Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Covenant and Baptism ..................................... 2 Christian Piety or Nefarious Perfidy? ............. 15
By R. J. Rushdoony By John E. Stoos
Through the Looking Glass: The Monument America’s Central Banks An Evaluation
Case of Chief Justice Roy S. Moore .............. 11 of How They and The Federal Reserve
By Abby Tuomala Bank Have Performed — Part 2 ................... 23
By Tom Rose
The Decalogue: Cornerstone of
Jurisprudence .......................................................... 13 Statism and Theological Liberalism ............... 29
By John Eidsmoe By Timothy D. Terrell
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T he covenant sign of
the Old Testament
era was circumcision
life in Christ. This baptism does not
produce an end product. It does not
say that either we or our children are
Two Errors
This means that there are two ob-
vious errors regarding baptism to be
and that of the New now perfected and thus ready for glo-
avoided. First, there is the decisional
Testament, baptism. rification. It means that, by God’s
grace, we have been redirected. error, namely, that my decision for
Ezekiel 36:25-26 speaks of the sprin-
Christ, my choosing Him as my Lord
kling with clean water as a sign of re-
The World of Anti-Law and Savior, is my rebirth. This is hu-
birth. Before Christ’s coming, pros-
manism in effect, and it is emphati-
elytes among the Gentiles were both The world of the ungodly is the cally Arminianism. Its prevalence
circumcised, if males, and baptized to world of anomia, lawlessness, or anti- does not sanctify its error.
indicate their status as the Messiah’s law. Paul describes it as “enmity against
people in the renewed and extended God” (Rom. 8:7). It is the willful insis- Second, there is the error of
covenant. tence that man is his own god, his own sacerdotalism, the belief that a power
source of law and determination (Gen resides in the church and the sacra-
Circumcision was a symbolic cas-
3:5). It means walking or living “in ment, when the power really remains
tration. It witnessed to the fact that
newness of life,” or, in James Moffatt’s totally in the hands of the sovereign
man’s hope is not in generation but in
words, we now “move in the new sphere God. The church too often tries to
regeneration. Man cannot renew him-
of life.” Because our baptism does not impose a straightjacket on God’s ac-
self, nor can history avoid the fact of
make us a finished product, we can and tions and on our freedom in Christ.
sin and man’s war against God. Apart
do sin. The word for sin, hamartia, Sacerdotalism too is a form of human-
from Christ, history does repeat itself:
means missing the mark; this can ism. The church’s right is to adminis-
sin and death mark all its days.
mean carelessness and indifference, ter baptism, not to control or define it
Among the images used in Scripture but we are at least moving towards the apart from Scripture.
to define baptism is that of death and mark, not against it, as in anomia, or
resurrection. Paul says in Romans 6:4: lawlessness, or anti-law. Our distin- It is important to insist on the prior-
guishing mark becomes righteousness, ity of God in all things, and therefore
Therefore we are buried with certainly in baptism. The churches, by
or, justice. The world talks much about
him by baptism into death; that following erroneous ideas about bap-
justice while working all the while to
like as Christ was raised up from tism and other matters have lost much
subvert it, because justice means God’s
the dead by the glory of the Fa- power as well as much freedom. It is in-
law and sovereignty.
