What Are The Questions?

Take Your Compass #2 Worldview Basics Part 2

Take Your Compass #2 - What are the Worldview Questions?

Last week, in Compass #1, I looked at the definition of a Worldview, and what the minimal requirements are. I ended on the fact that a Worldview must answer the most basic questions of life. Let’s look at those questions.

My list of questions here is not all inclusive, far from it, there are more questions. Here, I am trying to limit the list to one or two of the most basic questions that cover each of the groups I mentioned in Compass #1, and a few additional, basic questions that cross the categories. There is no particular order to this list.

What are the basic Worldview questions?

Cosmology:

1. What is the nature of the Universe?

2. What is the origin of the Universe?

Ethics/Axiology:

1. What is Truth?

2. What is right and wrong?

Ontology:

1. What is the essence of things?

2. What is the nature of being?

Metaphysics:

1. What is it that exists?

2. Is there something other than material things?

Anthropology:

1. Who is Man?

2. What makes us so?

Sociology:

1. What of social behavior and interactions?

2. What do we think of each other?

Psychology:

1. How do humans behave?

2. Why do humans behave so?

Theology:

1. Does God exist or not, what are the implications?

2. Who is God?

The State:

1. What about law, government, politics?

There are questions that cross or penetrate all these categories. The most basic of all questions may be this:

• Why is there something rather than nothing? Or to put it another way, why is there anything at all?

Questions of origins and values are always relevant:

• Where did I come from?

• Why am I here?

• What is the meaning of life?

• What happens when you die?

• Is anything wrong with the world, and if so, and how do we fix it?

The questions are ALWAYS there.

The questions cannot be escaped.

The questions can be ignored.  The questions can be left unanswered, but they cannot be escaped. The brute fact of our existence, here in this place gives rise to them.  They are not coming from a Worldview, but rather they precede all Worldviews.

Answers to these questions are tightly bound to Worldview. I will get to answering the questions, but we have some ground to cover first.

Next week, What is Truth?

Thank you for reading!  

JW

“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.” - C.S. Lewis