In his book, Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door, Roland Muller presents three basic worldview systems that effect every part of human life. The three systems that Muller identifies are: guilt/innocence (right/wrong); honor/shame; and fear/power. Almost every culture has a mixture of two to three of these worldview systems, however, there is always one system that primarily dominates a culture (Muller 2000, 67). Muller looks at how these worldviews effect societies, especially pertaining to the Gospel.
Beginnings
The three worldviews stemmed from one place: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve had sinned, they covered themselves with fig leaves (Gen. 3:7), this is an example of guilt. Not only did they cover themselves with leaves, but they also hid from God (Gen. 3:8), which is an example of shame. In their conversation with God, once He confronts them, Adam replies that they were “scared,” which is an example of fear (Gen 3:10). From these three different emotions from the Fall of Mankind came three ways in which humanity views reality.
Guilt/Innocence Worldview The Guilt/Innocence system views the world through the lenses of “what is wrong, what is right?” Typically, this worldview is found in western culture countries. Guilt is a sense of wrong and …show more content…
However, I wish that Muller would spend a little more time on developing the fear/power worldview, and include fear/power and guilt/innocence into his book. Also, the structure of his book seemed somewhat confusing to me as he would jump from talking about honor/shame culture to other cultures, and then back to honor/shame. Overall, this has been a good book to learn about the three worldviews that dominate the world, and learn how we can use them to break down cultural barriers and how to effectively spread the
Beginnings
The three worldviews stemmed from one place: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve had sinned, they covered themselves with fig leaves (Gen. 3:7), this is an example of guilt. Not only did they cover themselves with leaves, but they also hid from God (Gen. 3:8), which is an example of shame. In their conversation with God, once He confronts them, Adam replies that they were “scared,” which is an example of fear (Gen 3:10). From these three different emotions from the Fall of Mankind came three ways in which humanity views reality.
Guilt/Innocence Worldview The Guilt/Innocence system views the world through the lenses of “what is wrong, what is right?” Typically, this worldview is found in western culture countries. Guilt is a sense of wrong and …show more content…
However, I wish that Muller would spend a little more time on developing the fear/power worldview, and include fear/power and guilt/innocence into his book. Also, the structure of his book seemed somewhat confusing to me as he would jump from talking about honor/shame culture to other cultures, and then back to honor/shame. Overall, this has been a good book to learn about the three worldviews that dominate the world, and learn how we can use them to break down cultural barriers and how to effectively spread the