CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

General discussions of Christian ideas, values, and theology.

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“Deep Calls to Deep”

Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:7-8)

Introduction

I am reflecting on the tragedies that have fallen on countless families in the Hill Country of Texas, the many losses of life, numerous being children who were attending a Christian camp called Camp Mystic. In no way will I seek to stand in the shoes of those family members who have lost loved ones. I do believe that such experiences are inexplicable to the human mind. Rather than being distant during those hard-hitting moments, we have a heavenly Father who is never far from us. Our feelings, however, can get the best of us, and the questions of why can be never ending. However, this is not a time to question or stifle one’s emotions. Pronounce them and cast them before God because He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Psalm 42: Waiting on God

David’s psalm speaks to the experience of going through difficult times and his yearning for God’s nearness. Psalm 42 opens with the intense description of David’s longing for God: As a deer pants for the water brooks/So my soul pants for You, O God (v. 1). Another rendering of the word pants is longs for. Throughout the psalm, David describes his soul as being in despair and having become disturbed within me (vv. 5, 6, & 11). Like all human beings, he asks why this is the case. His response to his despair is to hope in God, for I shall again praise Him (vv. 5 & 11). But David’s reply to his despair is not perfunctory or wishful thinking. Another rendering of the word hope in God is wait on God. Although we see the resolve in this short psalm, David, like all of us had to place his faith and hope in God and wait out what God would do for him. The psalm provides no idea how long David had to wade the troubled waters that engulfed him. This is not easy, for faith is not about life being easy. 

Poetic Longings for God

The psalms are Hebraic poetry; therefore, they use metaphors and symbols. Deep calls to deep is possibly a metaphor for David’s deep despair calling on God’s deep understanding and lovingkindness. The breakers and waves are the troubles that have flooded David’s life. Yet he also states that these breakers and waves are Your breakers and Your waves. This is not a declaration that God is actively punishing David or arbitrarily flooding him with difficult times. It does mean, however, that God is sovereign. No matter what we experience, God is sovereign and near as we navigate troubled times in our lives. 

Then follows the statement: The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime (v. 8). The word command can simply mean what it says, the Lord commands us in certain ways. Yet the Hebrew word used here, tsavah, can also mean that God establishes His lovingkindness in the daytime. God appoints His lovingkindness to be with the psalmist; He establishes His lovingkindness to be actively present with David. The thought is then completed by the statement: And His song will be with me in the night. Symbolically, the daytime speaks to things that we can readily see, while the night places us in the dark where we must cling to the promises of who God is. But there is not a time that God’s care ever forsakes us. God’s presence and lovingkindness will be with us in the day and through the night. 

Conclusion

As we remember our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Hill Country of Texas who are presently going through some devastating times, may we take solace that God has established His lovingkindness and presence to be with them as the flooding rains there are hard-hitting symbols of the reality that they are truly facing.

God’s presence and lovingkindness is and will continually be with them in the day and through the night.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./July 14th, 2025

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

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Thought and Action

Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:3a; James 1:22; 2:8, 14-26

Introduction

Over the course of this blog, I have delineated five categories that comprise a worldview: mind, meaning-making, valuation (ethics), humility/finitude, and thought/action. For this month’s blog article I want to focus on thought/action – do our actions align with what we claim to believe, do they provide evidence for the worldview that we espouse? I write from a Reformed Christian perspective, so I will speak to the building up of a Christian worldview (See Abraham Kuyper; Francis Schaeffer; James Sire; Os Guinness; Chuck Colson; Nancy Pearcey).

Thought and Action for the Believer in Christ

As Christians, we are called, not only to salvation, but to sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification entails our lifetime growth in the knowledge of God, the study of His word, and the building up of relationships with other members of the body of Christ, the church. To claim to be a Christian, but to neglect these areas in our lives demonstrates a misalignment with what we claim to believe and how we live out our claim. Although we are not saved by works, the epistle of James informs us that works should evidence our faith (James 1:22; 2:8, 14-26). No doubt none of us are perfect in living out the claims of our faith, but our lives should indicate a change in the way we live as a believer in Christ in contrast to the way we lived prior to our salvation.

The Fruit of the Spirit

Although there is no checklist for the purpose of merit, there is Biblical teaching regarding what our growth in Christ should look like. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians speaks of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Interestingly, though nine characteristics are listed in those two verses, Paul uses the singular fruit of the Spirit. This passage is one indication of the change that should comprise our lives upon confessing Jesus, the Christ, as our savior. The apostle Peter delineates a similar list in his first epistle to believers in various churches (1 Peter 1:5-7). Again, these Christian virtues written for the purpose of our sanctification are not checklists that we mark off for the sake of merit or demonstrating our Christian beliefs. God works in our lives through grace in every way. The fruit of the Spirit manifests in our lives via the power of the Holy Spirit upon our inner being. Hence, the Christian worldview, although acknowledging that evidence for our faith is real, embraces God’s grace. Our relationship with God grows through grace and faith. The Christian worldview does not proffer any kind of meritorious action for our salvation or our sanctification. The fruit of the Spirit is God’s planting work within us.

Doers of the Word

As Christians, the alignment of thought (belief) and action should be evidenced by our being doers of the word rather than mere hearers of the word (epistle of James). Our worldview is not held merely intellectually, but we live it out consistently with what we claim to believe. The old adage, actions speak louder than words, indeed carry a truism that should inform us. Any mature believer in Christ knows that we fall short of this thought/action alignment everyday in someway. But such inconsistency should not be characteristic of our day-to-day lives. We should see that our way of living prior to our being called in Christ should diminish over time. Such a way of life should not characterize our lives now that we are in Christ.

Misalignment of Thought/Action

What does it mean (how should we explore the reality) when our actions do not align with our professed beliefs (when such a way of living becomes a marked characteristic of our lives)? Can we actually deceive ourselves as to what we claim to believe and value? I think it’s quite possible that we can. On the other hand, I believe people will be acutely aware that the way they are living does not align with what they claim to believe. They may not want to admit it, to themselves or to others. But the proof lies in what daily characterizes their way of living, what they consistently practice as a way of life. For the believer in Christ, this is one reason why it is important to be a member of a local body of Christ, a church. It is in this setting that other believers can approach us and admonish us. This is an important element for a Christian worldview. We all must take on the uncomfortable task at times of lovingly admonishing others in the body, as well as receiving admonishment ourselves.

Conclusion

We hold a Christian worldview not merely by intellectual assent. Such a belief system becomes demonstrable in the way we live day-to-day. God informs believers in Christ that His will for them is their sanctification. Hence our lives should evidence our growth in the knowledge of God, in the truth of His salvation to which He has called us, in a deeper understanding of God’s word, and in the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The Greek word, ginosko, means to know something so as to act on what we know. Biblical knowledge entails an experiential and intimate knowledge of what is claimed to be known. It is the opposite of mere mental assent. We know God relationally and experientially because He has called us to such knowledge. As believers we approach God’s throne as members of the household of God, crying out to Him as Abba Father. Likewise Scripture tells us to make sure of our calling. Do our actions (the way we live day-to-day) align with our thought (what we claim to believe)? This requires diligence on our part to be aware of those times when we fall short of such alignment. Hence, the place of confession in our growth and sanctification.

