worldview n. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world; a set of beliefs that influences a person’s perspective, values and actions.
apologetics n. The branch of theology that deals with divine origin and defense of the Christian faith
Our society right now is experiencing the results of decades of a public education system and higher education system that has taught our children and young adults to look at the world through an atheistic, nihilistic, and socialistic lens. Churches typically have not done a good job of helping young people understand worldviews and how they impact our understanding of what is true, good, and right, so “churched kids” often are just as susceptible as anyone else to the lies that are being taught as truth in our classrooms, on social media, and through the entertainment industry.
I am grateful that my children were somewhat shielded from this in their early years because we homeschooled and I was careful about what they watched and listened to. I was deliberate about teaching my children a biblical Christian worldview, and then in their teenage years adding apologetics, helping them understand how to contrast what the Bible teaches with other worldviews.
I don’t claim to have done this especially well – but I did try, and it was something I knew was important. I’ve come to accept that as parents, we can only do our best with the time, knowledge, and resources we have, and then give it to God. Kind of like a certain group of disciples who had a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish….
We chose to shelter our children when they were young and then give them more access to worldly materials and ideas as they grew in knowledge and wisdom, so that they could learn discernment. While they were under our roof we watched videos, went to seminars and conferences, read books, and held our culture up to the light of Scripture. I hosted a worldview and apologetics class teens where we watched videos and read articles and discussed them together. Those were deep and fruitful discussions.
My children went on to attend state universities and that didn’t leave their faith totally unscathed, but at least they had a foundation of Truth to stand on. There are no guarantees that our efforts will produce certain results, but our job as parents is to faithfully prepare our children as best we can, and then place our trust in God, knowing that each person must make a decision for themselves, whether or not they will follow Christ.
There are many resources that can help us understand and develop our own worldview as well as teach our children. Here are my Top Ten resources for teaching Biblical Christian Worldview to teens and adults!
- 1.The Truth Project – a unique Christian worldview curricuulm from Focus on the Family, designed for small groups or individuals to use at home; it explores the great themes of life from a Biblical perspective. The themes include Veritology/Truth, Philosophy & Ethics, Anthropology, Science, History, Sociology, Law, the State, Labor, Family & Community. Hosted by Del Tackett, the series features commentary from a variety of theologians and scholars, including R.C. Sproul, Oz Guinness, Ravi Zacharias, and Gordon Pennington. While it was too dry and deep for my middle schooler, my high schoolers got a lot out of it, especially as we discussed the videos immediately after viewing.
2. TrueU – from the creator’s of The Truth Project, TrueU is a video apologetics course geared towards teens, hosted by Dr. Stephen Meyer. Part 1 is “Does God Exist?”, Part 2 is “Is the Bible Reliable?”, Part 3 is “Who is Jesus?”
3. Summit Ministries This is another source for a variety of resources – videos, articles, podcasts, camps – that you can use to help your teens build a strong Christian worldview. We watched several lectures from the Summit Lecture Series that went along with topics we were discussing, and found them interesting and throught-provoking.
4. Impact 360 – the goal of Impact 360 Institute and its various programs is to transform communities with the message of Jesus Christ by equipping young adults to become Christ-centered servant leaders. We used the Explore Worldview course.
5. Worldview Academy – “Worldview Academy is a non-denominational organization dedicated to helping Christians think and live in accord with a biblical worldview so that they will serve Christ and lead the culture.” Two of my children had the opportunity of attending a week of Worldview Academy camp during their high school years, and were greatly influenced by the experience. Worldview Academy offers week-long camps in a number of different states, and now also offers a virtual camp as well.
6. For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles This is an engaging and quirky 7-part film series that tackles some big questions, mainly “What is our salvation for?”. It is all about discovering our purpose in life, and how God’s purposes are woven throughout God’s economy of all things – family, work, art, government, education, etc. Great for teens and adults, and definitely one that invites long and deep conversation.
7. WORLD Magazine My teens and I loved WORLD Magazine, a biweekly Christian news magazine along the lines of TIME or Newsweek, and my younger kids enjoyed the children’s versions. These were great springboards for current events discussions.
8. The Colson Center for Christian Worldview The goal of this ministry is to equip Christians to live out their faith with courage and conviction in the midst of the culture in which God has placed us. We utlitized podcasts, articles, and DVD’s from this organization, including “Doing the Right Thing: Making Moral Choices in a World Full of Options”.
9. How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig: And Other Ways You’ve Been Brainwashed by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay ; This is an oldie but goodie, in which the author presents different worldviews through conversations with visitors and residents of her father’s L’Abri ministry in Switzerland.
10. Understanding the Times by Jeff Myers and David Noebel. This is a discussion-based, digital curriculum that could extend over several years, covering Christian apologetics, comparative worldviews, and social engagement.
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Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ve found something helpful here.
Love and peace.
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Great list, Beth! This is indeed an essential element for any homeschool … for every family, in fact.