Christian Renaissance

5:25:15 AM EDT

Alliance of Christianity and Science

by Kenneth R. Samples

The influential British mathematician-philosopher Bertrand Russell once remarked, "I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue." In his popular and controversial work Why I Am Not A Christian, Russell leveled the charge that Christianity, in particular, has served as an opponent of all intellectual progress, especially progress in science.[1] Since Russell's time, other outspoken advocates of a naturalistic worldview have echoed Russell's claim, asserting that Christianity is incompatible with - even hostile to - the findings of modern science. Many in our culture view Christianity as unscientific, at best, anti-scientific at worst.

Conflicts between scientific theories and the Christian faith have arisen through the centuries, to be sure. However, the level of conflict has often been exaggerated, and Christianity's positive influence on scientific progress is seldom acknowledged.[2] I would like to turn the tables by arguing for Christianity's compatibility with - and furtherance of - scientific endeavor and arguing against the compatibility of naturalism and science.

(1) The intellectual climate that gave rise to modem science (roughly three centuries ago) was decisively shaped by Christianity.[3] Not only were most of the founding fathers of science themselves devout Christians (including Copernicus, Kepler. Galileo. Newton, Boyle, and Pascal),[4] but the Christian worldview provided a basis for modem science both to emerge and to flourish. Christian theism affirmed that an infinite, eternal, and personal God created the world ex nihilo. The creation, reflecting the rational nature of the Creator, was therefore orderly and uniform. Further, humankind was uniquely created in God's image (Gen. 1:26-7), thus capable of reasoning and of discovering the intelligibility of the created order. In effect, the Christian worldview supported the underlying principles that made scientific inquiry possible and desirable.

Eminent historian and philosopher of science Stanley Jaki has argued that science was "stillborn" in other great civilizations outside Europe because of prevailing ideas that stifled scientific development, e.g., a cyclical approach to time, an astrological approach to the heavens, metaphysical views that either deified nature (animism) or denied it (idealism).[5]

(2) The principles underlying the scientific method (testability, verification/falsification) arise from the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. The experimental method was clearly nurtured by Christian doctrine.[6] Because the Christian founders of modem science believed that the heavens genuinely declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1), they possessed both the necessary conceptual framework and the spiritual incentive to boldly explore nature's mysteries. According to Christian theism, God has disclosed Himself in two dynamic ways: through special revelation (God's redemptive actions recorded in the Bible - "God's book") and through general revelation (God's creative actions discoverable in nature - "God's world"). Puritan scientists in England and in America viewed the study of science as a sacred attempt to "think God's thoughts after Him."'

While Christians have plenty of room to grow in the virtues of discernment, reflection, and vigorous analysis, the wisdom literature of the Old Testament consistently exhorts God's people to exercise them. and the New Testament teaches the same message (see Col. 2:8; I Thes. 5:21: 1 Jn. 4:1). These principles served as the backdrop for the emerging experimental method.

(3) Some of the philosophical presuppositions foundational to the study of science include these: the existence of an objectively real world, the comprehensibility of that world, the reliability of sense perception and human rationality, the orderliness and uniformity of nature, and the validity of mathematics and logic.[8] These necessary preconditions of science are rooted in Christian theism's claims of an infinite, eternal, and personal creator who has carefully ordered the universe and provided man with a mind that corresponds to the universe's intelligibility. This Christian schema served as the intellectual breeding ground for modern science. It sustained science and enabled it to flourish. How does naturalism compare? Does it explain or provide fertile ground for the birth and progress of science?

Consider how a naturalist might answer the following questions: How can a world that is the product of blind, non-purposeful processes account for and justify the crucial conditions that make the scientific enterprise even possible? How does naturalism justify the inductive method, assumptions about the uniformity of nature, and the existence of abstract, non-empirical entities such as numbers, propositions, and the laws of logic if the world is the product of a mindless accident? According to naturalism, isn't even the human mind one accident in a series of many accidents?[9] If so, how can we have any confidence it steers us toward truth? How could such a concept as truth even be conceived?

Christian philosopher Greg L. Bahnsen argues not only that naturalism fails to justify its underlying presuppositions but also that naturalists illegitimately rest their scientific endeavors on Christian theistic principles. Naturalists borrow from Christianity. Consider this insightful observation by physicist and popular author Paul Davies:

People take it for granted that the physical world is both ordered and intelligible. The underlying order in nature - the laws of physics - are simply accepted as given, as brute facts. Nobody asks where they came from; at least they do not do so in polite company. However, even the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act of faith that the universe is not absurd, that there is a rational basis to physical existence manifested as lawlike order in nature that is at least partly comprehensible to us. So science can proceed only if the scientist adopts an essentially theological worldview.[10]

One may wonder if science would have arisen had the dominant metaphysical views of the time been naturalistic and materialistic. Would naturalism have been able to sustain the scientific enterprise that Christian theism generated? The eminent Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga gives his opinion: "Modern science was conceived, and born, and flourished in the matrix of Christian theism. Only liberal doses of self-deception and double-think, I believe, will permit it to flourish in the context of Darwinian naturalism."[11]

(4) The prevailing scientific notions of big bang cosmology and the emerging anthropic principle seem uniquely compatible with Christian theism. Since the universe had a singular beginning, we have a logical right and reason to inquire about its cause. Gottfried Leibniz's classic question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" seems even more provocative in light of what we now know about the big bang universe Is it more reasonable to believe that the universe came into existence from nothing by nothing or that, as the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?"

