Francis Schaeffer points out in How Should We Then Live:
"There is a flow to history and culture." (p.19)[1] From this flow we can learn from history and the lessons it teaches us about life and history.
and, in refering to the artists of the Renessaince,
"The results of their thought would flow through their fingers or from their tongues [or pens] into the external world. This is [as] true of Michelangelo's chisel, as it is of a dictators sword." (p.19)
then...
"People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even themselves may realize." (p. 19)
What is a worldview? a filter through which we view and understand and make decisions about data, a philosophy... this course is about working through our own personal philosophy.
From the film series, I note the following:
Schaeffer notes that "...nothing humanistic provides an adequate base for philosophy." I would clarify here that, in this statement, he is defining "humanistic" as a philosophy that has man at its center instead of God.
Roman gods were bigger and stronger men and women who competed, "amplified humanity" but not absolute divinity. The Roman value system had an "insufficient base" due to the lack of absolute truth (polytheism and the change from one 'emperor deity' to the next[2]).
The Roman Empire stretched from Britain to the Caspian sea, from the Euphrates to N. Africa across to Spain. It was vast... but we have seen in our quick survey that indeed things change and empires fall apart...
Rome was built on military might. Schaeffer says this is not enough... what is needed is knowledge of right and wrong. Consider the ramifications of this point for modern America. Consider recent events...
The Romans didn't care who you worshipped as long as you worshiped the emperor. So, why were the early Christian persecuted? They were seen as rebels because they did not worship the Roman gods. The Romans charged the early Christians with atheism, why?
Judaism had a kind of immunity from the worship of Roman gods. When Christians were rejected by synagogues, they were not protected by this immunity. They would not mix religions.
What is syncretism? The mixing of religions. There was no syncretism in the earliest church. There were attempts to mix (Gnosticism is an example; early forms of which were opposed by the apostles. John's letters partially spoke to these issues raised in the late first century.) were rejected by the earliest, infant church. Because according to earliest church teaching (the Bible), all gods, other than the Christian god, are false gods and are not to be worshipped. Because of this, Christians were counted as the enemy of Rome (the charge: atheism). This resulted in martyrdom: many died for the faith, some ran and hid, and others succumbed to the pressure of the Romans and bowed to the Roman gods, but many died.
Eventually, under Constantine, Christianity was allowed:
313: allowed Christianity
381: official Christianity
What difference does one's world view make? It guides how we respond to threat, suffering, pain, etc. Consider the earlier quotes at the top of the post.
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[1] All quotes will be from How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer, Fleming H. Revell Co., N.J., 1976
[2] Here I am reminded of the rejection of Stalinism in 1956 by Khrushchev... so much of what communists in the Soviet Union was in one speech thrown out the window.