Sept-Oct 2011 Faith for All of Life

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Publisher & Chalcedon President

Rev. Mark R. Rushdoony

Chalcedon Vice-President

Martin Selbrede

Editor

Martin Selbrede

Managing Editor

Susan Burns

Contributing Editors

Lee Duigon

Kathy Leonard

Chalcedon Founder

Rev. R. J. Rushdoony

(1916-2001)

was the founder of Chalcedonand a leading theologian, church/

state expert, and author of numer-

ous works on the application of

Biblical Law to society.

Receiving Faith for All of Life: Thismagazine will be sent to those whorequest it. At least once a year we ask that you return a response card if youwish to remain on the mailing list.Contributors are kept on our mailinglist. Suggested Donation: $35 peryear ($45 for all foreign — U.S. fundsonly). Tax-deductible contributionsmay be made out to Chalcedon andmailed to P.O. Box 158, Vallecito, CA95251 USA.

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Faith for All of Life

September/October 2011

Faith for All of Life, published bi-monthly by Chalcedon, a tax-exempt Christian foundation, is sent to all who request

it. All editorial correspondence should be sent to the managing editor, P.O. Box 569, Cedar Bluff, VA 24609-0569Laser-print hard copy and elect ronic disk submissions firmly encouraged. All submissions subject to editorial revi

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become the property of Chalcedon unless other arrangements are made. Opinions expressed in this magazinedo not necessarily reflect the views of Chalcedon. It provides a forum for views in accord with a relevant, active

historic Christianity, though those views may on occasion differ somewhat from Chalcedon’s and from each othe

Chalcedon depends on the contributions of its readers, and all gifts to Chalcedon are tax-deductible. ©2011Chalcedon. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint granted on written request only. Editorial Board: Rev. Mark

R. Rushdoony, President/Editor-in-Chief; Martin Selbrede, Editor; Susan Burns, Managing Editor and Executive

Assistant. Chalcedon, P.O. Box 158, Vallecito, CA 95251, Telephone Circulation (9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m., Pacific): (209) 736-4365 or Fax (209) 736-0536; email: [email protected]; www.chalcedon.edu; Circulation: Rebecca Rouse.

Editorials

2 From the Founder

The Spirit-Filled Men

4 From the President

The Danger o Abstract Theology Features

7 Cornelius Van Til and Rousas John Rushdoony, Part 3

Moving Spirits

Michael J. McVicar, Ph.D.

13 Why Check-Book Theology is Necessary for

the Expansion of Christianity—Part 1

Ian Hodge, Ph.D.

Columns

17 Tyranny, Independence, or Liberty Under GodPaul Michael Raymond

21 Dispelling the Myth that God is a Buttercup

Andrea Schwartz

Products

26 Catalog Insert



2 Faith for All of Life | September/October 2011 www.chalcedon.ed

Exodus 31:1-11

1. And the LORDspake unto Moses,saying,

2. See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son

o Uri, the son o Hur, o the tribeo Judah:

3. And I have flled him with the

spirit o God, in wisdom, and inunderstanding, and in knowledge,and in all manner o workmanship,

4. To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and inbrass,

5. And in cutting o stones,to set them, and in carving o timber, to work in all manner o

workmanship.

6. And I, behold I have given with

him Aholiab, the son o Ahisa-mach, o the tribe o Dan: andin the hearts o all that are wisehearted I have put wisdom, thatthey may make all that I have com-manded thee;

7. The tabernacle o the congrega-tion, and the ark o the testimony,and the mercy seat that is there-upon, and all the urniture o thetabernacle.

8. And the table and his urniture,and the pure candlestick withall his urniture, and the altar o incense.

9. And the altar o burnt oering with all his urniture, and the laverand his oot,

The Spirit-Filled MenBy R. J. Rushdoony

(Reprinted from Exodus [Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2004], 457-461)

F r o m t h e F o u n d e r

10. And the cloths o service, andthe holy garments or Aaron thepriest, and the garments o hissons, to minister in the priest’sofce,

11. And the anointing oil, andsweet incense or the holy place:according to all that I have com-manded thee shall they do.

Let us begin by glancing at someo the incidental acts o this text. Thename Bezaleel means “in the shadow o God,” meaning under God’s pro-tection. He was apparently a youngman, and a great-grandson o Caleb (1Chron. 2:18–20). He was a descendanto Judah. Aholiab was a name meaning“the ather is my tent”; he was a Danite.His name implies clearly that God theFather is his protection and covering.

H. L. Ellison said o verse 2, “’I have

called by name’ is reminiscent o 33:12and Isa. 45:4, which shows that theterm virtually implies predestination.”1 This is a act which cannot be over-stressed. The enemies o Christianity have too oten determined the agendaor discussion, and the subject o predes-tination has been restricted to electionto salvation or reprobation, and to ree will versus predestination. We are heretold that predestination also has to do

with our abilities, here, very specically,skills in the arts. They are God-ordainedand an aspect o our calling, so that Godis more involved in our skills than weare. To restrict the doctrine o calling toan ecclesiastical vocation is thus clearly not Biblical.

According to verse 6, a number o

artisans were called, although only twoare named. Bezaleel is chosen to be incharge o all the work, and Aholiab isthe oreman under him. According toExodus 35:10, 25–26, a large numbero men and women were called to dothe work. It is o particular interest thatheir skills are called “wisdom.” According to Scripture, God is the source andauthor o all wisdom. In Proverbs, the

reerences to wisdom identiy it withthe Spirit o God (c. Prov. 8). All skillrepresent a orm o wisdom, and allskills come into their own in the servico God.

Joseph Parker called attention tosome important implications o thistext. “God builds everything builtbeautiully.” Furthermore, “Not only will God build everything beautiully;his purpose is to have everything built

or religious uses,” which is not the samthing as ecclesiastical use. Also, and veimportant,

God will not have the building put upas an expression o mere sentiment;otherwise, he would be assisting thecause o idolatry.2

Finally, this text tells us that“Labour is churched and gloried.”3

In verses 7–11, we have a summaro the things committed to these men

or construction. Each o these items ivery specically described previously.Thus, the conception was rom God, anthe execution was by men. In moderndoctrines o art, conception is exclu-sively seen as the artist’s prerogative, as well as the execution thereo. Accordinto John Larner,



www.chalcedon.edu September/October 2011 |Faith for All of Life

Faith or All o Lie Until the later medieval period virtually all work produced by painters, stone-masons, goldsmiths, and woodworkers was undertaken under contract, inresponse to the specic demand o apatron. Whether as an individual, acathedral chapter, or a commune, the

patron generally stipulated in detail thecharacter o the work required rom theartist. Paintings and sculpture were notmade by men hoping, at some uturetime, to nd a purchaser or their waresbut were created or one particular oc-casion and place.4

There was thus ar more than the in-dividual will o the artist involved. There was the aith o the community, the wisdom o skill o the artisans, and thepurposes o those who commissionedthe work. In the modern perspective, the will o the individual artist is some-times all that matters. Not surprisingly,precisely as the artist in the modern erabegan to see himsel as the priest andprophet o a new age, he also began tolose relevance to the world around him.Those who are still governed by thegreatest determinant, Christian aith, arestill the most relevant artists. There isa dierence between entering a medi-

eval church, or example, and a Frank Lloyd Wright building; the church has auniversal meaning, a Wright structure apersonal, limited, and sometimes quirky signicance.

One o our problems with this textis that the Spirit o God is here plainly associated with the artistic skills whichare called wisdom. The common belie associates the Holy Spirit with ecstaticutterances; this is not the commonaspect o the Spirit’s work through men.Oehler’s comments on the Holy Spiritare thus especially important:

God reveals Himsel in the heart o man by His Spirit , which, as the Spirito revelation, corresponds to the cosmi-cal, in the same way as the word o revelation corresponds to the word o creation. As the principle o cosmical lie ,

as the mighty divine orce o all things,the Spirit is the principle o the lie o man’s soul, and every natural intel-lectual git in man is traced back to it: Joseph’s wisdom, Gen. xli.38; Bezaleel’sskill in art, Ex. xxxi.3, xxxv.31 … In theOld Testament, the Spirit’s work in the

divine kingdom is rather that o endow-ing the organs o the theocracy with the gits required or their calling , and thosegits o oce in the Old Testament aresimilar to the gits o grace in the New Testament, 1 Cor. xii.. In the Penta-teuch its working appears exclusively in this connection. The Spirit bestowson Moses and the seventy elders skillto guide the people (Num. xi.17.),also to Joshua (Num. xxvii.18; Deut.xxxiv.9), and works at a later period inthe judges, arousing and strengtheningthem (Judg. vi.34, xi.29, xiii.25), andcomes on the kings, who were calledo God, at their anointing (I Sam. x.6,xvi.13). As the Spirit o revelation,He produces in particular the git o prophesy, Num. xi.25.; and even …imparts the ability to prophesy to theheathen revealing God against his will(xxii.38). On the contrary, the Spiritdoes not appear in the Pentateuch asthe principle o sanctication in the pious ,this is rst spoken o in the Psalms, Ps.

li.13, comp. vers. 12 and 14, cxliii.10.5

The Holy Spirit thus has a moregeneral as well as a more specic placein our lives and world than is generally recognized. The doctrine o vocation orcalling must be seen as essentially relatedto the Holy Spirit. We are thereorenot alone; whatever our gits or voca-tion, however, great or small, we are theinstruments o the Holy Spirit. To limitthe Spirit’s maniestations in our lives

to dramatic or ecstatic experiences is tolimit severely our relationship to Him.He is very much present in all our daily tasks, and we have the duty to recognizeHis presence and power.

Just as the modern artist works outo himsel, in a totally personal rame o reerence, so too the modern Christian

too oten works in a radically subjectivcontext and tries to limit the Spirit’soperation to that subjective sphere.Thomas Scott’s comment on this textreads in part thus:

The Lord coners his unmerited avors

on whom he pleases: but the honor, which cometh rom him, is always at-tended with a work to be done: and tbe employed by him is indeed the higest honor, and the noblest privilege.6

“A work to be done,” this tells us thpurpose o the Spirit’s gits. The gits othe Spirit can also be called an “empowerment.” In 1 Corinthians 4:6, Paul warns the churchmen o Corinth again“being pued up or one another.” The

in the next verse, 1 Corinthians 4:7, wehave Paul’s comment, a devastating one which both the Authorized Version and James Moatt’s help us to understand:

For who maketh thee to dier romanother? and what hast thou that thodidst not receive? now i thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as i thohadst not received it? (AV)

Who singles you out, my brother? What do you possess that has not bee

given you? And i it was given you, wdo you boast as i it had been gained,not given? (Moatt)

In the modern view, each man is alittle god and creator, whereas our texttells us that the Holy Spirit is the sourco our gits, and neither we nor our giare an end in themselves. We are God’creation, or His Kingdom purposes,and there is “a work to be done.”

His gits include a variety o skills,

rom sculpture to making incense orperume. All His gits are in terms o His Kingdom, and “or glory and orbeauty” (Ex. 28:2, etc.).

Albert Camus wrote, “Since Godclaims all that is good in man, it is necessary to deride what is good and choo

Continued on page




A bstraction is athought process

where characteristicsare separated romactual objects to createa theoretical ideal which

is then treated as i it were real. It is ameans o simplication where concretedetails are let ambiguous so that gener-alizations can be made in terms o the

abstraction, which becomes the normor the sake o discussion.

We all use abstraction in ourthinking and conversation. I I said,“George Washington was a true patriotbecause …” I would be deending hispatriotism in terms o a denition o patriotism. On the other hand, i Isaid, “The true patriot is one who …”I would be about to create an abstractdenition o patriotism to which I would be holding others.

Abstract thought is valid in many circumstances. It is dangerous andpotentially blasphemous when applied totheology.

Reason and Faith

Medieval Christendom had avery God-centered view o reality.Humanism, in the orm o Greek thought, kept reviving to challenge thisview. The Enlightenment was a reaction

to the Protestant Reormation; it sel-consciously returned to Greek paganismand celebrated man’s reason.

Sometimes we buy into thisapproach, so when a humanist accusesChristians o being irrational ourtendency is to respond with, “No, youare irrational.” We then stand with the

The Danger of Abstract TheologyMark R. Rushdoony

F r o m t h e P r e s i d e n t

cynic on the presupposition that man’smind is central and that man’s logic is

thereore central.The Christian must understand his

aith implies limitations to both reason

and logic. First , man is limited by hiscreaturehood and his position relative

to his Creator. We could paraphrase Job9:32–33 as, “God is not a man like I am,

that I could challenge him or take him

to court. Likewise, there is no one whocould act as judge in such a context or

exert authority over us as though the twoo us were equals.” Man’s reason is part

o his created being and can never beelevated above or even close to the level

o the Creator.

A second limitation on man’sreasoning is the all. Man is a sinner,

so his reasoning is oten the logico rebellion. Satan, o course, used

allacious logic to tempt Eve, so man’suse o reason as a means o standing

over God and His Word has that sordid

origin. A third limitation on man’s reason

is his redemption, his call to be a new creature in Christ and to submit to the

sanctiying work o the Holy Spirit. Man

is called to submit the entirety o hisbeing to God, and this includes his allen

mental aculties.

Reasoning is a Religious Activity

Man is rational in terms o his

aith, his basic presuppositions. The

Enlightenment saw humanistic man interms o reason, but Scripture views man

as a creature o aith. Man always thinksand acts in terms o what he believes.

Adam and Eve rationally consideredSatan’s words and chose disobedience

because they rst believed those lies; th were exercising aith in Satan’s promise

When man ollows his rebellion agains

God, his reason works out the logicalimplications o what he believes, what

assumes to be true. Reasoning then, is religious activity though not necessarily

an ecclesiastical one (evolution is one

o the most prevalent aiths o our era,though it is certainly not ecclesiastical)

One o the reasons we see the continuiabandonment o Christian morality an

custom, not to mention hostility thereis that our culture is becoming more

consistently humanistic. Its aith is bein

acted on more systematically.

Faith and Dominion

Man’s drive to dominion is also

in terms o his aith. The WestminsterShorter Catechism denes the image

o God in terms o knowledge,

righteousness, holiness, and dominion All these are perverted by sin.

Knowledge becomes a condencein lies, righteousness becomes a alse

justice, holiness becomes a separation

not to God but to evil, and dominionbecomes a lust or power and control.

Sinners will think and act in terms o

what they believe, so that un-Christianmorphs into anti-Christian and evermore consistently so. Men are rational,

but their reasoning is in terms o their

aith. I we do not sel-consciously holdsystematic Biblical theology, we will en

up with the systematics o another aithTheology (rom theos and logos ) means




Faith or All o Lie “God words,” and i our “God words”

are not sel-consciously Biblical, they willbecome more consistently non-Biblical.

Faith and its expression will then beollowed by action, by an exercise o dominion whereby men work out the

implications o their belies.Our thinking must sel-consciously

rely on God’s revealed words ortheology. I God is the Creator, we arein a very small part o His reality; i we

assume He is not the Creator, we willrecognize Him as a small part o ourreality. The danger is when very clever

men create abstract ideas about God andequate those abstractions with theology.

The academic study o theology, in act,

can encourage this tendency. We cannot close God o into a

category o our making or relegateHim to a place o our denition. Weunderstand as we, by aith, assume

God’s Word is true, that it is a consistent whole, and that we are subject to it

because we are subject to Him.

God’s Thoughts

and Man’s Thoughts

For my thoughts are not yourthoughts, neither are your waysmy ways, saith the Lord. For as theheavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your

ways, and my thoughts than yourthoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)

We cannot impose our reasonon God. Contrast Isaiah’s words withthose o E. J. Carnell who amously

(and blasphemously) said, “Bring on

your revelations! Let them make peace with the law o contradiction and the

acts o history, and they will deserve arational man’s assent.”1 This is “rational

man’s” attitude: let me be the judgeo God’s existence, reasonableness, justice, love, etc. Such reason begins

with the supremacy o man and God’s

accountability beore the court o man’s judgment. Job knew better; modernman does not.

God’s word is transcendent; humanreason is not. To impose our reasonon God would be to counter Isaiah

with, “No, God’s thoughts must bemy thoughts; my ways must be God’s ways. God’s thoughts are not higherthan my thoughts; God’s thoughts mustbe understandable to me.” Imposingour reason on God is tantamount tograbbing God, pulling Him down toearth and saying, “You’d better startmaking sense to me!”

Theology is aith based, and thebeliever must acknowledge that aith is

itsel the git o God. Theology is not abranch o philosophy or logic. Theology is not a critical analysis or an intellectualor academic exercise, but “God words”that we receive by God’s grace rom GodHimsel in Scripture.

Speculative Theology

We ask speculative theologicalquestions all the time. It is natural orlimited minds with limited knowledgeto ask or more inormation, but our

errors multiply when we try to answersuch questions. The question that begins with, “Why would God …” should beanswered with, “Unless God tells us wecannot presume to know the mind o God.”

We must not presume our humanlogic can gure God out where He hasnot spoken. In act, we oten cannotunderstand what He does say (theconcepts o eternity and the triune

God cannot be rationally understood). We must not presume that God orHis transcendent truth should becomprehendible to us. Trying to probethe mind o God is presuming that Hemust operate in terms o His creature’smental abilities and that our sin is not aurther impediment to such eorts.

Speculative theology is human ide

about God, developed into abstraction

and then imposed on God and His

Word. At one time tomes were written

on the area o theology known as

lapsarianism. The idea has as its root

word “lapse,” which reers to man’s sinThis great debate set about to create an

order to God’s eternal decrees (creation

the all, the decree to save some, electio

o some to lie).

Some recognized that, because Go

is not limited by time and His decrees

are one, this could not be debated as a

chronological order. Still, they persisted

trying to arrange them in a logical orde

a cause and eect order. The problem

was in transerring man’s limitationo time and thought to God. Logic

itsel imposes a chronological order,

but God is not limited by time, He is

the great “I am.” Trying to impose an

order to God’s thinking imposes time,

a creation o God, on God. It also, o

course, presumes man can understand

the mind o God. One website tried

to deend its lapsarian position in

terms o the simile o computer chips

that God programmed in the past.God is then viewed mechanistically.

