on worldviews (III)

Underneath the over-arching stories provided by worldviews are the worldview’s basic beliefs and aims. These can be considered the “core essentials” of the worldview, the basic beliefs which all adherents cling to. Branching out from these are subsequent beliefs and intentions about reality, and these branch off in various directions, into consequent beliefs and intentions, encompassing the variety of differing opinions and beliefs held by those within the worldview. Most debates and discussions within a worldview takes place at the level of consequent beliefs, the shared basic beliefs serving as an anchor keeping the discussion going in the right direction. 

This all seems very complicated, but it’s actually quite simple. An example: within Christianity, there is the Basic Belief that God cares deeply about his fallen creation. Subsequently, there is the belief that God is personal and active within the world because of his care for the world. However, within Christianity there are differing opinions regarding how God’s care is manifest. These are consequent beliefs, shading off from the cascading beliefs originating from the basic belief. One Christian may be more of a stoic regarding God’s involvement in the world, while another might believe that God is active in every mundane detail. Both agree that God cares and is active in the world, but they disagree about the extent to which God is actually involved. Both are adherents to the worldview and enjoy the bond of shared belief, but at the same time they’re able to hold their own opinions regarding that involvement without sacrificing membership in the worldview. When it comes to critiquing a worldview, oftentimes the critiques focusing on consequent beliefs rather than basic beliefs, and by doing so the worldview itself isn’t actually critiqued but, rather, a version of it comes under fire. The aim in The Quest is to bring the Basic Beliefs under scrutiny, to determine whether or not these beliefs are justifiable, whether or not they make sense of the data in a simple way and shed light on issues outside immediate concern.