ther, even so we also should walk teresting to read C. H. Dodd’s 1951 com-
in newness of life. Baptism is a witness to God’s re- ment about the first Christians:
generating power, as Titus 3:5 makes
There must be a dividing line in clear. It is not the sacrament of bap- But the most striking thing
our lives between our inherit- about the early Christians was
tism that regenerates us but God the
ance in Adam of sin and death, their astonishing confidence in
Lord. It is not a natural fact but a su-
and our regeneration into the the face of overwhelming oppo-
pernatural one. The Lord can work
image of God in Christ. sition. The Church was a minor-
His miracle of new life with equal ease
In baptizing our children, therefore in a baby as in a hardened old sinner. ity movement, with every kind
we are redirecting history from the old The power and the initiative in the
pattern of sin and death into the new regeneration is not ours but God’s. — Continued on page 32—
T he primary func-
tion of the state is
the ministry, or admin-
laws and their enforcement and inter-
pretation represent an enforced mo-
rality. The old line that you cannot
distinguishes much modern tax leg-
islation and economic policy. An evo-
lutionary faith controls the moral
istration, of justice. legislate morality is only a half-truth. perspective of much environmental
Negatively, this involves We cannot legislate people into being legislation. It is important to under-
prosecution and punishment, the po- good, but all laws are an enforced stand the ethic behind a system of
lice, courts, and military being as- moral code. We legislate that all cars laws we oppose so that we can offer a
pects of what Paul referred to as be- stop at a stop sign because it is wrong consistently argued alternative. As vi-
ing a terror to evildoers (Rom.13:3). to endanger others. Traffic laws are cious false moral ethics control the
A state’s administration of justice thus, in theory, a law-code based on a state’s machinery of justice, there will
which gives criminal activity any ad- positive effort towards a just social be increased confusion in the law and
vantage over the law-abiding citizen order, in this case a just order on road- increased hostility to, and then war
is thus clearly failing in its purpose ways. I once experienced the lawless- with, other sources of moral ethics.
and is, in fact, itself a revolutionary ness of road traffic in Calcutta, India; This is why we can see a distinct hos-
force. The positive aspect of justice is it was enough to make me believe in tility to Christian ethics in the public
the state’s concern for justice in the the positive application of a system of sphere. This is why Christians are so
social order itself, in promoting an justice in the area of traffic laws. frequently accused of being uncon-
atmosphere conducive to the safety of cerned with social justice or human
individuals and their commerce. Judicial Activism need. In terms of the humanistic “jus-
The moral ethic behind a system of tice” of many non-Christian ethical
A Just Social Order codes, we are on the wrong side of
laws may be based on any number of
The positive application of justice is religious or philosophical founda- many issues and hence “anti-justice.”
most obvious in the legislative func- tions. Frequently, the law may be a It is not difficult to see, both in his-
tion of government, which seeks to cre- mixture of conflicting moral ethics. If torical examples and in our own
ate a system of laws that will encourage we argue against a law or application times, the tendency of the state to see
a just social order. The executive func- based on its bad effect, we may be in- itself as the center of the social order
tion is most clearly involved in the correctly assuming this was unin- rather than as an administrator of jus-
negative application of justice, appre- tended. A different faith, with a tice. When this happens, the state sees
hending and prosecuting wrong-doers. different moral ethic, may have been its purpose as messianic, saving its
Though the positive and negative ad- behind that law or its interpretation. citizens from some sinister force, ma-
ministration of justice are not unique Most judicial activism is not derived nipulating economic forces, and in-
to the legislative and executive func- from a “loose construction” of the evitably restricting liberty in the
tions respectively, they are most clearly Constitution but rather its reinterpre- name of safety and the greater good.
combined in the judicial function of tation based on an intent other than When the state wants to be man’s sav-
government. The judiciary has the re- that of the framers and hence another ior, it first moves to become his lord.
sponsibility of examining the positive moral ethic. Judicial activism is about
Man’s original sin, of course, was
intent of the law to produce a just so- redefining what courts must consti-
desiring Satan’s temptation to be as
cial order and applying it, if necessary, tute as right and wrong. Not even
gods (Gen. 3:5) knowing, or determin-
in a particular case. Christian law can long survive its in-
ing independently, good and evil. In
terpretation by non-Christians who
We do not have to look far, however, order to play god, therefore, man must
have another concept of morality.
to see injustice done in the name of define his own morality. When such
justice at any level or branch of gov- The state in all of its manifestations men control the state, the result is
ernment. This is because justice has will be concerned with justice by statism. Playing god is about acquir-
as its foundation a moral ethic, and some definition. A socialistic ethic ing power; increasing its wealth by
The Importance
of Christian Character
By Ronald Kirk
Date: April 25-26, 2003 (Commemorating Dr. R.J. Rushdoony’s 87th Birthday)
Cost: $55.00 per person, $25.00 per student (Includes 1 free book, lunch, and 10% discount at the Chalcedon Foundation
book table) Also a Freewill offering will be taken to support the continued work of the Chalcedon Foundation
Location: St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 101 N. El Monte Los Altos, CA (Go to www.stpaulanglicanchurch.org for directions)
Time: Friday 7–9:00 PM Saturday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Contact: Chris Hoops (831) 722-4619 e-mail choops@neteze.com
Conference Host: Mr. Jerold Nordskog, Publisher/ CEO of Powerboat Magazine
Special Guest Speaker: Mark Rushdoony, President Chalcedon Foundation
Special Note: Pastors and Ruling elders and their wives attend Free. All other spouses _ price.