Once you assume to understand God’s

programming code, you then are not

araid to make bold statements based

on your logic about God. Note some o

the statements such presumption led to

(emphasis added):

“God cannot do anything or us until we become an entity; He cannot doanything or a non-entity.”

“No decree itsel, thereore, opposeshuman reedom.”

“God is air and provides or all. Goddoesn’t arbitrarily assign people to hel

“God is not unair to any member o thuman race; such a thought is blasphe-mous and unthinkable.”




Faith or All o Lie What is the problem here? Note

how this writer’s logic is applied to God,and God is then limited by the writer’slogic. He presumes to say what God canand cannot do based on his lapsarianlogic. In speaking to his readership,

the writer even used the second person(speaking to both reader and God) andlaid down the law to man and God alike:“You cannot elect until you create. Youcannot elect until you permit the all.” Ihope God is taking notes. And what is wrong with saying that God is air? Notethat his statements hinge on the abstractconcept o that which he believesairness consists. What is unthinkableand blasphemous by his denition?

Apparently it is any aront to humanity by the writer’s abstraction o “airness.” All the various lapsarian arguments

were presumptions. Each claimed toread God’s mind, to penetrate the eternaldecrees o God on the assumptionthat God’s thought and action arecomparable to man’s.

In Genesis 3 Satan claimed to know the mind and secret thoughts o Godand challenged Eve to live in terms o these presumptions. Using Satan’s logic,Eve rationally chose sin, as did Adam.

We are commanded to read God’s Word, not His mind. We know Godonly as and to the extent He revealsHimsel. We know His truths in thesame way. To know God’s mind wouldnecessitate having a mind equal toHis, yet we do not ully understandourselves, much less God. Faith calls ora condence in God; it does not requireus to explain about God what God does

not explain.

God Is Not An Abstraction

The word “god” is used universally or any supreme being or concepto ultimacy. This is why “god” canbe discussed across religious andphilosophical lines. Men dene their

own “god” and proess belie in him. Inmodern usage, the term “god,” or even“God,” oten has no reerence to the Jehovah o Scriptures.

Scripture, however, presents Godas a person, not an abstraction. This

was John’s point o the logos in the rstchapter o his gospel. He was not theabstract mind o the universe but aperson whom John and others knew andloved. The God o Scripture, moreover,is a God who has spoken and has givenus His written revelation o Himsel.Creating abstract constructs and callingthem “God” is a rejection o thatrevelation, or at least its subordinationto the alse god o our imagination.

God’s name is holy and man has noproprietary use o it. The use o God’sname is totally governed, so ought notHis works, nature, and His decreesto be guarded against speculation by presumptuous man?

Right ater God gave the TenCommandments (Ex. 20) He noted thatthe people were araid o Him, and they begged Moses to speak to God so they would not have to ace Him directly.

God, to those people, was saying, ineect, “You are araid because you know I am real; you know I am not a concept;I am not an abstraction.”

“The ear o the Lord is thebeginning o wisdom,” Scripturetells us. Fear o real danger can be ahealthy attitude. When we see Godor all the good things we like aboutHim—salvation, grace, mercy, love,etc.—and yet ignore His other very realcharacteristics—judgment, law, wrath,holiness—we have created an abstractGod, one o our own creation. We mustlet God dene Himsel and His work and accept all that He is. We cannotcherry-pick what we like about Godand present this abstraction o a deity

Continued on page 24

The Only Systematic

Theology that is

Reformed,

Theonomic,Postmillennial and

Presuppositional.

By R. J. Rushdoony. Theology

belongs in the pulpit, the school,

the workplace, the family and

everywhere. Society as a whole

is weakened when theology is

neglected. Without a system-

atic application of theology, toooften people approach the Bible

with a smorgasbord mentality,

picking and choosing that which

pleases them. This two-volume

set addresses this subject in

order to assist in the application

of the Word of God to every area

of life and thought.

Hardback, 1301 pages,indices, $70.00 per set.Save on the price o thisbook. Add this book to alarger order and pay less!

See our catalog starting onpage 25.




This is the nal essay in a series doc-umenting the relationship between

R. J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), theounder o the Chalcedon Foundation,and Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987),a proessor o Christian apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. In the rstessay in this series,1 I provided a brie intellectual biography o Van Til andoutlined how Rushdoony rst encoun-tered him. The second essay 2 recountedhow Van Til’s ideas infuenced Rush-doony’s early ministry and played a key role in his development as a thinker andactivist. It also pointed to some o the ways Rushdoony infuenced Van Til andhelped shape the public reception o presuppositional apologetics.

This essay picks up where thesecond in the series let o to detail the

two men’s relationship rom the 1960sthrough the 1980s. The rst portion o the essay deals with Van Til’s attemptto reconcile his career as a proessionaltheologian with Rushdoony’s work topopularize the presuppositional apolo-getic method. The dierent goals o both men led to no small amount o tension as Rushdoony the activist andChristian social reormer ound himsel at odds with Van Til the proessional

philosopher and theologian. But as theremainder o the essay demonstrates,the strains between the two men weredwared by their mutual aection oreach other’s research and their sharedcommitment to a rigorously Christianvision o epistemological purity. The es-say moves beyond the tensions between

Cornelius Van Til and Rousas John Rushdoony,

Part 3: Moving SpiritsMichael J. McVicar, Ph.D.

F e a t u r e A r t i c l e

the two to outline how Rushdoony’s work with the Chalcedon Foundation was deeply infuenced by Van Tillianprinciples. As the essay wraps up, Idocument how Rushdoony’s activism atthe Chalcedon Foundation refected anattempt to embody and urther Van Til’spresuppositional apologetics.

“Don’t Put Me on a Pedestal”

In many ways, Rushdoony’s col-laboration with Van Til peaked duringthe late 1950s and the 1960s. Theircollaboration started when Van Tilreviewed drats o Rushdoony’s By What Standard? 3 in the 1950s and continuedthroughout the 1960s as the two tradedideas and manuscripts. During thisperiod, Rushdoony edited many o VanTil’s manuscripts and oten broughtorder to disorderly work. By 1959 VanTil so trusted Rushdoony as his editorthat he told Rushdoony to “[m]ake any changes you deem necessary” to one o his manuscripts.4 Later, working on anunnamed project, Van Til allowed Rush-doony to edit several distinct essays intoa single volume. Van Til was amazedat the results: “Thank you or sendingthe our batches o manuscript mate-rial. I am again impressed with youringenuity in that you could nd somesemblance o unity in all this material. It

is truly amazing.”5 In short, the surviv-ing correspondence between Rushdoony and Van Til suggests that Rushdoony played an important role in shapingVan Til’s scholarly output, a act otenoverlooked—or unknown—to Van Til’sstudents and biographers.6

But this trust between Rushdoony

and Van Til did have its limits. In act,the only major strain between the twomen was that Rushdoony supportedVan Til too much. This became evidensoon ater Rushdoony began publicly speaking and writing on Van Til’s be-hal. In 1955 Rushdoony gave a speechdeending Van Til’s apologetics. WhenVan Til heard o the lecture througha riend o a riend, he was grateul toRushdoony or his impassioned deenso presuppositionalism. Van Til espe-cially liked that a non-academic couldoer such a clear and persuasive accouo his epistemological ethics. “You as a‘outsider,’” Van Til wrote to Rushdoon“can do a lot or the cause.”7 SinceRushdoony was neither an academicnor a recognized theologian with auniversity appointment, Van Til eltthat Rushdoony carried a certain weigh

among other churchmen who had madministry—not abstract refection—their lie. But Van Til did worry thatRushdoony’s eusive praise might alsoalienate less sympathetic audiences. Accordingly, even as he deeply appreciateRushdoony’s deense o his ideas, VanTil also cautioned Rushdoony: “pleasedon’t put me on a pedestal.”8

Herein lay one o the ew obvioustensions between Rushdoony and Van

Til that at times strained their relationship. Rushdoony was a warrior andactivist or his aith. In Van Til’s thougRushdoony saw the means or reorder-ing the very structure o Americancivilization. In contrast, Van Til wasan academic. By nature and training,academics tend toward caution, equivo




Faith or All o Lie cation, and conceptual conservatism.Even as he waged battle with theologicalmodernists and liberals in his books andessays, disciplinary constraints boundVan Til to eschew the sorts o grandpronouncements and laudatory praise

with which Rushdoony oten lavishedhim.

In short, Van Til’s proessional concerns oten butted up againstRushdoony’s spiritual commitment tothe “truth” he ound in Van Til’s ideas.To Rushdoony, Van Til was an intellec-tual mentor and religious guide; he wasnot just one theologian among many vying to establish the legitimacy o theirrespective theological visions within

the normative discursive standards o academic theology. Van Til understood what was at stake in the proessionalgame and dutiully played his part.Rushdoony elt the rightness o Van Til’sideas in his very soul; academic dis-course did not interest him.

The result was a pronouncedawkwardness in their relationship asRushdoony lavished triumphal praiseupon Van Til’s epistemology, while VanTil studiously sought to rein in what

he perceived as Rushdoony’s adjectivalexcess. In act, Van Til attempted tocheck what he saw as Rushdoony’s un- warranted praise in the earliest drats o By What Standard . In his comments on what eventually became chapter our o the text, Van Til told Rushdoony, “Thearticle on the [‘]Psychology o Reli-gion[’] seems to me to be very good, butagain I wonder whether you could leavemy name out at many places. At any

rate, when you reer to me perhaps youcould tone down your generous adjec-tives.”9 Similarly, in a later letter, Van Tilasked Rushdoony to “omit most o thelaudatory adjectives.” He continued, “Imean this seriously, you give me morethan enough credit by writing the book at all, and it may oend some unneces-

sarily. Some may think o it as primarily or propaganda.”10

For his part Rushdoony dismissedVan Til’s concerns. When Rushdoony asked several o his riends to read themanuscript and assess his comments

about Van Til, he reported that they “delighted in all o it, including partsyou were troubled about … and wantedno changes. They elt that the presentrevisions o my statements regardingyou should stand, [and] that I am moreaccurate in my evaluation o your stat-ure than you are.”11

Weasel Statements

This issue became particularly troublesome or both men when the

aculty o Westminster TheologicalSeminary began to organize the publica-tion o a estschrit to honor Van Til.12 Traditionally, a estschrit is a collectiono original essays written to celebratea living academic’s contribution to agiven eld o knowledge. While gener-ally positive assessments o the scholar’scareer and achievements, the essays inestschriten oten eature critical essays weighing the merits o the scholar’s work and measuring it against othersin the eld. The aculty o Westminsterorganized the estschrit to coincide with Van Til’s seventy-th birthday and his ortieth year at the seminary in1970. Under the leadership o EdwardRobert Geehan, a general editor atCharles “Hays” Craig’s Presbyterianand Reormed Publishing Company,the volume collected original essays by Westminster aculty and internationaltheologians such as the Dutch thinker

Herman Dooyeweerd (1894–1977) andthe South Arican theologian Hendrik G. Stoker (1899–1993). Geehan alsoinvited Rushdoony to contribute.

Rushdoony oered an essay on VanTil’s contribution to the “one and themany problem” in philosophy.13 WhenVan Til read an early drat o the essay he

was shocked: it was too positive! Van Tthanked Rushdoony or the contributiobut asked him to tone down the praisebecause he eared that his critics mightthink him like one o the great villainso the New Testament: “My opponents

will only say that I accept adulation roadmirers in some such way as Heroddid. I am, thereore, requesting that yochange a couple points at least.”14 Uporeviewing Van Til’s request, Geehanseconded the notion, noting, “Havingbecome so used to deending his [VanTil’s] position against constant attack,he is somewhat uneasy in the presenceo praise.”15 Geehan asked Rushdoonyto revise portions o the essay so that it

might conorm more to the scholarly standards o the estschrit.In a terse response to Geehan’s re-

quest, Rushdoony registered his disgus with scholastic niceties. “I have no earo being criticized as ‘unscholarly.’”16 “Today scholarship is identied withthe weasel statement, which speaksequivocally on all things, unlike thatunscholarly gentleman, John Calvin,”Rushdoony red back to Geehan. “I dknow rom experience that Dr. Van Ti

is unduly earul o praise, and, becauso this, I have complied.”17 Only Rushdoony’s respect or Van Til compelledhis compliance with Geehan’s request.

As Geehan assembled the text,Rushdoony grew increasingly unhappy with the estschrit. Ater reading a drao one contribution that criticized VanTil’s apologetics, Rushdoony wrote toVan Til that he was “dumbounded” bthe “stupid” estschrit article.18 Pri-

vately, Van Til conceded that he agreed with Rushdoony’s assessment o the es-say. He elt that the piece’s author was “bumptious individual,” but he worrieto Rushdoony that he couldn’t reuse apiece—even a mediocre one—becauseo the act that “he is critical o my views.”19




Faith or All o Lie Rushdoony particularly resented the

direction taken by the estschrit becausehe had begun a similar project our yearsearlier. But rather than a traditionalestschrit, Rushdoony had envisioned a“study which would point to the uture

in terms o the directions laid downby your philosophy, i.e., its implica-tions or historiography, or econom-ics, or theological and textual studies,or philosophy, and so on.”20 In short, where the current estschrit project was backward-looking and concerned with oering critical assessments o VanTil’s impact in the past, Rushdoony hadhoped to produce a “seminal study”that used Van Til’s ideas “to indicate thedirections Christian thought should takein terms o your philosophy.”21 Faculty rom Westminster asked Rushdoony todelay his project so they could assembletheir estschrit. Rushdoony assented,but came to regret the decision.22

Beyond the Academy

Although the scholarly receptiono Van Til remained a perpetual an-noyance or Rushdoony, he continuedto push Van Til’s ideas outside o theacademy. Here he met with much moresuccess. Initially, he ound some o hismost receptive audiences among collegestudents, conservative women’s clubs,and businessmen. He began reachingthese audiences during his brie stint atthe libertarian-oriented William VolkerFund based in Burlingame, Caliornia.During the middle o the century, theVolker Fund was one o the ew politicaland socially conservative philanthropicinstitutions with signicant resources.23

The und hired Rushdoony as a consul-tant because o his anti-statist, religious-ly-grounded belies.

Ater the publication o By What Standard in the late 1950s, Rushdoony used grants rom the Volker Fund tosupport his work on an ambitious seto writing projects and speaking trips

throughout the United States. It wasduring his time as a Volker aliate thatRushdoony either began or nishedmanuscripts that eventually became The Messianic Character o American Educa-tion,24 This Independent Republic ,25 and

The One and the Many .26 Each o thesebooks grew out o lectures Rushdoony gave to conservative groups across thecountry, and although they varied widely in content—rom educationaltheory, to Christian historiography, topolitical theory—each text rested on thesolid oundation o Van Tillian pre-suppositional epistemology. Thus, orexample, in the “Preace” to The Nature o the American System Rushdoony

wrote, “Behind the writing o history is a philosophy o history, and behindthat philosophy o history are certainpre-theoretical and essentially religiouspresuppositions.”27 He then spent thebook developing a philosophy o UnitedStates history based Christian presup-positions. Similarly, at the outset o The One and the Many , Rushdoony uses VanTil’s conception o the Trinity as theoundation or a new political philoso-phy that rejects centralized statism or

decentralized orms o governance.28

Although Rushdoony spent lessthan a year ocially associated with theund,29 that was all the time he neededto make connections with variousimportant mid-century conservativeorganizations including the Foundationor Economic Education (FEE) and theIntercollegiate Society o Individual-ists (ISI). Rushdoony’s connectionsbrought presuppositionalism to a much

wider audience than Van Til couldhave reached as a teacher and writero narrowly ocused philosophical andtheological monographs. In act, whenrecounting the success o this string o publications—especially his Messianic Character o American Education—Rushdoony noted, “The irony o the

situation is that the sales o my book to church circles are negligible, whileremarkably good to secular sources,libraries, colleges, universities, and othsources, and the secular reviews [are]uniormly enthusiastic!”30 This act wa

not lost on Van Til. He understood thRushdoony was pushing his ideas wellbeyond the connes o the academy and seminary. “I am always amazed,”he told Rushdoony, “by the energy wit which you are proceeding to present thReormed Faith to those who are amonthe educated and the cultured o theland.”31 But, remarkably, Rushdoony wasn’t just presenting the Reormedaith; he was presenting Van Til’s inter-pretation o the Reormed aith, a actthat had massive repercussions or thelives and reputations o both men.

Presuppositionalism and

the Chalcedon Foundation

In 1965 Rushdoony moved to thesuburbs o Los Angeles to establishChalcedon, Inc., a non-prot organization through which he could lecture anraise unds to start a Christian collegebuilt on Van Tillian insights. EventualChalcedon, Inc. evolved into the Chalcedon Foundation, which Rushdoonyused to build on the connections hemade while lecturing and researching athe Volker Fund. In a series o lecturesand home church meetings during the1960s and ‘70s he impressed uponhis audiences the importance o VanTillian epistemology and its necessity within any orthodox system o Christithought and action.

In October 1965, Rushdoony sat

down and wrote a brie report to hiscommunity o supporters, which hemimeographed and handed out. Inthat short report—the predecessor o Faith For All o Lie —Rushdoony wrot“What you are doing, in your supporto me, is to sponsor a counter-measureto the prevailing trend, to promote




Faith or All o Lie by your support, interest, and study,a Christian Renaissance, to declare by these measures your belie that the an-swer to humanism and statism is Chris-tian aith and liberty.”32 Rushdoony’sstatement underscored the proound

ways he hoped Chalcedon could serveas an institutional maniestation o thebasic insights o Van Tillian presuppo-sitionalism: proper education, oundedon rigorous Christian presuppositions,could lead to a Christian Renaissance —arebirth, a reconstruction—o Americanculture.

