Saturday, October 11, 2008

"Biblical Worldview" and "Biblical Puppy Dog"

Ran into this definition for "Biblical Worldview" from the Barna Group today. Overall, I rather like the *direction* the Barna Group is moving. But this is just obnoxious. Beyond that, "Biblical worldview" is an incompatible mixture of terms, something akin to "Biblical puppy dog". There is no such thing. There may be puppy dogs in the Bible (although I can't think of any right off). But there just is no Biblical Puppy Dog. If I were to *define* a Biblical puppy dog, my definition would certainly not be any better than *your* definition of Biblical puppy dog (although mine would probably be better written =). I don't even think either definition would be super useful. Okay, they might be useful for telling us something about what we each like in puppy dogs.

For several years, The Barna Group has been tracking how many people possess a "biblical worldview." The organization defines such a life perspective on the basis of several questions about religious beliefs. The definition requires someone to believe that absolute moral truth exists; that the source of moral truth is the Bible; that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches; that eternal spiritual salvation cannot be earned; that Jesus lived a sinless life on earth; that every person has a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others; that Satan is a living force, not just a symbol of evil; and that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful maker of the universe who still rules that creation today.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There were dogs in that Beauty and the Beast-esque story. Though I don't know if they were puppies. the man promises to sacrifice the first thing to greet him when he gets home. he thinks it will be his (puppy) dogs, but it turns out to be a daughter. god reckons he has to keep his promise. it's very sad, because she's a virgin. it's not one of those OT specials that warms the cockels of my heart. it is the sort of bible content that makes me fairly frightened of the number of people who believe that the source of moral truth is the bible. or, as Barna put it, have a biblical worldview.