Modern Science was conceived, and born, and flourished in the matrix of Christian theism. Only liberal doses of self-deception and double-think, I believe, will permit it to flourish in the context of Darwinian naturalism.
- Alvin Plantinga

http://www.augustinefellowship.org/augustinefellowship/resource/00000003.shtml

Tags: christianity, science

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8:29:58 AM EDT

On the Care of Creation

An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation

The Earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof - Psalm 24:1

As followers of Jesus Christ, committed to the full authority of the Scriptures, and aware of the ways we have degraded creation, we believe that biblical faith is essential to  the solution of our ecological problems.

Because we worship and honor the Creator, we seek to cherish and care for the creation.

Because we have sinned, we have failed in our stewardship  of creation. Therefore we repent of the way we have polluted, distorted, or destroyed so much of the Creator's work.

Because in Christ God has healed our alienation from God and extended to us the first fruits of the reconciliation of all things, we commit ourselves to working in the power of the Holy Spirit to share the Good News of Christ in word and deed, to work for the reconciliation of all people in Christ, and to extend Christ's healing to suffering creation.

Because we await the time when even the groaning creation will be restored to wholeness, we commit ourselves to work vigorously to protect and  heal that creation for the honor and glory of the Creator---whom we know dimly through creation, but meet fully through Scripture and in Christ. We and our  children face a growing crisis in the health of the creation in which we are embedded, and through which, by God's grace, we are sustained. Yet we continue to degrade that creation.

These degradations of creation can be summed up as 1) land  degradation; 2) deforestation; 3) species extinction; 4) water degradation; 5)  global toxification; 6) the alteration of atmosphere; 7) human and cultural degradation.

Many of these degradations are signs that we are pressing against the  finite limits God has set for creation. With continued population growth, these  degradations will become more severe. Our responsibility is not only to bear and nurture children, but to nurture their home on earth. We respect the institution of marriage as the way God has given to insure thoughtful procreation of children and their nurture to the glory of God.

We recognize that human poverty is both a cause and a consequence of environmental degradation.

Many concerned people, convinced that environmental problems are more spiritual than technological, are exploring the world's ideologies and religions  in search of non-Christian spiritual resources for the healing of the earth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe that the Bible calls us to respond in four  ways:

First, God calls us to confess and repent of attitudes which devalue creation, and which twist or ignore biblical revelation to support our misuse of  it. Forgetting that "the earth is the Lord's," we have often simply used  creation and forgotten our responsibility to care for it.

Second, our actions and attitudes toward the earth need to proceed  from the center of our faith, and be rooted in the fullness of God's revelation in Christ and the Scriptures. We resist both ideologies which would presume the  Gospel has nothing to do with the care of non-human creation and also ideologies which would reduce the Gospel to nothing more than the care of that creation.

Third, we seek carefully to learn all that the Bible tells us about  the Creator, creation, and the human task. In our life and words we declare that full good news for all creation which is still waiting "with eager longing for  the revealing of the children of God,"(Rom. 8:19).

Fourth, we seek to understand what creation reveals about God's divinity, sustaining presence, and everlasting power, and what creation teaches  us of its God-given order and the principles by which it works.

Thus we call on all those who are committed to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to affirm the following principles of biblical faith, and to seek ways of living out these principles in our personal lives, our churches, and  society.

The cosmos, in all its beauty, wildness, and life-giving bounty, is the work of our personal and loving Creator.

Our creating God is prior to and other than creation, yet intimately involved with it, upholding each thing in its freedom, and all things in relationships of intricate complexity. God is transcendent, while lovingly sustaining each creature; and immanent, while wholly other than creation and not  to be confused with it.

God the Creator is relational in very nature, revealed as three persons in One. Likewise, the creation which God intended is a symphony of individual creatures in harmonious relationship.

The Creator's concern is for all creatures. God declares all creation "good" (Gen. 1:31); promises care in a covenant with all creatures (Gen. 9:9-17); delights in creatures which have no human apparent usefulness (Job 39-41); and wills, in Christ, "to reconcile all things to himself" (Col.1:20).

Men, women, and children, have a unique responsibility to the Creator; at the same time we are creatures, shaped by the same processes and embedded in  the same systems of physical, chemical, and biological interconnections which  sustain other creatures.

Men, women, and children, created in God's image, also have a unique responsibility for creation. Our actions should both sustain creation's fruitfulness and preserve creation's powerful testimony to its Creator.

Our God-given , stewardly talents have often been warped from their intended purpose: that we know, name, keep and delight in God's creatures; that  we nourish civilization in love, creativity and obedience to God; and that we  offer creation and civilization back in praise to the Creator. We have ignored our creaturely limits and have used the earth with greed, rather than care.

The earthly result of human sin has been a perverted stewardship, a  patchwork of garden and wasteland in which the waste is increasing. "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land...Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away" (Hosea 4:1,3). Thus, one consequence of our misuse of the earth is an unjust denial of God's created bounty to other human beings, both now and in the future.

God's purpose in Christ is to heal and bring to wholeness not only  persons but the entire created order. "For God was pleased to have all his  fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things,  whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood  shed on the cross" (Col. 1:19-20).

In Jesus Christ, believers are forgiven, transformed and brought into  God's kingdom. "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation" (II Cor. 5:17). The presence of the kingdom of God is marked not only by renewed fellowship with  God, but also by renewed harmony and justice between people, and by renewed harmony and justice between people and the rest of the created world. "You will  go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isa. 55:12).

We believe that in Christ there is hope, not only for men, women and children, but also for the rest of creation which is suffering from the  consequences of human sin.

Therefore we call upon all Christians to reaffirm that all creation is  God's; that God created it good; and that God is renewing it in Christ.

We encourage deeper reflection on the substantial biblical and theological teaching which speaks of God's work of redemption in terms of the renewal and completion of God's purpose in creation.

We seek a deeper reflection on the wonders of God's creation and the  principles by which creation works. We also urge a careful consideration of how our corporate and individual actions respect and comply with God's ordinances for creation.

