Worldview Definitions

Question 1

Define Nihilism

Answer 1

A hopeless fatalism that sees life as meaningless and which rejects all moral and religious principles.

Question 2

Define Objective Truth

Answer 2

Truth is independent of the individual

Question 3

Define Ontology

Answer 3

The study of being

Question 4

Define Pantheism

Answer 4

Belief that everything is god

Question 5

Define Panentheism

Answer 5

Belief that all is IN God; God is to the world as soul is to a body

Question 6

Define Polytheism

Answer 6

Belief in many gods

Question 7

Define Presupposition

Answer 7

A thing tacitly assumed beforehand at the beginning of a line of argument or course of action. The assumption that an idea, statement, or claim is true (often without evidence)

Question 8

Define Rationalism

Answer 8

An epistemological theory which absolutizes human reason as the solution to all issues

Question 9

Define Reference Point

Answer 9

A basis or standard for evaluation, assessment, or comparison; a criterion

Question 10

Define Relativism

Answer 10

The belief that there is no absolute truth; truth is either subject to the individual and/or to one’s culture

Question 11

Define Secular Humanism

Answer 11

The belief that humanity is the highest value in the universe and that there is no supernatural realm

Question 12

Define socialism

Answer 12

a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. (in Marxist theory) a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.

Question 13

Define Subjective Truth

Answer 13

Truth is subject to the individual’s interpretations, feelings, or whims. Related to relativism but often not as strong as relativism

Question 14

Define Syncretism

Answer 14

The reconciliation or union of conflicting beliefs - The mixing together of ideas or beliefs that are incompatible

Question 15

Define Teleology

Answer 15

The study of ends or ultimate purposes. Deals with questions as: why are we here? Where is everything going? What is the purpose of life?

Question 16

Define Theism

Answer 16

Belief in God. Sometimes used generically to mean belief in the existence of a god of any sort. Other times referred specifically to the Judeo-Christian concept of God

Question 17

Define Trinitarianism

Answer 17

Belief that there is One infinite God in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Question 18

Define ‘Worldview’

Answer 18

Worldview - “A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”
- James Sire