Hello Steve:

I apply biblical principles in all of my courses as an adjunct at GCU. I look forward to this forum to help me enhance my prospective for my courses in applying the Christian Worldview.

God Bless!

Joseph Kennedy

Hi Steve,

This will be an exciting forum for me.  I have struggled with this and had some success. However,  most of my efforts seem contrived or should I say "feel contrived."  I worked with a GCU faculty coach recently, and we talked about this often - she was a great help, but I still would like to improve my ability to put forward this mission - Looking forward to the class.    Larry

I used to teach the Christian Worldview class - many years ago.

I put Scripture verses that match the theme of the module at the end of the weekly module announcement. I also include a thought provoking thought in the weekly Cohort Powerpoint  which engenders considerable discussion. 

Ron

Greetings Steve, 

I like to post a question integrating Christianity into the objective for the week. Students blossom and really come out of their shell!

I’m interested in improving and learning more from you.

God bless!

Greetings!

Having the opportunity to share GCU's worldview in class can open up to discussions that in other ways they wouldn't. I am interested in improving my knowledge and learning from you and peers during this discussion thread. 

God Bless!

My relationship with God has really been strengthened as a result of incorporating the Christian worldview in my classroom. I’ve learned to connect my teachings in child psychology with the Bible. I’m still seeking to do it more and better but I like that. I like the idea of God being present in my classroom. 

Tanya Harrell

Hi Steve,

I am looking forward to learning more about incorporating the Christian Worldview into my classes. I struggle because I often have students who are not Christian and I want to respect them, as well as not have them feeling they are excluded because they have a different faith. 

Mary Lou

I like to post stimulating quotes in all my cohort classes. In my Ethics class (PCN 505) recently I posted this quote: Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life. Albert Schweitzer.

These kinds of quotes help me educate students about important historical figures such as Albert Schweitzer as well as engender discussion. Dr. Schweitzer himself is a controversial figure due to his career choice to be a doctor in Africa as well as writing a controversial book on Jesus, The Quest for the Historical Jesus. 

I often use quotations from people who are not conservative Christians or who do or did not profess in any faith in God. I do this to have a discussion about "All truth is God's truth." 

Mary Lou, Thank you for sharing your concern. First, I like to believe that faith is as much caught as taught. Our behaviors and attitudes convey our faith as much as our explicit teaching about faith. 

Second, students coming to Grand Canyon University are very aware of the university's Christian stance. They should not be surprised by a faculty member's discussion about a Christian Worldview. 

Third, research indicates that many non-Christians seek out a Christian university because they are looking for a values that they can respect and even support. Muslims are seeking out Christian universities: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/education/muslims-enroll-at-catholic-colleges-in-growing-numbers.html The article addresses attendance of Muslims at Catholic universities. I am sure the reasons are true for Muslim attendance at non-Catholic Christian universities. 

Those are my thoughts.

I love that we are seeing this series as integration of faith and learning is ever more important as we attempt to teach students not just about their chosen subject, but about how spirituality and faith plays a role in their overarching worldview.  This is going to help us come from an organic place, one that is spontaneous and fruitful for showing GCU's mission statement and commitment to a Christian Worldview.

Thanks to each of you for your encouraging and insightful introductory comments. Great to see things from the different angles God have given us to see the bigger picture that is the work of God's Kingdom (or Network, or Team). 

There is a lot to be grateful for at GCU, and perhaps most of all the privilege of communicating openly, honestly, and humbly God's Story (the Christian Worldview) with our precious students, and with one another. I hope that the videos (mentioned in my Introduction) are sources of encouragement toward that end, too. I look forward to your thoughts and comments as we move through the weeks of our discussion. Praying for you!! Blessings, Steve

I watched the two videos. To the questions at hand:

What is central to GCU’s basic strategy of faith integration?

The centerpiece of GCU's basic strategy of faith integration is understanding that a Christian worldview defined as a world view that understand God as the unifier of our understanding of the reason why humanity exists within a natural world gifted to humanity which has been marred by human failure (sin) and which needs to be rescued from itself and renewed  as it is brought back into relationship with God.

How is “worldview” defined within this workshop? 

From my understanding of the video, a worldview is how our assumptions about the world or, how we make sense of the world. 

For me as a bereavement counselor, the sudden death of a loved one challenges the assumptions of the grieving. Such assumptions as "The world should be a safe place," and "Children should never die before their parents," and "If I had lived a better life, my father wouldn't have died." All of these are assumptions. These people are all expressing a world view. When we look at the bigger picture of the human life, past, present and future, we all have assumptions about how humanity should express itself, assumptions such as "Why do some evil people prosper?" or "Why are there evil people like Hitler and Stalin?" or "Where was 'God" on 9/11? A Christian worldview attempts to answer when these assumptions are guiding people's thinking.

