tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174110472024-03-07T02:56:53.594-05:00Mygration"Two roads diverged in a wood and I -- I took the one less traveled by..." ~ Robert FrostJ. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-88991498863950443822017-08-04T20:52:00.000-04:002017-08-04T20:52:00.172-04:00A Short Primer on the Descent of the GOP<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">The GOP was dead when Reagan left office in 1989. After Reagan got 2 terms, the GOP Establishment determined, "we ain't never gonna let THAT happen again!" And they haven't. </span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">1988 Bush I, 1992 Bush I, 1996 Dole, 2000 Bush II, 2000 Bush II, 2004 Bush II, 2008 McCain, 2012 Romney, 2016 Trump.... </span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">ALL have been Establishment GOP (some worse than other, obviously), except Trump, who was a Democrat until 2-3 years ago, and he is really a populist with a nationalist streak. NONE have been Conservatives in the mold of Ronald Reagan.</span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">The GOP as a party has not stood for Conservative Principles since they took over Congress in 1995, for the first time in 40 years, and passed 7 of the 10 points of the "Contract With America." And after they did that, they let Bill Clinton take the credit, and bowed to him for the rest of his Presidency. They even allowed him to shut down the government and blame them. </span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">By 1996, I resigned by position as a County Executive Committeeman in the SC GOP and left the party. The Establishment is too entrenched. They fixed the system after Reagan so that Conservatives cannot get the nomination. Trump -- he was, and is, an anomaly, that they haven't figured out yet. Truthfully, were it not for open primaries in a number of States where Independents and Democrats could crossover and vote in the GOP primaries, I doubt Trump could have won the nomination. But it is absolutely certain a Conservative NEVER will again.</span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">The GOP Establishment want nothing more than to thwart Trump where he wishes to upset the Status Quo. No change to ObamaCare, Taxes, etc. They are as much a part of the system -- and the problem -- as Democrats are. In that much, Trump deserves the support of Conservatives -- although we may not support his specific "fixes" of those problems. We'll see.</span><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><br style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;" /><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.08px;">Bottom line: The GOP will have to die and a new 2nd Party will have to emerge to take it's place before the Status Quo can ever change. And so many millions are so entrenched in the current status quo that it may take civil war to rip them away from it.... That's what happened the last time a new party entered the system: The Republicans.</span>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-30625508187487027092017-07-02T23:56:00.003-04:002017-07-02T23:56:26.695-04:00WHY GOP REP. JUSTIN AMASH VOTED NO ON “KATE’S LAW,” & WHY HE WAS WRONG<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
This week, Rep, Justin Amash (R-MI) was one of the few Republicans to vote against “Kate’s Law,” which was a strong step in tightening laws against criminal Illegal Immigrants, Border Security, and punishment of so-called “Sanctuary Cities.” Amash, who is more Libertarian than Republican, gives his reasons below in a short letter to his constituents. Following that, I have written an even shorter rebuttal letter to explain why Rep. Amash is absolutely Constitutionally – wrong. – JDW</div>
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Rep. Justin Amash's statement on his vote against HR3003, the "No Sanctuary for Criminals Act":<br /></div>
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"I voted no on <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/hr3003?source=feed_text&story_id=10211274114622557" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">HR3003</span></span></a>, No Sanctuary for Criminals Act.<br /><br />This bill increases the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) detention of suspected illegal aliens, defunds sanctuary cities, and limits the ability of state and local governments to direct their law enforcement resources. In doing so, the bill violates at least five constitutional amendments.</div>
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The bill violates the Tenth Amendment by prohibiting any state or locality from doing anything that would restrict the ability of their law enforcement officers to "assist" federal immigration enforcement, giving state and local governments legal immunity for providing such assistance, and limiting transfers of aliens to sanctuary cities for criminal prosecution.</div>
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I have voted in the past to defund law enforcement grants to sanctuary cities that prohibit information sharing between their law enforcement and federal immigration officials (including <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/hr3009?source=feed_text&story_id=10211274114622557" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span class="_5afx" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl _5afz" style="color: #4267b2; font-family: inherit;">#</span><span class="_58cm" style="font-family: inherit;">HR3009</span></span></a> in the 114th Congress), but this bill also prohibits any actions or policies that may restrict local law enforcement's cooperation with, or assistance to, federal immigration enforcement. This goes far beyond just facilitating the exchange of information that local law enforcement may already come across in the course of their own activities; this bill unconstitutionally enables the federal government to coerce states into helping with actual enforcement of immigration laws. Plus, it gives immunity to states for assisting with immigration enforcement, and it affirmatively punishes states for noncompliance.</div>
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Congress has no authority to direct state and local officials in this way. Our Constitution establishes a system of dual federalism. In Congress, the laws we make are to be executed by federal officials; we may not commandeer nonfederal officials.</div>
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The bill violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable seizures and the Fifth Amendment's due process requirements by increasing DHS's use of, and authority for, warrantless arrests and detentions of suspected illegal aliens. As their texts make clear, the Fourth and Fifth Amendments apply explicitly to all "people" and "person[s]" within the United States. The Constitution uses the word "citizen" in other provisions whenever that word is intended. This interpretation of the Constitution's applicability is shared by the Supreme Court, including among the conservative justices.<br />The bill violates the Eleventh Amendment—which largely prohibits Congress from unilaterally permitting lawsuits against states—by allowing the victims of crimes committed by an illegal alien to sue a state that declines to fulfill a request from the federal government to detain the alien.</div>
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Lastly, the bill violates the First Amendment by likely interfering with the ability of state and local officials and other individuals to make statements regarding immigration enforcement policies and priorities.</div>
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I support securing the borders, and I have voted to defund sanctuary cities, but I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, even when it means I must oppose bills aimed at policy goals that I support.</div>
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It passed 228-195."</div>
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~Rep. Justine Amash, June 29, 2017<br />_________________________________________________</div>
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Rep. Amash -</div>
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You should know better. The Tenth Amendment is clear, that "The powers not designated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People."</div>
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But, the authority to make laws with regard to immigration (or naturalization) IS among the enumerated powers TO the Congress of the United States in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.</div>
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“The two references in the Constitution that specifically mention “naturalization, ” are found in Article I, Section 8 in creating the authority of the Congress, “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.” Thus from a Constitutional stand point it is the responsibility of Congress to establish all laws and rules of naturalization or immigration.</div>
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The second reference is located in the 14th Amendment stating that, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,” are, “citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”</div>
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The key thought in the 14th Amendment which along with several other provisions established in the Constitution shows that the intent of the Framers was that only citizens of the United States whether born or naturalized are granted the rights and privileges that are available in America.”*</div>
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So, Rep. Amash, here, You MISapply these 5 Amendments to illegal immigrants, and, in THIS case infer to the States powers they do not have, Constitutionally.</div>
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Such is the occasional tendency of the Libertarian......</div>
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- JDW (*with a few paragraphs borrowed from Erick Erickson)</div>
J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-33158298807708135532017-06-29T13:40:00.003-04:002017-06-29T13:40:56.155-04:00By Way of Reminder: The Constitution and our Governing Authority in the United States<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
In the United States, the "Higher Power" or "Government Authority" of Romans 13:1-7 is the Constitution.</div>
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The Constitution is "Caesar." As Founding Father John Adams observed, "We are a government of Laws, and not of men." However, it is and always has been incumbent upon "We the People" to KEEP our government a Constitutional Republic, as intended by the Founders. Benjamin Franklin rightly warned the people of the nation that in the Constitution, the Found<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">ers had given us "A Republic, if you can keep it!"</span></div>
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Additionally, John Adams further warned Americans that "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."</div>
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So, why are we in the mess we're in today? Because it was, and is, up to Americans, to "...bind him [the government/government officials] down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution..." as Thomas Jefferson exhorted us.</div>
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We have, as a people, FAILED to do this. We have failed because we have, over generations, had neither the moral fortitude nor the political convictions to enforce these ideals our Founding Fathers bequeathed to us on a government full of men with designs on power, graft, and the distortion or destruction of our Constitution and the very republican order upon which we were founded. Based on these standards, they have "won."</div>
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That does not mean I, as an American nor as a Christian, am not still entitled to the "inalienable rights" given me and all men by their Creator, nor that I am exempt from standing up and fighting for them, against tyrants and despots -- even if they are my "countrymen."</div>
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J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-64291917618518007152017-06-27T22:06:00.001-04:002017-06-27T22:06:21.763-04:00On Constitutional Conservatives, Libertarians -- Their Similarities and Differences<span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Constitutional Conservatives will disagree to some degree with Libertarians in regard to where ones Liberty ends, and the infringement on another's begins, and also what must necessarily constitute a just and orderly society. B</span></span><span style="background-color: #f6f7f9; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ut, with few -- in fact, I can only think of ONE -- exception, Constitutional Conservatives believe these issues belong at the State level, or even the local level, not at the Federal Level -- except where they might compromise certain Federal duties or assigns (National Defense, interstate commerce, etc). IN general, Constitutional Conservatives certainly affirm that self-government is the best government.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">And Constitutional Conservatives are better characterized as believing in an ASSERTIVE foreign and military policy, as opposed to an "aggressive" policy. The difference would be that, as a Constitutional Conservative, I did NOT agree with Obama's military campaign in Libya (in fact, it was illegal, if one considers the War Powers Act of 1973 to carry any weight). However, Establishment Republicans (and some, referred to as "Neo-Conservatives", though they are neither new nor "conservative") like Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham were all for Libya -- and any other engagement they can entangle us in. An "assertive" policy recognizes OUR global interests, our presence around the world, and the global threat environment which now exists. An "assertive" policy would not allow us to practice "isolation" from the global scene -- but it would also guard against involving us in every single conflict in the world, especially those in which we have no vested interests, and our citizens are not in harms way. An "assertive" policy would maintain our "presence" at strategically important points and places in the world -- but it would also insist that we divest ourselves of hundreds of out-of-date military bases from long past wars where we no longer need to station our forces. An "assertive" policy would insist that our allies who can defend themselves, but have allowed us to defend them for decades, start paying for our services, and begin the process of building their own defenses, so that we can spend less time and money doing it for them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">No -- I'm not a candidate. <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="smile emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f4c/1/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span aria-hidden="true" class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0px; width: 0px;">:-)</span></span> But I have thought out the differences of a Constitutional Conservative from both "Establishment Republicans" and so-called "Neo-Conservatives," and also from Libertarians as well. Reasonable Libertarians and Reasonable Constitutional Conservatives can work with each other -- if they determine to do so. It's a heck of a lot easier than trying to work with Progressives OR Establishment GOP-types. And preferable too.</span></span></span>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-8677376825858932072015-05-17T21:56:00.003-04:002015-05-17T21:56:47.973-04:00Rise of the Anti-Theists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These are not "atheists." These are ANTI-theists.</div>
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Atheists don't care if people believe in a non-existent "God."</div>
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Anti-Theists HATE "God," or any concept of "God," even when they claim that "God" does not exist.</div>
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Atheists are not bothered one way or the other by the religious beliefs of others, or lack of such beliefs.</div>
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Anti-Theists HATE any such beliefs and take exception to them, are angered by them, belittle them, persecute them, and react violently to them.</div>
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Today the fastest frowing "religious" or "non-religious" group in the United States is not "atheists," and it's not the "nones" or those unaffiliated with any faith group. The fastest growing "faith" group is Anti-theists. They have Faith -- that there is no "God," or conversely, that their hatred of and rebellion against such a "God" (as expressed by the Western Tradition of Judaeo-Christianity) is more powerful, persuasive and longer lasting than whatever that "Religion" they HATE is based up.....</div>
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THEY. ARE. WRONG.</div>
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When Jesus comes again, He will return, not as a babe in a manger, but as a Righteous King, executing judgment on ALL those who've rejected Him, who've refused His Word and his Grace. THIS is a preview of His return:</div>
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"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.... Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:</div>
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KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.</div>
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....The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the scavenger birds gorged themselves on their flesh." (Revelation 19:11-13; 15-16; 21).</div>
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No -- they won't "kill Jesus again." Jesus said, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1:18).</div>
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NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.</div>
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Best chance? "REPENT - for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." ~ JDW</div>
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J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-57777196977374839022014-04-03T19:23:00.000-04:002014-04-03T19:23:39.120-04:00THE ROLE OF POSTMILLENNIAL ESCHATOLOGY IN THE FORMATION OF THE POLICITAL PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESSIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES<i>NOTE: In 2012, as a part of my study of issues and movements in American History, I researched the origins of the Progressive Movement in the United States in the 1800's as a political philosophy and Social Campaign. The Progressive Movement was a combination of radical causes and reactions created by disparate elements on the political scene of the time. <br /><br />Chief among them were the alienation of labor due to industrialization, the isolation and persecution of immigrants to the US, the crisis in agricultural production of the time and the movement to protect the interests of rural farm families ["Populism"], urbanization, new political ideologies infiltrating the American 'body politic' - particularly the writings of Karl Marx and the early "Communists," and perhaps most surprisingly, religious revivalism that resulted in moralistic crusades against slavery, alcoholic beverages (the temperance movement), and a host of other "moral ills" and ethical challenges of the time.<br /><br />Those that bought into the "Progressive Movement" were often former violent revolutionaries who decided that it was more expedient -- and safer -- to seek "reform" via the ballot box and the "transformation" of the system from within than by revolution by violent means, such as force-or-arms. <br /><br />The paper below concentrates most on the origins of American Progressivism, and the role the particular eschatological (view of the future) known as "Postmilliennialism" plays in it's formation. A simple definition of post-millennialism is the believe that the Church, redeemed humanity, will positively change the circumstances on earth, and eventually bring in the kingdom of God through Evangelism and Political advancement, so that the Church one day will rule over the earth for a Utopian era, euphemistically referred to as "the Kingdom Age," or "the Millennium." It is only at the END of this time that Christ Returns to receive His kingdom. This view is very optimistic about the ability of humans to achieve success and triumph over evil via human institutions, including the Church, the State, and even corporations and unions. Postmillennialism was the "majority" view of most of Christianity, particularly those influenced by Calvinists/Puritans in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Mid-West, and spreading to the Southward in the later 1800's. <br /><br />______________________<br /></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No political movement has impacted
the United States over the past century more than Progressivism. The principles, policies and values of
Progressive ideology are integrated into the fabric of the American nation at
every level of governance and society, and its views and beliefs are ingrained
in the hearts and minds of many in every class across every region of the
country. At one time, however,
Progressivism was not natural or accepted ideology, but a new and foreign
concept that was rejected by many Americans, or at least unknown and vaguely
defined. The question that confronts the
historian is, how did the philosophy of Progressivism, which would give rise to
so much of the modern and postmodern socio-political landscape, become the most
effective, impacting and powerful American political movement of the last 100
years? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There were, of course, many
contributing factors to the formation of the movement that would become known
as “Progressivism.” The nexus of these
influences are complex and widely varied – beginning with the early monarchical
machinations of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton who desired an all-powerful
centralized government,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> and
the Alien and Sedition Acts passed in 1798 by the Federalist Congress in part
to restrict criticism of President John Adams’ policies and silence his
political oppositions “free speech.” <a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Some would also label as a “progressive”
trait the rather heavy-handed style of leadership characteristic of the presidency
of Andrew Jackson who “defended his own authority with resolute determination,
[but] he did not manifest a general respect for the authority of the law when
it got in the way of the policies he chose to pursue.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Progressive Movement certainly
doesn’t owe its whole existence to American sources and personalities. With the emergence of the socio-economic political
theories of Karl Marx, “socialism” or “communism” became quite popular after
the publication of <i>The Communist
Manifesto</i> in 1848, and the philosophical premises of Marx’ ideology were to
some extent adopted by those in American Government and politics, which
contributed greatly to the continuing hunger of many for the centralization of
power in a Federal State, a centerpiece of the Progressive Movement. <br />
Many members of the early
Marxist movement from Germany and France immigrated to the United States after
the failed Marxist French Revolution of 1848, and became leading proponents of
the Union Cause in the American Civil War, supporting Lincoln, the
strengthening of the Federal Government, and centralized political power. Karl Marx himself, as well as Friedrich
Engels saw the victory of the Union as a triumph for Socialism, and Marx even penned
a letter of support to Lincoln during the course of the war.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> These early infusions of foreign “socialist”
intellectual encouragement in addition to the many thousands of Europeans that
immigrated, bringing their dialectical materialist worldview with them
certainly had an impact in creating the foundations of the Progressive
Movement.<br />
Furthermore, Progressivism
came from a long line of American protest movements particular to the American
Mid-west, beginning with the Grangers and moving to the rural Populists, and
then naturally migrating into major population centers to form what became Progressivism. While Historian Russell B. Nye noted that
Progressives were generally urban,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and not of the same “class” as their predecessors in
protest, the Populists, he contended they came from the same general line of
ideological remonstrance against the system.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> While Populist rural farm and ranch laborers
protested against the Cattle Barons and Railroads, Progressivist urban
industrial laborers took up the cause against so-called “Robber Barons” or
Captains of Industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Socio-Economic and Political forces
did not exhaust the attitudes and convictions that were driving formation of
Progressivism, either. The United States
was a nation given to religion, and particularly to a predominantly Protestant
brand of Christianity that had its roots sunk deep into the traditional faiths
of their European forefathers, particularly as they emerged from the Reformation
era of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
While many Americans came from spiritual backgrounds steeped in one of
the English Church traditions or its “spin-off’s,” the Anglicans, Episcopals,
Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalist Puritans, and so forth, many others
followed similar Protestant Church traditions, though with their own national
and cultural flavors, such as the German Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Scottish
Presbyterian, French Huguenot, Moravians, Waldensians, and so on. Regardless of the particular strain of
Christianity, however, Historian Nathan O. Hatch observed two very important
“central components” that were common to most Christians of the Early Republic,
and that by their nature would come to mesh well with a Progressive agenda and
political ideology, at least on the surface.
