Professional Documents
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Chalcedon Report 2002 Oct
Chalcedon Report 2002 Oct
report
A Monthly Report Dealing with the Relationship of Christian Faith to the World
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Chalcedon Staff:
Rev. R. J. Rushdoony (1916-2001) was the founder of Chalcedon Rev. Mark R. Rushdoony is president of Chalcedon and Ross
and a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of nu- House Books. He is also editor in chief of the Chalcedon Report
merous works on the application of Biblical Law to society. and Chalcedon’s other publications.
Susan Burns is Chalcedon’s executive assistant and managing edi- Ronald Kirk is engaged in research and development promoting
tor of the Chalcedon Report and Chalcedon’s other publications. Chalcedon’s work to Christian schools and home educators.
Family
and Civilization
By R. J. Rushdoony
(Presented to the California Home Educators’ Association
in Anaheim, California in 1997)
Motives
of Ministers
By Mark R. Rushdoony
W e are too prone to
assume the early
church was characterized by
And many of the brethren in the Lord,
confident by my bonds, are much more
waxing
and women whose faith and
faithfulness relied on God with
Whom all things are possible.
purer faith and life than even bold to speak the word without fear. If we are honest with our-
the best examples of modern selves, we see ourselves as sinners
Christianity. This is to Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and — sinners saved by grace, but
misread the New Testament strife; and some also of good will: nevertheless sinners. We are
and to underestimate the never surprised to see sin in
power of sin on the saints of The one preach Christ of contention, not sin- ourselves; we should not be
all centuries. It is important cerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: surprised to see sin in others. As
to understand that the Bible this was true in Biblical times, it
is unique among holy books But the other of love, knowing that is true in the church today and,
in that it reveals multiple I am set for the defence of the gospel. Paul says in Philippians 1:14-18,
flaws in even its greatest men was even true amongst those
of faith. We must not look What then? not withstanding, every way, whether ministers who preached the true
for heroes in the Bible. The in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; gospel. Some of them, Paul says,
hero was a role created by and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. had less than pure motives and
Greek religion that looked (Phil. 1:14-18) even preferred that the apostle
for men who could rise above remain in prison!
their mortality by doing great deeds. Greek heroes
were gods in the making. Scripture shows us Pure and Impure Motives
sinners. Many were sinners saved by grace, yet they Paul contrasted two groups of ministers. Some
remained sinners. preached Christ in “good will,” “sincerely,” and “of
The great men of Scripture were not in the heroic love” with an understanding that Paul, who had
tradition, but were those who were obedient to God, been imprisoned for about five years, was “set for the
faithful when faith seemed humanly inadequate. defense of the gospel.” Others, however, preached
Some of the most memorable stories of Scripture are Christ “of envy and strife,” “of contention, not
of those who rose, by God’s grace, above various sincerely,” and in “pretense.” Their motive was “to
limitations and did mighty things. Some, like David, add affliction to my [Paul’s] bonds.”
repented from their own sin, lived with its conse- Paul’s reference to the very impure motives of the
quences, and dedicated themselves to greater latter group of ministers should not be taken to assume
faithfulness and service. Some, like Moses and Paul, these were heretics or false prophets. Paul in no way
had physical limitations. Some were faced with condemned what they were preaching; he equates the
unbelievable situations not of their own making; two messages as both preaching Christ. Only the
Noah, Gideon, and Joseph all faced such situations motives and character of the two groups of ministers
with action based on their faith in God. Some, like were different. One group of ministers was glad the
Jacob and Esther, faced the limitations of their birth apostle was out of the way and would even have
with trust in God. Many, like the disciples prior to preferred more “affliction” be placed on him. Perhaps
Christ’s resurrection, were limited by their lack of they saw themselves as the better preachers, the more
understanding of their role in serving God. The great savvy ambassadors of Christ to the Roman audience.
men of Scripture were not heroes who rose to super- Perhaps they saw Paul’s problems as being of his own
human levels by their own initiative; they were men making and their own skills as the reason they had
Fundamentals of an
Applied Theology:
Education for Liberty
By Ronald Kirk
R ev. Rushdoony observed that a liberal educa-
tion historically meant learning the art of life
in a free society. The term liberty under law aptly
The pagan heart and mind can never rightly
reconcile the One and the Many without schizophre-
nia. In the higher order philosophical development
summarizes the Biblical view. For the one governed of the ancient cultures, wholeness and meaning
by the law of liberty, God increasingly inhibits sinful existed in dialectic tension with chaos, death, de-
internal impulses. Here, “liberty” means “full godly struction, and perversion. It is the yin yang of the
obedience.” As the ability for godly self-government Orient, and the Force of Star Wars. Debauchery
grows, God increasingly inhibits the tyranny of man. becomes a way of life in such a culture, because
By faith, man becomes a slave to Christ — wherein chaos supposedly feeds order and meaning.1
is true liberty. On the other hand, Biblical Christians may rest
Jesus promised an abundant life. Success in perfectly contently with the apparent contradictions
living, a down payment on eternity, manifestly between individuality and diversity. This is so
testifies of God’s wisdom in granting grace to sinful because we know that God’s handiwork in creation
men. A true Christian education prepares the merely reflects His being. God is at once One and
individual to live for God on His terms, with the Three. We do not understand, but we accept. Upon
blessings of life and liberty following in due season. accepting God on His terms, life makes sense. We
Here is a brief introduction to the fundamentals accept our spiritual nature in earthy bodies. We
of an applied Biblical theology leading to the art of accept our individualities as created in the image of
life. The fundamentals represent a concise Biblical God. We accept peace and excitement, fulfillment
confession of human responsibility before God. and a thirst for life, difficulty and ease. Such ten-
Mastering them means possessing a working set of sions are not antithetical since diversity and change
principles remarkably comprehensive of the Biblical do not equate to chaos. Moreover, we accept good
faith. These principles can guide the Christian’s and evil, the true antithesis, because all things work
thought and decision-making for every human together for the good. Evil loses. Christ reconciles
concern and endeavor. For the inspired, earnest, and all things in Himself (2 Cor. 5:19).