We encourage Christians to incorporate the extravagant creativity of  God into their lives by increasing the nurturing role of beauty and the arts in  their personal, ecclesiastical, and social patterns.

We urge individual Christians and churches to be centers of creation's  care and renewal, both delighting in creation as God's gift, and enjoying it as  God's provision, in ways which sustain and heal the damaged fabric of the  creation which God has entrusted to us.

We recall Jesus' words that our lives do not consist in the abundance  of our possessions, and therefore we urge followers of Jesus to resist the  allure of wastefulness and overconsumption by making personal lifestyle choices  that express humility, forbearance, self restraint and frugality.

We call on all Christians to work for godly, just, and sustainable  economies which reflect God's sovereign economy and enable men, women and  children to flourish along with all the diversity of creation. We recognize that  poverty forces people to degrade creation in order to survive; therefore we support the development of just, free economies which empower the poor and create abundance without diminishing creation's bounty.

We commit ourselves to work for responsible public policies which embody the principles of biblical stewardship of creation.

We invite Christians--individuals, congregations and organizations--to  join with us in this evangelical declaration on the environment, becoming a  covenant people in an ever-widening circle of biblical care for creation.

We call upon Christians to listen to and work with all those who are  concerned about the healing of creation, with an eagerness both to learn from them and also to share with them our conviction that the God whom all people  sense in creation (Acts 17:27) is known fully only in the Word made flesh in Christ the living God who made and sustains all things.

We make this declaration knowing that until Christ returns to reconcile all things, we are called to be faithful stewards of God's good garden, our earthly home.

View partial list of signators

For more information:

Evangelical Environmental Network
4485 Tench Road Suite 850
Suwanee, GA 30024
een@creationcare.org

http://www.creationcare.org/resources/declaration.php

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4:08:05 AM EDT
   Moral and Spiritual Discernment

The greatest crisis in the church today is the lack of moral and spiritual discernment.  The power of moral discrimination is the mark of spiritual maturity in contrast to childhood.  Poor judgment is exercised and lives are destroyed and testimonies ruined.

Every study reveals the same disparity between everyday life and Christian teaching.  There is little difference between the professing Christian and the world.  Talk to any spiritually mature pastor, and you hear the same lament.  One pastor said recently, “One morning I am going to stand up and shout, “Grow up!”

Hebrews 5:11-14 deals with the same problem.  "Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

Just like the modern church, they had remained immature too long.  The pastor is saying, “Let’s pass onto them what is mature.”  But that is just the problem.  Our “salad bar, make me feel good” mentality refuses to go on to mature discernment between good and evil and better and best.

The author of Hebrews admonishes us to leave “the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on to maturity.”  He is not suggesting that we despise or abandon these basic doctrines we learned as babies in the Christian faith.  If we digested the spiritual milk, we do not have to go back and have someone teach us again the basics.  The problem both then and now is they did not digest the spiritual food for infants.  One pastor suggested, “Manna not used breeds worms!  Milk undigested ferments.”

There is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and moral discernment.

We must never desert the fundamental basic truth upon which everything else in the Christian life exists. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once and for all never to be repeated.  All of the sins of the elect of God are under the blood of that sacrifice.  We have been cleansed of our sins by that blood.  The spotless Lamb of God cleansed and removed our sins, and we have been reconciled to God.  That fact never changes.  Don’t forget the fundamentals; build on them.  The goal of the Christian is to go on to full maturity of spiritual growth. Hebrews 6:1 says, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” 

How tragic the situation!  “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12).

Note carefully what the author goes on to say. "For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:13-14).

There are those who cry, “Feed me, preacher!” The sad truth is that many want to be entertained and not fed the riches of God’s Word. Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned.  Only the spiritual mind and a heart that thirsts for God can receive spiritual truth.

Every Christian who is going on to spiritual maturity will be constrained to teach others what he or she is learning. “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

The immature Christian never gets beyond the use of spiritual milk meant for babies because there is no hunger and thirsting for the righteousness of God. 

Do you have a real longing for deliverance from the power of sin in your personal life?  Are you being obedient to the truth you have already learned as a baby?  Has God placed in your heart a hungering and thirsting for a deeper knowledge and experience of Him? There will be spiritual growth only as we are obedient to what He has already taught us in His word.  Why is there so little earnest pursuit after discerning the difference between good and evil, the better and the best in Christian living?

Oh, Spirit of God help me to grow up!

Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

http://www.abideinchrist.com/selah/aug27.html

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9:14:44 AM EDT

Jesus and Politics - Part Two

The Christian Statesman - PO Box 8741-WP - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221

by Andrew Sandlin

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17).

The Victory of the Kingdom and the Political Sphere

Jesus' life and teaching relate a final crucial fact about politics. It is that we can expect the gradual advancement of the kingdom of God in time and history which will influence and eventually shape the political realm. In Matthew 13:31-33, Jesus relates the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The objective of these parables is to describe how the kingdom of God from small beginnings grows to an overwhelming size. Kenneth Gentry says of the parable of the mustard seed, "The imagery is unquestionably of something magnificent beyond expectation."7 The parable of the leaven in the dough speaks of the intensive working of the kingdom of God--it pervades the entire dough. This is how the kingdom of God grows. Its beginning is minute, almost unseen. However, it steadily, gradually grows to magnificent proportions. This parable of Jesus' sounds quite like Nebuchad-nezzar's dream which Daniel interpreted in Daniel 2. There, Messiah's kingdom is likened to a small, supernaturally thrown stone which crushes the feet of the image. This image is the four great world empires, the Roman Empire being the last. The stone, merely by striking the feet, destroys the entire image. Gradually the stone grows to be a mountain to fill the entire earth. It begins as something small, and soon engulfs the entire world.