First, Hatch noted that Christianity in America, unlike its European
counterparts, had largely jettisoned the antiquated idea of the strict
distinction between clergy and laity, and had instead adopted as the “central
force” of the American faith “its democracy or populist orientation.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Hatch went on to explain that this “empowered
ordinary people by taking their deepest spiritual influences at face value”
rather than subjecting them to “the frowns of respectable clergy,” and actually
freed the lay people to act on their faith, their belief system, and to become
involved.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> These two elements of personal empowerment
and populist orientation were big influences on the psyche of common Christians
in the first half of the nineteenth century, which explains why a growing
number of them became involved, not only in spiritual matters such as the
“Second Great Awakening,” but also in social issues of the day like abolition
of slavery, temperance and the fight against alcoholic beverages, women’s suffrage,
the labor movement, and many more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But, what motivated the involvement
of these Christians? What internal
conviction, what doctrinal affirmation compelled them to labor toward the ends
of establishing positive social change? Of
particular interest in addressing this question, particularly during this
period of American History, is the way Christians saw the future. Eschatology is </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">“</span></span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">a branch of theology concerned with the final
events in the history of the world or of humankind; a belief concerning death,
the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humankind;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">specifically</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>:</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>any of various Christian doctrines
concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last
Judgment.”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Most American Christians have always
considered their understanding of how the future will unfold from both a
Biblical and a social perspective to be an essential facet of their religious
faith.<br />
From the earliest days of the
nation, and in fact, back to the beginning of the Colonial period, many of the
prominent Protestant ministers and theologians, heavily influenced by the
Reformation tradition and Puritan experiences in the New World, took a very
optimistic view of the future, believing that redeemed humans, as embodied in
the Christian Church, would eventually evangelize and win the world to Christ,
leading not only to a spiritual but also to a social transformation of the
entire globe; a Kingdom of God come on earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One such Protestant leader was
Puritan John Winthrop, who led the early English settlers of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony. It was Winthrop’s fervent
hope that he and his colony would serve as an example of redemption and reform
that would transform, not only the “New World,” which they called “New England,”
but also the “Old World” of Europe, and eventually the entire world. Despite the hardships of the early years,
Winthrop’s famous words echo through history and set the optimistic, but
demanding tone so characteristic of Puritan eschatology of the time: “We must
consider that we shall be as a city set on a hill; the eyes of all people are
upon us.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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America’s most famous native scholar of Scripture, Johnathan Edwards,
also affirmed this optimistic and theologically progressive view of eschatology
in his works during the first half of the 1700’s. Edwards, a Newport, Rhode Island
Congregational Minister, is most renowned historically for his leadership in
the spiritual revival known as “The First Great Awakening” of the 1730’s and
1740’s, and the classic sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which he preached hundreds of times in
Churches throughout New England and beyond.
He was, however, also a prolific writer and theologian who contributed a
great deal to a uniquely American Protestant theological vision, and his most
important conclusion with regard to how the Kingdom of God would be achieved on
earth is revealed in his <i>The</i> <i>Works of Johnathan Edwards, A.M.</i>, in a
commentary entitled, “To the Fall of the Antichrist.” Edwards, regarding the coming of the
Millennium, or Kingdom of God on earth, summarizes, “This is a work that will
be accomplished by means, by preaching of the gospel, and the use of the
ordinary means of grace, and so shall be gradually brought to pass.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><br />
During the Colonial and Early
American era, this concept of Christian Eschatology formally became known as
“Postmillennialism.” The formal
theological definition of Postmillennialism is “</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Christian
doctrine that Jesus Christ’ Second Coming will follow the millennium, a kingdom
or utopian age (that may not necessarily be viewed as a literal 1,000 years). In this view, the Church progressively “conquers
the world" so to speak.
During this present age, Postmillennialists believe that sin will not
cease, but it will be minimized because of the influence of the church.
Christ will not physically reign but rather he will spiritually reign through
the church because of its vast influence over all facets of life. At the
culmination of time, Jesus will return to judge the world, sending the wicked
to Hell and the righteous to their reward.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In very simple terms, Postmillennialism understands the
future “millennium” or “kingdom age” as “the climax and goal of human progress,
with human effort contributing to the realization of God’s providential
design…. This is called postmillennialism
[because] the Second Coming of Christ occurs at the end of the millennium.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The question, then, is how this
popular, fervent and optimistic brand of Christian Eschatology became an
influential, perhaps even formative element in the development of the political
movement called Progressivism in the late nineteenth century United States.<br />
One suggestion might be that
Postmillennialism combined the perfectionist ideals of the Second Great
Awakening with the kingdom-building optimism of “Yankee pietism.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Yankee Pietism emerged as a movement among
the:<br />
New Testament
oriented, anti-ritualist, congregational in governance, active<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in
para-church organizations, and committed to individual conversion and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> societal
reform in order to usher in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Pietists
did not compartmentalize religion and civil government. Right<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> belief
and right behavior are two sides of the same spiritual coin.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mark Noll and Luke Harlow additionally observed that, though
most of the “Yankee Pietists” were from the “anti-liturgical” traditions (such
as “Baptists, Methodists, Disciples, Congregationists, Quakers”),<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
in the political and social movements, the term was “too vague,” and
“confessionalists can be pietists and devotionalists too.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The social and political implications of
“Yankee Pietism” transcended the sectarian Christian doctrinal
differences. This ecumenism naturally
lent itself to “other than Christian” motivations for accomplishing goals for
the greater good, and later perhaps motivations with no religious foundation at
all.<br />
Numerous historians have addressed
the effect of the Christian eschatological belief system of Postmillennialism
and how it influenced the development of the United States politically,
particularly during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. <br />
Daniel Walker Howe noted that “Postmillennialism
provided the capstone to an intellectual structure integrating political
liberalism and economic development with Protestant Christianity.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This
was certainly not the universal view of all Protestant Christians of the time,
but with the champions of Second Great Awakening like Lyman Beecher,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Richard T. Ely<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[19]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and Charles Grandison Finney,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[20]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> it
became the prevailing view by mid-century, and certainly after the Civil
War. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Part and parcel of postmillennial
eschatology was the encouragement of activism.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
It was this brand of Christian eschatology that drove the “continuing moral and
social improvement” movements such as abolition, temperance and women’s
suffrage,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and also “provided the rationale and motivation to sustain the imperial vision”
along the way, leading to such events as the Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny,
the Spanish-American War and ultimately World War I.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> According
to Mark Noll and Luke Harlow, there is no doubt that as Postmillennial “Yankee
Pietism” grew in numbers and social clout, beginning early in the nineteenth
century when they “launched a crusade to Christianize America.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[24]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This agenda was deliberate and divided into
two phases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> First,
they created the “benevolent empire” in the 1810’s to spread <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the
Gospel and teach the Bible. Then, in the
1820’s, they established<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> reform
societies to eradicate slavery, saloons, Sabbath desecration, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and
other social ills. Finally, in the
1830’s, they entered the political <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> mainstream
by joining the new Whig Party against the Jacksonian <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Democrats. By the end of the 1840’s….they added nativist
legislation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> To
their agenda, especially by extending the naturalization period<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from
four to fourteen years.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Somewhere
along the way, however, Postmillennialism lost its “spirituality” but retained
its optimism, its utopian ideals, and its concept of human progress. Historian James H. Moorhead refers to this as
an “erosion to the more open-ended eschatology of the kingdom,”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[26]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> which
is also seen in the emergence of theological liberalism and Biblical “higher
criticism” regarding heretofore traditionally accepted orthodox doctrines of
the faith. William R. Hutchison quotes
Charles S. Briggs, a late nineteenth century proponent of “Modernism” and
Biblical higher criticism as saying “We have undermined the breastworks of
traditionalism; let us blow them to atoms.
We have forced them from the face of the earth that no man hereafter may
be kept from the Bible.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[27]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In the
absence of a strong reliance on Christian traditions and staunchly held
cardinal doctrines, those who maintained a generally “postmillennial”
eschatology began to gravitate to a philosophy that placed their reliance in
another means of “establishing the kingdom.”
</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">"God,”
Richard T. Ely declared, "works through the State in carrying out His
purposes more universally than through any other institution."<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This was the perfect soil into which was sewn
the seed of collectivism, Darwinian Evolution, a drive by Radical Republicans
during and following the Civil War toward centralization of power in the
Federal Government, and a Marxian Dialectical Materialistic philosophy that
conspired to produce Progressive political pioneers like Robert M. La Follette,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[29]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and Woodrow Wilson.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[31]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> The
emergence of politicians like Wisconsin Governor and later Senator Robert M
“Fighting Bob” La Follette in the last half of the nineteenth century tracked
with the merging of the social practices and political ideas of the more
liberalized Postmillennial Pietists and their more secular and materialist
counterparts in public life. La Follette,
born in 1855, rose to prominence as a Congressman first elected in 1884 and
serving three terms as a champion of the populist interests of common laborers
and farmers, and an outspoken foe of the industrial giants and corporate
interests like railroads and the lumber industry, very prominent in Wisconsin.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[32]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> La Follette
himself had been raised by a Baptist mother who had come west with Yankee
Pietist ideals already formulated, however his father Josiah La Follette, who
had died when Robert was young, was an agnostic. When his Mother remarried John Z. Saxton, a
very conservative, strict and dedicated Baptist, Robert grew to dislike the formal
religion and doctrinal absolutes of his Step-father. <br />
“I got fed up with that sort
of thing as a boy. My stepfather
insisted on entertaining the Baptist Minister every Sunday,” La Follette once
quipped when asked about his disposition to churches and religion. According to biographer Nancy Unger, his
disdain went further than merely disliking the institution, but the harsh
discipline his religious Stepfather often inflicted upon he and his siblings
for “poor manners, impoliteness, and discourtesy” and other unacceptable behaviors
in children of the day.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Yet La Follette never abandoned the ideals of
“Yankee Pietism” he was taught as a child, and he wove them into his social
philosophy and political ideology, forming a microcosm and prototype of the
exemplary “Progressive” in the late nineteenth century, having moved away from
the overt religious faith, but kept the social involvement and activism, and
gravitated toward a much more statist and collectivist theory of governance. In this sense, Robert La Follette serves as
the nearly perfect reflection of what happened to the population of
Postmillennial Yankee Pietists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> By the time
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1901 after the
assassination of William McKinley, the “Progressive Era” was well
underway. During Roosevelt’s Presidency,
the “Social Gospel” movement was at its height, and theologically liberal
leaders such as Baptist Walter Rauschenbusch, Episcopal Richard T. Ely, and
Congregationalist Washington Gladden were championing many diverse social
causes. Common during this time were
temperance and the push for prohibition of alcohol, support of labor unions and
“worker’s rights,” women’s suffrage, working against poverty, and just the
beginnings of racial desegregation and “civil rights.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[34]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Teddy
Roosevelt was no political slouch.
Unlike McKinley, Roosevelt was a Republican in the more “progressive”
vein of the Party. While he was
certainly no Robert La Follette, Roosevelt more than once spoke of his
appreciation for the Progressive firebrand, so the direction Roosevelt took in
governing the nation was not surprising.
Roosevelt demonstrated his “progressive faith in scientific management
and committed to enlarging presidential power,” also “sponsoring legislation
that expanded the administrative power of the federal government.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[35]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Theodore Roosevelt rightly earned the title
of the first “Progressive” President, because the Federal Government had not
taken a leap in regulatory power or legal control over the people or the States
since the end of “Reconstruction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> President
Roosevelt knew how to make his view of an “energetic national government”
palatable to the American people, however.
