abstract: the church began giving in to modernism, to follow popular opinion instead of directing it

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by David Henreckson

For all the laudable efforts that "right-wing religious conservatives" have made to preserve morality and biblical government, they only end-up fighting the outward manifestations of the ethical libertinism and the Leviathan government which they helped create. Allow me to elucidate.

The fall of Christian culture began in the 60s... that is, the 1860s. From this point onward the church began giving in to modernism, or secularism. The church began to follow popular opinion instead of the other way around. Around the turn of the century, a host of extra-biblical or anti-biblical modernistic philosophies or movements--such as "Women's Rights" or the Prohibition--were accepted and embraced by the majority of the church and inserted into the church's canon of moral tradition. While beforehand the church and pulpit had led culture, now the church was merely a dinghy following in the wake of the great ship Civilization, sometimes coming close to capsizing in the massive wake of the vessel.

Is it any surprise that since the church longed for the acceptance rather than the leadership of culture that culture paid no special heed to the church? Without the influence of Christianity, American culture began a rapid descent into a quagmire of immorality and unbelief. In the 1920s, evolutionary biology replaced theology as the "Queen of the Sciences," and this new queen made sure that no rivals were left alive. And so modernism crept into the ancient training grounds of the church--the seminaries, making sure that what was left of Christianity would only be modernized Christianity.

The retreat of Christianity had now become an absolute rout. Even the tiny remnant of Christianity was riddled with infighting and strife. So for the next fifty years Christians retreated into their isolated ghettos. Culture had so soundly crushed the American church that many Christians were afraid to enter the higher realms of science or theology or government or education. The church preached, "Repent! for the end is near!" because they were in desperate need of some sort of hope or escape hatch. They had forgotten the promise of God: that Christianity would eventually conquer and cover the rivers to the end of the earth.

Finally in 1973, modernism achieved one of its foremost goals --the annulment of the sixth commandment. Life had been created, after all, only by chance. At this point, men like Francis Schaeffer began to call evangelicals out of their caves and ghettos. The evangelicals, in turn, responded to the wake-up calls of Schaeffer with surprising vigor. Abortion was denounced. Christian PACs were formed. Christians began running for political office. All these efforts must be applauded. But as the last twenty years have shown, they were not successful. America has continued to slide down the slope of greed, immorality, and statism. And so, recently many of the leaders of these early movements have become disillusioned with the prospect of reform. Failure, they believe is, in the end, inevitable, so why keep on fighting? And those who do keep fighting are slowly losing ground.

What is the reason for the Christian Right's failure? First, most Christians who are politically involved are not believers in sound doctrine. Pelagianism, end-times sensationalism, and other quasi-heresies abound in evangelical circles. If the church has abandoned biblical doctrine, why should God prosper us? The second reason for the failure of conservative activism is that the movement does not know history or the importance of consequences. Because they do not know history they will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers. A common example of conservatives' lack of knowledge of cultural history is their belief that the moral fall of America began in the 1960s, and yet they applaud the Ozzie and Harriet world of the 50s. From where exactly did the rebels of the 60s come? They had grown up in the Pelagian world of Ozzie and Harriet!

It is my belief that Christians will continue to sell their souls to the conservative movement. And it is my belief that conservatives will continue to follow in the tread of the liberals, always one step behind. If the liberals demand only half of the income of Americans, then conservatives will compromise demanding only an unconstitutional third of American's income. As long as Christian conservatives continue to aspire for the approval of its spoiled child called culture, they will never again lead our nation down the biblical path of goodness, truth, and beauty.

David Henreckson is in his last year of being schooled at home and has been a student of theology, culture, and history for several years. He is also webmaster of Caledonian Fire (www.caledonianfire.org) and is a member of Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA).

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