Prior to the start of the Spring 2025 semester, several students hit the books early for a one-week intensive course called, “Examining Worldviews.” Taught by Robert Canen, Director of the Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum and President of the Foundation Advancing Creation Truth, the course boiled down to the idea of not being a “frog in the kettle”—and helping others escape the kettle, too.
The kettle: The slowly boiling stew of worldviews and beliefs created by influential people, eras, and ideas like Charles Darwin, John Locke, the Renaissance, Frederich Nietzsche, the Reformation, Karl Marx, the Enlightenment, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the rise of modern science, and the prevalence of despair in art, music, film and law.
“It really boils down to the humanistic idea that has crept in—each person we studied it had seeped into—and that is: I want to be god for myself,” Canen said.
By studying worldviews throughout history from Rome to modern day, students learned how to discern the messages they encounter daily, especially via media, how to examine them through the lens of Biblical truth, and how to engage the people and culture around them with the gospel.
From analyzing a clip from the hit TV series “Friends” to considering the ways humanism has crept into the church, the message was clear: “Beware lowering your guard.”
The end goal? Understanding where people are coming from—much like Paul in Athens—so students can compassionately and adeptly lead them to understand their need for a relationship with Jesus.
“We can learn all the terms and learn about all these people, but if it doesn ’t play itself out in action, it’s kind of useless,” Canen said. “That’s what I appreciate about colleges like MBC is that they really encourage students to go out and put into practice what they’ve learned.”