Through the resources o Chalce-don, Rushdoony not only continued hisrelentless lecturing and writing schedule,

but he also began cultivating a genera-tion o thinkers, teachers, and preachersto become presuppositional warriors inthe battle against secularism and statism.Perhaps most amously, Rushdoony supported the early careers o a num-ber o young men who would becomesynonymous with Van Tillian apologet-ics and Rushdoony’s own project o Christian Reconstruction. For example,Rushdoony used Chalcedon to supportthe graduate education and early writing

careers o Gary North (b. 1942) andGreg Bahnsen (1948–1995).33 In act,he used Chalcedon’s resources to provideunding or both young men to study directly under Van Til at WestminsterTheological Seminary.

In many ways, however, Chalcedon’ssupport or individuals such as Northand Bahnsen was much less signicantthan its more amorphous and harderto determine infuence on a network o

issues in the areas o higher education,homeschooling, and political activism.This work began in the late 1970s whenRushdoony shited his ocus away romencouraging young men to attend semi-nary and instead spent a considerableamount o time pushing Christians tobring Van Tillian epistemology to bear

on law schools and other institutions o higher education.

O the many bright and deter-mined young lawyers that Rushdoony encouraged to litigate in the interesto Christian liberty, John W. White-

head was certainly the most signicant. Whitehead published many popularlegal texts, including The SeparationIllusion: A Lawyer Examines the First Amendment ,34 and went on to ound theRutherord Institute in 1982 with Rush-doony’s support. As with Chalcedon,the Rutherord Institute similarly em-bodied Van Til’s ideas: Rushdoony and Whitehead used Rutherord to—amongmany other things—provide courtroomsupport to homeschooling parents who wanted to teach their children accord-ing to strictly Christian epistemologicalprinciples.

This wider infuence on colleges,proessional schools, and homeschoolingmaniested itsel in complex ways thatremain nearly impossible or historiansto track or sociologists to map. Rush-doony sometimes received letters romcollege students at secular institutionsasking or inormation about Van Til. In

many cases these inquiries suggest thatRushdoony’s Chalcedon Foundationhad become synonymous with Van Til’sphilosophy. In one interesting note, twocollege students wrote to Rushdoony:

A ellow Christian and I have recently become very enthusiastic concerningthe theological and social/political works o Cornelius Van Til, Her-man Dooyeweerd, Francis Schaeer,and yoursel … Both o us belong toReormed churches, but only recently

we have begun to realize the social andpolitical implications o our Christianbelies. We have become convincedthat it is crucial that we understand andteach others the proper Christian socialand political structure that is taught inthe Word o God …35

When Rushdoony relayed such

notes to the aging and now-retired VanTil, he was surprised by Van Til’s pes-simistic response. In one note authorein the late 1970s, Van Til doubtedthat such good news about his ever-increasing infuence could really be tru

Rushdoony would have none o it:I was happy to hear rom you, butyour letter saddened me a bit, becauseyou seem to nd my reports about thgrowth o your infuence ‘too generouto be true’ … Now we do not get such[positive] letters every day, but we doget enough o them to indicate thatthings are happening, and that the sono Cornelius Van Til are beginning toappear all over the world. Thereore:REJOICE!36

As the previous paragraph indicatethe late 1970s saw Van Til recede romthe rontlines o the battle to presspresuppositionalism in all areas o lie. With his retirement in 1972 Van Tilcontinued to teach at Westminster untthe late 1970s, but his most signicantpublications were already behind him. Always modest and sel-eacing, VanTil reused to take credit or any o hisachievements as a philosopher, theolo-

gian, or epistemological revolutionary.In his humble mind all o his successesbelonged to others: to the LORD, tohis students, to Rushdoony. In a brie handwritten note, Van Til told Rush-doony, “I am more indebted to youthan I now realize. You are the movingspirit back o all. The Lord bless youand keep you and yours henceorth anorevermore.”37 Certainly Rushdoony would have disputed the assertion and

did so in later letters, but in a melan-choly postscript Van Til revealed that heternal legacy was weighing heavily onhis mind: “Soon we shall meet at Jesuseet!”38

In a moving but disjointed letter written in 1978 shortly ater the deatho his beloved wie, Rena, Van Til agai



www.chalcedon.edu September/October 2011 |Faith for All of Life 1

Faith or All o Lie thanked Rushdoony or his work. VanTil began by recounting how he “used tohaul cow-manure,” plowing “22 miles”o “clay soil” in order to help his atherpay or his rst year o college at CalvinCollege in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He

told Rushdoony o how, “For 8 yearsRena and I kept company—no money or a wedding. For 52 years she and I were happily married.”39 “I dare scarcely to think o her or look at her picture orear it will stymie my work. I pray daily and with tears that I may continue alone to do something or the kingdom inour Savior.”40 He concluded by tellingRushdoony that, although he had been“utterly unknown” to the Westminstertheologian when Rushdoony rst begandeending the New Modernism in the1940s, “I am and shall always remaindeeply grateul to you or your … work and or your encouragement—in theace o ridicule—to me in my labors orour common Lord and Savior.”41

Conclusion

Cornelius Van Til died on April17, 1987. Rushdoony did not hear thenews immediately. On April 20 and 21,Rushdoony lectured at Dordt College,a small Reormed liberal arts collegein Sioux Falls, Iowa. Ater the session,Dordt’s president Dr. John B. Hulst,pulled Rushdoony aside and told himabout Van Til’s passing. Hulst also toldRushdoony “that on one occasion VanTil told him that I [Rushdoony] aloneunderstood him [Van Til] clearly andinterpreted him accurately.”42

Through the remainder o his careerRushdoony continued his mission to

clearly and accurately interpret Van Til.Never one to shy away rom lavishingpraise o his mentor, collaborator, andriend, in the May 1995 issue o the Chalcedon Report , Rushdoony wrote,“Cornelius Van Til was a giant o theFaith, one o the greatest men in thehistory o Christianity. Many in the

United States are doing their best toorget him, but his infuence keepsexpanding.”43

Rushdoony worried that Van Til’sinfuence in the United States could wane i something wasn’t done. He

ended his short note with an impas-sioned call to get more o Van Til’smajor books back into print. SinceRushdoony’s warning about the pos-sible diminishment o Van Til’s legacy,a host o important new publicationshave appeared: an electronic edition o Van Til’s complete works appeared in1997;44 Greg Bahnsen’s Van Til’s Apolo- getic appeared posthumously in 1998;45 Presbyterian and Reormed PublishingCompany has reissued several o VanTil’s major works;46 and in 2008 JohnR. Muether published his excellentbiography, Cornelius Van Til: Reormed Apologist and Churchman.

From his assertion that Rushdoony was the “moving spirit” behind the pub-lic rise o presuppositionalism, to his ob-viously heart-elt statements o gratitudeor Rushdoony’s eorts to popularize his writings, it is clear that Van Til believedthat Rushdoony was singularly impor-

tant to his career as a philosopher andapologist. Similarly, it is hard to imag-ine that the Chalcedon Foundation orRushdoony’s consistent eort to reormhigher education and homeschooling would exist without the moving spirito Van Tillian epistemology. Although it would certainly be a misrepresentationto say that the two men’s projects wereidentical, it would not be an exag-geration to say they helped shape each

other’s careers and that each man helpeddetermine the context in which theother would be interpreted. In short, itis impossible to imagine Van Til withoutRushdoony’s work, and vice versa.

In 2010 Michael J. McVicar completeda dissertation exploring the relationshipbetween the ministry o R. J. Rushdoony

and the American conservative movementHe lectures at several universities in Ohio.McVicar is not a Reconstructionist. He cabe reached with questions and comments [email protected]

1. Michael J. McVicar, “Cornelius Van Ti

and Rousas John Rushdoony, Part 1: EverThought Captive,” Faith or All o Lie (May/June 2011), 14–19.

2. Michael J. McVicar, “Cornelius VanTil and Rousas John Rushdoony, Part 2:Deenders o the Faith,” Faith or All o Li(July/August 2011), 7–13, 16.

3. Rousas John Rushdoony, By What Standard? An Analysis o the Philosophy o Cornelius Van Til (Philadelphia: Presbyteriand Reormed, 1959; repr. Vallecito, Ca:Ross House Books, 1995).

4. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 1 August 1959. Emphasis in the original. Alreerences to unpublished letters reer to mterial held in the Rousas John Rushdoony Library, Chalcedon Foundation, Vallecito,Caliornia.

5. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 1February 1962.

6. For example, major studies o Van Tilsuch as John M. Frame, Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis o His Thought (Phillipsburg,NJ: P&R Publishing, 1995) and John R.Muether, Cornelius Van Til: Reormed Apol gist and Churchman, American Reormedbiographies (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Pub-lishing, 2008) make no mention o Rush-doony’s role in editing Van Til’s manuscripor Rushdoony’s eort to clariy Van Til’soten-opaque prose.

7. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 2December, 1955.

8. Ibid.

9. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 2October 1957.

10. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony,27 December 1957.

11. R. J. Rushdoony to Cornelius Van Til April 1958.

12. Jerusalem and Athens: Critical Discussioon the Theology and Apologetics o CorneliusVan Til , ed. E. R. Geehan (Phillipsburg, NPresbyterian and Reormed Publishing Co1971).




Faith or All o Lie 13. Rousas John Rushdoony, “The One andMany Problem—The Contribution o VanTil,” in Jerusalem and Athens , 339–348.

14. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony,10 February 1969.

15. Edward Robert Geehan to R. J. Rush-

doony, 18 February 1969.16. R. J. Rushdoony to Edward Robert Gee-han, 21 March 1969.

17. Ibid.

18. R. J. Rushdoony to Cornelius Van Til,26 March 1970.

19. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony,31 March 1970.

20. R. J. Rushdoony to Cornelius Van Til,17 January 1970.

21. Ibid.

22. Eventually Rushdoony realized his goal

o producing a text that assessed how VanTil’s ideas could be applied to disciplinesas diverse as history, economics, education,political science, sociology, and mathemat-ics. See Foundations o Christian Scholarship:Essays in the Van Til Perspective , Gary North,ed. (Vallecito, Ca: Ross House Books,1976).

23. Gary North, “It All Began With FredSchwarz,” LewRockwell.com, December 16,2002, http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north145.html.

24. Rousas John Rushdoony, The Messianic Character o American Education: Studies In the History o the Philosophy o Education (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1963).

25. Rousas John Rushdoony, This Inde- pendent Republic: Studies in the Nature and Meaning o American History (Nutley, N.J:Craig Press, 1964).

26. Rousas John Rushdoony, The One and the Many: Studies in the Philosophy o Order and Ultimacy (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press,1971).

27. Rushdoony, This Independent Republic ,v.

28. Rushdoony, The One and the Many ,8–10.

29. Rushdoony’s time as a consultant wasbrie and tumultuous. He was red, at leastin part, because his conservative Presbyte-rianism chaed many o the more secularly

inclined individuals associated with theund. Even though many o the und’s rank-and-le staers disliked Rushdoony’s reli-gious ideas, the und’s manager, Harold W.Luhnow, remained loyal to Rushdoony evenater the und’s sta demanded Rushdoony’stermination. In turn, Rushdoony remained

loyal to Luhnow and even dedicated The One and the Many to him. For a thoroughhistory o Rushdoony’s work at the VolkerFund, see Michael J. McVicar, “AggressivePhilanthropy: Progressivism, Conservatism,and the William Volker Charities Fund,” Missouri Historical Review 105 (July 2011),191–212.

30. R. J. Rushdoony to Mr. Brough, 26 January 1962.

31. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 1February 1962.

32. Rousas John Rushdoony, “ChalcedonReport, No. 1,” reprinted in The Roots o Reconstruction (Vallecito, CA: Ross HouseBooks, 1991), 545. Emphasis in the origi-nal.

33. Many readers are no doubt amiliar with North’s and Bahnsen’s careers and theirtempestuous relationship with Rushdoony and the larger Christian Reconstructionmovement. This essay is not the place torecount those ot-told tales. Suce it to say,during the 1960s and 1970s both men were

dedicated to Van Til’s ideas and steadastsupporters o Rushdoony’s Chalcedon Foun-dation.

34. John W. Whitehead, The SeparationIllusion: A Lawyer Examines the First Amend-ment (Milord, MI: Mott Media, 1977).

35. D. John Guild and Richard W. Bledsoeto R. J. Rushdoony, 5 March 1973.

36. R. J. Rushdoony to Cornelius Van Til,31 March 1978.

37. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony,n.d. (letter postmarked 28 July 1976).

38. Ibid.

39. Cornelius Van Til to R. J. Rushdoony, 4 April 1978.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42.R. J. Rushdoony journal entry or 23

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This was going tobe one interesting

meeting. People begandribbling in around 6p.m. on Friday. Notall at once; some came

a distance, and others nished their workday later. By the time the assembly was complete there were thirteen churchelders and deacons, two pastors—andyours truly. The purpose o the meet-ing? To nd out what was “wrong,” i anything, with the senior pastor.

Early in the event I asked the ques-tion about prot. Now I should haveknown better than to use the “” wordin a meeting o church elders. They were happy to talk about “prophets” but

not “prots.” But I had committed themistake—deliberately, I might add.

“We’re a church,” I was told. “Wedon’t make a prot.”

With that response I went to the whiteboard and wrote two numbers:revenue and expenses. And I made surethe expenses were less than the revenue. Accounting systems usually reer tothat as net prot. But this is a no-protchurch.

“This $10,000 you see here at thebottom that has not been spent,” Iasked, “is that a prot? It is certainly money let over at the end o the year. What do you call that?”

“We don’t make a prot,” it wasrepeated. Ater some thought: “But wecan call it a surplus.”

Why Check-Book Theology is Necessary

for the Expansion of Christianity—Part 1Ian Hodge, Ph.D.

F e a t u r e A r t i c l e

I know when I’m ahead, and Igured “surplus” would achieve ourends. From that time orth the question was not “Should we make a prot?” but“Should we have a surplus?”

There was silence as a response to

this question. Logic said “yes,” thereshould be a prot—sorry, surplus—but something prevented these churchleaders rom planning to have a surplus. Why?

Dysfunctional Churches

I have developed a methodology that explores organizational behavior, ormore importantly, uncovers organiza-tion dysunctionality . The legal status o “or prot” or “not-or-prot” is irrel-

evant to this method. The “non-prot”matter has no bearing on organizationalmanagement , but is instead a legal—andthereore moral—issue concerning thedistribution o unused assets, such asmoney.

It was my purpose in the discussionto identiy the underlying problems inthe management practices o this localchurch. I was a relatively new mem-ber, having relocated to the area, and

the pastor was in a spot o trouble. Heconded in me some o those issues,and I convinced him to let me conductthis workshop. He thought one evening would be enough; I said I needed Friday night and all day Saturday. I was right(on this occasion, anyway).

Understand the scene: the elders are

not happy with the senior pastor. Hedoesn’t know what to do with the pressure they put on him, is not sure how to address the issues which, by the way were never conveyed adequately to him As a result, he is one very rustrated

senior pastor. And they are an equally rustrated governance board.My objective: nd out i Total

Quality Management guru W. EdwardDeming is right when he says 85 per-cent o problems are process problems, while only 15 percent o the problemsare people problems. I wanted to helpeveryone in the room discover and un-derstand what was causing their underlying rustrations.

The church leaders were unhappy

with the pastor. Why? Was he incom-petent? Lazy? Slow? Easily sidetrackedonto unimportant tasks? Overwhelme with too much activity?

On the other hand, were theexpectations o the elders, representingthe congregation, misplaced? Expectintoo much? Unclear? Or simply neverexpressed?

You begin to see the range o potential problems which boiled down

to either process or people. It was my objective, over the course o the work-shop, to have everyone in the roomagree on the nature o the problem anits solution.

But getting there is only hal thechallenge. (Implementing change is thother hal.)

You don’t have to do this—survival is not compulsory.

W. Edwards Deming




Faith or All o Lie I continued the discussion covering

key unctionality o organizations. And I just love it, in a not-or-prot organiza-tion, when I get to the unctions that inbusiness are reerred to as “unctions o ownership.” These are the key activities

that only business owners can do. As anticipated, I received the usual

response rom church elders. We don’thave owners. We’re a non-prot organi-zation. There are no owners.

“I’m sorry,” I replied. “You may nothave owners in the legal sense, but theunctions o ownership are only two,and you have them in any organization.They are inescapable .”

Inescapable? I have their attention.

“The rst inescapable unction o ownership is the privilege o providingthe investment capital or the organiza-tion.”

Silence. They wait. I wait or themto digest this, because the second unc-tion drives right o this rst one.

“Does this organization have nan-cial needs?” They nod.

“And who provides that money?” Ialready know the answer but I need justone o these men to tell me: the congre-

gation.“You’re correct,” I said. “It is the

members o the congregation who jointly ulll the unction o ownershipon this point and in this organization.”

Whoa, there. Back up a little, they ask. “What, then, is our role in thisorganization?”

“I’m glad you asked. It seems tome the eldership o this church is to bea board o directors, acting or and on

behal o the ‘owners’ o the organiza-tion, the congregation.”

It helps i you understand how radi-cal these ideas are or these elders. Thisis a Presbyterian church, and I’m sug-gesting that the local church eldership,the Session, is somewhat like a boardo directors, and the “owners” o the

church are the congregation. That doesnot sound like Presbyterianism. Not tothese men, anyway.

In their eyes, God owns this church,not the members. And they do not seeany connection between themselves and

the congregation that is strong enoughto solve the problems o organizationgovernance. There are, o course, di-erences between church and business,but there are also similarities. On thisoccasion, I identiy the similarities, notthe dierences.

My interest, thereore, is not theol-ogy in the narrow sense, even though Iknow theological presuppositions drivepeople’s responses to everything, includ-ing organizational management. My interest is to uncover what is necessary orthis organization to achieve its objectives.

