Christian Worldview as a Foundation of Life

Hello, everyone. My name is Sunghyun Kim. I am teaching Chemistry at Konkuk University. I welcome all of you. I am very pleased to share with you a Christian worldview. I have been thinking this theme for a longtime. The main theme of this year’s conference is “Walking with God.” This theme is very timely and Christian worldview is relevant topic for this theme because we need to know Christian worldview in order to walk with God. In this short seminar, I would like to introduce what the Christian worldview is and why it is a foundation of our life.

Surely you have heard the word ‘worldview’ some point in your life. What is worldview then? Its literal meaning is a view or perspective of the world. Easily speaking, it is something like glasses. Depending on which glasses you wear, you see the world differently. If you wear red glasses, you see the world in a red color. With blue glasses, the world appears blue. If the glasses are not smooth but rough, you will see the distorted world. As there are many glasses, there are many worldviews. Unlike glasses however, a worldview determines our lifestyle and the purpose of life. You can find a bunch of books about the worldview and can have an easy access to them. In this hour rather than introducing different worldviews, I will focus on the Christian worldview which is also called the Biblical worldview because it is derived from the Bible.

A worldview basically answers the following important questions. First, “Who am I?” or “Where did I come from?” This is a question about our identity everybody asks. Am I just a mere product of natural processes from materials or am I much more than that? Second, “Why do I live?” This is a question about the purpose of life. Is there anything such as a purpose of life at all? As we grow up, we become self-conscious and ask this question. Particularly, young men are wandering searching for the purpose of life. Third, “Where am I going after death?” Death comes to everyone one day. There is no exception. Is death a complete extinction of existence or am I going somewhere else? If so, what is waiting for me? Fourth, “Why is there suffering?” We see sufferings everywhere and every time. We ask this question when we realize that suffering is not a normal but an abnormal, odd state of life. Why do we have to suffer? How did suffering come into life? Different worldviews give different answers. Going deeper and deeper into these questions, we ask even deeper questions. “Does an ultimate being really exist?” If he does, is he good or bad or simply not caring? “How do we know what is good and what is bad?” “What is the meaning of history?” These questions are so important. Answers to them strongly depend on which worldview we hold.

The reason that a worldview is important is that depending on which worldview we have, our answers to those questions will be different, and this will eventually affect our life. We all have our own worldviews. Regardless of sex, race, social status or the level of education, everyone has his/her own worldview. Even an uneducated old woman has her own worldview. She simply cannot logically explain it. One’s worldview is hidden in most of time. But under a specific situation, his/her worldview is revealed. Examples are homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, divorce, feminism, and so on. Let’s consider homosexuality, which is a big issue recently in this country. There may be two different opinions. Someone may say, “What is the problem for homosexuality? It is a personal matter. Let’s allow it. Prohibiting it is against human right.” But others may say, “homosexuality is against the natural behavior. It is a source of AIDS, and it devastates one’s life, family, and society. Therefore, it must be prohibited.” What makes such difference? Digging into these opinions, we find there are different worldviews behind them. Different worldviews make different opinions and attitudes. In other words, our worldview governs our thought and behavior and eventually our life.

“The Universe Next Door” written by James Sire is an introductory book of the worldview. I read this book when I was a college student. It compares the Christian worldview with others such as deism, naturalism, nihilism, and the like. I strongly recommend you read it. It begins with a story of a man. The man shouted to the universe: “Sir, I exist.” However, replied the universe “The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation.” I think the man was desperate seeking for the meaning of his life but only heard an empty echo. On the quite contrary, a shepherd boy 3000 years ago looked at the same universe and wrote. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens… When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?...” This is Psalm 8. You know who he is. He is David. He wrote another poem, Psalm 19. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” You have just seen two completely different reactions to the same universe. One man, although he looked at the immense, beautiful, unfathomable universe, he only felt emptiness in his soul. But David saw completely different things. He saw the glory and splendor of God and His handy work. Moreover, he found God’s mercy and love toward him. Which worldview do you want to possess?

