1

A Christian Worldview
and the
Worldview of August Comte
Scriptural Foundation

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer

to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve
what od!s will is"" his good, pleasing and
perfect will.
Worldview Definition
1. A world view is a set of presuppositions #or
assumptions$ which we hold #consciously or
subconsciously$ about the basic ma%eup of our world.
&. 'veryone has a world view, whether he or she can
e(plain it or not.
). *t can be li%ened to a pair of glasses through which one
views the world.
+. *t is important to have the right prescription, or reality
will be distorted.
,. -umanity in the modem age are faced with a
supermar%et of world views. all of them claim to
represent reality.
Why Is A Worldview
Important?
1.The answer is, /*t sets the boundaries within
which people live their lives.0
&.1ur worldview draws a line around our lives
and we live within those boundaries.
).We recogni2e that there are places outside of
the boundaries, and that some people do
operate there. 3ut that space is understood
to be out of bounds and anyone operating
there is believed to be living illegitimately.
Importance of a Road ap

*mportance of a Worldview
!eed Road ap for "ife
1.Worldview 4ife5s 6oad 7ap
&.1ur worldview determines our8
9
Decisions
9
1ur life goals
9
What we thin% will ma%e us happy
9
-ow we spend our money
9
-ow we treat others
What is y Worldview?
#veryone already has $Worldview%

:ic%ed up from;
9
:arents
9
<riends = >eighbors
9
?chool
9
T@, 7ovies, 7usic,
3oo%s = 7aga2ines
&idden Worldviews

All around us8

9
'anon8 /Image is everything.0

*mage is more important than substance

9
Sprite8 /Thirst is everything. Obey your thirst0

<ollow after your desires.

9
(ol)swa*en8 /Jaded is overrated. Dare to be
happy.0

7aterial possessions can bring happiness

!eed to 'onsider

All Worldviews are not eAual

Bust li%e there are goodCbad road maps;

;there are8
9
ood Worldview vs. 3ad Worldview
9
Accurate Worldview vs. *naccurate
Worldview
+uestions of "ife

<our /3ig0 Duestions of 4ife

9
Where did * come fromE
9
Why is the world such a messE
9
*s there a solutionE
9
What is my life5s purposeE

Worldview affects how you answer these

Auestions
Worldview atters,
/* am absolutely convinced
that the gas chambers of
Auschwit2, Treblin%a, and
7aidane% were ultimately
prepared not in some ministry
or other in 3erlin, but rather at
the des)s and in lecture
halls of nihilistic scientists
and philosophers.0
F6avi Gacharias, Can Man Live without God?, p.&,H
*deas
ConseAuences
@i%tor <ran%l
#1IJ,"1IIK$
9 -olocaust survivor
of Auschwit2
concentration camp
!ihilistic Worldview

!ihilism8 A worldview that denies any obLective

ground of truth and especially of moral truths

-itler5s boast8 /I reed Germany rom the stupid and

degrading a!!a"ies o "ons"ien"e and mora!ity #.
$e wi!! train young peop!e beore whom the wor!d
wi!! tremb!e. I want young peop!e "apab!e o vio!en"e
% imperious &dominant', re!ent!ess and "rue!.0
F6avi Gacharias, Can Man Live without God?, p.&)H
any Worldviews

Atheism

'(istentialism

-edonism

-umanism

7aterialism

>ihilism

:antheism

:olytheism

:ostmodernism

:ragmatism

?ocialism

Theism
#-amples of Worldviews

!aturalism " /The Cosmos is a!! that is or ever was

or ever wi!! be.0 #Carl ?agan, astronomer$

#-istentialism. /it is meaning!ess that we are born(

it is meaning!ess that we die.0 9 #Bean :aul ?artre,
author$

&edonism. /$hoever dies with the most toys wins0"

Anonymous
Contradi"ting wor!dviews cannot a!! be "orre"t)
"aw of /hree 0hases

3ased on his discussions with -enri de ?aint"

?imon, Comte developed his theory of a
universal law, which was at wor% in all
societies and sciences, and through which
progress is inevitable.

-e called this the 4aw of Three :hases.

"aw of /hree 0hases

The Theological
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The pre"'nlightenment phase in which
humanity5s place in society was referenced
to od or nature, in which the divine will
subsumed human rights, and humanity
blindly believed in whatever they were
taught by their ancestors.
"aw of /hree 0hases

The Metaphysical
9
The post"'nlightenment humanist phase,
referenced to e(planations by impersonal
abstract thought, and where the universal
rights of humanity are most important.
"aw of /hree 0hases

The Positive
9
The final scientific stage in which the search
for absolute %nowledge is abandoned,
scientific e(planation is based on
observation, e(periment and comparison.
Ronald &1 !ash 2
Worldviews

Deity

7etaphyics

'pistemology

'thics

Anthropology
Deity " 3eliefs About od

What does your worldview say about

odE

Does od e(istE

*s there one odE 7any godsE

What is od5s natureE :ersonal and

lovingE An impersonal forceE

>1T'8 Whatever your belief about the

concept we call od, it will shape your
total worldview.
7etaphyics " 3eliefs
Concerning Mltimate 6eality

