As an introduction, the book orients the reader to where people might be coming from, and provides the mental tools to be able to begin to identify worldviews and why they are unacceptable from a Christian and from a rational point of view.I am sure there are shortcomings in Sire's presentation of each of the worldviews. Although some complain that it is overly academic, I think that anyone who has studied the sciences or humanities at a tertiary level should be able to pick their way through the worldviews. Eastern Pantheistic Monism is included by Sire because (presumably) it had a big influence on Western culture during the 1960s and into the New Age movement.The strength of this book is that it serves as an introduction. UND is a book about Western world views - you'll need to read missiological literature for an examination of Islamic, animist or other world views. In a world of ever-increasing diversity, The Universe Next Door offers a unique resource for understanding the variety of worldviews that claim the allegiance of mind and heart.I read the first edition of this book as an undergraduate, and it provided a valuable guide to the concept of worldview - that people arrive at different conclusions about the world because they have different basic assumptions. The Universe Next Door has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been used as a text at over one hundred colleges and universities in courses ranging from apologetics and world religions to history and English literature.
New discussion questions will help readers reflect more deeply on the ideas in each chapter.
The sixth edition, updated by Sire's longtime editor Jim Hoover, features new explanatory sidebars, helpful charts comparing worldviews and illustrating their historical flow, and a chapter on challenges to a Christian worldview in the twenty-first century.
Critiquing each worldview within its own frame of reference and in comparison to others, Sire encourages readers to wrestle with life's biggest questions and examine the core beliefs and commitments on which they are building their lives Intertwined with this analysis, he presents an overview of intellectual history giving insight into the current state of Western thought and culture.
Using his widely influential model of eight basic worldview questions, James Sire examines prominent worldviews that have shaped the Western world: For more than forty years, The Universe Next Door has set the standard for a clear, readable introduction to worldviews.
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