The God of All Creation

The God of All Creation

In Genesis we read that there is one God who created all things within our universe. There is no part of that universe that is untouched by His hand or outside of His reach. God is the God of all Creation. In the Gospel of St John we further read concerning Jesus, that without Him, nothing was made. All things in the universe are created by Him and for Him. All things are under His jurisdiction. Life itself is only possible as a gift through Him. This is irrespective of what anyone wishes to believe. This is the truth of the matter.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that God is King, Judge, and Lawgiver.

As king God rules his creation through providence. The course of human events is ultimately directed to fulfill His ultimate design. He has determined the end of all things, His honor, glory and the ultimate good for His people. As creator he knows his creation best. By His decree, the laws of nature have been established for the well being of His creatures. Further, He who knows us best has given us a moral law for our good. By this law we determine good and evil. Obedience to this law brings blessing, disobedience brings judgment, wrath, and punishment. To this standard, our creator holds all creatures accountable. Ignorance of this law is no excuse, as our creator has put this law within those creatures who bear His image.

(Romans 2: 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) :16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

As Lawgiver, He gave the law first to Adam. It was said to Adam, dot this and live, disobey and die. Not too hard to understand. Sadly in a moment of foolish pride Adam sinned. He and all his posterity died in him. That Law was again given and spelled out, written with the finger of God on two stone tablets. Following the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the law did not disappear, but remains in force. The only difference is that now in Christ we are redeemed by faith from the penalty of the law. In Christ we are able to meet the requirements of the law. Thus in Christ, we are no longer looked upon as law breakers, having been pardoned by God.

Romans 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

As Judge, God from time to time has punished individuals, families and nations. He Judged Cain and his descendents. In the Old Testament we read that God Judged the families of Korah, Dathan, and Abirum. The Canaanite nations were judged by sending Israel to execute God’s wrath on them. God judged the whole world sending the flood and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone sent from heaven. He Judged Israel for its disobedience by wicked oppressors during the period of the Judges and again sending them into captivity by the hands of Assyria and Babylon. In acts we read of two individuals being judged, Annaias and Saphira. God even judged individual members of the Corinthian Church who partook of the sacrament unworthily, some became sick and some died. God is still Judge. Individuals, families and nations are still accountable.

As creator God has the right to rule. He is the great king. He is the great lawgiver, and he is the great judge. All authority resides in Him. All governments derive their authority to rule from him. Only He can grant the authority to rule and take life, and he does. Human government is instituted by God.

Genesis 9: 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

God has given to man the authority to govern himself along with a law by which he is to be governed. In the 13th chapter of St Paul’s epistle to the Roman’s the apostle tells us that “the powers that be are ordained of God” and that “they are the ministers of God.” They bear not the sword in vain. The government is His minister, empowered with the sword to provide for the general order, safety, defense of the people, and for the punishment of the wicked.

However, we observe in Scripture that all governments are accountable to Him. Notice God’s dealings with Pharaoh in Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Even those governments, which do not acknowledge God as their God, are still under His authority. It is further a Biblical precedent that those who govern, govern at the consent of the governed, i.e. Moses commanded the people to choose out those who would rule over tens, fifties, hundreds etc. The Apostles called upon the people to choose from among themselves those who we may set over the work of the deaconate. Timothy was called upon by the Apostle Paul to ordain elders in every city (to ordain is actually to choose by the showing of hands).So as governments are accountable to God, God also has made them accountable to the people they serve.

We also read in Scripture that God blesses His people with Godly leadership when his people, as individuals, are obedient to Him. God raised up Abraham, Joseph in Egypt, Moses, Joshua, the good judges and kings of Israel, Samuel, David, and Solomon, Queen Ester and a host of others who ruled Israel well while the people were obedient to the law. When His people neglect His law and do that which is right in their own eyes, the blessings of safety, prosperity, good health, etc. are diminished proportionately. He withdraws His grace as we observe when there was sin in the camp. The Army of Israel was defeated in the first battle of Ai because of it. Throughout the Bible we observe that He allowed the wicked to triumph over and to oppress His people when they disobeyed Him. Observe the period of the Judges. In Exodus God gives a promise. The warning is also implied.

Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

This being the case, it is the duty and the responsibility of every creature to be obedient to God’s law. This obedience begins first in the individual being obedient in thought word and deed. This obedience is carried into the family, from the family into the community and workplace, and finally into the community at large, the institutions of the society, government, education, the arts, etc. There is nothing in life under heaven which is to remain untouched by Gods law. Why, because God is God and this is His universe and we are His created creatures subject to Him. We will be judged by Him based on the standard, which He has given us. (Note again the reference in Romans 2:12-16.)

