Everyone who is alive has beliefs.




Here are the three main families of beliefs. Sure, there are huge variations but this is a simple way of thinking about it as an introduction to studying this subject. Even if you don't have any interest in religion, you are still a person who lives, breathes, eats and sleeps your beliefs. Your beliefs may not be something you think about that much, but they affect every decision you make and eventually will decide whether your life was well lived.

Lets take a closer look at them:



Three of the biggest religions are forms of Theism. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all theistic and hold that there is a Creator God. They also believe that there is an afterlife and some kind of judgement. (Of course there are variations, but this is a simple start!)

The idea of a judgement day and eternal blessing/punishment is both a comforting and disturbing idea.




This is difficult because in Pantheism, God isn't just in the Universe, God IS the Universe. Like a kind of impersonal cosmic force that is in and around us all the time. The Star Wars 'Force' idea is similar to this. Some forms of Hinduism and SIkhism hold to this. There is still an ongoing debate about whether Buddhists do actually accept this. Reincarnation usually goes hand in hand with this.

Reincarnation is lengthy cycle up or downwards where your next go depends on how you lived each time.




Usually this means that God is disregarded or ignored and people are placed at the centre. There are different forms of Atheism that our lives have a lot to do with: we are in a secular society, consumerism (shopping) is mainly a human-centred activity where God doesn't come into it.

Death is quite a harsh ending in this worldview because you quite literally lose everything to decay.

Which of these do you most closely believe? Do you know why?


These are tasks that the teacher might use in class, or you could do if you wanted to be more independent.

1. Look up the word 'secular' and find a good definition that you easily understand.
2. How would Sion School look if it changed from being religious to secular?
3. Have you ever been to or heard of a secular school? What is it like?

How can you find out what someone believes in a simple way? Usually the best way of getting into the brain (without using surgery) is to ask good questions. Here are four really good ones you can use to explore what a persons worldview is.



1. What do you live for (or what are the aims of your life)?
2. What do you think happens when you die?
3. What we are (or where did we come from)?
4. What do you think is true about God?

These are such great questions because they are about as big as it gets! Whatever answers someone gives you will tell you a lot about their worldview. The next two sections provide some sample answers just to get you going a little...

Try them out on your friends and family and see if you can work out what kind of worldview they have.
See if your emailed ideas make it onto the real responses section below...

Here are some possible answers you might get to the questions:

Person A

Person B

Person C



Which of these is a Theist, a Pantheist or an Atheist? Have a look at the 'answers' bit below to get the conclusion to this world-standard quiz...

This section is dedicated to the answers that people give to the big 4 questions. If you email some responses in (using rama@whatisyourworldview.com) we will try and put your answers up anonymously.

What do you think is true about God?

God is not real
God is in charge, he is king, he loves us
God is real, he is all around us but in the sky
God is a load of rubbish
I think there is something, but not ‘god’
God is the lord of the earth
He is the universe
God is there but he is not human
No one really knows
There is no proof either way
God does not concern me


What do you think happens when you die?

I think that it is the end
You are reincarnated
You just ‘rot’
You go to heaven and the best things happen to you
We live in the clouds
You have no emotions, go to sleep and don’t wake up
Eternal afterlife
I think death is a con and someone just puts a paper bag over your head
Im not sure
I believe in heaven and hell
You start again as a baby
Your energy is transformed into a spirit


What do you live for?

My family
To find the one person for me (soul mate)
I live to be happy and help people
Make the most of your life and treat it like gold
Shopping, friends and myself
Make my dreams come true
Whatever god wants
Be rich and have a good life
To make people proud
To play sport


What are people? Where did we come from?

Robots with bones and flesh
Humans in a community
A part of god
Lots of things mixed together
Waffles in disguise
Monkeys, but evolved
Aliens gone wrong
All the same
Living organisms
Random and accidental
Reincarnations
God’s image

Thanks to the cheese-eating Baker-boy for the typing... ;)

Here you go - the answers to the amazing quiz.

A: Theist
B: Pantheist
C: Atheist


(you might need to resize browser window if it doesn't fit)



Do people really fit so easily into these boxes in real life?
Why do you think so?
Which religions belong to which of these worldview types?