Building the Kingdom through residential architecture?

Here’s a Colson commentary from the other day. It’s a great illustration of how these folks think. It clearly displays the assumptions of Dominionist thought and hints at the frightening extent to which these people would flex their muscles if given unlimited power. This can be seen clearly even when it comes to a seemingly innocuous topic like residential architecture.

Here’s the link to the original post and my comments are interspersed below.

Michele Bachmann and Dominionism

Here’s the transcript of an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air Programme from a couple of days ago. It is rather interesting and illustrative because it demonstrates how Dominionism has crept into the American political scene. Does Michele Bachmann know who Abraham Kuyper is? Probably not…but his theology is shaping her and the entire contemporary political debate.

Sacralism and the state of things Part 4

High Places, apostasy, and no Reformation on the horizon...but it might be a good thing, if we reckon things as God does.

 TD Gordon, a man I respect and often agree with (though he might not reciprocate) spoke years ago about the fact that the cultural climate in Europe just prior to the Reformation helped usher in that era of reform. Now I don't get excited anymore about the Reformation, but I can appreciate his point. The revival of learning generated at the end of the Middle Ages and the new learning (both good and bad) brought about by the Renaissance helped prepare the way for the Reformation. People were reading books printed on the newly invented printing press, and there was a revival of interest in the classics and a desire to question the Medieval way of understanding things.

While we have new and exciting technological innovations in our day that seem to be conducive to an even greater period of learning and investigation...the reality is... it's not happening.

People (at least in America) seem to be more uninformed and undiscerning as ever. In another post I mentioned how I was startled to talk to a professing Christian college student who didn't even know what the Berlin Wall was, nor had ever heard of the Cold War. She knew all about the Casey Anthony trial but had never heard of the Iranian Revolution.

Sacralism and the state of things Part 3: Dominionist Economics and Empire, the Cold War, The War on Terror, its implications for the Church and society.

So what to do?

I'll admit, it's a bit discouraging when I look at the contemporary ecclesiastical scene. I'm even discouraged looking at the news. They should be unrelated, but they're not....

Camouflaged Sacralism

While it may sound strange to some, we attend an annual event near our home. It's a World War II re-enactment. I'm not into re-enactors too much. I have no desire to do it, but sometimes it can be interesting. I like to get my children out and have them experience things. I'm not afraid to push them a bit as long as I'm there holding their hand. We talk about it. I don't believe in a libertine go with the flow mentality, but I also don't agree with the shelter and hide approach.

Sacralism and the state of things Part 2- Of course the Norway killer was a Christian...at least the way Sacralism defines it

There are strong Romantic sentiments reigning within Christian circles today. They glory in the heritage of Christendom, the West.

Upon closer examination they would truly find that much of what they love is really not ancient but only as old as the 19th century. And the 'Christian' culture they venerate was naught but a veneer and one easily broken in the 20th century by a variety of forces. The 21st century is proving to be an era of payback and backlash. The people (the lost) who for so long were oppressed by this power...which both secularism and Sacralism wrongly define as Christian... are rising up and we're entering into an era of retribution and reprisal. Obviously the homosexuals are leading the charge at the moment. It will pass, but not anytime soon.

Anti-Wisdom Part 2

 The issues at hand:

Transformationalism Politicizes the Gospel, leading to agenda-driven thought, and often a complete rejection of genuine discussion and investigation. Is this wisdom applied or utter moral foolishness?

Does Dominion-driven Worldview teaching promote Christian wisdom in this world? If it's a false theology is it even promoting a Christian Worldview at all?

Is the true Biblical Worldview something for regenerate believers or something for societal transformation?

These are some questions to keep in mind as you read through these posts. These are key questions I'm continually asking as I interact with what I believe to be a erroneous theology, a false system masquerading as Christianity.

So continuing the previous discussion, how can we be wise, and does Christian wisdom mean all issues are reduced to simple categories?

Constantinianism and the state of things--- Westernism, Sacralism's Deadly Third Category, Francis Schaeffer and why we don't need to save Leonardo.

First, a quick revisit of some basic concepts....

