A Man’s Search For Meaning: Religious And Secular Worldview
The search for meaning is about discovering, accepting and applying both secular and religious worldviews to the big questions of life. In almost all circumstances, people will blend both a religious and a secular worldview as they form their own ideas about the world, perhaps unaware that this is what they are doing. A worldview is defined as a ‘comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint’, or the way a person sees and understands the world. In a broader sense, worldviews influence a person’s mindset, beliefs or even their religion, remaining consistent in how you operate. One with a Christian worldview would see the world through a biblical sense, serving and spreading the name of God. They would bare God as their creator and become followers of the word of God. Another worldview known as humanism, believes humans to be superior to spiritual beings. A humanist will determine his own purpose and path in life, ignoring God’s miracles.
After centuries of failing to call upon Him, the Greek philosopher Epicurus sought to confront a question that has often been either ignored or dismissed: “If the gods have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not all-powerful. If they are neither able nor willing, they are neither all-powerful nor benevolent. If they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, why does it exist?” – Epicurus, C300 BCE.
In an overall perspective, we have all asked ourselves the question: Why do human beings suffer and why do we exist? According to religious logic, God allows evil and suffering as a ‘preparation for heaven’ that is beyond human understanding. A believer will also say, “nothing can exist unless it is created”. However that statement immediately raises a contradiction, as non-believers would then argue who created God. A humanist believes the correct response is to reduce our suffering by seeking enjoyment and tranquillity in life. In Second Peter 3, the question of suffering is answered in a religious point of view:
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The following bible verse relieves the Christian faith in Christ, reminding them that the day of the Lord will come eventually and unexpectedly. The Bible tells us, God is patient and merciful and that he longs for the time when everyone will repent for their sins and ask for forgiveness. The humanistic response to this however, is interpreted quite differently.
“There is enough on earth for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed.” Is happiness the most important thing in life? Does life have any meaning? If humans believe this to be their only life to live, they will seek all happiness in their current lives. A humanist’s ideals revolve around their devotion to human welfare and a moral code to live by. The earth has many theories established, the basic being a collision between many particles and a solar nebula. However, Christians believe in a creator or a God that made us for a purpose. Our human greed of the planet is something Mahatma Gandhi once foresaw decades ago. If there really is a God and if he created us, why does he allow such theodicy? The rational logic of man rejects the idea of God. From a religious point of view, God intentionally puts us through suffering from the evil choices we make. Our greed is something he himself limits us to as a ‘preparation to heaven’, which is beyond human understanding.
In almost all circumstances, people will blend both a religious and a secular worldview as they form their own ideas about the world, perhaps unaware that this is what they are doing. To seek and cultivate pleasure in life holds different meaning dependent on one’s religious view. The god of Christianity is commonly described as having the attributes of a perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe. However, non-believers would expect the world to be very different from the way it is if a god having these 4 traits were the designer. We have to presume that God is neither willing nor able to help us live together in respect and harmony.