This blog article spoke to the life that a Christian lives in Christ. One who holds a Christian worldview should see an alignment in what one claims to believe and how one lives the calling of a Christian day-to-day. There are other important truths regarding thought/action for the believer in Christ as one looks not only to the body of Christ, but in all areas of life, exercising dominion as Christians are called to do. That is another blog article.

John V. Jones, Jr, Ph.D./May 14th, 2025

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/THEMATIC/Thought-Action

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Christian Worldview: A Spiritual Undertaking

Introduction

Last month’s article here I hope kicked off a long-term goal I have for this blog that entails the unfolding of a Christian worldview. As believers and followers of Christ, there are many things we have to do, study, learn, and then turn our studious learning into living out the reality of manifesting a Christian worldview. First and foremost, however, we in the body of Christ must realize that we cannot shape a Christian worldview through the power of our own flesh. How easy it is for each of us to fall into the trap of trying to accomplish those goals we believe God has set for us through our own power, sufficiency, and endeavors. There is a two-pronged trap that seeks to snare us if we are not careful. First, as stated, we can trust in our own abilities and understanding to get things done. A modus operandi we are told to avoid in Scripture (Proverbs 3:5-6). Second, in surrendering to God, we can become slothful, complacent, and directionless in our efforts. We are called by God to be diligent, but we cannot fulfill that calling by our own strength or by a misguided notion of surrendering. To shape a Christian worldview that guides the way we live in the world I believe entails the following: 1) our thorough understanding of the Biblical notion of diligence; 2) our living by the power of the Spirit; 3) our understanding and belief in the power of prayer; 4) our further understanding of the imputed righteousness of Christ; and 5) our constant trust in the Lord, committing all our work to Him, and doing everything in word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Diligence

Diligence is a trait spoken of throughout Scripture. English dictionaries define the word as persistent effort and attention to detail. The Hebrew word haht-mah-dah or harus delineates a similar notion, entailing perseverance, persistence, and consistency, particularly at the various tasks of living. The Old Testament Scripture, especially Proverbs, contrasts the lazy and idle with the diligent. (Unfortunately, these verses have been stolen by those who proclaim the prosperity gospel). But Scripture tells us that the diligent will prosper (in life, not necessarily wealth) by attending to and persevering in the tasks of life, which above all entails our pursuit of God. The diligent become skilled at living, which is the essence of wisdom – another notion addressed throughout the book of Proverbs.

The Greek word for diligent is spoude, which entails the pursuit of daily tasks, eagerly, earnestly, and zealously. The tasks set before us if we want to carve out a Christian worldview are beyond our doing apart from the grace of God, and we live in a world that is antagonistic to our goals as Christians. We cannot hope to manifest a Christian worldview while being inconsistent, half-hearted, and not persevering in all that we seek to accomplish. Diligence is a trait that runs throughout all the endeavors we pursue to bring about dominion on this earth in the name of Christ by God’s grace alone.

The Power of the Spirit

Nor can we accomplish exercising dominion in this world by our own strength. The apostle Paul tells us that our lives should evidence our being led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:15-16). As believers in Christ for our salvation, we are gifted with the indwelling Holy Spirit who grants us the strength to live as God would have us live. Such Christian living, while involving many things, entails our working out our salvation (Phil. 2:12), that is our sanctification, pursuing the life and tasks that God has set before us. Again, it is easy to fall into the trap of doing the work that God has set before us according to the power of our own flesh. If we take that pathway, we will surely run into many obstacles and failures. If we are to exercise dominion on this earth that entails carving out the Christian worldview, we must do so by the power of the Spirit. The power that is available to us through the Holy Spirit is the very power by which God raised Christ from the dead (Eph. 1:20). We must be diligent in our pursuit of God so as to live and be led by His Spirit. Otherwise, we are working according to the power of our own flesh.

The Power of Prayer

As believers in Christ, we are children of God, members of His household. Therefore, He is available to us so that we can approach Him at any time, placing our petitions before Him, and be in communion with Him. When I think on how little I embrace this gracious gift, I can’t help but wonder how different my life would have been over the decades if I had prayed more. Scripture calls on us to constantly be in prayer, to pray without ceasing (Luke 18:11; 1 Thess. 5:16-18). Constant prayer means an attitude of prayerful connection with God, not just those times we set aside for formal prayer. The work of dominion, carving out the Christian worldview, requires our diligent dependence on the power of prayer. Do we believe that God desires our communion with Him in prayer? Do we believe that He answers prayer? We will not establish dominion on this earth while not believing in and engaging in prayer because it is not our doing that will bring about dominion and a Christian worldview, but the power of God working in us. The Christian life is a spiritual life, not a secular one. We are called to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). We are God’s workmanship called to good works which He established beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10).

The Righteousness of Christ

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteous of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

How difficult it is to fathom that as believers in Christ, God has imputed Jesus’ righteousness to us so that His atoning work on the cross propitiates God’s wrath toward us. We are to walk in – live in – that righteousness that God has imputed to us. We neither merit nor deserve it. On this side of life, we recognize how far we fall short of that imputed righteousness everyday. Only by the righteousness and power of Christ that indwells us (2 Cor. 12:29) can we hope to carve out a Christian worldview while living in the world but not being of it. Hence again, diligence comes into play. We must be diligent in pursuing a life that evinces the righteousness of Christ that indwells us. On this side of life, we will fall short daily of this task. Hence, the pursuit of God in prayerful communion must entail our confessions (1 John 1:9). For the believer, manifesting the power of Christ that dwells in us is not about our perfection, but it is about His working out His will in us through our weakness (2 Cor. 12:29). People must witness through a Christian worldview not our personal power, strength, and perfection, but our dependence of God’s grace in our lives that transforms how we relate, not only to God, but to others in the world.

Trust, Commitment, Acknowledgement

Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . . Acknowledge Him in all your ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In everything you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to Him to God the Father. (Col. 3:17).

We will miserably fail in exercising dominion in this world and establishing a Christian worldview if we are not diligent in acknowledging God in all that we do and seek to do everything in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. God Himself will make straight our paths, or they will not be established at all. If we seek to do even the things of the Lord by our own strength, our strength will fail us. As I stated above, it is a razor’s edge that we walk. On the one hand as believers we should not seek to carry out the things of God via the power of our own flesh. On the other hand, we should never interpret our surrendering to God as becoming inert. Each of us who are in Christ have been granted gifts to utilize and paths to work out, knowing that the gifts are from God and the working is His working in us. We live in a world that is antagonistic toward our Christian worldview. While our enemies are real, we can diligently pray to be delivered from them (Psalm 31:14-15), knowing too that Christ has commanded us to pray for our enemies. If we seek to exercise dominion in this world, carving out the Christian way of life, we must trust God with all our heart, acknowledging Him in all our ways, and doing all that we do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This calls for our diligence to be totally dependent on Him.

