Loving God in a World of Options

Teachers:
Dr. Richard A. Knopp

Dr. Paul McAlister

Pine Haven Christian Assembly – Park Rapids, MN

Worldview Camp 2024 offers something more and something different. It’s for students who are serious about strengthening their faith and having fun. This camp will motivate you to love God more and understand why the Christian faith and way of life are different from, and better than, other philosophies and religions. It will help campers “take every thought captive to obey Christ” and “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5).

Did you know:

• 51% of American teens claim to be Christian, but only 8% have beliefs and habits of a committed Christian.
• Only 38% of 18-29 year olds believe in the basic biblical view of God. (This percentage has dropped 26% in the last 30 years.)
• 25% of American teens are “disengaged” from the Bible, meaning that they are skeptical about, or never read, the Bible.
• 20% of non-Christian teens say “science refutes too much of the Bible.”
• By 2050, it is projected that there will be nearly as many Muslims as Christians in the world.
• Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in America, and there are more witches than Presbyterians.

VIDEO CLIPS

• The definition of a “Christian Worldview.” Excerpt from the session on “Loving God With Your Worldview.” [Rich Knopp: I have wrestled with trying to define a  “Christian worldview” for decades. This clip expresses my latest attempt to capture the concept.]
• (More to come.)

SESSION MATERIALS

If you would like session outlines WITH ANSWERS for the blanks, email Dr. Knopp to make a request. Please provide your name and a short description of your setting and how you might use these resources.

• DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS for each lesson.

Wednesday Evening:  “Loving God With Your Worldview” [Rich Knopp]

• This session introduces ideas of “worldview” and “Christian Worldview” in the context of God’s “most important” commandment. It discusses what it means to love God with everything you are and with how you live. 
• “Loving God With Your Worldview“: Outline with blanks.
• Chart: “Layers of a Christian Worldview“
• Chart: “Loving God With Personal Integrity“
• Chart: “Love Your Neighbor“

Thursday AM 1:  “Worldview Conflicts in the Bible” [Rich Knopp]

• This session describes worldview conflicts in the Bible, including ancient creation accounts, God vs. the Serpent (Genesis 1-3), Moses vs. the Egyptians, Elijah vs. False Prophets, and Paul vs. the Greek philosophers. How do we fit in today?
• “Worldview Conflicts in the Bible“: Outline with blanks

Thursday AM 2: “The Christian Worldview” [Rich Knopp]

• This session offers an overview of what is unique about the Christian worldview with its view of God, Jesus, the universe, humanity, ethics, death, salvation, and God’s revelation. It sets the stage for comparing the Christian worldview with non-Christian worldviews.
• “The Christian Worldview“: Outline with blanks

Thursday evening: “Worldview Options Today” [Rich Knopp]

• This session surveys major worldview options by memorably describing their basic beliefs and how to correlate them to simple symbols, daily objects, media examples and biblical connections. This provides a useful tool for detecting different worldviews and their influence in our culture and personal lives. We will cover Christian Theism, Deism, Secular Humanism, Nihilism, Existentialism, Postmodernism, and New Age Pantheism.
• “Worldview Options Today“: Outline with blanks
• Worldview Test
• Worldview Comparison Table

Friday AM1:  “Secular Humanism: A Christian Response” [Rich Knopp]

• This session provides a basic strategy for understanding and responding to Secular Humanism, which is a “optimistic atheism” that uses reason and science to deny God’s existence.
• “Secular Humanism: A Christian Response“: Outline with blanks

Friday AM2:  “Relativism: A Christian Response” [Rich Knopp]

• Several different worldviewhttps://richknopp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Relativism-HO-Blanks-PH24.pdfs exhibit “relativism”–the idea that what is true or false, right or wrong, totally depends on one’s perspective. This session focuses on Postmodernism and presents responses to those who deny or doubt that there is objective truth or morality. 
• “Relativism: A Christian Response“: Outline with blanks

Friday Evening:  “New Age Pantheism: A Christian Response” [Rich Knopp]

• This session offers an overview and Christian response to New Age Pantheism–the notion that everything is One and is “God.” It adopts a kind of “cosmic spirituality.” Its beliefs and practices (e.g., meditation, yoga, reincarnation, karma) are popularly expressed in New Age, Hinduism, Buddhism, and nature religions like Wicca; and they are, unfortunately, often adopted by professing Christians.
• “New Age Pantheism: A Christian Response“: Outline with blanks

Saturday AM1: “The Worldview of Islam” [Rich Knopp]

• This session will examine Islam, one of the largest and fastest growing religions in the world. What are its beliefs and practices? How do they compare to Christianity? How can Christians communicate lovingly and more effectively with Muslims? 
• “The Worldview of Islam“: Outline with blanks

Saturday  AM2:  “Sharing the Christian Worldview with Your World” [Paul McAlister]

• Living a Christian worldview should make us global Christians who want to share their faith. This session emphasizes the gospel as (1) public truth and (2) missionary encounter.

Sat Evening:  “Worldview Questions and Reflections” [Rich Knopp and Paul McAlister]

• The final session offers time for Q&A and for reflecting on the week’s sessions. It includes exercises on detecting and reacting to different worldviews.

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