Modern Christians lament the sixteenth century Copernican Shift which initiated the reformulation of not just cosmology but epistemology and more fundamental questions such as meaning, teleology, and to what extent truth can be ascertained. If man and the Earth he inhabits is not the centre of the universe, then just what does that say?
We know what the materialists have done with this and we can reject their minimalist and painfully ridiculous (and increasingly fundamentalist) views out of hand. It is also view that reckons all of life and existence as meaningless. Meaning is a transcendent concept and their fundamentalist materialism will not allow for it. Nihilism is the only honest philosophical outcome of such a vacuous system.
One can understand how and why so many Christians have tried to cling to a kind of geo-centrism - even while abandoning it in terms of cosmography proper. In the perceived crisis of our day, some have even embraced the folly of renewing the argument for an actual geo-centric or Ptolemaic model.
And yet the aforementioned celestial angle (as it were) might also provide some insight into this question. The Earth is the theatre of grace and redemption but its seemingly unremarkable location (if such a term applies to the universe), and its seeming insignificance testify to the elective wisdom and grace of God, and is something of an affront to the celestial powers - so often described in the Scriptures in connection with the stars and planets. Is this mere metaphor? I don't think so but clearly many contemporary 'conservative' Christians are embarrassed by this suggestion - which again suggests a rather stunning and elusive dynamic. The fact that they are the children of the Enlightenment is revealed when such questions are raised. Couple this with an overwhelming desire for social standing - and a horror at being reckoned 'foolish', there is an evident zeal to reject such questions out of hand.
It should also be noted that we are here speaking of the 'angelic' realm but there are clearly orders that range well beyond what we normally consider as 'angels'. Angelic is a catch-all term, generally understood but somewhat misleading.
Reflecting on this cosmological angle is rather interesting in light of these other questions concerning limited epistemology and the like. There is a kind of human insignificance you might say (think of the lost) and yet it does not produce the aforementioned nihilism that is the inevitable result of materialism. Apart from Christ this may be so - an incomprehensible and meaningless universe and existence, but in Christ everything is changed and eschatologically renewed - experienced in the 'now' by means of the Spirit.
The Incarnation certainly changes this question, and the Kingdom of Christ is also the Kingdom of Heaven or as it is sometimes described a New Heavens and New Earth.
This suggests a cosmic reordering at the eschaton - and yet (as just stated) it is already a reality known to us (Christians) by means of the Spirit. Modern Dominionism and especially those who argue for eschatological continuity resist this and downplay the destruction Peter speaks of 2 Peter 3. Are they also upset by the seeming futility of it all? Does this somehow make them feel better about the world, its labours, and its fruits?
And so while the Incarnation changes the equation and gives the insignificant Earth (cosmologically speaking) a special place - it's not this Earth (of this present evil age) that is important (as it were) but the New Earth that is to come wherein righteousness dwells. Dominionism's attempt to suggest that New Testament reconciliation means the repairing of this world is missing the fact that the reconciliation is tied to Christ's role as saviour or judge. He is one or the other to everyone and we either gain access to the True Eternal Earth through His blood or we are part of the judgment on this Earth which comes in the form of destructive fire. The rhetoric often seems to suggest reconciliation is restricted to positive terms - all will be fixed and well. But that's not the picture that is presented and they know it.
Reconciliation can in one sense refer to the making of peace, a kind of restoration. But it also means a reckoning, leveling, a balancing of the books as it were. Christ is the Reconciler - the standard by which all will be judged. This more nuanced and yet broader definition is ignored - almost deliberately it would seem.
But even this line of discussion (which lessens the centrality of 'this' Earth) is clouded when one considers that the Mountain of God, the Mountain of Assembly or Council (Har-Magedon) was placed in Eden. That suggests a prominence of place regarding the Earth. I cannot say, but one wonders just what changed with the Fall - for my part I lean toward a sundering of the spirit-flesh existence, something hinted at in the accounts of the resurrected Christ. To live in both realms at once, indeed both realms being unified is (perhaps) one important aspect of what was lost and what he hope to gain in glory - what we experience in earnest by the Spirit even now. What the Fall meant in terms of greater cosmology is unknown - it may have been far more profound than we know, a very reordering of the cosmological realm. On a connected note, we don't really understand what happened in the destruction-recreation event of the Flood, both were prototypes of the Day of the Lord, days of not just death but worlds put to death. They were spiritual-cosmic events, much more than something that can be explained by means of empirical category.
The Ken Ham/hyper-literalist approach while trying to be faithful to the text, engages in what is sometimes a painful reductionism of just what is being said. As I and others have long suggested, it's one of the great ironies of that Fundamentalist school - they embrace a Baconian empiricist epistemology that seeks to be compatible with science but actually wreaks havoc on the Scriptures and produces at times a rather warped exegesis - and often is less than scientific to boot. It's largely a waste of time to try and explain the hydrology of the flood or calculate square footage in explaining how the animals fit in the ark. It was a supernatural event, a miracle in every way. The normal rules of epistemology do not apply. To argue that if science just employed 'right reason' they could figure out the puzzles of the ice sheets, the fossil record, and the enigmas of light, gravity, and time is folly. These questions require the Spirit and the Spirit has not given us the answers. The quest for comprehensive knowledge, the unified theory of science - and even the 'worldview' of some Christians is just another manifestation of the Babel impulse.
Our quite broken and limited epistemology stands in defiance of most Christian historiography and certainly of the philosophical syncretism that's passed off as 'Biblical Worldview'. At best we are in a state of informed ignorance with all our queries ending in mystery. Our only hope is in the revelation of Jesus Christ. We must humbly submit to what is revealed and we do so in faith.
