### Worldview * Wordlivew consists of the "fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality."[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 10.::rsn]] * "It shapes and integrates our various fields of knowledge: from theology, anthropology, and missions to physics and the culinary arts. Wordlview governs everyday behavior."[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 10-11.::rsn]] ### Epistemology * Scientists often use a deterministic explaination for their findings, yet they assume rationalistic choice in how they cam to their own conclusions.[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 22.::rsn]] * The way Hiebert desacribes determinism as an epistemological framework sounds very similar to contemporary discussions of critical theory. Choices are more illusion and occurences are the determined outcome of systems, power centers, etc.[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 22.::rsn]] * A critical realist considers theories to be representations of reality. If they are valid, then they are true, but they are approximate, much like a map.[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 25.::rsn]] * "Theology in a critical realist mode is our human understanding and interpretations of the Scriptures."[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 30.::rsn]] * #### Theories as Maps in Critical Realism: >To be useful, a map must be selective. A road map must leave out information about underground pipes, over head wires, buildings, trees, sidewalks, lawns, and the like. To put ev erything in one map clutters it and renders it useless. The choice of what to include and what to exclude depends on the purpose for which the map is to be used, for maps are not only symbols of reality but also guides for choosing a course of action.[[Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, 25.::rsn]] [[Revisit Hiebert's section on Theology and Epistemology (26-31), because each of these seems to have a contemporary expression in the way Christians view their relationship with the Bible. This explains how a lot of lay people function in various ways.::lmn]]