As I said, Christian worldview is also called Biblical worldview because it is derived from the Bible. This term was first used by Abraham Kuyper, Dutch theologian, politician, journalist and later systematized by Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher. The life and thought of Abraham Kuyper are very important even today and will be considered in the latter part of this seminar. The central themes of Christian worldview are creation, fall, and redemption. This category provides us with a basic frame on which we can build up a firm foundation for our thinking on this world, our life and its purpose. Some people categorize the Christian worldview differently. For example, there is 7C’s classification, which are creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, Cross, and consummation. Or some may add restoration. However, here I will discuss Christian worldview based on a traditional classification-Creation, Fall, and Redemption.

Needless to say, Genesis the first book of the Bible is most important among 66 books. It is the foundation of other books in the Bible. That is, if you deny or distort it, the whole scriptures are also denied or distorted. Only when we accept the historicity and the reality of Genesis, other parts of the Bible have true meanings. The book of Genesis, as the name itself indicates, shows origins of many important things. Genesis tells us origins and their true meanings for the universe, solar system, life, marriage, sin, family, work, society, language, chosen people, and more. For example, let’s consider a monogamy marriage system. How did it start? As some anthropologists claim, did it start from polygamy and has been changed into monogamy in order to avoid social confusion? To understand how the marriage system started and its meaning, we have to look up Genesis. Genesis clearly shows how it began and gives meanings to it. Gen 2:24 says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” This verse clearly says that the marriage is made between one man and one woman. On the foundation of Genesis, we know the world was created by God’s Word on top of which laws, marriage, standards of life, and finally meaning of life are built. Therefore, if Genesis is denied, the whole structure built on it will collapse.

Let’s now turn to the first theme, the Creation. The book of Genesis proclaims without ambiguity that the universe was created by God’s Word. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created heavens and the earth.” This simple statement implies profound importance. It rejects following false belief systems. First, it rejects ‘atheism’ that there is no God. Because ‘God’ created the whole universe. God is not human. He is the Absolute and depends on nothing. Second, this verse rejects ‘pantheism’. Pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent god. All forms of reality may possess some degree of divinity. Our ancestors used to worship mountains or trees because they believed that sacred spirits lived there. But our God is ‘transcendent’ over everything. God is creator and everything else is creatures. Created beings are not objects of worship. Creator is clearly distinct from creatures. Third, this verse rejects ‘polytheism’ that there are many gods. Because our God is the ‘one and only’ God. Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” We serve the one and only God. Our God is not like all kinds of gods in Greek-Roman myths. Fourth, this verse rejects ‘deism’. Deism is the view that God is like a watchmaker. A watchmaker makes a watch that runs with a highly sophisticated mechanism. But once a watch is made, the watch has nothing to do with a watchmaker. The watchmaker doesn’t need to do anything to the watch he made. The watch runs on its own mechanism. Deists view the world this way. They may admit that the universe is created by God and God implanted laws in it by which the universe runs. But they wouldn’t accept a personal God. Albert Einstein had this view. He was not an atheist but didn’t believe a personal God. He wondered beauty of the universe and sought in his whole life an ultimate theory for the universe. But God in the Bible is a personal God. This means that our God is not a bystander, but He is with us, takes care of us, is talking to us even this hour. In today’s term, He is a communicator. Fifth, this verse rejects ‘materialism’ because materials are ‘created’, not having ultimate values of its own. According to this view, materials or money are most important and thus everything. This ideology is ubiquitous these days. Regardless of poor or rich, young or old, educated or uneducated, men or women, they are all seeking for money, materialistic wealth. Materials are necessary for our living. The Bible never denies materials but condemns materialism. Jesus warned that we cannot serve two masters. We serve either God or mammon, that is god of money. Sixth, this verse rejects ‘evolutionism’ because God ‘created’ the world. The world is not evolved from chaotic states. Creation was instantaneous by God’s word out of nothing into the perfect state. The Biblical creationism is fundamentally different from other creation stories found in many countries. Their stories have some similarities with Genesis. But they all say that this world started from something, not from nothing. Very sadly, we have learned only evolution theory in schools. We have been taught that life came from materials and the first primitive life form such as ameba evolved into higher organisms even to humans. This view sharply contradicts the Bible. Evolution and creation cannot stand together. We cannot find any notions of evolution in Genesis. Finally, Genesis 1:1 rejects ‘humanism’. Humanism is the view that emphasizes the value of human beings. However, it goes way beyond that. According to this belief, humans are ultimate beings and standards by which others are determined. Humanism does not accept sin. Humanists believe that all kinds of social problems could be corrected by establishing social systems or laws. Even human nature, they claim, could be improved by education or by changing environments. But as history testifies, all those trials have been failed. There is no hope in humans.

