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Rushdoony on the Past

R. J. Rushdoony
  • R. J. Rushdoony
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"[T]he Christian, while respecting the past, cannot involve himself too deeply with the past. To

o often, as we listen to others, and to ourselves, we find that the major concern of our lives, what we talk and think about, is what happened yesterday, the past. We grieve over the past, talk about it, rehash it endlessly, and thus sadden and distort the present and neglect the future. The problems of yesterday and today are very real, and they are inescapable in a fallen world. The test of a Christian is in part this: Christ having declared, 'Behold, I make all things new' (Rev. 21:5), do we work confidently under Him towards that goal, or are we endlessly troubled over who said and did what yesterday and today? Are we merely reacting to what others say and do, or are we acting to reconstruct all things in terms of Jesus Christ? Are we more concerned with the sins and imperfections of others than our duty to build for the future?" ~ R. J. Rushdoony, Revolt Against Maturity, p. 290


R. J. Rushdoony
  • R. J. Rushdoony

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.

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