Worldview

1. Worldview A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by a group which help them interpret their life and world.

2. World View

3. Main Focus • Focus on God • Man dependent on God • Focus on Heaven • Focus on Transcendence • Myth and Belief central to life • Religion savior of humanity

4. Beliefs About God • Almighty Creator • A Person not an impersonal force • Is One though Three persons in one • Intervenes in human history and human life

5. Cosmology Medieval Cosmology Earth: center of the universe; planets revolve Man: Highpoint of Creation • Universe: Finite, the stars, planets seen by the Naked Eye • Universe fixed by will of God

6. Man’s Place in Universe • Humanity is fallen and needs God’s Grace • Pious surrender to God/Church -Divine Providence -God chooses what class you are born in: “ Make the best of it” • Man destiny is Heaven

7. Sources of Knowledge and Truth Divine Revelation Human Knowledge Through use of right reason Limited knowledge through observing material world • Church Teaching, Bible and Tradition

8. Moral Truth There are Moral Truths that are absolute, objective, universal These truths are knowable through reason and revelation - Through reason we can know and understand human nature and how humans should act - Through revelation we can know the fullness of our calling as human beings and know that we are called to be holy like Jesus

9. Modern Worldview

10. Modern World View • Focus on Man • Focus on understanding and living in this world • Focus on Empirical (what we can see and measure) • Reason and Fact -> central to life • Science -> savior of humanity

11. View of God • Not a person but a force that created world • Created world with an order (nature) • Does not intervene into human history or natural history • Essentially Deism

12. Modern Cosmology °Man: Important because of reasoning and ability to conquer nature. °Universe: Much Bigger than we could have imagined °Earth: one of many planets that revolve around the sun; gravity; inertia; Physical Laws of Nature

13. Understanding Man and Humanity’s Place in Universe • Man Independent, Master of Nature • Man exercising his will as an autonomous individual • Each person has great potential • Humanity is advancing through science = secular faith

14. Where Humanity Finds Knowledge • Certain knowledge is possible through science. • Knowledge through use of reason also possible. • Observe the nature of man and discover the laws that govern man. • Revealed truths are only superstitions

15. Moral Truths • Moral truths are revealed through nature • Natural law is the basis of moral law • Observe the nature of man and discover the laws that govern man.

16. Role of Science in Human Life • Science is certain knowledge • Science helps humanity control nature and increase standard’s of living • Science is elevated to a kind of religion “at the expense of human truth”

17. Role of the Church • After the Reformation and the Wars of religion intellectuals want to make sure there is a separation of church and state. • Religion is a private activity

18. Art and Education • Art has as its purpose portraying the beauty of nature and humanity as realistically as possible • Education is for the advancement of the individual person (liberal education)

19. Postmodern Worldview • Main Focus • Individual Freedom • Individual Expression • Scientific knowledge • Materialism (no spiritual side of reality) • This life and living it to the full, focus on pleasure

20. Beliefs About God & Religion • God does not exist • Religious beliefs are just the creation of different cultures (Hegel) • Religion simply the “opiate of the Masses” (Marx)

21. Understanding of the Physical Universe • Infinite • Earth is just a very small planet in one of infinite galaxies • All of creation occurred over billions of years by an undirected process

22. Understanding of Man and His Place in the Universe • Man is the result of undirected evolutionary processes • Man is just the most evolved mammal • Man was created without purpose • Man has no soul • No Free Will • Man has no eternal destiny

23. Where Man Finds Knowledge & Beliefs About Moral Truth Only certain knowledge is from science All moral truth is relative to the particular person, circumstances, time in history, particular culture Objective moral truth that is absolutely true does not exist Some skepticism about our ability to know what is reality

24. Place of Science in Society If scientifically possible it should be done Yet we fear science

25. Role of Church and Religion Church is no longer relevant to modern man Any public expression of religion should be banned Faith is only for the uneducated and unsophisticated

26. Purpose of Art and Education • Art: to express the artist’s feelings and thoughts • Education: to reach individual potential and live a comfortable life • The goal of a liberal education replaced with a “practical” education

27. New World View Foundation • Man is self conscious and autonomous • Science is the new faith • No objective authority- but individual in attaining certain knowledge using reason and observation

28. Humanism & the Renaissance • With a focus on the great achievements of the Greco-Roman culture and the literature of that culture which emphasized the potential of the individual, the hero------a similar focus on each person’s potential in this life occurs in this period. • Example: Artist were competing with each other to outdo the others achievements.

29. Luther and Humanism • Power and Independence of the Individual - Salvation is not through Church and her sacraments but through the individual’s faith alone -Divine Truth is not through the Church but through the Individuals understanding the Bible alone with help of God’s grace

30. Wars of Religion 1. Thirty Years War (1618-1648): • Crisis-crossed Europe • Large armies of mercenaries pillaged countryside • Catholic vs. Protestant • 6 million died 2. Witch Hunts: hunts in the name of religion

31. Galileo 3. Galileo reception in Rome • “I have been received and shown favor by many illustrious cardinals, prelates, and princes of the city.” (1611) • Pope Urban VIII spoke of Galileo as a man, “whose fame shines in the sky and is spread over the whole world.”

32. Galileo

33. Galileo • Galileo’s ideas were accepted by many intellectuals, but there was growing skepticism • The Old World Order (medieval world view) was accepted along with new humanistic knowledge • Now with Church opposing Galileo, many began to question Church/Theology/Bible as source of certain truth • But no new source to replace old and create new world view • Rationalism and Empiricism are new approaches

34. Intellectual Response • Organized religion/ Religious passion is dangerous for society, for the human race • God does not command man to kill in his name- that is the invention of kings and priests • Reason, not Faith, is what mankind should rely on • Faith should remain private, not public • Church and State are separate • Religious tolerance and Pluralism

35. Some Vocab… • Rationalism: man highest ultimate intelligence -secular humanism • Empiricism: material world only reality -secular materialism

36. Medieval Worldview • Primitive • Superstitious • Unscientific • Oppressive

37. Galileo • “If there were a real proof that the sun is in the center of the universe, that the Earth is in the third heaven, and that the Sun does not go round the Earth but the Earth round the Sun, then we should have to proceed with great circumspection in explaining passages of Scripture which appear to teach the contrary, and rather admit that we did not understand them then declare and opinion to be false which is proved to be true. But as for myself, I shall not believe that there are such proofs until they are shown to me.” Cardinal Bellarmine