Now under God’s Law we are not free do as we please but are to do that which pleases God. There is freedom under God’s law, but within the parameters, which he has set for a godly order of society. True liberty is only possible where you have clear, just, and righteous laws, and a government that abides by them. All human activity remains subject to the parameters of God’s law. Here we are only taking a peak at the tip of the iceberg, if you will. The law of God is far reaching and applies to all areas of life. It is not a brutal and oppressive law but a law rooted in love. We read in Holy Scripture that Love is the fulfilling of the law. Jesus said we are to love God and to love our neighbor; this is the sum and substance of the law. Love, however, as we are to understand it, is defined by the Scripture (note First Corinthians 13), and not by contemporary culture. The greatest example of this love is to be observed in the life of Jesus.

This purpose of this message is not intended to be a class on Christian Civics. What I hope to do is to help us all understand that as we celebrate the birth of our Nation, this great Republic, this “One Nation under God,” all that we are and all that we possess, our rule of law, and our liberty, are all great gifts of God. When we read and study the history of our people, we observe the blessing of Almighty God. Our nation began as nothing more than a vision, (in the words of William Penn) “a Holy Experiment.” Governor John Winthrop of Boston (Massachusetts Bay Colony) stated that what they had begun was like “a city set upon a hill’ for the entire world to see.” From the beginning of the colonial era our forefathers endeavored to establish a Christian nation, a nation whose God would be the Lord. The Mayflower Charter begins, “For the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.” During the 1830’s a French writer Alexis de’ Toqueville came to America to investigate how such a people became so great a nation in just a few hundred years. He investigated all of our institutions. However, he writes that it was not until he entered our churches that he began to understand the source of our greatness. He further warned that no people on earth take as much for granted as Americans From the beginning of colonial America until the early 1900’s the Bible itself was the common law of the land. All law was based upon it. Even after the Constitution was ratified, the Bible was still considered to be the superior law. Some Judges in taming the west judged their cases with the Bible on one hand and a six-gun on the other (for protection). This one law, recorded in Holy Scripture, governed the home, the church, the state and all her institutions.” The following is a quote from an opinion of the Judges of the Supreme Court “Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of The Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. This is a religious people. This is historically true. from the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation.. .we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth. ..These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation. ( SUPREME COURT DECISION, 1892 The CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY Verses The UNITED STATES.)

It is a good thing to be governed by God’s law in the heart, the home and in the community. What a difference it made in our land. Many of you remember what our communities were like when we grew up when daily prayer and Bible reading were observed in the schools. We also remember what happened as soon as it was removed. Over night that which restrained wickedness in the heart was removed. There was an immediate deterioration of morality and culture. Without the restraining influence of the holy Spirit, through the word, there has been and there will continue to be a serious decline of our culture and a serious advancement of darkness. This at some point will be Judged.

Our forefathers, the early settlers who sacrificed for their children in order to give them the heritage of a godly society, did so because they wanted something better for their children. Further, they themselves recognized that God is God everywhere in His creation. No matter where they lived, they were still accountable to God in all things. God is the God of all creation. It seems that generations later, like in Egypt there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. In our case, there arose a people who have forgotten their God. The words of Isaiah the prophet speak to us…

Isaiah 1: 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken,I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

The result cannot be good if we continue this path. As the Scriptures are given for our learning, we learn in them the means by which we may secure the blessing of God upon us and upon our children. From the same we learn how we may bring a curse upon our children, and deliver them over to oppression, poverty, and all that goes with it. In fact, the pattern of Scripture would lead us to believe that only destruction can follow unless there is a true returning to our God.

Deuteronomy 4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swear unto them. 4:32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 4:33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 4:35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.

Some time ago I saw a bumper sticker which said, “I am spending my children’s inheritance.” The sad reality is that this has been true for all too long and the ramifications of this truth are sadly yet unrealized, and catastrophic. Let us remember that on the eve of the French Revolution King Louis XIV said, “After me the deluge.” He bankrupted France in more ways than one. It is happening again here. I fear for the next generation if there is not a return to our God. May we recognize the great debt we owe God for His undeserved goodness to us, and pray for His mercy to turn the present tide. If there were but 10 righteous men in Sodom, God would not have destroyed it. Can we, beloved, make some difference not only among ourselves but also in our community to secure God’s blessing?

II Chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Beloved, let us turn to the Lord our God, the God of all Creation and call upon others to do likewise, endeavoring to live a life worthy of our calling in Christ, one that will be pleasing to Him. Let us endeavor to be the salt and the light in our homes, our work places, and in our communities. Let us seek to make a difference. In doing so let us seek first His kingdom, and all these things, which others seek after, will be added to us.

Absolution

The Remission of Sins

Jesus, in our Gospel reading this morning breathed upon his Apostles and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” This was in preparation for the work they were to do in building the Church of Christ which He had just purchased with his own blood. This power and authority was an essential gift necessary to the work. For if the gates of Hell were not to prevail, there must be the ability, the power, to withstand the onslaughts of the wicked. This gift of the Holy Spirit was conferred first upon the apostles at, then upon the other members of the church. For us this morning it is essential that we observe that with this gift, given to the Apostles, was power was the authority of absolution. “Whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained.” This is a serious matter before God. For there is no other reason why this this authority would have been given. The Scripture teaches “ that without the shedding of blood there is no remission,” As we further understand that without absolution there is no assurance of remission.

All of the Old Testament sacrifices commanded by God included confession and absolution. The sacrifice was offered so that one could receive absolution. In the New Testament confession and absolution were an integral part of the Eucharist. It has always been so.

The understanding and the forms of this absolution have varied throughout the centuries, especially between East, West and Anglican traditions. However, it was never questioned until the 1500’s. Even Luther did not question absolution, but only the abuse of it through the sale of indulgences. The reason it was not questioned in the church is clear. It has always been a part of the worship. It is and has been both Biblical and historical. Christ, who has the authority to forgive sins, has given the authority of absolution to His ministers who are in apostolic succession. This was and has been the understanding and teaching of the Church from the beginning.

Let me share a quote from an early Bishop of the church DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. Who lived from 200-265, A.D. Please bear with me as I share this with you.

11. But I shall give a more particular account of one case here which occurred among us: There was with us a certain Serapion, an aged believer. He had spent his long life blamelessly, but had fallen in the time of trial (the persecution). Often did this man pray (for absolution), and no one gave heed to him; for he had sacrificed to the idols. Falling sick, he continued three successive days dumb and senseless. Recovering a little on the fourth day, he called to him his grandchild, and said, “My son, how long do you detain me? Hasten, I entreat you, and absolve me quickly. Summon one of the presbyters to me.” And when he had said this, he became speechless again. The boy ran for the presbyter; but it was night, and the man was sick, and was consequently unable to come. But as an injunction had been issued by me, that persons at the point of death, if they requested it then, and especially if they had earnestly sought it before, should be absolved, in order that they might depart this life in cheerful hope, he gave the boy a small portion of the Eucharist, telling him to steep it in water and drop it into the old man’s mouth. The boy returned bearing the portion; and as he came near, and before he had yet entered, Serapion again recovered, and said, “You have come, my child, and the presbyter was unable to come; but do quickly what you were instructed to do, and so let me depart.” The boy steeped the morsel in water, and at once dropped it into the (old man’s) mouth; and after he had swallowed a little of it, he forthwith gave up the ghost. Was he not then manifestly preserved? and did he not continue in life just until he could be absolved, and until through the wiping away of his sins he could be acknowledged for the many good acts he had done?

Much earlier we find the Apostle Peter in Acts 8 invoking his authority in the case of Simon Magus the magician who thought he could buy the power to confer the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:12-24)

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning thekingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

Here in this passage we find both the retention of sins in Peter’s remark, “Thy money perish with thee,” and Simon’s desire for absolution from Peter “Pray ye to the LORD for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.” The understanding of “Absolution” in those days was understood. Both in the OT faith of the Hebrews and in the pagan religions “Absolution” from a priest was necessary. The sacrifice would be offered and the Priest would grant absolution (the forgiveness of sins and offenses).

These things are written not so much as to magnify the power and authority of the Priests or of the Apostles and their successors, but to accentuate the need for absolution from sin. Without forgiveness of sin, how shall we stand before the Lord ourmaker? Certainly the Lord can forgive sins of the ignorant and those in far away places who are not able to come to a priest and to participate in the Eucharist, at any time and any place He chooses. However, those who are willfully stubborn and refuse to follow the teachings of Scripture, which were clearly worked out in the early Church, because of their private judgment, can not be assured of the grace. This was the point of DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. We are not to judge but we are to follow. The Word calls us to be obedient. Hear what Scripture teaches us in Hebrews 13:17

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

It is the responsibility of those who have been called and duly ordained to the ministry of the Gospel to seek the redemption of mankind and not their ruin. Yet there would be those who seek to pervert and twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. Of them we have often been warned by the Apostles. To those we would call to repentance. Should they persist in their evil are to be put out of the church. Thus again rather than remitting of sin ones sins are retained for failing to repent (I Cor. 5:1-5).