Fill out Registration form below and mail with $55.00 or $25.00 (for wives & students) check to:
Conference/Friends of Chalcedon 496 Almaden Expressway # 172, San Jose, CA 95118
————————————————————————————————————————————
Yes, please register me for (circle # 1 2 3 4 5 6 attendees) Amount enclosed $ __________.00
1700s tells how groups of friends met ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
to draw names, much as was done dur- Pledge of Allegiance - 1954
ing the Roman Lupercalia. For several THE INCLUSION OF GOD IN OUR PLEDGE THEREFORE WOULD FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEPENDENCE
OF OUR PEOPLE AND OUR GOVERNMENT UPON THE MORAL DIRECTIONS OF THE CREATOR. . . . —
days, each man wore his Valentine’s Legislative History, U.S. Congress, 1954
name on his sleeve. The saying “wear- HUMAN LAW MUST REST ITS AUTHORITY ULTIMATELY UPON THE AUTHORITY OF THAT LAW WHICH IS
DIVINE. . . . — James Wilson (1742-1798)
ing his heart on his sleeve” is believed
AND CAN THE LIBERTIES OF A NATION BE THOUGHT SECURE WHEN WE HAVE REMOVED THEIR ONLY FIRM
to have originated from this practice. BASIS, A CONVICTION IN THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT THESE LIBERTIES ARE OF THE GIFT OF GOD?
THAT THEY ARE NOT TO BE VIOLATED BUT WITH HIS WRATH? — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Today, Valentine’s Day plays a light-
SO HELP ME GOD
hearted but compelling part in Ameri- Judiciary Act of 1789
can romantic life. It is part of the THE GREATER PART OF EVIDENCE WILL ALWAYS CONSIST OF THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES - THIS
courting process and a way of affirm- TESTIMONY IS GIVEN UNDER THOSE SOLEMN OBLIGATIONS WHICH AN APPEAL TO THE GOD OF TRUTH
IMPOSE; AND IF OATHS SHOULD CEASE TO BE HELD SACRED, OUR DEAREST AND MOST VALUABLE RIGHTS
ing one’s love each year. Thus, hus- WOULD BECOME INSECURE. – John Jay (1745-1829)
bands and wives are gently reminded LET IT SIMPLY BE ASKED - WHERE IS THE SECURITY FOR PROPERTY, FOR REPUTATION, FOR LIFE, IF THE SENSE
OF RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION DESERT THE OATHS, WHICH ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF INVESTIGATION IN COURTS
by our commercialized culture to buy OF JUSTICE? – George Washington (1732-1799)
gifts for their mates as tokens of ev-
erlasting love. And despite our high The Ten Commandments
rate of divorce, Valentine’s Day re- I AM THE LORD THY GOD • THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME • THOU SHALT NOT
MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE • THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD
mains an important cultural affirma- IN VAIN • REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY • HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY
MOTHER • THOU SHALT NOT KILL • THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY • THOU SHALT NOT
tion of the idea______
of lasting love. STEAL • THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS • THOU SHALT NOT COVET (Exodus 20)
Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author On the plaque titled The Moral Foundation of Law, also in the rotunda:
of eight books on education, including A JUST LAW IS A MAN-MADE CODE THAT SQUARES WITH THE MORAL LAW OR THE LAW OF GOD. AN
NEA: Trojan Horse in American UNJUST LAW IS A CODE THAT IS OUT OF HARMONY WITH THE MORAL LAW. TO PUT IT IN THE TERMS OF
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: AN UNJUST LAW IS A HUMAN LAW THAT IS NOT ROOTED IN ETERNAL LAW AND
Education, How to Tutor, Alpha-Phonics: NATURAL LAW. — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
A Primer for Beginning Readers, and THE FIRST WORK OF SLAVERY IS TO MAR AND DEFACE THOSE CHARACTERISTICS OF ITS VICTIMS WHICH
DISTINGUISH MEN FROM THINGS, AND PERSONS FROM PROPERTY. ITS FIRST AIM IS TO DESTROY ALL SENSE
Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to OF HIGH MORAL AND RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY. IT REDUCES MAN TO A MERE MACHINE. IT CUTS HIM
Teaching Children. All of these book OFF FROM HIS MAKER, IT HIDES FROM HIM THE LAWS OF GOD . . . – Frederick Douglass (c.1817-1895)
are available on Amazon.com or by On the second plaque is the full text of the Bill of Rights.
