God's Hope for God's World
PMT 2017-094 by R. J. Rushdoony (Chalcedon Foundation)
Every now and then somebody tries to tell me that everything is useless, because all life is determined by the politicians, or by heredity, environment, capitalists, labor unions, or somebody else. Naturally, a minister has to be polite, so I can’t always say exactly how I feel about such opinions, although I do assert human responsibility as against this excuse-making. Continue reading
PMW 2017-093 by Lita Cosner (Creation Ministries, Intl.)
Introductory note by Ken Gentry
Postmillennialism is deeply interested in moral and cultural issues. This is because postmillennialism expects Christ’s victory in history, which necessarily involves righteousness and cultural stability. Yet we are witnessing the apparent collapse of Western Civilization. How does this comport with the postmillennial hope?I will make only two brief comments in answer to this question. In a later article I will flesh this out more fully.
First, we must remember that postmillennialism does not claim either that historical progress will be witnessed relentlessly day-by-day. It is like our own personal sanctification: kingdom progress has ups-and-downs. We have come a long way since Nero’s persecution. Postmillennialism cannot be disproved until the Last Day, if its expectations do not appear by then.
Second, the current radical decline in common sense and morality could well lead to people turning to God in desperation. The absurd direction of contemporary culture cannot continue. Perhaps God is allowing this in order to demonstrate our need of him for personal morality and cultural stability. God often chastened Israel to bring her back to him. On a larger scale, he appears to be chastening the world by allowing the implications of absurdity to dominate the unbelieving worldview and its ridiculous culture.
PMT 2017-092 by Peter Smith (Quadrant On-line)
On the Road to Fashionable Ruin
Why should society care what people do if they are not affecting other people in ways which are harmful? John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty explores the question in detail but this sums up his position:
“…when a person’s conduct affects the interests of no person besides himself, or needs to affect them unless they like… there should be perfect freedom, legal and social, to do the action and stand the consequences.”
Classical liberals and libertarians concur with Mill. As collectivists, socialists demur. Though they might pretend otherwise as an exercise in the Marxist equivalent of taqiyya. Continue reading
PMW-2017-090 by R. J. Rushdoony (Chalcedon Foundation)
One of the very important and much neglected verses of Scripture is Mark 4:28: “For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” Our Lord tells us (Mark 4:26-29) that the Kingdom of God, as it develops in history, has a necessary growth and development. No more than we can plant grain and then expect the harvest at once, can we expect quick or immediate results in the growth of God’s Kingdom. If we plant grain, we must cultivate it, often water it, tend to the field, and, only after much labor, reap a harvest. To expect otherwise is stupidity and foolishness, whether in farming or in the work of the Kingdom. In fact, our Lord describes quick growth as false (Matt. 13:5-6, 20-21). Continue reading
PMT 2017-089 by Mark R. Rushdoony (Chalcedon Foundation)
A very brief encounter with a pastor nearly forty years ago is still vivid. We were hurrying in opposite directions, so our encounter was very brief, and we both just slowed as he realized who I was, greeted me, and expressed his admiration for my father’s writing. “I really like what he has to say,” he commented as he passed by. Then he turned back and added, “Except the postmillennialism. I just don’t see that happening in today’s world.”
He was already past me and looking back, and I never saw him again, but his words surprised me. His frankness betrayed the error in this pastor’s thinking—that his personal perception of what was possible was relevant to what God says about the progress of His Kingdom. Continue reading
PMT 2017-088 by Jason Lisle (Biblical Science Institute)
[Gentry introductory note: As one who is committed to the biblical worldview, I am not only a postmillennialist but a Six-day Creationist. Both of these positions flow directly from Scripture. Creationism is not only an important issue in itself, but also an excellent apologetics tool. Dr. Jason Lisle has begun a new ministry called “Biblical Science Institute.” Dr. Lisle is a Van Til presuppositionalist and an excellent scientist, being an astrophysicist. I highly recommend it to those interested not only in Six-day Creation but also apologetics.]
Friends of the Biblical Science Institute, thank you for your interest in defending the Christian Faith. In our second month of operation, we have a number of exciting new faith-affirming resources. We were able to document the August 21 Solar Eclipse; this was the first transcontinental eclipse over North America in 99 years. We traveled to the path of totality to experience this amazing event first hand, and have compiled an online video to share this experience with you. We hope you enjoy it! We are so grateful that the Lord granted us traveling mercies, and clear skies. We also posted a new web article describing eclipses and their relevance to creation. Continue reading
PMW 2017-087 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
This is the final installment of a four-part series in outline form on this important moral and cultural question. For the full presentation, begin with PMW 2017-084.
F. The question of ceremonial Law
1. God’s Law is two-fold: moral and restorative.
Ceremonial law was never an end in itself: always typified salvation in Christ.
“Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law” (Heb. 7:11, 12). Continue reading
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