The Christian View of God and the World
Overview
The Christian View of God and the World contains nine lectures centering on Christ’s incarnation by James Orr. First delivered in 1891, Orr revised the lectures and added substantial notes. The lectures are as follows:
- The Christian View of the World in General
- The Christian View and Its Alternatives
- The Theistic Postulate of the Christian View
- The Postulate of the Christian View of the World in Regard to Nature and Man
- The Postulate of the Christian View in Regard to the Sin and Disorder of the World
- The Central Assertion of the Christian View: The Incarnation of God in Christ
- Higher Concept of God Involved in the Incarnation—The Incarnation and the Plan of the World
- The Incarnation and Redemption from Sin
- The Incarnation and Human Destiny
Top Highlights
“He who with his whole heart believes in Jesus as the Son of God is thereby committed to much else besides. He is committed to a view of God, to a view of man, to a view of sin, to a view of Redemption, to a view of the purpose of God in creation and history, to a view of human destiny, found only in Christianity. This forms a ‘Weltanschauung,’ or ‘Christian view of the world,’ which stands in marked contrast with theories wrought out from a purely philosophical or scientific standpoint.” (Page 4)
“It is the Christain view of things in general which is attacked, and it is by an exposition and vindication of the Christian view of things as a whole that the attack can most successfully be met.” (Page 4)
“‘Weltanschauung,’ sometimes interchanged with another compound of the same signification, ‘Weltansicht.’ Both words mean literally ‘view of the world,’” (Page 3)
The position of Professor Orr is virtually that which was maintained by the great leaders of religious thought in the early Christian church, when the intellectual giants of Alexandria and Hippo and Milan mastered the Greek philosophy and prized it and used it.
—Homiletic Review
James Orr (1844–1913) was minister of the East Bank United Presbyterian Church in Hawick, Scotland, from 1874–1891, and professor of church history in the Theological College of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland from 1874–1901. From 1901, he was professor of apologetics and theology at Glasgow College of the United Free Church. He was among the chief promoters for the union between the Free and United Presbyterian Churches in Scotland. He lectured at seminaries all over the world and was a prolific writer and editor.
Orr served as the editor for the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915 Edition, contributed four volumes to the The Pulpit Commentary, and is featured in The Fundamentals (4 vols.).