Conclusion

Establishing a Christian worldview in the present culture is a tall order. There is much work to be done that Christians must embrace. The January 14th blog article reached back to categories of thought that I have contemplated for some time. The short bibliography provided in that article reinforces the depth of work that must be done. So it would be easy to become caught up in that work, forgetting as Christians from where our power really stems. We must above all things realize that our battle, rather than being merely academic, political, or cultural, is a spiritual one. But this is not an either-or proposition. In seeking to provide a cornerstone for the Biblical mandate for dominion in our culture, we must by faith apprehend the truth that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. There will be no dominion or Christian worldview until we realize that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against . . . the world forces of this darkness (Eph. 6:10-13). That truth requires us as believers in Christ to be diligent in our embracing the strength that God provides us in the battle. To forget that, or to try to fight otherwise, is paramount to our standing on our own strength, the power of our own flesh, which is no power at all. To establish a Christian worldview in the world is a spiritual undertaking. We have one source for such an undertaking. We must build on the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./March 14th, 2025

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/Christian Worldview

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Pathways 2025

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Psalm 3:6)

Introduction

On past blogs, I have explored to a limited degree what goes into formulating a worldview. There are several categories I considered that I believe must be taken into account for understanding all that a worldview entails. You can read my thoughts here, here, and here. I recently subtitled this blog, A Christian Worldview; consequently, I hope to shape this blog in the future, filling out what a Christian worldview entails. You can read my earlier thoughts on this notion here and here. For the coming months in 2025, the theme of a Christian worldview is what I hope to work out here on this blog. Such a path is not one I can forge on my own. I will draw on works of such authors as Abraham Kuyper, Francis Schaeffer, R. J. Rushdoony, Nancy Pearcey, and Chuck Colson, among many others, including early church fathers such as Augustine and Calvin.

A Word About Categories

Over time, I wrestled with thematic categories that I believe shape the way we think about the world. My earlier thoughts focused on mind, and how the human thought process shapes how we live in the world. Earlier categories included mind, meaning making, humility/finitude, and thought/action. I explored how the last three categories contributed to how we might view and understand the mind. Later I added valuation/values because what we value shapes our ethical and moral understanding of how we live. Still later I became convinced that all these categories shape the worldview by which we live. Hence, mind, meaning making, humility/finitude, valuation/values, and thought/action all contribute and speak to the worldview we hold. Worldview and mind are difficult to nuance, but I believe they should be deciphered because various worldviews hold different viewpoints on what makes up the mind.

Worldview

As I stated, the sub-title for this blog is A Christian Worldview. There are a plethora of worldviews that clash with Christianity, and over the course of time, I will explore those on this blog. Suffice it say, the general heading of secularism covers many isms that not only differ from Christianity, but also have been formulated to directly oppose Christian thought. Atheism, naturalism, materialism, reductionism, pragmatism, scientism, rationalism, and empiricism make up the wide gamut of worldviews that are in opposition to theism and Christianity. Philosophically, humanism, existentialism, romanticism, modernism, and postmodernism take aim at theistic worldviews. Politically, Marxism originated as a form of thought that set itself up as antagonistic to a Christian worldview. Many of the worldviews listed above can be integrated into a Christian worldview with a correct nuanced understanding of their propositions. For example, we live in a world that God created, so the material universe is real and external to us. But to hold that the material makes up everything, and the material is all there is to existence, is a self-defeating worldview. What I hope to discuss over time on this blog is that the Christian worldview is the only consistent worldview for understanding ourselves as human beings and the universe in which we live. Some of the Christian writers I will draw on for this task include James Sire, C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaffer, and Os Guinness, among others.

Mind

Theories of mind have been proffered for centuries. What is mind? From a Christian perspective, we are commanded to to love the Lord your God with all your mind (Matt. 22:37-40). To live up to that commandment, we must understand what the Biblical understanding of mind entails. I hope to explore that question over the course of time on this blog. I will also look at some various worldviews that have a different take on what the mind is. The fields of cognitive science and neuroscience are on the cutting edge of a scientific understanding of the mind. However, much that comes from these fields are materialistic and reductionistic. What is a Christian view of mind, rationalism, and reason? What is the relationship of mind to body? Critical inquiry is an important endeavor for every Christian. Consequently, how we think about critical thinking, our thought process, logic, and reason must be clarified as much as possible.

Meaning Making

As human beings, we search for meaning and purpose in our lives. We want our work, relationships, family life, and even our R & R time to be meaningful. What is the relationship between worldview and meaning making? How does a Christian worldview shape the way in which we make meaning for ourselves? The greatest fear that many human beings experience is a wasted life. Near the end of their lives, people do not want to look back on their existence, believing they have accomplished little. A meaningful life, however, is not one big home run swing. Meaning exists in even those experiences we may think are trivial, small, and unimportant at the time. Human beings tend to set goals for themselves. Although they may not accomplish all the goals they set (time runs out for all of us), what gives many people purpose in their lives entail the goals they set for themselves, experiencing those goals as their lives unfold. From a Christian perspective, the sovereignty of God is a great comfort for the believer. How are we to understand God’s sovereignty in our lives as it relates to our meaning making and purpose for living? Christian writers such as Francis Schaeffer, C. S. Lewis. and Os Guinness have addressed these questions. Those outside the faith have also, e.g. Rollo May and Viktor Frankl.

Valuation/Values

Whether we realize it or not, we all have values that guide us through life. As a professional counselor, I used the process of valuation in my practice with clients, but have come to have a different take on what valuation entails. I don’t believe that people can simply choose their values and begin living by them. The thought process and life formulation for creating values for our lives is much more complicated and complex than that. I repeat, we all have values by which we live. Several questions emerge from that fact. First, are we aware of the values we hold? Second, are the values we hold helping or hindering how we want to live and fulfill the goals we have set for ourselves? If we come to understand that we are living in ways contrary to our values, what does that mean, either about making changes in our lives or making changes in our values? The atheistic philosopher, Frederick Nietzsche, talked about our re-evaluation of our values. However, his thought stood on the proposition that there is no God. From a Christian perspective what does it mean to hold and live by Christian values and virtues (e.g. the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23; Christian virtues, 2 Peter 1:5-7)/ Do we truly believe that who we are is how we act in the world? Put another way, do we embrace the notion that how we act speaks to who we are, what we believe, and what values we hold? The values we hold and seek to live by form our worldview, framing our ethics and morality. None of us are perfect; consequently, from the Christian perspective those actions of confession before God must be real in our lives.

Humility/Finitude

We all have a limited amount of time on this side of life on this earth. Time impacts all the other categories – mind, meaning making, valuation/values, thought/action – in a powerful way. And we have a limited time and capacity to shape our worldviews. Scripture calls us to be humble before God, knowing our limitations and our finitude. As finite beings, however, we have an infinite and sovereign God whom we can approach and before whom we bow. The tension between sovereignty and human responsibility is one we must hold. Each day I am aware of the decisions I make for my life. I’m also aware of God’s sovereignty in my life. The latter is not an excuse or a copout for negating or short changing the former. Psalm 31:14-15 tells us that our times are in God’s hands; nonetheless, one of the most hard-hitting sins we can commit is slothfulness and the wasting of our time. Our humility before God allows us to place our lives in His hands so that we can learn to live in ways that are pleasing in His sight. What does Biblical truth mean for those of us who want to develop fully a Christian worldview? How should our humility be lived out in relationship to others? Humility is a concept easily misunderstood. It’s neither weakness nor groveling before others, but it is treating others in the way we want to be treated by them (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31). What will our Christian worldview look like as we live it out among others, both believers and non-believers.