As an example, this was demonstrated when he chose to run for
re-election in 1912 after a term out of office. The Republican Party failed to
nominate him, instead re-nominating incumbent President William Howard
Taft. Taft was from the Conservative
wing of the Party, and Roosevelt bolted, running on the “Bull-Moose” ticket –
another name for the Progressive Party. At
the conclusion of the Progressive Party convention that year, Roosevelt is
reported to have proclaimed, “Our cause is based on the eternal principles of
righteousness; We stand at Armageddon, we battle for the Lord.” As a response to his speech, Roosevelt had
the Convention delegation wave their Bibles and march out of the auditorium as they
sang the Christian hymn <i>Onward, Christian
Soldiers.</i><a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[36]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><br />
Woodrow Wilson was, by far,
the most successful President of the classic Progressive Era. Wilson managed to integrate the formerly
separate Progressive Party into his Democrat Party, and persuade his party to
adopt many of their ideas. Among his
greatest triumphs were the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, the passage of
the Sixteenth Amendment approving the “graduated” or “Progressive” Income Tax,
the Seventeenth Amendment authorizing the direct election of Senators by
democratic vote rather than by vote of the State Legislatures, the creation of
the Federal Trade Commission and the passage of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act
regulating commerce and limiting monopolies as well as aiding organized labor,
the Keating-Owen Act outlawing child labor, the Federal Highway Act, and the
Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the transport and sale of intoxicating liquors.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[37]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Raised the
son of a Presbyterian Pastor and Theologian, he drank deeply from the well of
Calvinist theology, believing in the tenets common to the Reformed tradition:
Predestination, the omnipotence and sovereignty of God, and a personal life of
devotion to his faith which included daily Bible reading, morning and evening
prayers, and church attendance, including at mid-week prayer services.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[38]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> If Robert La Follette was the prototype of
Progressivism’s beginning, it’s flirtation with Christian themes but adoption
of secular and materialistic methods and goals, then President Woodrow Wilson was
the personification of the Postmillennial Progressive Christian. His religious convictions and ideas of God
formed the framework of his entire worldview.
His assurance in the truth of God’s sovereignty and predestination gave
him a confidence in God’s guidance, both for himself as a leader, and for the
nation he led. He held an optimistic and
idealistic view that the United States, as a Christian nation, was to exemplify
that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the
revelations of Holy Scripture.”<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[39]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Wilson was firmly postmillennial, viewed his
role as a messenger of God, and considered his support for democracy, the “War
to End All Wars” (World War I) and establish a “League of Nations” as “divinely
inspired paths” to achieving the prophesied “Kingdom of God” spoken of by the
prophets in Scripture.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[40]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The eschatological view of Postmillennialism found its greatest
acceptance among Protestant Christians in the United States, Europe and around
the industrialized world as Christian missionaries continued to reach new lands
with the Gospel, revivalism and awakenings continued to flourish, and Christian
nations enjoyed general prosperity and comfort.
Is it any coincidence that during this period of time, the political
movement known as Progressivism developed, and enjoyed its greatest popularity
during the Industrial Revolution in America and England when people saw their
world improving, their faith growing, and their causes advancing?<br />
Of course, it couldn’t last
forever. Woodrow Wilson’s second term
ended after he’d won “The Great War,” but the American People balked at his
“League of Nations,” fearful of the international entanglements it could
bring. Wilson was struck down by a
stroke, and the US economy suffered a brief but sharp recession as he left
office, returning a Conservative, Calvin Coolidge to the Presidency. So, too, the days of Postmillennialism’s
popularity were numbered. After 1921,
the United States suffered two more major blows that caused many Christians to
entirely abandon the optimistic eschatological prognostications once held by so
many in the prior century. The Great
Depression, which began in 1929 with the crash of the Stock Market, followed by
a second and even more devastating World War less than three decades after the
first simply crush whatever optimism many had left for a better world.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[41]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Progressivism,
however, has remained one of the most pervasive and longest lasting political
movements in American history. The
proponents of Progressivism and its reforms may find it politically expedient
to change the labels they are wearing at a given time in the life of the
national body politic, like “Liberal,” for instance, or they might retreat on
certain policy issues when the political tone and atmosphere turns against
them. A great example of that might be
the Clinton triangulation on the issue of “Workfare” rather than “welfare,”
which President Clinton initially resisted, but once a Republican Congress was
elected, he not only embraced, but claimed credit for. This kind of tactical retreat and
incrementalism has allowed the survival of Progressivism as political movement
far longer than most others, and for that reason, its impact cannot be
overestimated. <br />
Often, however, one of its
most important sources is glossed over or completely missed by some historians
and modern commentators. Much of the
basis for the optimism, collectivism, and the positive belief in building a
better world “progressively” may be attributed to the ascendancy of the
nineteenth century Protestant eschatological view known as
postmillennialism. Affirming a great
optimism in the abilities of “redeemed humanity,” they believed the Church
could bring about the Kingdom of God on earth through reform, economic and
social improvement, and the use of Government to implement these changes, both
in the United States and eventually, abroad.
Though the initial dedication of early Protestant adherence to
traditional doctrines gave way to higher criticism and their rejection, these
more liberalized Christians retained their optimism, collectivism, concepts of
Statist centralization and high opinion of human abilities to achieve a
“utopian” ideal, and the result by the beginning of the twentieth century was a
full and complete political philosophy known as “Progressivism.” This movement gave birth to modern
Liberalism, and indeed, remains a major player in politics today as expressed
in the ideology and policies of President Barack Obama, the Democrat Party,
major Unions, Occupation Wall Street and the like. While it may seem unlikely in some cases, one
of the pillars of Progressivism was a Christian Eschatological view with a
positive view of the future, and of human’s abilities to bring it to pass. That vision endures in most Progressives of today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> (Encyclopedia Brittanica Co., 2012): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/">http://www.merriam-webster.com/</a> (accessed August 19, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Moorhead,
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1865 — 1925,"<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Church History</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>53 (March 1984): 61 — 77.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Moorhead, James H. <i>World Without End: Mainstream American Protestant Visions of the Last Things 1880-1925. </i>Bloomington,
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unger, Nancy.
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Righteous Reformer. </i>Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press, 2000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wilson, Clyde. “Lincoln’s Marxists: a Review.” <i>Chronicles Magazine, </i>April 2012. p. 27<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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DiLorenzo, Thomas. <i>Hamilton’s Curse. </i>(New
York: Crown Forum Publishing Group, 2008), pp. 16-17.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Schweikart, Larry & Michael Allen. <i>A
Patriot’s History of the United States. </i>(New York: Penguin Group, 2004): p.
152<o:p></o:p></div>
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Howe, Daniel Walker. <i>What Hath God
Wrought: The Transformation of America 1815-1848. </i>(New York: Oxford University Press,
2007): p. 411<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wilson, Clyde. “Lincoln’s Marxists: A Review,” <i>Chronicles Magazine </i>(April, 2012): p. 27<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nye, Russell B. <i>Midwestern Progressive
Politics: A History of its Origins and Development 1870-1950 </i>(East Lansing,
Michigan: Michigan State College Press,1951): 4, 13, 21-22<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hatch, Nathan O. <i>The Democratization of
American Christianity. </i>(Boston: Yale University Press, 1989): pp. 9-10, 213<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hatch, p. 10<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><i>Merriam-Webster Dictionary. </i>(Encyclopedia
Brittanica Co., 2012): <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschatology">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschatology</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Schweikart, Allen. p. 29<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Edwards, Johnathan, Henry Rogers, Sereno Edwards Dwight. <i>The Works of Johnathan Edwards A.M.</i> 2 Vols.<i> </i>(London: Childs & Son, 1839): Vol. 2, p. 605<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Online Bible Dictionary.</i> (Spreading
the Light Ministries, 1999-2009): <a href="http://www.spreadinglight.com/theology/dictionary/definitions/postmillennialism.html">http://www.spreadinglight.com/theology/dictionary/definitions/postmillennialism.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Howe, p. 286<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Paul Kleppner. <i>The Third Electoral
System, 1835-1892: Parties, Voters, and Political Cultures. </i>(Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1979), p. 190; Howe, p. 619<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Noll, Mark A., Luke E. Harlow. <i>Religion
and American Politics: From the Colonial Period to the Present. </i>(New York:
Oxford University Press, USA, 2007): p. 150<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Noll, Harlow, ibid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/APUS%20CLASS%20FILES/APUS%20HIS520/MY%20RESEARCH%20PAPER%20-%20HIST520.doc#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Noll, p. 142.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Howe, p. 287<o:p></o:p></div>
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Howe, pp. 287, 580<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jean B. Quandt. “Religion and Social Thought: The Secularizing of
Postmillennialism.” <i>American Quarterly </i>25
(October 1973): p. 403<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20">
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Howe, pp. 174, 287<o:p></o:p></div>
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James H. <i>World Without End: Mainstream
American Protestant Visions of the Last Things 1880-1925. </i>(Bloomingtom,
Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1999): p. xv<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Moorhead, p. 47<o:p></o:p></div>
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Moorhead, p. 6<o:p></o:p></div>
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Noll, Harlow, p. 150<o:p></o:p></div>
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Noll, Harlow, pp. 150, 151<o:p></o:p></div>
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Moorhead, p. 173<o:p></o:p></div>
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William R. Hutchison. <i>The Modernist
Impulse in American Protestantism. </i>(Durham, NC: Duke University Press,
1992): p. 94<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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Sidney Fine. <i>Laissez Faire Thought and
the General-Welfare State: A Study of Conflict in American Thought, 1865-1901. </i>(Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1956): p. 180<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steven M. Gillon & Cathy D. Matson. <i>The
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Houghton-Mifflin, 2006): p. 816<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gillon & Matson, p. 828<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gillon & Matson, p. 836<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gillon & Matson, pp. 816, 817<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unger, Nancy C. <i>Fighting Bob La Follette:
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Evans, Christopher H. <i>The Social Gospel
Today. </i>(Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001): p. 149<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gillon, Matson, p. 829<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pestritto, Ronald J. & William J. Atto, Ed. <i>American Progressivism: A Reader. </i>(Lanham, Maryland: Lexington
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Gillon, Matson, p. 837<o:p></o:p></div>
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Link, Arthur S. ed. <i>The Papers of Woodrow
Wilson</i> (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977): Vol. 23,
p. 20. “The Bible and Progress,” a
speech delivered May 7, 1911, in Denver, Colorado.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Link, ibid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Magee, Malcolm D. <i>What the World Should
Be: Woodrow Wilson and the Crafting of a Faith-Based Foreign Policy. </i>(Waco,
Texas: Baylor University Press, 2008 ): p. 34<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Online Bible Dictionary.</i> (Spreading
the Light Ministries, 1999-2009): <a href="http://www.spreadinglight.com/theology/dictionary/definitions/postmillennialism.html">http://www.spreadinglight.com/theology/dictionary/definitions/postmillennialism.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<i><br /></i>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-79164930185878984242014-03-24T00:31:00.001-04:002014-03-24T00:31:30.822-04:00BLOGS & PAGES I RECOMMEND -- CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY & MINISTRY:<i>I have a selection of blogs and web pages I check or read on a semi-regular basis when studying issues regarding CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY & MINISTRY, and I'd like to recommend these to you if any of the subject matter interests you, or for future reference in your study. Some of the writers of these blogs I know, others I "know" only by reputation</i>. <i>A few are even former colleagues or former students. I'll try to give you a little information about each of the blogs/pages underneath each address so that you'll know what you're looking at for the sake of reference. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SBC Tomorrow -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://peterlumpkins.typepad.com/peter_lumpkins/">http://peterlumpkins.typepad.com/peter_lumpkins/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<i><br /> </i>My friend, Peter Lumpkins, currently serving as Vice President of Communications for Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia, has long been one of the best bloggers, reporters and deeply devoted ministers in the Southern Baptist Convention, giving the "inside scoop" on many of the ministry developments, theological controversies and deepest needs and concerns of the SBC. I highly recommend Peter's work, and the files he has archived. Great writing! Oh -- and pick up the books in his bookstore as well!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Matt Pinson – <a href="http://www.matthewpinson.com/">www.matthewpinson.com</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> I've known Matt Pinson for nearly 20 years. He was a young, free-thinking, kinda rebelliousminister (in another life -- though it wouldn't pay for him to admit it now). He currently serves as President of Welch College (formerly Free Will Baptist Bible College), which is where I taught from 1998-2001. He began his tenure there in 2002. Matt knows much about Baptist Church History and Theology, particularly with regard to General or Arminian Baptists -- which is what ORIGINAL Baptists were. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Helwys Society Forum - <a href="http://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/">http://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span>The Premise of the Helwys Society Forum is simple:<br /><br /> Believers need a venue from which to engage deeply with the issues that matter most to them<em>..... </em>And so with this basic but simple thought, the Helwys Society Forum (HSF) was born.
