Globalization brings people and cultures together, producing, in addition to deep and rich encounters, exclusion, racism, xenophobia and asymmetries. The present book takes these issues implicitly as its starting point by thoroughly reflecting on them from a perspective of worldviews, as one of many approaches. More specifically, it focuses on people’s implicit and explicit interpretations and assumptions of the world, of themselves and of others. Often deeply rooted and hard to change, they have an important function, for without them we would continually need to question what we do and what we think. In their absolutist form, these assumptions may become a barrier for open-mindedness, and hence for deep intercultural understanding and exchange. We need to find a balance between both stances. Intercultural philosophy tries to fulfil this role, on the one hand by comparing different cultures on a deep philosophical level, and as a way to better understand each other’s core assumptions, and on the other hand by arguing for an intercultural philosophy grounded in specific cases. The contributions of this book conceive of "another possible world" which does not condemn cultural and religious diversity as a detonator for "Clashes of Civilizations", but rather welcomes it as a source of inspiration for all and of respect for the "different".

Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford show how to detect the individualism, consumerism, nationalism, moral relativism, scientific naturalism, New Age thinking, postmodern tribalism and salvation as therapy that fly under our radar. Building on the work of worldview thinkers like James Sire, this book helps those committed to the gospel story recognize those rival cultural stories that compete for our hearts and minds.

This edited book explores languages and cultures (or linguacultures) from a translation perspective, resting on the assumption that they find expression as linguacultural worldviews. Specifically, it investigates how these worldviews emerge, how they are constructed, shaped and modified in and through translation, understood both as a process and a product. The book’s content progresses from general to specific: from the notions of worldview and translation, through a consideration of how worldviews are shaped in and through language, to a discussion of worldviews in translation, both in macro-scale and in specific details of language structure and use. The contributors to the volume are linguists, linguistic anthropologists, practising translators, and/or translation studies scholars, and the book will be of interest to scholars and students in any of these fields.

As long as Christian liberal arts programs fail to engage the challenges to Christianity in the battle of ideas, they play a part in the continuing decline of the faith in the Western world. It is extremely dangerous to accept the “great” thinkers and writers uncritically, whether it be Karl Marx, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Nathaniel Hawthorne. The great thinkers and the liberal arts programs have influenced millions of young people to abandon the Christian faith over the centuries. Every Christian student should be familiar with the ideas and the writings that have formed the modern world and that subsequently undermined the Christian foundations in the West. Young people must also be well-versed and well-equipped to engage in the battle of worldviews before they graduate from high school or college. That is why this curriculum is so desperately needed. It includes: Selected readings and summaries of 15+ philosophers and authors, with in-depth analysis of influential literary works Reviews of popular music and movies Prayers to equip students in the war of ideas. This course presents a basic survey and a critical analysis of the philosophers, the literary masters, and the cultural influencers of the last 300 years for the Christian student. In contrast with other literature courses, this text is filled with relevant biblical references and truths that will equip the student to address the false worldviews contained in the “great” humanist works of this era.

This volume is part of the “Worldviews, Science and Us” series of proceedings and contains several contributions on the subject of worlds, cultures and society. It represents the proceedings of several workshops and discussion panels organized by the Leo Apostel Center for Interdisciplinary studies within the framework of the “Research on the Construction of Integrating Worldviews” research community set up by the Flanders Fund for Scientific Research, over the period of time between 2005 to 2010. Further information about this research community and a full list of the associated international research centers can be found at www.vub.ac.be/CLEA/res/worldviews/

"In Worldviews and Christian Education, editors W.A. Shipton, E. Coetzee, and R. Takeuchi have brought together works by experts in cross-cultural religious education. The authors and editors have a wealth of personal experience in presenting the gospel to individuals with various worldviews that differ greatly from those held by Christians who take the Bible as authoritative. They focus on the beliefs and issues associated with witnessing to seekers for truth coming from backgrounds as diverse and animism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Marxism, Taoism, and postmodernism." -- Back Cover

In the past, changes in behavior and in belief have been leading indicators for missionaries that Christian conversion had occurred. But these alone--or even together--are insufficient for a gospel understanding of conversion. For effective biblical mission, Paul G. Hiebert argues, we must add a third element: a change in worldview. Here he offers a comprehensive study of worldview--its philosophy, its history, its characteristics, and the means for understanding it. He then provides a detailed analysis of several worldviews that missionaries must engage today, addressing the impact of each on Christianity and mission. A biblical worldview is outlined for comparison. Finally, Hiebert argues for gospel ministry that seeks to transform people's worldviews and offers suggestions for how to do so.