2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

When we read the history of the spread of the Gospel we see that Satan was there as well – spreading his lies and errors.  Satan was also at the birth of our nation (USA) bringing in his heresies.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, born in 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts was another figure to build upon the evil stronghold bringing in the humanistic philosophy that was seeking to destroy the Christian faith.

At this time in America’s history, latitudinarianism (people allowing latitude, especially in religion, showing no preference towards worship or creed) and Unitarianism (a religion rooted in human rationalism) stood strong with resistance to the mysteries of the Trinitarian God.

It is interesting that Harvard University had started to produce godly pastors, went on to produce a Unitarian pastor by the name of Charles Chauncy who from 1727-1787 was pastor of a church in Boston. We soon see that pastors coming out of Harvard were typically used in the theological decline.

It was Ralph’s aunt, Moody Emerson, who introduced to him Hinduism and Neo-Platonism. It was through her leanings that prepared Ralph’s thinking for polytheistic and pantheistic ideas that would eventually form the new religion called “transcendentalism.”

At a young age Emerson wrote in his journal: “Who is he that shall control me? Why may not I act and speak and write and think with entire freedom? What am I to the Universe or, the Universe, what is it to me? Who hath forged the chains of wrong and right, of opinion and custom? And must I wear them?”

In other words, what Emerson was saying at a young age is if God is the Sovereign ruler over the universe and the source of ethics, etc. then Emerson wanted nothing to do with God.

When we read something like this we cannot but think of another being who had the same mentality. “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:12-14) 

The American literary critic, Harold Bloom, calls Emerson, “The prophet of the American Religion.” Harold Bloom also points out that the liberal mainline churches as well as Mormonism and Christian Science owe a great deal to Emerson’s ideas. Harvard in 1866 awarded him a doctorate degree and elected him to their board of Overseers. This gave Emerson the opportunity to teach students graduating out of Harvard his anti-Scriptural ideas. Whatever is taught in our universities will soon penetrate the everyday society. It would take another 150 years to finally penetrate into our other levels of schools and churches and the culture. One could say that in the 19^th century under the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Christian Worldview began to disintegrate.

With Emerson we see the beginning of the moral and social collapse of the Western world. In his book Apostate, Kevin Swanson brings out that what they wanted was the destruction of a civilization.

Because the philosophers in our universities and colleges replaced God with man-centered ideas we now find our culture and literary leaders writing and speaking about things that a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

One example is the culture that we have today with homosexual clubs in schools, as well as indoctrination of our kids in schools, entertainment on television and in the movies. We saw in our last weekly that Jeremy Bentham, the progressive philosopher, introduced the acceptance of homosexuality.

Emerson was committed to Eastern philosophy and today we have what is known as “New Age Thinking.” The Pew Forum Research Center estimates that a quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation and that there is spiritual energy located in things such as mountains, trees or crystals. We can thank Emerson for this.

The lesson here is that when we turn away from God and His Word then we open ourselves to all types of erroneous ideas. With Emerson’s philosophy man becomes a part of god. The same subtle idea that Satan gave Eve in the Garden of Eden regarding the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that if you eat it: “You will be like God.”

I was listening to a television personality sharing how she makes decisions. She said: “I trust my heart.”  Often we hear this being said that “I trust my heart,” or “I follow my heart.” Where did this come from? Ralph Waldo Emerson! Emerson would look within himself for truth. He completely disallowed anything that would come from Scripture and therefore leaving man himself as the only possible source of truth.

In our Post-Modern world today what do we have? No such thing as absolute truth. Man makes his own truth. Again it brings us back to what Isaiah saw: “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.” Isaiah 59:14-15

Emerson was a “relativist thinker.” He thought the universe was in constant flux and because of that – truth and ethics must also be in constant flux. This is why the progressives will always be replacing the old virtues with new so-called virtues, and why they say that our American Constitution is a “living document” and needs to adjust to the culture of today. But, is this right? No! Why? Because our constitutional document is based on Absolute Truth and Truth does not bend to the ‘fads’ and ‘whims’ of today’s culture.