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The venue exists fundamentally to
promote theological dialogue within the life of the Church, rooted
especially within a Classical Arminian framework. The Forum hopes to encourage a
holistic approach to theological dialogue and to demonstrate that
Christian thought and practice involves the whole person and has
implications for every dimension of life.</div>
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Several of the original HSF contributors, as well as occasional guest contributors, are former students or colleagues at Welch College. They address matters relating
to Christian theology, spirituality, ministry, and culture. They do this
through researched essays, book reviews, biographical sketches, and
interviews, which post each Monday. Their writing is
scholarly, yet personable, and formal, yet accessible.</div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <br /> I borrowed heavily from their own description of the site to explain where they're coming from -- excellent reading. Worth regularly checking out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">James M. Leonard - <a href="http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/">http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/<br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif";"> More specialized in nature, this is for the ministers and scholars among my readers who know Biblical Languages or who have an interest in the fi<span style="color: #0000ee;">eld of te<span style="color: #0000ee;">xtual criticism. Jim Leonard is a friend -- I can't call him a coll<span style="color: #0000ee;">eague for 2 reasons: (1) we've never actually worked together, and (2) he's WAY <span style="color: #0000ee;">beyond me in the field of languages! This Blog, and it's companion blog, www.arminianbaptist.blogsp<span style="color: #0000ee;">ot.com when <span style="color: #0000ee;">Jim has that one active, are both good works wo<span style="color: #0000ee;">rth che<span style="color: #0000ee;">cking out.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Society of Evangelical Arminians - <a href="http://evangelicalarminians.org/">http://evangelicalarminians.org/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> I am a member of the SEA. The purpose of the SEA can be summed up as follows: "</span>The Society of Evangelical Arminians (SEA) is an association of
evangelical scholars and laymen who adhere to Arminian theology and are
united in order to glorify God, edify his people, protect them from
error, and foster the proper representation of our magnificent God to
the world by lovingly and respectfully (1) promoting and advancing
sound, biblical Arminian theology, and (2) refuting Calvinism and
diminishing the number of its adherents, through the concerted,
strategic effort of Arminians networked through the society for the
accomplishment of these goals as well as (3) mutual encouragement,
support, and growth in the truth of God’s word."<br /><br /> Too often, Calvinists have simply misinformed or blatantly lied about what Arminian Theology is, what it teaches, and what the Scriptures say. The best source online to find resources answering Calvinism, and explaining the Biblical foundations of Arminian Theology are at this site. Check it out!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ben Henshaw
- <a href="http://arminianperspectives.wordpress.com/">http://arminianperspectives.wordpress.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> According to the blogs editor, Ben Henshaw:<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span> "The purpose of this blog is to discuss the very important topic of
soteriology (study of salvation) within the theological framework of
Arminianism. This blog will serve as both an apologetic for Arminian
doctrine and a polemic against the teachings of Calvinism. I hope that
you will enjoy my posts and any interaction that they may generate. May
God Bless you as you seek His truth (Jn. 17:17)."<br /><br /> This is probably one of the most consistently good, productive, on-point, solid, and Biblical blogs I check on a semi-regular basis. He does a great job putting his stuff together, he's disciplined and coherent, and most important, his authority is scripture. <br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Baptist Center for Theology & Ministry - <a href="http://www.baptistcenter.net/">http://www.baptistcenter.net/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">From the Baptist Center site:<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Narrow","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">"</span>The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry exists to provide
theological and ministerial resources to enrich and energize ministry in
Baptist churches. Our goal is to bring together professor and
practitioner to produce and apply these resources to Baptist life,
polity, and ministry. The mission of the BCTM is to develop, preserve,
and communicate the distinctive theological identity of Baptists.<br /><br />
We believe that theology should define and undergird
ministry in the Church. The mission of the BCTM is to assist churches
realize this vision. We pray that the resources on this website bring
glory to the Living God as we strive to strengthen our Baptist churches."<br /><br />This is a ministry of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary -- one of the two best "official" SBC Seminaries today (and not coincidentally it has NOT been overrun by Calvinists). One can find numerous articles, papers, interviews and other media on Ministry, Mission, Theology, document from Baptist History, as well as church interaction and forums there. One can also find past issues of the Journal of Baptist Theology & Ministry.<br /><br />EXCELLENT resource for all Baptists!<br /><br /><br />I hope this helps you in some way -- if for nothing else than a reference guide for future study. <br /><br /><br />Blessings,<br /><br />Dale</div>
<br /><br />J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-55010767793667670132014-03-22T01:05:00.000-04:002014-03-22T01:05:44.710-04:00Christianity in American Cultural History: A Topical Historiography<u><i>Note</i></u><i>: The following paper was presented in April, 2012 as a part of my continuing work toward</i> <i>completion of the Master of Arts in American History at American Public University. I have taken graduate-level course-work at three different accredited institutions in history, and currently have more than 39 hours, most in the subject of American History, but also with research and study in the fields of Western Civilizations and Christian History.</i> <i>The purpose of the paper published below was to examine how historians throughout our nation's history have understood, recorded, prioritized and viewed the place of Christianity in American History as they have written our historical textbooks, our historical journals, and our various books, monographs, biographies and articles, and how that has evolved and changed over time. It is a fascinating and revealing study. - JDW<br /><br /><br /></i><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Christianity
in American Cultural History: A Topical Historiography</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> By:<i> J. Dale Weaver, M. Div</i>.</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Public
prayer and religious expression became decidedly more accepted in the wake of
the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such blatant displays of a religious and
particularly of a Christian nature would have been frowned upon or legally suppressed
just months before the September 11<sup>th</sup> attacks by a myriad of special
interests and government officials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
decades, religious expression seemed to have taken a back seat to greater
social involvement, expansionist statism, and a desire for greater moral
"freedoms."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, just under
the surface, the majority of Americans still hold firmly to a religious and
identifiably Christian understanding of their personal lives and the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christianity has been a constant
in American life throughout history, and at this moment in the American
experience, its interaction with and impact upon the nation, as it is
understood by the recent generation of cultural historians deserves closer
investigation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Historians
in the latter quarter of the twentieth century had no shortage of theories
regarding the impact of Christianity on the formation and progress of American
culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the period, American
religious historians began to examine a number of recurring issues that to one
degree or another appeared in works of scholarship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issues included the individualization of
Christianity, the theological movement toward Arminianism and away from
Calvinism, regionalism within the church and culture, religious authority,
racialization, and the restructuring of American Christianity as it confronted
new cultural and religious realities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, this list is not exhaustive, but it represents a general grouping of
themes and it indicates how scholars have examined them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sampling of scholarly works about each of
four periods in the nation's history demonstrates a rich historiography of
American Christianity that explores how Christians have influenced or
confronted culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scholars seem to
emphasize one or two of these recurring themes depending on the period of
history they studied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The debate
concerning the place of Christianity within American culture continues unabated
today, informed by the work of these historians. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Nathan
Hatch, in his 1989 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Democratization
of American Christianity</i> focused his research primarily on the ways in
which Christianity began to emphasize the place of the individual in religion
during the formative years of the young republic, 1780-1830.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hatch's research examined five "mass
movements" that emerged during that era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Hatch, "They all offered common people, especially the
poor, compelling visions of individual self-respect and collective
self-confidence."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">1</span></a> Each of
these five groups, Methodists, Baptists, The Christian movement, black churches
and the Mormons, gained an audience because many "common folks" of
the day felt left out of religion as expressed by the elite Anglican Episcopal
church, and distant from the puritanical Congregationalists and old school
Presbyterians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hatch noted that the
political climate of Jeffersonian democracy and republican sentiment, when
coupled with the distrust of leaders among "ordinary folks," created
a "religious populism" that gave rise to a greater interest in the
role of the individual in religious life and influence.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">2</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Hatch also
examined the emergence of Arminian theology in America particularly through the
explosion of Methodism from 1780-1830.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Arminian theology emphasizes the "free-will" of every
individual to accept or reject salvation in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This theology was in stark contrast to the
prevalent Calvinist theology of the day, championing the sovereignty of God and
predestination of man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calvinism is
essentially spiritual determinism, teaching that God has already decided the
eternal destiny of every man, without any input from the individual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the main rifts that appeared between
Calvinists and Arminians were not primarily doctrinal, Hatch contended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stemmed from a different concept of
Christian ministry, and a faith that was preoccupied with theology rather than
practical matters.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">3</span></a> Arminian theology allowed
for a clergy made up of "common folks," not scholars, and it also
emphasized common experience and Christian living in a more practical sense than
Calvinism did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, in many ways, the
theological debate, which opened the door to the Arminian flavored Second Great
Awakening in the 1830s, was actually an adjunct and subordinate to the larger
democratization of American Christianity, and the resulting emphasis of
individualism in religious faith in the early years of the republic.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn4" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">4</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Donald
Mathews, professor of history at the University of North Carolina, was a
pioneer when his examination of American religion approached the subject on a
broadly evangelical scope rather than denominationally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until this point, most works regarding
American Christianity were denominational in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his 1977 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion in the Old South</i>, Mathews examined much of the same
religious populism, individualism, and Arminian tendencies that Hatch
addressed, but he also introduces regionalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During the Colonial period, the South was distinct in its development
from other regions of the country, particularly New England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In keeping with the theory of historian Jack Greene,
the experience of the South was quite different from New England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greene contends that New England is best
understood as a model of declension, drifting from the principles and purposes
for which it was originally founded, much to the chagrin of the clergy of the
Colonial era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, the
South follows a developmental model, having been founded for purely economic
reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the South became more
populated and settled, the people began to search for community and spiritual
fulfillment.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn5" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">5</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mathews' theory of religious development in
the South reflected Greene's larger theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mathews noted that "the church" in the pre-Revolutionary South
commonly referred to Anglicanism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to
the rural character of the South, Anglicanism was weak, never supplying enough
clerics to meet the need of the people in the countryside, nor to exert
influence or control over them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Mathews, three distinct groups soon filled this void; New
Light Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This "evangelical" movement appealed to the common people of
the South because it sought to meet their needs, rather than to perpetuate the
"hierarchical social system" supported by Anglicanism.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn6" name="_ednref6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">6</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The emphasis of evangelicalism in the South was a personal
"conversion" experience, in which an individual faces a crisis
moment, realizing their sinfulness and need for a Savior.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn7" name="_ednref7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">7</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This same emphasis on a personal salvation
experience was present in the First Great Awakening under the preaching of
George Whitefield and others primarily in New England, which Nathan Hatch also
recounts and emphasizes.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn8" name="_ednref8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">8</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways, conversion was the great
equalizer, because no one was exempt from its necessity, all were sinners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This included every person regardless of sex,
race, economic, or social status.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn9" name="_ednref9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">9</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, Southern evangelicalism, with
its emphasis on a personal conversion experience, also lent itself to a more
Arminian flavored theological context.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn10" name="_ednref10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">10</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mathews traces the development of southern
evangelicalism from several local denominational efforts in the middle and late
1700s, through the revivals that dotted the Southern landscape beginning at
Cane Creek, Kentucky in 1799, to its emergence in the early 1800's as the
mainstay of Southern culture, becoming popular and influential at all levels.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn11" name="_ednref11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">11</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The evangelical acceptance of education and hegemony over Southern
culture did not rid the movement of its anti-intellectualism and wariness of
"formal" religion, and continued to rely heavily on what Mathews
characterized as "a thoughtless bibliolatry," and a dedication to the
orthodox proposition that the Bible was an "infallible guide" to
Christians.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn12" name="_ednref12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">12</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, Southern evangelicals tended to
be less activist socially and politically than their northern counterparts,
mostly due to the issue of slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Southern evangelicals, due to their wish to avoid dealing with slavery,
or because they had failed to rid Southern culture of the institution a
generation before, regarded it as a "civil institution," in which the
church should not interfere.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn13" name="_ednref13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">13</span></a>
Evangelicals in New England, a hotbed for abolitionist activism by the 1820s,
saw this as a cop-out on the part of Southern Christians, and the seeds were
sown for regional division within American Christianity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Mathews,
through these conclusions, clearly demonstrated the themes of individualism,
the resulting practical and experiential theology of Arminianism, and the
development of regionalism in American Christianity that would have devastating
effects far beyond the churches in the nation over the next century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mathews also introduced two other themes that
would be more fully developed by historians studying the periods just prior to
and particularly following the American Civil War: the Protestant Christian
concept of authority and the issue of race in the churches and cultures of a
divided nation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Mitchell
Snay in his 1993 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gospel of
Disunion: Religion and Separatism in the Antebellum South</i> attempted to
explore the relationship between religion and the origins of Southern separatism.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn14" name="_ednref14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">14</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Snays' thesis, the church most clearly exemplified the
developing "sectionalism" in the generation immediately preceding the
Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the 1820s and 1830s,
Snay contended that northern clergy began attacking Southern clergy for their
lack of opposition to slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snay also
contended that though Southern clergy had a long-standing aversion to
involvement in civic affairs, they were drawn into a political conflict that
exploded into acute sectionalism with the 1835 Abolitionist Crisis.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn15" name="_ednref15" style="mso-endnote-id: edn15;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">15</span></a> Mathews illustrated Snays' argument,
pointing out that two of the major evangelical denominations in the South
separated over regional interests, the most explosive of which was slavery; the
Methodists in 1844, and the Baptists in 1845.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn16" name="_ednref16" style="mso-endnote-id: edn16;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">16</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles Reagan Wilson in his 1980 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost
Cause, 1865-1920</i>, also notes that New Light Presbyterians in the South
broke with their northern counterparts over slavery and other sectional
interests in 1857.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn17" name="_ednref17" style="mso-endnote-id: edn17;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">17</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The schism among America's churches
foreshadowed the political division that was to come. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Snay's
argument goes beyond the cultural and political fissures that were developing
in antebellum America and deals with the theological division that
characterized that era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key
theological fracture during this time, says Snay, was a different understanding
of the issue of authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other
words, Snay contended that Christians in the different regions understood
differently how the Scriptures were to be interpreted and who had the authority
and ability to interpret them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snay
summarized the northern view by quoting prominent theologian Adin Ballou, who
said that Scripture was to be interpreted by the individual "according to
the evident <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spirit</i> of its text,
rather than the mere letter."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Southern clerics on the other hand insisted on "placing the written
law of God over individual judgment."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn18" name="_ednref18" style="mso-endnote-id: edn18;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">18</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snay concluded, therefore, that the Southern
rejection of the theological view that individuals have the authority to interpret
the "spirit" of the Scriptures and insisting that the Bible itself
was the final authority, contributed strongly to their strict constructionist
view of not only sacred matters, but of the Constitution as well.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn19" name="_ednref19" style="mso-endnote-id: edn19;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">19</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The "higher view" of northern Christians was in direct
conflict with the "doctrinaire insistence" of southern Christians
that the Bible was the final authority on all matters, including slavery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reaction to northern objections, concluded