Thought/Action

Our worldview will be nothing but inconsistent if our actions do not follow from what we claim to believe and value. To claim that we hold to a Christian worldview must manifest the life of Christ in our lives as we seek to live in the world but not be of the world. As a Christian, we will be challenged by others to live consistently with our worldview in a harsher manner than applied to others who hold different worldviews. Two keys to understanding this are important. One, we are not perfect and need not grovel before others on that account. However, we will need at times to ask others to forgive us while apologizing for our misgivings and actions that are contrary to our being in Christ. How we act in the world will say much more than what we say. If our actions are not consistent with what we claim to believe, then we need to reflect intensely on what we claim to believe. I’m not talking about sins here and there. We will commit those daily, if not by action surely by thought. I’m talking about a lifestyle that is directly contrary to what we claim to believe. We should have Christian brothers and sisters in our lives that will say to us how we are living doesn’t appear to align with what we claim to believe. A worldview that is lived out inconsistently is a worldview built on shifting sand or over an abyss of nothing.

Conclusion

Moving forward in 2025, these are the themes and topics I hope to explore on this blog. That doesn’t mean I will not take excursions into other areas, but I want the focus moving forward to be on the exploration of what it means to hold and live by a Christian worldview. The final word should be that building such a worldview is impossible apart from being in Christ, depending and leaning on the complete sovereignty of God. As Christians we are called to relate to God as Abba Father (Galatians 4:4-7). Our being in Christ should be witnessed by those whom we encounter in the world. I pray that the task I have set for myself on this blog will, by God’s grace, be accomplished. To Him be dominion, forever and ever. Amen.

Some Core Source References:

Baucham, V. T. (2021). Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe. Washington D.C.: Salem Books.

Chesterton, G.K. (2009). Orthodoxy. [originally published 1908]. Rockville, MD: Serenity.

Colson, C. & Pearcey, N. (1999). How Now Shall We Live? Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Lewis, C. S. (2002). The Complete C. S Lewis Signature Classics. New York: HarperOne.

McGinn, C. (1993). The Problem of Consciousness. Oxford, U.K.: Basil Blackwell.

Moreland, J. P. & Craig, W. L. (2017). Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Press.

Pearcey, N. (2004). Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Pearcey, N. (2010). Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing.

Pearcey, N. (2015). Finding Truth: Five Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook.

Pearcey, N. & Thaxton, C. B. (1994). The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Schaffer, F. (1985). The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview (5 Volume Set). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Sire, J. (2010). The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog. [originally published 1976] Lisle, IL: IVP Press.

Trueman, C. R. (2024). To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse. Brentwood, TN: B & H Academics.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./February 14th, 2025

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/Christian Worldview

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Dominion: A Kingdom of Priests

. . . and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His Father and His God – to whom be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6)

For they do not speak peace. But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. (Psalm 35:20)

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to the God the Father. (Colossians 3:17)

Introduction

America has held its election. So now what? The tendency among many of us is to think that once the results of the election is in, we can now set back, rest on our laurels, and hope for the best. Unfortunately such thinking is the by-product derived from the belief system that government exists to do something for us. Now let the ones elected do their thing. Such a mindset has shaped this country with the rise of progressivism, particularly since the Great Depression and FDR. Today the State machine is chocked full of unelected bureaucrats that devise rules and regulations that inundate our lives. What should our response be going forward now that the American people have responded somewhat strongly to the last four years of progressivism?

A Judaeo-Christian Perspective

Writing from the perspective of a Judaeo-Christian worldview, I would like to challenge Christians to counter this tendency. Government, whatever that is, does not exist to do things for us. That is especially true for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, the Christ. As the verse from Revelation (1:5-6) that forms the heading for this blog tells us, Jesus has redeemed us, not only for salvation, but also to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father. This means above all, that we are to exercise dominion over our culture. Unfortunately, the church has taken a position of passivity regarding its dominion mandate. There are various reasons for this, which can form the subject matter for other articles. [e.g. see Church & State.] But what exactly does it mean to exercise dominion?

The Dominion Mandate

Dominion is synonymous with government, absolute authority, and sovereignty, but within the confines of self-government. While passivity might characterize many Christians in respect to their view of politics and the State, another misunderstanding of sovereignty leads some Christians to believe that all laws should reign at the national level reflecting Biblical law. Theonomy is a loaded term that can unfortunately lead to misunderstanding Christians’ view of government. First, whether one believes it or not, God is sovereign, and He does rule the nations. (Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth.) The time will come when His sovereignty will be fully realized, here on earth and throughout eternity. As Christians, how are we called to live in the meantime? We need to navigate the channel between passivity that has led to our institutions being handed over to the culture at large, and the notion that we are to establish a heaven on earth via State power. We should most definitely be active in political matters. The culture at large is fine with Christian passivity, telling many Christians that they for sure should do their thing and stay out of politics. (There is a difference between theocracy and theonomy.) When Christians voice their political views, many in the culture will cry separation of church and state, which is a gross misunderstanding of the separation clause as written in the Constitution. Note the scream of Christian Nationalism today from those who caricature Christians who are politically engaged. On the other hand, some Christians hold a view of dominion that seeks to seize power of the State in the form of some coercion. The latter is a minority compared to those Christians who want to remain aloof from politics. But one would not realize that fact listening to the verbal attacks on the church from the progressive crowd.

We Are a Kingdom

As Revelation 1:5-6 tells us, those whom God has called to be in Christ have been made to be a kingdom through His atoning work. We are a kingdom of priests. We are to exercise dominion over the earth. Rather than seizing State power, kingdom work is to be carried out by believers through the body of Christ, the church. What we should demand of the State is our constitutional rights to do just that – to worship as we believe, to impact our culture through what we believe and how we live, and to be the salt and light that will draw people to the church. Such of way of living out our beliefs, however, is far from being passive regarding our political contexts. For example, we should stand and fight for those Christian business men and women who have been sued, taken to court, and fined for seeking to operate their business lives in alignment with their Christian beliefs. We should seek an end to abortion in a manner that saves the lives of the unborn while also aligning with the Constitution. We should have the freedom to live out our beliefs in the commonwealth so as to impact our culture for our beliefs. We should take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Dominion means living out our Christian beliefs in every area of life – work, education, family, etc. as Colossians 3:17 calls us to do. The church is to be a beacon of light for the culture. The light draws people to itself by what it is, the light. As the body of Christ, the church, we should be living out what we believe in every area of our lives. Then we will be exercising dominion, and only then will we draw people to the Light that makes up the church. Dominion is not a passive idea, nor is it a call to seize political power by coercive force. I think many Christians understand the latter, but too many Christians embrace a passivity toward political matters.

