Category: Engaging Our Culture

Last week we began to look at the role of Christianity in society. We saw that Christianization can not be supported from Scripture. Christianization has not worked well in the past. History teaches us that when Christian organizations or hierarchies gain positions of direct political influence in the name of Christianity then it is only a matter of time before nominal Christians, wolves in sheep’s clothing, rise up to positions of influence within the church seeking the power held by the church. Obviously, this brings dishonor to the body of Christ and fills the church with ungodly leaders. The history of monastic orders in the Middle Ages is a perfect example of this. Several times godly reforming monastic movements gained so much wealth and power that they became complacent and worldly and the movement lost its effectiveness. It even came to pass that local nobles were allowed to buy the Continue Reading →

As a former lawyer this topic is something I have given a lot of thought to. As a Christian in law school I developed a deep appreciation for the wisdom of the American Constitution. Through the years I have reflected on the role of Christianity in society. The goal of Christianization movements is the administration of a society according to Christian values. Some views are stricter than others so we find that there is a continuum of Christianization thinking. Like prosperity gospel teachers, Christianization teachers often take Old Testament passages that refer to Old Covenant politics or to the final fulfillment of the kingdom of God and apply them to our current age. Christianization thinking is tempting for Christians when they witness their society decline into self-worship and destructiveness. A term that is becoming synonymous with Christianization is Christian nationalism. Unfortunately, definitions of this term diverge, often according to the Continue Reading →

A public conspiracy theory is the idea that there is a group of people acting clandestinely to deceive the public and inflict harm on the general public. (We are not addressing conspiracy theories where there is not an attempt to persuade the public of a false affirmation. For example, most criminal conspiracies are not public.)  Usually, the conspirators have acquired substantial influence so that they are able to influence or harm large numbers of people, often in the millions. Examples of popular public conspiracy theories include: claims of widespread election fraud; the idea that masks don’t protect from COVID 19 or even that COVID-19 is way overblown or planned; QAnon and the idea that the Democratic Party operates a human trafficking and child porn ring; the idea that the Holocaust never happened; or the idea that Bill Gates is using 5G to harm the population. But conspiracy theories can be Continue Reading →

Recently, some evangelicals have expressed deep disappointment with the impact of the Trump administration on our society. They observe that little has changed, the country has only become more secular and Christians’ hopes for change have been dashed. The Atlantic magazine has a good article about this here. When I look out at all the personal devastation and aimlessness of the majority of American citizens I am greatly saddened. From my youth, I always hoped that American society and its citizens could turn to Jesus and know inner peace and purpose and joy. I went through law school as a Christian, recognizing the blessings of the Christian influence on our legal system. Perhaps this could grow. In those days it seemed that evangelicals had some momentum in society. But short of a huge calamity in America, including economic disaster, it is not realistic to think this will happen anytime in Continue Reading →