*s the universe eternal or did it have a

beginningE

Was it created by an almighty, transcendent

od who continues to sustain it, or was it a
product of mere chanceE

*s the natural world all there isE

*s there design and purpose in the universe,

or is it a product of chaos and chanceE

Are supernatural events possibleE

Do spirit beings e(istE

'pistemology "
3eliefs About Nnowledge

*s %nowledge about the world possibleE

*s sense e(perience reliableE

What is the place of reason in discovering

%nowledgeE

Can we %now odE

*s truth absolute or relativeE

Can faith and reason coe(istE

>1T'8 Oour views about how one gains

%nowledge are crucial to your development
of a coherent worldview.
'thics "
3eliefs About 6ight = Wrong

What is the basis upon which one determines

whether a certain act is morally right or wrongE

*s morality a cultural factor or a universal valueE

Are moral values obLective or subLectiveE

Are we accountable for our actionsE

>1T'8 -ow you answer these Auestions will

reveal your ethical beliefs and inform your
worldview.
Anthropology "
3eliefs About -uman >ature

Are humans merely physical beings and the

product of evolutionary processes, or are
they comple(, created beings possessing
body, soul, and spiritE

Are they determined or freeE

*s this life all there isE

Do humans survive after deathE

Will they spend eternity in heaven or hellE

What is the human nature li%eE

What is the PvalueP of human lifeE

Comte and Deity

At the age of fourteen he declared he had

/naturally ceased believing in od0 and had
already /gone through all the essential stages
of the revolutionary spirit.0

-is reLection of both the Catholicism and

royalism of his parents resulted in a difficult
relationship with his family throughout his life.
Comte and Deity

-owever, when one loo%s at the ideas of

the mature Comte it is clear that he was
more influenced by his upbringing than he
would have cared to admit 9 his aim to
impose order through his -igh Church of
science #with him at the head$ has e(plicit
lin%s to both his Catholic bac%ground and
his father5s character and is a far cry from
the hatred he e(pressed for the dictatorial
new 'mperor >apoleon in his youth.
Comte and Deity

Comte5s :ositivism can be considered as a

humanist philosophy in that it placed humanity
at the centre of its concerns, and of course
had no place for od.

-owever, it could have been further from

'nlightenment humanism, even though that
had been his start point. -e reLected
democracy and freedom of the individual in
favour of a powerful elite who would rule with
an iron hand.
Comte and Deity

1nly the enlightened few would have any say

in his new society. -is 6eligion of -umanity,
with himself in role of pope, would tell people
what to thin% and how to act. -is proposed
structure for spiritual leadership was so much
li%e that of the Catholic church, that T.-. -u(ley
described his later ideas as QCatholicism minus
Christianity.5

:ositivism ceased to be a philosophy and was

transformed into a secular religion, in which the
worship of humanity supplanted that of the
Christian od.
Comte and 7etaphyics

-e saw the scientific method as replacing

7etaphysics and theology in the history of
thought, and believed that 7etaphysics
should be replaced by a hierarchy of
sciences, from mathematics at the base to
sociology at the top.
Comte and 'pistemology

Comte!s main legacy is his theory of :ositivism,

the idea that the only authentic %nowledge is
scientific %nowledge, and that such %nowledge
can only come from positive affirmation of
theories through strict scientific method.

Throughout the later wor%s, Comte continued to

maintain that the scientific method was the best
tool in the search for answers about all areas of
%nowledge, but increasingly emphasi2ed that
morality should be humanity5s central concern in
continuing to progress.
Comte and 'thics

<or Comte, the goal of :ositivism had always

been moral order and the reformation of the
social order it would bring, rather than
material advances or affluence.

Comte!s ethical doctrine usually receives less

attention, but he summed it up in the phrase8
P4ive for othersP.
Comte and 'thics

-e was one of the better %nown proponents of

Altruism, a term he coined #or at least
populari2ed$ himself, and he believed that
individuals had a moral obligation of to serve
others and place their interests above one!s
own.

-e opposed the idea of individual rights, on

the grounds that they were not consistent with
this ethical obligation.
Comte and Anthropology

Throughout his wor%ing life there was a sole primary

concern, and a single overarching principle, which
governed his life and thought, that is, the concern with
resolving the social, political and moral problems
brought on by the <rench 6evolution, and the
unification of theory and practice, namely, the practical
aim of moral, social and political reorgani2ation. A man
of his word, this principle was not merely a frame for
this thought, but also a rule for his actions8 even as a
student he could neither conceive, nor approve of a
scientific wor% that had no useful goal for humanity.
Comte and Anthropology

Control over ideas would be an essential

element of the state. Thus education would
be a %ey tool, helping to lin% theory and
practice, and teaching people to %now their
place in the social order.

-e came to believe that the ultimate goal of

humanity was to learn to worship itself. To
that end he established the universal religion
of humanity and declared himself its high
priest.
),
/he 3ood in
'ompte4s Worldview

Saint Au*ustine
9
-is use of the philosophy of :lato.

/homas A5uinas
9
-is use of the philosophy of Aristotle.