Snay, southern believers developed a concept of "sanctified slavery,"
and in so doing created a southern nationalism that employed a rhetoric of
honor which further emphasized regional differences and fortified the church in
both the north and the south for the conflict that was to come.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn20" name="_ednref20" style="mso-endnote-id: edn20;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">20</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">This was
not to say that all the churches or ministers in the antebellum era were in
solid agreement in the north or the south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mark Hanley examined the quarrels that developed between 1830 and 1860
in his 1994 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beyond a Christian
Commonwealth: The Protestant Quarrel with the American Republic.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the new nation developed, said Hanley,
"Protestant praise for the Republic in the decades before the Civil War
was accompanied by a countervailing 'critical republican vision' that turned
its focus to the secular potential of American liberty."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn21" name="_ednref21" style="mso-endnote-id: edn21;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">21</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hanley noted that theologians predominately from northern Christian
institutions of higher learning such as Princeton were most concerned with the
"material expression of the new liberalism," with emphasis on
materialism, individualism, and diversity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn22" name="_ednref22" style="mso-endnote-id: edn22;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">22</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hanleys' assessment of this Protestant
quarrel indicates that it was one primarily among northern Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An apparent contradiction is evident within
northern Christian circles over the issue of individual liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand Snay argued that northern
Christians advocate that the individual has authority to interpret the
"spirit" of Scripture on issues such as slavery.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn23" name="_ednref23" style="mso-endnote-id: edn23;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">23</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the other hand, Hanley argued that these same theologians feared
their parishioners might also "be hoodwinked by the alluring countenance
of individual freedom."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn24" name="_ednref24" style="mso-endnote-id: edn24;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">24</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Historians
of the antebellum era reflect in their works the division and uneasiness that
American Christians felt with the growth of the young republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The "Protestant quarrel" Mark
Hanley addressed arose from the changing concept of individualism among
American Protestants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Individualism as
an issue appeared to be a two-edged sword for the church, particularly in the
North, encouraging its anti-slavery message while at the same time reacting
against what that kind of liberty could potentially produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the South, the reaction against the idea
of personal liberty at least as related to slaves brought division with their
northern counterparts and set a precedent of Southern Nationalism which, after
the Civil War, would continue into the early twentieth century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The
emphasis of late twentieth century historians studying American cultural
history before the Civil War centered upon the issue of individualism as well
as issues of theology and regional aspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, in most of the works addressing the colonial and antebellum
era, the issue of race is also addressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nathan Hatch includes the significant development of the black churches
immediately following the American Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the three decades from 1780-1810, thousands of blacks, 90 percent of
which were slaves, turned to Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hatch noted that these conversions were almost exclusively due to the
work of the "insurgent religious movements" of the early republic,
and their ability to wed the gospel to popular culture."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn25" name="_ednref25" style="mso-endnote-id: edn25;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">25</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Hatch, black Christians became a driving force in
evangelicalism and American Christianity even before the Civil War. This, of
course, was due in large part to the evangelical doctrine of
"conversion," which Mathews described as "the great
equalizer."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn26" name="_ednref26" style="mso-endnote-id: edn26;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">26</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, while the evangelical message
of equality applied to spiritual matters, it did not apply to civic matters of
individual liberty, particularly though not exclusively in the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Christians
in the South, after initial attempts to end slavery in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth century, turned away from active campaigning on
"civic" issues and turned exclusively to an evangelistic, spiritual
mission to slaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goal of such a
mission, contended Mathews, was to reach out to slaves that God had placed in
their care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This allowed the Southern
church to fulfill the biblical mandate to preach the Gospel to every creature
while at the same time justifying the institution of slavery.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn27" name="_ednref27" style="mso-endnote-id: edn27;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">27</span></a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Donald
Mathews and Nathan Hatch among other late twentieth century historians of
antebellum America were innovative in their approach, but were more generalized
in examining racial relations prior to the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Late twentieth century historians who
examined the decades following the Civil War brought racial issues into sharper
focus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Race, of course, was of
fundamental importance to Southern culture," said Charles Reagan Wilson in
his 1980 work, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baptized in Blood: The
Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920</i>.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn28" name="_ednref28" style="mso-endnote-id: edn28;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">28</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson argued that in the aftermath of the
Civil War, defeated Southerners who were denied a political nation built a
cultural identity by blending Christian rhetoric with symbols of Confederate
tradition.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn29" name="_ednref29" style="mso-endnote-id: edn29;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">29</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A key component, Wilson argued, was the
racial tradition and practice that had served as a cement for Southern cultural
cohesion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn30" name="_ednref30" style="mso-endnote-id: edn30;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">30</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson demonstrated that white supremacy
played a key role in the Southern way of life. After the Civil War, said
Wilson, Southern preachers used racial stereotypes and the assumption of white
superiority to reinforce Lost Cause religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wilson also noted, however, that race itself was not the main issue in
Lost Cause religion, but the virtues of the Confederates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These virtues, said Wilson, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>included a paternalistic view of blacks, and
brought about the development of segregation in the years after reconstruction.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn31" name="_ednref31" style="mso-endnote-id: edn31;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">31</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Southern position of segregation, Wilson noted, reflected<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a nationwide growth of Anglo-Saxon racism
during the modernist era.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn32" name="_ednref32" style="mso-endnote-id: edn32;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">32</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, historians examining racial
issues in the post-bellum era give almost exclusive attention to developments
in the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scholars such as George
Marsden, in his 1980 work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fundamentalism
and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism 1870-1925</i>,
mentioned black evangelicals in only one footnote, noting that the fledgling
fundamentalist movement developing in the North was never a dominant force
among black Christians.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn33" name="_ednref33" style="mso-endnote-id: edn33;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">33</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apparent lack of research on black Christianity
and racial relations in the North during the post-bellum era represents a
significant weakness in the literature of the period.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The issues
of regionalism and racial relations that so preoccupied late-twentieth century
historians examining the post-bellum era began to be subsumed by developments
on two fronts as the nineteenth century ended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, Southern nationalism gave way to Americanism largely due to the
Spanish-American War in 1898 and World War I in 1917.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson contended that these wars allowed the
South to again identify itself with the values of the American nation.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn34" name="_ednref34" style="mso-endnote-id: edn34;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">34</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Spanish-American War allowed the South to again participate "in
the saving work of a redeemer nation,"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>in part, said Wilson, because America had brought liberty to the
captives of Cuba.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn35" name="_ednref35" style="mso-endnote-id: edn35;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">35</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson also argued that World War I allowed
the South to believe that her honorable Confederate past prepared the entire
nation for her "manifest destiny" as the "champion of the moral
forces of the universe." <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn36" name="_ednref36" style="mso-endnote-id: edn36;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">36</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While these were milestones in
reconciliation, posited Wilson, the religion of the Lost Cause in the South
didn't just disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confederate
symbols were still honored, virtues were still celebrated, and unfortunately,
some errors were still practiced.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn37" name="_ednref37" style="mso-endnote-id: edn37;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">37</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The
development of fundamentalism also became pivotal in the reuniting of a country
that had been so divided for decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>George Marsden argued that in the post-Civil War era, two elements of
American evangelicalism diverged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Beecher family,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>represented the progressive
wing of northern evangelicalism, while the Blanchard family, represented the
traditional wing of evangelicalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Prior to the Civil War, these families were friends, crusaders together
against slavery and other sins and fleshly vices.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn38" name="_ednref38" style="mso-endnote-id: edn38;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">38</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the war, asserted Marsden, the moral
crusades championed by traditionalists were crushed by the changes in the
modern world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, traditionalists
became increasingly disillusioned with the idea of building the "perfect
society."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the crusade
against slavery was successful, Marsden asserted that traditionalists came to
see their role to restrain evil until the Lord returned.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn39" name="_ednref39" style="mso-endnote-id: edn39;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">39</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this way, Marsden claimed that traditionalists came to see themselves
as puritans in an American Babylon.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn40" name="_ednref40" style="mso-endnote-id: edn40;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">40</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The progressive wing of northern
evangelicalism, Marsden continues, began to accept scientific theories such as
evolution and to develop "social gospel" ministries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, Marsden notes that progressives
began to advocate a style of preaching which would "understand <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">men</i>" as opposed to creeds and
traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, according to Marsden,
progressives no longer viewed theology as a fixed body of eternally valid
truths but as an evolutionary development that needed to adjust to the
standards of the modern culture.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn41" name="_ednref41" style="mso-endnote-id: edn41;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">41</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marsden asserts that evolutionary naturalism,
higher criticism of the Bible, and idealistic philosophy and theology converged
to create what became known as "modernism."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn42" name="_ednref42" style="mso-endnote-id: edn42;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">42</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The development of modernism after the Civil War appeared to be a
natural result of many northern theologians in the pre-war period who advocated
the individual believer's authority to interpret the "spirit" of the
Scriptures, making the believer the final authority for determining truth,
rather than the Scriptures themselves, as was asserted by Mitchell Snay
previously.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn43" name="_ednref43" style="mso-endnote-id: edn43;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">43</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This growing ideological conflict among
Christians, contended Marsden, gave birth to the fundamentalist/modernist
conflict of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Though
fundamentalism began within the northern Presbyterian churches, it quickly
spread to other denominations and regions of the country, according to Marsden
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marsden asserted that through the
revivalism of evangelist Dwight L. Moody, the growth of holiness teachings, and
dispensationalism, fundamentalism had a broad appeal to large constituencies in
America.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn44" name="_ednref44" style="mso-endnote-id: edn44;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">44</span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marsden noted that nowhere was this appeal
more powerful than in the South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Marsden, southern theology was already strongly
conservative and resistant to change and that tendency was intensified by the
Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, Marsden posited an
anti-modernist impulse was already present among Southern Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although revivalist conservatism in the South
and fundamentalism in the North developed independently, Marsden pointed out
that when twentieth century fundamentalism became a distinct entity, Southerner
evangelicals flocked to it.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn45" name="_ednref45" style="mso-endnote-id: edn45;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">45</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Historians
studying American religion and culture in the modernist period from the end of
the Civil War to the 1920s noted the division that developed within both the
church and culture as the progressive spirit of modernism began to hold sway
over the American public of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fundamentalism developed as a reaction of traditionalists to the modernist
impulse and quickly spread into many denominations and schools across the
nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1925, Marsden concluded, such
divisions existed in major denominations that many fundamentalist churches left
their traditional denominations and became independent or formed their own
denominations and schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marsden also
noted that 1925 was a watershed year in the political realm as the Scopes
"monkey trial" in Tennessee received national attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the fundamentalist Christian lawyer
William Jennings Bryan won the trial legally, Clarence Darrow managed to
publicly portray the fundamentalist view of science in a poor light,
embarrassing the movement, and precipitating its retreat from involvement in
public policy issues.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn46" name="_ednref46" style="mso-endnote-id: edn46;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">46</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though fundamentalists continued to lobby on
particular issues, public perception turned decidedly against their philosophy
from 1925 until the beginning of World War II, during which time Marsden stated
that fundamentalists busied themselves with building a viable sub-culture,
apart from the modernist consensus.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn47" name="_ednref47" style="mso-endnote-id: edn47;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">47</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, by 1925, the schism that existed was no
longer primarily regional in nature but had become philosophical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question of authority in religious life
had blossomed to the point that the schism of the American church was between
modernist or liberals and fundamentalists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Historians of this period such as Marsden focus strongly on this
fracture and how it impacted both the church and the culture between the Civil
War and World War II.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In the
years following the 1925 Scopes trial, science and technological progress was
the focus of the culture, and late twentieth-century historians reflect that
interest. Historians studying this period concentrated their investigations
upon the interaction of Christianity with science and the resulting
restructuring of religion in American life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was the purpose of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Redeeming
Culture: American Religion In and Age of Science</i>, written by James Gilbert
in 1997.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilbert began his examination
of the subject where George Marsden left off, the Scopes Trial in 1925.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilbert concluded that the Scopes trial set
the stage for a struggle that would last two generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilbert accurately noted that World War II,
the Cold War, and the nuclear scare punctuated the period from the 1930s to the
1950s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This caused many people of the
era to distrust scientists as elitists and to buy into the rhetoric of
conservative Christians that science could be viewed as subversive, asserted
Gilbert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilbert further asserted that
scientists, once perceived by others and perhaps themselves as promoting a
superior ethic, began to temper their rhetoric, speaking more modestly about
modern science and more favorably of religion.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn48" name="_ednref48" style="mso-endnote-id: edn48;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">48</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1962, Gilbert noted, the era of scientific
triumphalism had passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gilbert
concluded that science had failed to become the sole arbiter or architect and
American culture, and religion had maintained its central place in
society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each had been reshaped
drastically, said Gilbert, and both had found places of respect and acceptance
in American culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, Gilbert
asserted, nothing had really been settled, and many of the questions that had
begun to be addressed in 1925 were still being asked in 1962.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn49" name="_ednref49" style="mso-endnote-id: edn49;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">49</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In his 1988
work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Restructuring of American
Religion: Society and Faith since World War II</i>, Robert Wuthnow attempted to
identify the changes in the place of religion in society following World War
II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wuthnow's work provided a broad
study of the evolving mood of American Christianity from the end of World War
II into the 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the wake of the
war, religious leaders and organizations were optimistic about returning to the
business of the church, but they were also pessimistic as a result of the
horror and devastation the war had produced and the potential future
tribulations the nation might face.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn50" name="_ednref50" style="mso-endnote-id: edn50;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">50</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wuthnow said that during the 1940s and 1950s
religious leaders could assume particular social influences by the manner in
which they understood their own message, the culture at large, and the
connections of values and behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These assumptions, Whutnow noted, began to fade as society changed
