Comments on: What’s Wrong With the Ten Commandments? http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/02/28/what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-the-ten-commandments/ Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day... Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:39:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Francis Gamba http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/02/28/what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-the-ten-commandments/comment-page-1/#comment-7178 Francis Gamba Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:32:32 +0000 http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/02/28/what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-the-ten-commandments/#comment-7178 Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me” (Matt 12:30). That leaves very little ground, nay, no ground for neutrality, for the middle ground. There is, indeed, no neutrality: either you're for Christ or against him. Therefore, it is not a question of whether a non-Christian is against Christ but rather to what degree he is against Christ. Humanists consider man to be the measure of all things. Christians, in contrast, submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Clearly the religions of humanism and Christianity have forever been set on a collision course. Jesus declared on the occasion of his ascension that all authority in heaven and earth had been given him. Humanists, not acknowledging this, believe that all authority on earth rests with whoever holds political power. This is why they worship power, because to them there is no power beyond the material world. God, for humanists, is the state, because the state is the only manifestation of ultimate power that they can conceive of. Whoever holds this temporal power is therefore god, because there is no other power transcending the here-and-now. Advocating for big government is therefore an act of worship for humanists. Since there is no sovereign God controlling the universe, all is chaos but for the order instituted by man himself. And to institute this order he must have power. (Unlike God he cannot merely declare, "Let there be order.") The utmost power available to man comes in the form of the state, to wit, through a monopoly on violence. Hence the perpetual quest by humanists for big government -- for power, for order. This is why so many humanists find it difficult to stand the idea of the "free market", because it screams to them "chaos!" Indeed when Adam Smith spoke of the "invisible hand" he was alluding to God's sovereignty over the created order. Anti-Christians tend to be on the left because big government (as a substitute for God) is the nature of their religion. As Jesus chased the money-changers from the temple, so are humanists like the ACLU busy chasing the infidel Christians from their temple -- the state! Francis Gamba, Melbourne Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me” (Matt 12:30). That leaves very little ground, nay, no ground for neutrality, for the middle ground. There is, indeed, no neutrality: either you’re for Christ or against him. Therefore, it is not a question of whether a non-Christian is against Christ but rather to what degree he is against Christ.

Humanists consider man to be the measure of all things. Christians, in contrast, submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Clearly the religions of humanism and Christianity have forever been set on a collision course.

Jesus declared on the occasion of his ascension that all authority in heaven and earth had been given him. Humanists, not acknowledging this, believe that all authority on earth rests with whoever holds political power. This is why they worship power, because to them there is no power beyond the material world. God, for humanists, is the state, because the state is the only manifestation of ultimate power that they can conceive of. Whoever holds this temporal power is therefore god, because there is no other power transcending the here-and-now.

Advocating for big government is therefore an act of worship for humanists. Since there is no sovereign God controlling the universe, all is chaos but for the order instituted by man himself. And to institute this order he must have power. (Unlike God he cannot merely declare, “Let there be order.”) The utmost power available to man comes in the form of the state, to wit, through a monopoly on violence. Hence the perpetual quest by humanists for big government — for power, for order. This is why so many humanists find it difficult to stand the idea of the “free market”, because it screams to them “chaos!” Indeed when Adam Smith spoke of the “invisible hand” he was alluding to God’s sovereignty over the created order.

Anti-Christians tend to be on the left because big government (as a substitute for God) is the nature of their religion. As Jesus chased the money-changers from the temple, so are humanists like the ACLU busy chasing the infidel Christians from their temple — the state!

Francis Gamba, Melbourne

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