Worldview as Worship: The Dynamics of a Transformative Christian Education

The goal of many evangelical educators is to facilitate biblical thinking and the worldview transformation of their students. Yet aside from upholding a set of moral behaviors or maintaining positions on issues perceived to be Christian the goals and aspirations of most evangelical young people differ little from their unbelieving peers. As George Barna has noted We have a generation coming up that . . . isnt looking at Christianity to answer spiritual concerns . . . We either change or we lose them. Worldview as Worship contends that the approach taken by most evangelical educators to the issue of worldview transformation has neglected to address two fundamental components of worldviews. First that our initial worldviews are not philosophical systems but rather faith dispositions and that worldview transformation cannot simply present the biblical worldview as a more rational or logical system but must address issues of the heart as well as the mind. Second unlike philosophies that are individual worldviews are communal and are learned and transformed within the context of community practice. Appealing to Pauls teaching in Romans 12:1-2 Worldview as Worship approaches the renewing of your mind as the result of the believers presentation of themselves as a holy sacrifice . . . which is your spiritual service of worship. The book advocates an approach to worldview transformation that focuses on believers as apprentices rather than simply as students--an approach that holds true to the biblical model of discipleship. As a result worldview transformation works best when the application of faith to the issues of learning and life are modeled by the faith community and where students are given the opportunity to put faith into practice. If you are a Christian educator passionate about seeing your students lives transformed this book is a must read. Baumann suggests that true worldview transformation is the result of living in community and cooperation supported by an apprenticeship model of teaching and learning. This book is as relevant for Christian educators in P-12 as for faculty in colleges and universities. -Rhoda C. Sommers Dean School of Education and Human Development Malone University For more than twenty years Baumanns creative and inspirational teaching has helped teenagers university students and young adults develop a more consistent and all-encompassing biblical worldview in their own lives. Now his simple but powerful biblical insights are available in this thoughtful and clearly written format that can help Christian educators better achieve the worldview transformation that we long for in our students and our selves. -Phil Bassett Director of Teacher Training International Schools of China An educators beliefs create altars in the classroom. Teachers are instructional priests their beliefs impacting generations. If Christian higher education expects to be distinctive professors will be helped by Worldview as Worship. Dr. Baumann enables a biblically transcendent orientation to education maintaining that Christian community is essential for transformed Christian thinking. Everyone worships everyone believes and classroom beliefs will create worldviews which students worship. -Mark Eckel Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Old Testament Crossroads Bible College Eddie Baumann has issued a much needed clarion call for Christian educators to understand anew that transformative Christian schooling must aim at the heart of each student. Discipleship education and worship are properly centered in the biblical concepts of justice compassion and shalom. -James L. Drexler Dean Social Sciences and Education Covenant College Eddie K. Baumann serves as Professor of Education at Cedarville University in Cedarville Ohio.