What about Worldview? {Studying Ancient Religions}

Last year our family struggled in a spiritual sense as we took our first steps into learning about different world religions.  I wasn’t sure how to balance such discussions; I want my children to know about other religions, but how do we really grasp it when we already have a worldview of our own though which we view all other religion? And… how in the world can we study other worldviews without delving too deep too early and confusing our children? And… how can I help them to understand such things when I understand so little myself?

This does not apply so much to my younger children as it does to our oldest, who has already entered into a stage of logical reasoning and thoughtful questioning. Among many other things, we’ve had (what I consider) advanced studies in apologetics.  We’ve even discussed the Nuremberg Trials as he struggled with the whys of the holocaust.  It was appropriate and timely for us to address this issue of worldview. We all have learned so much from this week-long study (in a hotel room).

The Young Historian’s Introduction to Worldview:  This program comes as a kit which includes a workbook, pre-printed cardstock activity sheets, 3D glasses, pre-cut wrapping papers, and three six-by-six boxes.  Surprisingly, it’s only four lessons long, but the length of each lesson lends itself to being completed over one or two days (or even a week).  Each section includes a lesson on worldview, hands-on activities, literature activities, and a “Table Talk” discussion guide.  Although everyone in our family participated to some extent, this program is recommended for Grades 5-8 (although I learned just as much as – or even more than – my children did!).

“Worldview is the lens through which people see and understand….”  (page 6)  First, we defined worldview using an observation in seeing.  We each took our turns staring at and describing a geodesic picture using different lenses.

We discovered what worldviews have in common by completing a question sort activity.  It never occurred to me that all worldviews answer the same BIG questions.

The rest of the study examined the four basic beliefs of four worldview families using boxes wrapped with different materials that represented the basic beliefs of a worldview family.  In the end, we had a brown box, a shiny box, a woven box with hanger, and a mirrored box.

After wrapping the boxes, we divided the answers to the those same BIG questions, classifying them under:  Naturalism, Pantheism, Monotheism, Polytheism.  These were the eyes, or “lenses,” of each of our boxes.

We then took a look at a summary of each world religion and classified it under its respective worldview family.

[Not the best photos, since we completed this entire study in a hotel room.]

Although this was a highly simplified version of world religion study, it was exactly what we needed as an introduction before we embark on a deeper study of Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism in future months!  It helped us to understand the importance of worldview, how it impacts culture and history, and the importance of our worldview and how it affects all of the important decisions we face in life.  By focusing on the worldview families, we were able to understand so much more about world religion as a whole.  The concrete examples simplified a complex, abstract concept. [We even talked about the pantheism in Star Wars!] In short, this study was a fantastic resource for our family.

A Young Historian’s Introduction to Worldview is written from a neutral standpoint but encourages families to ask and answer questions that help to solidify the family’s beliefs while exposing them to the beliefs of others.

No matter who you are, worldview matters.  
So… what do you believe?

This guide can be purchased from Brimwood Press, or you can purchase it as part of the Conversations Worldview Kit, a nine-month study into worldview.

The items included in the Conversations Worldview Kit aim to build a Christian worldview in students and parents as they approach the topic from different angles. In addition to A Young Historian’s Introduction to Worldview reviewed in this post, Conversations from the Garden teaches worldview using Socratic dialogue to explore the first chapters of Genesis to form a Christian understanding of the world. Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism addresses worldview as an introductory, middle-school-to-high-school version of a college-level religion course in which students are enabled to discover and conclude that Christianity is the true worldview. And finally, Historical Novels for Engaging Thinkers offers (in novel form) four contrasting worldview lived out by non-Christian protagonists. Although these novels are written about the lives of non-Christians, they provide material to practice comparing and contrasting others’ beliefs to Christianity.

As a set, the Conversations Worldview Kit offers an in-depth comparison of Christianity to ancient paganism. Although we are not battling the religions of the ancient world, our culture is indeed saturated with idolatry, and this study prepares students for secular thoughts and arguments against the Bible as it provides knowledge that can protect against a faltering faith.

To read more about the wonderful Brimwood studies we have completed, click here.

We received this product in exchange for a review. Please know that I would not so highly recommend anything I did not feel was worth others’ time, effort, or money.  The opinions expressed herein are my own and have not been influenced by any outside source.  We truly enjoyed this program and will likely purchase other products available from Brimwood Press in the future.  This post contains affiliate links.  To find out why we use affiliate links, I encourage you to read our disclosure policy.  Article originally published October 14, 2013.