Many people believe that when Christians confront other worldviews and attempt to speak to such “worldly” disciplines as politics, economics, biology, and law, they are overstepping their bounds. “Mind your own business,” we are told. Jesus taught His followers, “you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19).

How, then, can the Christian justify his claim to a worldview that speaks to every facet of life? Shouldn’t he stick to spiritual matters and allow non-Christians to concentrate on the practical matters of running the world?

In short, isn’t there a difference between the secular and the sacred?

Not according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who says we should not distinguish between the two: “There are not two realities, but only one reality, and that is the reality of God, which has become manifest in Christ in the reality of the world.”1

From the Biblical Christian perspective, the ten disciplines addressed in Understanding the Times  reflect various aspects of God and His creative or redemptive order. God created mankind with theological, philosophical, ethical, biological, etc. dimensions. We live and move and have our being (our very essence and existence) within and about these categories. Why? Because that is the way God created us.

Such being the case, these categories are, from the Christian perspective, sacred and not secular. They are sacred because they are imprinted in the creative order. Both the early record of Genesis and the life of Jesus Christ reflect this truth.

For example, Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”—is value-laden with theological and philosophical ramifications. Genesis 2:9—“knowledge of good and evil”—contains ethical ramifications; Genesis 1:21—“after their kind”—biological; Genesis 2:7—“a living soul”—psychological; Genesis 1:28—“be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth”—sociological and ecological; Genesis 3:11—“I commanded thee”—legal; Genesis 9:6—“whoso sheddeth man’s blood”—political and legal; Genesis 1:29—“it shall be for food”—economic; Genesis 3:15—“enmity between thee and the woman”—historical. All ten disciplines are addressed in just the first few chapters of the Bible because they manifest and accent certain aspects of the creative order.

Further, God manifests Himself in the form of Christ in such a way as to underline the significance of each discipline. In theology, for example, Jesus Christ is “the fullness of the Godhead” (Colossians 2:9); in philosophy, Christ is the Logos of God (John 1:1); in ethics, Christ is “the true light” (John 1:9, 3:19-20); in biology, Christ is “the life” (John 1:4, 11:25; Colossians 1:16); in psychology, Christ is “Savior” (Luke 1:46-47; Titus 2:13); in sociology, Christ is “Son” (Luke 1:30-31; Isaiah 9:6); in law, Christ is lawgiver (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:7); in politics, Christ is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:33); in economics, Christ is Owner of all things (Psalm 24:1; 50:10-12; 1 Corinthians 10:26); and in history, Christ is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8).

The integration of these various categories into society has come to be known as Western Civilization.

• Summit Ministries
  For more information on Summit Ministries and worldview training, visit their Web site.
• Home-Based Education
  For more articles on worldview training and extensive information on homeschooling, visit the Home-Based Education Channel of Christianity.com.



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