Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Explore 1.5M+ audiobooks & ebooks free for 30 days

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Worldview and Politics: Christian Worldview E-book Series, #4
    Worldview and Politics: Christian Worldview E-book Series, #4
    Worldview and Politics: Christian Worldview E-book Series, #4
    Ebook74 pages1 hourChristian Worldview E-book Series

    Worldview and Politics: Christian Worldview E-book Series, #4

    By Freddy Davis

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    It used to be that American Christians didn't need a knowledge of worldview concepts. However, American society has radically changed to where it is no longer homogeneous like it used to be. Now, we are religiously pluralistic, and consistently interact with people from many other worldviews and belief systems. It is an understanding of worldview that gives us the knowledge we need to not only effectively share the gospel to others, but also to have confidence that our beliefs are true and right.

     

    This book is a compilation of key articles written by Freddy Davis, president of MarketFaith Ministries, that deals with how the various worldview beliefs are expressed in politics. It will give you the ability to understand and effectively interact with the people in society who come from other worldview backgrounds.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFreddy Davis
    Release dateOct 10, 2024
    ISBN9798227569325
    Worldview and Politics: Christian Worldview E-book Series, #4
    Read preview
    Author

    Freddy Davis

    Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is married to Deborah and has one son, Ken. Freddy did his undergraduate studies at Florida State University in Speech Communications and received his MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to his pastoral ministry and work with MarketFaith Ministries, Freddy served overseas as an international missionary for nearly 17 years (in Japan and in the former Soviet Republic of Latvia). Freddy is the author of numerous books, workbooks and other works.

    Related to Worldview and Politics

    Titles in the series (17)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Theology For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for Worldview and Politics

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Worldview and Politics - Freddy Davis

      Introduction

      MarketFaith Ministries is a worldview discipleship ministry. Our purpose is to provide resources and training to help Christians become more knowledgeable and effective as they live out their Christian faith.

      We have been providing resources and training since 2006. Over that period, we have produced many books focused on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for Christians. You can find them in various places where books are sold, as well as on the MarketFaith Ministries website (www.marketfaith.org).

      But in addition to the books, we have written scores of articles. This e-book is part of a series that we are making available that feature many of the articles that have been published. Each e-book contains articles that focus on a specific area of worldview knowledge.

      You will find the knowledge contained in this resource to be valuable beyond imagination. It will give you the ability to understand and effectively interact with the people who have different views  – some that you may consider truly unimaginable.

      The Beliefs That Allow Judicial Activism in America

      Over the last several years there have been all kinds of complaints about judicial activism. This is the situation where judges have taken it upon themselves to create law from the bench, rather than doing the job that their position is designed for – which is to interpret the law.

      The American system of government is designed so that there is a legislative branch, which is charged with making law, an executive branch, whose job it is to carry out the law, and a judicial branch to arbitrate disputes when people disagree as to a specific application of the law. In the case of judicial activism, the judges have stepped beyond their specific authority and taken for themselves the power to tell the legislatures what kind of law they must establish. In recent times there have been several very high profile cases where this has occurred.

      Perhaps the most well-known was when the Supreme Court of the United States found a right for abortion in the United States Constitution when none is expressly given. Rather than let state legislatures decide what the law should be for themselves on this issue, which is how it should be, the Supreme Court essentially created a new law and forced the states to go along.

      Another case happened in 2004 when the Massachusetts Supreme Court made the same kind of decree from the bench regarding homosexual marriage. In this case, they told the state legislature that homosexual marriage was a right guaranteed by the state constitution (though it had never been seen to exist before that time) and that the legislature must specifically write it into law.

      In 2000, the state of California passed a citizen initiated proposition that enshrined traditional marriage into state law. However, in 2013, the California Supreme Court suddenly found a right to homosexual marriage in its state constitution and decreed that the law which had been duly passed by the people was unconstitutional. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme court did that on a national level.

      As we look at these situations, we can certainly debate the proper role of the various branches of government. But here we want to go a bit deeper and look at the role worldview plays in creating a mindset that allows judges to believe it is okay for them to create law that way. As we explore this topic, the particular element that affects this issue relates to what the worldview asserts regarding the nature of morality.

      Implications of the Various Worldviews

      In order to have a deeper understanding of the worldview implications, we will take a brief look at how each worldview might deal with this. The following explanations are intentional simplifications and do not try to deal with the nuances related to degrees of rightness and wrongness. Our purpose here is not to give a comprehensive explanation of nuances, but to explore the underlying principles upon which law is based.

      Animism

      For Animism, morality is determined by the gods and spirits that exist in the spirit world. When they are pleased, they cause good things to happen to individuals who are doing right toward them. The things that please the gods and spirits define moral rightness. As it relates to law, it is up to society to figure out the things that please the gods, and enshrine those behaviors in the legal code. As a result, the law has a foundation that lies beyond the physical world, even though there is not a concrete way to get at it. Mankind figures it out as he lives life and sees how the gods and spirits react to various actions.

      Far Eastern Thought

      Far Eastern Thought also has a transcendent source for its moral code, though, in this case, the source is not personal – it is the impersonal life force. This does create a problem, though, since an impersonal force cannot share information of any type. In practical terms, what we have is a very similar situation to what exists in Animism. Human beings are left to figure out right and wrong based on what they observe happening in the world.

      Over the centuries, religious leaders claim to have figured it out by observing what causes things to go well and what causes things

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 4