Jesus' parable of the growth of the kingdom of God teaches the same thing. But what is the kingdom of God? We have already noted that it is not a political kingdom. Theologians distinguish between God's universal, providential kingdom and Christ's mediatorial kingdom. God's universal, providential kingdom is his rule over all things--it is the exercise of his sovereignty fulfilling his will on the earth (Ps. 24; 95:3; 98:5-9; 146:5-10). Christ's mediatorial kingdom is somewhat different. It is set forth in texts like Psalm 2:7-12 and 1 Cor. 15:24. It is the special rule over the nations which God the Father grants to his Son as a reward for his faithfulness.

When Jesus begins his ministry by saying the kingdom of God is at hand, he certainly is not referring to God's universal, providential kingdom. It had existed long before Christ's incarnation. Rather, he is talking about his own messianic kingdom. He refers to the rule of the nations which he will exercise.8 Recall that many of the Jews confused this kingdom with a revolutionary political kingdom that would break the yoke of the Roman oppressors and establish a Jewish theocracy on the earth. Jesus quickly disabused the Jews about this. He pointed out that the kingdom of God is not by public show and pomp, but exists in the midst of those near to him (Lk. 17:20-23; cf. Matt. 12:28). He stated that the kingdom comprises those who are poor in spirit and persecuted for their obedience (Mt. 5:3-12; 6:33). Only those who are born again (Jn. 3:3) and who do God's will enter the kingdom (Matt. 7:21). In other words, the kingdom of God as the realm of Christ's reign is not fundamentally political, but is religious and ethical. However, it affects the state. In the Old Testament we learn that Messiah's kingdom will include the widespread submission to his law (Isa. 2:3), and even political rulers will bow to his will (Isa. 49:23). The kingdom will affect every area of life, and the political sphere will not be excluded.

To preach and teach the kingdom of God, therefore, is to preach and teach the message of comprehensive salvation: Christ shed his blood as atonement for sinful man. All of those who by faith alone cast themselves upon him are swept into his kingdom. They thereby bow themselves to his authority expressed in his Word. This begins the process of sanctification. Sanctification affects the entire man. This Christian man, if properly taught, works to sanctify every area of life and thought. This is the comprehensive, biblical teaching of salvation. As an increasing number of individuals are converted and apply the Faith to all of life, they affect all areas of society. This does not exclude politics.

We cannot consistently argue that the Bible and the Christian faith applies to the individual, the family, and at most the church, but that it does not apply to the state. We cannot say that Christ is Lord of the Christian, the school, and the denomination, but that he is not Lord of the state. This is to deny Christ's claims of Lordship. It is to assault his mediatorial kingdom. In whatever we do--including politics--we are to do it to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

If we are elected to political office, we must glorify God. We do this by obeying the Bible. And Jesus Christ himself confirms the authority of Old Testament civil law as properly enforced in the state. In other words, although Jesus did not teach political revolution, his teachings, when properly implemented by his people on a wide scale, will produce great political change by peaceful means. The kingdom of God is not political, but it has significant implications for politics, just as it has significant implications for art, education, science, technology, and so forth. Every area of life should be Christianized, including the state.

Christianity: Radical or Reactionary?

Finally, this answers the question of whether Christianity is either a radical or a reactionary force. If we had listened to many of the "Jesus People" in 60s and 70s, we would have heard that Jesus was a revolutionary political radical. One of his main objectives was to overthrow the Roman political system and establish something akin to a socialist commune. Even radical evangelical political magazines like Sojourners and The Other Side articulated this view. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those today who charge that Jesus Christ and his followers were politically and socially reactionary: women are held to be subordinate to men, slavery is permissible, private property is inviolable, and so forth. In other words, some leftists use the Bible to prove that the Bible supports leftism, while other leftists attack the Bible because it is anti-leftism. The former consider the message of Christ and the Bible radical, while the later consider it reactionary.

Christianity is neither radical nor reactionary but regenerative. 9 Christ's message is one neither of political reaction norradicalism, but of fundamental regeneration. Christ's message was not one of political revolution. Notwithstanding, we must never assume by that his message invariably supports the status quo. The message of Christ and the Bible is the message of change across the entire spectrum of life--by regeneration, not by revolution.

This is the core message of Jesus Christ as it relates to politics: political change is the effect of a religious re-orientation. Most Christians are not called to full-time political activity (for this we can be grateful!). They are called, however, to obedience in every area of life. This includes obedience at the ballot box in a democracy. If Christians are faithful in every sphere in which they are involved, eventually their faithfulness will be reflected broadly in politics.

Nevertheless, some Christians are called to direct political involvement. In the Bible, Joseph, David, Daniel, and many others were. Politics is a legitimate sphere of Christian activity. What should the goal of Christians be in a political sphere? Simply stated, it is to be just as Christian in the political sphere as in any other sphere. In modern Western democracies, it means pressing for godly change within the state: electing Christian candidates or candidates who will act on biblical truth, working to pass legislation that will reflect and enforce biblical law; working to halt the modern leviathan state which has become a substitute religion, alerting colleagues in politics that the political sphere is not amoral, but inherently reflects religious perspectives. The explicitly biblical political task is not easy. Christians must work in a system presently dominated by non-Christians. But this is really no different than most other Christian callings in the world. The kingdom of God advances slowly and incrementally in the world; it advances slowly and incrementally in politics. Christians should work faithfully, patiently, but relentlessly in pressing the claims of biblical Christianity in the political sphere.

