August 1, 2019

If prosperity is your objective, is progressivism the way to achieve it? Today many would say that progressivism is the way forward or, as some assert, the way to be on the right side of history. But is this true?

Modern-day progressivism presumes the right to disconnect societal norms from Scripture. Historically and globally, however, societal norms such as marriage, family, economics, education, law, and ethics have been based on Scripture. Is this presumed right to disconnect from Scripture really the way forward? In the end, will it be the right side of history?

When progressivism began in the middle of the nineteenth century, the agenda was to correct societal errors stemming from the Industrial Revolution. It was not a sociopolitical movement. During the same time, but separate from progressivism, the worldview of atheism gained popularity, largely due to the Darwinian theory of evolution. Though initially progressivism was not associated with atheism, in the latter half of the twentieth century progressivism morphed into a sociopolitical movement marked by the rejection of any unwanted scripturally based societal norms, such as definitions of marriage, family, economics, education, law, and ethics. Consequently, during the past fifty years, atheism and progressivism merged with a common goal to rid the world of societal norms rooted in Scripture.

Historically, the broad acceptance of atheism is a relatively recent development. According to the dictionary, the word atheism is a late sixteenth-century word coined to describe disbelief in the existence of god(s).¹ Before then there was no need for this English word because there were almost no atheists. Even by the beginning of the nineteenth century, it is estimated that atheists and agnostics comprised less than .04 percent of the global population. But by the year 2025, it is estimated that this number will rise to more than 10 percent.² During this same 225 years, the global Christian population is projected to grow from 25 percent to 34 percent.³ In terms of rate of growth for this period, atheism will grow 24,900 percent compared to 36 percent for Christianity.

Just as the meteroic rise of atheism absorbed progressivism, it also popularized naturalism—the presumption that there is no spiritual reality because there is no divine spirit being who created the material universe. Therefore, atheists presume natural reality is all there is. Scientist Carl Sagan helped promote this idea when he famously and repeatedly stated, “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be.”⁴ This means that all spiritual reality, including the idea of a Creator, is rejected, a priori. Atheism is now tightly coupled to progressivism and naturalism.

If, however, there is a Creator—a spirit being called God—then atheists are living in denial of reality. In other words, they are living a lie because they have, a priori, rejected the possibility of a Creator.

Consequently, what drives modern progressivism is a dangerous dubious assumption. God is presumptively precluded. But if God exists, progressivism is a scam and, in the name of progress, the progressivists have walked into a trap presuming that they can play god and redefine societal norms.

This type of deception is not new. Since the fall of man,⁵ mankind has presumed to challenge God’s definitions of his reality. When man seeks to play god and live disconnected from the Creator, man’s ability to see reality correctly is impaired. The result will be judgment. Some historical scriptural examples of this are the Noahic flood, the Tower of Babel, and Israel’s captivity.

This means that, by default, fallen mankind is biased to rebellion against God and, therefore, tends to misconstrue reality. Even some of Jesus’ original apostles were subject to misunderstanding reality. During the time between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus discussed the future of the kingdom of God with his followers, but they were not speaking from the same perspective. Jesus spoke of the progression toward the fulfillment of the divine metanarrative; the apostles spoke of regression in terms of returning to a failed reality.⁶

It is difficult for mankind to see reality as God does and therefore live aligned with his metanarrative. The metanarrative is God’s story of history that began with the fall of man in the garden of Eden⁷ and will culminate in the reestablishment of the uncontested rule of God over his creation.⁸

Atheists reject the idea of a metanarrative and seek to define their own societal rules, like Adam and Eve.⁹ Consequently, the modern-day progressives fail to see reality correctly and are, therefore, regressing not progressing.

The irrationality of modern-day progressivism can be compared to the logic of Pascal’s wager. If atheism is correct and there is no Creator, the consequences for everyone are the same. After death there is nothing—no accountability to God. But if Christianity is correct, there is accountability to God. This means that atheists face a enormous risk that has eternal consequences. Therefore, Pascal concluded that it was illogical to be an atheist because there are no upside benefits only downside risk.¹⁰

If the universe was created by a sovereign, intentional, strategic Creator, then his perspective is the only correct perspective and obedience to him is the only way to progress in life.

How will God respond to the modern-day progressives who live naturalistically in the illusion that they have the right to redefine unwanted societal norms? The divine response might possibly be an illusion of success for a period of time and then judgment as was the case with the Tower of Babel project.¹¹

Since the fall of man,¹² mankind has sought to live independent from God. Those who can see the true lessons of history know that humans functioning autonomously do not develop better norms for marriage, family, education, economics, law, and societal ethics. Societal rules concocted by man independent of God will not be progressive but regressive.

For centuries, most global societal norms were rooted in Scripture. Now in the twenty-first century, the explosive growth of atheism during the past two centuries has emboldened rebellious mankind into the illusion of sociopolitical progressivism. In time this illusion will be revealed for what it really is. The unwise, high-risk choice of atheism will lead to bondage, chaos, and judgment. This is the bane of the scam of modern progressivism.

From a Christian worldview, the way to progress and prosperity in God’s universe is to align with God and his norms.

The following words from an Old Testament prophet seem to speak of the folly of today’s popular progressivism. Referring to Israel, the Lord said:

For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:13 CSB)

Though this was written of ancient Israel, there may be a message for modern-day progressivists because they seem to be imitating Israel. The progressives have joined atheists in the abandonment of God as the Creator and source of life (fountain of living water) and have presumed to dig their own cistern that cannot hold water! In the end, this will not prosper and will not be on the right side of history.

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