calling 208-322-4440.
T he Thomas Goode
Jones School of
Law, at which I have had
principal source of study in the me-
dieval Inns of Court (England’s law
schools), even in an age before the
Another basic value is respect for
property expressed in the Command-
ment “Thou shalt not steal” and re-
the honor to teach Con- Reformation when laymen were often flected in the property laws and
stitutional Law for the denied direct access to the Bible. larceny laws of most civilizations. This
past twelve years, declares in its mis- Commandment secures the right to
sion statement that “Biblical truth is The Decalogue and the Nation private property, a cornerstone of pro-
the foundation of just law.” The All Scripture is the inspired and ductivity and a limit upon govern-
school’s namesake had an illustrious infallible Word of God. But the Ten ment power. A few have objected that
background: Confederate war hero, Commandments are a special part of this Commandment could mean
newspaper editor, lawyer, legislator, the Word of God, both in the way they “thou shalt not steal from the state or
governor, author of the first code of were revealed and in their content. from the commune.” But the last
legal ethics, and finally as a federal God revealed them to Moses on tab- Commandment, “Thou shalt not
judge for the Middle and Northern lets of stone. And they summarize the covet,” removes any doubt about pri-
Districts of Alabama. He had studied basic principles of law that govern all vate property: “Thou shalt not covet
the works of Sir William Blackstone, people and all nations. thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not
Sir Edward Coke, Chancellor James covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his
Kent, Simon Greenleaf, and other ju- Martin Luther said of the Ten Com- manservant, nor his maidservant, nor
rists who understood that God is the mandments, his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that
true source of law. When he died in The Decalogue is not of Moses; is thy neighbor’s.”
1914, W.E. Vasser wrote of him: nor did God give it to him first. Another basic value is respect for
O! honest judge! O! upright man! On the contrary, the Decalogue truth. The Commandment “Thou
Of law his conduct grandly spoke, belongs to the whole world; it shalt not take the name of the Lord thy
Conforming to the Lord’s own was written and engraved in the God in vain” prohibits not only blas-
plan Promulged ‘mid Sinai’s fire minds of all human beings from phemy but also perjury; see, for ex-
and smoke. the beginning of the world. ample, the Heidelberg Catechism,
The basic values of almost every le- Luther’s Small Catechism, and the
It is an irony of history, then, that Catechism of the Catholic Church.
eighty-eight years after his death, his gal system in the world are summarized
in the Ten Commandments. Among Strict penalties for perjury are essen-
successor on the federal bench would tial to a system of justice. As President
rule that the Ten Commandments these is respect for life, expressed in the
Commandment “Thou shalt not kill” Washington asked in his Farewell Ad-
monument must be removed from the dress, “[W]here is the security for
Alabama Judicial Building because and reflected in the homicide laws of
property, for reputation, for life, if the
the monument was installed as a rec- every legal system. Those who respect
sense of religious obligation deserts
the right to life may disagree among
ognition of the Judeo-Christian God. the oaths which are the instrument of
themselves as to whether this Com-
But the Ten Commandments have investigation in Courts of Justice?”
