In Undergrad, we learned there were 4 levels of worldview thinking and thinkers.
1.) Original Thinkers — These types show up once every two or three generations. Though honestly, Solomon said a millennium ago that there was nothing new under the sun. Examples might be Newton, Ptolemy, Calvin, Augustine, J. Edwards, etc.
2.) Sociological Applicators — These are the synthesizers and they likewise are geniuses. These chaps take from the geniuses and synthesize so that new plausible worldview paradigms arise.
Men like Erasmus, Herbert Spencer, Neil Postmen, Kuyper, Bavinck, Karl Popper, M. Polyani, R. L. Dabney, R. J. Rushdoony etc. You and I probably won’t meet one of these in our lifetime.
3.) Eclectic — These are those who randomly take from different thought systems as your lunch diner takes from the noon buffet. Often they have deep contradictions embedded in their thinking. These are most college professors, shrinks, social workers, lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians etc. They make up the professional white-collar class. These are dull people. This doesn’t mean all in these white-collar categories are Eclectic but many are. Think Barak Obama, George Bush, Donald Trump, Fauci, Gates, Sean Michael Lucas, J. Ligon Duncan, Kevin DeYoung, Joel McDurmon, Greg Johnson, etc.
4.) Conglomerate — They catch their worldview like you catch a common cold. They are just mouthpieces for the floating zeitgeist as found in media and pop culture. This represents 90% plus of the world we live in today. This is your cousins, your co-workers, your average pew sitter, and the average minister standing up in front of the average pew sitter.
After I first wrote this a friend from Australia offered a slight correction that I thought was quite good.
________
The 2 you have is a rare genius while the 3 you have is a dullard. We
need something between 2 and 3.
Suggested – 3. Deep Reader. Produces nothing new, nor a master of synthesis, but strives for consistency and relentlessly follows – learns without new production nor synthesis. Guards and transmits systems that others have invented and refined. Examples are Gary North, N. T. Wright, Daniel Ritchie, Joel Beeke, Shelby Foote, Winston Churchill, Thomas Paine, etc.
1. totally new worldview generator
2. refines and systematizes worldview
3. comprehends and reiterates worldview
4. a mess of different world views and contradictions often loudly proclaimed
5. Hoi Polloi Eloi… Rank & File