Here you see in the word objec-tives the second inescapable unction o ownership. In business it is called theReturn On Investment (ROI). ROI canbe expressed in dierent orms, someo them intangible while others aretangible. Organizations need to set bothkinds, but it is common in not-or-prot organizations to be very weak in

setting tangible goals. Yes, we want tohelp the poor (intangible) but no onedetermines the tangible expression o that. How many o the poor do you wishto help in a given time period? Will oneperson every other year be an acceptableachievement o the objective?

It is the or-prot and not-or-protorganizations that set tangible goals thatbecome successul. Here’s why.

Stewardship

Pick up your Bible and read romthe beginning. Ater quite a long time,you will come to the gospels, but by thetime you get there you’ll have all theOld Testament Scripture to help youunderstand what you read in the New Testament.

In Matthew 25 you nd “the king-

dom o heaven is like …” parables. Thparables must be important i the Kingdom o heaven is in some way “like”this. Yeshua, the Messiah, is teaching principles about the Kingdom o heaveHe tells o a man with assets leaving hi

stewards dierent gits; one ve talentsone two talents, and the third only ontalent. Five talents are estimated by onscholar as equal to a hundred years o wages, so even one talent was a signi-cant amount. These recipients o thetalents—stewards—are supposed to dosomething with that which was entrused to them.

When the man returns he calls theto account, a day o judgment, a day o

assessing their perormance . The stewar who increased their talents were praiseand rewarded; the steward who buriedhis talent and returned only that whichhad been given to him without increasis described as an unaithul stew-ard. God apparently intends or us toincrease the talents He gives us, but Hedoes not dictate the amount o increas We have some leeway here.

From this parable, you can identithat stewardship, in its Biblical sense,

has our very important ingredients. Trst o these is responsibility . Steward-ship means being allocated some kindo responsibility. The second ingredienis accountability . Somehow there is tobe accountability or the steward thatis related to the responsibilities given thim. Third, there must be measuremeno some kind as a way o determiningthe accountability. Finally, there mustbe empowerment . The steward must

be given everything he needs—tools,knowledge, skills (training), and time—to achieve the objective.

Handing back to God only that which He gives us is less than adequateaccording to this parable. Thereore,people need a plan, a goal and objec-tive—ROI.




Faith or All o Lie It is the unction o ownership

in an organization to determine theROI. Even in a large public-ownershipcompany, owners do not escape thisunction, but it is practically handled by the owners’ representatives, the board o

directors.Our church elders were beginningto see some light. They breathe a sigho relie when they realize it was notmy intention to be Congregational andsuggest church government rom thecongregation. The Session members were the ones who needed to set thegoals and objectives—tangible andintangible—or the church, as represen-tatives o the congregation.

“What are your objectives?” I ask.

Holding church services, prayermeetings, Bible studies, counseling orthose in need. But these are not objec-tives, I suggest: they are activities withno determined outcome.

An objective, to be more than anactivity, needs to be an accountable objective. It must be tangible, measurable.It is the tangible “number” to whichpeople will be accountable.

In other words, it is a touchstone

o the organization. And i there is notouchstone there is nothing to guidepeople to a successul outcome.

There is always one very importanttouchstone or any organization. It isthe destination that allows the organiza-tion to determine i it is on course. Inor-prots, it is called prot. But youcan call it a surplus.

Prots, or surplus, according tomanagement guru Peter Drucker, are“the uture costs o staying in business.”

Think about that. Future costs. Notthose in existence now; the ones thatare yet to be incurred. Repairs to thebuilding or replacement o urniture andequipment, or example.

And not-or-prots have costs to becovered just like their cousins, the or-prot organizations.

When an organization unctions atpeak perormance, that ROI numberis broken out into dierent areas o thebusiness. I the ROI determined by thebusiness owner is $1 million, and thebusiness can operate at 10 percent net

prot (ater all expenses), then thereneeds to be $10 million in sales. Now you can have a conversation with yoursales hires: “Are you capable o selling$10 million o my product? What didyou do at your last job? You only sold$2 million? What makes you think youcan meet our need and sell $10 mil-lion?”

You get the idea.Back to our elders. “What do you

expect rom the pastor i there is nopre-determined ROI or him to achieve? What tangible objective did he ail tomeet?”

“We expected church growthrom him, and we didn’t get what we wanted.”

It is now becoming clear that thechurch elders wanted growth—an activ-ity . But it was not activity they weremeasuring. They wanted results . How many new people in the church would

satisy their expectation o the pastor?One? Two? Twenty-two? And over whatperiod o time? They had never an-swered questions like these because they were never asked.

When church elders say things likethis, they are like the business owner who tells their consultant, “You’re hereto get me more money.”

“And i I get you one dollar extra, will that satisy your expectation? Ater

all, it is more money.”The objective—church growth—is

an intangible hope that needs to be ex-pressed in tangible terms: We would liketo have twenty-our new people attend-ing church by the end o the year.

“But you can’t do that,” I am repeat-edly told. “This is a church. We don’t

operate like that.”“I know you don’t operate like

that,” I reply, “and that’s why I’m hereI’m here to tell you that the rustrationyou have are caused by your ailure tosupply tangible responsibilities, hold

people accountable to them, measuretheir eectiveness, and provide the tooor their success. In other words, you’renot managing .”

Now I have their attention.Large, successul organizations hav

appropriate organizational unctionsthat are well developed and constitute key part o the activities in the organiztion. Small businesses are small becausthey ail this test. And when the small

organization learns these lessons andimplements them, it can then grow ina large organization.

So too with large churches andsmall churches. It is oten a mistakennotion that you cannot have “businessplanning” in a church without compromising doctrine. And the people whotell you this are usually the ones withsmall churches. In other words, they uit as an excuse and a rationale or theirsmallness.

Here’s the underlying theologicalproblem. Most o us don’t like accountability. It goes against our desire to beGod. No one holds a god accountableexcept another god. Consequently,people will complain about the peror-mance o others while at the same timproviding poor excuses or their ownailures.

Back to the elders and the church.I explain that without a tangible ROI

they will achieve very ew o their expetations. You can’t beat up on the pastor just because he ailed your expectationespecially when you didn’t tell him whayou really expected.

“But he knows we wanted evange-lism and church growth.”

“And this senior pastor,” I reply,




Faith or All o Lie “has a junior pastor to manage, a semi-nary student working part time in youth work he has to manage, a secretary tomanage, all the church departmentheads need some o his time, and youexpect him to preach twice on Sunday,

marry the young and bury the dead, andhave time to visit you in your homes onoccasion. When does he have time orevangelism? What will you remove romhis current activities in order or churchgrowth to take place?”

Now they’re thinking. “We appoint-ed the junior pastor to take the counsel-ing load o his shoulders. But it appearshe’s still busy.”

“I church growth is so importantto this elder board, why didn’t you ap-point a second pastor skilled in outreachand evangelism rather than counseling? Ater all, in theory (i not in practice),ten new amilies tithing in the churchis getting close to covering the evange-list’s salary, and then you could appointyour counselor. Then you could havehad church growth and counseling, andperhaps less rustration between you andthe senior pastor.”

A longer silence took place. Some-

times people need time to think …beore they are willing to make anadmission.

“We never thought o doing it that way,” someone eventually oered.

“Then why are you beating up onyour senior pastor?”

Now a really long silence.

Conclusion

An organization without tangiblegoals and objectives is like a ship on an

ocean without a destination. Is the shipgoing to Australia or Alaska? When do we expect to arrive, July or December?The goals and objectives in an organiza-tion determine its destination within agiven period o time.

Until the crew knows the destina-tion and the expected arrival time, they

will not know when to pull the oars, which direction they should be acing,and how oten they should do oar pull-ing. But since they need to be active,they will make up their own objectivesand pull the oars anyway. And i the

ship goes in circles, don’t be surprised.This is oten reerred to as competingagendas; it is, without a doubt, compet-ing destinations.

Without the agreed destinationthere is no possibility o checking to seei the ship is still on course. I the ship isheading towards Alaska when it shouldbe going to Australia, then it’s time totake some corrective action.

I the church is planning to get

twenty-our new amilies in the churchthis year, and it’s six months down thetrack and they have only one amily,it may indicate they’re on the wrongcourse. It means the activities they aredoing may not be producing the resultsand something needs to change. Perhapsit is not the wrong activity, but rather arecognition that people are not trainedto be eective in that activity.

The truth is, you can no more steparound good organizational manage-

ment than you can step around goodarming management. Is eating impor-tant to you? Crops don’t grow withoutplanning, planting, cultivation, andharvesting. You need to plant at theright time, pull the weeds at the righttime, apply water at the right time, andharvest at the right time. I you want acrop and ood on the table, manage .

Is church growth important to you?Good organizations succeed with good

planning, planting, cultivation, and har-vesting. I you want church growth andthe expansion o Christianity, manage .

No, I am not saying you can havepeople converted just by managing, any more than I am saying you can guaran-tee the crop just by good arm manage-ment. Both require the blessing o God

to be productive and ruitul—successul, using that word guardedly. There’sa place or these activities because Godexpects them. That’s what the parableabove is concerned with.

Some people accept a two-kingdom

management model: one theory o maagement or the business world, anothor the religious world. It’s time or aone-kingdom model o management. And then get everyone to work.

Process or people? What was theproblem uncovered in the workshop?

And what would you do, and how would you do it, to solve their problem

In part 2, I’ll explore the implemetation o the solution within a covenanmodel ramework.

Ian Hodge, Ph.D., is a business consultan who engineers perormance in the businesto improve bottom line results. ForChristian business owners, this meansmore money to tithe. For a ree businessconsultation, visit his website at www.clarion-communications.com.




In this passage o Scripture we see the

uture o Israel hangingin the balance. Samuel’ssons were worldly andproane, and their

leadership punctuated by wickedness (1

Sam. 2.). They had the outward show o religion and perhaps even the outward testimony o their ather, but theirown testimony was void o legitimacy.They were covetous men, perverse andlacking judgment.

Nevertheless, Samuel made hisreprobate sons judges. Perhaps he hopedthey would receive the oce with sobri-ety and sense. But they ailed to changeeven when thrust into a situation which

requires godly sobriety and holy obedi-ence to the law o God.

Herein is the rst transgression. It was typical o what was to ollow.

Samuel’s sons, like Eli’s, were repro-bate men. Nothing could change that.

We might view Eli’s sons as repre-senting the apostasy o the priests, andSamuel’s sons the apostasy o the civilrulers.

Both o these apostate groups were

setting the stage or a great judgmentupon Israel. It is a act o Scripturethat the judgment o God must comeupon every nation that reuses to ollow His lawul precepts, especially when itconcerns leadership, statesmanship, andgovernment. I God judged His ownpeople, Israel, how much more will He

Tyranny, Independence, or Liberty Under GodPaul Michael Raymond

G u e s t C o l u m n

judge other nations that rebel againstHis holy law?

Perhaps Samuel’s oense is not tobe laid upon Samuel alone. Perhapshe was too tenderhearted as a atherand thus his eyes were blinded and hisheart hopeul that his seed would be

great in the earth God-ward. Althoughhe was wrong, Samuel needn’t bear theguilt alone. The people were equally toblame, and perhaps more so.

On the one hand, the eldersacknowledged that Samuel’s sons wereapostate, and could not rule as judges.On the other hand they asked or anequally sinul solution. They asked ora king patterned ater the kings o thepagan nations around them:

Then all the elders o Israel gath-ered themselves together, and cameto Samuel unto Ramah, And saidunto him, Behold, thou art old,and thy sons walk not in thy ways:now make us a king to judge uslike all the nations. (1 Sam. 4:4–5)

This request deed all logic as wellas knowledge. It was a complete rejec-tion o God and His laws, and God would not suer His chosen, covenant-

ally bound people to reject Him withoutretribution.

Notice the elders wanted to be judged like the other nations were judged. Since the other nations werestructured tyrannically, with totalitar-ian despots acting like gods accordingto personal whims and lusts, Israel was

asking to become slaves o wicked menThey were asking to return to the vomo Egyptian slavery.

It was common knowledge thatthe nations outside o God’s covenant were despotic. Nevertheless, the peopledesired to be like them. This request w

not made out o ignorance, but out o deance:

And the LORD said unto SamueHearken unto the voice o thepeople in all that they say untothee: or they have not rejectedthee, but they have rejected me,that I should not reign over them(1 Sam. 8:7)

What was transpiring was a com-plete repudiation o the covenant oaththat Israel had made with God in the wilderness. It was a blatant violation opromise sworn beore God, and to Go

Israel wanted God’s covenant o redemption, but reused to have Hiscovenant o political precept and expresion. They would rather take ater thenations and ideologies o the heathen.They wanted God’s salvation but notHis Lordship. They wanted Him asSavior but not as King. This was impo

sible. Divine salvation is predicatedupon God’s sovereign rule. There is noredemption without lordship. There isno redemption without submission toChrist’s crown and His covenant.

Israel thought that salvation wasa ticket to escape lawul obedience toGod’s precepts. Today this idea prevail

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name o his rstborn was Joeland the name o his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside

ater lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. (1 Samuel 8:1–3)




Faith or All o Lie in many churches, both Arminian andReormed. Statements such as “We areunder grace and not under law” are typi-cal o those wanting God’s redemptionbut not His lordship.

Salvation is not an escape rom obe-

dience, but rather it emphasizes obedi-ence, as well as sacricial devotion andservice. This idea o salvation withoutobedience was born out o pagan rebel-lion. The pagan idea o salvation wasone o saety and prosperity, not obedi-ence to an ethical standard o holiness.Pagan redemption had little to do withan obedient liestyle, since salvation wasbased upon ritual and ceremony and was relegated to the individual alone—a“me and my savior” relationship withoutany inringement upon personal needs,desires and actions.

Israel desired liberation rom Godand not a liberation to God They want-ed heaven, but they wanted it withoutullling their covenant oath o obedi-ence. Israel wanted the impossible.

R. J. Rushdoony puts it this way,“There can only be divine salvation where there is a sovereign and omnipo-tent God.”1

Israel had rejected God as Lord.God was now going to reject them.

Why did God require Israel to up-hold His political covenant structure?

Daniel Elazar, in Covenant and Pol-ity in Biblical Israel , observes:

Covenant can be studied in threedimensions: 1. As a orm o politicalconceptualization and mode o politicalexpression; 2. as a source o politicalideology; and 3. as a actor shapingculture, institutions and behavior.2

In rejecting God as King, Israel wasrejecting God’s political covenant struc-ture which included:

1. Divine law, justice and equity 2. God’s political ideology o

righteousness, which has at root ethicalpurity

3. God’s commanded political struc-ture, which was to shape the culture, itsinstitutions, and regulate the behavior o the people.

All this was rejected and overthrownby Israel’s desire to be ruled by a king

and a system o government that wasdiametrically opposed to the divine civiland legal order o Jehovah.

Israel rejected God’s declarationo His holiness, His covenant oath tothem, and their oath to Him. God’scovenant agreement was an inormedagreement, pact or contract with Israel,based upon their voluntary consent. It was an agreement established by God (ahigher authority), with certain stipula-

tions o divine law attached to it. Thesestipulations were sanctions o two kinds:curses or disobedience and blessings orobedience. It was generational in scope.I obeyed, the blessings would continuethroughout their generations; but i dis-obeyed, the nation would be destroyed.

Divine covenants are importantbecause they shape the worldview andperspectives o the parties involved, andbecause they sustain those divine ends whereby they cannot be altered without

divine sanctions.Elazar conrms this:

As a source o political ideology,covenant shapes the world views … o whole societies, dening their civil char-acter and political relationships, andserving as a touchstone or testing thelegitimacy and oten even the eciency o their political institutions and those who must make them work.3

Covenanting is a security measure,

especially when it comes to politicalideology, structure, and expression. Asa result o the sinul rejection o Godand His laws, Israel’s culture would now be structured according to the apostatesystem o government under a king who was like the pagan kings in theirtotalitarian rule.

Covenants are expressions o rela-tionships. By violating their covenant with God, Israel severed the relation-ship between themselves and God, theSaviour, Lord, and Protector. Once therejected God, they were on their own,

and under the rowning providence anactive judgment o the Almighty.

Elazar again notes that God’soriginal covenant with Israel actually established the Hebrew people, andounded them as a body politic, whileat the same time creating a religiousramework that gave that polity itsreason, norms, and constitution. It alsogave them particular guidelines, i.e.,laws, or the development o a politica

order based upon justice and equity, alo which were based upon a covenantarelationship.

God’s covenant established Israel’smoral commitment to one another anto God. It was a binding law. All thisIsrael rejected. Even ater they had bee warned time and time again, they con-tinued in their rejection o the counselo God.

The result was tyrannical ruleunder a totalitarian statist government

brought about by the direct interven-tion o God according to His declared judgment or rebellion. Israel was seeking a political platorm that would reethem rom the covenantal obligationso God’s law. They wanted to decide othemselves right and wrong accordingto arbitrary human standards and thussought independence rom God’s law and rom God’s blessings.

What they said in eect was, “We

the people o Israel will decide how we will be governed.” And they did this bseeking a legislator-king outside o theparameters God gave. They traded Goor Saul, a terrible mistake.

Israel’s rebellious cunning quickly backred and they became slaves onceagain. Samuel told the people what




Faith or All o Lie During the years o the Reorma-

tion, John Calvin admonished thepeople o Geneva with a stern warning“And ye, o peoples to whom God gavethe liberty to choose your own mag-istrates, see to it that ye do not oreit

this avor by electing to the positions ohighest honor, rascals and enemies o God.”6

This warning could have easily beegiven to the twenty-rst-century evan-gelical Christian community. But wherthere has been warning, it has mostly allen on dea ears. Today, we see very little real outcry rom any quarter as tothe apostasy o our civil magistracy, analmost no outrage.

Why Is the Community of theChurch So Complacent?

The visible church has lost thevision o what it means to be at libertyunder God. Not only has the churchlost the vision, she has become like Isradesiring a king (or a political party)to rule over her like the other nations.Rather than rebuking and abstainingrom the workers o iniquity, many Christians run to them or saety andthe hope o prosperity. But America’strue hope is neither in any king nor inany political party. Moreover it is not ipolitics per se.

