Schaeffer, Francis, A Christian Manifesto, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Ill. 1981
Whatever Happened to the Human Race by Dr. E. Koop
Chap.1 The abolition of truth and Morality: Permissiveness, pornography, the public schools, breakdown of family and abortion are only symptoms of a larger problem.- a world view shift to naturalism. Pietism contributed by making a sharp division between the spiritual and materials world. True spirituality covers all of reality, and the Lordship of Christ all areas of life. The concept of materialism was promoted by G.B. Shaw, A. Huxley and by the Humanist Manifesto. Liberal theology was an attempt to merge the 2 views, where humanism is expressed in theological terms. Many denominations have adopted this view and come out in favor of abortion. Humanities is the study of literature, art and music. Humanitarianism is being kind to humans should not be confused with humanism which places man at the center and measure of all things. Some supporting Humanism include- J. Huxley, B.f. Skinner, J. Monad, and John Dewey. This philosophy of mater, energy and chance is also the base of Marxism. J. Bentham favored Utilitarianism in the law as did Oliver W. Holmes who said “The life of the law has been experience, not logic”. British law was influenced by the Judeo-Christian view. Here law triumphed over kingly power. The king must be just, and not use excessive force on his subjects. This is the basis of English Common law and the Magna Charta. The protestant reformation contributed to this; where the written word was supreme over the church and the state. The Humanists push for freedom, but their freedom can lead to chaos and slavery to the state, as it has no intrinsic reason to be interested in the individual, but only in the masses.
Chap. 2 Foundations for Faith and Freedom: John Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and the president of Princeton and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He stood in the stream of S. Rutherford who wrote the Lex Rex (law is King). Thus the heads of government are under the law. In the phrase “certain inalienable rights” who gives these rights? They had the concept that God did. If governments did, then they can take them away. Also in the phrase In God we trust. William Penn sated “If we are not ruled by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants.” Originally the 1st amendment had 2 purposes: 1.To prevent there being an official church of the USA 2. Too keep the government from interfering or impeding the free practice of religion. Justice Douglas wrote the majority decision in 1944 for the Ballard case: “The 1st amendment has a dual aspect. It not only forestalls compulsion by law the acceptance of any creed or the practice of any form of worship but it also safeguards the free exercise of the chosen form of religion.” Today it’s used to silence the church. Originally the founding father established a Chaplin for the congress. Also, the NW ordinance of 1787 set aside property for schools fostering religion and morality. Several state courts had indictments for blasphemy in 1811. In 1760 William Blackstone wrote Commentaries on the Law of England which was widely used. This noted 2 foundations for law nature and revelation (the scriptures).p 38 In 1829, a professor of law at Harvard, J. Story said “There has never been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as laying its foundation.”
Chap. 3 Destruction of Faith and Freedom: Today law is secularized and sociological: That means it favors what is good for society at the given moment, without having a fixed base(p 41). Chief Justice F. M. Vinson stated in 1950 “Nothing is more certain in modern society than the principle that there are no absolutes”. W. B. Bell wrote that law has drifted away for the Constitution also in an effort to for pragmatic public policy. P42 Thus the meaning of the interpretation of the 1st amendment has shifted from that of the original authors. Modern science was first produced on a Christian base. Now Carl Sagan is allowed to say on public television: “The cosmos is all that is or ever was or every will be.” This is a creedal and not a scientific statement. Will Durant a humanist stated: “There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.”p 45 The French revolution proceeded form a humanistic viewpoint into chaos and then a dictatorship by Napoleon(p36). Pluralism has evolved in the US to the idea that almost everything is acceptable(P46) On public TV the mater of euthanasia of the old and use of marijuana is presented as a personal choice, not as a matter of right and wrong. The Supreme Court ruling on abortion is an example of situational ethics and current opinion as opposed to firm source based law. This decision overthrew state laws prohibiting it. More theologians have also taken the side of the humanists in maters of life style and sociological law.p.50
Chap. 4 The Humanist Religion: Both Humanist Manifestos I,II state that humanism is a religion or faith.p54 A 1961 Supreme Court decision on the case of Torcaso V. Watkins defines humanism as a religion equivalent to other theistic religions or non theistic religions. By 1961 the court had swung to favoring humanist views. In a 1933 decision of the US v. Macintoch conscientious objection was considered, and religious belief was tied to a belief in God. In a 1965 case of the US v. Seeger this shifted to a much broader view of religion than was stated as in the 1961 case.p55 Public TV often shows humanistic views solely. When approached to show a view against abortion with medical data, in “Whatever happened to the Human Race” with Dr. Everett Koop, Surgeon General, they refused on the basis that they cannot show only one view.p.57 In the humanistic and materialistic view God has no role and there is no organizing principle in the world and no guiding true moral and ethical laws. On TV now, views are presented that may be quite different form the true facts of a case. This can sway public opinion to non true views, even with respect to facts when key facts are omitted.