Progressivism Is not Passive

Living quite in the land is not a bad thing. Neither is it a passive preoccupation. As we have witnessed over the past four years, and with other administrations as well, progressives in politics are anything but passive. In recent years we have witnessed a rise of political clout targeting Christian engagement in the political realm. Again, think of florists and bakers who have lost or who have come close to losing their businesses because they sought to align their business operations and services with their Christian values. Note the imprisonment of peaceful protestors who have made their beliefs known at abortion clinics. Witness the onslaught of the nonsensical caricature of so-called Christian Nationalism. Mark the aggressive nature of the public education establishment toward private education (specifically Christian private schools) and parents who homeschool their children. Some states mandate that homeschoolers should be forced to use curricula designed for public schools, the very thing from which parents want their children separated. Private Christian colleges should take a page out of Hillsdale College’s playbook and refuse government subsidy for education. Parents who homeschool or send their children to private schools (Christian and secular) should demand an end to having to pay school taxes that uphold institutions from which parents desire to remove their children. Progressive politicians are not passive. Nor should the body of Christ acquiesce to State mandates regarding their children’s education. Living quiet in the land is not subservience to those who seek to determine what values families should hold or how they live, raise, and educate their children. Progressives talk the game but they don’t walk what they talk. They speak peace – equity, equality, love, justice – but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. Those who hold different values from the progressives are targeted as oppressors. It is they that want to determine what values people should hold. We as Christians should not play their game.

Conclusion

America has held its election. The question now becomes what will we do going forward. Will we continue to look to the State for an answer to all our dilemmas? As Christians I hope we choose to self-govern and exercise dominion in the culture, not by the coercive power of the State, but by the way we live reflecting the power of Christ that dwells in us. For the moment, progressivism and its agendas has been cancelled. Don’t think for one minute that progressives will go passive. The body of Christ needs to demonstrate that while we want to live quiet in the land, we will not acquiesce in passivity. We will exercise dominion in its true Biblical meaning. Elections come and go. Impacting the culture by the way we live in Christ in a long-term endeavor. Our passivity has handed over our institutions to a culture that is at best antagonistic toward God’s precepts, and at worst actually despises God’s law, actively setting the power of the State against anything that demonstrates that people want to engage their culture through God’s commandments.

God commanded a mandate to exercise dominion. Such a mandate is not a passive activity, politically or otherwise.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./November 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS OF POWER/DOMINION MANDATE

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“Pursuit” of “Happiness”

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness . . . (Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776).

Introduction

As Carl Trueman (1) has pointed out, we live in an age in which feelings have become the test of truth. If one feels a certain way, then that is his or her truth, not be denied by anyone else. This is especially true in terms of the identity question – as to whom or what one chooses to identify. With this exaltation of feelings and emotions, the word happiness, in terms of its meaning, has lost its true significance as used by the framers of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In much the same way, the word pursuit has been emptied of its more powerful meaning. In the words of the Declaration of Independence stated above, several things stand out about which I want to comment in the blog article. First, regardless of what this postmodern age pretends to claim, there is such a thing as truth, and more importantly, self-evident truths. Second, the question emerges: What did the original framers mean by the words pursuit and happiness? Third, we cannot speak of self-evident truths apart from there being a Creator.

The Emptying of Words of Their Full Content

Russ Harris (2), in his work, The Happiness Trap, addresses the empty pursuit of what we tend to think happiness is today. We frame happiness as an emotion of feeling good. Many people have replaced what the framers meant by happiness and have exalted as a right to feel good constantly. When they do not feel good about their lives, then something is declared to be wrong, whether it be with other people and how they respond to them, or with society or culture as a whole. Harris considers this an empty chase of something that it is at best a fleeing emotion. In his Acceptance and Commitment Approach (ACT) to therapy, he relates true happiness to the building of one’s life on a set of values that one holds. Without a set of values that guides one’s life, happiness is simply an empty pursuit with no ground for its meaning. Although I agree with Harris that building a meaningful happy life should be grounded in the values we hold, values themselves must too be ultimately grounded in that which is real.

The Framer’s Take on Pursuit and Happiness

In his article from the Epoch Times, Jeff Minick (3) addresses the fact that people can define happiness as some sort of financial prosperity, possessing things, and holding some kind of status in society. Although these can be real pursuits, many find that in obtaining them, what they in fact possess is intangible and slips through their fingers like water, never stable or fully satisfying. Minick then turns to what the framers of the Constitution meant by the words happiness and pursuit. Drawing on James Rogers’ work, The Meaning of “The Pursuit of Happiness,” Minick declares that the original framers meant something more tangible that accrues in the pursuit of happiness. Rather than mere prosperity, happiness to the framers meant well-being in general. Such well being would emerge only in a virtuous life. True well-being in life could not be obtained apart from virtue.

Likewise we tend to think differently from the framers regarding the meaning of the word pursuit. Minick points out that typically we think of the word as an endless chasing after something, an object or a person. We also think of it in terms of pursuing or chasing after our dreams, whether our dreams have any grounding in reality or not. Go after your dream is a modern mantra, not related to one’s skills, abilities, or means to obtain said dreams. Again, Minick drawing on Rogers’ work points out that Rogers credited Arthur Schlesinger Sr. authoring a book chapter on what the word pursuit meant in the time of the framers. We might come closer to the meaning of pursuit when we say things like, he is pursuing medicine, or she is pursuing lawyering. Hence, pursuit can mean occupation or some kind of practice. Some kind of vocation is highlighted here. Pursuit then means the building of one’s life along a vocation, based on practice, skills, knowledge, and wisdom of the means to pursue one’s desired ends. We are talking about a meaningful life.

Pursuit of Happiness Is Grounded in the Transcendent

Minick quoting Rogers, the happiness of people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality. The framers pointed to the Creator as the foundation for our rights and liberty. As a Christian, I believe that unless our goals, aspirations, and pursuits are grounded in the Biblical truth concerning God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3), then they will fall short of the true happiness we were designed to have. God has given us the means to the ends to a truly happy life. We are commanded by Him to pursue wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). Biblical wisdom is the pathway for our building a purposeful and meaningful life. There is no meaning or goodness apart from God (Psalm 16:2). We can debate whether all the framers were Biblically-based Christians or not. But what they wrote and meant by the pursuit of happiness, as Minick points out, stands on the solid ground of piety, religion, and morality. Apart from this ground, there is no building a solid virtuous life of meaning.

[References: (1) Trueman, C. (2022). Strange New Worlds. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Publishers. (2) Harris, R. (2022). The Happiness Trap. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publishing. (3) Minick, J.(2024). What Does the “Pursuit of Happiness” Mean? [In Epoch Times, June 24th, 2024, Online Edition].

John V. Jones, Jr, Ph.D./July 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

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Self-Government

Introduction

We live in a political age. As such, people look to politics and politicians to solve all the problems we face in life. It should come as no surprise that due to the results of that mindset the State has grown in power over the decades, in a country that once touted freedom as its primary virtue. The State presents itself as the savior of the people. Hence, the State must take on an authoritarian role whereby it can allow no disagreement or dissent. Note the crack down on free speech, now deigned as hate speech, especially when it counters political correctness or political policies that those in power want to press forward.