Many in Christendom have testiethat they want to reorm the nationand bring it back to the morality o Scripture. An abundance o wordsare spoken, but little real action isimplemented. However i and whenaction is nally implemented, it is withthe hope that Christ will emerge and

rapture the church rom the evils o th world supernaturally. This two-kingdoheresy has stifed the church to the poio her being culturally irrelevant inmany areas o society.

There are ar too many proessingChristians still eating at Jezebel’s statisttable, wiping their mouths and saying

the results o their choice o a humanking would be in 1 Samuel 8: 11–18.Even with this warning the people wereseared in their conscience, and desiredto live under the yoke o an oppressivestatist system. As long as they could be

like every other nation, and compete inthe global arena, and do it the way they saw t, they would be satised. Or so itseemed.

The Parallels Are Astounding.

Like Israel, Americans desire a presi-dent, or a political party, structured aterthose o the nations o the world. Whennon-Christian rulers are placed intopower they enter into oce with theirown ethical standards, epistemological

starting point, economic ideologies and worldviews, structured according tohumanistic ideas, and reuse to ollow God’s ethical standards or a commu-nity, state, or nation.

As author Buddy Hanson states,“Any other view o civil governmentother than [God’s] view, will result inthe citizens [including lawmakers whoare elected rom the citizenry] becominga law unto themselves.”

During the Reormation the idea o national covenanting was rejuvenated.It was the Reormation that inspiredthe Puritans, Covenanters, and early American colonists to consider return-ing to the God o their athers, so as toconstruct a body politic obedient to thelaw o God and His inallible Word. Asa result, Biblical covenanting re-emergedas a central theme in political theol-ogy, political philosophy, and politicalpractice.

Men like Theodore Beza and theGerman-born Calvinist Johannes Althu-sius were among the nest o juridicalscholars. Althusius systematized Calvin-istic teachings and stated:

[A] republic is ormed by a covenantbetween the rulers and the peoplebeore God, that the oundation o this

covenant is the Law o God … that theDecalogue is the best expression o thishigher law, that the church and state areseparate in orm, but joined in unc-tion, that amilies, churches, and statesalike, must protect the rights and liber-ties o the people, and that violations

o these rights and liberties, or o thedivine and natural rights that inormand empower them, are instances o tyranny that must trigger organizedconstitutional resistance.4

The Reormation called men toboth an outer and an inner reorma-tion wherein they would be conormedoutwardly and inwardly to the Word o God. This reormation concerned every area and institution o lie, especially in

the realm o government, since tyranny would be violently hostile to the preach-ing o the gospel and the health o theChristian cause.

Beza insisted that tyrants were rulers who violated the terms o the politicalcovenant.

John Witte notes:

For Beza, tyrants were rulers whoviolated the terms o the politicalcovenant—particularly its oundationalrequirements, that all must honor therights o God to be worshipped, andthe rights o God’s people to dischargetheir duties o the aith, in conormity with God’s Law.5

It was Beza, more so than Calvin, who advanced the doctrine o interpo-sition whereby the lesser magistratescould resist and overthrow, i necessary,the tyrant. According to Beza, i theruler exceeded his authority in violationo the political covenant, the people,

through their representatives, had boththe right and the duty to resist him asa tyrant. It was this doctrine o inter-position (or the doctrine o the lessermagistrate) that was invoked by the American Puritan colonists during thelate 1700s, sparking the American Waror Independence.




Faith or All o Lie that they have done no evil. Too many saints have bought into the lie thatthe government is here to help and toprovide or cradle-to-grave assurances. American Christians have yoked them-selves with the beast o statism.

Like Israel they desire Saul.The community o Christendom

has orged an unholy alliance withGod’s enemies, thinking that appeasingthe oppressor will insure survival, notrealizing that appeasement o the beastonly stirs its wrath. American Christiansseem to think that i they act accordingto the liking o the “beast,” believing itslies, getting involved with its programs,and reraining rom antagonizing it, the“beast” will spare them. It will not. In

the end it will destroy them in the same way it destroys the ungodly. It is thenature o man, when given any kind o political power, to enslave, impoverish,humiliate and eventually kill the very people he has sworn to protect. In doingso, he kills himsel along with the peopleo his charge.

Buddy Hanson has a keen eye orthe problem:

It is said that it’s hard to read the label

rom the inside o the jar, but that isexactly where we are in the early yearso the 21st century. The cultural jarinto which we have allowed ourselvesto be placed, and conned, is a resulto a century and a hal o preerringthe world’s ways to God’s. This has soinfuenced the way we look at lie, that when we decide to “do something”about our culture, we act according tonon-Christian tactics—and don’t evenrealize that we are doing so.7

In other words, trying to changethe culture by acting according to thedictates o the culture, and re-establish-ing the position o godless rulers, availsnothing, and exacerbates the problem,bringing the wrath o God down uponus more erociously.

He continues, “What is not under-

stood is that by acting naturally, we areguaranteeing that the non-Christianagenda will continue to infuence theculture.”8

The answer to our political, eco-nomic, militaristic, and cultural prob-

lems is not whether the Republicansor the Democrats gain control over thegovernment. Our problems will only be remedied when God’s people stopmaking excuses or their acquiescenceto wickedness and tyranny, and devotethemselves to an expressly Christian world and lie view that seeks to advancethe crown rights o Christ and not thekingdom o man.

As long as our approach is godless, we will continue to lose ground. As longas we continue to think like the world we will be snared and enslaved by the world. As long as we continue to orgealliances with the wicked o the world, we will lose God’s support and His holy justice will all upon our amily or na-tion and us as individuals.

Christians must once again decidebetween Christ or Caesar; betweenGod and Baal; between the Table o the Lord or the table o idols; between

being bond servants under God’s law, orbeing slaves o sin, the lusts o the fesh,serving corrupters and the promoters o wickedness.

We stand at a crossroads. Will weChristians continue to be led like sheepto the slaughter, or will we be men o aith and resolve, relying upon Godalone or our every blessing?

The uture o Christendom and ourcoming generations depend upon our

answer. While we may not avoid the de-struction o our present culture, we stillmay avoid the comprehensive totality o God’s wrath upon ourselves. May Godhave mercy upon our godless nation.

Rev. Paul Michael Raymond is the pastor o the Reormed Bible Church in Appomattox,VA, and ounder o the Institute or

Theonomic Reormation (www.hisglory.us) and New Geneva Leadership Academ(www.newgeneva.us).

1. R. J. Rushdoony, Salvation and Godly Rule (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books,2004), 19.

2. Daniel J. Elazar, Covenant in Polity inBiblical Israel , Vol. 1 (n.p.: TransactionPublishers, 1995), 20.

3. Ibid., 20–21.

4. John Witte, Jr., The Reormation o Righ(United Kingdom: Cambridge UniversityPress, 2007), 9.

5. Ibid., 7.

6. John Calvin, Commentary on Samuel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,1981).

7. Buddy Hanson, The Christian Prince

(Montgomery, AL: The Hanson GroupPublishing, 2007), 5.

8. Ibid., 6.




Back in 1984, ariend introduced

my husband and meto the writings o R. J.Rushdoony. It wasn’tuntil 1985 that we

actually met Rush and started mak-ing monthly trips to Vallecito, CA. Ingetting to know Rush and his wie,Dorothy, we also became riends withthe rest o their amily, members o

the Chalcedon sta, and Chalcedon’sresident scholar, Otto Scott.

Otto was in a special category all hisown. His grasp o history, his knowledgeo world events, and his sel-educatedstyle made him a bit intimidating atrst. I had to work while reading hisarticles and books and listening to himconverse. Otto wasn’t about spoon-eeding his readers. He assumed that i you were reading something he wrote,

you were interested. He didn’t try tomake you interested.Otto used an expression that has be-

come his signature quote, and it is a dis-tillation o a proound Scriptural truth:God is no buttercup. Jack Phelps, pastoro Covenant Bible Church, shared in atribute to Otto ater his death in 2006:

“[Otto] spent the dark years o World War II serving with the Merchant Ma-rine, making several perilous crossingso the Atlantic during that confict. He

was on convoy in a North Sea storm,under threat o German attack, when,he said, the erce orces o nature rstcaused him to realize that “God is nobuttercup!”1

To be honest, this statement usedto irritate me when I heard it, mostly because I didn’t really understand why

Dispelling the Myth that God is a ButtercupAndrea Schwartz

S p e c i a l C o l u m n

others thought it so special. But astime, maturity, and sanctication haveprogressed in my lie, those words ringtruer and truer, and I appreciate theirimplication.

Randy Booth comments on Otto’sbuttercup quote,

Another way to make this point is torecognize that the Bible is not a col-lection o “precious moments.” God’s Word speaks to the real world and it

makes no apology or doing so. It islled with stories about a allen worldand its redemption. There are nosubjects that are o limits. Some peopleare embarrassed over certain things inthe Bible, but God is not embarrassed.He covers the range o human sin andredemption. He reely speaks o lieand death, sex and violence, treachery and warare, and He does so in graphicterms (e.g., Ezek. 23:17–21; Mal. 2:3).He is not being gratuitous, and neithershould we be.

The church should speak more, not lessabout these “orbidden” subjects. Thesilence o the church has given us theculture that is around us. I we don’t setorth what God says about these things,both in their sinulness and in theirrighteousness, then the world will speak to them or us. They will dene justiceand sexuality and marriage and every other issue.2

Yet, in most o today’s churches,

pastors and congregants busily try tosoten the words o a politically incor-rect God. The last thing most Christians want rom Christian teaching or preach-ing is an “unkind” view o God, or tobe presented with a God who requiresobedience to His law-word. God isoten portrayed as Someone whose sole

purpose is to serve man and make himhappy. O course, these standards areman-centered.

Romans 10:14–17 states:

How then shall they call on himin whom they have not believed?and how shall they believe in himo whom they have not heard?and how shall they hear withouta preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as itis written, How beautiul are theeet o them that preach the gospo peace, and bring glad tidings ogood things! But they have notall obeyed the gospel. For Esaiassaith, Lord, who hath believed oureport? So then aith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the wordo God.

The prevailing theology o the dayhas transormed the gospel o peace anglad tidings into a message that leadsthose who hear it to believe they needto make very ew changes in their livesThis seeker-riendly church paradigm, which has been our modern evangelis-tic model, sel-consciously chose to doaway with more dicult passages o thBible. It is as though the church ndsGod’s total revelation o Himsel anembarrassment and an impediment tothe church.

Bojidar Marinov, an internationalmissionary, recently reminded us thatchanged people change cultures.3 Tho who have been changed by the Holy Spirit, though imperect, cannot helpbut be salt and light to those aroundthem. But i church goers have only been ed “baby-ood” (Heb. 5:12–14)




Faith or All o Lie rom the time o their new birth, should we be surprised that their “stomachs”reject meat?

Please, No Bad News

What is the eect o one genera-tion ailing to pass on the “meat o the Word” to the next? Those ed a milk-toast aith do not have the strength toace the trials o lie. They have not beentaught to seek wisdom and solace romthe entire Word o God. They cannotbe cultural leaders who apply Biblicalsolutions to their lives or to a decadentculture. When we see that the allegeddivorce rate or proessing Christians isidentical to that in the general popu-lation, and that many church-going

women are obtaining abortions, it isobvious that the culture is having moreimpact on the church than the church ishaving on the culture.

The church today preers the “but-tercup” God over the God o the Bible.I have heard more times than I care torecall that we must not preach a “harsh”God—a God who is angry at sin. Thereare actually believers who think thatsharing the truth that God hates sin will“turn people o” and cause them to feerom Jesus, not fee to Him. Not only does this give man more power than hepresumptuously assumes, but it meansGod needs a public relations rm todeal with the unpleasant parts o Hisresumé!

The cross is extremely oensive, andintentionally so. God’s righteous wrathon the sons o disobedience caused asinless man to die a horrendous death. And, to add insult to injury, i a person

ails to believe and receive the substi-tutionary atonement provided by theGod/Man and thereby submit to Hislaw-word, there is eternal death in storeor him. Can we get any more oensive?

But a majority o parents, pastors,and “pleasers” want to take the oenseout o the cross and replace it with a bet-

ter lie now message. Contrast this withEphesians 5:6–7:

Let no one deceive you with empty words, or because o these thingsthe wrath o God comes upon thesons o disobedience. Thereore do

not become partners with them.Too many mothers and athers

have become partners with the sons o disobedience by telling their childrenBible stories rewritten to accommodatea buttercup-God. So, the story o Noah’sark morphs into a story about an oldman and his happy wie and riendly an-imals hanging out o a merrily bobbling-along houseboat. You would never guessit was originally the historical account

o a worldwide, catastrophic foodbrought upon all creation because o man’s unrepented sin resulting in deathor all mankind, except the eight soulsin the ark. The problem with present-ing the Biblical accounts with watered-down versions like this is that we end upbelieving these antasies ourselves.4

Genesis 6:6–7 says,

And the LORD was sorry that Hehad made man in the land, and He

was grieved in His heart. And the

LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created rom the aceo the land, rom man to animalsto creeping things and to birds o the sky; or I am sorry that I havemade them.”

That’s what you call an internalcommentary rom the book o Genesisthat identies God’s “motive” or judg-ment. One might imagine a “kinder/gentler” approach with something like:

And the LORD was slightly disturbed that he hadn’t made manas well as he should and was trying to orgive himsel or his bad design.

And the LORD said, “I will give man a time out, as I reevaluate my commandments and see i I’ve beentoo harsh with them.”

Passage ater passage in Scriptureidenties God’s utter hatred or viola-tions o His law. Psalm 5:4–6 andProverbs 6:16–19 are but two.

Culture Changing Prerequisites

The amily is the primary God-ordained institution, and any culturaltransormation must begin there. AsI’ve pointed out in previous essays, it isadvantageous or a woman to experi-ence the travail o labor5 so that shetransitions rom carrying her child tomothering her child, thereby becomininvested through her own blood, sweatand tears. The ocus necessary to deal with the intensity o labor is excellentpreparation or the perseverance neede

or a mother to guide her child througthe ordeals o inancy and childhood.

Without question, raising childreninvolves dealing with lots o problemssince sinulness is bound up in theheart o a child. The mother is uniquepositioned to teach her children that lihas its share o problems and how to dea with them in a godly, righteous ashionI she ears God and keeps His com-mandments, her witness will be strongthan her words.

R. J. Rushdoony states,

Childhood, youth, middle age, andold age all have their problems, as doeevery era o history. Problems are a pao lie in a allen world, and they area necessary part o it, necessary to ourtesting and to our growth. Be sure o this: when you solve one problem, yocreate a new situation which has problems o its own. Problems are in part product o sin and in part a conditiono growth …

We need to accept problems and testias a condition o lie. Even in Eden,apart rom the problems o arming, Adam and Eve were every day put tothe test. The tree o the knowledge ogood and evil could be bypassed or noGod presented them always with theproblem o aith and obedience.




Faith or All o Lie Solve one problem, and you will haveanother. This is lie, and to be sick o problems is to be sick o lie. Becausethis is God’s world, every problem hasits answer, and with every answer wegraduate to another problem, until wenally pass on into God’s eternal King-

dom and our reward.

Problems are thus not only aspects o a allen world, as well as aspects o agrowing world, but they are also op-portunities sent rom God, to test us, toenable us to grow, and to urther us inthe ulllment o our calling.6

Rather than respond to the Biblicalcalling o motherhood, many womenare too willing to have their childrentaught and nurtured by paid substitutes.

The “experts” have successully con-vinced these women that their childrenare better o interacting with other kidsunder a “trained proessional,” learningarts and crats in school-type settingsrom the time they are barely walking.These children don’t learn how to bepart o a amily, but rather how to bepart o a collective in group settings where the caretakers oten have littlemore investment than the paycheck they receive or keeping the children physi-cally sae.

Are these babysitters/teachers pre-pared to love the child enough to deal with his selsh spirit? Are they preparedto ully deal with deceit when it makesits appearance? Or, do they just “makepeace” and convince the child that shecan have or do whatever she wants, whenever she wants, just so long as thereis an appearance o cooperation (John10:12–13)?

I we train our children in thisashion, they will grow up to look to the“village” to make up or their shortcom-ings, bail them out o bad investments,and excuse their bad behavior, otenshiting the blame onto their parents.(I would agree that the parents are theguilty party as charged, but not because

they were “mean” to their children.Rather, it is because they indulged theirchildren instead o discipling them.)Rather than develop into culture-changers, Christian children raised inthis ashion become part o the culture

that needs to be changed. A portion o dialogue near the

conclusion o the 1962 lm The Miracle Worker 7 involves Helen Keller’s atherthanking her tutor, Annie Sullivan, atershe succeeded in improving Helen’sbehavior and obedience. I share it hereto make an important point:

Captain Keller: Miss Annie, your rstmonth’s salary. With many more tocome, I trust. It doesn’t pay our debt or

what you’ve done. Annie Sullivan: I’ve taught her onething: No… Don’t do this, don’t dothat.

Captain Keller: It’s more than wecould do…

Annie Sullivan: I wanted to teach her what language is. I know that withoutit, to do nothing but obey is no git.Obedience without understanding isblindness, too … I don’t know what

else to do. I simply go on and keep do-ing what I’ve done and have aith thatinside she’s waiting, like water under-ground. You can help, Captain Keller.

Captain Keller: How?

Annie Sullivan: The world is not aneasy place or anyone. I don’t want her just to obey. But to let her have her way in everything is a lie … to her. You’vegot to stand between that lie and her.