The climax of creation is the creation of man. After creating everything very good, God created Adam and Eve, and gave them something to do so called ‘cultural mandate’. Gen 1:28 says, “God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Their duty was to govern, search, and protect the created world. This means that a man created in God’s image is distinct from other creatures. As a steward of God, human is given a responsibility for the world, which include both visible and invisible things. A steward is not a house owner nor a servant. He is a person who takes care of the house for his master. Here is the definition of a steward by Mirriam-Webster: a steward is one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns such as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts. This duty is called stewardship. Therefore, we must live as stewards in our daily lives and works. People like me who does research in natural science have responsibility to search for the orders God established in nature and utilize them for the benefit of humans. Those who are involved in arts must do arts according to God’s will in arts. I am sure God established orders and principles even in arts. Those who do business must do their business according to God’s intention. God established and implanted laws and principles for us to follow. There is no exception to it.

However, some people interpret Gen 1:28 differently. The word ‘rule’, they claim, caused environmental crisis. By this command people have right to devastate environment and as a result, ecologic crisis has been brought about, and Christianity is responsible for that. Do you agree on this claim? That comes from misinterpretation of this verse. Nowhere in the Bible, we find any single passage that justify abuse and exploitation of nature. Cultural mandate is a command that we utilize natural resources God gave us as a gift according to God’s intention. Humans, not Christianity, are responsible for current environmental pollution and ecological crisis. Since we have not been faithful in our stewardship because of our greed and selfishness, the Earth is groaning under pollution and ruthless exploitation. Wherever and whenever Christianity entered, society has been reformed and the quality of life have been improved. Learning and business have been encouraged, education opportunity has been given to everyone, and human right especially women’s right have been restored. Korea is a good example. Before Christianity came into this land about 130 years ago, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Most people were living in a hierarchical society. But with Christianity, Korea has been completely changed. Christianity has completely renewed our thinking and lifestyle. In a very short period of time, we could achieve industrialization and democratization.

Now let’s consider the second theme of Christian worldview, the Fall. Very sorrowfully, our first ancestor Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and were corrupted. As a result, sin came into the world and death rules over everything. The influence of fall was not limited to Adam and Eve but extended to the whole world because Adam and Eve were representatives of all creatures. Nature was cursed and affected. Now it began to produce thorns and thistles. Therefore, Adam had to work all the days of his life to live, and for Eve, childbearing became a great pain. Labor was originally designed by God as an enjoyable thing but then became a painful work. The influence of fall was extended even further. All the relationships have been broken: relationship between God and human has been broken. After sinning against God, Adam and Eve hid themselves fearing God. They could no longer freely communicate with God. They were afraid of God. Human relationship was also broken. How many conflicts do we have even between husband and wife? As soon as sinned, Adam blamed Eve for giving a fruit to him and he blamed even God for giving Eve as his wife. Gen 3:12 says, “The woman you put here with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Adam didn’t call Eve my wife but the woman. How coward was he! Eve in turn blamed a serpent for seducing her. A harmonious relationship between human and nature has been broken also. As I mentioned above, nature began to produce thorns and thistles so that Adam had to work to support his family. See how many natural disasters we have. Nature is not favorable to us anymore. Every day we hear the news of flood in some place and at the same time drought in another place. You have experienced unprecedented scorching summer days here. This year’s summer has been exceptionally hot. It can be traced back to the Fall. The real problem is that we are not able to solve this sin problem. Thousand years of human history proves that. Man had to await until the redeemer comes. These broken relationships are completely recovered in Jesus. As a propitiation for our sin, Jesus became a mediator between God and us.

