, and being influenced by writers in the past who had a very anti-God agenda. (Modern analytical philosophy answers questions like "How could a loving God be evil?" or "Can we know if truth exists?" quite well, but these recent innovations in philosophy haven't really trickled down to the average person yet.)

Ultimately, the idea of a universal, supreme, singular God existing outside of space and time is a rather obvious one, and when one starts to deny this self-evident truth, one ends up in a quagmire where one can't figure out if anything is true at all. It should be as plain as day that the question "Does truth exist?" is as worthwhile to try to answer as "Does this question exist?"
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Josh
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

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Mrs.Nisly wrote:James W. Sire explains in The Universe Next Door, that naturalism comes from Deism. Both of these philosophies see the cosmos as a closed system. The Deist acknowledged that God created the cosmos but then left it to function on it's own by cause and effect. The naturalist goes further and says there isn't even anything outside of the cosmos that began the cosmos, it was simply chance.
The naturalist fails to explain where things like time and space came from, or the laws of physics, or even the concept of "chance" itself. Likewise they never have a good explanation for things like human consciousness, which is not at all explained by a naturalist worldview, yet obviously exists because all of us experience it.

Since we do not know everything about the nature of the cosmos, the only fair statement is that whilst we understand a good deal about it, we do not know for sure its origins, or if it is under the influence of things or a higher power we can't observe.
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Dan Z
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Re: Anabaptism as Worldview

Post by Dan Z »

Mrs.Nisly wrote:My questions:
Has relativism developed from naturalism and if so, how is it linked?
I've listened to the first three presentations so far...I especially enjoyed the the first, where Steven explains that the worldview of the dominant culture (anchored on naturalism, relativism, and humanism) is like a tsunami that will be very hard to resist unless one is deliberate about not being conformed to the world, but rather, being transformed by the renewing of their mind.

I think your question above is an interesting one. I think naturalism and relativism are linked, but not in a supportive role - instead, relativism is a push-back to the overreach of naturalism.

Historically..."naturalism" came as an outgrowth of the 17th &18th century Enlightenment, when the locus of understanding shifted from the church to science - or to say it another way, when the center of knowledge moved from the realm of the the soul to the realm of the mind. Because of the Scientific Revolution that accompanied the Enlightenment, truth was now seen in naturalistic terms, only provable by experimentation, measurement and direct observation...a truly revolutionary idea at the time. And the pendulum swung from Theism to Naturalism (and as you noted, sometimes with a nod to Deism - so long as God didn't meddle in his Creation).

It became apparent, however, that the Enlightenment and its naturalistic certainty had overreached - the pendulum (as it is wont to do) swung too far. Naturalism and reason couldn't sufficiently answer questions of meaning, morality, ethics, mystery and most importantly - faith.

Naturalism is still a strong presence in society - as Steven noted - especially since science has proven itself so true (in the things it is meant to prove). However, I don't think the conclusions of pristine Naturalism (that natural phenomena are all there is) hold as much sway as they did as recently as the 20th century. Most of society has come to understand that there is more to our existence than nature alone - and post-modern relativism is an outgrowth of this conclusion.
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