A Christian Worldview Could Solve Today’s Mental Health Crisis
By Movieguide® Contributor
A new study from Dr. George Barna of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University finds that today’s mental health crisis is the product of an unhealthy worldview.
“Having studied worldview for more than three decades, Barna often reminds people that because ‘you do what you believe,’ worldview determines lifestyle,” the study reported. “In this latest research, the ACU professor points out that worldview is also partly responsible for mental health.”
Movieguide® has previously reported on the concept of the worldview:
According to Norman Geisler and William D. Watkins in Worlds Apart: A Handbook of World Views, a worldview is “a way of viewing or interpreting all of reality.” Later, they add that a worldview provides “an interpretive framework through which or by which one makes sense out of the data of life and the world.” As such, all comprehensive worldviews seem to share at least five things: 1) they have a cosmology, a view of the “physical” or “material” universe; 2) they have a metaphysics, a view of what might or might not exist beyond the universe; 3) they have an anthropology, a view of human beings and their environment and culture; 4) they have a psychology, a view of the human soul and the mental, emotional, spiritual, and interior life of human beings; and, 5) they have an axiology, a philosophy of values.
In general, a good worldview must have at least three things: internal consistency, explanatory power, and empirical adequacy or sufficiency. Thus, it must be logical, it must be able to explain many different kinds of phenomenon, and it must fit the facts.
The study found that “a majority of adults from Gen Z (56%) report experiencing regular bouts of anxiety, depression, or crippling fear in the past year. That same generational segment has the lowest incidence of biblical worldview possession (1%).”
“Roughly half of Millennials (49%) have frequently entertained anxiety, depression, or major episodes of fear, while only 2% of that generation holds a biblical worldview,” it continued.
The study reported that, instead of a Christian or biblical worldview, many young people hold false unbiblical worldviews.
Per Barna:
Among the other unbiblical beliefs uncovered in the survey that contribute to what health care professionals could unwittingly identify as “mental illness” are the following:
• Adopting primary sources of moral guidance other than the Bible (embraced by 74% of those who often experience anxiety, depression, or fear)
• Animals, plants, wind, and water have unique spirits (71%)
• You do not believe in the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect, and just creator of the universe who rules that universe today (58%)
• As long as you do no harm to others, you can do whatever you want (52%)
• To be happy you must sometimes ignore or disobey rules and laws (52%)
• Gifted mediums can communicate with the spirits of dead people (46%)
• You are scared to die (44%)
• Avoiding interaction with other people who have significantly different social and political views (43%) • A very important force or guide for your life is Mother Earth or the Universe (40%)
Movieguide® identified some of these worldviews as romanticism and nihilism:
Romanticism: Man is essentially good and noble, and civilization (by which Rousseau, the “father” of Romanticism, meant Christianity) corrupts man. Man is controlled by his “heart” and emotions, not by his intellect or logical mind. Thus, Romanticism often favors a personal, emotional kind of self-expression and includes such phrases as “follow your heart” or “follow your bliss,” without any appeal to God or the Bible. Paganism and mob rule are related to Romanticism, though Romanticism is more consistent and avoids totemism. Romanticism is not related to the idea of romance, but it is an idealistic worldview.
Nihilism: Nihilism says everything is meaningless. It denies the possibility of any objective truth or knowledge. It asserts that the universe is meaningless and without purpose, that human life lacks all value and significance, and that moral values are totally arbitrary and worthless. Nevertheless, some self-proclaimed nihilists assert (contradictorily, I might add) that, although life is meaningless, they have made a choice to find meaning somewhere, because, under nihilism, all choices are meaningless and, hence, all choices are objectively and morally equivalent, so it does not matter what you choose. Nihilism is often a kind of humanism, the next of the four Anti-Christian, unbiblical worldviews.
For example, 46% believe that “people are neither good nor bad when they are born, but become either good or bad through their accumulated life choices,” while 26% say “a higher power may exist, but nobody really knows for certain.”
Instead of a Christian worldview, many young people hold syncretic beliefs. Syncretism is “the process by which aspects of one religion are assimilated into, or blended with, another religion,” according to Ligonier.org.
“[It’s] not surprising that anxiety, depression and fear are rampant among young adults who adopt syncretism,” Barna said, via The Christian Post. “Without a solid foundation of truth, their lives become inconsistent and chaotic…the biblical worldview, by contrast, provides a framework that fosters emotional stability.”
He continued, “If the individual instead embraced the core tenets of the biblical worldview, their life would not be perfect but they would likely avoid many of the pitfalls and frustrations produced by the syncretistic explanation of life.”
Movieguide® has previously reported on the importance of holding a Christian worldview:
Christianity, a form of ethical monotheism, is superior to all of these non-Christian or anti-Christian worldviews because it is logical, it explains many different kinds of phenomenon, and it fits the facts.
For instance, the Christian worldview affirms the existence of an ordered, physical universe created by an eternal, transcendental, personal God, who is inherently benevolent, loving, and thoughtful. This God has instilled in people the ability to engage in rational or logical thought and empirical observation, as when a historian, scientist, theologian, or film critic rationally examines factual evidence. Thus, the Christian worldview affirms the general validity, but not the infallibility, of science, history, theology, and film criticism.
The Christian worldview also accepts the idea that truth exists and can be known by finite, or limited, human beings like you and me. This truth is objective, transcendent, and absolute because God and His existence are objective, transcendent, and absolute. It is perfectly proper, therefore, for human beings to spend their lives searching for objective, transcendent, absolute truth…
Thus, Christianity is thoroughly logical, explains many different kinds of phenomenon (including physical phenomena and the human condition), and it fits the facts. There is no rational reason, therefore, to withhold your love, worship, and obedience to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, His Only Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Turn away from your sins and your evil nature, and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ.
