Tag: www.chalcedon.edu

Mark Rushdoony: ‘History Is Never About Us’

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Mark At Desk 2020 02 04 03 55 48 UTC 1

Mark Rushdoony

Are we the stars of a movie called “history”? Has it all led up to… us?

Mark Rushdoony asks a penetrating question: “What if the end of history is not soon approaching?”

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/history-is-never-about-us

How many people wind up thinking, “Our time is the end times–it’s all led up to now“? People have been believing that for 2,000 years.

We are where God has put us, and He is the only one who knows the number of the page in which we appear. Each of us is here for a reason. We may not know what it is, but we can be sure God knows.

History may not be about us; but like it or not, each of us is part of it.

There’ll be so much to learn when we finally get to Heaven!

‘Today’s Revolutionaries’ (Mark Rushdoony)

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Mark Rushdoony's 2023 Year-End Letter

As I was wondering why there’s so much weird and creepy nooze out there, these days, I visited the Chalcedon website and encountered this essay by Mark Rushdoony:

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/todays-revolutionaries

It’s because so many of our (ahem!) intellectual leaders have fully embraced Evolution, in all its Darwinian glory, as Nature’s Way. The world is constantly changing: therefor we and our institutions must also change, sometimes frantically, just to keep up. Because constant change is necessary for survival in a changing world. “What you and I see as destructive,” Mark writes, “they see as progressive.”

And presto–our civilization turns into a drunkards’ fire drill.

The only good news is that Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in the world today: Christ’s Kingdom being built one brick at a time, and always building.

There are an awful lot of people out there who want to Change The World, usually in ways that leave them luxuriously ensconced in seats of power while the rest of us try to live with the consequences of their socio-political experiments.

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall have them in derision.Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.” –Psalm 2: 4-5

 

Rushdoony: ‘Giving Fear Too Much Power’ (2020)

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Rushdoony3

R.J. Rushdoony

This little message takes less than a minute to deliver; but you can think about it all day.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/videos/giving-fear-too-much-power

God knows there is a lot to scare us in this world today. But wasn’t that always the case?

Rushdoony said, “We are to proceed in the trust that God is God.” Amen. They aren’t going to defeat God. They aren’t going to erase His word. They will try to do those things, and fail.

We are cautioned against recklessness. We aren’t to abandon common sense. But how crazy did David sound when he volunteered to fight Goliath?

His faith was his knowledge.

‘The Folly of Men Trying to Control the Future’ (Mark Rushdoony)

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Mark Rushdoony on Charity & Welfare

Mark Rushdoony

Can we control the future?

Well, if the way we’re handling the present is any indication… No.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/the-folly-of-men-trying-to-control-the-future

Whether it was China’s blow-up-in-your-face “one child only” policy, or the diseased sociology of the West, all over the world, recessions are looming. The old “boom & bust” cycles aren’t work anymore. Populations are aging, shrinking… and “Workers are getting hard to find.”

Mark Rushdoony’s essay can be easily summed up:

Trust not in the statists who have made this mess! They did it and we’re paying for it.

Only God can fix this. Why not put our trust  in Him?

‘Christian Nationalism’ (Eh?)

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Martin Selbrede | heroinamerica

Martin’s essay goes deeper than mine.

Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about “Christian Nationalism.” See Martin Selbrede’s essay in Arise and Build.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/a-stone-cut-without-hands

I would like to present, for what it’s worth, my opinion.

*When He confounded the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9), God gave us nations to protect us from any global government set up in emulation of, or in outright opposition, to Him.

*God’s laws, as given in Scripture, are binding on all nations.

*All too often we get nationalism without God’s laws.

*I believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ will return, as promised, and give us the only rightful world government that is possible: His.

*Until He does, His Kingdom is among us, spiritually–as He said (Luke 17: 20-21). We are waiting for it, all the while trying to live according to God’s Word.

I’m a little uncomfortable with the concept of “Christian Nationalism.” Christianity, after all, is a universal standard, certainly not particular to any nation. This fallen world has many nations which are not Christian. “One nation, under God” is not an easy thing to find, anywhere on earth.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop looking for it.

 

Martin Selbrede: ‘Moral Intelligence’

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Chalcedon Q&A with Martin Selbrede (09-23-18)

Martin Selbrede

I don’t know how I missed posting this for you when it came out last year, but here it is now: some words of wisdom from Martin Selbrede.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/moral-intelligence

Our intellectuals, Martin writes, are busy “promoting every form of intelligence other than the most important one.” As “Artificial Intelligence” increases, moral intelligence is decreasing. 

Well, it all boils down to idols, doesn’t it? These two idols: “reason” (pardon the LOL!) and the state. Together they erect man-made moral systems which, unlike God’s, change from day to day, depending on who’s in power. “Coercion replaces freedom,” Martin writes.

His essay is a little long, but it is thorough–and offers plenty of food for thought. You’re sure to find some insights that you haven’t yet thought of.

R.J. Rushdoony: Respectable “Christianity”

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Amazon.com: R. J. Rushdoony: books, biography, latest update

Seeing it clearly–R.J. Rushdoony

R.J. Rushdoony wrote, “Respectability is the mark of a dying church which will not risk unpopular stances, no matter how godly they are.”

What? Respectability is bad? Look and see:

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/respectable-christianity

He wrote this in 1994. It was true then, it was true in Christ’s own time, and it’s true now. There are always churches that go along to get along; and there are always saints who are mocked and criticized, or worse, for taking the Bible seriously. Our Lord Himself was crucified by the respectable religious establishment of His day.

“God does not exist to serve us, but we, Him.” And sometimes that means taking and holding an unpopular stance.

Thanks be to God, we have never quite run out of Christians who will do that.

When ‘Economics’ Becomes Politics

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Quotes - Rushdoony Radio

He saw it coming…

R.J. Rushdoony saw this coming many years ago, and did his best to warn us.

“When economics becomes a branch of politics, it ceases to be economics and becomes messianic. It becomes the instrument of power whereby men play god and plan to use human beings as their raw material.”  Larceny in the Heart [2003 reprint]

He could have said more. Politics devours science, too (does it ever!); and “education,” and even reaches into our personal lives.

We are rushing toward a point where it might be impossible to shake ourselves loose from Far Left, messianic, dystopian schemes of government. It’s not enough to work and fight to keep our freedom.

We need to pray for it, too.

Beware ‘Spiritual Religion’

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This powerful message from Nathan Conkey, embellished with an apt quote by R.J. Rushdoony, has been posted on Facebook by Ford Schwartz, a director of the Chalcedon Foundation.

It’s gotten so a red flag goes up whenever we hear the term “spiritual religion.” Basically it means forget God’s Word and let your own word be your guide–and for all its current popularity, in all too many churches and seminaries, it is not Christianity. Writes Mr. Conkey, this “so-called ‘spiritual’ religion must be abandoned… and defunded.” Amen to that!

Rushdoony: ‘Is The Church Obsolete?’

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Cob or Spider Webs? - Coronado Bible Church

Jesus has left the building.

This isn’t exactly an upbeat feel-good Sunday sermon. It’s more in the nature of “tough love.”

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/is-the-church-obsolete

These essays by Rushdoony were first published over 20 years ago. If anything, they’re even more relevant than they were back then! We have seen, in recent years, a pagan idol carted into the Vatican, “goddess worship” in several Protestant denominations, free passes handed out for every kind of sin you can think of.

Yes, too many churches have indeed become obsolete.

And yes, the Lord will judge them. He surely will.