Story and Structure in the Christian Worldview
Every human being has a worldview, a framework for understanding and interacting with the physical world, other humans, and the Divine.
Every worldview tells a story – an explanation of life and our place in it – that makes sense to the one who holds it.
The story line of a worldview typically answers five questions: Where did we come from? What kind of beings are we? Why are we in our condition? How do we improve our condition? Where is all this headed?
In the Christian worldview these answers come to us by revelation from God, as He speaks to us from His Word, the Bible:
- Whence? God made us and all things.?
- What? We are His creatures, and human beings are His image-bearers.
- Why? The creation suffers, and so do people, because of the fall into sin.
- How? The only way out of our sinfulness into a renewed, restored, and abundant life is through the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ.
- Where? Ultimately Jesus will bring His followers home to dwell with Him in a new heaven and new earth, where righteousness dwells.
A Framework for Understanding
The story line of any worldview is held together by a structure, which consists of all the key components the story line requires at every point in its progress in order to make sense. The structure of any story line typically includes the source of the story, the forms in which it appears, the setting, characters, and themes of the story, and the climax and conclusion. In the Christian worldview these structural components are:
- God
- Revelation
- Creation (including time)
- Characters (people, angels, God, etc.)
- Various interwoven themes (redemption, salvation, Church, ethics, and so on)
- The outworking of all things beyond history
- The new heavens and new earth.
Where Truth Lies
Any idea or subject in the story line of the Christian worldview is thus supported at every point by relevant components of the structure. The intersection of the story line and the structure creates a matrix of truth, or, a Framework of Truth, which serves to map out the Christian worldview. This perspective makes it easy to more fully comprehend the majesty of truth as it is revealed to us as Christians.
For a fuller explanation of The Framework of Truth and how it relates to the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, download the document, The Framework of Truth .
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