A Christian "Natural" World View

There are many resources to help you discover and develop a Christian world view as it relates to our human interactions and our interactions with God. This is not surprising, because the bible is packed full of interactions and instructions in this regard. However, in my scripture reading I have also found many examples of human-to-creation and God-to-creation interactions and instructions, which I think are most often passed over as background information. I believe this is in part because we tend to be more human-centric than God-centric. Humans were the apex of creation, so we trump everything, right? What else is there to know or guide our world view and resulting actions?

The continued transition from a human-centric world view to a God-centric world view is widely considered to be the key to maturing as a Christian. I think that's safe to say. However, I wonder if this also requires development of a different veiw of creation? When I take a closer look at how God created the universe and the hints as to why He created the universe, the take home message that I get is that God loves mankind immencely. However, I also read that He created ALL of creation for his glory, not our own. I read that God also still cares for the rest of creation apart from us, and that for whatever reason, our fate and that of the rest of creation have been closely connected since the beginning.

I've experienced different world views of creation over my lifetime, both Christian and secular. The ideology I experienced growing up was Creationism. There's much variation within Creationism, but the ideology I'm refering to claims biblical literalism, using the word-for-word text of the bible as a "scientific" text. I have found this ideology to be generally detail-orientated rather then principle-orientated. Specific verses and even individual words are used over others to develop a world view involving creation without gaps in complete understanding. This ideology at its extreme has a word or verse to explain all natural phenomonon. These explainations almost without fail, are the exact polor opposite of the most common secular views, which seems to me to be one of it's primary objectives. A round earth and gravity are notable exceptions (at least today). In other words, one of their primary gods is to be all knowing and always right all the time.

The most common secular group would be individuals and organizations with naturalistic beliefs, also known as Darwinists. This group develops a world view in relation to creation "or the natural world" by purely naturalistic means. The god of this group is most certainly science. However, the rules of science governing bias are typically thrown out the window in order to make untestable hypotheses that run perfectly couter to ideas of the Creationists. Those untestable hypotheses gradually evolve into theory though research biased heavily by popular opinion within their ranks. One of the cardinal rules of science is also broken in that all results are screened through one major preconseved notion - that all things can be explained by naturalistic means. These supporting theories are then presented as fact to the public. Disenters within the field of natural science are quick to be discredited and pushed out. Ultimatelly, one of the primary objective of this group (as I see it) is stick it to the Creationists. As such, one of their primary gods is also to be all knowing and always right all the time.

In short, I find that both groups have equally strong motivations that have nothing to do with discovering and developing a world view that is accurate or God-centric. In fact, many times, the primary objective appears to be to gain political or physical power over the other group, which is not at all how Christ modelled life. It is my perception that both groups are afraid to show doubt or acknowlege gaps in their understanding for fear of losing power. As such, both are often combative and adamit know-it-alls, trying to win people to their sides. I believe the strong bias of both groups is to develop ideas that are popular for winning over others, especially youth. The Creationists put forward ideas that are perfect polor opposites of the Naturalistic group, and likewise. Both sides are always completely wrong or completely right about everything. 
I have found little satisfaction in the world veiw of either group, and this is my purpose for developing this blog. I expect my logic and reasoning to be failable, but I pray that the Spirit will lead me to some Godly knowledge and understanding as well. Ultimately, I hope to further develp a personal world view that shows grace and humility, rather then competition and combativeness. To me that would be a better way to seek understanding and certainly a more Christ-like approach.

It is my intention to write posts that focus on specific themes that seem to exist in relation to our relationship with creation and God's relationship with creation. Ultimately, I think it might even add context to our relationship with God, which is of utmost importance. I expect to add new topical posts periodically and also revisit and edit existing posts as I encounter new information.

I hope that what I write is a blessing to you. With that said, anything I post should be examined critically and affirmed by other knowledgeable and compassionate Christians that you trust before adopting it into your own world view. Blessings to you.

Variety

Variety is one of the most celebrated attributes of the earth. We celebrate the variety found in landforms, water bodies, weather, kinds of living things, cultures, languages, planets and the stars. In the first two chapters of Genesis, God makes 11 references to the creation of different “kinds” of creatures alone. He also makes reference to the creation of variety in the heavenly bodies and the earth, sky, and waters. As such, I think it is safe to say that variety was and still is a dominant and intentional feature of creation.

I think you can also go deeper with this idea of variety as well. To have different kinds of anything, you need order. At its core, God brought order out of the chaos through His creation. Just prior to the creation, we are told that the earth was “formless and empty, (and) darkness was over the surface of the deep”(Gen 1:2). Ultimately through the creation process, this formlessness, emptiness, and darkness was changed to a world of light, teeming with a great variety of living things. It became a world of complex order and beauty.

The concept of variety in creation matches up well with the teeming quality of creation, mentioned in a previous post. Variety results in complex interactions between all those different kinds of things. Take for example the mountain goat. Mountain goats interact with many kinds of rock structures, a wide range of weather, many hundreds of wild plants species, hundreds of other wildlife species, and human beings. The interactions of a mountain goat with its environment are safely a thousands of time more complex than described here. However, my point is that a creation, diverse in both living and non-living things is mind bogglingly complex.

As mentioned, I think God created these attributes in a deliberate way, for His glory. As such, they are worthy of thanksgiving. As stewards of everything God has put under our power, that diversity and complexity is also worthy of stewardship. Stewardship of the diversity and complexity of creation is much easier said than done. Almost everything we do as human beings reduces complexity. Just look at your lawn, or a corn feild, or a parking lot. These things are valuable for our survival and comfort, yet they replaced something that was a million times more complex, such as all the communities living things (insects, plants, animals and all their interactions) that God put in that place. Even our super computers pale in comparison to the complexity in one blade of grass. We have the ability to create supercomputers, but lack the ability to recreate a blade of grass from its elements, and thats even with abundant examples that we can take apart and examine. If we cannot replicate even one part of one of the most common and simple forms of life on the face of the planet, just how great is God by comparison to us? There is no comparison, and that is why he is worthy of praise.