Conclusion

Jesus' message was not a political message. It was a religious message. Men are saved by trusting in Christ and him alone (Jn. 14:1, 11). They are called to submit to his Lordship (Mt. 16:24-26) and obey his word (Lk. 9:28-35). If they do this, however, they will act differently in the political realm than unbelievers. They will recognize the authority of the Bible, specifically Old Testament law, in the civil sphere. They will acknowledge that both God and the state are valid authorities, but that in any conflict between them, man must obey God and not the state. Finally, Christians will recognize that the kingdom of God will progress gradually in time and history, and that it will one day pervade the political realm. Christians are called to obey in politics no less than any other area of life. Jesus is Lord in politics just as he is in the family and church.

Endnotes

1. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (New York, 1905), 2:385.

2. Greg L. Bahnsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics (Phillipsburg, NJ, 1984 edition); Rousas John Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law (no loc., 1973).

3. Andrew Sandlin, "Principled Resistance to Tyranny: One Man's View," The Christian Statesman, vol. 141, no. 1 (January-February 1998), 5-7.

4. Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (London, 1955), 112-137.

5. Milhail Heller, Cogs in the Wheel: The Formation of Soviet Man (New York, 1988).

6. Andrew Sandlin, "The Christian Libertarian Paradigm: Freedom Under God's Law," Christianity and Society, vol. 4, no. 3 (July 1996), 24-26.

7. Kenneth L. Gentry, He Shall Have Dominion (Tyler, TX, 1992), 238.

8. William Symington, Messiah the Prince (Edmonton, Alberta [1884], 1990).

9. H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York, 1951), 190-229.

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9:11:00 AM EDT

Jesus and Politics - Part One

The Christian Statesman - PO Box 8741-WP - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221

by Andrew Sandlin

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17).

The kingdom which Jesus preached was not a political kingdom. This is quite clear. Jesus declared to the Pharisees that the kingdom of God comes not "with observation," or outward show (Lk. 17:20-23). As he stood accused before Pilate, he delivered those memorable words, "My kingdom is not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). He did not mean that his kingdom was not designed to pervade the world. He meant that its source was heavenly, not earthly. Similarly, St. Paul, one of Jesus' leading disciples after the ascension, teaches that in regeneration, God translates us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col. 1:13). Clearly, this is not a political kingdom.

Jesus' mere presence, however, created political conflict. This conflict began at his birth. Herod was informed by the wise men of the East that the King of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-8). The goal of their long trek was to see and to honor this King. The wise men were warned not to alert Herod of Jesus' location. Herod, in his insane jealousy, demanded that all infants in Bethlehem age two and younger be killed (Matt. 2:16-18). If he could not ferret out the young King, he would destroy an entire generation of infants. An abundance of families suffered grievously as a result of Herod's miscalculation. When he heard the phrase, "the King of the Jews" (Matt. 2:2), he thought immediately of a political kingdom. He thought that the young King had been birthed with a design to supplant his own royal position. This was a serious misunderstanding. Herod thought that Jesus Christ's kingdom was to be a political regime; actually, it was to be a religious regime with political implications. Herod thought that the conflict was political; in reality, it was religious. Any political conflict emerged as a result of the fundamental religious conflict.

During Jesus' earthly ministry, many Jews made the same mistake Herod did, though from an entirely different angle. They were weary of the Roman yoke and longed for national and political emancipation. A pesky group of them were political revolutionaries.1 Their objective was to overthrow Roman political authority. Eventually they were squashed in the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. When these Jews and those whom they influenced heard Jesus' claims of kingship, they made the same mistaken inference Herod had: that Jesus' was a political kingdom. They were anticipating a political messiah. Interestingly, the Old Testament, which many of them knew well, provided a measure of justification for this inference. It spoke of the Great One who was to come, the Messiah who would break the yoke of the Jews' captors and restore Israel to a place of prominence among the nations.

There is no question that this is what the Old Testament teaches (Jer. 23:5-8; Ez. 34:24-31; Mic. 5:5-6; Zech. 9-10). Unfortunately, these politically motivated Jews contemporary with Jesus did not read all the Old Testament. Elsewhere the Old Testament had made clear that the Messiah was to suffer for the sins of his people. His principal objective in his coming was "to make his soul an offering for sin" (Isa. 53:10). John the Baptist had made this clear when he declared when he saw Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). To the two disciples on the Emmaus road, Jesus expounded the teaching of the law andthe prophets in all things concerning himself; among other things he noted how that the Old Testament itself had taught that Christ must first suffer and then enter into his glory (Lk. 24:26). Israel's victory over her enemies is a result of Christ's death. Death precedes enthronement. Most of the Jews of Jesus' day misunderstood this. They tried to separate the king's redemptive ministry from its political implications. They therefore saw in Jesus a political revolutionary. He was nothing of the kind. He commanded soldiers in the Roman army to be faithful to their calling (Lk. 3:14). He told his disciples that those who lived by the sword would die by the sword (Matt. 26:52). In the Sermon on the Mount, he required of his followers long-suffering in the face of provocation and persecution (Matt. 5:38-48). When Jesus perceived that some of his listeners would try to force kingship on him, he hid from them (Jn. 6:15). These are hardly the marks of a political revolutionary.

On the other hand, it would be totally in error to hold that Jesus' life and teaching had nothing to do with politics. All to the contrary, a politics that does not issue from a proper understanding of Jesus' teaching will be a seriously misguided--and ultimately dangerous--politics. In three ways especially the life and teaching of Jesus impinge on politics and political issues.