I have mentioned on this blog the notion of Christian Reconstruction. The idea of Christian Reconstruction has been caricatured in many ways, one way in particular that it represents coerciveness on the part of Christians to establish a theocracy on earth. Christian Reconstruction is not about violent revolution or some form of coercive take over of the government. Indeed, it does not look to any form of government at all to solve people’s problems, other than a government that allows people the freedom to live their faith out in day-to-day life. Regeneration rather than revolution is the aim of Christian Reconstruction. Within the framework of Christian Reconstruction, as Christians we are called to self-government. What does that mean exactly? And how is that carried out in day-to-day life?

What Is Government?

As stated, we live in a political age, and people look to politics and politicians to solve all their struggles and problems. This mindset emerges from equating government with one form of rule, civil government. From the viewpoint of Christian Reconstruction, however, government can mean several things. First, government primarily means self-government, which the blog article will explore. The second sphere of government entails the family, a sphere of government that Scripture strongly emphasizes. Third, the church is a sphere of government, and fourth, the school is a sphere of government. Fifth, our vocation is a sphere of government. And sixth, our various activities in private organizations, family and personal networks, and community relationships form another sphere of what can be called government.

What Is Self-Government?

Like it or not, we are entering an election year, which means we will be inundated with political ads from every media source conceivable. Candidates will be appealing to us for our votes, telling us why it’s imperative that we should vote for them. Many, if not most, candidates will tell us if elected what they will do for us. I don’t mean to sound cynical. Candidates should run for whatever office they believe they can best serve, and they have the right to get their message out. But note the primary emphasis of their message: I will cut your taxes; I will raise taxes on the rich; I will end this or that war; I will win this or that war; I will fix education; I will cure environmental ailments, etc. We hear this ploy because we listen to it. People have come to believe that they must look to those in power who will secure the good life for them. Again, we live in a political age, one in which people look to those in power for happiness, security, and wealth. We no longer believe that we should govern our own lives.

The theologian, R. J. Rushdoony, (1916-2001) proffered the notion of self-government. Whether one agrees or not with his position on theonomy, I believe that his position on self-government is Biblical, and therefore wise. There are probably several pathways to ridding the overreach of government into our lives. Note the growth these days of the nullification movement, Convention of States (COS), tax reform, foreign policy debates, fiscal and monetary policy reforms that call on politicians to truly work at balancing the budget, etc. Rushdoony poses a straightforward question: This is the heart of the issue: is authority derived from man, from history, from the state, or from tradition, or is it derived from God? For the Christian, there is only one ultimate answer to that question. Rushdoony does not deny the rightful place of government. He does deny its overreach into every nook and cranny of our lives. For the believer in Christ, self-government is not a radical individualist and anarchist approach. Under a constitutional republic, it is the right of the Christian in the face of the State to live freely in alignment with his or her religious and spiritual convictions. Rushdoony stated: Government is, first of all, the self-government of the Christian man. This is basic to government. Self-government extends to the church, then the family, then to education, then to one’s vocation, and finally to society. This view of government is one that is radically decentralized. From a Christian worldview, we can establish self-government and all its extensions if there is a thorough decentralization of the State, allowing individuals to govern their own sphere. As a believer in Christ, Rushdoony held that self-government will eventually fail, as any other form of government, when it fails to build on the foundation of the sovereignty of God. Hence, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col. 3:17).

Conclusion

This short blog article doesn’t come close to explicating all of Rushdoony’s thought. The important takeaway from his position on self-government is that people must ask themselves who or what has ultimate authority in their lives. For the Christian, that must be God and His word. As we survey our culture today, we see a State that continues to reach into every area of our lives, not by raw power it has taken on, but by raw power that people have given it as they look to the State for a life. [For more exploration on this topic see The Need for a Christian Manifesto.]

[Quotes from Rushdoony are taken from various Chaldean reports collected in An Informed Faith, kindle edition.]

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./May 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS OF POWER/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

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The Gift of Time

So teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Introduction

Several times I have posted on this blog regarding six major themes (here) I intend to explore at various times from month-to-month through Contemplations. For this month I want to focus on the theme humility/finitude, more specifically finitude. We are finite creatures with a limited amount of time given to us in this life. As a Christian although I believe in the Biblical teaching of eternal life through the atoning work of Jesus, the Messiah, this present earthly existence is the one life that God has granted us on this side of eternity. Life and time are gifts. Hence we are responsible for how we use this life, how we go about living out our lives. For Christians such a journey is wrapped up in our sanctification (John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). God’s sovereignty is a comforting truth for the lives of us who are in Christ. The fearful truth is that time is something we can waste, thereby culminating in an empty and a wasted life. Meaning making is also one of the six major themes I have explored on this blog. If our lives are to be meaningful, then via God’s sovereignty and providence, we are to obey Him, utilizing the gifts and talents He has granted us via His grace. It is a frightening thing, indeed, for many people to look back on their lives and ponder: What was it all about?

This Side of Eternity

On this side of eternity life is short, whether or not we want to admit it (Psalm 39:5, 11; 103:15-16). Living a full and satisfied life in this world evades the grasp of many people. In 1969, I was just starting out my college studies at University of North Texas (North Texas State University back then). Since then, fiftyy-five years have passed. Needless to say those five-and-a-half decades flew by like the wind. In many ways, I have no idea where they all went. I became a believer in Christ through Campus Crusade when a couple of Crusade’s members stopped by my dorm and shared the gospel. I can’t reinforce enough how I wish I would have embraced my sanctification over those fiftyy-some-odd years, grown and matured in Christ, never looking back to my previous way of life. But I did not. Much too often in my life, there were too many years of wandering, not following God’s truths that led me down some dark paths. Simply put, those days of wandering were wasted time, time that I cannot reclaim and make different. That is not to say that God is not sovereign over all we do. He is. His sovereignty for me involved pulling me back on the right path more than once. That doesn’t alter the reality that I let valuable time in my life expire, not living in the manner I was supposed to live.

God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

We are called in Scripture to obey and abide in God and Christ (John 15:1-11). We are exhorted to pursue our sanctification. This Biblical truth channels us through the thorny knot of God’s sovereignty and our responsibilities before Him. All that is good comes from the sovereignty of God. That includes the commandments He calls us to obey, which we can do only by His grace. The sad fact is that we can also go astray. While such wanderings are part of God’s sovereignty, many times that sovereignty comes with the hard lessons we learn through our erring ways. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. As finite creatures, we must also embrace the humility that we cannot fathom the mind of God. His sovereignty and our personal responsibilities as saints in Christ are both Biblical truths. God uses the means of our obedience and disobedience to bring us toward the ends He has for us. This is difficult to plumb with finite logic. As saints in Christ totally via God’s grace He has called us to sanctification, which we also obtain via His grace, but which we can shirk in disobedience with consequences that follow. One of the most devastating consequences is that we can waste and trash valuable time in this life on this side of eternity.