And that is what God has called

mothers to do—to stand between thelies o the fesh, the world, and devil—and relentlessly teach their children while their hearts are still tender. Moth-ers who teach their children what sinis help them identiy it in their lives.By reusing to shield them rom theconsequences o disobedience, they are

planting the seeds or culture-changinggrowth. The results o the opposite worldview in practice are all around us

Conclusion

Otto Scott’s insight bears repeat-ing: God is no buttercup. Doug Wilsoncomments:

Otto Scott put it well when he said ththe God o the Bible is no buttercup. And when Jesus came He revealed allthe attributes o the Father, and not juthose things which we can easily interpret as comorting to ourselves. But thLord’s words were simultaneously bluand pointed, and as Chesterton put it“He did not hesitate to throw urnitudown the ront steps o the Temple.”However, we like to hear all about lovand mercy, and comort, and kind-ness. This is not bad in itsel; these areall biblical revelations o God’s natureand character. But we present them ouo context; we neglect the wrath, andholiness, and justice o God. We do nneglect these attributes because they are contradictions to the rst set; weneglect them because we do not knowhow the Bible reconciles them. Noticehow the apostle seats them at the tabltogether, as though they were good

riends. “Thereore consider the goodness and severity o God: on those whell, severity; but toward you, goodnesi you continue in His goodness” (Rom11:22). We must constantly remembethat a hal-truth presented as the whotruth is an untruth. God is kind, andGod is severe. Jesus reveals the nature the Father to us; Jesus is kind, and Jesis severe.8

Proverbs 6:20–23 states that parenare the responsible parties when it

comes to inculcating a worldview thatidenties God’s commandments as thelamp and light which will lead, protectinorm, and reprove children as they move through lie.

The God o the Bible is holy andcalls us to be holy as He is holy (Lev.20:26 and 1 Peter 1:16). The problem




Faith or All o Lie

as the God o Scripture. Neither can we try to supplement what God hassaid as though we were His copy editorsupplying what He neglected and thenpass it o as God-words.

We need to pay close attention tothe dierence between Scriptural “God words” and the “man words” that sooten pass or theology.

1. E. J. Carnell, An Introduction to Christia Apologetics (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,1949), 73. Quoted by Cornelius Van Tilin “The Deense o Christianity” at http:/ www.the-highway.com/deense_VanTil.htm

and student battle or which one will be incontrol inspires me each and every time I watch it.

8. http://www.dougwils.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4055:What-Would-Jesus-Damn&catid=98:old-table-talk-articles

9. http://judylyrics.klsoaps.com/WW.htmlrom the CD Walkin’ Wise by Judy Rogers.

what is evil.”7 As a concomitant to this,the modern artist has led the way indespising the beautiul and exalting theugly. Having denied the Lord o Glory,his choice is a logical one. Restoration inthe arts requires a return to a truly Bibli-cal Christian aith.

At the beginning o the modern era,there was a gradual separation under way o the arts and artists rom Christi-anity. Then “The Romantic movementbegan that severance o the innovativeartist rom the masses which has goneon ever since.”8 But this is not all. “Likesociety as a whole, artists have indulgedin an orgy o destruction.”9 God’s worldmust be denied together with God, anda new world created. Picasso very clearly

expressed his mindset when he wroteon a printing, yo el rey , I am the King.10 Such a philosophy o art is in savagerevolt against God’s order, and theartwork it produces refects this temper.One aspect o this revolt is a militanthostility to all that Scripture declaresand requires.

1. H. L. Ellison, Exodus (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1982), 166.

2. Joseph Parker, The People’s Bible , Vol. 2,

Exodus (New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls,n.d.), 252–253.

3. Ibid., 257.

4. John Larner, “Art, Commercial TradeO,” in Joseph R. Strayer, editor-in-chie,Dictionary o the Middle Ages , Vol. 1 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982),561.

with too many who claim Christ as theirLord and Savior is aptly exposited in thelyrics o the song “Be Like Him”:

You know a lot o people have theirown ideas o what God is like and how we should live.

But our authority is God’s word alone,i we want to know what to believe.

You see, you thought God was just likeyou, willing to wink at sin, but He tellsus plainly in His word that we must be like Him.9

Andrea Schwartz has been an activeproponent o Christian education or over28 years. She successully homeschooled herthree children through high school. Andrealives in San Jose, CA, with her husband o

35 years and continues to lecture, teach,mentor, and serve as a volunteer doula. Visither website www.WordsFromAndrea.com.

1. http://www.covenantbiblechurch.com/Home/tabid/36/Deault.aspx

2. http://eastobooths.blogspot.com/2011/01/god-is-no-buttercup.html by Randy Booth

3. In a recent Law & Liberty podcast o theChalcedon Foundation: http://chalcedon.edu/blog/2011/7/22/law-and-liberty-pod-cast-bojidar-marinov-translating-rushdoony-and-missions/

4. In my read-aloud story book Teach Me While My Heart is Tender , each story conveysthe ugly reality o sin, the beauty o godly repentance, and the necessity o orgiveness.Sugar-coating or minimizing sin only servesto vaccinate children rom ever seeing theirneed or Christ’s atonement.

5. See http://chalcedon.edu/aith-or-all-o-lie/gods-law-the-only-hope-or-animals-2/rethinking-childbearing-part-1/ and http://chalcedon.edu/aith-or-all-o-lie/the-war-

are-state-3/rethinking-childbearing-part-2/

6. R. J. Rushdoony, A Word in Season, Vol.1 (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2010),138.

7. I recommend any mother who is strug-gling with aecting a change o attitude andbehavior with her children to watch thislm. The scene in the kitchen as teacher

Rushdoony … Spirit-Filled cont. from page 3

M. Rushdoony … Abstract cont. from page 6

McVicar … Van Til cont. from page 12

5. Gustave F. Oehler, Theology o the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervanreprint. n.d.), 141.

6. Thomas Scott, The Holy Bible, withExplanatory Notes, etc., Vol. 1 (Boston, MASamuel T. Armstrong, 1830 printing), 306

7. Albert Camus, The Rebel (New York, NVintage Books, n.d.), 47.

8. Michael Gil, Image o the Body (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1989), 325.

9. Ibid., 327.

10. Ibid., 337.

April 1987.43. R. J. Rushdoony, “Dr. Cornelius VanTil,” Chalcedon Report (May 1995): 2.

44. Cornelius Van Til, The Works o Cor-nelius Van Til , 1895–1987, Bristley, EricD., ed. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Library System, 1997).

45. Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic:Readings and Analysis (Phillipsburg, NJ:P&R Publishing, 1998).

46. These include Cornelius Van Til,Christian Apologetics , ed. William Edgar,

2nd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishin2003); Cornelius Van Til, An Introductionto Systematic Theology: Prolegomena and thDoctrines o Revelation, Scripture, and God ,ed. William Edgar, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg,NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007); Cornelius VaTil, The Deense o the Faith, ed. K. ScottOliphint, 4th ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008).



Over 60 books are now availablefor online reading at no cost!

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Biblical Law

The Institute o Biblical Law (In three volumes, by R. J. Rushdoony) Volume IBiblical Law is a plan or dominion under God, whereas its rejection is toclaim dominion on man’s terms. The general principles (commandments)o the law are discussed as well as their specic applications (case law) inScripture. Many consider this to be the author’s most important work.

Hardback, 890 pages, indices, $50.00

Or, buy Volumes 1 and 2 and

receive Volume 3 or FREE!All 3 or only $80.00 (A savings o $30 of

the $110.00 retail price)

Volume II, Law and SocietyThe relationship o Biblical Law to communion and community, thesociology o the Sabbath, the amily and inheritance, and much more arecovered in the second volume. Contains an appendix by Herbert Titus.


Volume III, The Intent o the Law

“God’s law is much more than a legal code; it is a covenantal law.It establishes a personal relationship between God and man.” Atersummarizing the case laws, the author illustrates how the law is or our good,and makes clear the dierence between the sacricial laws and those thatapply today.


Ten Commandments or Today (DVD)This 12-part DVD collection contains an in-depthinterview with the late Dr. R. J. Rushdoony on theapplication o God’s law to our modern world. Eachcommandment is covered in detail as Dr. Rushdoony challenges the humanistic remedies that have obviously

ailed. Only through God’s revealed will, as laid downin the Bible, can the standard or righteous living be

ound. Rushdoony silences the critics o Christianity by outlining therewards o obedience as well as the consequences o disobedience to God’s

Word. Includes 12 segments: an introduction, one segment on eachcommandment, and a conclusion.

2 DVDs, $30.00

Law and LibertyBy R. J. Rushdoony. This work examines various areas o lierom a Biblical perspective. Every area o lie must be broughtunder the dominion o Christ and the government o God’s

Word.

Paperback, 212 pages, $9.00

In Your JusticeBy Edward J. Murphy. The implications o God’s law over thelie o man and society.

Booklet, 36 pages, $2.00

The World Under God’s Law A tape series by R. J. Rushdoony. Five areas o lie are considered in the lighto Biblical Law- the home, the church, government, economics, and theschool.

5 cassette tapes, RR418ST-5, $15.00

Education

The Philosophy o the Christian CurriculumBy R. J. Rushdoony. The Christian School represents abreak with humanistic education, but, too oten, in leavthe state school, the Christian educator has carried thestate’s humanism with him. A curriculum is not neutrait is either a course in humanism or training in a God-

centered aith and lie. It is urgently necessary or Chriseducators to rethink the meaning and nature o the curriculum.

Paperback, 190 pages, index, $16.00

The Harsh Truth about Public SchoolsBy Bruce Shortt. This book combines a sound Biblicalbasis, rigorous research, straightorward, easily readlanguage, and eminently sound reasoning. It is based ua clear understanding o God’s educational mandate toparents. It is a thoroughly documented description o tinescapably anti-Christian thrust o any governmentalschool system and the inevitable results: moral relativis

(no xed standards), academic dumbing down, ar-let programs, near

absence o discipline, and the persistent but pitiable rationalizations oeby government education proessionals.


Intellectual SchizophreniaBy R. J. Rushdoony. Dr. Rushdoony predicted that thehumanist system, based on anti-Christian premises o the Enlightenment, could only get worse. He knew thaeducation divorced rom God and rom all transcendenstandards would produce the educational disaster andmoral barbarism we have today.


The Messianic Character o American EducationBy R. J. Rushdoony. From Mann to the present, the stathas used education to socialize the child. The school’s bapurpose, according to its own philosophers, is not educain the traditional sense o the 3 R’s. Instead, it is to prom“democracy” and “equality,” not in their legal or civic senbut in terms o the engineering o a socialized citizenry.Public education became the means o creating a social o

o the educator’s design. Such men saw themselves and the school in messiterms. This book was instrumental in launching the Christian school andhomeschool movements.

Hardback, 410 pages, index, $20.00

Mathematics: Is God Silent?By James Nickel. This book revolutionizes the prevailingunderstanding and teaching o math. The addition o this book is a must or all upper-level Christian schoolcurricula and or college students and adults interested inmath or related elds o science and religion. It will serveas a solid reutation or the claim, oten made in court,

that mathematics is one subject which cannot be taught rom a distinctivelBiblical perspective.

Revised and enlarged 2001 edition, Paperback, 408 pages, $22.00

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The Foundations o Christian ScholarshipEdited by Gary North. These are essays developing theimplications and meaning o the philosophy o Dr.Cornelius Van Til or every area o lie. The chapters explorethe implications o Biblical aith or a variety o disciplines.

Paperback, 355 pages, indices, $24.00

The Victims o Dick and JaneBy Samuel L. Blumeneld. America’s most eective critic

o public education shows us how America’s public schools were remade by educators who used curriculum to createcitizens suitable or their own vision o a utopian socialistsociety. This collection o essays will show you how and

why America’s public education declined.


Revolution via EducationBy Samuel L. Blumeneld. In this book, SamuelBlumeneld gets to the root o our crisis: our spiritual stateand the need or an explicitly Christian orm o education.Blumeneld leaves nothing uncovered. He examinesthe men, methods, and means to the socialist project totransorm America into an outright tyranny by scienticcontrollers.


Lessons Learned From Years o HomeschoolingBy Andrea Schwartz. Ater nearly a quarter century o homeschooling her children, Andrea Schwartz hasexperienced both the accomplishments and challengesthat come with being a homeschooling mom. And, she’spassionate about helping you learn her most valuablelessons. Discover the potential rewards o making the

world your classroom and God’s Word the oundation o everything you teach.


The Homeschool Lie: Discovering God’s Way

to Family-Based EducationBy Andrea Schwartz. This book opens the door to The Homeschool Lie , allowing parents to see the gloriouspotential in this lie-changing, God-honoring adventure. Itoers sage advice concerning key aspects o homeschooling,

while never losing the central ocus o applying the Wordo God to all areas o lie and thought. The author provides

practical insights or parents as they seek to provide a Christian education ortheir children.


Teach Me While My Heart Is Tender: Read Aloud Stories o

Repentance and Forgiveness Andrea Schwartz has compiled three stories drawn romher amily-lie experiences to help parents teach childrenhow the aith applies to every area o lie. They conrontthe ugly reality o sin, the beauty o godly repentance, andthe necessity o orgiveness. The stories are meant to be

read by parents and children together. The interactions and discussions that will ollow serve to draw amilies closer together.


Alpha-Phonics: A Primer or Beginning ReadersBy Sam Blumeneld. Provides parents, teachers and tu

with a sensible, logical, easy-to-use system or teachingreading. The Workbook teaches our alphabetic system- with its 26 letters and 44 sounds - in the ollowingsequence: First, the alphabet, then the short vowels andconsonants, the consonant digraphs, ollowed by the

consonant blends, and nally the long vowels in their variety o spellings our other vowels. It can also be used as a supplement to any other readinprogram being used in the classroom. Its systematic approach to teaching

basic phonetic skills makes it particularly valuable to programs that lack sinstruction.

Spiralbound, 180 pages, $25.00 (This title cannot be discounted)

American History & the Constitution

This Independent Republic By R. J. Rushdoony. Important insight into Americanhistory by one who could trace American developmenin terms o the Christian ideas which gave it directionThese essays will greatly alter your understanding o, aappreciation or, American history.


The Nature o the American SystemBy R. J. Rushdoony. Originally published in 1965, theessays were a continuation o the author’s previous woThis Independent Republic , and examine the interpretaand concepts which have attempted to remake and rew

America’s past and present.


The Inuence o Historic Christianity on Early AmericaBy Archie P. Jones. Early America was ounded upon t

deep, extensive infuence o Christianity inherited romthe medieval period and the Protestant Reormation. Tpriceless heritage was not limited to the narrow conno the personal lie o the individual, nor to ecclesiasticstructure. Christianity positively and predominately (though not perectly) shaped culture, education, scien

literature, legal thought, legal education, political thought, law, politics,charity, and missions.


Biblical Faith and American HistoryBy R. J. Rushdoony. America was a break with theneoplatonic view o religion that dominated the medievchurch. The Puritans and other groups saw Scripture asguidance or every area o lie because they viewed itsauthor as the inallible Sovereign over every area.

Pamplet, 12 pages, $1.00

The United States: A Christian Republic By R. J. Rushdoony. The author demolishes the modermyth that the United States was ounded by deists orhumanists bent on creating a secular republic.

Pamplet, 7 pages, $1.00




The Future o the Conservative MovementEdited by Andrew Sandlin. The Future o the Conservative

Movement explores the history, accomplishmentsand decline o the conservative movement, andlays the oundation or a viable substitute to today’scompromising, foundering conservatism.


The Late Great GOP and the Coming Realignment

By Colonel V. Doner. For more than three decades, mostChristian conservatives in the United States have hitchedtheir political wagon to the plodding elephant o theRepublican Party. This work is a call to arms or those

weary o political vacillation and committed more rmly than ever to the necessity o a truly Christian social order.


American History to 1865 - NOW ON CD!By R. J. Rushdoony. These lectures are the mosttheologically complete assessment o early Americanhistory available, yet retain a clarity and vividness o expression that make them ideal or students. Rev.Rushdoony reveals a oundation o American History o philosophical and theological substance. Hedescribes not just the acts o history, but the leading

motives and movements in terms o the thinking o the day. Set includes 36audio CDs, teacher’s guide, student’s guide, plus a bonus CD eaturing PDFcopies o each guide or urther use.

Disc 1 Motives o Discovery & Exploration IDisc 2 Motives o Discovery & Exploration IIDisc 3 MercantilismDisc 4 Feudalism, Monarchy & Colonies/ The Fairax Resolves 1-8Disc 5 The Fairax Resolves 9-24Disc 6 The Declaration o Independence & Articles o ConederationDisc 7 George Washington: A Biographical SketchDisc 8 The U. S. Constitution, I

Disc 9 The U. S. Constitution, IIDisc 10 De Toqueville on Inheritance & Society Disc 11 Voluntary Associations & the TitheDisc 12 Eschatology & History Disc 13 Postmillennialism & the War o IndependenceDisc 14 The Tyranny o the Majority Disc 15 De Toqueville on Race Relations in AmericaDisc 16 The Federalist AdministrationsDisc 17 The Voluntary Church, IDisc 18 The Voluntary Church, IIDisc 19 The Jeerson Administration, the Tripolitan War & the War o 1812Disc 20 The Voluntary Church on the Frontier, IDisc 21 Religious Voluntarism & the Voluntary Church on the Frontier, IIDisc 22 The Monroe & Polk Doctrines

Disc 23 Voluntarism & Social ReormDisc 24 Voluntarism & PoliticsDisc 25 Chie Justice John Marshall: Problems o Political VoluntarismDisc 26 Andrew Jackson: His Monetary Policy Disc 27 The Mexican War o 1846 / Calhoun’s DisquisitionDisc 28 De Toqueville on Democratic CultureDisc 29 De Toqueville on IndividualismDisc 30 Maniest Destiny Disc 31 The Coming o the Civil WarDisc 32 De Toqueville on the Family/

Aristocratic vs. Individualistic CulturesDisc 33 De Toqueville on Democracy & PowerDisc 34 The Interpretation o History, IDisc 35 The Interpretation o History, II

Disc 36The American Indian (Bonus Disc)Disc 37Documents: Teacher/Student Guides, Transcripts

37 discs in album, Set o “American History to 1865”, $140.00

World History

Re-Release on CD! … A Christian Survey o Worl

History - By R. J. Rushdoony

Includes 12 audio CDs, ull text supporting lectures, review questions, discussion questioand an answer key.

