Tag: www.chalcedon.edu

R.J. Rushdoony: ‘Is America a Christian Nation?’ (1998)

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Turkey / Armenia: Armenian women and children fleeing Turkish forces during the Armenian Genocide, c, Stock Photo, Picture And Rights Managed Image. Pic. GBP-CPA0026388 | agefotostock

Christian Armenians in Turkey, circa 1915: flee or die

It seems strange to think of 1998, the date of Rushdoony’s essay, as 25 years ago. In some ways that’s a lot of time; in other ways, the blink of an eye.

Rushdoony’s family came to America to escape the post-World War I Armenian genocide, perpetrated by Turkey. To these refugees, America seemed like heaven.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/is-america-a-christian-nation

When he asks, “Is America a Christian Nation?” Rushdoony answers from his own experience: Yes. Yes, it is. Scholars be damned, America is still a Christian nation. We need not ask the pseudo-wise if they agree. We are a Christian nation. He based that not on theory, not on other people’s writings, but on his own personal experience.

May the LORD our God equip us to keep it that way! He knows it won’t be easy.

‘Our First Duty: To Build’ (Mark Rushdoony)

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When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, he found it pretty much the mess the Babylonians had left it seventy years before.

Before anything else could be done, the first need was to build. The walls, the gates, the homes built into the thick walls. Build it.

https://chalcedon.edu/blog/our-first-duty-to-build

This short message by Mark Rushdoony is a reminder that our first duty, too, is to “arise and build.” Look at all that’s been trashed! The Church–and that means all of us–needs to build families, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and voluntary associations: all have been weakened in my own lifetime. Government by people who don’t much like us has sought to replace all these institutions.

We need to clean up the mess and rebuild.

Rushdoony on ‘Spare-Tire Religion’ (1994)

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A spare tire is a good thing to have in your trunk; but once it’s there, who gives it a second thought until it’s needed?

This “spare-tire religion,” R.J. Rushdoony wrote in 1994, is descriptive of all too many people’s Christianity.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/spare-tire-religion

It’s profession of Christianity over practice. Rushdoony marveled over how many Christians fight over doctrines to which they’ve given but little thought: “It seems that some cannot say what they really believe, but they know what they do not believe.”

But some ten years ago he found hope in the growing number of Christians who had stopped taking their faith for granted and were eager to explore its deeper meaning. “Spare-tire religion is doomed,” he wrote. “It will be replaced by Christianity.”

Sometimes it’s hard for us to see that. And sometimes that’s exactly how God works it.

Yesterday’s Paradise

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Light Educational Ministries

You won’t believe how on-target this book is.

I’m passing up transgender nooze today because I think we’ve all had enough of that for the time being.

Instead, we have a meaty and insightful review, by Martin Selbrede, of R.J. Rushdoony’s 1977 classic, Revolt Against Maturity. It’s a fairly long read, but well worth your time.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/rushdoonys-revolt-against-maturity

Let me share with you the crowning quote from Rushdoony’s book. Look sharp, don’t miss it–

“Yesterday’s paradise is today’s hell.”

Whooooo! He just covered the whole history of the Soviet Union in just five words!

Think, think, think about what Rushdoony says. Anything going on today that’s sold to us as the express route to Paradise… and will very likely by a one-way ride to hell? Do you think that maybe psychiatry might have the answers? Maybe we can get them from The Party… or from Science.

Amazing, how clearly this man saw the future.

‘Could the Book of Revelation Be Our Guide to Victory?’

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What could be a more appropriate message? God has promised us “victory in Jesus”!

Christians have been arguing about the Book of Revelation for centuries, without ever coming to a universally-held interpretation. Want to start a fight? Start a conversation about eschatology–and duck.

But! We have some guidance from Martin Selbrede, who warns us against adopting carved-in-stone positions and defending them against the rest of the Church.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/audio/could-the-book-of-revelation-be-our-guide-to-victory-ep-230-guest-martin-selbrede

Martin’s interview (with Andrea Schwartz) on “Out of the Question” is a feast of insight into Revelation and Christian eschatology. I’ve been listening to it all afternoon. It’s 78 minutes long–which for some of us constitutes a serious investment of time–but in the end, well worth it.

A startling message: “There is victory throughout the Book of Revelation… if we have eyes to see it.” Victory for King Jesus, victory for the Church.

An unexpected insight: the books of Genesis and Revelation may be seen as a pair of bookends, between which we find all the rest of the Bible. Remove the bookends, and what do you get?

Anyway, I can’t possibly sum up everything Martin has to say. I’ve provided the link so you can hear it for yourself.

Oh, and one more thing: regardless of your take on eschatology, the important thing is to keep God’s commandments and work for His Kingdom. No Christian can do very wrong, if he does that.

Behold ‘Behold!’ Is Here!