As we've stated many times, Sacralism redefines Christianity. Biblically we can speak in terms of the individual being redeemed and joined to Christ. We can speak of the collective body of Christians....the Church of Jesus Christ....His body.

Sacralism adds a third extra-Biblical category, that of Christian nation, culture, or civilization. Of course the Bible speaks in terms of a Christian nation, but this is applicable to the Church, the Kingdom of Priests.

Nowhere do we find any notion of a nation entering into covenant with the Almighty. The one exception to this, Old Testament Israel was initiated by God and He set the terms of their covenant relationship. Moab, Edom, Babylon...none of these nations could become Yahwist or Jehovah-ite nations. If they wanted to convert.....they became Jews, which meant abandoning their nations and entering into the fold of the covenant people. They didn't transform their nation into Judeo-covenantal states, they left their nations and became Jews.

In the New Testament the holy nation, the Israel of God (Galatians 6.16) is the Church composed of all nations and peoples. They retain their earthly citizenship but enter into and participate in the heavenly kingdom.

Sacralism adds an additional tier (a supra-collective category) that cannot be located or extrapolated from Scripture. It is derived from philosophical speculation stemming from a wrong theological method and a grave misunderstanding of the Kingdom if not the entire message of the New Covenant.

A note on the glossary entries

The previous four posts are simply definitions that are being linked in the glossary. It's not my intention to invent wild sounding and super technical sounding terminologies. We're talking about complex and nuanced concepts that are hard to explain in a few paragraphs and even harder to reduce to one term. Many of these overlap and are variations of some of the same recurring theological themes. Not everyone will be interested in these concepts, and that's fine. But some will be, and as I said, they regularly recur in these writings. This way...for my sake, I can refer someone in a comment to the glossary or even allude to it in a quick post.

For years my close friends and I have employed these concepts in our discussions...usually by referring to this or that 'thing,' but that's not very helpful to people reading these posts. If I said, 'you know...how Catholics do that thing with the visible church...'

It would mean something to a few people, but most readers would have no idea. These somewhat painful glossary entries are an attempt to at least categorize some of these concepts. I worked on these last night and realized they’re too long to place in the glossary itself, so I’m putting them up as posts and linking them from the glossary.

So if you're interested, by all means. If not, then just ignore them. They're just part of the resource/reference sections for the blog.

Glossary Links- Perspectival Soteriology

Perspectival Soteriology

Others use the term Perspectivalism, and I'm certainly not advocating their theological position, but it's not entirely without validity. While I don't accept the oft used Triads and other perspective-'frame'-works, I do acknowledge that a concept of perspective helps us to make sense of passages of Scripture and concepts that seem to conflict.

Glossary Links- Hyper-Eschatologized Ecclesiology

Hyper-Eschatologized Ecclesiology and its symptom or fruit...Ecclesiastical Apathy-

These are high sounding terms for a concept that's really not too difficult. This phenomenon occurs in several different traditions and factions and yet it certainly is not enshrined in any confession.

Glossary Links- Hermeneutical Compression and the Analogy of Scripture

Hermeneutical Compression-

This is but another way of describing one or some of the various nuances that result from theological systemic thought and commitments when applied to Revelation.

Glossary Links- Sacralist Collective

 

Sacralist Collective-

The Bible deals with individuals and a collective body... the Church. The Church of course can be viewed in terms of local congregations or broadly speaking as the Church Militant (here on earth) and the Church Triumphant (the Eschatological Church). But to simplify, the Bible deals with individuals and the various categorical modes of the Church.

 Sacralism adds an additional layer which more or less ends up dominating their theology. This tier could be described as the Cultural or Civilizational layer or stratum. Historically this is referred to as Christendom or even sometimes placed within the broader category of Western Civilization. Nowhere does the Bible speak of Christian cultures or nations that are somehow sanctified and structured according to covenantal directives. This concept is derived and driven by philosophical necessity stemming from some basic theological foundations. The argument here is that this concept is not only flawed and un-Biblical, but quite destructive. Much of the contemporary language concerning Dominion and Worldview stems from this assumption. In addition this false premise establishes the framework for the so-called Biblical view of the arts, sciences, etc... views not derived from Scripture, but from philosophical deduction.