Natural Privilege & Creation
Now the goal of natural privilege, the idea that man has certain rights, and that man can say: “I have my rights and God has to honor them.” The goal of natural privilege is to convert God into a natural resource that man can use. Now that is what happens with all thought that is anti-Calvinistic, that is Arminian. It says: “Let God be there as a great resource, that when I want Him I can use Him; and when I need Him He will be there to answer me; but the rest of the time I can go my own way, I can say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to God. But when I say what I want, God must say yes to me.” That is predestination by man.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Now the goal of natural privilege, the idea that man has certain rights, and that man can say: “I have my rights and God has to honor them.” The goal of natural privilege is to convert God into a natural resource that man can use. Now that is what happens with all thought that is anti-Calvinistic, that is Arminian. It says: “Let God be there as a great resource, that when I want Him I can use Him; and when I need Him He will be there to answer me; but the rest of the time I can go my own way, I can say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to God. But when I say what I want, God must say yes to me.” That is predestination by man.
- 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.