There is now a great governmental change under way. With the Christian school and home-school movements under way, we see more and more families taking back one sphere of government from the state. This represents a major movement against the forces of the Enlightenment and statism.~ R. J. Rushdoony (Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol. 3, p. 2)
Humanists are frightened by the threat of Christian theocracy—the conspiring “dominionists” who are always working to secure key seats of power within the existing federal government in order to introduce the rule of Biblical law. The accusation is that Christian Reconstruction is an agenda to “take over” the centralized American state.
However, if you consider what Rushdoony wrote in the citation above, he is suggesting the opposite. Rushdoony was equipping Christians to “take back” government from the state in the form of a self-government that is centralized in the Christian family and informed by Biblical law:
God’s law provides us with His law for every sphere. It alone can equip us to resist the encroachment of alien powers. It alone empowers the individual person and the family to govern properly. (ibid., p.2)
Expanding the Work of Reconstruction
Rushdoony was encouraged to see that a significant area of government was actually taken back from the state: education. Without violence or protest, a flood of Christian families steadily embraced their responsibility under God to provide their children with a distinctly Christian education. The question now is, “Can it be done in another area of life?”
Can Christians expand the work of reconstruction into other spheres and once again take back an area of government from the state? What about Christian courts, for example? Are we not wise enough to adjudicate our own legal matters? The Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthians to do so (1 Cor. 6:1-8).
Christian Marriage is Married to the State
Isn’t the reason that Christians accept the state-licensing of marriages because of the fallout of divorce? Don’t Christians believe they need the state to guarantee things like alimony and child support? Isn’t it the benefits provided by the state that is part of the driving motive of the legalization of gay marriages? Gays “want in” the state licensing of marriage, but why are Christians not wanting out? What business is it of the state to rule over God’s primary covenantal institution—the family?
If it’s a question of alimony and child support, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:7, “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law with one another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” The greater sin, he said, was going to the wicked for judgment.
Reconstructing Other Spheres of Life
What about issues of healthcare? Can the medical industry be reconstructed? Very soon we’ll be publishing a collection of essays by R. J. Rushdoony on medicine, healthcare, and doctors entitled, Faith & Wellness: Resisting the State Control of Healthcare by Restoring the Priestly Calling of Doctors.
We’ll also be republishing his powerful volume on education, The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum, in which he wrote, “The Christian school movement is the quiet revolution of our time, and the great and enduring one.”
Did you catch that? The Christian school movement is a “quiet revolution,” and we need more such quiet revolutions. A revolution is a dramatic change to the organization or operation of something, and for Christians to have succeeded in creating such a revolution—without violence—demonstrates that such a social transformation can be accomplished in other areas. This is Christian Reconstruction.
A Think-Tank for Self-Governing Christians
For 50 years, the Chalcedon Foundation has clearly led the way in the great work of Christian Reconstruction, and we’ll continue to do so. In fact, we’ll often say that the purpose of Chalcedon is to be a “think-tank for the self-governing Christian.” Whereas the state bureaucrats have their foundations and think-tanks to provide policies for central government, who shall provide “Kingdom policies” that will instruct, inspire, and equip the self-governing, victorious Christian?
For this reason, please keep Chalcedon in your prayers, and please consider becoming a financial supporter of this vital ministry. It’s your tax-deductible giving that provides us the ability to continue the important work of Christian education as we strive to move against the forces the Enlightenment and humanistic statism.
Click here to learn how you can become a vital partner to this Kingdom-driven ministry.
- Chalcedon