Now let’s consider the last theme of Christian worldview, the Redemption. This is the God’s solution for the sin problem. Immediately after fall, God promised the coming redemption. Gen 3:15, called protoevangelium, says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." This is the prophecy of a coming Savior. The offspring of woman is Jesus, of course. In Jesus our broken relationships with God, others, and nature are recovered. Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” The complete recovery will be accomplished at the Jesus’ second coming. Although our life in this world is difficult and full of sufferings, our hope is that Jesus comes again and restore everything. Until then, we should live with a hope of redemption, confessing Jesus as our Lord and Christ every moment.

Now let’s consider what life is according to the Christian worldview. As the name indicates, it is the Christ-centered life. It is the life that acknowledges Jesus as the Lord. If Jesus is the Lord, then we are His servants. Servants must follow their master’s will. Jesus is the Lord in every aspect of our life. This is called Lordship. Researchers must confess that Jesus is the Lord in their research field. Businessmen in their business world, politicians in politics, artists in arts, journalists in journalism must confess that Jesus is the Lord in their areas and think what Jesus wants me to do. Why is it so? Because Jesus, as God the Son, has sovereignty over all things. Our theme verse Romans 11:36 says, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.” Col 1:16,17 also say, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Jesus is the Lord over both visible and invisible worlds. There is no area in which Jesus is not the Lord. How about your life? Who is the lord of your life? Is yourself the lord in a certain area?

From above discussion, we know that the Christian worldview is not a mere theory or knowledge. It defines our life. If you already determined to follow Jesus, your worldview should also be Biblically changed. A life according to the Christian worldview is not easy. A number of faithful ancestors holding this worldview received all sorts of sufferings and persecutions and many of them were put to death. It is true even today. Are you determined to take risk of your life? In some parts of the world, living as a Christian means martyrdom. This country Korea where you study permits freedom of religion. Whoever wants to believe whatever, he can do it. But the situation is getting worse and worse especially for Christians. I would expect that one day believing Jesus as our only Lord and Savior is illegal. However, nobody will explicitly prohibit you from believing in Jesus. But let’s take a close look at this society. Do you think the Korean society is getting better? I don’t think so. As you see, churches are everywhere. When you look around in the street, you will find at least three to five crosses. Exactly inversely proportional to the number of churches, voices criticizing the church and Christians are growing. I admit that we Christians have made many mistakes and wrong things that deserve such criticism. We don’t have any excuse. But at the same time, the Bible teaches that the world will hate us more and more just because we belong to Jesus, not to the world. John 15:18,19 says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” Why does the world hate us? Because we don’t follow the world pattern. Let me take an example of homosexuality which is a hot issue these days in Korea. Our government tries to change the constitution to allow gender equality, not sex equality between male and female in the name of human rights. Gender means social sex which includes not only male and female but also gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, and the more. Our government tries to define sex that way. If this act is passed, not only homosexuality, gay or lesbian marriage but also all sorts of distorted sexual behaviors will be allowed. Much more than that, school should teach homosexuality and gay/lesbian marriage and other forms of marriage, and even teach how to do it. If someone says this is wrong, he/she will be punished because he/she breaks the law. Already some countries in Europe and some states in America allow homosexuality. They not only allow it but also punish people in the name of the law if they say homosexuality is wrong. Since they changed the law that way, they have right to punish those who oppose it. For Christians, this situation is really embarrassing. Since both Old and New Testaments clearly state that homosexuality is sin, we don’t have any choice but oppose homosexuality. This way Christianity is directly colliding with the current law and believing in God and Jesus will be illegal. Then Christians will be legally persecuted. You know this kind of things have already taken place in some European countries and in the States. What would you do if your countries enact such laws? Do you still confess Jesus and are ready to be persecuted?