mandment prohibits just warfare or
been the foundation of Western law. capital punishment. My own view is Courts cannot do justice if they can-
Around 890 AD, Alfred the Great pro- that the Hebrew term ratsach refers to not discover the truth: Did the defen-
duced the Book of Dooms, the first an unjustified act of murder, not to self- dant commit the crime, or didn’t he?
written legal code to govern all Eng– defense, national defense, or justified And the knowledge that there is an all-
land, and it began with a recitation of executions. But even in these situations, knowing, all-seeing God before whom
the Ten Commandments. The Ten we must never lose sight of the serious- all will give account, even though we
Commandments, and the Old and ness of taking a life that has been cre- may fool the judge and jury, is a pow-
New Testaments in general, were a ated in the image of God. erful incentive to tell the truth.
I n my radio ministry
I often call on the lis-
teners to pray for our
sion. And as long as they are not com-
manding that abortions take place in
my family, as long as I am sounding
them to withstand, in accordance
with their duty, the fierce licen-
tiousness of kings, that, if they
political leaders and the warning from the wall (Ezek. 3:17- wink at kings who violently fall
most times I remind 19), then the blood is on the hands of upon and assault the lowly com-
them to review these simple verses the civil magistrates and those who mon folk, I declare that their dis-
from the Apostle Paul that explain participate in those sinful actions. simulation involves nefarious
why the actions of our civil leaders are perfidy, because they dishonestly
important. We should not call Chris- A Course of Action betray the freedom of the people,
tians to participate in the political However, as Christians we are not of which they know that they have
process to benefit one particular po- left without a further course of action. been appointed protectors by
litical party or another. We should not Unfortunately, there are many times in God’s ordinance. 1
be involved just so we can have per- today’s America when so-called Chris- There was certainly a case of such
sonal peace and affluence. We are tians are more a part of the problem nefarious perfidy recently here in
called to influence and care about the than part of the solution. In the final Northern California when a local
political process because righteous chapter of his historic Institutes of the school board was called upon to pro-
leaders produce godly and reverent Christian Religion, John Calvin takes tect the health and welfare of minor
civilizations that carry the good news dozens of pages explaining the impor- girls placed in their care. A brave mem-
of God’s salvation to the four corners tance of civil government and the ber of the board for the Roseville Joint
of the world, so that all of God’s people Christians’ duty to obey that govern- Union High School, Dean Forman,
will be saved from their sins ment. In the final paragraphs he says, asked that the board review a school
(Rom.10:1-15). “I am speaking all the while of private policy that allowed minor girls attend-
individuals,” and then includes a sen- ing the school to be released for “con-
As Christians we are obligated to tence that has shaken the civil govern- fidential medical appointments” that
understand the Biblical principles of ments of the world to their core: could include abortions. Here in Cali-
submission summarized in Romans fornia it is perfectly legal for organiza-
13:1-10. At a time when abortion-on- For if there are now any magis- tions like Planned Parenthood to
demand is “the law of the land” by de- trates of the people, appointed to arrange for a minor girl to have an
cree of the U.S. Supreme Court and the restrain the willfulness of kings abortion without the knowledge or
radical homosexual agenda continues (as in ancient times the ephors consent of her parents. It will even be
to advance, it can seem very difficult were set against the Spartan kings, paid for by the state because the mi-
for Christians to obey Scripture in this or the tribunes of the people nor qualifies temporarily for Medi-Cal,
area. Here in California our tax dol- against the Roman consuls, or the since she cannot use her parent’s re-
lars are used to pay for approximately demarchs against the senate of the sources. However, there is no state law
40% of the abortions that the govern- Athenians: and perhaps, as things that requires schools to participate in
ment funds in America! In my flesh I now are, such power as the three these ungodly and repulsive actions.
want to be the biggest tax protester estates exercise in every realm All Mr. Forman wanted to do was make
this state has ever seen, but God’s when they hold their chief assem- sure the school itself was not a party
Word says that we are to be in submis- blies), I am so far from forbidding to these actions.