My thoughts... looking forward to hearing others....

Excellent and thought-provoking insights, Ron, particularly relative to bereavement-related concerns and counseling, and some of the important assumptions revealed therein.

Some great thinkers, Christian and otherwise, throughout history have pointed our that Death is THE ultimate issue people deal with, whether stated or not. From Sartre's "face up to it genuinely" atheistic worldview to Kierkegaard's "the only hope beyond the grave is found through Christ's own resurrection" Christian perspective, our own existence and certain death has driven existentialist philosophers like these . . . and the rest of us! . . . to seek the answers to the kinds of questions you raise in your remarks. 

Thus, a Christian worldview is deeply grounded in seeking true and meaningful authority/authorities that provide ultimate answers to life's (and death's) ultimate questions . . . many of these questions revealing underlying presuppositions or even stronger, precommitments. As I have asked innumerable times in class, "Who or what is your ultimate authority for ____?" Once students reflect on that, now we are getting somewhere!! 

For the second week of our Discussion Forum, beginning Monday, August 6, please click the links below to view the CWV-101FS videos, and then respond in the forum (if desired) to one or more of the prompts below:

Topics:  Creation & The Fall

·       What should reverent awe (fear) and genuine knowledge of God lead to?

·       According to the biblical narrative, what does God create the world as?

·       What was the result of the fall into sin?

·       What is idolatry?

Steve, thank you for your response to my post. I would say that behind these questions are feelings which need to be acknowledged first. Have you seen the movie, Shadowlands? In this movie about C.S.Lewis and the death of his wife, Joy, there are two remarkable scenes. The movie begins with Lewis giving an academic lecture about suffering much along the lines of your response to me.  Near the end of the movie, Lewis is again talking about suffering but with much more emotional sensitivity. The contrast is quite dramatic. 

I have observed something with my students - many of them know more about our GCU's Christian Worldview than I do.  In fact, they know more about Christianity than I do and in some cases amaze me with their insight and knowledge.  I see my role as their professor not so much as a teacher of the Christian Worldview but rather as a facilitator to the conversation that discusses this worldview.  Once I figured that out it has become much more comfortable to incorporate this essential perspective into the weekly discussion. But honestly, I am more lost than found in the questions that are posted this week.  That's not an uncomfortable for me - especially at GCU.  It's a good place to start.  

Great movie, Ron! Both of Lewis' masterpiece works on this topic, The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed speak to the human condition; the former more philosophically and theologically, the latter more experientially and personally (esp. since [for those unaware of the content/context] his own wife's suffering and death serves as the basis for the latter [and later] book). I imagine either aspect missing weakens an otherwise more robust Christian worldview. As the son of rapidly aging parents, it seems to me that our best times together have involved both discussions of solid foundational beliefs and compassionate listening/sharing and caring. 

Thanks for your important and thoughtful posting, Ron! I'll need to see the movie again soon :-)

Larry, thanks for your humble and honest and insightful comments. I am amazed at times as well with some of our students and their understanding of the Christian Story, especially those who exemplify Christian living amidst the temptations and challenges they face on campus and elsewhere. I like what you said about facilitating, too. This is a great way to open up conversations, including about their own faith and ours, and how it connects to (or disconnects from) the Christian Worldview, and why. Teaching CWV over the years (including before GCU, and in different churches), I've seen true and sometimes radical conversions as people discover what God's Story really is, and is for them, as opposed, say, to the culture's or politician's or media's teaching about "reality." So powerful to watch and to rejoice with students and others when "the light goes on" as has been the privilege and blessing for many of us, by God's grace.

I hope the videos are helpful, too, particularly on the "understanding" aspect of the Christian Worldview. I think viewing and reflecting on one or both for each topic might be helpful in relation to responding to the prompts for those particular weeks. Thanks again, Larry!

Hello Steve, The video/content is excellent. I've enjoyed watching and learning.

That's great to hear, Nathaniel! We really appreciate your thought on the videos/content. Make it a great day! Grace and peace, Steve

For the third week of our Discussion Forum, beginning August 13, please click the links below to view the CWV-101FS videos, and then respond in the forum (if desired) to one or more of the prompts below:

 Topics: Jesus Christ & Rescue, Redemption, and Renewal

 ·       What are the attributes of Jesus according to the Bible?

 ·       What was the focus of Jesus teaching as recorded in the Gospels?

 ·       Following creation and the fall, what is the third act of the biblical narrative?

