Personal Commitments Assessment

By James Waddell

Chapter 1: Seeking Wisdom

The Beginning of Wisdom An Introduction to

Christian Thought and Life

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CHAPTER 1CHAPTER 1

TOPICS Introduction: A View of the World

What Is a Worldview?

How Do Worldviews Work?

Private and Shared Worldviews

Worldview Analysis and the Pursuit of Wisdom

Conclusion

Chapter Review

References

Introduction: A View of the World If, in essence, wisdom may be understood as the art

of successful living, then it is important to consider

what constitutes successful living. Sharp

disagreements can arise when someone reports to

know better than others about how one should live.

However, as mentioned in the introduction,

everyone must choose to live in one way or another

because he or she believes that one way of living is

better than others. People live according to

fundamental convictions about the nature and

purpose of the world around them, and they seek to

make sense of the world based on those

convictions. These convictions form what is called a

worldview, which is the central focus of this

chapter.

Fundamental convictions about reality reside deep

within the human heart where passions, affections,

and motives are impossible to see, but these

convictions visibly shape the ways people behave.

Their actions display the ways they think about

themselves and the world around them. This is not

to say that one’s entire worldview may be observed

in each action a person makes. Rather, everything

that one does is rooted in his or her views of the

world, to such a degree, that worldviews emerge in

tangible and observable ways throughout the

course of everyday life. A few examples may be

helpful in illustrating this concept.

Consider Joan, an employee at a local humanitarian

aid association located in a rough neighborhood in

the downtown section of her city. She interacts with

the homeless, the mentally unstable, the broken,

and the needy as well as prostitutes and drug

addicts every day. In meeting with people in crisis,

Joan always makes sure to remind each of them of

something that is also one of her core beliefs in life:

“Every person matters because every person has

value and worth,” she says.

In her car, however, Joan always seems to get

intensely frustrated at those driving poorly around

her on her commute home. It begins with a simple,

“C’mon.”

Then she grumbles, “Learn to drive! I can’t believe

this moron.”

And finally, with much honking of her car horn, she

screams, “Get off the road, you waste of space!”

along with several words that cannot be repeated

here.

Therefore, the questions arise: What does Joan

really believe about the world around her and the

people who live in it? Does she truly believe that

every person matters because every person has value and worth? Or does she believe what she says

and demonstrates in her car: namely, that each

person needs to learn to drive or get out of her way

because they are seemingly not worth her time?

Why does she sometimes think and act according to

one belief and later think and act according to what

appears to be an opposite belief? What ultimately

drives her thoughts and actions in these ways?

Perhaps her deepest convictions are more complex

than the simplistic statements she articulates when

she is in a professional setting.

The nation’s highest court offers a second example

of the ways in which actions display fundamental

convictions. It seems that every time the Supreme

Court decides a politically charged case, social

media explodes with diverse and extreme posts,

pictures, and articles. The court's decision is

presented in a fairly objective way that involves a

majority ruling and a minority dissent. Yet, as one

reads the deluge of public opinions that follow the

court’s decision, it is possible to become confused.

Many of the responses use language like “victory” or

“landmark decision” while others use language like

“travesty,” or “reprehensible decision.” For example,

in wading through the swamp of politically charged

issues such as reproduction technologies, one

quickly encounters claims that this or that action

“advances human potential” as well as claims that it

“eliminates human life.” Why do people describe the

same issue in such radically divergent ways?

Although people responding to these issues are

clearly observing the same world, they seem to be

evaluating it based on very different standards.

These examples raise several questions about the

ways that individuals and groups of individuals

make sense of the world around them and things

that happen during the course of their lives. In

order to make sense of these complex dynamics, it

will be necessary to bring the concept of worldview

a little more clearly into focus.

What Is a Worldview? A good starting point for the exploration of any new

concept is a clear definition. Essentially, a worldview

is a foundational set of assumptions to which one

commits that serves as a framework for

understanding and interpreting reality and deeply

shapes one’s behavior. This definition can be divided

roughly into four key parts that need to be carefully

expanded and explained. While, initially, worldview,

as a concept, may seem rather straightforward,

worldviews are diverse in content and incredibly

complex at the functional level. In many ways, they

are as complex and mysterious as the people who

hold them, and everyone has a worldview.

