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    Is Reality Secular?: Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews
    Unavailable
    Is Reality Secular?: Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews
    Unavailable
    Is Reality Secular?: Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews
    Ebook518 pages5 hours

    Is Reality Secular?: Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews

    By Mary Poplin and Dallas Willard

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    What is the nature of reality? At the root of our society's deepest political and cultural divisions are the conflicting principles of four global worldviews. While each of us holds to some version of one of these worldviews, we are often unconscious of their differences as well as their underlying assumptions. Mary Poplin argues that the ultimate test of a worldview, philosophy or ideology is whether it corresponds with reality. Since different perspectives conflict with each other, how do we make sense of the differences? And if a worldview system accurately reflects reality, what implications does that have for our thinking and living? In this wide-ranging and perceptive study, Poplin examines four major worldviews: naturalism, humanism, pantheism and Judeo-Christian theism. She explores the fundamental assumptions of each, pressing for limitations. Ultimately she puts each perspective to the test, asking, what if this worldview is true? If reality is secular, that means something for how we orient our lives. But if reality is not best explained by secular perspectives, that would mean something quite different. Consider for yourself what is the fundamental substance of reality.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIVP Books
    Release dateJan 2, 2014
    ISBN9780830871896
    Unavailable
    Is Reality Secular?: Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews
    Author

    Mary Poplin

    Mary Poplin (Ph.D., University of Texas) is a professor of education at Claremont Graduate University in California, where she has served as director of the teacher education program and dean of the School of Educational Studies. Poplin conducts research inside urban classrooms and schools that promote both justice and accountability. She teaches courses on pedagogy, history and philosophy of education, as well as Christian principles related to these areas. She is also a frequent speaker at Veritas Forums and for both Protestant and Catholic retreats across the country.

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    Reviews for Is Reality Secular?

    3.5/5

    8 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A fresh read best when the author is surveying and commenting on the various world views. The task of the author is to evaluate the different world views against "reality" to see which is the most consistent with "reality". The conclusion is that Christianity contains all the truth there is in other world views but goes beyond them to more comprehensive truth. The last section of the book explores the implications of Christianity being true. The book is essentially an apologetic for Christianity. But it takes a fresh approach and is engagingly written. If someone wants an intelligent introduction to the major themes of Christian thought preceded by a good survey of major world views (material naturalism, secular humanism, pantheism) then it's worth a read. I didn't agree with everything the author says (I rarely do!) but it's an interesting approach from someone who has lived on both sides of religion. An enjoyable and informative read that will, perhaps, be most appreciated by intelligent Christians.
    • 5/5
      Well, this book was a trip. Great book, yet Mary Poplin and I definitely do not agree on all matters. I highlighted many passages that Poplin presents as fact but which critical scholarship concludes are otherwise. The book of Daniel wasn’t really written 600 years before Christ. Peter couldn’t possibly have written the book of II Peter. There really are mythical beings in the Bible (Poplar claims there are not). I experienced a wide range of emotions as I read the book: anger, frustration, respect, admiration. Then I gave the book five stars, because it is indeed well-written, intelligent, convincing, accurately reflective of Poplin’s Christian experience … and because she changed my mind in places.I’ve often said that every person should undergo two major overhauls in their belief system during their life, for their own spiritual growth. I look forward with great anticipation to my next spiritual revelation, but I know I’m not ready yet.Poplin was ready. She embraced Jesus hook, line and sinker, to the point where she sometimes sounds naïve. Yet she has clearly located the worldview that works for her. Poplin is surely aware of this odd contrast, with naiveté and intellectual writing side by side, and makes no apology, as she titles her final chapter “What if Christianity were true?”This book is her spiritual journey and studies, comparing four worldviews (material naturalism, secular humanism, pantheism, and monotheism) and concluding that the latter, Christianity in particular, is the higher truth. The fundamental concern here is whether one of these worldviews is actually true. While each worldview contains a partial truth, Christianity supersedes each and carries believers further, opening up deeper revelations. These revelations did not come all at once for Poplin; she reflects on twenty years of following Christ, including a stint in Calcutta with Mother Teresa.Her approach to “proving” Christianity is not normative apologetics. It is measuring the benefits of each worldview in various ways, which is why the book so appealed to me. Which worldview leads to the healthiest morals? Which best fits scientific discovery? Which psychology is most beneficial? In examining such things, Poplin journeys from truth to Truth, a higher level, and concludes that Christianity carries a person far beyond the limited truths of its competitors. Christianity, and the Trinity, encompasses the true and reasonable principles of all three other worldviews and offers even more. We get science without naturalism, humanism without relativity, and the spiritual beyond the impersonal and individual. But the problem in “proving” such claims is that Christianity can only be comprehended in a shallow, textbook way, until it is lived.Here is an example. When Poplin converted to Christianity, she became deeply remorseful over two abortions she had had. Until her conversion, the healthiest option she could come up with to live with herself was to deny her sin, pretending that sin didn’t really exist, moralizing that by aborting she had made the logical, secular decision. After her conversion, she writes “Now I see that the solution to sin—the simple acknowledgement of sin for what it is and seeking God’s forgiveness and cleansing—is one of the most brilliant, hopeful and freeing principles of Judeo-Christianity.” The higher truth: Life is better as a Christian, and our eyes are opened.
    • 2/5
      My best friend gave this book, few months ago. An Easy read –– I was not surprised of the material. I didn't learn anything new from this book. However, I really enjoyed her own personal journey and how she dabbled in various philosophies, sin. Mother Teresa's response to her critics was convicting to me.

      She surveys all the worldview, And I nodded my head, when she pointed out that Christian worldview is inclusive, it encompasses materialism and spiritual world. Meanwhile, others sway over to the extreme. Naturalism would be dogmatic to claim that only thing that exists is matter and universe is devoid of spiritual realm. Yet, many believe otherwise.

      I think Charles Taylor's book on Secularism could be considered a better one.
      I'm awaiting to read it.

      --Deus Vult
      Gottfried