                                           Jeremy Bentham AD 1748-1832

                                           John Stuart Mill AD 1806-1873

                                           Bertrand Russell AD 1872-1970

Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.”

When we read the history of Modern Missions we see the continuation of the Book of Acts or the moving of the Holy Spirit. What is interesting is to see how God can take one man and use that man to touch someone else who in turn touches someone else.

For example, we have John Newton who not only corresponded with John Wesley, but also communicated with Thomas Scott and Thomas Scott preached the Word so powerfully that a young man by the name of William Carey was so quickened by the Holy Spirit that he brought in what is now known as the “Modern Missionary Movement.”

What we see in the spiritual realm with the Holy Spirit – we also see in the natural realm with some of the so-called philosophers and their ideas that were passed on until evil strongholds were built.

One such man is Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)  who is probably not as well known as some of the other philosophers that we have been looking at or even one of his disciples known as John Stuart Mills. Jeremy Bentham was an atheist as well as an apologist for homosexuality. Both of these men rejected Biblical law and advocated ethical theory based upon human reasoning.

Both of these men set the stage for what we today call liberalism or what is now known as the “progressive movement.” Bentham was the original liberal who was dead set against the Christian order and English Common Law as represented by Blackstone. It was during this time that all English speaking countries followed Blackstone’s commentaries and his support of English Common Law. I remember seeing Blackstone commentaries of Scripture here in the USA, but they have now been set aside.

Bentham set himself against the Apostles of Christ, Scriptures, and 1700 years of Christian heritage. Some of the philosophers before him did not go as far as Bentham in denying the existence of the Christian faith. It was Bentham who penned: “Religion has inflicted the deepest injury upon humanity,” Religion for him was the Christian faith. For Bentham, “if God does not explain Himself to the satisfaction of human reasoning then He loses His right to exist,” and because God does not explain Himself to the satisfaction of human reasoning then he does not exist for Bentham and so it is man (Bentham) who sets the standards of what is right and wrong.

Bentham was also the driving force in the introduction of homosexuality, according to him, if it did not produce ‘bad consequences.’

Just like John Newton influenced Thomas Scott and in turn Thomas influencing William Carey and bringing in the Modern Missionary Movement, so it is with Jeremy Bentham. Although his disciples – John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell eclipsed him in being well known, it was Bentham who set the stage for what we call “political liberalism.”

Although Bentham went only as far in confessing his atheism, but his disciple John Stuart Mill let it all out and before he died became the god-father of Bertrand Russell who died in 1970.

It was John Stuart Mill who was a proponent of “feminism” and “gender equalitarianism.” It was Mill who laid the groundwork for free sex, no-fault divorce, abortion and the destruction of the nuclear family.

Bertrand Russell, godson of John Stuart Mill, is probably one of the most famous atheists of all time and wrote the little pamphlet called: Why I Am Not a Christian. Bertrand Russell was a prime mover shaping the worldview that we now have in the Western world.

It was Bentham who took Thomas Aquinas’ idea that human reasoning was another path way to gaining knowledge and building a platform for ethics built on human reasoning. Bentham operated on the premise that there are two things that mankind is faced with: pain and pleasure, that he calls “sovereign masters.” So in his twisted reasoning there is no personal Creator, but only nature operating under pain and pleasure.

This reasoning has led to the breakdown of moral standards that we see now in our language, movies, art forms, news casts, dress, bill boards, etc. Now we call the murder of children “a choice,” the killing of the elderly “humane,” miserable unnatural perversions “gay” and witchcraft sold to our children as “harmless fun.”

Scripture tells us in Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

The problem we face today is if all that is evil is good then what is left to call evil? This is why our modern society finds it hard to define evil. This is why Christians are called “homophobes” accused of hating homosexuals and who face heavy fines if they speak against certain sexual sins according to God’s laws.

