New discussion questions will help readers reflect more deeply on the ideas in each chapter. The sixth edition, updated by Sire's longtime editor Jim Hoover, features new explanatory sidebars, helpful charts comparing worldviews and illustrating their historical flow, and a chapter on challenges to a Christian worldview in the twenty-first century. Critiquing each worldview within its own frame of reference and in comparison to others, Sire encourages readers to wrestle with life's biggest questions and examine the core beliefs and commitments on which they are building their lives Intertwined with this analysis, he presents an overview of intellectual history giving insight into the current state of Western thought and culture.

Using his widely influential model of eight basic worldview questions, James Sire examines prominent worldviews that have shaped the Western world: Sire's Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept provides a useful companion volume for those desiring a more in-depth discussion of the nature of a worldview.About the Book In this new fifth edition, Sire offers student-friendly introductions to a variety of concepts: theism deism naturalism Marxism nihilism existentialism Eastern monism New Age philosophy and postmodernism.įor more than forty years, The Universe Next Door has set the standard for a clear, readable introduction to worldviews. The Universe Next Door has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been used as a text at over one hundred colleges and universities in courses ranging from apologetics and world religions to history and English literature. In a world of ever-increasing diversity, The Universe Next Door offers a unique resource for understanding the variety of worldviews that compete with Christianity for the allegiance of minds and hearts. The book continues to build on Sire's refined definition of worldviews from the fourth edition and includes other updates as well, keeping this standard text fresh and useful.

Included in this expanded format are a new chapter on Islam and informative sidebars throughout. In this new fifth edition James Sire offers additional student-friendly features to his concise, easily understood introductions to theism, deism, naturalism, Marxism, nihilism, existentialism, Eastern monism, New Age philosophy and postmodernism.

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1998 Books of the Yearįor more than thirty years, The Universe Next Door has set the standard for a clear, readable introduction to worldviews.

The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire