Civilization vs. Barbarism; that is what we our currently up against--that is what this current generation must choose between. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground or "other" road to choose from. With the grace of God, we must radically take upon ourselves the duty of standing for civilization. Recently, I listened to a broadcast speech from David Barton's radio show, his friend Rabbi Daniel Lapin described the two choices we have to choose from, civilization or barbarism. The Rabbi has a very unique and well thought out arguments for many of his beliefs. He is a well-known supporter of Christians and Christianity and he knows where and who gave his freedoms that he has--Christians, pure and simple. In his speech, he described our current struggle not between Islam and the West or Communism and the America but civilization or barbarism. He described Christianity as civilization and everything else as barbarism. I completely concur with the Rabbi. This is a battle and probably will soon be a war between the forces of civilization (Christendom or Christ) and the forces of barbarism (man-made beliefs or Satan).
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| Christians being martyred for not placing their faith in Caesar but God |
However, before we can understand and appreciate the present, we must look to the past.
First off, if your worldview (I will go more into detail about worldviews in a later blog), doesn't begin with”In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." then your view of history, politics, and down to everyday affairs will be at odds with Civilization. It is absolutely essential, that each person develops their worldview thoroughly and pays attention to where it came from and also around absolute ethics, i.e. perfect ethics. As a Christian my belief is that there is only one worldview, book (made up of 66 books), which is perfect and which morals and beliefs can be inculcated into every area of your life; the Bible--so that worldview would be a Biblical worldview.
There are many people who do not consider the Bible as 100 % true and that there are simply things to be learned from it and it can't possibly be all true. My own belief is that it is 100% true Word of God. Now this requires a repentance and faith in what Christ did on the cross for us as sinners to completely trust in what He has given to us in the form of a book comprised of many books. Protestants rightly believe in Sola Scriptura which in Latin means that Scripture alone is authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian. The Bible is complete, authoritative, and true. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16
How do I know the Bible is the authentic work of God through human hands (since it was the thoughts of God written through human understanding, language and writing)? Because I have faith and I have reason. Reason allows me to understand purely through non-Biblical terms that there is a God and he can be known through his creation. Reason has many other functions which allow people to find God through medicine, biology, archeology, and countless other areas. Hence, we can understand a good deal through science and the natural world but reason only goes so far. We have a conscience but that doesn't mean we cannot fall victim to evil more than good. The Bible contains: the gift of saving knowledge-of eternal life--which God freely gives to us, A history of the beginning of the world, a manual on how to live life more abundantly and countless answers to basically every problem, question or anything that you may have or don't know to ask. Considering it is the most read book in all history, which has made the most impact upon everything that we now enjoy, it seems rational to assume that most people would want to know why? Why has it made such an impact? Why does the Bible say that if you have broken only one part of the Law of God, you are guilty of breaking the entire thing? And most importantly, why does Jesus Christ say that he is the only way that people can be saved and go to heaven?
The amount of evidence for the Christian faith is staggering. If Christianity was tried in a court room, along with all the other religions of this world, as to its being Not true, every other religion would be taken out pretty quickly but the preponderance of evidence for Christianity would be well beyond a reasonable doubt and would not only be proven that it cannot be Not true but actually that the evidence clearly supports the main points. Additionally, the main points which are a part of the historical record and contained in the Bible, would render its entirety of being more likely than not, to be true. The reliability of the Bible is so historically proven to be true that it is difficult to underestimate the accuracy of each book without pointing to proven scientific, historical or archeological finds which don't prove its case. It is circular logic, i.e. a formal logical fallacy, to propose something as true by pointing to its central point as being already proven--and uses this in support of itself. Therefore I will probably make a couple blogs on the overwhelming evidence for the truth of the Bible at some point in the future but before going further, I would like to make two points. First, we have approximately 25,000 copies of the original manuscript of the Bible dating back to around 20 years after Christ's crucifixion; whereas Homer, Aristotle or any other ancient writers works have only about 5 or 10 copy's which are dated to anywhere from 500 to 1500 years after they were originally made. Even if all the Bibles and copies of the original were destroyed in the entire world, we could actually recreate the entire Bible (except for maybe two verses) by reading the letters of early Christians to each other (which often contained paragraphs directly quoted from Holy Scripture). I'd also like to point out that if what Christians believe isn't true, then why did the majority of the witnesses of Christ's resurrection become martyrs for their faith? Ancient Roman historians document that the apostle Paul along with many other Christians were tortured by dogs ripping them apart limb by limb, lions eating them and countless other tortures and put to death for their belief that Christ had actually risen from the dead (as he said he would) and never renounced their faith in Christ. People die for lies but no one suffers gruesome torture and death, for something they know is a lie.
Now that we at least have a tiny bit of information on the infinite scope of how important the Bible is, we can understand why the Rabbi declares Christendom as "civilization" but why is civilization a good thing?
Three major attributes of every civilization include:
- Urbanism - There must be cities to have civilization.
- Politics - There must be something to bring the people together.
- Religion - There must be a code of conduct or standard of morality to maintain civilization.
- People with common language, customs, government, and economy, earliest in Mesopotamia (which is called the cradle of civilization) 3000 BC--which happens to be exactly where the Bible says Abraham (father of Hebrews/Jews and later Christians) came from--Abram was his original name which meant "exalted father" and was later named by God, Abraham--which means "father of many nations".
Civilization requires a set of laws to establish a government but are laws a good thing?
According to the Bible: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." Romans 13:1-4
Therefore, God declares that laws and government is a blessing to those who do what is good but to those who do what is evil, it should be a curse.
The Romans applied the word "barbaric" to designate things which are foreign. So things which are foreign to us as Americans and which are a part of barbarism, would be: ignorance of wisdom, rudeness of manners, savagism, incivility, ferociousness, brutality, impurity, cruelty, a savage state of society. These are largely the attributes of a society which is the polar opposite of what Rabbi Lapin described as civilization but that is where there is no Christianity and where people have glorified themselves and man-made beliefs. Yet civilization regresses back to this stage on a very slow pace then an instant. It is the steady loss of civilization, i.e. Christians and their influence in society which allows for the decline into barbarism. If the "light of the world" is not in it anymore then it will be in darkness.
On June 25th 1962, the Supreme Court first struck down school prayer by prohibiting students from using this simple invocation: "almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our Country." Following this case, the Court began methodically expelling other religious principles; the effects have been evident:
Taken from - America: To pray? Or not to pray? By David Barton, 1995.
Since 1962:
- Cases of gonorrhea have increased by 400 percent.
- Teenage pregnancies have increased by 400 percent.
- Premarital sexual activity among 15 year-old students has increased by 1000 percent.
- Overall violent crime has increased by 350 percent among 13-14 year old girls...
- 25% of girls in this country will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18.
- Divorce rates increased 120%, single parent families 140%, unmarried couples living together 600%
The highest achieving math study in fifth graders, found that the highest-achieving American class did worse than the lowest-performing Japanese class **their school system was originally based off of what we gave them after World War 2.- Suicide among 15-24 has increased by 253% since 1962-63--in 1962 suicide ranked 12th in the cause of death among young people; in 1990 it ranked 3rd.
- 25% of the seniors tested in Dallas could not identify the country that borders the United States on the south.
- Almost half of 17 yr. old students (80% of which were currently enrolled in a history class) in a study, could not place World War 1 between 1900 and 1950.
- 57 million Americans--1 in 4 are annual victims of crime.
- In the late 1950's, there were almost no legal challenges against religious principles in public arenas; by the mid-70's, there were eighty-four and by the early 90's there were over 3000.
- Between 1962 and 1993 violent crime increased by 660%.
- 23 million Americans (20% of whom are under the age of eighteen) have problems with alcohol; 18 million take more than 14 drinks per week; and 12 suffer from alcoholism.
