The Offense of the Gospel
It is important to begin by defining ‘offense’. The basic meaning is something that outrages the moral or physical senses of men. It is a form of attack, and we speak of going on the offensive. It is also a breach of the social code. Gospel has been defined, narrowly, as the lives of Christ by the four evangelists, the whole of the New Testament and its teaching, the whole Bible as the good news that God speaks to us, and also as the good news of salvation.
- R. J. Rushdoony
It is important to begin by defining ‘offense’. The basic meaning is something that outrages the moral or physical senses of men. It is a form of attack, and we speak of going on the offensive. It is also a breach of the social code. Gospel has been defined, narrowly, as the lives of Christ by the four evangelists, the whole of the New Testament and its teaching, the whole Bible as the good news that God speaks to us, and also as the good news of salvation.
- 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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