Each person has a worldview, a framework for interpreting the world. At some level, worldviews contain circular reasoning, and they rest on presuppositions which are unprovable. Christians take their presuppositions from the Bible, whereas humanist presuppositions are based on human imagination and reasoning. There are no neutral worldviews; each will contradict others in some ways.
The two worldviews which we examined, Christianity and secular humanism, each have an origins account. Christianity posits a Creator God and acceptance of the description of creation in Genesis. Secular humanism posits natural forces and discounts the need for a God, and even the existence of God. Personal factors ultimately determine which worldview individual people will subscribe to. People from similar cultures and almost identical upbringings could, and do, hold to diametrically opposed worldviews. These worldviews are in opposition, and some participants in the origins debate view the other side with deep suspicion. One man’s truth is another man’s propaganda.
In this book we will uphold the principles of the Christian worldview by taking many of our presuppositions from the Bible and evaluating evidence in light of those presuppositions.
An important question that arises in the origins debate centers around the plethora of religious origins accounts, which secular humanists collectively term “creation myths”. Why, they ask, should any one of these creation myths be preferred over the others? In particular, why should the Genesis account be given any special credence? We turn to this important question in the next chapter.
References
Guzman-McMillan, G. (2011). Angel in the Rubble. Crows Nest NSW: Inspired Living, Allen & Unwin.
Kurtz, P. (1998, Spring). Darwin Re-Crucified—why are so many afraid of naturalism? Free Inquiry, pp. 15–17.
Kurtz, P., & Wilson, E. H. (1973). Humanist Manifesto II. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto2/
Masci, D. (2019, February 11). For Darwin Day, 6 facts about the evolution debate. Retrieved December 7, 2023, from pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/11/darwin-day/
Nagel, T. (2012). Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shaw, B. (1912). Preface to Androcles and the Lion: On the Prospects of Christianity. Retrieved September 8, 2025, from gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4004/pg4004-images.html.
Sommer, J. C. (2012, March 9). Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject The Bible. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/reasons-humanists-reject-bible/
Wieland, C. (1991, June 4). Swaying in the breeze—Editorial. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from creation.com/swaying-in-the-breeze