The Transforming Vision Summary

The most surprising world view I discovered in the book, The Transforming Vision, by Walsh and Middleton was the ability for a follower of Christ to be open-minded toward other cultures that are different in their beliefs, practices, and values. The reading has taught me not to be so one-sided on issues, but to listen to others who have a different perspective than I do. We all come from different backgrounds and not everyone shares the same values. The book gives examples of how each culture practices their traditions and customs. For example, the Japanese value the trait of loyalty. We as Americans should analyze why this trait is valued. The same goes for the Dene, who value their land. Some people may think that valuing land is unimportant.

I was unaware we could learn something positive from another culture. I was assuming that we should adhere to our own culture and be true to our beliefs. Partially of this is true whereas believers of Christ stay committed to faith, but also look at the other values and determine what we (North Americans) are lacking. What I knew about the nature of the world was that humans live in broken and sinful world. On the other hand, I thought of human identity as how a person defines him or herself and how is that person differs from others. New ideas should always be explored because they could be beneficial in gaining a new perspective on

We must be able to actively listen and be open about to new ideas. Walsh and Middleton state, “We must recognize that our vision of life is always limited. It must be open to correction and refinement, even from other world views” (1984, p. 39). We can use the world views to better ourselves and see what we are doing wrong. More so, the authors challenge the reader by asking how can a Christian learn from other cultures when the bible is meant to be the guide of life? One can still accomplish this by understanding the Christian world view by seeing that every human is unique and created in the image of God. Walsh and Middleton state, “Yet we are different from the heavens and the winds, as well as from the plants and the animals, and we sense this difference. We are God’s servants, but the nature of our service is unique” (p. 52). This reading made me realize how different we all are, and it’ okay to be different from one another. God’s unique characteristic granted to every human allows new ideas to be crossed and