The Authority of Old Testament Law

First, Jesus explicitly confirmed the authority of Old Testament law (Matt. 5:17-19),2 which contains a number of requirements designed to cover political life. The first thing to notice is that certain specific laws are required by God to be implemented in the civil sphere. These include the well-known laws prohibiting murder, theft, rape, kidnapping, witchcraft, and so forth. These are laws to which civil penalties are attached, sometimes even the death penalty. Let us not miss the pointthat Jesus himself confirmed the authority of the entire Old Testament, and we cannot exclude the civil laws from that category. The only Old Testament laws or classifications of laws which are no longer applicable are those which the Bible itself sets aside. A leading example is the Old Testament sacrificial system, which the book of Hebrews makes clear was designed to be done away with in Christ, the final, enduring sacrifice (Heb. 9). But we discover no teaching in the Bible itself that the civil laws--at least most of them--have been suspended. For example, the New Testament no where tells us that the civil laws prohibiting murder, blasphemy, homosexuality, and false witness in a civil case have been abrogated. These laws, and many others within this category, remain in force. If we are to take seriously the entire range of Jesus' teaching, we must take seriously his teaching about the authority of the Old Testament. And if we are to take seriously his teaching about the authority of the Old Testament, we must take seriously what the Old Testament teaches about civil law. Jesus confirmed that Old Testament civil law should govern the civil aspects of life.

We should recall, in addition, that Jesus' confirmation of Old Testament law alerts us to Old Testament requirements for civil magistrates. For one thing, they must be "wise men," and God-fearing fathers and husbands (Deut. 1:12-18). The book of Deuteronomy declares that the king is to write out the entire law so that he will remain humble before God and before his citizens (Deut. 17:18-20). This obviously implies that any civil magistrate should be acquainted with the teaching of biblical law. God's law governing magistrates strictly forbids taking bribes to pervert justice (Ex. 23:8; Prov. 29:4), debasing currency (Lev. 19:35-36; Prov. 20:10; Ez. 45:9-10), and the oppression of the poor, weak, and foreigners (Ex. 22:22-25; 23:6, 9). These are all requirements which prospective civil magistrates must take seriously indeed. Not only does the Old Testament set forth the laws by which the commonwealth should be governed; it also establishes the laws by which the magistrates themselves should be governed. No one is above the law; this is a biblical fact. Jesus' confirmation of Old Testament law, therefore, reveals clear political implications.

Ultimate and Subordinate Civil Authorities

Second, Jesus validates the authority of de facto civil governments while asserting the fundamental authority of God.3 This is the lesson of the story of the tribute money (Matt. 22:15-22).4 Several Pharisees confronted Jesus with what they thought would be a sticky question: "Here is a coin on which Caesar's face appears. Is it lawful to render to Caesar?" (that is, should one pay taxes?). They assumed that they had placed Jesus on the horns of a dilemma. If he replied that one should pay taxes, the revolutionary Jews would consider him just another lapdog for Caesar. However, if he responded that citizens should not pay taxes, this would get him into big political trouble with the Roman Empire. The answer was unequivocal: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." He recognized the subordinate authority of the Roman Empire, while asserting the ultimate authority of God.

In this account we can deduce a second prime implication for politics from Jesus' life and ministry: God grants de facto civil government legitimate authority; but when the authority of civil government conflicts with God's authority, Christians must obey God. This is exactly what the early disciples believed: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Ac. 5:29). On the one hand, this prevents sedition and anarchy in the name of Christian fidelity; on the other hand, it limits the authority of all human civil government. Man is not God and may not exercise divine prerogatives. Civil government is a divinely delegated authority. We should remember that the Roman Empire of Christ's day was anything but a Christian empire. It was authoritarian, if not in some ways totalitarian. Yet Jesus Christ did not counsel sedition or revolution, and he counseled his hearers to pay their taxes--even to a corrupt regime. Sedition, revolution and anarchy are not legitimate Christian recourses. As the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ was committed to the power of regeneration, not revolution (Jn. 3:1-10). Why have revolution and the coercion and tyranny it brings in its wake been so pervasive in the last three centuries? Because gradually men have lost faith in regeneration. When men lose hope in the power of regeneration, they must place confidence in the power of revolution. If men cannot be supernaturally changed internally, it is assumed that they must be naturally coerced externally.

This is not the Christian method of changing man. The message of the gospel is the message of peace (Ac. 10:34-36; Eph. 6:15; cf. Rom. 3:17). It is salvation by grace through faith in Christ and his atoning work (2 Cor. 5:17-21). Regeneration reorients man in every aspect of his being. It begins the process of sanctification whereby man is gradually conformed to Christ's image (Rom. 12:1-2) and to the standard of biblical law (Matt. 5:19-20). As men are changed, they begin to act differently in every sphere of life. Eventually this sanctification works its way into the political sphere. Godly political change, consequently, is a result of regeneration.

Almost all modern political ideologies reject this idea. Marxism is a prime example. It holds that man is essentially "plastic."5 Man is shaped by the factors of his environment. In other words, men can be fundamentally changed by naturalistic means. Of course, this is a formula for totalitarianism, torture, terror and all the other horrors of modern politicized states. Jesus' view is that man can be fundamentally changed only by regeneration. The state cannot change man fundamentally, and if it tries to change him fundamentally, it ends up creating hell on earth. The message of Jesus Christ is that men are fundamentally changed by being born again, or born from above (Jn. 3:3). This has drastic implications for the political sphere.

We render to Caesar what is Caesar's. We pay our taxes. We serve in the military. We obey Caesar's laws unless they conflict with God's laws in the Bible. This is Christ's teaching. But Caesar, from the Christian standpoint, should have only a limited role in life. The fundamental issues are always religious, not political. This implies quite a minor role for the state, and this is what the Bible teaches elsewhere. Romans 13 relates to us the role of the state. It is to "execute wrath" on evildoers. But how do we define evil? This is not arbitrary. The Bible defines it for us. Sin is the transgression of God's law (1 Jn. 3:4). Most sins are not crimes; they are not punishable by the state. But some sins, like murder, theft, and kidnapping, are defined as crimes in the Bible. Evil is what the Bible defines as evil. The Bible is the standard to which we must appeal when deciding what the state may and may not criminalize. When we do this, we discover that it is a very limited scope. For instance, the Bible does not authorize the state to correct "income inequalities." It does not direct the state to furnish universal or old age health care or guaranteed retirement income. It does not enjoin the state to provide taxpayer-funded education.