Therefore, it will be necessary to look at the

individual elements that make up the concept of

worldview further before considering how a

worldview shapes human action and interaction.

A Set of Assumptions First, note that worldviews are composed of

assumptions that form something like a foundation

for every individual. Worldviews should not be

thought of only as intellectual frameworks or

philosophies that are simply made up of ideas and

theories. Worldviews certainly provide an

intellectual framework that enables the mind to

make sense of data and interpret experience, but

they are more fundamental than theories and

philosophies. Before a person begins to theorize or

develop a philosophy, that person already has in

place a set of assumptions upon which to develop

ideas and understandings. Theories are always built

on the basis of underlying assumptions that enable

the development of ideas and systems of thought.

An assumption is an underlying belief that is

presupposed or presumed in advance of careful

reason and reflection. A person’s fundamental

assumptions serve as a framework for thoughtful

analysis and judgment that make it possible to

develop ideas and theories. When people interact

with one another, they do not simply discuss ideas

and opinions as if they have no preconceived notion

about what they believe. They interact with others’

ideas and opinions on the basis of the ideas and

opinions that they have already assumed to be true.

In other words, assumptions are in play from the

beginning of each conversation. They may be

shaped through interaction with others, but

everyone starts with underlying beliefs that enable

meaningful interaction in the first place.

In this way, worldviews provide the intellectual

foundation upon which people build as they

encounter and engage the world. Worldview

assumptions typically involve content related to the

following categories: theology (God), metaphysics

(universe), anthropology (humanity), eternity

(afterlife), epistemology (knowledge), ethics

(morality), teleology (purpose), and personal

commitments (Sire, 2009, pp. 22-23). Additional

content may be incorporated into this set of

assumptions, but these categories form the

essential foundation upon which further

understandings are constructed and refined.

Commitment Second, a worldview is composed of assumptions to

which a person commits. It is difficult to

overemphasize the significance of this aspect of a

worldview. One does not hold to a set of

assumptions coldly and dispassionately as if they

are merely a matter of theoretical significance.

These commitments form the basis for the

conceptual and imaginative world in which a person

thinks and feels, lives and breathes, and acts and

interacts with others. A person’s entire life is lived

out in ways that are committed to particular ways

of seeing, understanding, and evaluating the world.

In this respect, one’s fundamental assumptions

function as beliefs, whether religious or

nonreligious, because the person who holds the

assumptions must trust in them and live by them.

It is important to note that a worldview relates to

the whole person, not just the mind, in that it is

shaped by an individual’s passions, beliefs,

affections, and experiences in addition to the ideas

that a person finds compelling. Individuals reason

on the basis of worldview assumptions with their

minds, but they also commit to assumptions with

their hearts. This emphasis on both the mind and

the heart helps people to understand what

differentiates worldview from opinions and

reasoning. Worldview is much more than just one’s

opinion on a variety of topics. It involves the

philosophical underpinnings for questions of

ultimate reality, expressing what one understands

the world to be. Worldview studies as a discipline

gives attention to the mind and the rational process

of determining truth, but worldview as a concept

goes beyond a rational account of life, just as

wisdom goes beyond knowledge. Each emphasizes

not only the mind but also the heart.

While the mind reasons to discern what is true, the

heart brings innate patterns of desires and passion

to questions of truth. Whenever forced to choose

between the heart and the mind, people tend to

follow their hearts and then develop a rationale to

support their decisions. The process normally does

not work in the other direction. For example,

suppose that the nightly news reports scientific

data related to the structure of the human mind

that somehow challenges an individual’s

assumptions about an ethical issue. The individual

may choose to accept or reject the findings but

likely will do so without personally studying the

scientific data because of heart-felt convictions

about right and wrong.

This is not to suggest that worldviews are

uninformed or that they are formed without

reference to information that a person perceives

through the senses or gathers through experience.

Rather, it is to suggest that many fundamental

convictions cannot be proven by gathering data or

accumulating experience. Distinguishing between

waking moments and a dream, for example, cannot

be accomplished through the senses alone because

many dreams are as vivid and real as the actual

world. Yet, most people intuitively believe that they

are awake at some points and asleep at others and

that the two states can be distinguished to a

significant degree. People also generally believe

that basic logical and mathematical principles are

self-evident and that red, blue, and yellow are

colors they have seen, although these things need

not and, indeed, cannot be proven. Properly

speaking, these are basic beliefs because they must

be believed before other beliefs can be formed.