For the remaining time, I want to introduce several persons who had lived their lives with Christian or Biblical worldview. Let’s first consider Daniel, a Biblical figure. He had lived in an era of an internationally great turmoil. He was a young man from a royal or noble family. He must have been brought up and educated by God’s words since birth. In other words, he learned Biblical worldview and lived his life accordingly. When Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon invaded Judah in BC 605, he was seized and put into exile to Babylon as a captive. Many people were taken into Babylon with him. Some of the articles from the temple of God were carried off to the temple of gods in Babylonia. He might have seen his parents killed in front of his eyes. He must have been puzzled and confused by those situations. Beyond anger and grief, his faith in living God must have been shaken. Wars in ancient times were considered wars between gods they served. Jehovah, the only true God Jews served were defeated by the false god Marduk that Babylonians served. This must have caused a spiritual crisis in Daniel. He might have prepared for martyrdom when he was taken into exile. But actually what waited for Daniel in Babylon? Contrary to his expectation, he was well treated. He was selected and lived in the king’s palace. His name was changed to Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, and he was forced to learn Babylonian language and literatures. He was provided with food and wine from the king’s table. He didn’t meet sufferings he expected. Let’s read Dan 1:3-5. “Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility-young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.” The Babylonian policy was to take smart young men from countries they conquered and to Babylonianize them in order to use them as tools of ruling the empire. As a matter of fact, it was a very wise policy.

Let's consider in more detail the spiritual crisis Daniel went through. Name and language signify identities of an individual and a nation. So, for Daniel it was a real threat to his identity as a chosen people. Daniel means “God is judge” but his new name Belteshazzar means “a prince of Bel.” Bel is the name of one of Babylonian gods. The fact that Daniel had to learn Babylonian language means that you are not a Jew any longer but Babylonian from now on. His identity was shaken from the root. Our ancestors also suffered from a similar identity crisis. During the Japanese occupation for 35 years, our grandparents and parents had to change their names to Japanese style and learn Japanese language. My family name is Kim. My father told me that my parents and grandparents received a new name Kanemura. Are there any Japanese students here? I beg your understanding. I simply say the historical fact. Learning Babylonian literatures means that a pagan, secular worldview was forced into Daniel and his three friends. King’s food means physical satisfaction. King’s wine means worldly pleasure and peripheral pleasure. As long as they gave up their identities and accepted what Babylonia provided, a secular pleasure and success were guaranteed. Other young men from other countries except Daniel and his three friends followed this policy.

What did Daniel do in this identity crisis situation? Did he deny the reality and rebel against Babylonia? Or did he give up his identity as God’s chosen people? Daniel didn’t do so. He learned and excelled at Babylonian literature and language but refused to eat food from the king’s table. In other words, Daniel realized Babylonia as a tool of God’s judgment for punishing Judah’s sin, and he kept his faith in God. We know very clearly how faithful Daniel was toward God and how competent he was in his duty. As a top official in three kingdoms, Babylonia, Medea, and Persia, Daniel did his best in his duty and kept his faith. Where did his spiritual power come from? First of all, he prayed to God three times a day to keep his faith. It was his custom for a long time. He never stopped praying to God although it might take his life. Our Lord Jesus was also a man of habitual prayer. Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went off to a solitary place to pray. Second, Daniel’s spiritual power came from the fact that he had faithful friends. They encouraged and depended on each other in difficult times. They shared their lives each other. All of them were greatly used by God. I strongly encourage you to pray without ceasing and find friends to share your life. Daniel had a good influence on people around him including kings. Although not clearly mentioned in the Bible, I am sure it was Daniel that moved a Persian king Cyrus to announce a decree that allowed Jews to go back to their homeland to build the temple of God. Daniel’s wisdom, faithfulness, excellency in his job, and consistency in speech and action had made a good influence on Cyrus. Later, other Persian kings were also very favorable to Jews in building the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. This was also because of Daniel’s good influence. Most of you came here from foreign countries to study. When you left your country, you might have dreams that after finishing studies you become famous in your field or take a high position in government or make a big money by running a company. Those dreams are OK as long as they are controlled by the Christian worldview. But keeping your identity as Christians is more important than accomplishing our worldly dreams. Like Daniel, try to master your subject so that you become a competent, indispensable person in your area. Otherwise nobody will trust you. And at the same time, keep your faith. In this perverse age, there will come times when we must stand firm against something that goes against our Christian faith. In such situation, don’t compromise your faith with anything. Daniel didn’t give up his faith although he was put into the lion’s den. His three friends, too, were not afraid of being thrown into the burning fire because they refused to worship an idol.