In biblical terms, the state has a very limited role: the punishment of evildoers. It thus protects, in early United States' terms, life, liberty and property. It is not authorized to make men Christians or persecute those who are not Christians. It is authorized to punish those who violate that section of biblical law appropriate to the civil sphere.6 Jesus affirms the Bible, and the Bible gives a very limited role to the state. One chief implication of Jesus' teaching for politics, therefore, is that the state must be limited to its biblical prerogatives.

http://www.natreformassn.org/statesman/98/jandpol.html

National Reform Association

http://www.natreformassn.org/index.html

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7:51:08 AM EDT

Christian Environmentalism

Dr. Ray Bohlin

The news media is full of stories concerning environmental disasters of one kind or another, from global warming to endangered species to destruction of the rain forests to nuclear accidents. It is not hard to notice that the environmental issue receives very little attention in Christian circles. There are so many other significant issues that occupy our attention that we seem to think of the environment as somebody else's issue. Many Christians are openly skeptical of the reality of any environmental crisis. It is viewed as a liberal issue, or New Age propaganda, or just plain unimportant since this earth will be destroyed after the millennium. What we fail to realize is that Christians have a sacred responsibility to the earth and the creatures within it. The earth is being affected by humans in an unprecedented manner, and we do not know what the short or long term effects will be.

The Seven Degradations of the Earth

Calvin DeWitt, in his book The Environment and the Christian, lists seven degradations of the earth. First, land is being converted from wilderness to agricultural use and from agricultural use to urban areas at an ever-increasing rate. Some of these lands cannot be reclaimed at all, at least not in the near future.

Second, as many as three species a day become extinct. Once a species has disappeared, it is gone. Neither the species nor the role it occupied in the ecosystem can be retrieved.

Third, land continues to be degraded by the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Just because DDT is no longer used does not mean that potentially harmful chemicals are not being used in its place.

Fourth, the treatment of hazardous chemicals and wastes continues as an unsolved problem. Hazardous chemicals seep into water sources from previously buried dumping grounds.

Fifth, pollution is rapidly becoming a global problem. Human garbage turns up on the shores of uninhabited South Pacific islands, far from the shipping lanes, and DDT has been found in Antarctic penguins.

Sixth, our atmosphere appears to be changing. Is it warming due to the increase of gases like carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels? Is the ozone layer shrinking due to the use of chemicals contained in refrigerators, air conditioners, spray cans, and fire extinguishers? Though these questions cannot be answered easily, they must be asked.

Seventh, we are losing the experiences of cultures that have lived in harmony with the creation for hundreds or even thousands years. Cultures such as the Mennonites and Amish, as well as those of the rain forests, are crowded out by the expansion of civilization.

Never before have human beings wielded so much power over God's creation. Do we know what we are doing? The Environmental Ethics of Naturalism and Pantheism

Some people have blamed Western culture's Judeo-Christian heritage for the environmental crisis. These critics point squarely at Genesis 1:26-28, where God commands His new creation, man, to have dominion over the earth and to rule and subdue it. This mandate is seen as a clear license to exploit the earth for man's own purposes. With this kind of philosophy, they ask, how can the earth ever be saved? While I will deal with the inaccuracy of this interpretation a little later in this article, you can see why many of the leaders in the environmental movement are calling for a radical shift away from this Christian position. But what are the alternatives?

The need to survive provides a rationale for environmental concern within an evolutionary or naturalistic world view. Survival of the human species is the ultimate value. Man cannot continue to survive without a healthy planet. We must act to preserve the earth in order to assure the future of our children.

The evolutionary or naturalistic view of nature is, however, ultimately pragmatic. That is, nature has value only as long as we need it. The value of nature is contingent on the whim of egotistical man. If, as technology increases, we are able to artificially reproduce portions of the ecosystem for our survival needs, then certain aspects of nature lose their significance. We no longer need them to survive. This view is ultimately destructive, because man will possess only that which he needs. The rest of nature can be discarded.

Another alternative is the pantheistic or new age world view. Superficially, this view offers some hope. All of nature is equal because all is god and god is all. Nature is respected and valued because it is part of the essence of god. If humans have value, then nature has value.

But while pantheism elevates nature, it simultaneously degrades man and will ultimately degrade nature as well. To the pantheist, man has no more value than a blade of grass. In India the rats and cows consume needed grain and spread disease with the blessings of the pantheists. To restrict the rats and cows would be to restrict god, so man takes second place to the rats and cows. Man is a part of nature, yet it is man that is being restricted. So ultimately, all of nature is degraded.

Pantheism claims that what is, is right. To clean up the environment would mean eliminating the "undesirable" elements. But, since god is all and in all, how can there be any undesirable elements? Pantheism fails because it makes no distinctions between man and nature. The Christian Environmental Ethic

A true Christian environmental ethic differs from the naturalistic and pantheistic ethics in that it is based on the reality of God as Creator and man as his image-bearer and steward. God is the Creator of nature, not part of nature. He transcends nature (Gen. 1-2; Job 38-41; Ps. 19, 24, and 104; Rom 1:18-20; Col. 1:16-17). All of nature, including man, is equal in its origin. Nature has value in and of itself because God created it. Nature's value is intrinsic; it will not change because the fact of its creation will not change. The rock, the tree, and the cat deserve our respect because God made them to be as they are.

While man is a creature and therefore is identified with the other creatures, he is also created in God's image. It is this image that separates humans from the rest of creation (Gen. 1:26-27; Ps. 139:13-16). God did not bestow His image anywhere else in nature. Therefore, while a cat has value because God created it, it is inappropriate to romanticize the cat as though it had human emotions. All God's creatures glorify Him by their very existence, but only one is able to worship and serve Him by an act of the will.

