March 19, 2024

About

What exactly is a Worldview?

Everyone has a story to tell and those stories shape our point of view about the world we live in. Everyday, we face a multitude of choices. Whether it’s as simple as orange chicken or a taco? Or as complex as Save the Whales or Free Tibet? Help the Homeless or Feed the World? Adopt a Highway or Adopt an Orphan? Making sense of those choices is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one.

Samuel P. Huntington, Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University warned in his 1993 essay on The Clash of Civilizations, “What ultimately counts for people is not political ideology or economic interest. Faith and family, blood and belief are what people identify with and what they will fight and die for.”

WorldViews 101 is a new learning organization that presents carefully prepared multimedia briefings from a Christian perspective  designed to provide a thorough twelve lesson briefing on those religious and cultural worldviews which play leading roles in shaping modern society, e.g., Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, New Age, New Religious Movements, global leaders and various contemporary and cultural issues.

Program Architecture. Together with scholars and practitioners who are actively engaged in ministry in corporate, government, ecclesiastical, academic, and non-governmental organizations, WorldViews101 addresses stereotypical barriers and seeks to provide an accurate understanding of religious worldviews and issues that surface in our day to day interactions with our colleagues, family, and neighbors. The curriculum is built around a series of questions, e.g., “Who is my neighbor? What do they believe?” WorldViews101 is designed to equip the Christian community with necessary cross-cultural skills, inter-religious understanding, and tools to communicate the Gospel clearly and compassionately in a pluralistic society.

 

 
James and Elizabeth Stephens presently live in Southern California and have been married since 1978. In July 1984, after practicing Buddhism since 1970, they made a decision to follow Jesus Christ.  They attended Grace Community Church in Sun Valley where James served as a deacon. James and Elizabeth were very involved in Sunday School and Discovery Club as well as Discipleship Evangelism. After taking Perspectives on the World Christian Movement in 1987, James and Elizabeth were called into full time ministry to the Buddhist world in August 1988. In 1999, James completed his MA in Leadership Development at Fuller School of Intercultural Studies and in 2010 Elizabeth completed an Associate in Science in Business Information Technology at Pasadena City College. 
 
For Elizabeth’s Journey:

A Certificate is available upon completion of each course of study.