Eighteenth century natural law philosophers, and others before them, treated feudal society as a norm rather than an outgrowth of a real, if imperfect,
Christianization of society and its relationships in terms of Biblical law. Thus, God’s law became a given and hence “natural.” Such thinking is not only
non-historical, but also distinctly non-Biblical.
Scripture tells us that nature is fallen and man depraved by a sin nature. Nature is not to be seen as a source of law or revelation. Only God is true and
only His revelation is law. His creation may reflect His law, but is not a source of it. If nature is the, or even an, independent source of law, then man is its
mouthpiece. Natural law is an open invitation to the autonomous mind of man interpreting nature as law.
In a more Christian era, it was easy to see the prevailing ethic as “natural.” It was not natural; it was the moral capital of a Christian culture which had
self-consciously limited state authority after the fall of Rome, the last great pagan empire of antiquity.
Law does not come from nature; law comes from the Creator of nature. In the physical realm “the laws of nature” are a mis-named reference to God’s
established laws over the material creation. Likewise, the reference in moral philosophy to “natural law” credits nature as the self-evident source of
ethics and law.
Much has happened since the eighteenth century use of the term “natural law.” Humanists have become more self-conscious about applying their
philosophy, and will not allow God’s law into moral philosophy any more than they will allow it into biology classes. If a humanist sees law in nature it
is because the mind of man decrees it to be so. In addition, Darwin redefined nature as a random realm of chance. Darwin destroyed the non-Christian’s
belief in nature as a realm of law and substituted the rational scientist as the interpreter of nature. Modern natural law theorists are thus humanistic,
though sometimes conservative humanists. Natural law is, in reality, used as an alternative to God’s law, not its equivalent.
If law comes from nature, God’s revealed law is depreciated. If law comes from God there is no natural law, only God’s law very imperfectly reflected in
a fallen world. If moral law comes to man by the revelation of God in Holy Scripture, we do not need to appeal to the fallen world of nature as a substitute
revelation. Natural law is a false source of law because nature is a false god. It is time Christians stood for God’s law because it is God’s law. If the Word
of God is insufficient to persuade men of moral absolutes, they will not be persuaded by an ambiguous standard such as natural law.
—Mark R. Rushdoony
alize that legal educa- application, and holdings. They break Biblical Law
tion is much more that rules into parts, often called elements, At the heart of legal reasoning is re-
an advanced game of Monopoly in and elements into sub-elements. Once lating rules, which are general in na-
which they, the players, acquire a ba- they have engaged in breaking cases ture, to fact situations, which are
sic knowledge and comprehension of and rules into components, they must specific in nature. It involves the rela-
rules that can be readily applied to compare them to other cases and rules tionship of universals to particulars, or
given fact situations. and bring them together as a whole. of the one to the many. R. J. Rushdoony
This is the process of synthesis. Par- powerfully noted that this basic meta-
Ask any law professor, “What is ticular rules must be compared with
the raison d’être of a legal educa- physical problem is resolved in the
other rules and cases for consistency, Trinity, in which neither the One nor
tion?,” and most likely he will re- and they must be organized under
spond that it is to “teach students to the Many is ultimate, and that each of
more general rules or principles that the persons of the Godhead dwell in
think like lawyers.” Thinking like a subsume the particulars.
lawyer involves going beyond the perfect harmony with the others.