Next I want to introduce a couple of persons who also lived in Christian faith. Johannes Kepler was a mathematician and astronomer whom I respect. He lived in an era after the Reformation. Being faithful since his childhood, he wanted to show God’s glory revealed in the universe. Rather than his name being exalted, he wanted to exalt God’s name and lived such a life. Before Isaac Newton discovered that famous universal gravitational law and calculus, Kepler found three laws governing the motion of planets, which we call Kepler’s three laws. His laws made a correction on the incomplete heliocentric theory by Nicolas Copernicus. His life was, however, far from a peaceful one. His father was a hired soldier and seldom came home. His mother was accused of being a witch and almost a victim of witch-hunting. His first and second children died at their early ages and other three children suffered from smallpox and the fourth child died of that. His first wife also died of fever. He himself had to raise remaining two kids and he remarried. His tragedy did not end there. His daughter from his first wife died and two daughters from the second wife also died. Only one child survived and could marry. He had to defend his mother to save her from witch-hunting which took several years. But soon after release, his mother died of aftereffects. That time was in the middle of 30 years’ war between Protestant and Catholic countries. Kepler was a protestant. He had been pressured to convert to Catholics by rulers but never yielded to those pressures. If he had have converted to Catholics, high income and a comfort life would have been secured. But he never compromised his Christian faith. Though most famous mathematician and astronomer that time, Kepler always suffered from poverty, not receiving his rightful wage. He set off a long journey to receive unpaid wage and died on the way. His life was full of sufferings that one person could hardly bear. He wanted to reveal the mystery of the universe by the light of faith. He studied the Bible as diligently as astronomy. He even wrote several theological papers. Driving force of his research was God’s glory and His name being exalted through astronomy. He was confident that God planted His laws in the universe. This confidence made it possible for him to spend 20 years until he found three laws of the planet motion. We may have sufferings when we live according to the Christian worldview. Are you prepared to live such a life? Kepler said, “If only the name of God is raised, let my name disappear.”

The next person we consider is Abraham Kuyper who lived in 19th and 20th centuries. He was a Netherland pastor, journalist, politician, theologian, professor, and reformer. Netherland in his time was infected with liberal theology and humanism. He wanted to reform Netherland by the word of God. In opposition to humanistic and atheistic national universities, he found Free University in Amsterdam based on God’s words. A lot of influential people went to that university. He also published a newspaper, The Standard, and had been an editor for many years. Entering politics, he formed a party called Anti-Revolutionary party and became a head. Going through a parliamentary member, he finally became a prime minister, and tried to reform the Netherlands by God’s words. He was known as a man with 10 heads and 100 hands. He emphasized the lordship of Christ in all areas of life. He called this “Sphere Sovereignty”. God created all visible and invisible areas, and He set the specific rules and orders in each of them. The state, church, school, and family have their rules and orders set by God. God also set rules in areas of arts, culture, laws, natural sciences, and literatures. God uses people to recover these areas to His created orders. Kuyper opposed dualistic idea that separates this world into holy and secular, which he viewed as anti-Biblical. A true Christian must live a life with holy passion to recover Christ’s lordship in all areas of life. To do that, Christians live a life with more enthusiasm and more responsibility than non-Christians. Take a pause to think about yourself. In what sense do you think your area is infected by humanism or secularism? What do you think you can do to recover Christ’s lordship?