during the middle and later 1950s.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn51" name="_ednref51" style="mso-endnote-id: edn51;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">51</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American society was changed by several
factors, which according to Wuthnow, began in the 1960s and 1970s, and included
the involvement of government in issues and arenas once considered sacred matters,
the rise of "special interest" groups, and internal changes in many
Christian denominations with the expansion and complexity of their
organizational structures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These factors
produced a polarization between groups of constituents within both American
society and the church. Wuthnow asserted that issues once considered personal
or sacred such as abortion, pornography, homosexuality, and school prayer
became matters of public policy, compelling conservative religious groups to
react and leading to the rise of the "religious right."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wuthnow noted that the most significant
organizations within this movement, the Moral Majority founded in 1979, and the
Coalition for Religious Freedom, founded in 1984, led the charge on issues that
caused tension between Christian conservatives and religious liberals and
society at large.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn52" name="_ednref52" style="mso-endnote-id: edn52;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">52</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is noteworthy that Wuthnow spent far more
time dealing with the religious right than with the religious left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is true of most historians of the
post-World War II period and it forms another area that deserves more scholarly
attention.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Wuthnow
concluded that, at the time he was writing in 1988, two distinct civil
religions had emerged, one belonging to religious liberals, and another to
conservatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both groups in previous
decades built "legitimating myths" to perpetuate their versions of
civil religion, yet Wuthnow suggested that both are grounded in certain
principles that at least vaguely drew upon Jewish and Christian theology.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_edn53" name="_ednref53" style="mso-endnote-id: edn53;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">53</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Thorough
research of historical documents and the works of late-twentieth century
historians have answered many questions about Christianity and how it shaped
and interacted with American culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the colonial and young republic era, individualism was the key issue affecting
religious life in both the church and the nation's culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This affected the theological concepts of
salvation among American Christians, producing a spiritual egalitarianism
championed by early evangelicals based on a conversion experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This spiritual equality and the parallel
emphasis on politcal democracy also introduced the issue of race into the
consciousness of the American church and culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historians dealing with the antebellum period
concentrated on the sectionalism that developed and detailed how Christians
participated sometimes even championing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The regionalism that originated during this period brought greater
attention to the race issue particularly in the South, and also produced
circumstances that facilitated a later schism on the basis of authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The modernist saw man as the authority in
matters of faith, while the fundamentalist saw Scripture as the final
authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The modernist church largely
accepted the new scientific ethic and technological advancement uncritically,
while fundamentalists viewed scientific theory skeptically and fearfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The
struggle between the conservative church and the scientific ideal championed by
modernism produced a restructuring of American religion that opened issues for
public consideration once considered personal and spiritual in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in the postmodern era, this theme of
struggle and restructuring within the church and culture has dominated the
historiographic record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
investigation of historical documents and events has allowed historians to more
clearly explain the role Christianity played in American culture. Many
questions remain, however, and the debate continues unresolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As the
debate over the place of Christianity in American culture continues, two issues
deserve more scholarly attention than they have received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One concerns the contribution of black
Christians in the north prior to and following the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The race issue is covered widely in the work
of historians interested in the South; however, little attention is paid to the
rich history of black Christians in the North during the period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most historians dealing with race in the
North during that era approach the subject from a secular perspective and deal
with the civil rights movement and political history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An examination of the black church in the
North from the 1830s to the 1920s would provide many answers not available now
and would certainly be a significant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>addition to the historiographic record.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A second
area that deserves more attention is the social and political activism of the
liberal church particularly since World War II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the historical works of that period focus on the conservative
church or the theological contributions of religious liberals, but a cohesive examination
of political and social activism from the perspective of a religious or
cultural historian has yet to be written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Such a volume would likely be a seminal work and a welcome addition to
the historiographic record.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Late-twentieth
century literature on the subject of Christianity in American cultural history
has expanded our knowledge of the subject while at the same time raising
important questions that must still be addressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christianity in its numerous American
teachings and expressions has every area that shapes and defines the nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christianity has impacted how the nation
understands the place and importance of the individual, the values Americans
hold sacred, and the way in which different groups and races interact with one
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>American history and culture
cannot be properly understood apart from Christianity, its principles, and its
adherents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Events such as the attacks of
September 11<sup>th</sup> only magnify this truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The religious history of America is so
intertwined with the political, social, and cultural development on the nation
that it seems certain to remain an essential field of study and a perpetual
arena of debate well into the future.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">1</span></a> Nathan
Hatch, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Democratization of American
Christianity</i> (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">2</span></a> Ibid., 5,14</div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">3</span></a> Ibid.,
44,174</div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref4" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">4</span></a> Ibid., 212</div>
</div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref5" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">5</span></a> Jack Greene,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pursuits of Happiness</i> (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1988): 81.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref6" name="_edn6" style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">6</span></a> Donald
Mathews, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion in the Old South</i>
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977): 9.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref7" name="_edn7" style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">7</span></a> Ibid., 19</div>
</div>
<div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref8" name="_edn8" style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">8</span></a> Hatch, 11,21</div>
</div>
<div id="edn9" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref9" name="_edn9" style="mso-endnote-id: edn9;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">9</span></a> Mathews, 67</div>
</div>
<div id="edn10" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref10" name="_edn10" style="mso-endnote-id: edn10;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">10</span></a> Ibid., 60</div>
</div>
<div id="edn11" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref11" name="_edn11" style="mso-endnote-id: edn11;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">11</span></a> Ibid., 87</div>
</div>
<div id="edn12" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref12" name="_edn12" style="mso-endnote-id: edn12;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">12</span></a> Ibid.,
157, 176</div>
</div>
<div id="edn13" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref13" name="_edn13" style="mso-endnote-id: edn13;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">13</span></a> Ibid., 157</div>
</div>
<div id="edn14" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref14" name="_edn14" style="mso-endnote-id: edn14;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">14</span></a> Mitchell
Snay, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gospel of Disunion: Religion
and Separatism in the Antebellum South </i>(New York: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cambridge
University Press, 1993): 5.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn15" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref15" name="_edn15" style="mso-endnote-id: edn15;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">15</span></a> Ibid.,
20,53</div>
</div>
<div id="edn16" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref16" name="_edn16" style="mso-endnote-id: edn16;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">16</span></a> Mathews,
160</div>
</div>
<div id="edn17" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref17" name="_edn17" style="mso-endnote-id: edn17;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">17</span></a> Charles
Reagan Wilson, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baptized in Blood: The
Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920</i> (Athens, Georgia:</div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
University of Georgia Press, 1980): 4.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn18" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref18" name="_edn18" style="mso-endnote-id: edn18;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">18</span></a> Snay, 64</div>
</div>
<div id="edn19" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref19" name="_edn19" style="mso-endnote-id: edn19;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">19</span></a> Ibid., 65</div>
</div>
<div id="edn20" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref20" name="_edn20" style="mso-endnote-id: edn20;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">20</span></a> Ibid.,
150, 214</div>
</div>
<div id="edn21" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref21" name="_edn21" style="mso-endnote-id: edn21;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">21</span></a> Mark Y.
Hanley, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beyond A Christian Commonwealth:
The Protestant Quarrel with the American </i></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Republic</i> (Chapel Hill, North Carolina:
The University of North Carolina Press, 1994): 56.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn22" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref22" name="_edn22" style="mso-endnote-id: edn22;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">22</span></a> Ibid., 6,
56</div>
</div>
<div id="edn23" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref23" name="_edn23" style="mso-endnote-id: edn23;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">23</span></a> Snay, 64</div>
</div>
<div id="edn24" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref24" name="_edn24" style="mso-endnote-id: edn24;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">24</span></a> Hanley, 57</div>
</div>
<div id="edn25" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref25" name="_edn25" style="mso-endnote-id: edn25;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">25</span></a> Hatch, 102</div>
</div>
<div id="edn26" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref26" name="_edn26" style="mso-endnote-id: edn26;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">26</span></a> Mathews,
67</div>
</div>
<div id="edn27" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref27" name="_edn27" style="mso-endnote-id: edn27;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">27</span></a> Ibid., 173</div>
</div>
<div id="edn28" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref28" name="_edn28" style="mso-endnote-id: edn28;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">28</span></a> Wilson, 11</div>
</div>
<div id="edn29" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref29" name="_edn29" style="mso-endnote-id: edn29;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">29</span></a> Ibid., 1</div>
</div>
<div id="edn30" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref30" name="_edn30" style="mso-endnote-id: edn30;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">30</span></a> Ibid., 11</div>
</div>
<div id="edn31" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref31" name="_edn31" style="mso-endnote-id: edn31;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">31</span></a> Ibid., 100</div>
</div>
<div id="edn32" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref32" name="_edn32" style="mso-endnote-id: edn32;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">32</span></a> Ibid., 101</div>
</div>
<div id="edn33" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref33" name="_edn33" style="mso-endnote-id: edn33;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">33</span></a> George M.
Marsden, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fundamentalism and American
Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century </i></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evangelicalism 1870-1925 </i>(New York:
Oxford University Press, 1980): 291.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn34" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref34" name="_edn34" style="mso-endnote-id: edn34;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">34</span></a> Wilson,
161</div>
</div>
<div id="edn35" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref35" name="_edn35" style="mso-endnote-id: edn35;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">35</span></a> Ibid., 163</div>
</div>
<div id="edn36" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref36" name="_edn36" style="mso-endnote-id: edn36;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">36</span></a> Ibid., 169</div>
</div>
<div id="edn37" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref37" name="_edn37" style="mso-endnote-id: edn37;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">37</span></a> Ibid.,
163, 167</div>
</div>
<div id="edn38" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref38" name="_edn38" style="mso-endnote-id: edn38;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">38</span></a> Marsden,
22</div>
</div>
<div id="edn39" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref39" name="_edn39" style="mso-endnote-id: edn39;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">39</span></a> Ibid., 31</div>
</div>
<div id="edn40" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref40" name="_edn40" style="mso-endnote-id: edn40;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">40</span></a> Ibid., 32</div>
</div>
<div id="edn41" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref41" name="_edn41" style="mso-endnote-id: edn41;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">41</span></a> Ibid., 25</div>
</div>
<div id="edn42" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref42" name="_edn42" style="mso-endnote-id: edn42;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">42</span></a> Ibid., 26</div>
</div>
<div id="edn43" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref43" name="_edn43" style="mso-endnote-id: edn43;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">43</span></a> Snay, 64</div>
</div>
<div id="edn44" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref44" name="_edn44" style="mso-endnote-id: edn44;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">44</span></a> Marsden,
32,47</div>
</div>
<div id="edn45" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref45" name="_edn45" style="mso-endnote-id: edn45;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">45</span></a> Ibid., 103</div>
</div>
<div id="edn46" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref46" name="_edn46" style="mso-endnote-id: edn46;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">46</span></a> Ibid.,
185-187</div>
</div>
<div id="edn47" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref47" name="_edn47" style="mso-endnote-id: edn47;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">47</span></a> Ibid., 195</div>
</div>
<div id="edn48" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref48" name="_edn48" style="mso-endnote-id: edn48;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">48</span></a> James
Gilbert, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Redeeming Culture: American
Religion In an Age of Science</i> (Chicago: The University of</div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chicago
Press, 1997): 61.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn49" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref49" name="_edn49" style="mso-endnote-id: edn49;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">49</span></a> Ibid., 298</div>
</div>
<div id="edn50" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref50" name="_edn50" style="mso-endnote-id: edn50;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">50</span></a> Robert
Wuthnow, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Restructuring of American
Religion: Society and Faith since World War II</i> </div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Princeton,
New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988): 14.</div>
</div>
<div id="edn51" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref51" name="_edn51" style="mso-endnote-id: edn51;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">51</span></a> Ibid., 54</div>
</div>
<div id="edn52" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref52" name="_edn52" style="mso-endnote-id: edn52;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">52</span></a> Ibid., 100</div>
</div>
<div id="edn53" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17411047#_ednref53" name="_edn53" style="mso-endnote-id: edn53;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">53</span></a> Ibid., 266</div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
</div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">WORKS CITED</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Gilbert,
James.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Redeeming Culture: American Religion In an Age of Science.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chicago:</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The University of Chicago Press,
1997.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Greene,
Jack P.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern British</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Colonies and the Formation of American Culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Chapel Hill: The University of</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>North Carolina Press, 1988.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Hanley,
Mark Y.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beyond A Christian Commonwealth: The Protestant Quarrel with the </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>American Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Chapel
Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Hatch,
Nathan O.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Democratization of American Christianity.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Haven: Yale </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Univeristy Press, 1989.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Marsden,
George M.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Century Evangelicalism 1870-1925.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Mathews,
Donald G.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Religion in the Old South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, </span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>1977.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Snay,
Mitchell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gospel of Disunion: Religion and Separatism in the Antebellum South</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1993.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Wilson,
Charles Reagan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baptized in Blood: The Religion of the Lost Cause, 1865-1920.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Athens, Georgia: The University of
Georgia Press, 1980.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Wuthnow,
Robert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith since </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>World War II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1988.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br /><br />Copyright © 2012 J. Dale Weaver, Mygration, ALL rights reserved<br /><br />J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-37607648128674245712013-06-07T13:59:00.004-04:002013-06-07T13:59:26.880-04:00On Federal Encroachment & Patriot Response<span class="userContent">The Federal Government continues to encroach
upon every right, cross every line, engaged in "a long train of abuses
and usurpations," and STILL they will not stop, they will not hearken,
they will not bow, they will not understand that they<span class="text_exposed_show">
are but servants, and We the People are their masters. Should they
continue along this path, they will march as surely onto the town greens
of Lexington and Concord as did the troops of the British Crown in
1775, and then condemn those who withstood them as "rebels,"
"terrorists," "extremists," and "radicals." <br /> <br /> Tyranny then,
just as now, must be resisted. Failure to stand at present condemns our
posterity to life on their knees, as slaves in a dark, hopeless future.
The preservation of no government nor "Union" is ever worth the
surrender of our essential God-given liberties. A final line of
demarcation must be drawn. A last declaration of essential rights must
be lifted as a banner. A terminal defense for the restoration of our
Constitutional Republic must be issued. <br /> <br /> That day is upon us.