Time As a Gift

Whom God has called to be in Christ, the Messiah, He will not lose one of them (John 17:12). God set me on a path to encounter other believers during those wandering times following 1969 that brought me back to the fold. Many of those individuals whom I’ve known since the 1970’s remain close friends of mine. The fact still holds, however, with this question: How different would my life have been had I begun the path of my sanctification following the evening of my conversion? As a finite creature, I’ll never possess the capability of answering that question. I know this. I learned a hard truth. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).There was some wasted time during those years I would like to have back. But they are gone. God’s sovereignty is not an excuse to waste our time. Rather His sovereignty is a comfort that we can keep our focus on Him, knowing that while acknowledging Him in all our ways, He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). The reality of this finite life is that we can in sinful disobedience walk many crooked paths. God’s sovereign lovingkindness is not an excuse to walk those paths without fear. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever (Psalm 19:3). His sovereign lovingkindness is a blessing we have, even when we go astray.

Conclusion: Finiteness and Infinity

The epigraph that opens this blog article from Psalm 90:12 provides us with an important truth regarding the time that makes up our lives. Having a Biblical understanding of our finitude should lead us to be wise. The importance of wisdom is highlighted throughout Scripture. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27). Knowing that our days are numbered should lead us to present a heart of wisdom to God. On this side of eternity, we know our finitude, and for those of us in Christ, we have an unfathomed blessing ahead of us to spend eternity with the Triune God. Although finite, for those of us who have believed in the only begotten Son of God, our infinity with Him begins now. We have the blessing via our sanctification to know God on a deeper level each and everyday. Why would we want to waste our time not pursuing that blessing? Another warning comes to us via Scripture. There is no Biblical justification that an individual can claim to believe in Jesus, the Messiah, and continue unchanged with his or her formal way of living. Wasted time can be a reality for believer and unbeliever alike. For those of us in Christ, God is sovereign in our lives. Let us never call on His sovereignty as an excuse for a wayward life.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./January 14th, 2024

ANALYSIS/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT

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Inflation and the Demise of Spiritual Values

Introduction

Jörg Guido Hülsmann is probably known to many who are members or followers of the Mises Institute for his massive biography of Ludwig von Mises, Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. I am presently reading through that work. For this month’s Contemplations blog, however, I will draw from a short pamphlet he authored back in 2004, How Inflation Destroys Civilization. February 10, 2022, this pamphlet was republished by the Mises Institute under the title The Cultural and Spiritual Legacy of Fiat Inflation. Sometime in the future I would like to do a TakeAway review of the pamphlet, but for this month I thought it would be fitting to focus on sections 7 and 8 from the pamphlet that address how fiat inflation leads to the demise of spiritual values with the consequent demise of civilization that depends on those values for its just and moral existence. Because the Christian worldview is the foundation for this blog, I agree with Hulsmann that inflation and economic irrationality destroy the spiritual bedrock values on which civilization is built and maintained. The very fact that in the United States we can speak of $33-trillion debt without any depth of understanding what economic and moral dangers such debt holds for our nation is evidence of how inflation destroys both rational and moral precepts that undergird a culture.

Inflation Undermines Christian Family Values

Throughout his pamphlet Hülsmann describes the devastating effects of fiat inflation, giving rise to the fractional-reserve banking system, the increase of public and personal debt, the undermining of legitimate entrepreneurship, and the decrease in quality of manufacturing products, these among many other destructive effects. Hülsmann in part 8 of this short pamphlet (p. 16) discusses how fiat inflation and the rise of the welfare state leads to what he calls suffocating the flame of Christian family values. How does inflation lead to this effect?

First, with the constant increase of public debt the welfare state emerges and usurps private responsibility through the politicization of all areas of life. For those of us who care to be aware, we are first-hand witnesses of this phenomenon in the United States. There was a time when people felt frantic about the fact that from the inception of Johnson’s Great Society legislation in the late 1960’s to the turn of the 21st Century, state expenditures for HEW was just over $5-trillion dollars. The welfare state has now encroached on nearly every area of an individual’s life from retirement to health care to public education. As stated above, people can nonchalantly speak of a $33-trillion dollar government debt in the blink of an eye without grasping what that means for the economy and where the nation is headed economically and morally. When people turn to the state for all their needs, human values change. Hülsmann points out that massive public debt represents a major factor in the decline of the family. Perennial inflation slowly but assuredly destroys the family, thus suffocating the earthly flame of Christian morals (p. 16).

Second, the Christian family generates a particular type of morals that can undergird and uphold a society. Among others, such values include understanding the legitimate place of authority, heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman, and prohibition of incest and abuse of children that appears so prevalent today. Hülsmann points out where families live according to Christian values, marriages stay in tact, offspring are loved and care for, and children respect their parents. For those who truly believe in Jesus, the Christ, the reality of the Triune God and the truth of the Christian faith is passed on. I would also add that where a nation stands on Christian values, a Christian consensus comes about, whether or not everybody is a believer. With these values come the responsibilities that families take on in educating their children, charitable assistance in times of need, and a work ethic that maintains the subsistence of the family and society. Most or all of these responsibilities have been hoisted upon the welfare state. Government expenditure escalates, taxes increase, and inflation sets in due to state fiscal policy, thus individuals no longer hold to the responsibilities that once belonged to families. When it comes to charitable giving, people say, I gave at the office. It’s called taxes.

Third, as Hülsmann points out, compassion cannot be bought (p. 18). Amazingly, Americans continue their donations to charities, but not at the level that once existed, especially when adjusted for inflationary costs of living. I might add not only can compassion not be bought, but neither can education and health care when it is placed in the hands of the state. Because the welfare state, and statism in general, is grossly inefficient economically, it must depend on taxes. People bow and praise the holy state because government bureaucrats slow down the rate of spending rather than reducing spending in large sums as they should. People’s taxes will continue to rise, and state spending will continue to escalate. Because people look to the state for a life, we are trapped in a nonstop escalating cycle. Government continues to tax, but taxes alone cannot come near paying for what politicians have promised people via their campaigns and once in office. Hence the state continues running the printing press and floating loans with the consequent absorption of capital that should be used in the manufacturing and production of goods and services (p. 18). The free market, the production of income, savings, and wealth, and the manufacturing of quality goods and services cannot coexist with statism and government’s infiltration of every area of the economy and life. The excessive welfare state of our days is a direct attack on the producers of Christian morals . . . The welfare state systematically exposes people to the temptation of believing that there are no time-tested moral precepts at all (pp. 18-19).

Additional Spiritual Casualties of Fiat Inflation

Part 7 of Hülsmann’s pamphlet (p. 13) actually begins his exploration of how fiat inflation undermines spiritual values in a culture. Part 8 discussed above puts the crowning cap on his discussion. I will briefly delineate what Hulsmann designates as the casualties of fiat inflation (pp. 13-16) in part 7.

First, because inflation destroys the purchasing power of money, people have to spend an extraordinary amount of time managing their assets and investments. No longer can we simply depend on having a healthy savings account. Indeed, these days leaving cash in the bank not invested is dangerous as inflation eats away at the value of the money simply lying there. It is a shame, but once having money in a savings account was considered to be frugal. At retirement age, I know so many people, having worked all their lives who are frighten about having enough income to continue to live on for the rest of their lives. The state should have never taken over the retirement plans for individuals. One’s social security account does not exist. The state spent the money years ago. This means retirement has been placed in an immoral pay-forward systems that puts retirees at odds with younger people who are starting out in their early productive and working years. The precept addressing the Biblical stewardship of money has fallen on hard times.

