1/8. John Bolt argues that Bavinck was alert to the danger of the idea of "worldview" becoming an ideology: "WV analysis becomes an ideology when it is used an an interpretive grid that excludes insights from other viewpoints b/c of religious disagreement. For eg, a Xian . . .

2/8. . . philosopher would then refuse to acknowledge 'truth' in a pagan (Greek) or mod secular thinker, strictly on the basis of a crucially diff starting pt. At that point WV practitioners would lose the ability to correct themselves & be corrected by others; they already . . .

3/8. . . know the 'right' answers." ('Bavinck on the Xian Life,' 125) Bavinck made use of the concept of worldview w/o turning it into an ideology, but not all in the Dutch tradition of Neo-Calvinism were able to follow suit. The tendency to dismiss a thinker completely b/c . . .

4/8. . . that thinker has the wrong starting point is highly problematic. All truth is God's truth no matter regardless of its source. After Kant's radical denial of knowledge of the essences of things, Western thinkers increasingly lost confidence in the ability of phil. . .

5/8. . . to gain access to the truth about reality. This led to the rise of ideology, which by the beginning of the 21st C. had largely displaced philosophy. In this climate, Xians have to be very careful in the use of the concept of worldview lest it be perceived as a ideology.

6/8. An ideology is a subjective perspective on the world rather than a claim about the truth about the world. Basically, an ideology is a sword wielded by the powerful to impose their own will on others, as opposed to phil, which is an appeal to objective truth outside oneself.

7/8. Xians should reject ideology as an unsuitable weapon for spiritual warfare. We must strive for the truth about reality, i.e. for true philosophy purified by biblical revelation. The "WV" of which we speak is not a subjective perception of reality but truth about reality.

8/8. We do not create truth or determine it or have the ability to change it. We can only point to it. Truth has its own independent existence above both us & those who oppose us. But to see it & to submit the mind to it is flourish as a human being. We are created for truth.