intrepid believer, the following Biblically derived and Thus, we observe God’s principle of individuality.
historically manifest principles offer a powerful and According to this fundamental truth of creation,
accessible discipline toward a gospel-fulfilled life. God created everything in the universe as an identifi-
able whole of some kind. God maintains
The Triune God, His relationship between every individual entity in the
Creation and Individuality universe, directly or indirectly. This principle
Intellectual attempts to understand the universe provides a seed for understanding both human
apart from God inevitably lead to the bizarre combi- relationships and the material creation. Individuality
nation of personal license and totalitarian civil essentially means unity or oneness. Unity means
government. Regardless of philosophical or religious separation from others. Individuality also implies
justification, or the absence thereof, the results are wholeness. We distinguish wholeness from damage,
the same: The sin nature declares itself sovereign brokenness, and impurity. An impurity destroys
and the center of the universe. Others must serve wholeness, as an infected body or poisoned water.
me, my needs and desires. As the influence of sin The Biblical and English words sanctity and holiness
mounts and becomes institutionalized, the powerful correspond to this understanding.
subjugate the weak, while the lazy evade difficulty Noah Webster says that “Unity may consist of a
and seek as much comfort as possible. simple substance or existing being, as the soul; but
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By Joel Miller
I n 1995, author Jack Miles touched off a
tempest in the theological teapot with the
publication of God: A Biography, in which he attempts
him at the start, [thus] his motivation to continue is
undercut.” In short, God gets bored with creation.
He quits.
to tell the story of God by reading the Hebrew Scrip- God lets Judah get sacked, whereas in previous
tures as “imaginative literature.” With the 2001 times He would have sent a host of angels to thwart
publication of Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, Miles the attackers of His people. His restoration of the
uses the same approach to explore the life and signifi- captives is only partial. Nehemiah and Ezra live out
cance of Jesus, and the tempest is again brewing. of Persia’s pocket. Zerubbabel, of David’s line, is not
like the kings of His forebears, but rather Babylon’s
Powerful Ignoramus appointed governor of Judea; His name means
The result of the Pulitzer-winning God was a simply “born in Babylon.” It’s almost as if God just
radical revisionist take on its subject, casting God as doesn’t care anymore.
something of an all-powerful tot in the beginning, In Christ, Miles describes Him as “a white-haired
who, as a babe playing with fragile toys, plunges His sage seated on a throne, burdened with his own
creation into ruin. Like process or openness theology knowledge and emotionally detached.”
taken to the nth degree, God in Miles’ scheme But by the time we get to the New Testament, as
explores, experiments, and toys through life with the Miles spins the yarn, there is a switch. God has
rest of His creatures. He’s learning His own ropes. grown up and, now older and wiser, wants to fix the
“The Lord God at the start of the Tanakh [the disaster He’s made of creation. He’s no self-justifying
Jewish Bible] is a being in whom self-ignorance is King Lear (“I am a man more sinned against than
joined to immense power,” but God begins to doubt sinning”1 ). Rather, Christ fesses up and wants to set
and falter as He is “immediately surprised by the things right.
consequences of his actions,” says Miles. People don’t
act the way He thinks they should. They rebel, and He God Repents
overreacts. Miles, for instance, refers to God’s post-Fall Mentioning that Jesus’ ministry begins with John’s
treatment of Adam and Eve as a “vindictive reaction.” baptism, Miles is quick to note the “remarkable fact
But Miles sees God as mellowing over time. that God Incarnate has begun his redemptive work
The Tanakh arranges the Scriptures differently with an act of public repentance. Everything that
than does the Old Testament. Tucked in the back are will follow...will be preformed under the sign of this
books like Psalms, Job, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. repentance. The fact bears repeating: God has re-
Using this arrangement, Miles reads the Tanakh in pented! But of what?” Turn back a few pages for the
one start-to-finish, organic chunk and concludes that answer. “The world is a great crime,” he explains,
God, excited and powerful in the beginning of the “and someone must be made to pay for it.” Ah, but
“narrative,” trades His omnipotence for omniscience “who is to be blamed for our expulsion from Eden?
as He goes along. Increasingly He learns His own It is the Lord himself who cursed what he created.”
limitations and becomes humble, even reclusive. Thus, he says, “Mythologically read, the New
Miles quotes David’s “Why do you sleep, O Lord?” Testament is the story of how someone, the right
as evidence of God’s disengagement. With Lamenta- someone, does pay for it.”
tions God is sitting back and watching, but not Miles’ theography in a nutshell: God fouls
acting. By the time we get to Esther, God doesn’t things up. God as Christ repents. Christ pays for
even make an appearance. As God comes to learn His sins on the cross — what Miles refers to as a
more and more, He “understands what motivated “sacred suicide.”