The Other Worldview: Exposing Christianity’s Greatest Threat

by Peter Jones

Publisher:

Kirkdale Press

, 2015

Two Competing Worldviews

A cataclysmic change has occurred over the past few decades. Our culture as a whole has switched worldviews.

According to Peter Jones, all the religions and philosophies of the world can be divided into two basic worldviews. These two perspectives differ on the fundamental nature of reality. Is everything essentially one? Or does an irreducible distinction exist between creation and Creator?

In The Other Worldview, Jones explains the difference between what he calls “Oneism” and “Twoism.” He exposes the pagan roots of Oneism, and he traces its spread and influence throughout Western culture. Most importantly, he shows us why Oneism is incapable of saving anyone or truly changing the world for the better.

“For bodily holiness and transformed thinking . . . we depend entirely on one amazing thing: the incredibly powerful message of the Gospel to a sinful world, which is the ultimate expression and goal of Twoism. The only hope is in Christ alone.”

Praise for The Other Worldview

A must-read for every concerned American—and especially for every Christian who weeps at the graveside of his culture.

From the foreword by R.C. Sproul, founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries

In The Other Worldview, Peter Jones argues that the ills of modern culture stem from its denial of the biblical creator-creature distinction. Peter has made this case before, but here he presents his most substantial, detailed, and illuminating account of this modern consciousness, from ancient paganism and Gnosticism to such modern thinkers as Carl Jung. In the end Peter shows how the biblical gospel of salvation from sin in Christ provides the only adequate challenge to neo-pagan “oneism” and the only way for us to know God as he really is.

—John M. Frame, J.D. Trimble Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary

For over two decades, Peter Jones’s work has proven indispensable for any Christian who wants to understand how to reach the pagan West with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In The Other Worldview, he helps readers see that there really are only two options available for how we view reality; Christianity and everything else. With the rare and enviable gift of being able to make complex ideas accessible, Dr. Jones shows that the other worldview, in its varied expressions, cannot withstand intellectual scrutiny.

—Gabriel Fluhrer, Senior Minister, Shiloh Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Contents

• Foreword by R.C. Sproul
• A Ticket to Ride—But to Where?
• Part 1: Coming Apart
  • The Rise and Fall of Secular Humanism
  • Carl Jung’s Dream for a “New Humanity”
  • The Perennial Philosophy—The Origin of Contemporary Spirituality
  • The Sixties Spiritual and Sexual Revolution
  • A Destructive Generation
• Part 2: Given Over
  • A Cosmology of Radical Egalitarianism
  • Pagan Cosmology of Synthesis: The Joining of Reason and Spirit
  • Salvation by Shaman
• Part 3: Not Giving Up
  • Christian Compromise with Culture
  • A Whole or Holy Cosmos?
  • Blowing the Mind
  • Gospel Power: A Given-Over Savior

Top Highlights

“The goal is not to recover a 20th-century Western culture, but to preach the gospel clearly in our own time and bless the culture with God-honoring living.” (Page 5)

“While we should desire to understand our culture in order to bear witness to Jesus in it, we must avoid conforming to its expectations just to garner its affirmation.⁵ Most importantly, as the church, we must call all cultures—and ourselves—in every generation to the rule that judges all other rules—the rule of faith, the law of true freedom, the Word of God.” (Page 6)

“My plea is not a nostalgic appeal to return to the good old days of yore but an attempt to clarify the confrontation between the only two ultimate worldviews—the only two fundamental patterns of belief that underlie how we make sense of the world. I call these ‘Oneism’ and ‘Twoism.’ These terms are my shorthand for what I believe the Apostle Paul is getting at when he describes the heart of idolatry and falsehood as exchanging the truth for ‘the lie’ and exchanging worship of the Creator for worship of the creature (Rom 1:25).” (Page xvi)

“Stop and reflect: The modern view of psychological health is based in large part on a paganism-inspired account of the way the world works.” (Page 34)

“So, what is secularism or secular humanism, and what has it become? It is now known under other names. As an intellectual discipline it is called philosophical materialism; as a social movement it is known as modernity; as a somewhat religious expression it is described as atheism; as a political theory it is practiced as Marxism; and for many people, it is an un-thought-out, default way of living as if God did not exist.” (Page 22)

Product Details

• Title: The Other Worldview: Exposing Christianity’s Greatest Threat
• Author: Peter Jones
• Publisher: Kirkdale Press
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 231
• Format: Logos Edition, Paperback
• Trim Size: 5.5x8.5
• ISBN: 9781577996224

About Peter Jones

Peter Jones is Executive Director of Christian Witness to a Pagan Planet (a national and international teaching, preaching and writing ministry) and scholar in residence at Westminster Seminary, in California. He received a B.A. from the University of Wales; a B.D. from Gordon Divinity School; a Th.M. from Harvard Divinity School; and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He taught Greek and New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary and was Professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary California from 1991 to 2003. He is the author of The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back.