Against Worldview: Reimagining Christian Formation as Growth in Wisdom
Reframing the lenses of Christian worldview
In Against Worldview: Reimagining Christian Formation as Growth in Wisdom, Simon P. Kennedy challenges the conventions of Christian worldview education and provides a better way.
Although the current concept of Christian worldview appears incontestable, it rests upon shaky philosophical foundations, fails to account for the complexities of how we interact with the world, and may even undermine the curiosity essential for true learning. But rather than shattering the lenses of Christian worldview, Kennedy reframes worldview around wisdom.
A biblical worldview is not downloaded all at once. It is cultivated piece by piece, as we learn about God, his world, and ourselves. Christian education is an organic process of learning to wisely nurture a biblical worldview.
Praise for Against Worldview
In this illuminating and original study, Simon Kennedy demonstrates the inherent limitations of ‘worldview’ as a framework for Christian education. He argues that the biblical concept of ‘wisdom’ provides a richer way of thinking about the difficult, imperfect, communal activity of faithfully apprehending reality in the light of Christ. This is a paradigm-shifting book on the nature of Christian education—by far the best thing I’ve read on the topic.
—Ben Myers, Alphacrucis University College, Sydney
For quite some time, a common view as to the task of Christian education is that, with a Christian worldview in mind, teachers and students are to interpret the subject of their discipline in the light of that worldview. Simon Kennedy argues for the opposite understanding. Rather than beginning with a Christian worldview, the task of Christian education is to achieve a Christian worldview. To this he adds the important point that achieving a Christian worldview requires not just knowledge but wisdom. While deeply immersed in the literature, this book is a fresh, imaginative approach, breaking new ground and compellingly argued.
—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology, Yale University; Senior Research Scholar, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia
- Can Worldview Work?
- How Did We Get Here? The History of Christian Worldview
- How Do We Learn? Education as a Building Project
- What About Sophie? Education as Growing in Wisdom
- When Do We Arrive? Reaching for Reality
- Conclusion: Wisdom and Worldview
- Seven Theses on Christian Worldview
- Title: Against Worldview: Reimagining Christian Formation as Growth in Wisdom
- Author: Simon P. Kennedy
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2024
- Pages: 152
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 5.5x8.5
- ISBN: 9781683597810
Simon P. Kennedy is research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia and a non-resident fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest. He is associate editor of Quadrant magazine and teaches at a variety of institutions, including the Lachlan Macquarie Institute and Queensland Theological College.