One World or Three worlds?

Progressives put Christianity in a box and Christians have grown comfortable in it.

Dateline April 28, in the Year of our Lord 2023

Ben Carson and Kyle Mann are speaking at the ACCS Repairing the Ruins conference this summer in Pittsburgh.  They join Rosaria Butterfield and Al Mohler, as well as a cast of classical educators including Douglas Wilson and George Grant as plenary speakers.  And, of course, we have over 70 other speakers on classical Christian education. (See the list here.)  We select our plenary speakers because they have something to say in this cultural moment that is of interest to classical Christian enthusiasts.  Since retiring from politics, Carson has turned his focus toward education.   Mann is at “The Babylon Bee” and will speak about the importance of Christian art in culture.   Drs. Butterfield and Mohler speak regularly about Christian worldview and culture.  So why this lineup?  Classical Christian education, far from an anachronism, should have a transformative influence on culture – including religion and politics.  This influence is rooted in the very nature of paideia.   But, some wonder if we are choosing political sides, and if that is appropriate.

A friend of mine, Dr. Scott Yenor, places CCE enthusiasts in two categories.  There are those in CCE who take a “shire” approach– they desire to remain outside the fray of our culture and away from controversy.  One well-spoken reader represented the shire view well in response to my last post:  “I think we can speak beautiful truths and stand firmly for what’s right without mucking up ourselves in the process” (referring to political partisanship).  And there are others who view CCE through the “culture war” lens.  This category was well represented in a response to my post as well:  “I also appreciate the encouragement to see things from a bigger vantage point vs ‘just looking through the keyhole’.”   

Where the fictional Hobbits came by their ambivalence naturally, Christians today have had our affections shaped by an idea that was planted by the Progressives over a century ago.  We chronicled this in Battle for the American Mind, citing the brilliance of Christopher Nolan's insight in his 2010 movie "Inception."  The movie is about the power of ideas, and particularly the power of embedding a new idea into the conscience, with wide-ranging effects.   In our case, the Progressives planted the idea in our cultural consciousness that there are separate religious, political, and secular worlds, and these are not to be traversed in civil society.  By dividing Christianity away and putting it in its own box, it has become irrelevant in the culture. It’s as though we each live in three worlds, only one of which is effectively ruled by Christ.   If engaged at all in politics or culture, Christianity is now the tail being wagged by our post-Christian society.  Our churches and statesmen, by and large, try to nuance, blend, and compromise their way into relevance.   Still other Christians believe they can live in their local community shire and just stay out of national politics.

 Historically, this is a departure from what the church has been about for the past 2000 years. Instead of blending, Christians spurred transformation.  Ambrose of Milan was a politician who sought to quell problems in the church and became a bishop who continued to engage in political controversies.  He famously wrote against and chastened Emperor Theodosius, threatening him until he repented.  Ambrose took bold public positions on political matters as a Christian Bishop.  John of Salisbury (12th century) exerted the supremacy of the church over civil government.  Certainly, as Christians engage the political sphere today, we should always remember that Christianity does not support a particular political party, but rather a political party is supported by Christians insofar as it reflects the good, the true, and the beautiful.  John Calvin worked hand-in-glove with Geneva’s city government.  While Martin Luther echoed St. Augustine in the two kingdoms doctrine, the practice of this did not remove Christians from the political realm.  Luther’s ties were strong enough for a prince to save him from the Catholic church.  William Bradford and the early colonies were intertwined, with the majority of the original 13 colonies having official religions.  American clergy fought in the Revolutionary War, and the intertwined relationship between the civic government and Christianity was daily fare.  The Civil War in America was argued on Christian grounds, from both sides.   

 Some now tend to believe it is wrong for Christian institutions to be political, or for religion to be applied to secular decisions … or even for Christians to voice their position in the media or invite Christians with political or journalistic ties to speak.  This reaction flows from the secular religion of America, sometimes called “pluralism”:  Don't cross over these lines that we, the Progressives, have created.  This pseudo-ethic has resulted in public schools indoctrinating generations of children in atheistic humanism, colleges that do the same, the mutilating and sexualizing of young children, the suppression of debate and dissenting viewpoints, and laws encouraging abortion, divorce, and fornication.  What happens when we isolate Christianity from cultural and political concerns?  It no longer influences. Christianity becomes only about personal salvation (usually on our own terms), and much of Scripture is rendered moot.  And, our kids get swept into the culture without Christian responses to important questions that relate to the forbidden realms of politics or secular life.

Perhaps there was a time in America when the two parties represented two paths to the same end – they both wanted the same ends by different means.  Now, the left seeks the demise of Western Christian culture and to replace it based on lies. We should oppose any party seeking that goal if we love our neighbors, because no one will be better off if the Progressive agenda succeeds.  This is openly and plainly obvious now in a way that it was not 20 years ago.   Christians who do not confront this will eventually become enveloped by it, if only because they were not taught to resist it.  Having said this, in my piece earlier this week about FOX News, I was suspicious and critical of Progressive tactics.  Some thought this partisan.  I did not intend it to be.  I think we all should be against the Progressive agenda.  I hold no allegiance with any other political party.  

Recently, I’ve become more publicly engaged in political matters because, as with my Federalist piece earlier this year, I’ve seen Progressive ideas seeping into classical Christian education.  When ideas go unaddressed and take root, they often create mercurial feelings that sway us.  These feelings trigger action.  Deeply rooted Progressive ideas result in classical Christian schools that bend to the spirit of our age as they acquiesce to anti-Western rhetoric, remove classic books, stop reading certain Shakespeare, insert new works into the tradition based on intersectionality, accept abuses of their freedoms, and engage in reverse-racism.  I’ve seen all of this at specific CCE schools.  In the absence of a diligent and thoughtful Christian focus on matters of our times, schools fall prey to the Progressive zeitgeist that surrounds us.  If we do not dialog about these matters openly, they easily become assumed.  Things like “Kingdom Diversity” seem to be “they might have a point” instances, when really, they originate with the subtle ideas implanted by Progressives. These ideas are a starting point with an intentionally designed destination, and that destination is not Truth. If the “culture war” folks do not engage, we will allow this infiltration to continue.

When Jesus stood in front of the most powerful political leader He faced on earth He taught us about His kingdom and His truth: 

"You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." 

As Christians, we must continue to bear witness of His Truth in every sphere of this world so that those who are of Him will hear.  The hope of the whole Gospel, over all of life, is the power of Christianity, and a gift to this world.

Since my earliest involvement in classical education in the mid 1990s, the movement has been Kuyperian.  Abraham Kuyper, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, famously said,

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine’!" 

Why do we engage in political or “secular” domains?  Because classical Christian education always has.  We read Burke, Locke, and Voltaire.  We read the Koran, the Enuma Elish, and Beowulf.  Why would we narrow our focus when it comes to the pagan world around us in our present age – especially when Christians are pulled into lies told during these times?   If we don’t apply these works to our present age, what good are they?

As a parting thought, we should remember that, as the Hobbits ignored what was going on around them, Saruman’s thugs took control of the Shire.  It took only four Hobbits to return and organize a revolt, break the chains, and lead them back to freedom.