The Premodern Worldview

The worldview of western premodernism (before the 17th Century and the Enlightenment) was dominated by superstition. The overarching popular imagination of the premodern person was one filled with ideas of supernatural causes for natural events. Meaning was understood through tradition and myth. The Constantinian age ushered in state support for the Church. The Church had later become institutionalized in the Holy Roman Empire. In this feudal world, with hundreds of European kingdoms vying for wealth, resources, and dominance, the final authority for life and faith was the Church, represented by the reigning monarch. Truth was officiated through the governance of church and state leaders. Papal decrees and kingly edicts were instantly and unquestioningly understood as supreme law. This was a time of the assumed divine right of kings to rule their servile people. Life was governed by fear-filled obedience to the reigning leadership. Order was kept through the rule of the state and church law.

The place of God was understood in relation to the place of authority in the cultural context. Just as authority rested in the supremacy of distant church and state supreme leaders, so the imagined place of God was as a distant supreme being. Likewise, the place of the self was seen as fitting within the feudal hierarchy. One knew one’s place as each individual held a static station from church and state royalty down to the landless peasant class. The place of others was seen in terms of their place in the overall social competition for survival as cities and states vied for control of precious resources. The place of creation in the premodern mindset was on equal par with the self and others in the seasonal struggle for survival. People competed with animals, disease, and whether to survive. Morality was governed by the power of the ruler of the day through his rule of law. And the whole of premodern life was lived by individuals and their communities for the glory of sovereign human rulers and their state and religious institutions.

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The Biblical Christian Paradigm

First, the biblical worldview is a theistic one. One must begin with God at the center. He is radiating out from the center, his revelation of his character and will to his whole creation. This is the overarching imagination of the biblical Christian perspective. God is preeminent in all things. Everything fits together into his plan for life and faith.

Final authority in all matters of life and faith, then, is God. But the Church must be more specific and say that all final authority is in Christ, who is the visible revelation of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). God has given him all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). Here the Church must be even more specific, for neither Christ nor his authority is known apart from his revelation, which is recorded for us in the Scriptures. These must all be put together for a proper biblical perspective. Final authority rests in Christ, revealed through the canon of the Holy Christian Scriptures. These Scriptures must be the arbitrator for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Next, it must be noted that life is governed by theology. Theology must be understood as “God (theos) understanding (logos)” rather than merely the ideas and philosophies of theologians, preachers, or religious leaders. How is “God understanding” gained? God has revealed everything his people need to know for life and faith in the Scriptures. Therefore, the Word of God must be studied to understand his character and will. This “God understanding” is proper theology, and it must guide all Christian thinking and living.

Following this, the place of God must be seen as supreme in all Christian thinking and living. He is at the center, not any individual or philosophy. Christians recognize him in both individual and collective imagination as the center of all things. It follows, then, that the place of self (personal opinions and feelings) is under God and peripheral to his revealed truth. The human cries of “who am I?” or “Where do I fit in?” are only answered as one finds one’s place in the periphery of God’s being.

As the place of God and the self is understood in light of biblical revelation, the place of others and of creation follows. The place of others is that others are there for the self to serve (Matt. 20:25-28). Christians are to relate to one another in light of God’s generosity to us. He has freely given. Believers can freely give. He has freely forgiven. His followers can freely forgive. He freely serves. Christians can freely serve. Likewise, it is understand from God’s revelation that all of creation is his, and humans are here as caregivers.

In the biblical Christian paradigm, morality is governed by virtue. Morality is something God does by his Holy Spirit in and through individuals. They are not under religious law. They do not perform good deeds for God. Their best efforts are as filthy rags to him. Rather, his Holy Spirit resides with Christian believers and he produces his fruit in them and through them (Gal. 5:22-23). His Law is written on their hearts. Finally, in the biblical paradigm, life is lived for the glory of God. He alone is sovereign. All things are by him, with him, in him, and for him.

The Clash of Ideologies

To understand the issues of the western, postmodern paradigm, one must see it in its juxtaposition with western modernism. Likewise, western modernism itself can only be understood in its contrast and reaction to western premodernism. Finally, all these patterns must be contrasted with the biblical paradigm. Below is a chart showing the differences between each of these paradigms when contrasted with each other in their approach to nine seminal issues.

The first thing to consider is the “worldview.” This is the overarching way of seeing the world, which dominates the imagination of culture. The second consideration is what constitutes the “final authority” for each era in question. This is the issue of how truth is understood and mitigated. The third thing to consider is the issue of what people see their “life governed by.” This is the issue of how social structure is ordered. The fourth consideration is the “place of God” in the social structure of each given era.

ISSUES	BIBLICAL	PREMODERN	MODERN	POSTMODERN
Worldview	Theistic	Superstitious	Secular / Naturalistic	Pluralistic
Final Authority	Christ in the Scriptures	Church / Monarch	Reason	Feelings
Life Governed by	Theology	Fear	Principals	Personal Preference
Place of God	Over All	Distant Ruler	Distant / Absent	Replaced by spiritualities
Place of Self	Under God	Within Feudal Hierarchy	At the Centre Under No One	Unanchored / Responsible to No One
Place of Others	There for Self to Serve	Competition	For Mutual Benefit	There for Self to Use
Place of Creation	To be Cared For	Equal to Self	Under the Self	Over the Self
Morality Governed by	Virtue	Law	Ethics	Personal Choice
Life Lived for	The Glory of God	The Glory of Rulers	The Glory of Man	Whatever

The fifth thing to consider is the “place of the self.” This is the question of where the individual fits within the structure of society. Sixth is the consideration of the “place of others.” This is the question of how individuals relate to other individuals and to the larger community. The seventh consideration is the issue of the “place of creation” in the governing of life in each era. Creation would consist of everything in the natural world besides humans and their social and technological structures. Eighth is the question of what “morality is governed by” in each era. This is the way that the rules of social interaction are understood and regulated. The ninth and final consideration is what “life is lived for.” This is how the purpose of life is understood and followed. This grid can help us understand the clash of ideologies. One must consider each of these issues in light of biblical Christianity.