The purpose o a study o history is to shape thuture. Too much o history teaching centersupon events, persons, or ideas as acts but doesnot recognize God’s providential hand in judgihumanistic man in order to build His Kingdom

History is God-ordained and presents the great battle between the Kingdo God and the Kingdom o Man. History is ull o purpose—eachKingdom has its own goal or the end o history, and those goals are inconstant confict. A Christian Survey o World History can be used as astand-alone curriculum, or as a supplement to a study o world history.

Disc 1 Time and History: Why History is ImportantDisc 7 New Humanism or Medieval PeriodDisc 2 Israel, Egypt, and the Ancient Near EastDisc 8 The ReormationDisc 3 Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Jesus ChristDisc 9 Wars o Religion – So Called & The Thirty Years WarDisc 4 The Roman RepublicDisc 10 France: Louis XIV through NapoleonDisc 5 The Early Church & ByzantiumDisc 11 England: The Puritans through Queen VictoriaDisc 6 Islam & The Frontier AgeDisc 12 20th Century: The Intellectual – Scientic Elite

12 CDs, ull text, review and discussion questions, $90.00

The Biblical Philosophy o HistoryBy R. J. Rushdoony. For the orthodox Christian whogrounds his philosophy o history on the doctrine o creation, the mainspring o history is God. Time restson the oundation o eternity, on the eternal decree o God. Time and history thereore have meaning becausthey were created in terms o God’s perect and totallycomprehensive plan. The humanist aces a meaningles

world in which he must strive to create and establish meaning. The Chriaccepts a world which is totally meaningul and in which every event moin terms o God’s purpose.


James I: The Fool as KingBy Otto Scott. In this study, Otto Scott writes about oo the “holy” ools o humanism who worked against aith rom within. This is a major historical work andmarvelous reading.

Hardback, 472 pages, $20.00




Church History

The “Atheism” o the Early ChurchBy R. J. Rushdoony. Early Christians were called“heretics” and “atheists” when they denied the gods o Rome, in particular the divinity o the emperor andthe statism he embodied in his personality cult. TheseChristians knew that Jesus Christ, not the state, wastheir Lord and that this aith required a dierent kind o

relationship to the state than the state demanded.Paperback, 64 pages, $12.00

The Foundations o Social Order: Studies in the Creeds

and Councils o the Early ChurchBy R. J. Rushdoony. Every social order rests on a creed,on a concept o lie and law, and represents a religion inaction. The basic aith o a society means growth in termso that aith. The lie o a society is its creed; a dyingcreed aces desertion or subversion readily. Because o itsindierence to its creedal basis in Biblical Christianity,

western civilization is today acing death and is in a lie and death struggle with humanism.


The Relevance o the Reormed Faith

(Conerence CD Set)The 2007 Chalcedon Foundation FallConerence. I the Church o the Lord JesusChrist is to bring transormation to this world,it must return without compromise to the tenetso the Reormed aith. The man-centered gospel

o the modern church is wreaking havoc on Christian civilization as we are witnessing the allout o revivalism, individualism, pietism, and retreatism.Only the God-centered theology o the Reormation applied to every area o lie can supply the resources necessary or building Christian civilization.

Disc One: An Introduction to Biblical Law - Mark Rushdoony Disc Two: The Great Commission - Dr. Joe MorecratDisc Three: Cromwell Done Right! - Dr. Joe MorecratDisc Four: The Power o Applied Calvinism - Martin SelbredeDisc Five: The Powerlessness o Pietism - Martin SelbredeDisc Six: Thy Commandment is Exceedingly Broad - Martin SelbredeDisc Seven: Dualistic Spirituality vs. Obedience - Mark Rushdoony

7 CDs, $56.00

Philosophy

The Death o Meaning

By R. J. Rushdoony. Modern philosophy has soughtto explain man and his thought process withoutacknowledging God, His revelation, or man’s sin.Philosophers who rebel against God are compelled toabandon meaning itsel , or they possess neither thetools nor the place to anchor it. The works o darknesschampioned by philosophers past and present need to be

exposed and reproved. In this volume, Dr. Rushdoony clearly enunciateseach major philosopher’s position and its implications, identies theintellectual and moral consequences o each school o thought, and tracesthe dead-end to which each naturally leads.


The Word o Flux: Modern Man and the Problem o

KnowledgeBy R. J. Rushdoony. Modern man has a problem withknowledge. He cannot accept God’s Word about the

world or anything else, so anything which points to Gmust be called into question. This book will lead thereader to understand that this problem o knowledgeunderlies the isolation and sel-torment o modern ma

Can you know anything i you reject God and His revelation? This booktakes the reader into the heart o modern man’s intellectual dilemma.


To Be As God: A Study o Modern Thought Since the Mar

De SadeBy R. J. Rushdoony. This monumental work is a serieso essays on the infuential thinkers and ideas in modetimes such as Marquis De Sade, Shelley, Byron, Marx,

Whitman, and Nietzsche. Reading this book will help understand the need to avoid the syncretistic blendinghumanistic philosophy with the Christian aith.


By What Standard?By R. J. Rushdoony. An introduction into the problemo Christian philosophy. It ocuses on the philosophicsystem o Dr. Cornelius Van Til, which in turn is ounupon the presuppositions o an inallible revelation inthe Bible and the necessity o Christian theology or aphilosophy. This is Rushdoony’s oundational work onphilosophy.


The One and the Many:

Studies in the Philosophy o Order and UltimacyBy R. J. Rushdoony. This work discusses the problemo understanding unity vs. particularity, oneness vs.individuality. “Whether recognized or not, every argumand every theological, philosophical, political, or any oexposition is based on a presupposition about man, Gand society—about reality. This presupposition rules a

determines the conclusion; the eect is the result o a cause. And one sucbasic presupposition is with reerence to the one and the many.” The autnds the answer in the Biblical doctrine o the Trinity.


The Flight rom Humanity: A Study o the Eect o

Neoplatonism on ChristianityBy R. J. Rushdoony. Neoplatonism presents man’sdilemma as a metaphysical one, whereas Scripture pre

it as a moral problem. Basing Christianity on this alseNeoplatonic idea will always shit the aith rom theBiblical perspective. The ascetic quest sought to takereuge rom sins o the fesh but ailed to address the

reality o sins o the heart and mind. In the name o humility, the asceticmaniested arrogance and pride. This pagan idea o spirituality entered thchurch and is the basis o some chronic problems in Western civilization





Psychology

Politics o Guilt and PityBy R. J. Rushdoony. From the oreword by Steve Schlissel: “Rushdoony sounds the clarion call o liberty or all whoremain oppressed by Christian leaders who wrongully lord it over the souls o God’s righteous ones.… I pray thatthe entire book will not only instruct you in the methodand content o a Biblical worldview, but actually bring youurther into the glorious reedom o the children o God.

Those who walk in wisdom’s ways become immune to the politics o guiltand pity.”


Revolt Against MaturityBy. R. J. Rushdoony. The Biblical doctrine o psychology isa branch o theology dealing with man as a allen creaturemarked by a revolt against maturity. Man was created amature being with a responsibility to dominion and cannotbe understood rom the Freudian child, nor the Darwinianstandpoint o a long biological history. Man’s history is a short one lled with responsibility to God. Man’s

psychological problems are thereore a resistance to responsibility, i.e. a revolt

against maturity.Hardback, 334 pages, index, $18.00

FreudBy R. J. Rushdoony. For years this compact examinationo Freud has been out o print. And although both Freudand Rushdoony have passed on, their ideas are still very much in collision. Freud declared war upon guilt andsought to eradicate the primary source o Western guilt— Christianity. Rushdoony shows conclusively the erroro Freud’s thought and the disastrous consequences o his

infuence in society.


The Cure o Souls:

Recovering the Biblical Doctrine o ConessionBy R. J. Rushdoony. In The Cure o Souls: Recovering the Biblical Doctrine o Conession, R. J. Rushdoony cutsthrough the misuse o Romanism and modern psychology to restore the doctrine o conession to a Biblicaloundation—one that is covenantal and Calvinistic.

Without a true restoration o Biblical conession, theChristian’s walk is impeded by the remains o sin. This volume is an eort inreversing this trend.

Hardback, 320 pages with index, $26.00

ScienceThe Mythology o ScienceBy R. J. Rushdoony. This book is about the religiousnature o evolutionary thought, how these religiouspresuppositions underlie our modern intellectual paradigm,and how they are deerred to as sacrosanct by institutionsand disciplines ar removed rom the empirical sciences.The “mythology” o modern science is its religious devotionto the myth o evolution.


Alive: An Enquiry into the Origin and Meaning o LieBy Dr. Magnus Verbrugge, M.D. This study is o majorimportance as a critique o scientic theory, evolution,and contemporary nihilism in scientic thought. Dr.Verbrugge, son-in-law o the late Dr. H. Dooyeweerd anhead o the Dooyeweerd Foundation, applies the insigho Dooyeweerd’s thinking to the realm o science. Animand humanism in scientic theory are brilliantly discuss


Creation According to the ScripturesEdited by P. Andrew Sandlin. Subtitled: A PresuppositionDeense o Literal Six-Day Creation, this symposium by thirteen authors is a direct rontal assault on all wafingviews o Biblical creation. It explodes the “Framework Hypothesis,” so dear to the hearts o many respectabilityhungry Calvinists, and it throws down the gauntlet to a

who believe they can maintain a consistent view o Biblinallibility while abandoning literal, six-day creation.


Economics

Making Sense o Your Dollars: A Biblical Approach to WeaBy Ian Hodge. The author puts the creation and useo wealth in their Biblical context. Debt has put theeconomies o nations and individuals in dangerous straThis book discusses why a business is the best investmeas well as the issues o debt avoidance and insurance.

Wealth is a tool or dominion men to use as aithulstewards.


Larceny in the Heart: The Economics o Satan and the

Inationary StateBy R.J. Rushdoony. In this study, rst published undethe title Roots o Infation, the reader sees why envy otcauses the most successul and advanced members o society to be deemed criminals. The reader is shown henvious man nds any superiority in others intolerabland how this leads to a desire or a leveling. The authouncovers the larceny in the heart o man and its result


A Christian View o Vocation: The Glory o the MundaneBy Terry Applegate. To many Christians, business isa “dirty” occupation t only or greedy, manipulativeunbelievers. The author, a successul Christianbusinessman, explodes this myth in this hard-hitting ti

Pamplet, $1.00

Christianity and CapitalismBy R. J. Rushdoony. In a simple, straightorward style,the Christian case or capitalism is presented. Capital, the orm o individual and amily property, is protecteScripture and is necessary or liberty.

Pamplet, 8 page, $1.00




Biblical Studies

Genesis, Volume I o Commentaries on the PentateuchBy R. J. Rushdoony. In recent years, it has becomecommonplace or both humanists and churchmen tosneer at anyone who takes Genesis 1-11 as historical. Yetto believe in the myth o evolution is to accept trillionso miracles to account or our cosmos. Spontaneousgeneration, the development o something out o nothing,

and the blind belie in the miraculous powers o chance,require tremendous aith. Theology without literal six-day creationismbecomes alien to the God o Scripture because it turns rom the God Whoacts and Whose Word is the creative word and the word o power, to a belie in process as god.


Exodus, Volume II o Commentaries on the PentateuchBy R. J. Rushdoony. Essentially, all o mankind is onsome sort o an exodus. However, the path o allen manis vastly dierent rom that o the righteous. Apart rom

Jesus Christ and His atoning work, the exodus o a allenhumanity means only a urther descent rom sin intodeath. But in Christ, the exodus is now a glorious ascentinto the justice and dominion o the everlasting Kingdom

o God. Thereore, i we are to better understand the gracious provisionsmade or us in the “promised land” o the New Covenant, a thoroughexamination into the historic path o Israel as described in the book o Exodus is essential. It is to this end that this volume was written.


Sermons on Exodus - 128 lectures by R.J. Rushdoony on mp3 (2 CDs), $60.00

Save by getting the book and 2 CDs together or only $95.00

Leviticus, Volume III o Commentaries on the PentateuchBy R. J. Rushdoony. Much like the book o Proverbs, any emphasis upon the practical applications o God’s law is

readily shunned in pursuit o more “spiritual” studies.Books like Leviticus are considered dull, overbearing, andirrelevant. But man was created in God’s image and isduty-bound to develop the implications o that image by obedience to God’s law. The book o Leviticus contains

over ninety reerences to the word holy. The purpose, thereore, o this thirdbook o the Pentateuch is to demonstrate the legal oundation o holiness inthe totality o our lives.


Sermons on Leviticus - 79 lectures by R.J. Rushdoony on mp3 (1 CD), $40.00

Save by getting the book and CD together or only $76.00

Numbers, Volume IV o Commentaries on the PentateuchBy R. J. Rushdoony. The Lord desires a people who willembrace their responsibilities. The history o Israel inthe wilderness is a sad narrative o a people with heartshardened by complaint and rebellion to God’s ordainedauthorities. They were slaves, not an army. They wouldrecognize the tyranny o Pharaoh but disregard the servant-leadership o Moses. God would judge the generation He

led out o captivity, while training a new generation to conquer Canaan. Thebook o Numbers reveals God’s dealings with both generations.

Hardback, index, 428 pages $45.00

Sermons on Numbers - 66 lectures by R.J. Rushdoony on mp3 (1 CD), $40.00


Deuteronomy, Volume V o Commentaries on the

PentateuchI you desire to understand the core o Rushdoony’sthinking, this commentary on Deuteronomy is one volyou must read. The covenantal structure o this lastbook o Moses, its detailed listing o both blessings ancurses, and its strong presentation o godly theocracy provided Rushdoony with a solid oundation rom wh

to summarize the central tenets o a truly Biblical worldview—one that solidly established upon Biblical Law, and one that is assured to shape th

uture.Hardback, index, 512 pages $45.00

Sermons on Deuteronomy - 110 lectures by R.J. Rushdoony on mp3 (2 CDs), $60.0


Now you can purchase the complete

set o fve hardback volumes o the

Pentateuch or $150.00 ($75 savings!)

Pentateuch CD Set (4

Commentary CD Sets)

By R. J. Rushdoony. Rushdoony’s our CDCommentaries on the Pentateuch (Exodus,Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) in one

$120... That’s 6 total MP3 CDs containing 383 sermon

or $80 in savings!

Chariots o Prophetic Fire: Studies in Elijah and ElishaBy R. J. Rushdoony. As in the days o Elijah and Elishit is once again said to be a virtue to tolerate evil andcondemn those who do not. This book will challenge to resist compromise and the temptation o expediencyIt will help you take a stand by aith or God’s truth inculture o alsehoods.


The Gospel o JohnBy R. J. Rushdoony. Nothing more clearly reveals thegospel than Christ’s atoning death and His resurrectioThey tell us that Jesus Christ has destroyed the powero sin and death. John thereore deliberately limits thenumber o miracles he reports in order to point to andconcentrate on our Lord’s death and resurrection. The

Jesus o history is He who made atonement or us, dieand was resurrected. His lie cannot be understood apart rom this, nor c

we know His history in any other light.


Romans and GalatiansBy R. J. Rushdoony. From the author’s introduction:“I do not disagree with the liberating power o theReormation interpretation, but I believe that it provisimply the beginning o our understanding o Romannot its conclusion.... The great problem in the churchinterpretation o Scripture has been its ecclesiasticalorientation, as though God speaks only to the church

and commands only the church. The Lord God speaks in and throughHis Word to the whole man, to every man, and to every area o lie andthought…. This is the purpose o my brie comments on Romans.”





Hebrews, James and JudeBy R. J. Rushdoony. The Book o Hebrews is asummons to serve Christ the Redeemer-King ully andaithully, without compromise. When James, in hisepistle, says that aith without works is dead, he tellsus that a ith is not a mere matter o words, but it is o necessity a matter o lie. “Pure religion and undeled”requires Christian charity and action. Anything short

o this is a sel-delusion. Jude similarly recalls us to Jesus Christ’s apostoliccommission, “Remember ye the words which have been spoken beore by

the apostles o our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 17). Jude’s letter reminds us o the necessity or a new creation beginning with us, and o the inescapabletriumph o the Kingdom o God.


Sermon on the MountBy R. J. Rushdoony. So much has been written about theSermon on the Mount, but so little o the commentariesventure outside o the matters o the heart. The Beatitudesare reduced to the assumed meaning o their more popularportions, and much o that meaning limits our concernsto downplaying wealth, praying in secret, suppressingour worries, or simply reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The

Beatitudes are the Kingdom commission to the new Israel o God, and R. J. Rushdoony elucidates this powerul thesis in a readable and engagingcommentary on the world’s greatest sermon.


Sermon on the Mount CD Set (12 CDs), $96.00

Sermon on the Mount Book & CD Set (12 CDs), $99.00

Taking Dominion

Christianity and the StateBy R. J. Rushdoony. This book develops the Biblical view o the state against the modern state’s humanism and

its attempts to govern all spheres o lie. It reads like acollection o essays on the Christian view o the state andthe return o true Christian government.


Tithing and DominionBy Edward A. Powell and R. J. Rushdoony. God’sKingdom covers all things in its scope, and its immediateministry includes, according to Scripture, the ministry o grace (the church), instruction (the Christian andhomeschool), help to the needy (the diaconate), and many other things. God’s appointed means or nancing HisKingdom activities is centrally the tithe. This work arms

that the Biblical requirement o tithing is a continuing aspect o God’s law- word and cannot be neglected.


Salvation and Godly RuleBy R. J. Rushdoony. Salvation in Scripture includes in meaning “health” and “victory.” By limiting the meanino salvation, men have limited the power o God and thmeaning o the Gospel. In this study R. J. Rushdoony demonstrates the expanse o the doctrine o salvation asrelates to the rule o the God and His people.


Noble Savages: Exposing the Worldview o Pornographand Their War Against Christian CivilizationBy R. J. Rushdoony. In this powerul book Noble Sava(ormerly The Politics o Pornography ) Rushdoony demonstrates that in order or modern man to justiy perversion he must reject the Biblical doctrine o the man. I there is no all, the Marquis de Sade argued, thall that man does is normative. What is the problem? I

the philosophy behind pornography — the rejection o the all o man thmakes normative all that man does. Learn it all in this timeless classic.