Second, the concern over the value of money leads people to consider higher-paying careers that would not otherwise be at the top of their lists except for its lucrative returns that will put them in better stead for retirement years. There has become a large financial rift between certain types of work and those sought out in the worlds of industry and corporations. This is especially ludicrous when one reflects on how the state and major industries and corporations are bed partners.

Third, inflation makes society cling to materialistic values (p. 15). As the economy descends into more and more ill-health, people, whether they want to or not, must place heavy emphases on their monetary decisions.

Fourth, continued inflation leads to the a lower quality of production (pp.15-16) Small businesses, and even large firms, industries, and corporations cut corners as prices increase in both production and consumer goods. Although technological innovation can ward off some of the inferiority in products, as a whole, innovation is a victim of inflation as well. What we are witnessing now is the desire of corporations to become political so as to gain a favored market share, regardless of the quality of their products.

Fifth, a failing economy leads to a blurred distinction between truth and lie (p. 16). In this postmodern age, rhetoric has become king, and what sounds good is true. Hence, the cost of advertising rises to create a language to convince people of the quality of what they purchase. The fractional-reserve banking system is a product of the distinction lost between what is true and false. The history of money-runs on banks bears this out. What people believe is safely in the bank is not there.

Conclusion

In this short 19-page pamphlet, Jörg Guido Hülsmann provides much food for thought, not only regarding economic catastrophes that come about due to fiat inflation, but also how inflation and the destruction of the value of money leads to and is continued by moral and spiritual decay. Economics, family, ideas about justice and frugality, and people’s moral and spiritual values are not separate compartments. They are a way of living out what we believe to our core in the world.

Hülsmann, J. G. (2004). How Inflation Destroys Civilization. Auburn, AL: Mises Institute.

[Jörg Guido Hülsmann is a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute located in Auburn, AL. Additionally he is a member the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Pontifical Academy for Life. He is a professor of economics at the University of Angers where he also directs the Master of Law and Finance and co-directs the bachelors of Law and Economics. He has taught courses in economics, including macroeconomics, money, banking, and finance. He has authored several books, including an extensive biography of Ludwig von Mises, Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism.]

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./October 14th, 2023

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/ANALYSIS/Economics

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Mind, Worldview And Ideology

Worship the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37).

Introduction

For a number of years, this site, Contemplations, revolved around my counseling practice. Since I’ve retired and have also retired my license, I do not focus that heavily on the profession of counseling any longer on this blog. I will write a piece every once in a while about the field of counseling, but it is no longer the main theme of this blog. However, sometime back I delineated some themes (here) and (here) for this blog which I want to form the core of what I write here. Post-retirement I also changed the direction I want to take this blog (here) and (here) whereby I hope to discuss more than just the field of counseling, including such areas as philosophy, economics, history, the arts, and what I call analysis of power. Although my desire to change the emphases on this blog was generated by my retirement, much of it came about due to my recommitment to my faith as a Christian. Hence my faith in Jesus, the Christ, is the foundation for all I write on these pages.

Two of the themes that I come back to intermittently on this blog are mind and worldview. I will discuss the importance of these themes in this month’s blog in the context of today’s culture, particularly as an analysis of power (AOP) related to our political environment.

How We Think and Act Shapes Our Worldview

We live in a postmodern age where everything is relativized, but ironically everything is politicized and about power and control over others. Individuals cannot consistently live out a worldview that claims everything is relative while also becoming politically active, embracing the pursuit of power and control over others. Note the direction that wokeism has taken us in terms of its assault on freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to live out one’s spiritual beliefs as one sees fit. The first and second amendments to the Constitution are under constant attack. Business owners have been sued with the threat of losing their livelihood because they didn’t want to engage certain actions that contradicted their faith.

Living in a postmodern and politicized age means that we cannot help but experience a conflict of values when it comes to the way we want to live out what we believe in the world. Presently we see that the conflict of worldviews has led to violence, destruction of property, and loss of life. Such conflicts of basic core beliefs cannot be resolved by either embracing relativism or engendering the politicization of all things in life. Indeed, the Constitution and Bill of Rights aimed at severely restricting political power that could reach into people’s lives, whether that power be considered of the right or the left.

The conflict of worldviews we witness today, whether it be in our work environments, educational institutions, or on the streets is a conflict of ideologies. How we think about life and confirm our values shape our worldviews which contribute to our ideologies. Those who hold an ideology that they want established by political power over others may consider themselves relativists but they are absolutists in the most strict sense. Power makes right. Whether one considers him- or herself to be conservative or progressive, such a worldview is absolutist and totalitarian.

Can We Hold to Absolutes Without Being Totalitarian?

As one who holds to the Christian faith, I believe in absolute truth. Hence, I most definitely believe that it is possible to hold to the notion of truth as absolute without becoming authoritarian or totalitarian. Given human nature, it is easy to slide into desiring our worldview to be foisted on others. Yet that very desire is authoritarian in-and-of-itself. Simply because I do not hold to postmodern politicized precepts doesn’t mean that I think all worldviews are equally valid and worthy of being considered as true. I do believe that we should live and be at peace with others as much as that is possible. There are times when conflicting ideologies must be resolved where possible. There will always be those with whom we not only disagree, but with whom we also are at odds on the most core level. A civilized society finds ways for people to coexist with ideologies that are at odds. I will never embrace the acceptance a worldview that is opposed to my Christian faith that sees the Bible as the word of God. However, I will not call for political power to convert people to my faith. I will call on the Constitution that gives me the right to live out my worldview, fully knowing it is at odds with other belief systems.

The conflicting ideologies we face now are these. Many progressives call for an absolutist centralized power that sees individual liberty as suspect. Such an ideology, whether progressive or conservative, cannot allow individuals to live according to their own values and worldview. Thereby, such an ideology is authoritarian and totalitarian. Conservatives as well call on political power to have their way. We live in a political age that sees politics as an answer to life’s problems and dilemmas. Couple that with a postmodern age, then everything is about power, and power makes right.

Conclusion

As Christians what does it mean to live out what Jesus said was the great and foremost commandment (Matthew 22:37-40)? For too long the church has given over the culture to the designs of those whose worldview is antithetical to God’s word and who God is as the most Holy One. There has never been a time when it’s unimportant for us as Christians to live out our worldview. But it is of extreme importance today in an age of postmodernism that politicizes every area of life. We have to show others that for sure, there is a battle and conflict of ideologies that we face in everyday life in all areas of life. And we will not shrink back from such a battle. Simultaneously, we have to show we represent not political coerciveness toward those of antithetical ideologies until they cross such a line with us. That means that we have to know what those lines are. In addition to what Jesus called the great and foremost commandment, He also said that there is a second commandment like it: love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). This doesn’t mean that we condone the evil in the world. What it means, however, is that we must truly beseech God to revive the churches and awaken this country. Regeneration is the way to bringing about the peace among people for which we hold out hope.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./ September 14th, 2023

ANALYSIS/CHRISTIAN THOUGHT/THEMATIC/Mind and Worldview