Several other significant assumptions are equally

difficult to prove on the basis of empirical data and

reason, but, nonetheless, they are trusted by those

who hold them. Most people assume that the

universe has existed for more than five minutes and

that physical pain is real when they experience it.

They trust that places like Delaware exist even if

they have not visited the state personally. They

tend to believe that several of their recently formed

memories are authentic rather than illusions of the

mind, and so on. All people begin with basic

assumptions to which they must commit before

they can think and act meaningfully.

People trust in certain foundational assumptions

and build other beliefs and understandings upon

them. If one presses questions such as “Why do you

believe this?” or “What makes you think that?” far

enough it will eventually become apparent that

some convictions are embraced on the basis of

something more akin to faith than reason or

observation. People commit at points because they

must, not because they have sufficient proof. Thus,

at the deepest level, worldviews involve faith

commitments although, again, these may or may not

be religious in the classical sense of the word.

Framework for Understanding and Interpretation Third, worldviews form the conceptual framework

that enables a person to make sense of information

that is gathered through observation and

experience. Whenever a person looks at the world

and begins taking in information, that person

intuitively processes the data in order to develop

useful understandings. Categories are formed by

the way in which data is sorted in order to form a

mental picture of reality. This picture may be

refined through additional observation and

additional experience, but the end result is a

description that serves as a basic framework for

understanding.

While bits of knowledge are being placed in mental

categories and compared with other bits of data for

the sake of description, the data is also evaluated.

Some things seem important to notice while others

are regarded as insignificant. People pass judgment

on what they see and hear at the same time that

they are processing information to gain

understanding. The process of gathering knowledge

about the world always involves the application of

values, and those values represent a key aspect of

each person’s worldview. Evaluation is never

neutral. As a person attempts to make sense of the

world, he or she also interprets what is seen based

on his or her fundamental assumptions.

Impact on Behavior Finally, worldviews deeply affect daily life. The set

of assumptions that provides a foundational

framework for thought also guides speech and

action. In a sense, the implications of fundamental

convictions trickle down to the level of behaviors

that are expressed through everyday activities. For

example, a person who believes that God exists will,

to some degree, orient how he or she thinks about

the purpose of life so that his or her life aligns with

what God wants. Another person who does not

believe in a supernatural being will conceive of

purpose in a more human-centered way that does

not emphasize God’s will and, instead, will order his

or her life accordingly.

At a deeper level, worldview shapes underlying

values, motivations, and attitudes that give rise to

particular actions. For example, a person may

believe that no absolute and universal moral values

exist. As a result, this person may not regard

consensual sex outside of marriage to be an

immoral activity and, therefore, will seek to find

sexual fulfillment outside of a marital relationship.

By contrast, one who believes that a divine being

has articulated guidelines for morality, including

sexual morality and marriage, may believe that one

should conform his or her life to those guidelines.

This person also believes that sexual fulfillment is

desirable but one that is best pursued within the

context of marriage. This person reasons that if God

created human sexuality then he is in the best

position to offer instruction about how people can

maximize sexual satisfaction.

No matter which of these views one personally

holds, the point should be clear: Underlying

assumptions, motives, values, and attitudes are

reflected in behavior. Thoughts and actions give

expression to worldview commitments, which

means that worldviews are continually displayed

through everyday behavior.

In order to illustrate the relationship between

worldview commitments and behavior, consider an

iceberg. Only the tip of an iceberg appears above

the water at any point, which means that most of an

iceberg remains hidden below the surface. While

the top of an iceberg may be formidable in its own

right, in proportion to the larger mass that remains

invisible, it is relatively small. In a similar way, a

person’s actions give outward evidence of thoughts

and convictions that lie deep below the surface.

Actions are visible, whereas thoughts and the

convictions that guide them remain hidden from

sight. The sorts of things that are going on below

the surface must be analyzed in order to arrive at a

fuller understanding of how people see and

understand the world in which they live.