5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

What is important for us to grasp this morning is that who we are and what we do here within the Church has serious consequences. Again, what we believe is not just a nice way of seeing life, as insimply and altruistic philosophy, but a Gospel that goes forth in power and in the authority of Jesus Christ. For every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord. He is just that, Lord of both heaven and earth. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the church. The church is His Body. It has been empowered with authority from our Lord to be the continuing incarnation to the world. It’s mission is the continued work of reconciliation. (1 Cor 4:5-7 & 5:17-21)

4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

5:17-21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Conclusion: It is from Christ that we seek our reconciliation with God through forgiveness of sins with which we have offended Him. It is from Him that we receive it. The means by which we are to seek it and to receive it is by faith, which is expressed in obedience to the gospel. This Gospel is not a matter of our own private judgment, but the Gospel which has been handed down to us by the Apostles.. Christ has instituted his Church and the sacraments to be the means by which we ordinarily find that forgiveness and remission of our sins. He commissioned His Apostles “as the Father hath sent me so send I you.” In that sending is the ministry of reconciliation that whosoever sins they remit they are remitted and whosoever sins they retain they are retained, that the world may know that God is the lord and that Jesus is the redeemer. Those who through successive generations have been lawfully ordained continue the ministry of reconciliation until Jesus returns. Let us find then forgiveness of our sins as we repentantly confess them and by His grace receive absolution as we prepare to receive the Holy Eucharist.

The Religious Nature of Education

Education by its very nature is religious. Education is the means by which people/society pass on what they believe is of highest value in order to perpetuate a viable society. What is taught is what is believed to be important (their chief values of life). What is not taught is, by virtue of silence, of lesser, little or of no value.

Education is also the means by which we express our ultimate. As Christians we believe that God has created all things. All things in creation, by virtue of their creation, are accountable and subject to God their Creator. This is the underlying presupposition of the Christians world/live view. For the Christian all of life is perceived on the basis of that premise. Thus all we learn in life, regardless of the subject, has its ultimate in God. Secularism is understood as simply another way to express atheism. The secular mind does not recognize God as the ultimate in all things, but denies God as the ultimate by its indifference and its very silence. Thus by denying Him the recognition he deserves, God is reduced to nothing more than the aftermath of a faint hope. For example, as believers we understand the subject of history to be the study of the providential outworking of God’s ultimate plan. God’s plan is the underlying premise of all of history. Whereas, the secular mind perceives history as being the pure efforts of self-determinate man, denying that God (if He is acknowledged at all) has any power to intervene in the course of history. Though the secular historian may recognize the influence of religious thought, this is far different than recognizing the influence of God Himself. The secular historian, as well as all those who adopt a secular view of life, see man as autonomous and self-determinative.

Education then is either theistic, in that God is recognized as the ultimate in all things (as all things have their origin in Him), or, it is atheistic in that God is denied by silence. Underlying either view is faith and belief. Further, values themselves are religious. The question of good and evil cannot be discussed apart from religious grounds. The curriculum of any course of education is based on what is valued most by those who establish it. That which is taught is thought to be good for the betterment of the community. Thus, in the course of study and discipline, judgments respecting good and evil are made. The question remains, what is the basis upon which those determinations are made? Is man ultimately autonomous, able to make his own rules as he pleases? Or, has God given us direction with respect to good and evil? The values taught based upon what is believed to be important or unimportant then become ethical issues. Ethics and morals are certainly religious, as they demand an ultimate. Anyway you look at it, Education, at its very root, is religious and thus a function of parental as opposed to government oversight.

In the early years of our nation the church was the seat of education. This was established in this manner for good reason. The early colonists did not want their children to be ignorant of God’s Word nor ignorant of God’s world. Their desire was to establish a moral and upright society and culture that conformed to the way of life taught in the Holy Scripture. It was the church that had oversight of the schools. In fact public education of children was originally established in the church and was supported by the tax dollars of the community. It was only as a result of a secular movement in the mid 1800’s that wrested the public school from the church and made it an entity of the state alone. Even the educators of those days were upset and fearful of the edresult of the “secularization” of education in their day. Much more could be said of other influences in American education, however, for our purposes at this time the above speaks to the current debacle of public “secularized” education and the need to return to both a parochial and a parentally guided education for our children.

