Worldview
Worldview is what we have learned to believe about the world we live in. It is the conscious and subconscious suppositions that we hold about reality. Rationalism and naturalism have dominated the western world. From that philosophical perspective, reality is only that which can be perceived through the five senses. That would exclude God, angels, and demons. A biblical worldview includes the reality of the spiritual world. That is why, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
From a biblical worldview perspective there are three enemies to our sanctification, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We not only live in a fallen world that shapes our old nature; we live in a world that is dominated by spiritual forces that are actively opposing the will of God. Satan is the prince [ruler] of this world (John 16:11), the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Satan leads the whole world astray (Revelations 12:9), and “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). If we honestly look at the world around us, we will see more evidence of the kingdom of darkness than we will of the kingdom of God. There is more immorality, injustice and bondage to sin, than there is righteousness, justice and freedom from sin. For this reason the Son of God appeared, “to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).
This opposition to the will of God is illustrated in Daniel 10. Daniel prays, fasts, and mourns for three weeks on behalf of Israel’s captivity (vs. 2). Finally an angel comes to tell Daniel that his prayers have been heard, because of his humility and desire to gain understanding. The angel said, I would have come sooner, but “the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (vs. 12). Conservative scholars agree that the “prince of the Persian kingdom” is a spiritual enemy of God who is opposing God’s plan to work with Daniel.
There is a fierce battle going on in the heavenlies, (i.e. the spiritual realm), and it is affecting what is happening in the natural realm. A Christian worldview takes into account that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
Dr. Neil
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