January 1, 2024

Gleanings

The Ultimate End of Secularism

Gerald R. Chester, Ph.D.

One of the common objections to Christianity is that it claims exclusivity. That is, however, a straw man argument because every worldview claims exclusivity.

The difference between the various worldviews is the theology that undergirds each one. The Islamic worldview’s predicate is that Allah is God. For Hinduism, there are millions of Gods. Buddhism and secularism deny a supreme being, so they presume that humans can serve in that role. And Christianity is based on Jesus as Lord and Christ as revealed in the Bible.

The worldviews mentioned are the top five based on the numbers of adherents. Ninety percent of the world embraces one of these worldviews. If these are the best options, which of these views of God do you believe to be true?

If you believe that Christianity is the best option, then the Christian worldview (CWV) will be your choice. This does not mean that other worldviews don’t contain some truth. But the answer to the question of death is either nothing or some form of human performance. Only Christianity offers an answer to physical death not based on human effort. It offers salvation from eternal death as a gift from God. And Christianity presumes that the Bible is the most credible guide to understanding truth and reality.

If you concede this, the Bible must be the authoritative source of revelation about Jesus as Lord and Christ. The Bible explains that the only correct way to live is to live aligned with the truth of Scripture. And the core idea of the Bible is that Jesus is Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

At the end of the book of Acts, Paul was in his final days. He was in Rome under house arrest, guarded by a soldier (Acts 28:16). He met with the Jews in Rome who mostly rejected his teaching about Jesus (vv. 17−28). The Scripture says of his time in Rome:

He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:30–31 ESV)

He explained−to anyone who came to see him during this time−the connection between the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Other than Jesus, there is not a better source to explain a CWV from the Bible than Paul.

The Bible is the basis for understanding all knowledge and wisdom. To understand the Pauline approach to truth, we must embrace certain Pauline predicates. Consider the following:

We must be committed to Scripture as the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God to define truth and reality (without this, there is no transcendent ethical compass).^[i]
We must seek to understand the orthodox view of Scripture and seek to mature in Christ.^[ii] The process of maturing in Christ is daunting. To accomplish this well, we must be humble, submitted, and teachable under godly fathers and mothers.^[iii]
As we grow and mature in a CWV, we become increasingly more skillful in recognizing any idea, word, or action that is incompatible with a CWV. Knowing the truth is the best way to detect the false.^[iv]

Being regulated by Scripture, Paul recognized that the primary purpose of mankind is to fulfill the Creation Mandate.^[v] And given the fallen condition of mankind as revealed in the Old Testament Scripture, the only way to live in fulfillment of this command is to be divinely empowered. And the only way to be divinely empowered is to be born again and learn to live as Jesus’ disciples who rule well.^[vi] Furthermore, disciples of Jesus will be light to the world through their lifestyles.^[vii]

When we become knowledgeable regarding the CWV, then we can quickly detect error. The cultures of the world are rapidly embracing error in all aspects of life. In the past three hundred years, the major factor to stimulate error has been secularism.

Secularism is predicated on atheism. It presumes that mankind can define truth and reality without God. This is the sin that Adam and Eve committed in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Though secularism has been in the world for thousands of years, it is only recently that people have granted it widespread credibility. Today, the erroneous worldview associated with secularism has become ubiquitous.

Some of the ways that it manifests are as follows:

Secular education (rooted in skepticism about God as the Creator, presumes knowledge is neutral, and consequently, no school prayer)
Keynesian economics (based on debt instead of savings, presumes no day of reckoning)
Judicial rulings based on the will of the domain majority (denial of Scripture to define justice)
Social norms disconnected from Scripture (humanism)−

Denial of marriage as a divine covenant (increased cohabitation, redefinition of marriage inconsistent with Scripture)
No fault divorce (presumes marriage is an optional relationship)
Sexual relationships based on consent (denial of the sins of adultery and fornication)
Denial that abortion is murder of children in the womb to support sexual immorality (under the ruse of women’s reproductive rights)
Denial that homosexuality is sin (under the guise of free love)
Denial that gender dysphoria is confusion (asserting a child’s right to redefine gender over parents' rights and responsibility to raise children to be self-governing under God)
Denial of the Christian metanarrative (substituting an alternative metanarrative (for example, woke ideology) as a tool for autocrats to deny personal stewardship)
Rise of antinomianism (denial of total depravity) that supports deranged thinking, such as, defund the police and foreign policy of extreme diplomacy

In the end, secularism will lead to chaos, death, and destruction because it is rooted in sin. And in God’s universe, sin is not blessed; it is judged.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote about those who embraced secular thinking, which manifested in the covenant of death. The covenant of death presumes that after death there is no judgment. People who make this covenant know they are living a lie; nevertheless they embrace it (Romans 1:32). Through Isaiah, the Lord spoke of the end and the certain judgment:

Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it. (Isaiah 28:18 ESV)

The current experiment with secularism will fail and the end will be judgment.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they contested the rule of God over his created order. Though there was pervasive rebellion in the created order, his sovereign rule never stopped. He continues to exercise his rule, and, in the end, the uncontested rule of Christ will be restored. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.^[viii] This is the CWV of reality and will be the ultimate end of secularism.

Happy New Year!

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[i] 2 Timothy 3:16–17.

[ii] 2 Timothy 2:15.

[iii] Isaiah 66:2.

[iv] Hebrews 5:14.

[v] Genesis 1:26–28.

[vi] Matthew 28:18−20.

[vii] Matthew 5:14−16.

[viii] Acts 2:34–35; Philippians 2:10.