Let us observe that in Deuteronomy 6 it is required by God for parents to teach their children both the Scriptures and the way of life expressed therein. Not to do so is to firstly, disobey God’s command, and secondly, to withhold from them the way of life which leads to salvation, and God’s blessing. Their failure thus condemns the future generations to the darkness of an unbridled pragmatic and pagan society which can justify any evil provided it serves the greater good of those who define the greater good. The elimination of any higher standard but one defined by the morally deficient leadership of the masses opens a Pandora’s box that knows no limits. In the words of Nietzsche,” where God does not exist, anything is permissible.” This is a frightening picture indeed. However, we can see from history that it is not far fetched. One need only to reflect on the atrocities of the former Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Idi Amin’s Uganda, Sadam’s Iraq, and currently Darfur just to name a few. One may also add to the list recent activities that have occurred in our own country like the result of Roe Vs Wade, and the questionable issues of the former Clinton presidency as well as the moral scandals of our current political arena. Those leaders educated in a secular (atheistic) context are prone to a more pragmatic way of thinking akin to what is termed “situation ethics.” The concept of being accountable to a Holy God is absent along with a absolute law (the Ten Commandments).

The above concerns are very real. Through the years secular humanistic reasoning has overtaken our educational institutions. Numerous evil consequences have been the result of expunging God from our public institutions, especially from our schools has had. We are all too familiar with the recent shootings and violence in our public schools. Some years ago (1925). these same concerns were addressed by Dr. J. Gresham Machen. Machen was a former Professor of Princeton Seminary, and founder of Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia, PA. In the quotation which follows, he addresses the bankruptcy of the anti-intellectualism of his day.

“This anti-intellectual tendency in the modern world is no trifling thing: it has its roots deep in the entire philosophical development of modern times. Modern philosophy since the days of Kant, with the theology that has been influenced by it, has as its dominant note, certainly as its present-day result, a deprecation of the reason and a skeptical answer to the Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” This attack upon the intellect has been conducted by men of marked intellectual power; but an attack upon the intellect it has been all the same. And at last the logical results of it, even in the sphere of practice, are beginning to appear. A marked characteristic of the present day is a lamentable intellectual decline, which has appeared in fields of human endeavor except those that deal with purely material things. The intellect has been browbeaten so long in theory that one can not be surprised if it is now ceasing to function in practice.

Scheiermacher and Ritschl, despite their own intellectual gifts, have, it may fairly be maintained, contributed largely to produce that indolent impressionism, which, for example in the field of New Testament studies, has largely taken the place of the patient researches of a generation or so ago.

The intellectual decadence of the day is not limited to the Church, or to the subject of religion, but appears in secular education as well. Sometimes it is assisted by absurd pedagogic theories, which, whatever their variety in detail, are alike in their deprecation of the labor of learning facts. Facts, in the sphere of education, are having a hard time. The old-fashioned notion of reading a book or hearing a lecture and simply storing up in the mind what the book or the lecture contains- this is regarded as entirely out of date. A year ago I heard a noted educator give some advice to a company of college professors- advice, which was typical of the present tendency in education. It is a great mistake, he said in effect, to suppose that a college professor ought to teach.; on the contrary he ought to simply give the students an opportunity to learn.

This pedagogic theory of following the line of least resistance in education and avoiding all drudgery and all hard work has been having its natural result; it has joined forces with the natural indolence of youth to produce in present-day education a very lamentable decline.

The decline has not, indeed, been universal; in the sphere of the physical sciences, for example, the acquisition of facts in not regarded as altogether out of date. Indeed, the anti-intellectual tendency in religion and in those subjects the deal specifically with the things of the spirit has been due, partially at least, to a monopolistic possession of the intellect on the part of physical sciences and of their utilitarian applications. But in the long run it is to be questioned whether even those branches of endeavor will profit by being excluded from the higher interests of the human spirit, and its decadence may then appear even in the material sphere.

But however that may be, whether or not intellectual decadence has already extended or will soon extend to the physical sciences, its prevalence in other spheres in literature and history, for example, for example , and still more clearly in the study of language-is perfectly plain. An outstanding feature of contemporary education in these spheres is the growth if ignorance; pedagogic theory and the growth of ignorance have gone hand in hand.

