Is God sovereign? If you truly believe that he is then everything must be understood in the light of His revelation. A Christian should have a well rounded education including a knowledge of history and its relationship to God's revealed word. History seems to be an important concept in the Bible. How you understand history is important to how you react toward culture.
If you look up “remember” in the Strong's Concordance you will find almost a full page of references. God constantly commands His people to set up reminders of His marvelous works. He commanded the Children of Israel to set up the Gilgal stones at the crossing of the Jordan, He set up the passover as a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt, He gave to the Christian the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's supper as a remembrance of Him.
Isaiah 46:9,10 reads, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure”. Passages like this one and Isaiah 25:1 inspired the Augustinian, or Christian, view of history. The Christian sees history moving in a linear direction for the purpose of glorifying God and accomplishing His will.
Another label for the Christian view of history is the providential view of history. Providence is a concept found in the fathers of the church and this country that has almost been lost on today's Christian. Tragically, too many Christians have allowed their view of history to be tainted by philosophies of men. If they will reject these false doctrines and view history as having a definitive purpose, the Christian will begin to act differently toward culture.
The first question in the Westminster shorter catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer, “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This is a marvelous summation of our purpose in light of God's plan in history. God's plan for this world, man and, yes, all of creation, is being accomplished through history and can be seen in passages such as I Peter 4:11: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracle of God: if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability that God giveth; that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever.”
Understanding history as God “declaring the end from the beginning” and as Him “do(ing) all (His) pleasure” helps you see all of history, and everything that is happening today in such a way that motivates you to live for His glory. If history is seen as a purposeful creator directing everything to His glory, life then has purpose. You see, it's all about God. Man, even Christian man, tends to want to view everything in the context of 'what's in it for me'. If it is all about God then you can see history as pointing everything to His glory and you will live out I Cor. 10:31, (“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”) with gusto.
Showing posts with label Providence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Providence. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Marxist View of History
If you truly understand the goal of Marxism it is not difficult to see its influence on American culture today. Marx stated in his Economics and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, “The entire so-called history of the world is nothing but the creation of man through human labor...” His historical materialism views man as a mere economic unit trapped in a class struggle.
Look around you, the struggle at work between management and labor, the struggle between the so-called races permeates the culture, the feminist movement has elevated the struggle between men and women to levels never before seen in history. None of this has come about by accident. One of the most prolific authors, disseminating the materialistic worldview of Marxism through his writings on history was Charles Beard. He purposely de-emphasized the Biblical influence on the founding of America, and tainted the character of the founders.
It is important to point out the fallacy of neutrality. To apply the providential view of history to your interpretation of history you must presuppose that the Christian God is the one and only true God and that He has revealed himself in the pages of Holy Scripture. The Christian must not shrink from this admission, for it is true. The materialist, or Marxist, must presuppose that the only thing that matters is matter. Just as the Christian has not scientifically proven the existence of God and the truth of the Bible, the materialist cannot scientifically prove the truth that matter is all there is.
Moving forward under the presupposition that God is sovereignly in control of history you can interpret history based on this truth. Any view of history that denies the sovereignty of God must of necessity distort the facts of history. Everyone has the same basic facts to deal with when interpreting history, but a Christian thinker will interpret history based on God's Providence, while the Marxist will interpret the same facts based on materialism. Compare this to evolution. The Christian sees millions of fossils buried in mud and interprets that as evidence of a great flood. The Marxist sees millions of fossils buried in mud and sees that as evidence of the survival of the fittest. Same facts, same evidence, but diametrically opposed conclusions. It is the same with historical facts. A Christian thinker reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees God, by His supreme authority over both church and state, distinguishing the authority that is be exercised by the church from the authority that is to be exercised by the state. The Marxist reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees a repudiation of God's authority over the state. Same facts, same evidence, diametrically opposed conclusions.
An effectuation of the Christian worldview would dispense with the class struggles caused by the divisions of the materialists. The struggle between management and labor would be smoothed over by following the scriptural guidelines for masters and slaves. There could be no racism, because scripture only recognizes one race – the human race. The struggle between men and women ceases when men and women recognize and fulfill their God-given roles within the family, and live as one complete unit. The divisions caused by the Religious Secularist denies Biblical standards of good and evil remain to the extent that secularism is present in the culture, but as the Christian worldview becomes more effectual the influence of secular humanism will win. Finally, there will probably always be divisions within Christendom, however, these divisions are a result of wrong doctrine. Though Christians are as guilty of interpreting scripture based on their presuppositions, the more the Christian worldview captures the church the more Christians will reconcile differences within the church. When you are willing to admit that you are starting with presuppositions then you are willing to examine those presuppositions to determine their validity.
Look around you, the struggle at work between management and labor, the struggle between the so-called races permeates the culture, the feminist movement has elevated the struggle between men and women to levels never before seen in history. None of this has come about by accident. One of the most prolific authors, disseminating the materialistic worldview of Marxism through his writings on history was Charles Beard. He purposely de-emphasized the Biblical influence on the founding of America, and tainted the character of the founders.
It is important to point out the fallacy of neutrality. To apply the providential view of history to your interpretation of history you must presuppose that the Christian God is the one and only true God and that He has revealed himself in the pages of Holy Scripture. The Christian must not shrink from this admission, for it is true. The materialist, or Marxist, must presuppose that the only thing that matters is matter. Just as the Christian has not scientifically proven the existence of God and the truth of the Bible, the materialist cannot scientifically prove the truth that matter is all there is.
Moving forward under the presupposition that God is sovereignly in control of history you can interpret history based on this truth. Any view of history that denies the sovereignty of God must of necessity distort the facts of history. Everyone has the same basic facts to deal with when interpreting history, but a Christian thinker will interpret history based on God's Providence, while the Marxist will interpret the same facts based on materialism. Compare this to evolution. The Christian sees millions of fossils buried in mud and interprets that as evidence of a great flood. The Marxist sees millions of fossils buried in mud and sees that as evidence of the survival of the fittest. Same facts, same evidence, but diametrically opposed conclusions. It is the same with historical facts. A Christian thinker reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees God, by His supreme authority over both church and state, distinguishing the authority that is be exercised by the church from the authority that is to be exercised by the state. The Marxist reads the First Amendment to the Constitution and sees a repudiation of God's authority over the state. Same facts, same evidence, diametrically opposed conclusions.
An effectuation of the Christian worldview would dispense with the class struggles caused by the divisions of the materialists. The struggle between management and labor would be smoothed over by following the scriptural guidelines for masters and slaves. There could be no racism, because scripture only recognizes one race – the human race. The struggle between men and women ceases when men and women recognize and fulfill their God-given roles within the family, and live as one complete unit. The divisions caused by the Religious Secularist denies Biblical standards of good and evil remain to the extent that secularism is present in the culture, but as the Christian worldview becomes more effectual the influence of secular humanism will win. Finally, there will probably always be divisions within Christendom, however, these divisions are a result of wrong doctrine. Though Christians are as guilty of interpreting scripture based on their presuppositions, the more the Christian worldview captures the church the more Christians will reconcile differences within the church. When you are willing to admit that you are starting with presuppositions then you are willing to examine those presuppositions to determine their validity.
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