The biblical worldview rests on the belief that the Bible is God's authoritative revelation to mankind.  In this worldview, truth is not a matter of human speculation and opinion, but of God's revelation.

In contrast, any worldview that denies that God has given us an authoritative revelation has no other option than to trust in man's fallible opinions and theories.  If God has not spoken plainly, then truth is not ultimately knowable, and man's professed "knowledge" drifts with the winds of human speculation and the latest novelty.

The Preconditions of Intelligibility.

Materialistic philosophy claims to know how the universe began and how life was formed, but a little reflection reveals that it has no valid claim to knowing anything at all.

Before a person can claim to know anything, he must make a host of assumptions, sometimes referred to as "the preconditions of intelligibility".  These include such things as:

1. the reliability of our senses
2. the reliability of memory
3. the uniformity of nature
4. the validity of laws of logic

For example, if humans are merely "rearranged pond scum", then there is no reason why we should possess cognition or sensation.  And, even if pond scum could somehow manage to acquire consciousness, there is no guarantee that the experiences we call "sensation" are anything more than dreams, illusions or random chemical reactions.  There is no guarantee that our "sensations" correspond to an external world, or that they communicate an accurate description of that world.

Likewise, we suppose that our memory records events that happened yesterday, last month or last year.  But perhaps we just popped into existence a second ago with these memories already programmed into our brains.  How would we know for sure?

Would this be any more fantastic than for the entire universe to suddenly pop into existence 13½ billion years ago?  Would it be any more amazing than for chemicals to randomly come together to form proteins and DNA, programming the DNA with the genetic code for a living cell, and simultaneously forming the genetic machinery able to decode this genetic information?

What about the uniformity of nature?  Why would a universe that exploded into existence by chance be governed by fixed mathematical laws?  How can we be certain that these mathematical laws are truly "fixed" and unchanging?  How can we be sure that they won't change tomorrow or next week?

What about the laws of logic?  Materialists instinctively assume these laws when they give arguments to support their philosophy.  Yet, logic is not a material object.  Why do laws of logic exist, and how do we know they are valid?  Why do humans instinctively use logic to reason about abstract concepts such as origins or philosophy, and why is it that we all seem to agree on what they are?[1]

Materialistic philosophy cannot account for logic.  Why should a universe that originated from random quantum fluctuations operate in a logical way?  How can we trust the reasoning of humans who are nothing more than "rearranged pond scum"?

In short, materialism instinctively assumes the preconditions of intelligibility, but cannot give a coherent argument explaining why, in its worldview, these assumptions must be true. Any "knowledge" that the materialist has today could be falsified tomorrow. The materialist has no way to know that the "natural laws" he so confidently trusts today will still be operating tomorrow.  He assumes this to be true, but his presuppositions cannot justify this assumption. Materialism therefore cannot claim to know anything with certainty.

Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, readily justifies the preconditions of intelligibility.  God created man with the capacity to know, love and worship his Creator.  God formed the universe to operate according to fixed mathematical laws that can be observed and understood by men so that they would see evidences of His power and wisdom and give Him glory.  Laws of logic reflect the way God thinks, and since He created man in His own image, we likewise instinctively understand and use laws of logic when we reason about the world.

The preconditions of intelligibility are assumed by all—atheists and Christians alike—and yet only the Bible is able to give a coherent explanation for them.  The materialist must borrow concepts from the Christian's worldview (in fact, he does so instinctively) in order to argue against the Christian worldview.  This inconsistency demonstrates that the Biblical worldview is the correct worldview, and that alternative worldviews are inadequate to provide a basis for knowledge or certainty.[2]

Biblical Foundations for a Coherent Worldview.

Other writings claim divine inspiration, but the Bible alone provides the foundation for a coherent, comprehensive worldview.  Here is a short list of some of the many Biblical teachings that give coherent meaning to the world as we find it:

1. Creation. The universe, though temporary and finite, was created by the miraculous power and unerring wisdom of an eternal, infinite, perfect God (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 102:25-27; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).  It didn’t just "pop into existence" without a prior cause.
2. Design. God created the world with wisdom (Psalm 104:24; Proverbs 3:19) and purpose (Isaiah 46:10-11; Ephesians 1:11), which explains why the universe operates according to fixed mathematical laws.
3. Procreation. God created each creature to procreate "after its kind" (Genesis 1:12, 21, 25).  This explains how the complex genetic information contained in the DNA, along with the molecular machinery needed to decode it, simultaneously came into being, so as to form functioning cells.  It also explains why we find no transitional fossils linking one kind of animal or plant to another.
4. Truth. Absolute truth exists because the universe is governed by an eternal, perfect, unchanging God (Psalm 90:2; 102:27; James 1:17). The Bible often affirms the existence of truth, the importance of embracing the truth, and the dangers of deception and falsehood (John 8:32; 8:44; 14:6; 18:37; Romans 1:18, 25; 2: 2 Thessalonians 2:10-13).
5. Rationality. God created man to know, love and worship his Creator (Jeremiah 31:34; Deuteronomy 6:5; Luke 4:8).  This explains why man has a cognitive, rational mind and is able to make sense of the world around him.
6. Human worth. Man was created in God's image, and therefore is to be treated with honor and respect (Genesis 1:27; James 3:9).  This is the basis for prohibitions against murder, theft, lying and adultery.
7. Morality. God's moral perfection and sovereign dominion is the basis for distinctions between right and wrong. Being created in his image, we have an innate concept of moral categories. He gave us a conscience as a moral guide (Genesis 2:25; 3:10), and he gave us his law that men might have a clear testimony of how to live in harmony with one another and with our Creator (Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19:7-12).
8. Origin of male and female. God created the distinction between male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4) as a means of propagating the race, modeling His Fatherly care (Matthew 7:9-11), and displaying the loving relationship between Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:22-33).  Gender differences are not merely an accident of nature.
9. The origin of evil. God created all things good, but sin entered the world when Adam sinned against God.  This explains the origin of death, sickness, evil and injustice (Genesis 3:15-19; Romans 5:12).
10. The worldwide flood. Violence and cruelty became so pervasive that God sent a worldwide flood to destroy man from the earth, but saved Noah and his family, along with representatives of the birds and land animals, by means of an ark (Genesis 7:1-7; 8:15-19; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5). This explains why so much of the earth is covered with fossil-bearing sedimentary rock that shows abundant signs of rapid, multi-layer sedimentation. It also provides a framework for explaining widespread volcanism and seismic activity[3], a massive ice age[4] and continental displacement[5].
11. Regularity. After the flood, God promised that the world would operate with regularity: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22; Jeremiah 5:24).  It is this regularity that makes science possible, so that experiments are repeatable and results are predictable.
12. Diversity of Languages and Races.  Noah and his immediate family members spoke a common language, but when the descendants of Noah rebelled against God's command to fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1; 11:4-8), God brought a judgment upon them—confusing their languages and thereby scattering them over the face of the earth.  This created various isolated groups of humanity which developed their own distinctive genetic traits over time through the loss of genetic information caused by inbreeding.
13. Redemption. God promised to send a Redeemer who would save His people from their sins (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53:5) and he fulfilled this promise in the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18-19). This explains how a holy God can forgive sinful men, and displays the wisdom and perfection of God's purpose.
14. Justice and peace. God has promised to one day judge the earth in righteousness—establishing everlasting justice and peace on the earth (2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21:4 5). This gives hope to the oppressed, and assures us that justice will eventually be realized.
15. The Bible. The Bible repeatedly claims to be the authoritative word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21), and it was so regarded by Jesus Christ and by all His apostles and prophets (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 19:4; Exodus 4:22; 5:1; 7:17; 2 Kings 1:16; Romans 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; 4:17; etc.). This provides a coherent explanation for the Bible's origin, truth, authority, reliability, transmission, preservation and its timeless relevance in all places and cultures throughout human history.

On the other hand, if the Bible is truly the revealed word of God—as it repeatedly claims to be—then we can know these things to be true because God Himself, who knows all things, has revealed them to us.  This God-given revelation makes sense of our experience and of the universe, providing a coherent worldview.

Those who deny the divine inspiration of the Bible need to explain how the Bible managed to come up with an all-embracing, consistent explanation for the world. Modern philosophers cannot form a coherent alternative worldview. They routinely ignore or gloss over many problems, such as the preconditions of intelligibility, and advocate contradictory ideas such as relative morality or alternative laws of logic.

Some would claim that the Bible has been edited and re-edited over the centuries to smooth out problems and arrive at a consistent worldview.  However, this would imply that men of past generations were more creative and intelligent than modern philosophers (who cannot produce a coherent worldview). Such a conclusion is abhorrent to most critics of the Bible, who regard the writers of scripture as primitive, ignorant and superstitious.