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I got my box of author’s copies yesterday, so I guess it’s official–Bell Mountain No. 14, Behold!, is now on sale.

Can our heroes use an ancient weapon to defend themselves, or will it wipe them out along with the enemy? Is there power left over from that vanished world?

Behold! is on sale at the Chalcedon Store (www.chalcedon.edu) and will soon be on sale at amazon.com and elsewhere. A paper shortage held up publication somewhat, but now it’s in print… and the rest is up to you, the readers.

I hope you’ll read this and let me know what you think of it. Let’s switch the lights on in the stadium, shall we?

Mark Rushdoony: ‘Shouldn’t We Be Seeing Progress?’

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Joshua and the Promised Land | Children's Bible Lessons

Passing over the Jordan in flood

How come it always looks like the ungodly are advancing and God’s people aren’t?

But this is why the Lord commands us, “Walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Here, “walk” means whatever we say and do and think.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/shouldnt-we-be-seeing-progress

In his essay, Mark Rushdoony reminds us, surveying the Old Testament, that God has always saved His people in unexpected ways. But He doesn’t like it when we doubt His promises!

“Every generation” Mark writes, “has some very real fearful events and our perhaps more than any in the West for some time, but our comportment should be in terms of our faith, not doubt and fear.”

The villains in the story come and go–Assyrians, Babylonians, Mongol invasions, Third Reich, Soviet Union, etc., etc.–but Christ’s Church is always growing.

They should be more demoralized than we are!

Rushdoony: ‘Molech Worship and Baptism’

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A Molech Primer | The Cripplegate

(This essay by R.J. Rushdoony was posthumously published in 2003.)

Thousands of years ago, people in Canaan dedicated their children to Molech, a pagan god whose name means “king” or “ruler.” Usually the baby was passed through a fire before the idol. Sometimes it involved actual human sacrifice.

By contrast, the rite of baptism was a dedication of the child to God and a declaration of the people’s reliance on God’s grace.

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/molech-worship-and-baptism

Rushdoony wrote this before the left wing of America’s ruling class dove on board the “transgender” bandwagon. “Gender reassignment” is a kind of twisted man-made pseudo-religious ritual. I believe its purpose is to estrange us from God. Molech was an idol representing the state. Some things just don’t change, do they?

Go ahead, stick your neck out and say “Oh, no, they’re not trying to make the state a substitute for God!” It’s been several hours since we’ve heard such ignorance.

Rushdoony: ‘The War Against the Family’

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R.J. Rushdoony (2 of 2) Christ's Victory Over Satan - YouTube

R.J. Rushdoony wrote this in 1996. Now, 27 years later, I’m old enough to see how right he was.

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/the-war-against-the-family

Have you ever seen this sticker on a car? “We are spending our children’s inheritance!” All too often, that is literally true. There are all sorts of “elder care plans” that suck up every dollar of what parents might otherwise leave to their children. There are more of them now than there were in 1996.

And we’ve all seen this: parents retire, move hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their surviving family members, eventually their health begins to fail… and then they pine away for visitors, forgetting how difficult they’ve made it to visit them.

And offspring who move away from their parents. Again, hundreds of miles. Patty and I knew a sweet and benign woman whose adult children harshly rejected her and moved from New Jersey to California… with the grandchildren. “Y’know, Mom,” said the daughter, “there comes a time when the old coyote crawls off to die.” Comforting, isn’t it?

“Social decay begins with the family,” said Rushdoony.

Right on target.

We really do have to do better by our families. And there are many villains out there working against us, who’d like nothing better than to see the family broken up.

How Far Can We Go?

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Stream Rushdoony Radio | Listen to Revelation: Thy Kingdom Come playlist online for free on SoundCloud

Scanning the nooze in the course of my work, a question has occurred to me today.

How far can we distance ourselves from God before we can’t get back?

Canada promotes assisted suicide as an answer to life’s problems. American politicians promote “transgender” as if their lives depended on it. And abortion: they endorse it whole-heartedly. Stocking school libraries with “gay” pornography. Having the FBI spy on parents who think the schools should not “teach” racial paranoia. Etc., etc.–it’s a depressingly long list.

I’ve just read Martin Selbrede’s article at http://www.chalcedon.edu , “Rushdoony and the Book of Revelation (https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/rushdoony-and-the-book-of-revelation). It gives food for thought. I think I need quote one sentence from it: “There is total victory woven throughout the book of Revelation.” (Read more if you’re in a mood to do some thinking.)

The total victory is to Christ’s Kingdom on the earth.

Which suggests that some of our more insane public policies, “insane” in the sense of being diametrically opposed to God’s Word, are also insane in that those who stand for them stand against Christ’s total victory. Does that sound like a place where you want to stand?

We don’t need a Great Reset. We need repentance.