bramblewild
Member
- Dec 13, 2024
- 61
- 31
(Please note; this is not a review of C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity.)
The Donatists were right
I have no desire to be under the thumbs or the heels of either the left-wing Deconstructionists or the right-wing Reconstructionists, and if someone like this author wants to say it's an either/or situation unless one wants something even worse, I will still, in the spirit of the author's amusing suggestion about voting, cast my ballot for “None of the above”, because both the Decs and Recs look nothing but nightmarish to me.
The author tries to tell us that Jesus has told the church to not just evangelize the world, but to christianize and even conquer the world: "All the families of the earth are to be discipled by the Church (Gen. 12:3). All the nations of the earth are to be discipled by the Church (Matt.28:18–20)." (p. 112). "So the concluding point is that if the weapons of our warfare are mighty, as Paul says above, and they are mighty enough to conquer the nations of men..."(p. 149)."When Jesus commanded His followers to conquer the world (and that is what He told them to do)..." (p. 158).
Yet Christ's own words are in opposition to this author's claims: "You will be hated by everyone because of me" (Matt. 10:22), "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt.7:13-14) "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world ,but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19) "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."(John 15:18-19).
In trying to promote his version of christendom, the author tries to compare it to the current reality in his country. He is right to point out that much is wrong in his country, but pointing out current faults does not make his future utopia any more appealing. While he points out modern faults, he ignores the 1500 year history of christendom and the many, many wrongs that came of it; in fact, it is strange that a Reformed minister would say that the first christendom was a success, as if the Reformation itself never happened or did not need to happen.
Because christendom was not in any way a success for the church. It was a time when the church lost its way, it became involved in political power struggles, it preached false gospels, it became bloated and corrupt. The church became a creature of the world, and acted as such. And while the Reformation improved some things, the Reformers still tied themselves to the powers of the world, and they tried to silence their critics by persecuting and killing them. Christendom was merely the church being assimilated by the world.
This is why the author's characterizations of his opponents is wrong. "But some still react to the word theocracy in superstitious ways." (p. 124)."When most people hear about a “theocratic” anything, they assume they will soon be confronted with ayatollah-manned death panels." (p. 78). "They believe that this God of ours is okay when it comes to sending His Son into our hearts, but that if we let Him get too close to the real power centers, the headiness of it all would be too much for Him. He then might tell us to do appalling things we don’t want to do. In short, evangelical Christians believe that their own God is a harsh master, and that if we want really valuable civic blessings, like liberty and abundance, we must seek them from another god." (p. 133).
He is wrong: it is not that we do not trust God with power, it is that we have a 1500 year history filled with reasons to not trust the author with that power.
To end this review, I want to recommend some reading to you, so that you can look more deeply into these and other concerns related to the book being reviewed.
Reformers and Their Stepchildren by Leonard Verduin
What Love Is This? and A Woman Rides The Beast, both books by Dave Hunt
Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy by Peter de Rosa
Godly Violence in the Puritan Atlantic World by Matthew Rowly
Sugar and Slaves by Richard S. Dunn
New England Bound by WendyWarren
God, War, and Providence by James A. Warren
Trail of Tears by John Ehle
The Donatists were right to not trust a church that had compromised with the powers of their day, and the church today would be wise to learn from them, instead of trying to repeat the same mistakes.
The Donatists were right
I have no desire to be under the thumbs or the heels of either the left-wing Deconstructionists or the right-wing Reconstructionists, and if someone like this author wants to say it's an either/or situation unless one wants something even worse, I will still, in the spirit of the author's amusing suggestion about voting, cast my ballot for “None of the above”, because both the Decs and Recs look nothing but nightmarish to me.
The author tries to tell us that Jesus has told the church to not just evangelize the world, but to christianize and even conquer the world: "All the families of the earth are to be discipled by the Church (Gen. 12:3). All the nations of the earth are to be discipled by the Church (Matt.28:18–20)." (p. 112). "So the concluding point is that if the weapons of our warfare are mighty, as Paul says above, and they are mighty enough to conquer the nations of men..."(p. 149)."When Jesus commanded His followers to conquer the world (and that is what He told them to do)..." (p. 158).
Yet Christ's own words are in opposition to this author's claims: "You will be hated by everyone because of me" (Matt. 10:22), "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt.7:13-14) "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world ,but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19) "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."(John 15:18-19).
In trying to promote his version of christendom, the author tries to compare it to the current reality in his country. He is right to point out that much is wrong in his country, but pointing out current faults does not make his future utopia any more appealing. While he points out modern faults, he ignores the 1500 year history of christendom and the many, many wrongs that came of it; in fact, it is strange that a Reformed minister would say that the first christendom was a success, as if the Reformation itself never happened or did not need to happen.
Because christendom was not in any way a success for the church. It was a time when the church lost its way, it became involved in political power struggles, it preached false gospels, it became bloated and corrupt. The church became a creature of the world, and acted as such. And while the Reformation improved some things, the Reformers still tied themselves to the powers of the world, and they tried to silence their critics by persecuting and killing them. Christendom was merely the church being assimilated by the world.
This is why the author's characterizations of his opponents is wrong. "But some still react to the word theocracy in superstitious ways." (p. 124)."When most people hear about a “theocratic” anything, they assume they will soon be confronted with ayatollah-manned death panels." (p. 78). "They believe that this God of ours is okay when it comes to sending His Son into our hearts, but that if we let Him get too close to the real power centers, the headiness of it all would be too much for Him. He then might tell us to do appalling things we don’t want to do. In short, evangelical Christians believe that their own God is a harsh master, and that if we want really valuable civic blessings, like liberty and abundance, we must seek them from another god." (p. 133).
He is wrong: it is not that we do not trust God with power, it is that we have a 1500 year history filled with reasons to not trust the author with that power.
To end this review, I want to recommend some reading to you, so that you can look more deeply into these and other concerns related to the book being reviewed.
Reformers and Their Stepchildren by Leonard Verduin
What Love Is This? and A Woman Rides The Beast, both books by Dave Hunt
Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy by Peter de Rosa
Godly Violence in the Puritan Atlantic World by Matthew Rowly
Sugar and Slaves by Richard S. Dunn
New England Bound by WendyWarren
God, War, and Providence by James A. Warren
Trail of Tears by John Ehle
The Donatists were right to not trust a church that had compromised with the powers of their day, and the church today would be wise to learn from them, instead of trying to repeat the same mistakes.