But a responsibility goes along with bearing the image of God. In its proper sense, man's rule and dominion over the earth is that of a steward or a caretaker, not a reckless exploiter. Man is not sovereign over the lower orders of creation. Ownership is in the hands of the Lord.

God told Adam and Eve to cultivate and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15), and we may certainly use nature for our benefit, but we may only use it as God intends. An effective steward understands that which he oversees, and science can help us discover the intricacies of nature. Technology puts the creation to man's use, but unnecessary waste and pollution degrades it and spoils the creation's ability to give glorify to its creator. I think it is helpful to realize that we are to exercise dominion over nature not as though we are entitled to exploit it but as something borrowed or held in trust. Recall that in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, the steward who merely buried his talent out of fear of losing it was severely chastised. What little he did have was taken away and given to those who already had a great deal. When Christ returns, His earth may well be handed back to Him rusted, corroded, polluted, and ugly. To what degree will you or I be held responsible? Abuse of Dominion

While God intended us to live in harmony with nature, we have more often than not been at odds with nature. This reality tells us that man has not fulfilled his mandate. The source of our ecological crisis lies in man's fallen nature and the abuse of his dominion. Man is a rebel who has set himself at the center of the universe. Man has exploited created things as though they were nothing in themselves and as though he has an autonomous right to do so. Man's abuse of his dominion becomes clear when we look at the value we place on time and money. Our often uncontrolled greed and haste have led to the deterioration of the environment. We evaluate projects almost exclusively in terms of their potential impact on humans. For instance, builders know that it is faster and more cost effective to bulldoze trees that are growing on the site of a proposed subdivision than it is to build the houses around them. Even if the uprooted trees are replaced with saplings once the houses are constructed, the loss of the mature trees enhances erosion, eliminates a means of absorbing pollutants, producing oxygen, and providing shade, and produces a scar that heals slowly if at all. Building around the trees, while more expensive and time-consuming, minimizes the destructive impact of human society on God's earth. But, because of man's sinful heart, the first option has been utilized more often than not.

Christians we must treat nature as having value in itself, and we must be careful to exercise dominion without being destructive. The Bible contains numerous examples of the care with which we are expected to treat the environment. Leviticus 25:1-12 speaks of the care Israel was to have for the land. Deuteronomy 25:4 and 22:6 indicate the proper care for domestic animals and a respect for wildlife. In Isaiah 5:8-10 the Lord judges those who have misused the land. Job 38:25-28 and Psalm 104:27-30 speak of God's nurture and care for His creation. And Jesus spoke on two occasions of how much the Father cared for even the smallest sparrow (MATT. 6:26, 10:29).

Christian Responsibility

I believe that as Christians, we have a responsibility to the earth that exceeds that of unredeemed people. We are the only ones who are rightly related to the Creator. We should be showing others the way to environmental responsibility.

Christians of all people should not be destroyers. We may cut down a tree to build a house or to make a fire, but not just to cut it down. We have the right to rid our house of ants, but we should not forget to honor the ant in its right habitat. While there is nothing wrong with profit in the marketplace, in some cases we must voluntarily limit our profit in order to protect the environment.

When the church puts belief into practice, our humanity and sense of beauty are restored. But this is not what we see. Concernfor the environment is not on the front-burner of most evangelical Christians. The church has failed in its mission of steward of the earth. We have spoken out loudly against the materialism of science as expressed in the issues of abortion, human dignity, evolution, and genetic engineering, but have shown ourselves to be little more than materialists in our technological orientation towards nature.

By failing to fulfill our responsibilities to the earth, we are losing a great evangelistic opportunity. Many in our society are seeking an improved environment, yet they think that most Christians don't care about ecological issues and that most churches offer no opportunity for involvement.

Because the environmental movement has been co-opted by those involved in the New Age Movement, many Christians have begun to confuse interest in the environment with interest in pantheism and have hesitated to get involved. But we cannot allow the enemy to take over leadership in an area that is rightfully ours. As the redeemed of the earth, our motivation to care for the land is even higher than that of the New Ager. Jesus has redeemed all of the effects of the curse, including our relationship with God, our relationship with other people and our relationship with the creation (1 Cor. 15:21-22, Rom. 5:12-21). Though the heavens and the earth will eventually be destroyed, we should still work for healing now.

For Further Reading

Beisner, E. Calvin. Prospects for Growth: a Biblical View of Population, Resources, and the Future. Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1990.

DeWitt, Calvin B., Ed. The Environment and the Christian: What Can We Learn from the New Testament? Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1991.

Schaeffer, Francis. Pollution and the Death of Man: a Christian View of Ecology. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1970.

About the Author

Raymond G. Bohlin is executive director of Probe Ministries. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.S., zoology), North Texas State University (M.S., population genetics), and the University of Texas at Dallas (M.S., Ph.D., molecular biology). He is the co-author of the book The Natural Limits to Biological Change, served as general editor of Creation, Evolution and Modern Science, and has published numerous journal articles. Dr. Bohlin was named a 1997-98 and 2000 Research Fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture. He can be reached via e-mail at rbohlin@probe.org.

What is Probe?

Probe Ministries is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to reclaim the primacy of Christian thought and values in Western culture through media, education, and literature. In seeking to accomplish this mission, Probe provides perspective on the integration of the academic disciplines and historic Christianity.

In addition, Probe acts as a clearing house, communicating the results of its research to the church and society at large.

Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by writing to:

Probe Ministries
1900 Firman Drive, Suite 100
Richardson, TX 75081
(972) 480-0240 FAX (972) 644-9664
info@probe.org
www.probe.org http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/ecology.html

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