Recently I read a summary written by Dr. Raymond McHenry of an article that originally appeared in New York Times.com on August 26, 2021. The article detailed an interesting turn of events which occurred at Harvard University during the summer of this year. The article tells of the elevation of Greg Epstein to the position of president of the Harvard Chaplains Organization. What makes his selection so unusual? In a university that was started primarily to educate clergy, that was named after Puritan pastor John Harvard, Epstein was unanimously selected to lead this group of chaplains in their work even though he is an avowed atheist. Whereas I delegate this news to the category of “should anything that happens today surprise us”, what intrigued me most was the comment Epstein made upon taking the reins of leadership of the organization.
He said, “We don’t look to a god for answers. We are each other’s answers.”
When Greg Epstein spoke those words of personal conviction, he revealed at least a portion of his personal worldview. By worldview, I mean the lens through which a person interprets the events in his life and those in the world at large. From seeing and interpreting life through that particular lens, a person thereby draws conclusions, makes decisions, and takes actions which he believes, or at least hopes, will help him/her navigate life as successfully as possible. For example, based on his statement above, my conclusion is that Epstein’s worldview allows no room for any “god” – most especially the existence and need for the Triune God of Christianity.
Interestingly, in sharing this part of his worldview Epstein shows himself to be a man of great faith. His worldview requires great faith because it is built upon belief in the absolute dependability and competency of himself and others of his choosing to collectively provide all the knowledge, wisdom, insight, and discernment necessary to provide the answers to handle life successfully. More importantly, his worldview puts in his and his companions’ hands, responsibility for asking and answering life’s most important questions. That’s quite a conviction to put one’s faith in, considering mankind’s track record over the years for making unwise decisions.
Speaking of life’s most important questions that help develop our worldviews, what do you consider them to be? The best answer I’ve ever come across are the four questions put forth by Greg Koukl in his book, The Story of Reality – How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything That Happens in Between. He says every worldview, knowingly or not, seeks to answer these four questions:
- Why are we here?
- Why is the world so broken?
- How does this brokenness get fixed?
- How will things turn out in the end?
My recommendation regarding the development of our worldview is that we hand over responsibility for answering those four life questions to not just “a god” (in the words of Greg Epstein), but to the Triune God of Christianity:
- the One who created man and gave him a purpose,
- the One who was with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when the world broke,
- the One who orchestrated how the brokenness would get fixed through the death and resurrection of Jesus His Son,
- and the One who has a plan in place for how everything will turn out in the end when His Son comes back to earth to claim His followers and ultimately to defeat His archenemy Satan.
I join with the Apostle Paul in declaring, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it may be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36 NASB)
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