Moreover, there is no manuscript evidence that such alteration ever occurred.[6]  On the contrary, the oldest manuscripts of the Bible are in full doctrinal agreement with later manuscripts.  For example, many scholars expected the Dead Sea Scrolls to show that the Bible had been radically changed over the years.  To their surprise, they found the ancient texts to be in virtually identical agreement with later texts.[7]

Many attempts have been made to discredit the Bible as being merely the writings of men.  It has been accused of contradicting itself, but in the end, the contradictions have always been in the mind of the critic rather than being real contradictions.[8]

It would be remarkable enough if just one human author had written such a book as this, or if a committee sat down and composed such a book, but the Bible was written by 40 people of diverse occupations (kings, shepherds, priests, scribes, fishermen, a tax collector and a physician) over a period of 1500 years, and yet it gives consistent testimony to the character of God, the nature of man, and our need of a Redeemer.

The Bible demonstrates its divine origin by its unique ability to make sense of the world. Even its critics must assume its presuppositions in order to construct their arguments.  We know the Bible is true because it alone provides a workable and coherent worldview.
 

Other Theories of Revelation.

We have seen that materialism provides no basis for the preconditions of intelligibility, but the same can be said for any worldview that does not accept the inspiration and authority of the Bible.  For example, there are those who claim that the Bible merely contains the Word of God—that some parts of it are from God, and other parts are of human origin.

But this begs the question: "How do you know which parts are inspired?"  If we have no reliable way to decide whether a statement of scripture is inspired, then we are no better off than the materialist who rejects the Bible altogether and relies on human opinion and speculative theories.  Either we can trust the Bible to be what it claims to be (and what Jesus and His apostles and prophets believed it to be)—namely, God's authoritative word—or else we are left to the vagaries of fallible human opinion to decide which parts to accept and which to reject.

In short, any view of scripture that does not acknowledge its divine origin and authority has no firm basis for knowing anything.  What we observed earlier concerning the materialist applies equally to those who believe bits and pieces of the Bible, or who claim that the Bible "becomes" the Word of God to each individual as he draws from it whatever meaning seems right in his own eyes.  Such claims are ultimately contradictory, for they assert it to be a universal truth that "all truth is relative", or else they claim to know with certainty that we can know nothing with certainty.

Some people claim to receive revelation directly from God. If these revelations agree with the teachings of the Bible, then at best they simply confirm the reliability of the Bible. If these alleged revelations contradict the Bible, then they must stand on their own and demonstrate that they can provide a consistent worldview apart from the Bible's testimony.

The Qu'ran and the Book of Mormon, for example, also claim to be given by God.  Could the arguments given for the reliability of the Bible apply equally to other books that claim divine inspiration?

The crucial difference between the Bible and these other alleged revelations is that the Bible alone provides us with a coherent worldview.  For example, Islam denies that man was created in God's image, and it gives no reason why humans should have worth or deserve respect. Islamic teachers have admitted that the God of Islam is ultimately unknowable, so Islam cannot claim that the reason why God created a world of regularity and gave man a rational mind was so that he might know and love God.

The God of Mormonism is one of many gods, and was once a man like us.[9]  The Mormon God is therefore finite and fallible, which provides no basis for eternal truth, nor any guarantee that God can keep His promises (another god might overpower him, for example).

Mormonism admits that the Bible is inspired, and Islam acknowledges that Jesus was a prophet of God.  Yet, both religions nullify these statements by claiming that the Bible has been corrupted over the years or that Jesus has been misquoted in the Bible.[10] By denying the reliability of the Bible, Mormonism and Islam thereby forfeit the basic teachings of the Bible that undergird a coherent worldview.

The Bible was written by 40 human authors over a period of some 1500 years. If it were merely a human writing, we would expect one writer to contradict another, or for later writers to depart from the teaching of earlier authors. Yet the Bible gives a consistent message about the sovereignty, holiness, knowledge, power and mercy of God, of the sinfulness and frailty of man, and of the way of salvation—the basis for a consistent, comprehensive worldview.  In contrast, other books that claim divine inspiration are typically the work of a single human author.  Mohammed alone is the author of the Qu'ran.  Joseph Smith is the sole author of the Book of Mormon.  It would be amazing enough for a single human author to write a book having a uniform teaching and a comprehensive worldview.  Yet the Bible succeeds where single-author books have failed—because it truly is the word of God.