We will shrink from the task and become slaves , forgotten to history
like a thousand other tribes, nations and peoples -- or we will fight,
we will be revived, and we will push back against the despots that would
place their shackles on wrists, our ankles, and on our minds, and make
us their serfs, mere subjects. <br /> <br /> We dare not wait longer in our
determination to push back, to reverse the darkness descending upon our
nation. Whatever may come upon us, it will not be as terrible as what
awaits us if we do nothing now. Wait no more....<br /><br />JDW</span></span>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-11395355409904613972012-03-13T01:40:00.000-04:002012-03-13T01:40:17.432-04:00A Pessimistic Optimist: Part 1 - Why I am a Pessimist, and What (or Whom) I am Pessimistic About"<i>And [Jesus] said, 'The things which are impossible with men are possible with God'" (Luke 18:27).</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
"I'm a pessimistic optimist," said Dr. William Davidson, whom I had the honor to study Church History and American Christianity with while in Seminary. In fact, I consider myself doubly blessed, because he was also my faculty advisor and the foremost Free Will Baptist Historian of the era. Since I was a Free Will Baptist minister at the time, and members of my family have been Free Will Baptists for at least 7 generations in North Carolina, that meant a great deal to me.<br />
<br />
I confess, when I heard "Dr. D" verbalize this philosophical maxim, I was initially puzzled. He quickly added that "what men could not do, God could do." In the context of the class that day -- as I recall, it was American Christianity -- and of the greater subject matter, it made sense. From that moment on, Dr. D's philosophical maxim has stuck with me.<br />
<br />
I suppose, however, that I've taken his observation much farther than he ever would. Dr. D is a faculty member at Columbia International University, and I am a very happy alumnus of the Seminary. Class of '96. I got what I believe to be among the best educations in "Divinity" available at any Evangelical Graduate school. The College, and later the Seminary, were born out of the American arm of the "Keswick movement," which began in the last quarter of the 19th century with a conference in Keswick, England (where it got it's name), and spread through a significant portion of Evagelicalism. It is also known as the "Higher Life movement," and its basic teaching is that it is possible -- and it should be the "normal" Christian experience -- to live an abundant, joyful and victorious Christian life. This "victorious Christian life" emphasizes that believers have the privilege of living above <i>known sin</i> as part of their walk with Christ, which enables them to live in holiness and victory.<br />
<br />
Now, I would hasten to add that I don't know Dr. D's personal theology on the issue, though like the vast majority of professors at CIU, I imagine the "Keswick" view is likely. It has been and is even now very common among Evangelicals the world over. Back in the 1800's, "famous" adherents to the Keswick message included the renowned Evangelist D.L. Moody, founder of China Inland Mission Hudson Taylor,<br />
and R.A. Torrey. In the early part of the 20th century, of course, Dr. Robert C. McQuilkin was a leader in the American Keswick movement, and out of that movement was born Columbia Bible College -- Now Columbia International University. In the last generation or two, well-known Christian Pastors, writers and theologians such as Robertson McQuilkin, Stephen Olford, John Stott, Stuart Briscoe, Alistair Begg, and this evangelist (you may have heard of him) from North Carolina named Billy Graham have all professed adherence to the Keswick view of the "victorious Christian life."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thus, when I say that I took to heart Dr. D's maxim, "I'm a pessimistic optimist," I imagine I took it much farther than he would have ever intended. The reason I say that is because I do not fall into the "Keswick school" regarding the nature, ability or possibility of mankind to live "victoriously" in this life. At least, not as we think of it in our too often limited, humanistic, materialistic capacity. I take Jesus quite literally at His word when He says, "<i>The things which are impossible with men are possible with God</i>." And remember, this was a direct answer to the Disciple's question, "<i>Who then can be saved</i>?" (Luke 18:26).<br />
<br />
The simple answer: NO ONE. Of course, this is nothing that most traditional, Biblical Evangelicals do not affirm. Evangelicals "know" that we as humans can do nothing, contribute nothing, add nothing to earn nor buy our salvation. And even after salvation, what we "do" is not us -- but Him working in us and through us. Thus, we are not victorious -- HE is, in us. <br />
<br />
Let me explain, then, why I say I am "a pessimistic optimist," particularly as it regards mankind, both as individuals and as a race. <br />
<br />
First, because Humans are "totally depraved." That is, humanity -- every human being -- has inherited "original sin" from the father of the race, Adam. "<i>Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed to all men, for that all have sinned</i>" (Romans 5:12). Not only have humans inherited a nature that is fallen, but they are thereby predisposed to act sinfully themselves. This is "volitional sin," and is what Paul addresses when he writes to the Romans, "<i>There is none righteous; no, not one....For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God</i>" (Romans 3:10,23). Total Depravity does not mean that humans are "as bad as they can be," but that all parts of human nature are marred and corrupted, and indeed dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1a), and humans are rendered incapable of doing any good at all apart from the grace of God (John 15:5).<br />
<br />
Second, because humans can get <i>worse. </i>In fact, Moses records in Genesis 6 that in the years leading up to the great flood, "<i>And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually</i>" (Genesis 6:5). During Noah's lifetime, he watched humanity descend to the depths of depravity -- and he built an ark. They mocked, and he kept building. They scoffed, but he kept preaching (2 Peter 2:5). None believed, but he kept on working. And when the rains came, he and his family entered the ark and GOD shut the door (Genesis 7:16). None were saved but Noah and his family alone -- because humans can get worse.<br />
<br />
Third, because human civilizations <i>always do </i>decline and fall. Paul makes that excruciatingly clear in Romans 1:18-32. Here, Paul describes the steps any given human civilization goes through as it descends into the depths of depravity. When it reaches the deepest depths, and drags the bottom, that civilizations time is up. The four steps on any human civilization as it descends into depravity, and thus, destruction are:<br />
<ul>
<li>Intelligence - (Romans 1:18-20; cf Psalm 19:1) God reveals Himself in the Creation</li>
<li>Ignorance - (Romans 1:21-23; cf. I Corinthians 3:19,20) Man willfully rejects knowledge of God</li>
<li>Immorality - (Romans 1:24-27) Willful ignorance leads to immorality -- when mankind refuses to believe the Truth of God, they will believe the lies of Satan (cf. Genesis 3:1-8; John 5:43, 8:44; 2 Thessalonians 2:11) NOTE: "God gives them up" (1:24), "God gives them up" (1:26).... </li>
<li>Impenitence - (Romans 1:28-32) When man rejects God and begins to reap what they have sown, they most often do not repent, but angrily shake their fists in the face of God (cf. Revelation 9:20,21). This is the last stage of a human society, a civilization in decline, facing collapse under the weight of their own depravity and rebellion against God. As with Pharaoh, there comes a point when the hearts of the leaders and the people are hardened and will soften no more -- and God then hardens their heart, for they are fit for nothing but judgment and condemnation.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Fourth, because humans <i>are </i>getting worse. Some might seek to contradict me. They would say "there is nothing new under the sun," or "the same sins being committed now have always been around." This line of reasoning is faulty. The Apostle Paul leaves little doubt about conditions in the future when he warns Timothy, "<i>But evil men shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived</i>" (2 Timothy 3:13). I think this statement refers not only to individuals in the immediate sense who, as they indulge in sin become less and less restrained, but also to societies and civilizations, as Paul explained in Romans 1. Not only <i>can</i> it happen, it <i>is</i> happening -- in our time, in this day, in our nation and across the entire globe.<br />
<br />
Fifth, because the "Church" is failing -- and will fail. This is the one that gets me in the most trouble with the most people. Not just the Keswick proponents, but just about everyone else. Biblically, however, the "Church," at least in its human, institutional, organizational form on earth, has failed, and will fail to complete the Mission God has set before it. I have long called this the "made-with-hands" Church. Too often we have "sanctified" our denominations, and glorified our organizations and exalted our edifices when Paul rightly taught that "<i>God that made the world and all things therein, seeing He is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands</i>" (Acts 17:24). Paul (yes, Paul) further explained in Hebrews that "<i>when Christ appeared as the high priest of good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation.... For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us</i>" (Hebrews 9:11,24).<br />
<br />
Paul warns Timothy, "<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; </i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron</i>" (I Timothy 4:1,2). In his second letter to Timothy, Paul went even farther in describing the kind of failures the Church would see in "the last days": "</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; text-align: -webkit-auto;">For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><i>And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" </i>(2 Timothy 4:3,4)<i>.</i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> But Paul was not alone, as Peter also warned the disciples, "</span><span style="background-color: #f9fdff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves" </i>(2 Peter 2:1). Peter goes on to tell them, "</span></span><span style="background-color: #f9fdff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires" </i>(2 Peter 3:3). Jude, the half-brother of Jesus also noted that "</span></span><span style="background-color: #f9fdff; color: #001320; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires" </i>(Jude 1:18). </span></span><br />I won't take the time to illustrate or explain a distinction between the "Universal Church," or the "Invisible Church," or the "Body of Christ," which is spiritual, and is composed of every truly born again believer, and the "Institutional Church," and the "Visible Church," or the many varied denominations, sects and local churches that compose the temporal organization that is made up of members as defined by each of the groups as they see fit -- some true to scripture, many not -- and all composed of, as Jesus referred to them in His Parable, "<i>Wheat and Tares</i>" ( Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). It is worthy of noting, however, that the "made-with-hands" Church fails. The Church fails because the temporal institution is composed of humans, corrupted by humans, and manned by depraved humans. Even the greatest of saints have warring within them two natures, and this battle continues until the day he or she passes from this life and stands in the presence of the Lord, glorified and freed from the very presence of sin (Galatians 5:16-26; Romans 7:14-25).<br />
<br />
I must note at this point that my "pessimism" about the Church -- and about humanity -- is not a full "fatalism," as some might believe. I have not said that victories cannot be won. I have not said that we cannot see miraculous things happen, or that obstacles, sins, and many other problems, issues and handicaps cannot be dealt with in our Christian walk. I have found, however, that there is only one "secret" to "living the Christian Life." If you want to "live for God," DIE. Die to self. Paul gave us the one and only formula for "victory" when he said, "<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" </i>(Galatians 2:20). The "victories" that come in life are completely of HIM. The failures are completely ours -- because we fail to plug in to HIS power. </span></span><br />
<br />
I also won't take the time to draw the eschatological/prophetic implications of my statement that the Church is failing and will fail. I will leave that for another time. Suffice it to say that our inability, even with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, available in full measure to fill us that we might walk in His power (Ephesians 5:18), we still fail. We fail to achieve unity, to fulfill the Great Commission, to observe the Great Commandments, to be salt and light.... To simply do those things that God has called us to do, as individuals, and thus as a collective.<br />
<br />
Sixth, because life confirms scripture. I would like to say that my own experience in life contradicts the view that I outline here from Scripture, but instead, what I have seen in my life <i><b>confirms</b></i> Scripture. When I read of Ananias and Sapphira, who sought not only to lie to Peter and the Jerusalem Church, but to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11), I can say I have known some Ananias' and Sapphira's. When I read about Hymaneas and Alexander making shipwreck of their faith (I Timothy 1:18-20), I can sadly say I have known those who have become "apostate," and left behind the faith they once knew. When Paul tells Timothy that "Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10a), I can sense his deep sadness, because I have been forsaken by those who chose the things of the world over loyalty to the Lord, to His Word, to His Servants. And when I read the final words of Paul, testifying that "at my first defense [before Nero] no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them" (2 Timothy 4:16), I have been left alone when "all forsook me," with only the exceptional "Luke" who stayed with me, and the Timothy and Mark who rushed to me for ministry in my time of need. They were the exception, not the rule.<br /><br />I don't pretend to say that my experience is anything more than anecdotal -- but it is my experience. Apparently, my experience has been shared by millions of others, to a greater or lesser extent, in the "made-with-hands" Churches of the world. When one can say that they have been more mistreated by those within "the Church" than those in "the world," What kind of witness is that to the world? What does that say of "the Church"? To me, it says, "The 'Church' has failed."<br /><br />Finally, then, one might conclude with the words of the Lord: "<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The things which are impossible with men.... </i>I am pessimistic about the ability of mankind to effect any kind of positive change in society or human life. I am pessimistic about the ability of even redeemed mankind -- those who are "saved," who have been redeemed and are a part of the Church -- to make lasting, effective and positive changes to this world. Why? Because the world is currently given to the rule of "<i>the prince of this world</i>" (John 12:31), and though believers have at their disposal all the power to defeat him through Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20), they do not call upon it, avail themselves of it, nor experience the potential for total victory that could be theirs. In fact, it is more likely that the redeemed will be "prone to wander," in the words of the old hymn, and fall back into their worldly ways, even while in the Church -- something that Paul, John, Peter and Jude had to deal with in the epistles of the New Testament often.<br /><br />From the time of the Reformation until near the mid-20th century, the predominant eschatological view (view of the end times) was known as "Postmillennialism." Postmillennialism had a very positive faith and confidence in the ability of redeemed humans to bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth. This view basically affirmed the idea that the Church would expand through evangelism -- and where necessary colonialism -- and eventually the world would become "Christianized." That is, the majority of People on earth would become believers in Christ -- and thus the Church would "bring in" or "initiate" the Kingdom of God on earth. The belief was that the Church would reign over earth during the "Kingdom Age" (euphemistically call "The Millennium" - though some believed it was a literal 1,000 years), and only at the END of that Kingdom Age, when Satan came to earth to directly attack the Church, would Jesus literally return to fight for the Church, receive His kingdom from the Church, and create eternity future -- the New Heavens and New Earth.<br /><br />It was this view that drove the Puritans to cross the Atlantic and settle in Plymouth Colony -- to "create the Kingdom of God on earth." It was this view that drove many of the Founders in the Rebellion against King George III -- "We have no King but Jesus!" It was this view that compelled the Abolitionists in the early Republic to fight for an end to chattel Slavery, and the Temperance movement to fight against legal alcohol. Both succeeded -- slavery was abolished in 1865 with the 13th Amendment; Alcohol was made illegal in 1919 [Prohibition] with the 18th Amendment, but repealed in 1933 with the 21st Amendment. This view of Christian "triumphalism" was behind the great migration west, "Manifest Destiny" which was the belief that we [the United States -- or at least Anglo-Protestant Christians] were to rule the entire continent -- which meant the Native Americans had to go -- to reservations or to the grave (in the name of Jesus and the United States Government, of course). It was this concept that promoted the "Monroe Doctrine," forbidding any European powers from colonizing any lands in the Americas after the Administration of James Monroe. It was This ideal that Teddy Roosevelt pushed when we went to war with Spain in 1898 -- and became an "empire" for all intents and purposes, conquering Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, and Guam -- for the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba -- something the Spanish didn't even do. And it was this dream that Woodrow Wilson seized upon when, upon reelection, he broke his promise to keep us out of the "Great War" in Europe, and committed American forces to fight in what he dubbed, "The War to End All Wars." Why? Because he was sure that when this war ended, his dream for a "League of Nations" would be the blueprint for establishing the "Kingdom of God" and "Christianizing" the Earth. But, Woodrow Wilson was wrong. Terribly wrong.<br /><br />In reality, "the War to End All Wars" was merely "strike one" for the grand optimistic view of redeemed human's abilities to establish the "Kingdom of God." "Strike Two" came in 1929 with the crash of the stock market and the following Great Depression. And "Strike Three" came between 1939 and 1941, depending on where you lived on the earth. In Europe, it was 1939. In Asia, it was 1939 -- or even a decade or more earlier, if you ask the Chinese and Koreans, who had been fighting conquest by the Japanese Empire for years. December 7th, 1941 was the date of death for most Postmillennialism in the United States. It's very difficult to remain an optimist about humanity -- even redeemed humanity -- when 25-30 million people die in the WWI, the Great Depression leaves at least 25% of people without jobs, homeless, unable to purchase necessities, hunger and starvation in some countries becomes common, especially Germany. Then, 45-50 million die in WWII, which ends with the detonation of the first atomic weapons, and includes the Holocaust -- the murder of over 6 million Jews, nearly a third of the world population.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the Mid-20th Century, most Protestants, Evangelicals in particular had adopted a decidedly pessimistic view of the ability of humanity to effect lasting and real change on the earth, via politics or other social means. In fact, in many cases Evangelicals and Fundamentalists took that withdrawal and "separation from society, culture and the Body Politic too far. Most within the orthodox church did realize, however, the reality that no theology, no doctrine of anthropology, could rightfully claim humans had the ability to bring in the Kingdom of God. Postmillennialism withered. Optimism about the ability of humans, even redeemed humans, is unwarranted. It is unsupported in Scripture, in experience and in history.<br /><br />But, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The things which are impossible with men </i><b style="font-style: italic;">are possible with God. </b>(Luke 18:27).</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">THIS is why I am a pessimistic OPTIMIST. Which I will explain in future post.<br /><br />JDW<br /></span></span></div>
</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-43731028530554181252012-03-08T20:14:00.001-05:002012-03-08T20:17:02.132-05:00Why I Haven't Written a Book About Bible ProphecySome have asked me in recent months why I don't write a book. Several have suggested a book about current events of various kinds, from a Christian perspective. Others have asked if I'd thought about writing about my past experiences, trials and troubles when I parted ways with a Christian denomination in which I served for almost 17 years. I'm keen to write -- and actually finish -- one or more of the novels I've started over the years! Still others have encouraged me to write about bible prophecy and eschatology, seeing the signs of the times and the days in which we live.<br />
<br />
First, I'd love to write a book -- and finish it. In fact, I have in the past -- years ago. An expositional commentary on Daniel. Out of print now. I self published at the time, and I wouldn't dream of re-publishing without an extensive re-write. But, I did it. <br />
<br />
Second, the biggest thing I lack is time. I am currently teaching at two different colleges, and I am working on completing another Master's degree, this one in History. I MAY (it is by no means a certainly) go on and complete a doctorate after that. Much of my time is tied up, then, in reading, research, and so forth having to do with either teaching my classes or taking a class. It leaves me little time to do more than just pop up on Facebook and fire a parting shot on a given news story or article that catches my eye. Even so, I still jot some thoughts, a scene, a page or two down toward an eventual "book." <br />
<br />
There are several reasons that give me pause with regard in particularly about writing a book on the subject of bible prophecy. First, well, it's pretty much all been said. By saying, "it's all been said," I mean that the market is saturated with books by ministers and Christian scholars and sensationalist preachers all chipping in their opinions about what this scripture means or what the interpretation of that passage is. And those who hold to my particular view of prophecy in general have written their views, from the sublime to the ridiculous. <br />
<br />
Additionally, I don't seek to sensationalize the details of prophecy. The nature of the future is fantastic enough without undue speculation or sensationalism. Yet, in our day, people seem to look for the sensational. It just seems if there isn't a heap of sensation and speculation, its just not bible prophecy.<br />
But that's not the point of what God is doing in the future, and looking at prophecy is not about our interpretations and how they relate to current events so much as it is the glory of God and how HE is involved in bringing about His program on earth and in the entire universe.<br />
<br />
Finally, the view I hold has fallen out of favor over the last couple of decades. Most Christian Scholars regard it as uneducated nonsense or even heresy. Most secular scholars look at it as outright religious superstition and the rantings of crazy people.....Come to think of it, many of the Christian scholars agree with THEM. So for this and other reasons, my views simply aren't prominent, and won't appeal to most people. <br />
<br />
I'll say a bit more about the view I take in the next post. This will at least explain where I'm coming from -- and why I don't think it's the time to write a book about bible prophecy and eschatology. My reasons might make a little more sense then. Blessings......J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-3225143475910309512012-02-24T00:35:00.002-05:002012-02-24T00:35:42.082-05:00We Have Tolerated Afghanistan and Muslims Long Enough<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, the US Army inadvertently burned some Q’uran’s in
Afghanistan. This, of course, has led to
days of protests, riots and violence among the natives there, and was also the
reason that two of our soldiers were shot – in the back – and killed by a member
of the Afghan army. An
army, I might add, that we have trained and protected, equipped and fed for a
decade. And still, our commanding
General, globalist lapdog that he is, runs right out there and kneels before
the inflamed Muslim street and apologizes.<br />
<br />
Fine. Okay. That’s the way that want it. Big surprise.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I for one am sick and tired of placating these inhuman
monsters over their "holy book" and their "prophet" and
their "religion" and their perceptions and sensitivities. Hey – here’s some news to the Muslims in the
world from REAL Americans, not the son of a Muslim in the White House. <br />
<br />
You are NOT in charge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will NOT bow to you – or to your moon god; and we don’t
care if the apologizer-in-chief does so or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are DONE with your ungratefulness. We’ve given you billions, trained you,
protected you, kept you safe from fanatics even crazier than the majority, and
we get no thanks. The reality is, you
hate us even more. You shoot us in the
back, curse us, resent us, and swear Jihad against us even more vehemently. <br />
<br />
Of course, it’s a fact that you didn’t ask us for our help. We, in our benevolent and humanitarian
arrogance decided we would “help” you.