The undergraduate student of the present day is being told that he need not take notes on what he hears in class, that the exercise on the memory is a rather childish and mechanical thing, and that what he is really in college to do is to think for himself and to unify his world. He usually makes a poor business of unifying his world. And the reason is clear. He does not succeed in unifying his world for the simple reason that he has no world to unify. He has not acquired a knowledge of a sufficient number of facts in order even to learn the method of putting facts together. He is being told to practice the business of mental digestion; but the trouble is that he has no food to digest. The modern student, contrary to what is often said is really being starved for the want of facts.

It is a great mistake, then, to suppose that we who are called “Conservatives” hold desperately to certain beliefs merely because they are old and are opposed to the discovery of new facts. On the contrary we welcome new discoveries with all our hearts, and we believe that our cause will come to its rights again only when youth throws off its present intellectual lethargy, refuses to go thoughtlessly with the anti-intellectual current of the age, and recovers some genuine independence of the mind.

In one sense, indeed, we are traditionalists; we do maintain that any institution that is really great has its roots in the past; we do not therefore desire to substitute modern sects for the historic Christian Church. But on the whole, in view of the conditions that now exist it would be more correct to call us “radicals” than to call us conservatives. We look not for a mere continuation of spiritual conditions that now exits, but for an outburst of new power we are seeking in particular to arouse youth from its present uncritical repetition of current phrases into some genuine examination of the basis of life; and we believe that Christianity flourishes not in the darkness, but in the light. A revival of the Christian religion, we believe, will deliver mankind from its present bondage, and like the great revival of the sixteenth century will bring liberty to mankind. Such a revival will not be the work of man, but the work of the Spirit of God. But one of the means which the Spirit will use, we believe, is an awakening if the intellect. The retrograde anti-intellectual movement called Modernism, a movement which really degrades the intellect by excluding from it from the sphere of religion, will be overcome, and thinking will again come to its rights. The new reformation, in other words, will be accompanied by a new Renaissance; and the last thing in the world that we desire to do is to discourage originality or independence of mind.

But what we do insist upon is that the right to originality has to be earned, and it can not be earned by ignorance or indolence. A man can not be original in his treatment of a subject unless he knows what the subject is; true originality is preceded by patient attention to facts, which, in application of modern pedagogic theory, is being neglected by the youth of the present day.

In our insistence upon mastery of facts in education, we are sometimes charged with the desire of forcing our opinions ready-made upon our students. We professors get up behind our professorial desks, it is said, and proceed to lecture. The helpless students are expected not only to listen but to take notes; then they are expected to memorize what we have said, with all our firstly’s and secondly’s and thirdly’s; and finally they are expected to give it all back to using the examination. Such a system-so the charge runs-stifles all originality and all life. Instead the modern pedagogical expert comes with a message of home; instead of memorizing facts, he says, true education consists in learning to think; drudgery is a thing of the past, and self-expression is to take its place.

In such a charge, there may be an element of truth; possibly there was a time in education when memory was over-estimated and thinking was deprived of its rights. But if the education of the past was one-sided in its emphasis upon acquaintance with facts, surely the pendulum has now swung to an opposite extreme which is more dangerous still. It is a travesty upon our pedagogic method when we are represented as regarding a mere storing up of lectures in the mind of the student as an end in itself. In point of fact, we regard it as a means to an end, but a very necessary means; we regard it not as a substitute for independent thinking, but as a necessary prerequisite for it. The student who accepts what we say without criticism and without thinking on his own is no doubt very unsatisfactory; but equally unsatisfactory is the student who undertakes to criticize that about which he knows nothing whatever. Thinking can not be carried on without the materials of thought; and the materials of thought are facts, or else assertions that are presented as facts. A mass of details stored up in the mind does not in itself make a thinker; but on the other hand thinking is absolutely impossible without that mass of details. It is just this latter impossible operation of thinking without the materials of thought, which is being advocated by modern pedagogy and is being put into practice only too well by modern students. In the presence of this tendency, we believe that the facts and hard work ought again to be allowed to come to their rights: it is impossible to think with an empty mind.”

Given the present state of affairs, believers must respond to our cultural degeneration with a greater vigor. Though there may be some earnest Christian teachers struggling in the public system, Christian education is a great way to begin turning the current secular (atheistic) tide. Christian Schools and Home Schooling provide a Godly alternative to the tax supported amoral and godless social engineering fostered within much of our public education.

The Very Rev. James W. Reber D.D.
Vicar, St Francis Anglican Church
Kissimmee, Fl