Polytheistic religions, such as that of the ancient Greeks and Romans, of Mormonism, and of certain varieties of Hinduism, lack a unifying principle to explain the uniformity of nature.  Pantheism, on the other hand, claims that all is god, in which case god is ever changing and cannot provide an explanation for the unchanging mathematical laws that govern nature.

We should not make the mistake of assuming that all religions are equally consistent, or that they can all provide a justification for the preconditions of intelligibility.  The Bible alone can make a credible claim to being God's Word.
 

Human Responsibility.

The Bible says that man instinctively knows that God exists.  This explains why atheists express such hatred and animosity toward the God whom they claim does not exist.  They do know He exists, and that He is holy, but man loves his sin and hates a holy God, and so he suppresses the truth concerning God.  This was taught by the apostle Paul …

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20

… and also by the Lord Jesus …

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
John 3:19-20

The Bible anticipated this skepticism and prophesied that a time would come when men would embrace a uniformitarian understanding of history, deliberately ignoring the global  flood:

knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
2 Peter 3:3-6

What are the consequences of rejecting what God has said?  It stands to reason that people who reject God's moral authority will do whatever seems right in their own eyes.  The result is moral relativism, where people who see nothing wrong with sexual sin will engage in sexual sin. People who see nothing wrong with lying, deceiving and cheating will swindle others for personal gain or will falsely accuse them to gain an advantage over them.  Those who see nothing wrong with stealing will steal from others.  Those who see nothing wrong with taking human life will abort unborn babies to avoid the responsibility of caring for the children they have brought into the world.  Governments sometimes even use moral relativism to justify slavery or genocide if it advances their agenda.

Individuals who hold to moral relativism often affirm that they would not go to such extremes, but why not?  If moral relativism is true, then it provides no protection against such acts of heinous evil.  Materialists are again going outside their own worldview when they assume that there is a moral "higher ground" to which they should adhere.

Moreover, even if one person makes a personal decision not to go to such extremes, this is no guarantee that others will make the same decision.  And if someone else chooses to engage in hideous evil, on what philosophical ground can the moral relativist object?  If morality is truly relative, then how can one person justifiably complain about the moral choices of others?[11]

What then should we call a person who rejects the Bible?  Mistaken?  Deluded?  The Bible calls him a fool.

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
Psalm 14:1

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7

1. To deny God's testimony in the Bible is totally irrational, for we cannot begin to reason about anything without assuming the laws of logic and an orderly universe, but these assumptions only make sense within the Biblical worldview.
2. To deny the Bible is to deny the moral basis for a stable society. When we deny the foundations of morality, we forfeit our protection against violence and injustice.
3. To willfully oppose the all-powerful, all-holy God is to invite His eternal wrath—surely that is a foolish option.

The Bible equates rejection of God with wickedness—and for good reason:  a worldview that is not anchored in the enduring truth of God's word has no safeguard against evil.  Without God's laws to set an absolute moral standard and to limit evil, people will keep pushing the envelope until wickedness runs rampant in the world.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2 Timothy 3:1-5

This sounds like the evening news, doesn't it?  Our present age has witnessed a decline in confidence in the Bible, and a corresponding decline in the moral integrity of our culture.  This is exactly what the Bible predicted in Romans 1:18-32, which begins with men's unthankfulness, leading to idolatry[12] and ultimately to sexual sin, violence and every sort of malice.

Obviously, people who commit such sins are not seeking to fulfill Biblical prophecy—but they fulfill it just the same.  Usually, these are people who despise and mock the Bible.  It is striking, therefore, that the Bible so accurately describes their character, and the progress of their sin, beginning with their ingratitude and neglect of God.  This sort of fulfilled prophecy is yet another confirmation that the Bible is the authoritative word of God.

Unbiblical worldviews ultimately lead to despair.  This can happen in either of two ways:

Atheistic worldviews teach that man is merely rearranged pond scum—that he has no intrinsic value and that his destiny is nonexistence.  Such a worldview provides no transcendent purpose in this life and no hope of life beyond the grave.

Unbiblical religious worldviews teach that man must contribute to his own salvation. This leads to a life of slavery (to religious rites and regulations) and despair—never knowing if you have done enough to attain to salvation.

Our salvation depends solely on what Christ has done on our behalf. This gives us an assured hope, peace of heart, a sense of purpose and worshipful joy. This assures us that we are God's beloved children, rather than worthless pond scum.
 

Summary.

The question "Is the earth young or old?" does not stand in isolation, but reveals the presuppositions and worldview of the person who answers the question. The Bible teaches that the earth is approximately 6000 years old. Evolutionary philosophies teach that the earth is billions of years old. Which view is correct?