Worldview as a Concept A worldview, then, may be understood as a

foundational set of assumptions to which a person

commits. These assumptions provide a framework

for understanding and interpreting reality, in that

they help make sense of information and evaluate

all that is observed and experienced. To some

degree, this framework is conceptual but it involves

the heart as much as the mind. Furthermore,

fundamental assumptions about the world deeply

affect behavior for better or for worse. As noted

above, the relationship between an individual’s

worldview and behavior is complex, but the

implications of this connection are vital to

understanding the ways that humans engage the

world.

Finally, in worldview analysis, it is important to

account for the influence of both faith and reason.

Worldviews begin to form before people are aware

that they are trusting in anything. However, as

individuals gain the ability to think analytically, they

may support their initial beliefs, modify their

understandings, or exchange flawed assumptions

for new ones as necessary. Worldviews take shape

on the basis of faith-level commitments and initial

understandings, but they can be refined if prior

commitments prove unreliable or irrational. This

notion will be explored further throughout the

remainder of the book.

How Do Worldviews Work? It is one matter to understand what a worldview is,

but it is another to consider how worldviews

function during the course of an individual’s life. A

series of analogies may shed additional light on the

practical implications of worldviews by outlining

the various ways that one’s convictions impact

behavior. Although none of these analogies is

perfect or complete in itself, each offers some

important clues about the complex relationship

between fundamental convictions and human

behavior.

Foundation of a Building Worldviews are like the foundation of a building:

They form a basis that supports and gives shape to

the entire structure that is built atop them. Just as

the foundation of a building sometimes lies

underground, worldviews generally remain hidden

from direct observation. Nonetheless, they always

give shape to the parts of the building that can be

seen. And, as with buildings, entire lives are

constructed on the basis of worldviews that largely

remain hidden from sight even though they

profoundly impact the shape of those lives.

Additionally, a building’s foundation must be strong

enough to hold up the building above it. The

strength of the foundation determines the strength

of the building. Even if the upper parts of the

structure appear to be secure, the entire building is

at risk if there are cracks in the foundation.

Similarly, the strength of a worldview determines

whether or not all that is built upon it can endure

the many challenges that individuals face during the

course of their lives. If inconsistencies or errors

plague one’s worldview, the entire edifice of an

individual’s life will be at risk as trials and

tribulations come.

Finally, once a foundation is in place, the larger

construction above it naturally assumes a shape

that is consistent with that of the foundation. From

the perspective of worldview studies, this means

that an individual’s basic assumptions determine

the sort of life that can be lived by the individual

who holds them. Just as a skyscraper cannot be

constructed on top of a foundation designed for a

single-family home, worldview commitments

narrow one’s options. To be direct, this means that

an individual who hopes to build something

magnificent would be wise to give careful attention

to the sort of foundation with which he or she

begins.

Lenses Worldviews are also like the lenses found in

eyeglasses that serve as the means through which a

person sees the world. The analogy of lenses helps

explain how worldviews influence the ways people

look at the world. Following the example of

eyeglasses, notice that lenses enable a person to

see clearly and accurately. A person wearing glasses

always views the world around them through

lenses, and the lenses shape everything that the

person observes. Similarly, worldviews shape the

ways that people see; however, in the case of

worldviews, everyone looks at the world through

the “lenses” of their fundamental assumptions.

Just as eyeglasses determine how accurately a

person sees things around them, a worldview

determines how accurately a person perceives

reality. For example, if two people witness a car

accident and each assigns blame to a different

driver, it will be difficult to determine which driver

is at fault. Imagine, however, that in an interview

with police after the accident the police learn that

one of the witnesses just received a new eyeglass

prescription that is not working well. This

information casts doubt on that witness’s ability to

see the accident well, much the same way a faulty or

inadequate worldview makes seeing the world

accurately a difficult task at best.

In addition to serving as the means by which a

person sees reality, a person’s worldview lenses are

also the means by which a person interprets and

assesses reality. On one hand, foundational

assumptions cause individuals to focus on certain

elements of reality more than others. On the other

hand, these assumptions serve as a filter for

evaluating the things that a person sees by enabling

them to interpret and assess observations and

experience.

Box Top of a Jigsaw Puzzle Worldviews are also like the image on the top of a

Worldview Definitions While the book provides a thorough

explanation of worldview, interacting with a

few other definitions may help with the

process of understanding what worldview is.

Three other definitions can provide a more

robust picture of the concept of worldview.

Through a brief look, these definitions can

emphasize various aspects of the book’s

explanation of worldview.