We would “rescue” you from your medieval cultural backwardness and
tribal hatreds. We decided to “spare you”
from the great evil of the Taliban and al-Queda who hid in your midst. Surely, we thought, the majority of Afghans
can’t believe in nor support what these two groups have done? 9/11,
7/7, terror attacks that have killed thousands – no! The Afghans, whom we aided to overthrow the
Soviet invaders 25 years ago, couldn’t possibly want these people among them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A decade later, a trillion dollars thrown down that
rat-hole, and the Afghans are still shooting our soldiers in the back over a
few pages of ink on paper. There is no
escape for them from their unenlightened, backward, hate-filled
religio-ideology. <br />
<br />
How about this?<br />
<br />
When Muslims apologize for intentionally confiscating ALL Christian’s Bibles as
they enter a Muslim Country and destroying them, THEN we will apologize for
accidentally destroying a few Q’urans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Muslims apologize for all the Christian Churches they
have burned down across the Middle East (and the world), we will CONSIDER not
bombing the crap out of every Mosque and Madrassah where Jihadists shoot at our
soldiers and hide their weapons and munitions believing the Americans would
NEVER “desecrate” their “holy place.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Muslims can’t even handle editorial cartoons about
their “prophet” and kill people due to what they draw or right, how do they
expect to be accepted as a part of the civilized world? Truth is, they DON’T. Of course, they are accepted by the son of
the Kenyan national – a Muslim, by the way (the Kenyan national I mean) – and his
followers, but they are NOT accepted by those who understand and uphold the
foundations and principles of Western Civilization. To receive Muslims as civilized nations is to
take a serpent into the bosom of the international community. It would be the certain death of Western
Civilization. <br />
<br />
Correction – it IS the death of Western Civilization. We are surely dying the death of a serpents
strike, and it’s not even by a direct or solid bite. We’re just being bled, the poison slowly
working its way through out our system. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Afghan President Hamid Karzai will never apologize for the
killing of our soldiers, though he insists on our apology for the inadvertent burning
of a few Q’uran’s. He will talk big,
rail against us, snuggle up to the Taliban leadership hiding in Pakistan – and surreptitiously
supported by extreme elements of the Pakistani Government – and wait until we
leave. Then he will become just another
enemy, another massive waste of US Taxpayers money.<br />
<br />
What could have been done right has been done wrong. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the initial days after 9/11, many in the world feared
that President George W. Bush would nuke the nation or nations found to have
harbored and supported the terrorists that carried out those devastating
attacks. It was rumored that this was
the first “gut reaction” Bush had regarding what to do to those behind the
attacks. Looking back, hindsight is
20/20.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-1111611936576277252012-02-04T02:20:00.002-05:002012-02-04T02:20:36.367-05:00The Whole Duty of Man<br />
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Ecclesiastes 12</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17525" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17526" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17527" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17528" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17529" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17530" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17531" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17532" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17533" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17534" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17535" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17536" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17537" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17538" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-42204870719338948742012-02-02T13:35:00.000-05:002012-02-02T13:35:10.945-05:00The Value of Diligence<br />
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Ecclesiastes 11</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17515" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17516" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17517" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17518" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17519" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17520" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17521" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17522" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17523" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17524" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-33280826529035721912012-01-29T21:53:00.000-05:002012-01-29T21:53:56.198-05:00More Treasure Mined from the Vanity of Life<br />
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Ecclesiastes 10</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17495" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17496" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17497" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17498" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17499" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17500" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17501" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17502" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17503" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17504" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17505" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17506" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17507" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17508" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17509" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17510" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17511" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17512" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17513" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">19</sup>A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17514" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">20</sup>Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-80754080050831478882012-01-27T02:44:00.000-05:002012-01-27T02:44:03.252-05:00Death and Depravity in a world of Vanity<br />
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Ecclesiastes 9</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17477" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17478" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17479" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17480" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17481" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17482" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17483" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17484" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17485" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17486" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17487" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17488" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17489" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17490" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17491" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17492" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17493" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17494" style="font-size: 0.75em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-44354983166295486612012-01-24T23:24:00.000-05:002012-01-24T23:28:02.279-05:00Enduring the Vanities of Men and Life<br />
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Ecclesiastes 8</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17460" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17461" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17462" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17463" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17464" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17465" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17466" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17467" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17468" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17469" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17470" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17471" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17472" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17473" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17474" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17475" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17476" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-78670054086334230072012-01-22T20:09:00.000-05:002012-01-22T20:09:59.387-05:00Proverbs for a Vain World<br />
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Ecclesiastes 7</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17431" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17432" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17433" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17434" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17435" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17436" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17437" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17438" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17439" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17440" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17441" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17442" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17443" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17444" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17445" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17446" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17447" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17448" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17449" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">19</sup>Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17450" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">20</sup>For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17451" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">21</sup>Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17452" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">22</sup>For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17453" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">23</sup>All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17454" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">24</sup>That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17455" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">25</sup>I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17456" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">26</sup>And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17457" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">27</sup>Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17458" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">28</sup>Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17459" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">29</sup>Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-22534243519628551672012-01-21T19:27:00.000-05:002012-01-21T19:27:14.267-05:00The Value of Longevity, Labor and Children<br />
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Ecclesiastes 6</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17419" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17420" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17421" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17422" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17423" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17424" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17425" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17426" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17427" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17428" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17429" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17430" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-16955022110673630622012-01-20T18:09:00.000-05:002012-01-20T18:09:55.360-05:00The Vanity of Riches for the Sake of Riches<br />
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Ecclesiastes 5</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17399" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17400" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17401" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17402" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17403" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17404" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17405" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17406" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17407" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17408" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17409" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17410" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17411" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17412" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17413" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17414" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17415" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17416" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17417" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">19</sup>Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17418" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">20</sup>For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-78160439566473670052012-01-19T00:19:00.000-05:002012-01-19T00:19:39.043-05:00The Futility of Envy, Travail, and Oppression<br />
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Ecclesiastes 4</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17383" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17384" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17385" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17386" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17387" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17388" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17389" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17390" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17391" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17392" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17393" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17394" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17395" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17396" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17397" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17398" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-62901106265872516142012-01-17T13:35:00.002-05:002012-01-17T13:35:21.899-05:00A Time to Every Purpose<br />
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Ecclesiastes 3</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17361" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17362" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17363" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17364" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17365" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17366" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17367" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17368" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17369" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17370" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17371" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17372" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17373" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17374" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17375" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17376" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17377" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17378" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17379" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">19</sup>For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17380" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">20</sup>All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17381" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">21</sup>Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17382" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">22</sup>Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-30288165243999355872012-01-16T18:45:00.000-05:002012-01-16T18:45:48.236-05:00The Vanity of Possessions and Pleasures<br />
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Ecclesiastes 2</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17335" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17336" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17337" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17338" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17339" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17340" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17341" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17342" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17343" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17344" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17345" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17346" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17347" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17348" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17349" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17350" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17351" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17352" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17353" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">19</sup>And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17354" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">20</sup>Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17355" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">21</sup>For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17356" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">22</sup>For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17357" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">23</sup>For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17358" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">24</sup>There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17359" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">25</sup>For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17360" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">26</sup>For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-46740788710728950142012-01-15T22:17:00.001-05:002012-01-15T22:17:43.487-05:00All is Vanity<br />
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Ecclesiastes 1</h4>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17317" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">1</sup>The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17318" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">2</sup>Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17319" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">3</sup>What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17320" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">4</sup>One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17321" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">5</sup>The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17322" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">6</sup>The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17323" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">7</sup>All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17324" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">8</sup>All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17325" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">9</sup>The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17326" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">10</sup>Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17327" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">11</sup>There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17328" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">12</sup>I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17329" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">13</sup>And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17330" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">14</sup>I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17331" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">15</sup>That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17332" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">16</sup>I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17333" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">17</sup>And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.</div>
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-KJV-17334" style="font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: text-top;">18</sup>For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.</div>J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17411047.post-30132759227411024402009-01-21T14:34:00.002-05:002009-01-21T14:38:36.908-05:00MY PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMAToday, January 20th, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States. <br /><br />Barack Obama won an impressive electoral victory on November 4th, 2008. He put together a brilliant campaign. He is a master orator. President-elect Obama just plain “whooped” John McCain in the election, as we say down South.<br /><br />There are things I actually admire about Barack Obama. He is, by all accounts, a devoted and loving family man. How can anyone look at his two daughters and his wife Michelle and not acknowledge that? And unlike the photo ops we all witnessed of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990’s, the smiles and laughs that Barack and Michelle share seem quite genuine.<br /><br />I must admit I like Barack Obama’s shrewd political skills. After winning the election, he almost immediately named two of his former political opponents to fill posts in his cabinet, in addition to his Vice President, also a former rival. He effectively removed most known obstacles to his re-nomination four years from now. I think that’s shrewd, and smart.<br /><br />Barack Obama also shows a particular gift for “measured answers” when being interviewed. As an orator, he almost never misses a beat. He is confident, visionary and connects easily with “the masses.” When he is being interviewed, on the other hand, and he’s confronted with a question that could make things a little sticky, he is very measured in his response. He rarely just throws out an answer. He is deliberate, he is slow, he is vague. Don’t get me wrong – that makes me incredibly nervous. As a political and ideological adversary, I find it dangerous. But I recognize it as a “gift” well suited to his aspirations.<br /><br />More than any admiration I might have for the new President, however, is my deep and abiding respect for the United States Constitution. That venerable document has, since 1791, set the standard for how the “transfer of power” from one government to the next is handled. This election is no different. This transition is no different. Today, we as a nation inaugurate Barack Obama as President, just as prescribed by the Constitution. Our nation has in the past inaugurated George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and 38 others before him in just the same manner. <br /><br />“We the People” have spoken. That it may be an error does not enter into the equation, not at this point. The next four years will determine that. The duty – and the privilege – of every Christian (and I hope every citizen), including me, is to pray for President Obama. I will continue to do so, just as I did for President George W. Bush in the past 8 years. I will NOT stoop to the gutter level of those Leftists who hated George W. Bush, Constitutional principles, and Conservatives in general, so much that they never prayed for, supported, liked, worked with or were willing to listen to George W. Bush. Their blind hatred is neither born of, nor will it sustain, our liberties. They do not understand the Constitution, nor the system our Founders gave us.<br /><br />So, please don’t read into this that I have had an “epiphany,” or that I’ve been “converted” to Obamaism. Au Contraire! I am weary. I am weary of President Obama’s ideology. I am weary of President Obama’s opposition to the right to life, and his apparent support of various “alternative lifestyles” agendas. I dread his apparent commitment to a large, intrusive, socialist style of central government. I am deeply troubled by many of his past – and present – associations. I am fearful of his foreign policy and national security plans. I shudder at how he might “support” – or fail to support – our ally Israel. And I find his disregard for understanding the Constitution as our Founders intended chilling.<br /><br />But, those are concerns for a different day. Tomorrow we will return to the process of deliberation and debate. Tomorrow we will clash in the realm of competing principles and ideals. Tomorrow, we may come to the place that resisting the political powers-that-be in favor of the Constitution is our only option. But today, Barack Obama is my President. Today, I am praying for him, and for our nation. And come what may, I will continue to do so….<br /><br />JDW<br />1/20/2009J. Dale Weaver, M.Div., M.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04269513436434719612noreply@blogger.com0