Chap. 5 Revival Revolution and Reform: The Lordship of Christ is over the whole spectrum of life. Revivals have been important. J. Wesley is an example in England.p64 He ministered to the coal miners and iron smelters. He formed them into groups where they could develop their own leaders. He helped them with social issues and working conditions. Some say he saved England from the French revolution. Lord Shaftesbury in England championed justice for the poor in the Industrial revolution. W. Wilberforce fought against slavery in England and succeeded. These old revivals resulted in social action. Jeremy Rifkin wrote Entropy and the Christian view of Ecology in 1980. He noted there is a Christian view of ecology that has had an effect. The president of Wheaton College, J. Blanchard and of Oberlin College, C. Finney both were involved in Christian social action. They had the view that “if the law is wrong, you must disobey it”. They suggested civil disobedience, if necessary. The seeds of the Amer. Revolution were sown in the earlier religious revivals. This was our heritage. The dignity of human life is not something peripheral to Christianity. Many issues spring from this, including abortion. Our freedoms without chaos or totalitarianism have been somewhat maintained. People have lived in the US for so long that they take the Judeo-Christian heritage base for granted. It is eroding and being replaced with humanism and materialism.
Chap. 6 An Open Window: Conservative political victories provide an avenue for growth of Christian values.p.74 The threats of drug culture continue as an escape. In Europe the idea of anarchy is growing. Nixon talked of the silent majority: It had two values that persist: Personal peace and Affluence. Personal peace means to be left alone and not troubled by others problems. The desire for affluence make a good economy an important value.p77 The question is raise are American still capable of informed self government? Politicians and the media can so easily mislead. The courts seam more inclined to making new sociological laws and the frequency of their overturns of congressional laws is increasing.p81 The government constantly increases the country’s debt and passes it on to the next generation. Will Christians ever stand up for biblical values and the Godly world view? Many court cases and challenges to Christian vales have occurred and are noted on pg. 83-5. For Example can a pastor counsel a parishioner without being sued? What if the patient-parishioner later commits suicide and wasn’t seen by traditional psychologist-psychiatrists?
