Biblical Worldview
(and the Muller Model)

Several of my students have asked me my opinion on “Biblical Worldview.” This is becoming a popular topic in North America, and it seems to contradict the worldview model that I present in my writings.

First, let me emphasise that the word “worldview” is not found in the Bible. It was not used by Christians for the first 1800 years of Christianity. As I point out in “The Messenger, the Message and the Community” the concept grew out of the teachings of Immanuel Kant, (1724 – 1804) a secular German philosopher. The word first entered English language useage in 1956 when Kant’s writings were translated into English. As the world was beginning to grapple with the arrival of the “global village,” American universities were quick to adopt the term and try to map out worldviews according to secular ideologies.

Several Christian writers soon followed, publishing books about how evangelicals might see worldview. Sire, Geisler,  Olthuis,  Naugle, Nash and many others proposed various types of evangelical ‘worldview models.” All of these models were just that, models. Most of these writers were people locked inside of a western worldview trying to interpret other worldviews according to what was critical to their own worldview, much like a communist trying to analyse North America using his communist worldview that includes classes and class struggles. Most North Americans would rebel at the thought of their society being analyzed in these terms. But in much the same manner, evangelicals were developing models of worldview that were useful in helping North American evangelicals classify outsiders. Were they atheists, polytheists, or just theists? It made sense to the evangelicals, but did not always accurately describe the worldview of others.

These evangelical classifications seemed to work fine in the 60’s and 70’s when atheism and agnosticism were on the rise in western universities. However, with the arrival of Muslim students, and the advent of 9/11, Americans began to struggle with their total misunderstanding of Muslim worldview. According to Sire’s five questions, Muslims should have a worldview very similar to an evangelical.

Sire, the original champion of evangelical worldview tried to classify all worldviews using five basic questions.

Using these five questions Sire developed the concept of seven worldviews. However, when American evangelicals met Muslims they became confused. Muslims answered Sire’s five questions in ways that were very similar to their own answers.

If you ascribe to Sire’s model, then surely a Muslim’s worldview must be very similar to a Christian’s worldview. In fact, using this model a Muslim’s worldview looks much more Biblical than most secular Christian’s worldview. But when Muslims and Americans try to dialog, they are universes apart. Their worldviews are completely opposite to each other.

The problem is with Sire’s model. Sire never intended it to be used for cross-cultural evangelism. On page fifteen of his introduction he admits that he has found it especially difficult to know what to include in his model and what to leave out.

This is why the Muller model was developed. Having spent over twenty years in the Muslim world, trying to understand them and their worldview, I used the Bible as the basis for trying to construct a worldview. Initially I found only three worldviews in the Bible: Edenic, Heavenly, and Earthly. The difference between these three is the presence of sin. Then  using sin as the common denominator I began to build a worldview model that could include animists, Muslims, Hindu’s, Buddhists, communists and capitalists, moderns, post moderns,  and many more.

When I was done, I realized that my model had no room for Biblical Worldview while Sire, Nash and the other models allowed for the identification of a Biblical Worldview. I am not opposed to this. If you want to use their models to describe worldview, you are free to do so. And if these models help you understand other worldviews better, then I’m happy for you to use these models. But we must realize that they are only models. People are far more complex in their thinking and worldview than any of the models that have been so far presented. This is not a problem. The model is there to help us understand others. If it does that, then it is a successful model.

My problem is when people take one of the popular evangelical worldview models and insist that it is “gospel truth” and that there is a Biblical Worldview (and they have it.) And when they insist that every Christian, everywhere in the world should have a Biblical worldview, that looks just like their worldview, have, then I must object.

According the model that I developed, there is no such thing as a Biblical worldview. Rather, there are combinations of worldview. I believe that there are Korean Christian worldviews, and Arab Christian worldviews, and Indian Christian worldviews, and so on. You do not have to lose your worldview or your culture when you become a Christian. Christianity supersedes worldview. In much the same way, you can express your Christianity in English, Korean, Farsi, Arabic, German or whatever. Most American evangelicals hold an American Christian worldview. It is vastly different from a Middle Eastern Christian worldview, where the person may believe in honor killing, and still be a Christian. While this may seem repulsive and barbaric to the American worldview, the Middle Easterner can find clear Biblical teaching to back his worldview. Which one is Biblical? Which one is Christian?

The answer is that they are both Christian. One is American Christian and one is Middle Eastern Christian. God does not demand that we lose our worldview identity when we become followers of Jesus. Rather the gospel may challenge things within our worldview, but we are still free to live out our Christian faith within our worldview. That is the power of the Gospel message.

For some, this is unsettling. How can others have a Christian worldview, if they do not believe as we do! Rather than rejoice in the beautiful world of diversity, we insist that everything must be colored with our particular shade of ‘blue’ or ‘red’ in order for it to be called Christian.

So, if you are a strong adherent to the North American teaching of “Biblical Worldview” and are upset with this talk of mixing our worldview and our Christian faith, then I suggest you ignore the Muller model and stick with Sire, Naugle, Nash or whichever teacher you are following.  Their models also help explain worldview. But please, don’t insist that everyone adopt your pet model as the ‘only’ model of analyzing worldview.

During the last four years, as the Muller Model of worldview has been introduced around the world, Middle Eastern Christians have responded enthusiastically. Using their worldview, they are now free to read the Bible and interpret it within their worldview context. Interestingly enough, this is often closer to the worldview that the Bible was written from than an American worldview. There is a richness and depth to the scriptures, as one discovers how it speaks directly to shame-based or fear-based worldviews. Old verses take on new meaning, as we discover the deeper meanings behind the teachings of scripture.

One day a lady from Central Asia spoke to me. She wept as she insisted that I was the first westerner to really understand her and her worldview.  A few days later, an Arab from the Middle East told me much the same. It has been the response of these dear Christian brothers and sisters around the world that has encouraged me to continue to use the Muller Model of worldview in my teaching. Is there such a thing as a Christian worldview? I doubt it. Not on this side of death. But once we cross over to the other side, and meet with Jesus, my Bible tells me we will be changed… and we will no longer look through the dark fog of sin, and then, suddenly we will have a Heavenly worldview. Then, at least, we will all agree together, and admit our shortcomings and failures, and acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and King and accept his worldview, or universe-view as our own. I eagerly await that day, but until then, we go on struggling to know how to understand one another and communicate the love of Christ to others.