Dictionary Home / W

World

theological_term theological_term standard

In Scripture, “world” can mean the created earth, the human race, or the fallen order of life organized in rebellion against God. Context determines the sense.

At a Glance

Biblical “world” is a flexible term. It may mean the earth as God’s creation, humanity in general, or the fallen moral order marked by sin and unbelief.

Key Points

Description

In Scripture, “world” is a broad and flexible term whose meaning must be determined by context. It may refer to God’s good creation, the inhabited earth, or the human race. In many New Testament passages, however, it also refers to the fallen moral and spiritual order characterized by sin, unbelief, and hostility toward God. This is why the Bible can speak both of God’s love for the world and of the believer’s duty not to love the world: the term is being used in different senses. A sound grammatical-historical reading asks how the author is using the word in each passage rather than assigning one fixed meaning everywhere.

Biblical Context

Genesis presents the world as God’s created realm, and the Psalms affirm that the earth belongs to the LORD. In the New Testament, the same word can refer to the inhabited world, to humanity in general, or to the present age in rebellion against God. John’s writings especially make this distinction important, since the world is both loved by God and yet often hostile to Christ and his people.

Historical Context

In biblical and Greco-Roman usage, words translated “world” could range from the inhabited earth to the ordered universe to the human sphere of life. The New Testament writers used that range of meaning, but they regularly shaped it with theological force, especially when describing the contrast between God’s kingdom and the present evil age.

Jewish and Ancient Context

Second Temple Jewish thought often distinguished between this present age and the age to come. That framework helps explain why “the world” can function not merely as geography or humanity, but as a morally ordered sphere that may be aligned either with God’s purposes or with rebellion against him.

Primary Key Texts

Secondary Key Texts

Original Language Note

The main biblical words behind “world” are Hebrew ʿolam/tebel/erets in the Old Testament and Greek kosmos in the New Testament. In the New Testament, kosmos is especially important because it can refer to the ordered universe, humanity, or the sinful world system depending on context.

Theological Significance

The doctrine of the world helps readers hold together creation, fall, redemption, and sanctification. God made the world good, loves the people in it, and sent his Son to save sinners from the present evil age. At the same time, believers are not to love the world in its sinful ordering, values, and rebellion. The term therefore helps clarify both God’s common goodness and the believer’s call to holiness.

Philosophical Explanation

“World” is a polysemous term: one word with multiple related meanings. Interpretation depends on context, authorial intent, and the passage’s theological emphasis. In John’s Gospel and epistles, the term often carries a moral contrast between the created order and the fallen system that resists God.

Interpretive Cautions

Do not force one definition of “world” into every passage. Do not confuse God’s love for the world with approval of worldly sin. Do not read anti-world passages as if creation itself were evil. Likewise, do not reduce “world” to “the elect” or to “the planet” in every text. Context must decide.

Major Views

Most orthodox interpreters agree that “world” has more than one biblical sense. The main interpretive task is not to choose one meaning for all passages, but to identify which sense fits each context, especially in Johannine texts where the term is used with strong theological contrast.

Doctrinal Boundaries

The Bible’s teaching on the world supports creation’s goodness, universal human accountability, God’s saving love, and the believer’s separation from sinful patterns. It does not support worldly conformity, moral relativism, or the idea that creation itself is intrinsically evil. It also should not be used to override clear texts about repentance, holiness, and obedience.

Practical Significance

This entry helps readers avoid major misunderstandings in familiar passages. It clarifies why Christians may enjoy God’s creation while resisting worldly values, why evangelism is grounded in God’s love for the world, and why sanctification includes nonconformity to the present age.

Related Entries

See Also

Data

Machine-readable JSON for World

↑ Top