 ·       What does God require of human beings who desire forgiveness for their sin, true wisdom, a changed life, and a restored relationship with Him?

Steve, I have been on vacation for a week and catching up on work. I had some time today so I watched the Rescue, Redemption and Renewal video.  

Here is my reaction. 

Brett talks about what he calls the four R's: Renewal, Rescue, Redemption, and Reconciliation and then adds a fifth R: Repentance (How we appropriate God's salvation.

In his presentation, he misses several points I think are important to a fully-orbed Christian Worldview. First, he does not talk about a central theme of the Bible: Shalom. Shalom is the Hebrew word (English word, peace) for God's overarching plan for the restoration not only of humanity but the whole world. The closest this concept came up on the video was at the very end when one of the participants talked about how salvation "touches all areas of life." He mentioned three names, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Dooyeweerd and Albert Wolters. Unfortunately, I rarely see these three scholars seldom mentioned or studied in the context of a Christian Worldview. I am glad there is one instructor at GCU who is working to integrating faith into all of life. I am grateful for the year I spend at Institute of Christian Studies in Toronto, ON, Canada where I was exposed to these three men. Our Christian faith is much more than a "ticket to heaven" as one of the participants mentioned. 

Second, the speaker makes no reference to shame. Most American evangelicals including the speaker focus on guilt, yet, clearly, shame is central to the the story of the Fall. (I have not had time to review that lecture.) The Biblical story is as much about shame as it is about guilt. Guilt says, "You did something wrong. You broke God's rules." Shame says, "You are bad. You are flawed. You are a mistake." I tell people the Bible is the best self-esteem book you will ever read. You are wonderfully made. You are loved unconditionally. You are worth a God-man dying for you. You are being lovingly restored by a gracious God. Unless our message includes the healing of shame, we will never be able to proclaim a message of complete renewal, rescue, redemption and reconciliation. 

Those are my thoughts....

I did have time to watch the video on the Fall. I was especially curious because the lecture on Rescue, Redemption and Renewal did not talk about shame which plays a central role in the Biblical narrative of the Fall. Peter, the speaker, says that the first emotion Adam and Eve experience is fear. Adam's fear is mentioned in Genesis 3:10 when he tells God why he hid from God. However, the emotion of shame is mentioned in Genesis 3:7. 

The speaker addresses shame and guilt when he notes that God saw their guilt and shame and sewed clothes out of animals to cover their nakedness. Interestingly, Adam and Eve's attempt to cover their shame by making clothes out of plant material failed to address their shame. I think there could be another whole discussion on how do people today cover their shame or perhaps have no shame at all.

I did find the speakers' encouragement to talk to students about how they experience idolatry in their lives or the lives of people around them something that I do talk to people about because I think we are very idolatrous nation. (Is anyone else besides me bothered by the cross and the American flag in the same worship space?) 

Overall I found this a very engaging lecture.

Ron, thanks very much for sharing your insightful comments, both on this video content and your own thoughts about the importance of including shalom and shame as elements of the Christian worldview. I agree that shalom is the "big picture" approach and has a much more community than individual centered perspective (although it includes each person, obviously). Glad to see, too, the class you took introduced some other crucial worldviewish thinkers that advocate this more full-orbed understanding. Often (it seems to me) that many Christians lack this wider-lens view of God's ultimate "renewal" plan, especially those of us in the West--perhaps resulting from excess individualism (something I continue to struggle with) with little concern for God's fuller Kingdom work throughout the world (and universe). 

Great points about shame and guilt, too. I really appreciated your approach and understanding/explanation of the term, beginning with Adam and Eve; clearly, this is such a powerful story to share with our students to connect . . . and to provide them with the way forward as well. I love Romans 1:16, in that Paul is NOT ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God's for salvation; there is debate as to whether this his is a psychological or forensic usage, but whatever the case, it reminds us that God's power and love go far beyond our shame (and guilt) as we trust Christ, his removing our guilt and shame through the cross! Hallelujah!!

For the fourth (and final) week of our Discussion Forum, beginning August 20, please click the links below to view the CWV-101FS videos, and then respond in the forum (if desired) to one or more of the prompts below:

Topics: The Kingdom of God & The Christian Life

• Jesus' message of the Kingdom of God involved a call and an invitation to a different life.  What does this involve?

• The wisdom of God’s kingdom is often perceived as foolishness to the world. Why is that?

• In the Bible, what did Jesus call those who followed him and patterned their lives after his life? 

• Many think of faith as affirming, but Christian faith also requires the denial of something if one is to truly follow Jesus. What does Jesus call his followers to deny?