Dominionists continue to promote the straw-man that suggests that if we reject their views then all we're left with is a Church that has no purpose apart from the saving of some souls, plucking some brands from the fire and nothing else.
Though I fail to see that this is some kind of menial or unimportant task, they miss several critical elements. We save souls to be sure but we're primarily here to bear witness and this is the part they completely misunderstand. We defy the world (and the celestial powers governing it) by taking up the cross, and like our master we reject Satan's offer of worldly glory and dominion. How sad that the Dominionists embrace this offer - to their doom we might add.
We witness to the world by condemning it, by announcing the coming doom, by proclaiming the Holy Kingdom of Grace which now is and is to come. We live and set up (as it were) pilgrim colonies or congregations in defiance of the gods of this world, the thrones and principalities who lay claim to these domains. We announce their eschatological defeat. We proclaim the coming of Christ, showing His death till He come as we partake of the tokens of heaven, the mysteries, the Spirit signs and seals of communion and baptism. This is how we wage war, not by carnal means. Why? We are part of a war that is much bigger and of a different nature - and the number of casualties is simply staggering and beyond comprehension, uncounted billions to say the least. And yet in rejecting Christ these lost peoples and nations are actively part of the force waging war against Him. There are no doubt degrees of culpability but the larger point cannot be ignored. And yet (and this is even more difficult to grasp) we are to turn the other cheek and taking up the cross - love our enemies - testifying to the grace that saved us. The warrior ethos being embraced by many Christians today is antithetical to the New Covenant and the Kingdom of Heaven. It is satanic.
We bear witness and therefore by definition are martyrs as the two concepts are entangled in terms of Scripture. That's what we're here to do - the exact opposite of everything the Dominionist project pursues. They have it exactly backwards.
This is also why the message is 'foolishness' to the lost of the world - and apparently these dominionists too. They won't have it. I'm not sure what that says about them. It's not a message that one can 'sell', it's not a message that builds civilisations. It's one that rejects them. They woefully do not understand this.
We are part of this cosmic conflict though we do not have the vantage point of headquarters (HQ) so to speak. We do not have the bird's eye view. We engage in tactics but we are unaware as to what strategy is being employed at present. We know how it will end, but little else. For all we know we may be part of a suicide mission (so to speak) and we embrace it - or we ought to. Dominionism thinks it glorifies God by teaching war in the realm of politics, culture, and even actual military combat. But it teaches worldly war and as such codifies disobedience to the Spirit, to what has been revealed. When called to charge and face death, they cry 'no' - and in defiance they turn to Egypt for help and don Saul's armour in order to score a 'victory'.
This thinking has once again reached a degenerate phase as more and more Christians embrace 'gun culture' and now we even have pastors hawking body armour and the like. They have misunderstood the message of the New Testament, they have misread Scripture on a massive scale.
Our pilgrim assemblies worship, giving glory to God. They are testimonials of the weak overcoming the strong, the foolish making fools of the wise. The lost cannot understand what makes us tick, why we don't chase after the things they do - of course you can't say that with the Dominionists who seek the same power, fame, and fortune as does the world - and as such fall into its ways. We die as sheep going to the slaughter and yet we are more than conquerors. Not even used car salesmen like Joel Osteen or Rick Warren can make that message attractive.
Many know these things but consider that our proclamation is also celestial in scope. It's made not just to the world but to the celestial princes of the kingdoms of this world. Our Kingdom assemblies are like miniaturized Har-Magedons, miniature Divine Councils as our worship is (by the ministry of the Holy Spirit) directly connected to the worship in heaven (Christ is with us and among us) and again this is manifest in the Divine ordinances or sacraments, the holy rites used by God to sanctify us and to proclaim doom to the unrepentant world. The angels are present in some capacity, bearing witness. Or is it rather that we are in their presence? The waters of chaos are broken and the broken body that is the Bread of Heaven is risen, enthroned, and coming as judge.
How very sad it is that Dominionism cannot see beyond the temporal wealth and power it so covets and how tragic (and sickening) that it completely misses (and even mocks) the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the martyr Church throughout history. I am of course not speaking of the 'saints' of Christendom, in many cases the servants of the Babylonian Apostasy and Antichrist. The true tale of Church History has never been written and will not be fully revealed until we are in glory.
It's all rather awesome and exciting just to think about. There's so much more than the rusty coins and dull gems these sad and deceived people pursue. In some ways they are to be more pitied than the lost. Did not our Lord say as much in the gospels when he spoke of the judgment of Capernaum vis-à-vis the likes of Nineveh and Sodom?
And yet there is so much we do not know and will not know until we stand in the presence of our Risen King and Saviour - Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, our Creator and Redeemer.
As for the lost, their story is a sad one. The tragedy of the Fall is beyond our comprehension - another point woefully misunderstood and underestimated by the Dominionist sects. The present revival of Thomism does not give one much encouragement either.
Our hope is not in this world. God's plan evades us. We will know more on that Day and we will praise God's righteous judgments. It will be a day of tears but they will be wiped from our eyes. We will know more I say, but in the end some mystery will remain. Even in glory there will no occasion for pride.
The self-abnegation which is at the heart of piety and faith is unknown to many professing Christians and in fact rejected. Pride in intellect, pride in status and social standing and (for many) the confusion of nationalist pride with piety has deceived them. In keeping with a pattern that has plagued the history of the Church, they are subject to strong delusion and have believed lies.