A recent post on Christian Newswire promoted a new book titled Revolt Against Reality by Catholic author and podcast host Gary Michuta. According to the post, the author seeks to answer the question:
How did we arrive at a society where lies are true and facts are "offensive”?
The post continued:
Revolt Against Reality is a roller-coaster ride through history, starting with the fall of Adam and Eve and passing all the way through to our modern age of secularism, indifference, and excess. Michuta delves into epoch-setting events, from the Christological heresies of the early Church and the Protestant Reformation to the corruption of Catholic academia and the battle of the sexes, at each step highlighting common threads that connect every human crisis with our first parents' rebellion against God's truth. Each heresy, each war, each cultural controversy is one more step away from the truth manifested in the incarnation of Christ—a move away from reality and toward insanity. And we need to reverse that trend.1
How does one reverse the trend? Michuta’s answer is that one must fight evil. He continued:
It took many small steps away from the truth, over centuries, for the world to get as out of whack as it is now. But once we know how we abandoned the truth, and why the world stopped making sense, we can begin charting a course back to reality.2
Given incrementalism (small steps over a long time) as the course back to truth reality, how would this be accomplished?
Atheists base their worldview on the premise that there is no God. Therefore, there is no transcendent truth and no purpose for existence. The material universe is the only reality and is simply the product of the interaction of matter and natural forces whose origins are unknown. There is no way back because there is no compass to guide humanity; therefore, atheism offers no answers. There is no meaning and purpose, no explanation for the origin of anything, no right and wrong; there is only randomness and chaos. This is the view of atheists who seek to be consistent, although there is nothing in atheism that requires consistency.
But for some atheists, the view of reality based on randomness is not satisfying. So, they posit another view contrary to atheism, though they claim to be atheists. They argue that the universe is innately good, which means the universe is biased to goodness. Atheism, however, has no credible way to define goodness. Notwithstanding this, they assert that there is innate goodness in mankind, but this goodness is warped by greed. Greed is presumed to be associated with the economic system known as capitalism. Capitalism led to the bifurcation of humanity into the oppressed and the oppressor. They contend that if greed is removed, then mankind will assert its innate goodness and the world will enjoy utopia. This conflicted atheistic view is the basis of Marxism. One of the most recent expressions of Marxism is critical race theory (CRT).
CRT posits that white supremacy has corrupted the world by denigrating all other ethnicities. Therefore, white supremacy must be suppressed. This means that the enemy is any person whose skin color is white. White people must then be punished, which usually means to pay reparations and perhaps other penalties as well, such as, confiscation of private property. By doing this, the Marxist theory of utopia can be realized.
CRT’s solution, however, is deceptive. It is just another form of ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, CRT’s underlying assumption of the goodness of mankind is a lie. Any worldview built on lies and deception will be false. Therefore, CRT is a false metanarrative.
The Christian view acknowledges ethnic discrimination as sin and provides a true solution, a solution to the root issue of sin. Contrary to the Marxist premise, Christianity recognizes the fallen condition of mankind. Therefore, ethnic discrimination cannot be eradicated until the sin driving it is eradicated.
According to the biblical metanarrative, mankind was originally created good but then sinned. This sin was imputed to all humans who are consequently totally depraved and, therefore, unable to self-save. The biblical idea of total depravity means that mankind can never do enough good works to merit acceptance with God. Rather, God provided a way for mankind to be acceptable that is not dependent upon mankind. This is the essence of the Christian metanarrative. God’s love, mercy, and forbearance are displayed through the metanarrative of redemption that provides a way for fallen mankind to be saved from the penalty of sin (eternal death). Therefore, the solution to solving the problem of ethnic discrimination is found in Christ.
According to the apostle Paul (Acts 13), the metanarrative includes a chosen people group, the Jews, and a savior: Jesus. The Scripture records the story of mankind’s rebellion against the rule and reign of God over the universe, the fall of mankind, God’s plan of redemption of fallen mankind through the Jews, and the restoration of the uncontested rule of Christ over the universe. Included in the narrative is the preparation for the incarnation of Jesus, his incarnation on earth, his substitutionary atonement, and the building of his church through his followers after his time on earth. The story culminates with the second advent of Jesus, the final judgment of sin and death, the salvation from final judgment of those whose names are written in the Book of Life, and the new creation.
Christianity is based on this biblical metanarrative—the story of the Creator who created the universe good, but mankind fell. Currently, the full judgment for the sin of fallen mankind is delayed while God executes a metanarrative of redemption based on himself. The protagonist of the story is Jesus. Since the fall of man (Genesis 3), Satan and his minions have led a rebellion against Jesus that has progressively led humanity into the current state where truth and reality are progressively disconnected from God. In the end, the way back to reality will be through the building of the church, the return of Christ, and the final judgment. In the meantime, followers of Jesus are called to participate in the metanarrative by playing their divinely ordained roles in the battle against the forces of the antichrist.
CRT is simply a pawn of the spirit of antichrist. It can never guide mankind back to truth because it does not recognize the reality of the fallen condition of humanity and has no real solution to the sin of ethnic discrimination. Therefore, CRT as a metanarrative is a lie.
The only solution to ethnic discrimination is Jesus.3 Only Christianity and the Christian metanarrative provide answers to the way back to truth because only Christianity is based on the truth of the fallen condition of mankind and God’s solution to this condition.
Not only does Christianity offer a way back to truth, but Christianity also provides meaning and purpose in life. Each follower of Christ has a role to play in God’s metanarrative. This is the reason and purpose for existence.4
May we properly celebrate Christmas by focusing on Jesus, the protagonist of the true metanarrative. He is the only solution to the fallen condition of mankind and the sin of ethnic discrimination. He is, therefore, the only way back to truth and reality. Without him, there is no way back.
Merry Christmas!
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1. http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/1775185753.html.
2. Ibid.
3. Galatians 3:28.
4. Ephesians 2:8–10.
