Book Review: What's Your Worldview?

Your worldview, that is, what you believe about the world, matters. James Anderson says:

"Worldviews are like belly buttons. Everyone has one, but we don't talk about them very often" (pg. 12).

"Your worldview shapes and informs your experiences of the world around you. Like a pair of spectacles with colored lenses, it affects what you see and how you see it" (pg. 13).

"What you think about...any...major issue of the day depends on your underlying worldview more than anything else...worldviews play a central and defining role in our lives. They shape what we believe and what we're willing to believe, how we interpret our experiences, how we behave in response to those experiences, and how we relate to others" (pg. 13).

James Anderson has written an interactive and engaging book:

"To help you identify and clarify your worldview.

To encourage you to consider the big questions and to think through some of the implications of various answers.

To help you appreciate that there are important differences between worldviews--and that not all worldviews are created equal!..." (pg. 14)

To accomplish his purposes, Mr. Anderson takes a unique approach. What's Your Worldview? might be the first question he asks, but it isn't the last. Anderson takes a Socratic approach, inviting his reader to a conversation and leading him (or her) to examine the beliefs he (or she) holds by asking 21 questions of his reader. Each of the questions, as well as what Anderson means by them, is expounded on one, short page. Like the old "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" novels, the next page that you read in What's Your Worldview? depends upon how you answer the question posed by Anderson, at which point there is a page-and-a-half explanation of your worldview or another question to answer.

Of What's Your Worldview? Anderson writes:

"... it covers the most prominent and influential worldviews in Western culture today (plus a few more), and it highlights some of the most serious challenges faced by those worldviews. The book doesn't drill down all the way...[and] isn't meant to be the last word on worldviews...Rather, it's meant to be the first word in a fruitful conversation about maters of ultimate importance" (pg 98).

Additionally, Anderson has sought to write a book that helps his reader think critically about worldviews. He encourages his reader to examine the various worldviews (21) presented in the book, comparing them with one's own, noting strengths and weaknesses. I believe Anderson has successfully fulfilled his goals and has written a concise, thought-provoking work that will bless many. It also gives me some food-for-thought as I interact with those who don't share my own worldview.

*Thanks again to Crossway for providing me with a complimentary copy of What's Your Worldview? in exchange for my honest opinion!