simple accumulation of knowledge At the highest level of Bloom’s tax- The view that law is a corpus juris, a
and comprehension of rules. onomy is “evaluation.” In law, the body of law, is based in Christian theol-
rules must be evaluated for rightness ogy as it reflects the truths revealed in
Legal Components and wrong. It is obvious that evalua- Scripture. Harold Berman sums this up
tion is futile if there is no standard by nicely in his description of the concept
Students expect to operate on the
which to evaluate. The futility of the of corpus juris: “the validity of an en-
three lowest rungs of Bloom’s tax-
onomy of educational objectives: non-Christian’s attempt to engage in acted law depended on its conformity
knowledge, comprehension, and ap- evaluation is apparent in one defini- to the body of human law as a whole,
plication. Their professors demand tion of evaluation: “Judging the value which in turn was to conform to both
that they function effectively on the of material based on personal values/ natural law and divine law” (Law and
three highest rungs of the taxonomy: opinions, resulting in an end product, Revolution, p. 146). Most basic law li-
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. with a given purpose, without real braries contain a multi-volume legal
right or wrong answers.” encyclopedia, titled Corpus Juris Secun-
Although law students remain very
adept at analysis, they have increasing In this world of relativism, that the dum. It is an attempt to systematically
difficulty engaging in synthesis and are inability of a non-Christian to engage set forth as a comprehensive whole the
virtually unable to engage in evalua- in synthesis is not apparent. Synthesis law of the United States. It pays tribute
tion. They are able to break things into operates on the assumption that the to a thousand year old Western legal tra-
components (analysis), but find it dif- parts are related to one another and to dition that law is a comprehensive, con-
ficult to relate the parts to one another the whole. There will be a consistency sistent body of laws based on truth that
in a coherent and comprehensive between the parts, the whole will com- corresponds with reality. It reflects how
whole (synthesis). And they have no prehend the parts, and the mental con- deeply embedded is the Christian no-
fixed and objective standards by which struct will correspond with the world. tion of a corpus juris in law, even today.
they can evaluate rightness and truth.
They are faced with the prospect of ei- We do not engage in analysis, syn- Chief Justice Roy S. Moore of the Ala-
ther redefining what it means to think thesis, and evaluation as three distinct bama Supreme Court has championed
like a lawyer or embracing the Chris- and separate processes. Particulars the restoration of the moral foundation
tian worldview that enables them to never exist except in relation to each of law. It is easy to see how the Ten Com-
think like lawyers. other and the whole. And particulars mandments provide a standard by
such power through the simple etary injections (inflation) and mon- 1.00
in their paper money or check- present, we see that almost all eco- The solid portions of the curve show
ing accounts to withdraw gold nomic “boom periods” were the result
periods when the dollar was redeem-
able into monetary commodities (gold
or silver) and the broken portions are
(or silver) from the banking of injecting newly created unearned
periods when redeemability at fixed
rates was impaired. The circled
portions show periods of disinflation
system. A gold-coin standard purchasing media into the economy 0.10
or deflation.
gold (or silver) whenever they caused prices and nominal profits to
choose to do so, for any reason, rise (and wages also), thus sending In 1933 President Franklin D.
or for no reason at all. When in false economic signals to business Roosevelt issued his unconstitutional
the hands of ordinary citizens, entrepreneurs. These false economic Executive Order which took America
this robust monetary discipline signals led business entrepreneurs to off the gold standard. American citi-
sends helpful chills of fear into make over-energetic decisions zens acquiesced because they trusted
the hearts of both civil authori- through which they made mal-invest- their civil rulers (a deadly mistake!).
ties and bankers. It keeps them ments, thereby generating losses in- Since that time the purchasing power
honest! And politicians, gov- stead of the hoped-for profits. Only of the dollar has gone into a steep de-
ernment bureaucrats, and cen- banks, civil rulers, and counterfeiters cline which has never been reversed.
tral bankers especially, do not are able to inject new, unearned This long-term drop in the purchas-
like to live in such a whole- money into the economy, with the ef- ing power of the dollar (rising price
some atmosphere of citizen- fect of debauching the purchasing levels) is the direct result of the fed-
imposed discipline! When power of already-existing money. At eral government and the Federal Re-
such power is in the hands of heart, this is a moral problem regard- serve Bank having colluded with each
politicians and banks, the ing the commandment “Thou shalt other to generate a long-continued in-
people suffer under tyranny. not steal!” flationary spiral, the result of ever-in-
But when such power rests in creasing deficit spending for both
the hand of citizens, people During the 1800s general price lev-
els always tended to return to “nor- domestic and wartime spending and
enjoy the blessings of freedom, spending on so-called “foreign aid.”
self-responsibility, and privacy mal” after the inflationary booms, but
only under one necessary condition: All of this was financed by rising lev-
from government snoops. In a els of taxation and insidious money-
republic, the only safe reposi- The necessary condition is the exist-
ence of a gold/silver-based monetary creation by the Federal Reserve Bank.