Let me tell my own story. I teach chemistry-analytical chemistry. When I learned a Christian worldview, I have been thinking how to apply this worldview to my expertise. Speakers on the Christian worldview usually took economics or politics as an example of the Christian worldview. I understood because the Bible is full of economics and politics. But what about chemistry? Is there any notion about it? Maybe or maybe not. After the lecture I asked the speaker. “OK, your lecture is very good and I agree on your explanation. Can you help me apply principles of Christian worldview to my expertise, chemistry?” I asked the same question at least to two speakers. I received the same answer, that is, it is your responsibility to build up Christian worldview in chemistry because you are an expert in that area. Actually, I expected to get that answer. How could I expect to receive specific answers from them as the Bible does not specifically talk about chemistry, let alone analytical chemistry? However, more than 23 years of experience as a professor of chemistry gave me some insight. That is, the Christian worldview is still relevant not only to chemistry but to any other subjects. I can do research in my field with the Christian worldview in the following respects. I can acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lord in my research field. I do not mean to simply say thank you Lord after I finish one project. Applying Christian worldview to research encompasses the whole process of the research ranging from choosing a research topic, leading a research group to interpreting data. Most researches in natural science are searching for the orders hidden in nature and in this sense, they have biblical value in themselves even though we do not use that term. But some researches are not. Researches related to life itself are those kinds. Think about the research on human embryo. Current law in many countries allow experiments on human embryos until 13 days after fertilization. From 14th day on, they are medically regarded as humans, so any experiment is prohibited by law. Do you agree such a medical decision on humans? Once fertilized, embryos have everything to become human. It is just a matter of time to become a baby after nine months. Human embryo is an unborn baby. Another example is abortion. Do you think abortion should be allowed or prohibited? Well, I know there are some cases for inevitable abortion. But I am talking about abortion in general without particular reason. In Korea, abortion is illegal but very unfortunately about half million abortions are made each year. Christian worldview can also be realized in our attitude toward the research. Even though we do the same research, God’s evaluation for us will be very different depending on what attitude we have. If our primary intention is such that you make money out of the research, it will not please God. Making money itself is no problem but if that is your purpose, you don’t apply Christian worldview in the research. If God permits, we can be as rich as Bill Gates or we will be in power like Donald Trump. But that must not be our goal of life. When we humbly do research with thanksgiving, then people around us will recognize us as true Christians and glorify God. Data interpretation is also important. Although we get the same results, interpretation could be quite different depending on which worldview we have. If you have an evolutionary worldview, then we will interpret data based on that worldview. If we have a Christian worldview, we will interpret differently. This is particularly important in liberal arts and social sciences. If you are studying these subjects, I encourage you to develop the ability of viewing things from a perspective of the Christian worldview.

Finally, I will close my lecture by introducing a person. His name is Lin, Yu-Tang, a great Chinese scholar in the 20th century. Born to a poor pastor family, he received Christian education and learned English from missionaries, so he could speak English very fluently. After graduating a seminary, he studied at Harvard and Leibzig universities. Returning to China, he taught at Beijing university for a short time. He spent most his life in America and wrote most books in English. His books influenced many young men. Although he was brought up in a Christian home, he left Christian faith searching for truth. He read a lot of philosophical books and literatures of the East and the West. In his best seller, “The Importance of Living”, he proclaimed himself a pagan and explained why he became a pagan. This book was so popular in Korea and influenced many young Koreans. Many of them lost their Christian faith after reading it. But in his nearly last book, “From Pagan to Christian”, written more than 20 years later, he describes how he returned to Christianity after a long ideological pilgrimage. He introduces and evaluates numerous philosophers and their thoughts. You will wonder how learned he is. He felt intellectual ecstasy in those ideologies and stayed there for a while but was never satisfied with them. He says, “I have lived in a mansion of Confucian humanism for a while, climbed the mountain of Taoism and observed its grandeur, and glimpsed the fearsome mist of Buddhism scattering in the air. But he realized those thoughts are just candlelight. When the sun rises, those candle lights are not needed any more. He shouts, “Turn off candlelight, the sun has risen.” The sun is Jesus. Before Jesus, all the human thoughts lose their light. Lin Yu-Tang didn’t become a Christian all at once. He made a big detour to reach Christianity. He realized and accepted superiority of Christianity to any other ideologies.

Let me conclude my lecture. I very briefly went through what the Christian worldview is and why it is important to our life. I have taken several examples of those who lived according to this worldview. A Christian thinker and writer CS Lewis mentioned about Christianity as follows.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Christianity is not mere one thought among many others. The Christian worldview provides us with a framework to look at the world from a Biblical point of view. It is a foundation of our life. It gives us insight into our identity and the purpose of life. It encompasses the entire areas of our activities. Apart from the Christian worldview, we cannot have the whole knowledge of the world. I strongly encourage you to seriously consider the Christian worldview and apply it to your life and profession. And Jesus Christ is at the center of it. Let’s finish this session by reading together our theme verse. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Thank you for listening.