In His Service: The Christian Calling to Charity

By R. J. Rushdoony. The Christian aith once meant tha believer responded to a dark world by actively workinto bring God’s grace and mercy to others, both by worand by deed. However, a modern, sel-centered churchisolated the aith to a pietism that relinquishes charitabresponsibility to the state. The end result has been theempowering o a humanistic world order. In this book

Rushdoony elucidates the Christian’s calling to charity and its implicatioor Godly dominion.


Roots o ReconstructionBy R. J. Rushdoony. This large volume provides all o

Rushdoony’s Chalcedon Report articles rom the beginnin 1965 to mid-1989. These articles were, with hisbooks, responsible or the Christian Reconstruction antheonomy movements. More topics than could possibllisted. Imagine having 24 years o Rushdoony’s personresearch or just $20.


A Comprehensive Faith

Edited by Andrew Sandlin. This is the surprise Festschpresented to R. J. Rushdoony at his 80th birthday celebration in April, 1996. These essays are in gratitudto Rush’s infuence and elucidate the importance o his theological and philosophical contributions innumerous elds. Contributors include Theodore LetisBrian Abshire, Steve Schlissel, Joe Morecrat III, Jean-

Marc Berthoud, Byron Snapp, Samuel Blumeneld, Christine and ThomSchirrmacher, Herbert W. Titus, Ellsworth McIntyre, Howard Phillips, IHodge, and many more. Also included is a oreword by John Frame andbrie biographical sketch o R. J. Rushdoony’s lie by Mark Rushdoony.





A Conquering Faith: Doctrinal Foundations or Christian

ReormationBy William Einwechter. This monograph takes onthe doctrinal deection o today’s church by providingChristians with an introductory treatment o six vitalareas o Christian doctrine: God’s sovereignty, Christ’sLordship, God’s law, the authority o Scripture, thedominion mandate, and the victory o Christ in history.


A Word in Season: Daily Messages

on the Faith or All o Lie

(Multi-volume book series)By R. J. Rushdoony. These daily messages on the aith or all o lie areunlike any compilation o Christian“devotional” ever published. In thesepages, you won’t nd the overly

introspective musings o a Christian pietist; what you’lldiscover are the hard-hitting convictions o a man whosesole commitment was aithulness to God’s law-word andrepresenting that binding Word to his readers.

The multi-volume series is taken rom over 430 articles

written by Rushdoony over the span o 25 years (1966-1991) or the Caliornia Farmer, an agricultural periodicalthat provided him a regular column entitled “The Pastor’sPulpit.”

Volume One, Paperback, 152 pages, $12.00

Volume Two, Paperback, 144 pages, $12.00

Volume Three, Paperback, 134 pages, $12.00

Theology

Systematic Theology (in two volumes)By R. J. Rushdoony. Theology belongs in the

pulpit, the school, the workplace, the amily and everywhere. Society as a whole is weakened

when theology is neglected. Without a systematicapplication o theology, too oten people approachthe Bible with a smorgasbord mentality, pickingand choosing that which pleases them. This two-volume set addresses this subject in order to assistin the application o the Word o God to every area o lie and thought.


The Necessity or Systematic TheologyBy R. J. Rushdoony. Scripture gives us as its underlying

unity a unied doctrine o God and His order. Theology must be systematic to be true to the God o Scripture.Booklet now part o the author’s Systematic Theology .


Inallibility and InterpretationBy R. J. Rushdoony & P. Andrew Sandlin. The authorargue or inallibility rom a distinctly presuppositionaperspective. That is, their arguments are unapologeticcircular because they believe all ultimate claims are bason one’s beginning assumptions. The question o Biblinallibility rests ultimately in one’s belie about thecharacter o God.


Inallibility: An Inescapable ConceptBy R. J. Rushdoony. “The doctrine o the inallibilityScripture can be denied, but the concept o inallibilias such cannot be logically denied. Inallibility is aninescapable concept. I men reuse to ascribe inallibito Scripture, it is because the concept has beentranserred to something else. The word inallibility is not normally used in these transers; the concept

is disguised and veiled, but in a variety o ways, inallibility is ascribed toconcepts, things, men and institutions.” Booklet now part o the author’Systematic Theology .


Predestination in Light o the CrossBy John B. King, Jr. The author deends the predestino Martin Luther while providing a compellingly systemtheological understanding o predestination. This bookgive the reader a uller understanding o the sovereigntyGod.


SovereigntyBy R. J. Rushdoony. The doctrine o sovereignty is a crone. By ocusing on the implications o God’s sovereignover all things, in conjunction with the law-word o Gothe Christian will be better equipped to engage each an

every area o lie. Since we are called to live in this worl we must bring to bear the will o our Sovereign Lord inthings.


The Church Is Israel NowBy Charles D. Provan. For the last century, Christians hbeen told that God has an unconditional love or personracially descended rom Abraham. Membership in Israelsaid to be a matter o race, not aith. This book repudiatsuch a racialist viewpoint and abounds in Scripturereerences which show that the blessings o Israel were

transerred to all those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.


The Guise o Every Graceless HeartBy Terrill Irwin Elni. An extremely important and reshstudy o Puritan thought in early America. On Biblicaland theological grounds, Puritan preachers and writerschallenged the autonomy o man, though not alwaysconsistently.





The Great Christian RevolutionBy Otto Scott, Mark R. Rushdoony, R. J. Rushdoony, JohnLoton, and Martin Selbrede. A major work on the impacto Reormed thinking on our civilization. Some o thestudies, historical and theological, break new ground andprovide perspectives previously unknown or neglected.


Keeping Our Sacred Trust

Edited by Andrew Sandlin. The Bible and the ChristianFaith have been under attack in one way or anotherthroughout much o the history o the church, but only inrecent times have these attacks been perceived within thechurch as a healthy alternative to orthodoxy. This book isa trumpet blast heralding a ull-orbed, Biblical, orthodoxChristianity. The hope o the modern world is not a passive

compromise with passing heterodox ads, but aggressive devotion to the time-honored Faith “once delivered to the saints.”


The Incredible Scofeld and His BookBy Joseph M. Caneld. This powerul and ully documented study exposes the questionable backgroundand aulty theology o the man responsible or thepopular Scoeld Reerence Bible, which did muchto promote the dispensational system. The story isdisturbing in its historical account o the illusivepersonality canonized as a dispensational saint and calls

into question the seriousness o his motives and scholarship.


The Lordship o ChristThe author shows that to limit Christ’s work in history tosalvation and not to include lordship is destructive o theaith and leads to alse doctrine.


The Will o God, or the Will o Man?By Mark R. Rushdoony. God’s will and man’s will are bothinvolved in man’s salvation, but the church has split inanswering the question, “Whose will is determinative?”

Pamplet, $1.00

Culture

Discussions, Vol. III, PhilosophicalBy R. L. Dabney. Dabney, one o the greatest AmericanReormed thinkers, in these volumes discusses a variety o political, economic and social problems rom aChristian perspective. While now and then some o hisperspectives may be dated, he is or the most part moretimely than ever. It is not an accident that quotationsrom these volumes have appeared in the WashingtonTimes .


Toward a Christian MarriageEdited by Elizabeth Fellerson. The law o God makes how important and how central marriage is. God the came into the world neither through church nor state through a amily. This tells us that marriage, althoughnonexistent in heaven, is, all the same, central to this

world. We are to live here under God as physical creat whose lives are given their great training-ground in tero the Kingdom o God by marriage. Our Lord stresse

the act that marriage is our normal calling. This book consists o essays

the importance o a proper Christian perspective on marriage.Hardback, 43 pages, $8.00

Back Again Mr. Begbie: The Lie Story o Rev. Lt. Col. R.J

Begbie OBEThis biography is more than a story o the three careeo one remarkable man. It is a chronicle o a son o old Christendom as a leader o Christian revival in thtwentieth century. Personal history shows the greaterstory o what the Holy Spirit can and does do in theevangelization o the world.


EschatologyThy Kingdom Come: Studies in Daniel and RevelationBy R. J. Rushdoony. This book helped spur the moderise o postmillennialism. Revelation’s details are otenperplexing, even bafing, and yet its main meaningis clear—it is a book about victory. It tells us that ouraith can only result in victory. “This is the victory thaovercomes the world, even our aith” (1 John 5:4). Th

why knowing Revelation is so important. It assures usour victory and celebrates it. Genesis 3 tells us o the all o man into sindeath. Revelation gives us man’s victory in Christ over sin and death. Thvast and total victory, in time and eternity, set orth by John in Revelatiotoo important to bypass. This victory is celebrated in Daniel and elsewhein the entire Bible. We are not given a Messiah who is a loser. Theseeschatological texts make clear that the essential good news o the entireBible is victory, total victory.


Thine is the Kingdom: A Study o the Postmillennial HoEdited by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. False eschatologicalspeculation is destroying the church today, by leading to neglect her Christian calling. In this volume, editedby Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., the reader is presented witha blend o Biblical exegesis o key Scripture passages,theological refection on important doctrinal issues, anpractical application or aithul Christian living. Thinthe Kingdom lays the scriptural oundation or a Biblic

based, hope-lled postmillennial eschatology, while showing what it meato be postmillennial in the real world. The book is both an introduction and deense o the eschatology o victory. Chapters include contemporar

writers Keith A. Mathison, William O. Einwechter, Jerey Ventrella, andKenneth L. Gentry, Jr., as well as chapters by giants o the aith Benjamin

Wareld and J.A. Alexander.





God’s Plan or VictoryBy R. J. Rushdoony. An entire generation o victory-minded Christians, spurred by the victoriouspostmillennial vision o Chalcedon, has emerged to press

what the Puritan Fathers called “the Crown Rights o Christ the King” in all areas o modern lie. Central tothat optimistic generation is R. J. Rushdoony’s jewel o astudy, God’s Plan or Victory (originally published in 1977).

The ounder o the Christian Reconstruction movement set orth in potent,cogent terms the older Puritan vision o the irrepressible advancement o

Christ’s kingdom by His aithul saints employing the entire law-Word o God as the program or earthly victory.


Fiction (Storehouse Press)

Bell Mountain (Bell Mountain Series, Vol. 1)By Lee Duigon. The world is going to end … assoon as Jack and Ellayne ring the bell on top o BellMountain. No one has ever climbed the mountain,and no one has ever seen the bell. But the childrenhave a divine calling to carry out the mission, and itsweeps them into high adventure. Great or young

adults.


The Cellar Beneath the Cellar (Bell Mountain Series,

Vol. 2)By Lee Duigon. A world’s uture lies buried in itsdistant past. Barbarian armies swarm across themountains, driven by a terriying vision o a merciless

war god on earth. While a nation rallies its deenses,a boy and a girl must nd the holy writings that havebeen concealed or 2,000 years; and the man who wassent to kill them must now protect them at all costs.


The Thunder King (Bell Mountain Series, Vol. 3)By Lee Duigon. The Thunder King’s vast army encamps against the city, a ring o re and steel. Buttreason brews inside the city walls... The tiny army o the Lord is on the march against the undeeatedhorde, in bold obedience, to a divine command;but the boy king, Ryons, marches all alone across anempty land. They Lost Book o Scripture have beenound, but they may be lost again beore the humanrace can read them. And Jack and Ellayne have beencaptured by the Heathen.


Hidden In Plain Sight (Bubble Head Series, Vol. 1)By M. G. Selbrede. Young physicist Jenna Wilkes hasdone the impossible—and the whole scientic worldis shaking on its pillars.

Could it be that conventional science hasmisunderstood the very abric o the universe? Couldthere be innitely more to it than anyone has everguessed? Could science’s whole concept o reality be... unreal?


The Journal of Christian Reconstructio

Vol. 1, No. 2: Symposium on SatanismOccultism rom the days o the early church to the present, its meaning,the Christian perspective. $2.60

Vol. 2, No. 1: Symposium on Christian EconomicsMedieval, Reormation, and contemporary developments, the causes o infation, Manichaenism, law and economics, and much more. $2.60

Vol. 2, No. 2: Symposium on Biblical Law What Scripture tells us about law, the coming crisis in criminal investigapornography, community, the unction o law, and much more. $2.60

Vol. 5, No. 1: Symposium on PoliticsModern politics is highly religious, but its religion is humanism.This journal examines the Christian alternative. $2.60

Vol. 5, No. 2: Symposium on Puritanism and LawThe Puritans believed in law and the grace o law. They were notantinomians. Both Continental and American Puritanism are studied. $2

Vol. 7, No. 1: Symposium on InationInfation is not only an economic concern but at root a moral problem. Aanalysis o economics must deal also with the theological and moral aspeas well. $2.60

Vol. 10, No. 1: Symposium on the Media and the ArtsChristian reconstruction cannot be accomplished without expanding theChristian presence and infuence in all branches o the media and the art$2.60

Vol. 10, No. 2: Symposium on BusinessThis issue deals with the relationship o the Christian Faith to the worldbusiness. $2.60

Vol. 11, No. 1: Symposium on the Reormation in the Arts and MediaChristians must learn to exercise dominion in the area o the arts and mein order to ulll their mandate rom the Lord. Also included in this issua long and very important study o the Russian Orthodox Church beorRevolution. $2.60

Vol. 11, No. 2: Symposium on the Education o the Core GroupChristians and their children must again become a vital, determinative cgroup in the world. Education is an essential prerequisite and duty i thisto be accomplished. $2.60

Vol. 12, No. 1: Symposium on the Constitution and Political TheologyTo understand the intent and meaning o the Constitution it is necessaryrecognize its presuppositions. $2.60

Vol. 12, No. 2: Symposium on the Biblical Text and LiteratureThe God o the Bible has chosen to express Himsel by both oral and wrmeans. Together these means represent the sum total o His revelation. Tsymposium is about the preservation o original, inallible truth as handedown through generations in the words and texts o the human language

$2.60 Vol. 13, No. 1: Symposium on Change in the Social OrderThis volume explores the various means o bringing change to a social orrevolution, education and economics. It also examines how Christianity,historically and doctrinally, impacts the social order and provides practicaanswers to man’s search rom meaning and order in lie. $2.60

Vol. 13, No. 2: Symposium on the Decline and Fall o the West and the Retu

o ChristendomIn addition to discussing the decline and all o the West and the return oChristendom, this volume describes the current crisis, constitutional lawcovenant religion vs. legalism, and the implications o a Christian world lie view. $2.60




Vol. 14, No. 1: Symposium on Reconstruction in the Church and StateThe re-emergence o Christian political involvement today is spurred by the recognition not only that the Bible and Christian Faith have somethingto say about politics and the state, but that they are the only unmoveableanchor o the state. The articles in this symposium deal with the ollowingsubjects: the reconstructive task, reconstruction in the church and state,economics, theology, and philosophy. $2.60

Vol. 14, No. 2: Symposium on the ReormationThis symposium highlights the Reormation, not out o any politeantiquarian interest, but to assist our readers in the re-Christianization o

modern lie using the law o God as their instrument. This symposiumcontains articles dealing with history, theology, exegesis, philosophy, andculture. $2.60

Vol. XV: Symposium on EschatologyEschatology is not just about the uture, but about God’s working in history.Its relevance is inescapable. $3.80

Vol. XVI: The 25th Anniversary IssueSelected articles rom 25 years o the Journal by R. J. Rushdoony, CorneliusVan Til, Otto Scott, Samuel L. Blumeneld, Gary North, Greg Bahnsen, andothers. $3.80

Journal o Christian Reconstruction SetThis is the entire set o The Journal o Christian Reconstruction currently

available or purchase (subject to change with stock). $49.20

Special Message Series

by Rushdoony on Audio CDs!

A History o Modern Philosophy1. Descartes & Modern Philosophy:

The Birth o Subjectivism2. Berkeley to Kant: The Collapse

o the Outer World3. Hegel to Marx to Dewey:

The Creation o a New World

4. Existentialism: The New God CreatesHis Own Nature5. Sade to Genet: The New Morality 6. From Artisan to Artist: Art in the Modern Culture7. The Impact o Philosophy on Religion: The Principle o Modernity 8. The Implication o Modern Philosophy: The Will to Fiction

(8 CDs) $64.00

Epistemology: The Christian Philosophy

o Knowledge1. Facts & Epistemology 2. Circular Reasoning3. Facts & Presuppositions4. Faith & Knowledge

5. Epistemological Man6. Irrational Man7. Death o God & It’s Implications8. Authority & Knowledge9. Ultimate Authority 10. A Valid Epistemology/Flight rom Reality

(10 CDs) $80.00

Apologetics1. Apologetics I2. Apologetics II3. Apologetics III

(3 CDs) $24.00

The Crown Rights o Christ the King1. Bringing Back the King2. Over All Men3. Over Church and State4. Over Every Sphere o Lie5. The Fear o Victory 6. The Gospel According to St. Ahab

(6 CDs) $48.00

The United States Constitution

1. The U.S. Constitution: Original Intent2. The U.S. Constitution: Changing Intent3. The U.S. Constitution Changed4. The U.S. Constitution and The People

(4 CDs) $32.00

Economics, Money & Hope1. How the Christian Will Conquer

Through Economics: The Problemand the Very Great Hope

3. Money, Infation, and Morality 4. The Trustee Family and Economics

(3 CDs) $24.00

Postmillennialism in America1. Postmillennia lism in America:

A History, Part IPostmillennialism in America:

A History, Part II2. The Millennium: Now or Later?

The Second Coming o Christ:The Blessed Hope

(2 CDs - 2 lectures on each disc) $20.00

A Critique o Modern Education1. Messianic Character o

American Education2. The Infuence o Socialism

in American Education3. Intellectua l Schizophrenia4. Necessity or Christian Education

(4 CDs) $32.00

English History1. John Wycli 2. King Richard III3. Oliver Cromwell4. John Milton, Part I5. John Milton, Part II

(5 CDs) $40.00