Revolt and Its Impact on History and Us

Recently, I finished reading a book by Ron Wells called "History Through the Eyes of Faith." It was an excellent read, and I recommend it strongly to anyone interested in a companion text to help shade in some areas left untouched by most Western civ history books. It helps point out many Christian points of view on events without coming to judgment on those events. In fact, the author makes the point, which I think I agree with, that history is not about making judgments on past events rather than reporting on them. The judgment must happen, but that is not history - it is us learning from history.

One of the most important parts of the book is the way it highlights three different revolts that have occurred in Western history, all of which have serious implications for our world today. The first two can be considered good, from a Christian perspective, but the last has been a serious tragedy to be sure. They are: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment.

Both the Renaissance and the Reformation were, in their own ways, revolts against Medieval thinking and attempts to get back to an ancient ideal - ancient Roman and Greek thought and art on the one hand and early church doctrine as found in the Scriptures on the other. While some might see these are reactionary, it is clear that they both had positive goals that have remained ideals for some of us. Of course, there were problems. The Thirty Years War in Central Europe was an excess that came directly out of the Reformation that is probably the darkest aspect of that movement (literally 30% of people living in that part of Europe were killed!). However, that hearkening back to our roots was a wonderful thing.

The Enlightenment has really been a rejection of Christianity to be replaced by a new ideal altogether. This is based on the ideas of progress and evolution that coincided with the Enlightenment. The main jist is that man can become perfected, given the right circumstances of environment. Enfortunately for us, the Enlightenment is still the dominant thought pattern for our society, and all other Western societies. In fact, both of the dominant government systems in the past century (democracy and communism) were birthed from the Enlightenment (think about the "new Soviet man" that the Russian were always trying to create and the many social programs often attempted in the USA).

One interesting thing to note is the nature of our government. In truth, we do not have a democracy in the United States. We have a republic. Both come out of the Enlightenment, but one (democracy) is an attempt to see the Enlightenment principles fulfilled while the other (republic) is a system designed to check Enlightenment principles before they can cause too much damage. It is a good think for us that the Articles of Confederation (our first government and constitution) failed and was replaced by the Constitution. Additionally, while I have serious problems with many government programs, it is important to note that government exists to limit man's fallenness, not to create a perfect world in which man can become new.

We Christians hold that the one and only means by which a man can become a new creation is in Jesus Christ. There is no program that can match His graceful work - and that is the sort of revolution that I long for!