This is why we find in our political, legal and social systems today – the required action is what produces the greatest amount of pleasure. How true that when we reject God and His moral standards – anything goes, because there is no ultimate standard to judge what is ultimate good and true.

The separation of human reasoning from the influence of sacred doctrine will create an atmosphere where anything is accepted and then honored. This is what we are seeing in our Western Civilization today.

JOHN LOCKE 1632-1704

2 Chronicles 1:10  “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

We see from Scripture that Solomon started his rule of Israel on the right foundation of wisdom and law: God, who is the source of all knowledge and wisdom, and established the laws for mankind. But, later on Solomon forgets God, he sets aside God’s commandments and laws personally, and so we see the result of this until he comes to the end of his life and returns to his God. In Ecclesiastes we understand how Solomon is very persistent in his teaching in order to convince his son Rehoboam not to make the same mistake in setting God aside.  

Another brick in the stronghold was being laid by John Locke, who in some way is looked upon as being the father of ‘modern education.’ John Locke is the one that said that if our minds were like a blank sheet of paper, how would it be filled? His answer: “through experience.” In other words, as we experience life we fill that paper with the knowledge we acquired. This is what the book of Ecclesiastes is about; which is what Solomon learned from what he lived out in his life.

Our “Christian” knowledge should come through the revelation of Jesus Christ through Holy Scripture and personal experience of His presence in our lives. In Scripture we are taught how to live, or in other words, we are taught morality; the principles and laws we are to live by. However, John Locke’s philosophy would be that we understand life and morals through experience, determining your own definition of good and bad.

Psalm 119 is one of the great Psalms that exalt the Word of God. Look what is said: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”  (vs. 9)

I have two grandsons ages 18 and 14. How will they keep their way pure? Through experience? Or, by the direct revelation that comes from the Word of God?

“Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.” (vs. 24) I told my two grandsons to choose their friends wisely, but their counselors even more wisely. God’s Word revealed by God’s Spirit – is our best Counselor.

“Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.” (vs. 98-100) 

During the 18^th century John Locke was a key figure in seeing humanistic rationalism beginning to replace Holy Scripture in Europe and then soon afterwards, here in America. About mid-1650 these radical ideas began to over-take the universities in England and soon also began the downward course of universities like Harvard in America. Originally Harvard was established to be a training base for pastors, but it soon succumbed to the radical ideas put forth by men like John Locke.

Because of what was happening at Harvard, conservative churchmen opened up Yale University in 1701 and the college of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University in 1748. However, the breakdown of the Christian faith at university level was done by John Locke and some of his fellow colleagues.

Historians Charles Taylor and Jerrold Seigal claim that Locke’s “essay concerning human understanding” marked the beginning of the modern Western conception of the ‘self.’

“Wallbuilders” comments, “It is not an exaggeration to say that without John Locke’s substantial influence on American thinking there might well be no United States of America.”

Like I said about Thomas Aquinas, from him we received many good things and this is true of John Locke as well. John Locke was raised as a puritan protestant, but later his confidence in human reasoning led him to doubt 

the doctrines of the Trinity, the sovereignty of God, the atonement of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ; which are essential to the Christian faith. This “human reasoning” moved him little by little into the camp of what was known as the Latitudinarians. 

The Latitudinarians were a group of Anglican Christians active from the 17th through the 19th centuries and who were opposed to the dogmatic positions of the Church of England. They allowed ‘reason’ to inform theological interpretation and judgment.

When one looks at John Locke’s ‘philosophical system’ in addressing knowledge, God is completely out of the system. However we, who have a Biblical worldview know that God, and in particular Jesus Christ, is the source of all knowledge and wisdom.  

“Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3

If the mind starts out like a blank sheet of paper, like John Locke states, then how does it process the first data that enters it? If it is not God and His revelation from Scripture, then how do we know that what or who is interpreting – is correct? Eventually we begin to process information in a wrong way that leads to a disintegration of our social systems like economics, education, marriage, law and justice, etc. This would seem to be what is happening today in the West, in America. True knowledge, and the wisdom that knows how to use our right knowledge, comes from God.

We read that: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:13) If we depend solely upon our mind and reasoning then how do we know that something is true or not? In our public education system today we are being taught that our mind of reason is sufficient to discern ‘truth’ apart from God’s word. What has been the result of this in our society? Decay; the crumbling of a godly society!

John 14:6: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Colossians 2:2-4: “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Thomas Aquinas, when he suggested that there could be a second method of thought built on human reasoning apart from Scripture, laid down the first brick that others could begin to build on.

The next brick layer in building the evil stronghold that is destroying Western Civilization is Rene Descartes with his famous saying: “I think therefore I am.” Descartes was born in 1596 in France, went to a Jesuit college at the age of 8 and then earned a law degree at the age of 22. An influential teacher set him on a course to apply mathematics and logic to understanding the natural world.

Rene Descartes, living in Holland at the time, compartmentalized his life. He did not hold to the fundamental beliefs of the church. At the age of 38 he committed fornication with a woman. In this day and age we would not think much about it, but in Holland that was not something that was done. It is estimated that the illegitimacy rate was a low 0.69%; that is before humanism came in and began to destroy the fundamental Scriptural truths. Now some of the illegitimacy rates in the Western world are as high as 60%.

Francis Schaefer (who spoke in some of our Operation Mobilization conferences back in the late sixties) said that one of the problems we have today is that our Christianity is compartmentalized. He used the illustration of the upper and lower floor. In the upper floor we have our spiritual life and in the bottom floor is everything else, and there are no stairs in between.

I have seen this in Europe. Even my own father-in-law (from Finland) would say that his religious life is a private affair. He would never talk about it. Even today, not only in Europe but also in the United States, we have politicians who advocate for homosexuality, gay marriages, and abortion on demand and still have a standing in the churches.

When we do not begin with Christ as the source of all knowledge and wisdom we then either begin with ourselves or try to find some ‘truth’ outside of ourselves, and in doing so we miss truth and reality altogether. We miss our entire purpose in life.

Rene Descartes took the first approach to build his philosophy by trying to seek some ultimate truth within himself and the ‘great book of the world’ and eventually came up with his famous statement: “I think therefore I am.”

He let his doubts about God bring him to make this statement. Through his demented reasoning he goes from doubting his existence to proving his existence, and from there, to proving the existence of God. I am sure that God is relieved that Rene has proved His existence!

Rene Descartes starts with himself and goes from doubting to proving his existence and then to the fact that God exists. If this seems confusing then join the club because this is what you get when you do not start with God. But, no matter how you try to disprove God’s existence, the fact remains that God created life and established foundations, and He laid down the law for mankind to live by.

The Bible teaches us that there is only one way to build our foundation of knowledge and that is “in the fear of the Lord.” (Proverbs 1:7) Without knowing that God exists it can be said that we cannot know anything for certain.  It is ridiculous to prove our own existence without first knowing that God exists. We are told in Acts 17:28: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” This is truth and faith on our part gives truth its life.

So what we are seeing is a fast moving away from what the Bible teaches. What we see coming out with Rene Descartes’ thinking is that man’s intellect is the great judge concerning what is believable and certain, and that Scripture is not the truth or the judge of our thoughts. Man is becoming his own self-made ‘god’ thinking what he wants to think, according to his own evil heart.

Descartes was trying to come to a knowledge of God through his own existence and reasoning, but for those of us who adhere to the teaching of the Bible we realize the existence of God is seen through the Father revealing Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ revealing Himself through His indwelling Spirit.  

Matthew 11:27: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

When we look at the bricks laid down over the centuries to build the evil stronghold that is destroying Western Civilization we begin to understand why today in the 21^st century the name of Jesus Christ is so hated.