This is not your average book on worldviews. They usually have chapters on various schools of philosophy and theology with “-ism” at the end of the title. This is however a collection of cultural stories that affect our view of the world around us, probably without our even realizing it.
- Worldviews over Coffee at Starbucks
- Individualism: I Am the Center of the Universe
- Consumerism: I Am What I Own
- Nationalism: My Nation, Under God
- Moral Relativism: The Absolute Truth About Relativism and Something Like Relativism
- Scientific Naturalism: Only Matter Matters
- The New Age: Are We Gods or Are We God’s?
- Postmodern Tribalism: My Tribe/My Worldview
- Salvation by Therapy: Not as Good as It Gets
- The Contours of a Christian Worldview
- Developing a Christian Worldview
Yes there are “-isms” but they aren’t the usual ones you see in most worldview books, i.e. monotheism, polytheism, existentialism, etc.
As I read it I realized that I have allowed some different aspects of each of these to contribute to how I view the world and the people in it. That being said, for the last few years I have been making a concerted effort to bring my understanding of the world into a proper biblical perspective. This was beneficial because it helped me to see ways in which the world around us, especially here in America, propagates the worldviews above by TV shows, magazines, movies, newspapers, music and even our friends or enemies, and I might be influenced by them without even knowing it unless I’m aware of what to look for and how to respond to it. Now I will be able to recognize more quickly when one of these ideologies it being promoted and how to deal with it.
It is definitely worth reading. A second resource that will help if you want a good summary of the classic worldviews is a pamphlet put out by Rose Publishing called “Worldviews Comparison: compare 8 Popular Worldviews“.
Wilkens, Steve, and Mark L. Sanford. Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives. IVP Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-8308-3854-7
McFarland, Alex. Worldviews Comparison: Compare 8 Popular Worldviews. Rose Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-59636-149-2
