How America Got Where We Are Today

As mankind shows signs of awakening toward our creation commission to rule over the earth, as colonial America surely did, Satan invariably counterattacks. Our last blog posting ended with a promise to investigate the 100-year, satanic attack on our Constitution and what the church has done and will do in response. Following is where I am now in my analysis of these issues, after pondering on them for some 40 years. 

In the mid-19th century, both evolution and Marxism sprang up on the world scene, giving man an excuse 1.) not to believe in God (“I did not have a Creator, but I evolved”—evolution), and 2,) not to believe in his own personal sin and failures (“It’s not my fault because I am the victim of an oppressor”—cultural Marxism)

The foundation upon which our nation was built is far different. The Puritan leaders of colonial America, such as Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, George Whitfield, etc., were all believers in man ruling over the earth, now, in time (Genesis 1:26-28). They believed that America was a “City on a Hill,” indestructible and unstoppable, for the whole world to follow. Various and sundry modern heresies would have had little effect on them.

That was not the case with 19th century Americans, whose thought-leaders were greatly influenced by Enlightenment thinking. They were initially swayed by Charles Darwin’s evolution, particularly after the Scopes “Monkey Trial.” 

John Scopes, a public high school science teacher in Tennessee. was found guilty of teaching evolution in a nationally-followed trial. At the time in Tennessee, and in almost all states, it was illegal to teach evolution. Even though he lost the case, Scopes’ won in the court of public opinion. His defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, attacked the veracity of the Bible publicly in a way that was unique at that time. Many Christians were shaken in their faith, and evolution took root in America. 

Marxism’s foothold in America was much more difficult to achieve. Traditional, economic Marxism was a tough sell here, in the actual land of freedom, economic opportunity and prosperity. The “American dream” had always been an attainable reality. It’s hard to find any true economic “victims” here in the United States!

It was only after the Frankfurt School, a group of German immigrant college professors, who had fled Hitler in Germany and established themselves at Columbia University in the 1930s, that Marxism was brilliantly modified to fit the United States. The Frankfurt School modified Marxism from resisting economic (employer\employee) oppression, to gender (male\female) or racial (white\colored) oppression, a much easier sell in America. Bingo! 

Where was the church, in the early 20th century when this was occurring? We were MIA—missing in action. My historical interpretation of the church’s absence from the public square is that we were facing new, intellectually challenging ideas being presented to us by both evolutionists and Marxists, for which we had no available, easy answers. The church had not equipped its members intellectually to defend its biblical ideas and challenge its assailants.

So, rather than be in attack mode ourselves, knowing in our hearts that our positions were biblical and there were answers if we searched diligently for them, we withdrew from the battle. To raise the white flag, we needed a new theology, and we found one, first introduced by a Plymouth Brethren leader in England, John Darby. 

Darby taught that Jesus was returning at any time to rescue us Christians in a “catching-up” or “rapture” of the church. Therefore, it’s not necessary to do battle with these apostate ideas of evolution and Marxism, because we are, they believed, about to be rescued by a Savior who is returning any day now to snatch all Christians out of this worldly chaos!.

An obvious conclusion of this theology is expressed by the advice of one of its major proponents of the last generation: “Why shine brass on a sinking ship?” In other words, if Jesus is coming back any day now, it is foolish to get bogged down in this intellectual culture war with evolutionists and Marxists. Avoid the unpleasant conflict and just retreat inside the stained glass windows of the church, hold hands, share precious verses, and get as many people saved as possible so they can escape with you!

This escapist theology made tremendous headway in America in the early 20th century with the publication of the Scofield Study Bible, which included copious study notes to promote this thinking. This Bible was still wildly popular with young believers when I first genuinely met the Lord in 1958.

This is not to imply that all “rapture Christians’” have dropped out of the battle for our culture. Those who have not may intellectually believe in the rapture, for whatever reason they have not bought into its obvious retreatist conclusion. They may actively be practicing “occupy till I come” (Luke 19:11), and are still engaged in the cultural fray. Good for them! 

In my view, this “End Times” theology is only one of the false steps the church has made. It has also not “equipped” its members effectively, its primary job!  “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” – (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Two areas of equipping its members that the church has not adequately addressed are 1.) how the biblical family operates, and 2.) how Christians are vital to a functioning, effective civil government  These are the two, companion, kingdom  institutions with which the church cooperates and assists, as together all three fulfill their task of ruling over the earth. 

God is already at work, bringing this about in the world, unobtrusively, even almost invisibly, but, nevertheless, unstoppably! God will not be denied. Just as at the cross, Jesus gave His life (terrible tragedy!) to save the world (history’s greatest victory!). Next week we will continue to explore how that is happening through God’s three institutions.