Chap. 7. The Limits of Civil Disobedience:p89 Are we to obey the State no mater what? Some scriptures: Mat. 22:21 “Give unto Caesar what is Caesars’s and to God what is God’s” Rom. 13:1-4 This talks of submitting to the government and also doing what is right., 1 Pet.2:113-17 Fear God and honor the King, and do good. Schaeffer sates that the government, as all life stands under the law of God. He suggests that when the government requires things that go against the word of god we should object and not obey.p90 In the time of Rome Christians were thrown to the lions because they would not worship the Roman emperor. Wm.Tyndale translated the Bible into English and advocated the authority of the scriptures. He was condemned as a heretic for it and finally executed. In almost every place where the Reformation had success there was some form of civil disobedience.p.92 In Europe the Catholics persecuted the Protestants. Luther barely escaped death when he held to the truth of the Bible against the Catholics. He was protected by the Duke of Saxony using force for defense. Likewise John Knox of Scotland advocated the reformation and escaped to Switzerland. At this time Mary Tudor of England imprisoned many Protestants. Knox wrote an Admonition to England against this and had it smuggled into England. He developed the idea that the Christian can disobey the government and even rebel when faced with this tyranny.p.97 The reformers were not against the government per se, just against ungodly laws not following the word of God. S. Rutherford followed Knox and wrote the Lex Rex (the law and the Prince) in 1644. Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author, and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly and university professor. The Lex Rex was immediately outlawed in Scotland and England. Scotland condemned him to death for his views. They viewed it as going against the Divine right of Kings which held that the King ruled as God’s agent and thus the King was the law. Rutherford argued that all men and the King are under the law of God. He also argued that the acts of state that contradicted God’s law were illegitimate and acts of tyranny. He said that the tyrannical power to oppress the people is not from God but a licentious deviation of sinful man. Since tyranny is satanic, not to resist is to resist God.p.101 The power to rule is given conditionally by God (or by the people-my note). Although the office of magistrate is to be respected, tyrannical and unjust and ungodly rule can be opposed. He also said that a single breach of conduct is not justification for opposition, only when the governing structure of the country is threatened and the welfare of the people in danger is rebellion justified. The declaration of Independence is quoted; “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
Chap. 8 The use of Civil Disobedience. The Lex Rex suggested several avenues of resistance: 1. First protest by legal or written means, 2. Flee the area, 3. Use of force to defend ones self. One should not use force if one can flee. One should not flee if he can peacefully protest. When a higher state body commits unjust acts against a lesser body like a local government, the lower body may also object. Rutherford reasons that the lesser body is just as much chosen by God as the higher body. John Locke extended the Lex Rex rights to the following: 1. inalienable rights, 2. governments by consent, 3. separation of powers, 4. the right of revolution to unlawful authority. P105 These writings influenced the American revolution and constitution. In a fallen world, government often must use force to maintain lwas and order. There are 2 guides to the use of force: 1. their must be a legitimate reason for it, 2. The force must not be excessive and cross the line into unnecessary violence.p107 James Madison wrote in the Federalist #145 “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which remain in the state government are numerous and indefinite.” Schaeffer notes that since then the federal powers have been greatly expanded. The original interpretation of the first amendment has shifted and due to many ACLU court cases have removed any Christian religion from the schools and replaced it with humanism. Here state laws were overruled by federal court rulings, also going against the majority public opinion.p109-111 Russian schools are geared to teach the materialistic humanistic view and the American school are not much different. This exceeds the guidelines of the Lex Rex, Locke and Madison above, which allow protest. Some countries like Switzerland have much stronger local laws that are not overridden by the federal government.
Chap. 9 The use of Force:P.117 Occasionally the use of force or acts of rebellion against government policies does become necessary. One good example is the American Revolution. Without that there would be no America as we know it today. Other examples are those Christians who disobeyed Hitler to hide the Jews, and eventually fled the country. Another example is America fighting Germany in WW2. What would the world look like today, if everyone gave in and let Hitler take over the world? Schaeffer uses abortion as an example of a policy that justifies a demonstration before and abortion clinic, and other legal oppositions. In Russia, it was at one time illegal to teach any Christian religion to ones children at home, just as it was illegal for the early Christians to worship God in their homes. The right thing to do was to disobey the government. Much of liberation theology is built on the concept of man being basically good, and is close to merging Marxist thinking with Christianity.p124 The concept of the goodness of the common man was the basis of the French and Marxist revolutions. Both ended in totalitarianism and political chains. The kingdom of God should not be confused with a state social program. Our Declaration of Independence contains many elements of the reformation thinking of Knox and Rutherford. It speaks directly of citizens offering resistance to and abolishing an oppressive government and forming a new government. p127 Schaeffer states “If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been made autonomous, and as such, it has been put in the place of the Living God.”
Chap. 10 By Teaching , by Life and by Action: We need to return to the world view of our founding fathers. Rather than taking issues piecemeal, address the whole view. Isa. 59:12-16
12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.