tory for insuring honest control
of the money and banking sys- system through which citizens have By the year 2000, the long-term in-
tem is in the hands of widely the legal right at all times to demand flationary monetary policy followed
dispersed individuals.4 conversion of government-created or by the federal government and the
bank-created paper money into gold Federal Reserve generated the largest
This widespread dispersal of eco- or silver coins. Whenever this neces- speculative bubble in America’s his-
nomic power in the hands of the com- sary condition existed, the U.S. dollar tory, which is now in the process of
mon man is exactly what President tended to rise in purchasing value disintegrating. It was the elimination
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R ecently, in prepara-
tion for a confer-
ence presentation, I
cal, if not explicit, conclusion of liberal
theology is that God is a creation of
man, a fiction that man creates for his
What is the path that takes
a person from denying
spent some time sur- own comfort. The idea of a god may be orthodox Christianity to
veying the social doc- a crutch to help get him through life, glorifying the state?
trines of several Protestant denomi- to make sense out of chaos, so that the
nations. I was reminded, as I went god is really the servant of men. Man, process must be invoked to discern
through social creeds and policy therefore, becomes the origin of law, the “greatest benefit.” This may be de-
statements, of the strong and consis- and only a humanistic social order can mocracy or totalitarianism (or both!),
tent relationship between theological be consistent with this theology. Doing but it will certainly not be limited by
liberalism and the political philoso- good to other humans, or humanitari- divine law. As Rushdoony wrote:
phies that give enormous power to the anism, is righteous in itself, and not be-
cause it is what God has commanded. [T]he democratization of soci-
state. Why is it that the same people ety goes hand in hand with the
who hold to some form of theological As R. J. Rushdoony noted in Politics of
Guilt and Pity: divinization of the state. Power
liberalism so often adhere to statist and right are withdrawn from
ideas? What is the path that takes a [Theological liberalism] accepts God and given to the people.
person from denying orthodox Chris- either the autonomous reason of When the people become the lo-
tianity to glorifying the state? man or the autonomous state as cale of right and power, that
The connection is certainly too its basic political center and right and power express them-
common to be accidental. Theologi- principle, and it calls a state selves in the form of the state,
cally liberal organizations such as the “Christian” insofar as it minis- the high point of power and the
World Council of Churches are invari- ters to human needs and “hu- god of the system.2
ably hostile to capitalism and ame- man rights,” not in terms of any
theocentric standard. In terms Even “conservative” or “fundamental-
nable to most of the key tenets of ist” congregations that hold to a man-
socialism. Statism of one variety or of theological liberalism, to be
“Christian” is to be humanitar- centered doctrine of salvation, or
another is pervasive in the mainline man-centered forms of worship, some-
Protestant denominations — one ian, and, in terms of this, the
Merriam-Webster Second Inter- times are infected with statism. It is a
need only read the social creeds of the different form of statism, often mani-
Episcopalian Church, Evangelical national Dictionary has defined
“humanitarianism” as “The doc- fested in a flag-waving nationalism that
Lutheran Church, Presbyterian supports foreign military intervention,
Church (USA), United Methodist trine that man’s obligations are
tariff protection of certain American in-
Church, and others to see the trend. limited to, and dependent alone
dustries, and an uncritical, reverential
Even within denominations, both on, men and human relations.”
awe of state power. I cannot count the
conservative and liberal, the more …This is the framework in
number of students I had (when I was
theologically liberal congregations terms of which theological lib-
teaching at a conservative, Arminian-
tend to lean left politically. eralism has championed statist
dominated Christian university) who
action as “Christian” morality.1
told me that they aspired to be FBI or
Statism and Anthropocentrism “Good” itself is redefined as that DEA agents. Patriotism is confused with
Theological liberalism leads to stat- which man’s reason tells him will allegiance to the civil government, and
ism because liberalism is anthropo- bring the greatest benefit to the great- these Christians see capturing control of
centric — it makes religion into est number. Because there are varying the machinery of political power as the
something human-centered. The logi- definitions of “benefit,” some political foremost route to national righteous-