Worldviews that deny divine inspiration have no basis for genuine knowledge.  Instead, they rely on man's fallible, drifting theories and opinions—ridiculing those who dare to disagree—until the next theory comes along to discredit their former theory.

All men instinctively assume certain preconditions of intelligibility, but these assumptions only make sense within the Biblical worldview which says that God governs the universe with purpose and order, and that He created man in His image, to know, love and worship Him.

Unbiblical worldviews must borrow concepts from the Biblical worldview in order to frame their theories and argue for their position.  This confirms the Bible's claim that men are created in the image of God, and that man instinctively knows that God exists.

Worldviews that reject divine inspiration have no basis for true morality.  Each man does what is right in his own eyes—which may equate to wickedness and injustice in the eyes of another.  A society that rejects the Bible is headed toward moral and epistemic bankruptcy.

The Bible predicted man's rejection of the flood account and the progression of sin from ingratitude to idolatry, sexual sin, malice and violent sins—a progression that has been witnessed in our own day.

Worldviews that reject the Bible ultimately lead to despair. In contrast, the Bible affirms that a sovereign, good and all-wise God governs the universe, and that man was created in God's image and is saved solely by God's will, merit and power.

Without an authoritative word from God, we are left to the shifting sands of human opinion.  It is ironic that secularists want to silence Christians by claiming that no one has the truth, but then they turn around and pretend to know the truth—speaking of Evolution and the Big Bang as if they were proven facts.

Those who have nothing but fallible human opinion and speculation as the basis for knowledge should not pretend to know for certain that the universe is billions of years old.  God was an eyewitness to creation—in fact, creation was His own miraculous work—and He cannot lie.  God has spoken authoritatively in the Bible, affirming that He created the world in six literal days about 6,000 years ago.

We can choose to believe either the opinions of finite men who weren't there, who make mistakes and who sometimes lie, or the authoritative word of the infinite God who was there, who never makes mistakes and who cannot lie.
 

Footnotes.

[1] Some people try to deny the usual laws of logic, claiming, for example that a statement and its negation can be true at the same time and in the same sense.  However, when they attempt to justify their claim, they resort to standard laws of logic, seeking to prove that their claim is true and that the contrary claim is false—which disproves the very point they are trying to make!  We simply cannot escape the laws of logic.

[2]  An instructive example of the inconsistency of materialist thinking is found in W. K. Clifford's statement "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."  What evidence can he produce to prove this claim? Must we not conclude that it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe this particular claim without sufficient evidence? (And how would we know what evidence is sufficient?)

[3]  Genesis 7:11 says "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth".  Psalm 104:8, in the context of the flood, says "The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them."

[4]  Michael Oard, "The Ice Age and the Genesis Flood", http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=272 (visited 2 March 2011).

[5]  "Forum on Catastrophic Plate Tectonics", April 2002, http://creation.com/forum-on-catastrophic-plate-tectonics (visited 2 March 2011).

[6]  James Patrick Holding, "Debunking the Documentary Hypothesis", Dec 2005, http://creation.com/debunking-the-documentary-hypothesis (visited 2 March 2011).

[7] "Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered in Qumran Cave 1 near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (A.D. 980), they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The five percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.", Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago, IL.: Moody Press, 1964), p. 19.

[8] See, Paul Taylor, "Isn’t the Bible Full of Errors?", 24 Sep 2007, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n4/isnt-the-bible-full-of-errors (visited 2 March 2011), and Matt Slick's answers to Bible difficulties, http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy (visited 2 March 2011).

[9] See Bill McKeever, "As God Is Man May Be?", http://mrm.org/lorenzo-snow-couplet (visited 2 March 2011).

[10] In response to these claims, it should be noted that no document from antiquity has nearly as much manuscript evidence as the Bible, and when the various manuscripts are compared, we find no significant discrepancies in any Bible teaching, regardless of when or where a particular manuscript was written.

[11] Also, apart from the Bible's pronouncement that humans are created in God's image, there is no compelling reason why we should value people more than we value pond scum.  Is there any evil in lying, stealing, murder or adultery when committed against pond scum?

[12] We often equate idolatry with the religious worship of statues. However, the Biblical meaning of idolatry is much broader than this, encompassing anything that replaces God in our affections or trust. Those who love wealth more than God (Colossians 3:5), or who trust science more than the Bible, are guilty of idolatry.