The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog

By presenting Christian Theism alongside several other worldviews, Sire aims to demonstrate that Christian Theism is the most satisfactory worldview. According to Sire, Christian Theism meets the three requirements for an adequate worldview: It is intellectually coherent; it comprehends all the data of reality; and it satisfies on a subjective level.

For Sire, Christian Theism is intellectually coherent because it provides a plausible explanation for why moral values exist, why human life is significant, what happens after death, the meaning of history, how we are able to achieve knowledge, and what our goals in life should be. Essentially, all these factors are explained by the existence of a transcendent God who is the origin of all life and value. Other worldviews, in Sire’s view, either avoid answering some of these questions (thus leaving out some of the data of reality) or give unconvincing or inconsistent answers to them (thus failing the test of logic).

Sire makes his case in the face of the historical fact that Western thought in general moved steadily away from Christian Theism. He argues that this move was due in part to a lack of understanding of Christian Theism.