Ronald Nash (1999) defines worldview as “a

conceptual framework, pattern, or

arrangement of a person’s beliefs. The best

worldviews are comprehensive, systematic,

and supposedly true views of life and the

world” (p. 13). One can note the key terms in

the approach to worldview, such as

conceptual, framework, and beliefs. Nash focuses on the mind and the assumptions that

make up worldview and that drive beliefs, and

his approach is more philosophical in nature.

Kenneth Samples (2007) defines worldview as

“how one sees life and the world at large” (p.

20). Samples focuses primarily on how

worldview affects one’s perspectives. Though

each person holds to his or her worldview

with commitment, Samples also emphasizes

that one’s worldview commitments could be

incorrect or could rest on faulty assumptions.

James Sire's (2004) definition serves as a

more comprehensive picture of worldview,

attempting to encompass as many elements of

worldview studies as possible.

A commitment, a fundamental

orientation of the heart, that can be

expressed as a story or in a set of

presuppositions (assumptions which

may be true, partially true, or entirely

false) which we hold (consciously or

subconsciously, consistently or

inconsistently) about the basic

constitution of reality, and that

provides the foundation on which we

live and move and have our being (p.

122).

While he includes the rational element of

worldview (“a set of presuppositions”), Sire’s

underlying point attempts to go deeper, into

the heart (“commitment, a fundamental

orientation of the heart”). Sire also

emphasizes the narrative element of

worldview, that a worldview “can be

expressed as a story,” which is explained in

more detail in this chapter.

A Closer Look at Faith When considering explicitly religious

worldviews, the influence of faith is easier to

recognize. For example, people who believe in

God will tend to develop other convictions

openly on the foundational belief in a deity.

When it comes to how individuals analyze and

support their worldviews, they draw from the

core belief that God exists. They may not be

able to prove God’s existence beyond the

shadow of a doubt, but their commitment to

this belief affects other areas of their

worldviews, such as questions about the

origins of the universe and humankind. In

essence, belief in God supports their

worldview assumptions because they are

committed to the presupposition that God

exists.

With worldviews that are not explicitly

religious in the traditional sense, the influence

of faith is also present; however, in such cases,

the presence of faith is not explicit or as

openly acknowledged. For example, people

who do not believe in the supernatural will

rest many other presuppositions on the

foundational conviction that God does not

exist. They will do so in spite of the fact that

they cannot disprove God’s existence beyond

the shadow of a doubt any more than one who

believes that God does exist. When it comes

to how they analyze and support their

worldview, they draw from the core belief

that there is no God although they cannot

ultimately prove God’s nonexistence.

Regardless, commitment to this belief affects

other worldview convictions regarding such

things as the origins of the universe and

human beings. This does not necessarily mean

that atheism is a religion. It simply means that

all worldviews rest on fundamental

commitments that are established and

maintained on the basis of trust rather than

indisputable proof.

A Closer Look at Reason The influence of reason on worldviews merits

further examination. In terms of worldview

studies, reason may be understood as the

reliance on evidence and logic to evaluate

assumptions. If faith involves a commitment

to certain assumptions, then reason is the

evidence and thought used to support the

commitment.

For example, an atheist might use certain

scientific evidence regarding evolution as a

form of reason to support a belief that God

does not exist. Someone who believes in God,

by contrast, might use philosophical evidence

as a form of reason to support the belief that

God does exist. In both cases, reason is

employed to support a position and allows for

a critical analysis of others’ worldview

assumptions. Reason, as an element of

worldview, therefore, involves conscious

thinking about the set of assumptions that

make up worldview.

Several types of evidence fall under the scope

of reason. This evidence can be used to shape

or support one’s personal worldview or to

disprove others’ worldviews. The analysis of

worldviews always involves reason, and yet

individuals tend to form their reasoning about

worldviews with faith influencing

commitments along the way. When studying

worldview, one must understand the

relationship between faith and reason.

Several important questions emerge about the

relationship of faith and reason. Does faith or

reason take precedence in worldview

formation? Which of the two primarily

influences worldview analysis? How do faith

and reason interact in particular worldviews?

What about doubt and fear—how do these

concepts affect the study of faith and reason?

These sorts of questions and themes will be

explored in Chapter 8 of this book.

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