Post Author: Bill Pratt
In part 1 I introduced eight questions that every worldview should answer. These eight questions are as follows:
- What is ultimate reality?
- Where did the world around us come from and what is its nature?
- What are human beings and where did they come from?
- Why do humans suffer?
- Is there a way for humans to be saved from suffering?
- How do I know right from wrong?
- What is the meaning or purpose of my life?
- What happens to me when I die?
Christianity offers profound and, what’s even more important, true answers to these questions. The first four answers were provided in part 1, so now we will look at the answers to the final four questions.
Question 5: Is there a way for humans to be saved from suffering?
Christians believe that the only way humans can be ultimately saved from suffering is to be reconciled with God. This reconciliation was made possible by the death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Once a person trusts Christ for their salvation, suffering in this life becomes bearable and pregnant with meaning, for the Son of God is with us in our suffering and promises to bring good out of it.
Question 6: How do I know right from wrong?
Christians believe that there exists an objective moral law that is based on the nature of God. God reveals his perfect moral nature both through moral commands which he has communicated in the Bible, and through a common moral conscience which God has given all humans.
Question 7: What is the meaning or purpose of my life?
Christians believe that the purpose of life is to do the will of God and to enjoy God forever. One of the beauties of Christianity is that God has given us great leeway to pursue myriad interests and passions in this life, as long as we always keep Him front and center in our lives.
Question 8: What happens to me when I die?
Christians believe that there is an afterlife for every human. The afterlife can be spent either in the presence of God forever or separated from God forever. God respects human freedom such that He does not force anyone to spend an eternity with Him. Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection provides the only means for any human to spend eternity with God. Those who reject Jesus’ sacrifice for humanity will forever be separated from God. Those who trust in Jesus’ sacrifice will spend a blissful eternity with the ultimate source of all that is good and the only being who can fulfill all human desires, God.
The Christian answers to these eight questions are unique among all the world’s religions and philosophies. It is important to note that we don’t hold the Christian worldview because it works, or because it feels good, or because it’s emotionally satisfying, but because we think it is true. We think that the Christian worldview most accurately describes reality the way it really is.