- Child abuse up 345% since 1976.
- Corruption of public officials up 500% since 1973.
- Illegal drug abuse (up 1,375% between 1962 and 1982).
- Sexual abuse of children up 400% since 1976.
- Aids (an increase of over 97,000% in Aids cases and 11,000% in deaths since 1981).
- Illiteracy (currently America has the highest illiteracy rate of any industrial nation).
- 2/3 of American teenagers have used drugs before they finish high school **this survey is over 15 yrs. old.
- Up to 72 million American adults are functional illiterates (unable to read or write above the 5th grade level), and 26 million cannot read or write at all.
- Adult illiteracy costs the U.S. an estimated $225 billion yearly **survey is over 15 years old.
- Before the ban on religious teachings, the top public school problems were listed as: 1. talking, 2. Chewing gum, 3. making noise, 4. running in the halls, 5. getting out of turn in line, 6. wearing improper clothing, 7. not putting paper in wastebaskets---
- Polls now list the top offenses as: 1.Rape, 2. robbery, 3. assault, 4. burglary, 5. arson, 6. bombings, 7. murder, 8. suicide, 9. absenteeism, 10. vandalism...
Benjamin Franklin once sternly rebuked Thomas Paine who had attacked religion and asserted that good behavior could be maintained without religious teachings. Franklin reminded him:
"You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous life without the assistance afforded by religion... But think how great a portion of mankind consists of weak and ignorant men and women and of inexperienced, inconsiderate youth of both sexes who have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, to support their virtue and retain them in the practice of it until it becomes habitual... And perhaps you are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religion, education, for the habits of virtue upon which you now value yourself... If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it?"
Our courts weren't always against biblical principles - "This wise legislature framed this great body of laws for a Christian country and Christian people... This is the Christianity of the common law... in this the constitution of the United States has made no alteration. ...No free government now exists in the world unless where Christianity is acknowledged and is the religion of the country... It is the... only stable support of all human laws." Updegraph v. Commonwealth.
Clearly, the evidence supports the fact that we are living in a post Biblically Christian and constitutional country.
"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.... All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." Noah Webster
As explained by George Mason on the floor of the Constitutional Convention, nations account to God in the present "As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, so they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities."
We are probably the last generation to try to turn around the slide from civilization to barbarism. We are the last defense... If we do not repent and follow Christ, the Christian ideals we cling onto in the small little bubble we still hold, will simply slip away and be replaced by the immorality of ancient Rome and likely even worse--for when something great falls, what is left to hold on to? When centuries of wisdom are thrown away, what is left but for "man" to rule other men as each sees fit. Is this not what the communists in the Soviet Union wanted or Nazi's in Socialist Germany?
We are probably the last generation to try to turn around the slide from civilization to barbarism. We are the last defense... If we do not repent and follow Christ, the Christian ideals we cling onto in the small little bubble we still hold, will simply slip away and be replaced by the immorality of ancient Rome and likely even worse--for when something great falls, what is left to hold on to? When centuries of wisdom are thrown away, what is left but for "man" to rule other men as each sees fit. Is this not what the communists in the Soviet Union wanted or Nazi's in Socialist Germany?
Have the Communists attained their goals of perverting Western Civilization (Christianity) into godlessness and promoting communist ideals?
In this 1963 list the U.S. Congress outlined 45 current Communist goals to takeover America. Almost everything in this list is now true. The majority of their goals to takeover America has already happened and is happening right now even. -
[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
Joseph Stalin once said "America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within". He was right. We are on the brink of losing America and if she falls, the rest of the world will crumble as well. Would civilization have survived if America hadn't fought in World War 2? We would all be a part of either Nazism or Communism. We have only two choices, Christians wake up and stand for what they believe in or fall. As many of our founding fathers believed, if our country falls, it will be because our pulpits were to blame and Christians became idle. Was Christ soft and gentle or was he bold when he spoke against the supposedly “religious” people of his time? The Pharisee's and Sadducees which Jesus spoke of as "brood of vipers, snakes and hypocrites" who appear clean on the outside but on the inside are full of lies and malice—doesn’t exactly sound like a gentle or politically correct thing to say to someone.
"Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me, which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." John 8:42-47
We must not shy away from anything which Christ proclaimed and build each other up in faith, before we can restore our culture back to Christ. We can either try to restore Christ back into our culture or we can watch as He is eliminated completely out of it. We will soon be the recipients of our own banishment from freedom. Evil does not come from God, for it is impossible for him to sin.
The country of Iran currently is on the precipice of obtaining a nuclear bomb (they have made no bones about how the want to wipe Israel off the face of the planet). It currently is seeking to seal off the Strait of Hormuz (which would make gas prices over $6.00 a gallon and effectively skyrocket every other commodity). Turkey (one of the world's most powerful militaries) is aligning itself more and more with Iran. Russia is aligning with Iran. Syria seems to be with Iran. China doesn't care. The rest of the Islamic Middle East is a tinderbox waiting to explode. Europe will almost inevitably collapse within the next few months to years and tumble into a great depression--which wills tidal wave over into America and the rest of the world. Old hatreds for Jews is building in Germany, Communist sentiment is building amongst Russia and Europe. Communist, Anarchist and Islamic fanatics have been burning cars in France for years and have been slowly infiltrating into America and Europe. We our currently over $100 trillion in debt (if you include Medicare, Medicaid and social security). Our government now has almost entirely eroded every liberty we fought for during the Revolutionary War and all three branches of our Government currently disregards the Constitution quite often and it is more of a piece of opinion then an established charter of how to govern derived from God.
There is no groups in Christ, we are all one in Christ but if we intend to be one, we cannot continue to serve our own will. We cannot just be involved in politics, Just be in ministry. We must pray for the courage of martyrs such as the early church fathers had and many in Egypt, Sudan and other Islamic countries have. We need to engage the entire culture but also focus on the calling in which he has placed a our passions. We cannot be just involved in one area but must be devoted to and speak the whole council of God, i.e. everything he has taught we must proclaim. Their are countless old sermons from around the founding of America in which pastors used to speak about everything in life, including: election sermons, railroad sermons, marriage sermons, execution sermons, liberty sermons, military sermons, natural disaster sermons, solar eclipse sermons, sermons on about a just war, and many other sermons which pastors didn't shy away from anything but spoke the whole counsel of God--right down to your day to day affairs on what was going on in that town or society or world. Their is no private person, single Christian or mountain Christian who lives by himself and his cattle and does not engage his culture or open up to friends. God cannot change a society, in which each individual isn't willing to open up to Him, love Him and thereby love others. We must serve Christ if we are with Him. We cannot serve two masters, for we will either love the one or hate the other. In conclusion, if we as followers of Christ desire to keep fighting for our Lord and Savior in a state of civilization, and defend civilization from the onslaught of barbarism, we must rise from amongst our apathy, defend our beliefs, resist Satan, love others as we love ourselves, become devoted readers and doers of God's Word, put on the whole armor of God and fight the good fight--The choice is clear, what will each individual choose?
"...But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" Joshua 24:15
Sources -
America to Pray or not to Pray, David Barton, 1995.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQf_QfitmKE – Agenda: documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze0shXucArA&list=PL47671000BED9EAE2&index=31&feature=plpp_video – The Authenticity of the Bible – Josh McDowell
American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2KsU_dhwI – 180—movie by Ray Comfort and Living Waters
America: The Last Best hope part 1 & 2 by Bill Bennett
http://www.conservapedia.com/Civilization - Meaning of Civilization.
Defending your Faith: an introduction into apologetics by R.C. Sproul
Drive thru History: with Dave Stott’s
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBhistoricalwritings.asp - Old sermons
