Philip Graham Ryken - Christian Worldview: A Students Guide

RECLAIMING THE
CHRISTIAN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

David S. Dockery, series editor

CONSULTING EDITORS

Hunter Baker

Timothy George

Niel Nielson

Philip G. Ryken

Michael J. Wilkins

John D. Woodbridge

OTHER RCIT VOLUMES

The Great Tradition of Christian Thinking , David S. Dockery and Timothy George

The Liberal Arts , Gene C. Fant Jr.

Political Thought , Hunter Baker

Literature , Louis Markos

Philosophy , David K. Naugle

To the memory of
Arthur F. Holmes
who taught me the contours of a Christian
worldview in Philosophy 101

Christian Worldview: A Students Guide

Copyright 2013 by Philip Graham Ryken

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Adapted from What Is the Christian Worldview? , Basics of the Reformed Faith, P&R, Phillipsburg, NJ. Copyright by Philip Graham Ryken, 2006.

Cover design: Jon McGrath, Simplicated Studio

First printing 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible ( The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version . Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-3540-6
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3541-3
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3542-0
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3543-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ryken, Philip Graham, 1966-

[What is the Christian worldview?]

Christian worldview : a students guide / Philip Graham Ryken.

1 online resource (Reclaiming the Christian intellectual tradition)

This writing project began with a 2006 booklet entitled What is the Christian Worldview? I am grateful to P&R Publishers for the permission to revise and expand that booklet for inclusion here.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN 978-1-4335-3541-3 (pdf) -- ISBN 978-1-4335-3542-0 (mobi) -- ISBN 978-1-4335-3543-7 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-4335-3540-6 (tp)

1. ChristianityPhilosophy. 2. Christian philosophy. I. Title.

BR100

230dc23

2013021338

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

RECLAIMING THE CHRISTIAN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

The Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition series is designed to provide an overview of the distinctive way the church has read the Bible, formulated doctrine, provided education, and engaged the culture. The contributors to this series all agree that personal faith and genuine Christian piety are essential for the life of Christ followers and for the church. These contributors also believe that helping others recognize the importance of serious thinking about God, Scripture, and the world needs a renewed emphasis at this time in order that the truth claims of the Christian faith can be passed along from one generation to the next. The study guides in this series will enable us to see afresh how the Christian faith shapes how we live, how we think, how we write books, how we govern society, and how we relate to one another in our churches and social structures. The richness of the Christian intellectual tradition provides guidance for the complex challenges that believers face in this world.

This series is particularly designed for Christian students and others associated with college and university campuses, including faculty, staff, trustees, and other various constituents. The contributors to the series will explore how the Bible has been interpreted in the history of the church, as well as how theology has been formulated. They will ask: How does the Christian faith influence our understanding of culture, literature, philosophy, government, beauty, art, or work? How does the Christian intellectual tradition help us understand truth? How does the Christian intellectual tradition shape our approach to education? We believe that this series is not only timely but that it meets an important need, because the secular culture in which we now find ourselves is, at best, indifferent to the Christian faith, and the Christian worldat least in its more popular formstends to be confused about the beliefs, heritage, and tradition associated with the Christian faith.

At the heart of this work is the challenge to prepare a generation of Christians to think Christianly, to engage the academy and the culture, and to serve church and society. We believe that both the breadth and the depth of the Christian intellectual tradition need to be reclaimed, revitalized, renewed, and revived for us to carry forward this work. These study guides will seek to provide a framework to help introduce students to the great tradition of Christian thinking, seeking to highlight its importance for understanding the world, its significance for serving both church and society, and its application for Christian thinking and learning. The series is a starting point for exploring important ideas and issues such as truth, meaning, beauty, and justice.