{"id":405,"date":"2019-04-13T13:09:50","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T17:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/?p=405"},"modified":"2019-04-13T13:12:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T17:12:17","slug":"irresistible-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/2019\/04\/13\/irresistible-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Judges the Nations Now! Part Four of a Review of Andy Stanley\u2019s \u201cIrresistible\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWhy do some Christian leaders constantly warn of God\u2019s impending judgment?\u00a0\u00a0 Why would a Christian believe God judges nations at all? New Testament authors along with Jesus spoke of a once-for-all final judgment .\u201d \u00a0Andy Stanley, Irresistible<\/em> (91).<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 Because the Bible says so.\u00a0 Jesus is \u201cthe ruler of kings on earth\u201d (Rev. 1:5), the \u201cthe King of kings and Lord of lords\u201d (1 Tim. 6:15).\u00a0 Many modern Christians would argue that these titles are given to Him prospectively \u2013 that the title reflects a role that he will take up only after the Great Tribulation.\u00a0 But that option is foreclosed to Pastor Stanley because he takes the view (correctly) that the Great Tribulation happened already in A.D. 70, which was when the Roman army destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.\u00a0 When writing the sentence quoted above, Pastor Stanley must have forgotten what he previously affirmed in his book, that God sent judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70, after the resurrection of Christ. (62-65)\u00a0 As Pastor Stanley recounts, it was a vicious judgment, with widespread starvation, hundreds of thousands slaughtered, and even more led away into slavery.\u00a0 Who was in charge of ruling the world then?\u00a0 Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Jesus predicted that He would be bringing an earthly, historical judgment soon after He ascends to heaven \u2013 before His disciples could evangelize the whole country of Israel (Matt. 10:23), and before all of them would die (Matt. 16:28).\u00a0 The Great Tribulation comes \u201cupon this generation\u201d (Matt. 23:36, 24:34), the generation to whom He was speaking in the first century, long before the Second Coming and Last Judgment.\u00a0 Like the judgments that God brings against wicked nations in the Old Testament, it doesn\u2019t come by ending the world but by sending a fierce foreign army (Luke 21:20), which Christians are warned to flee \u2013 not waiting for the rapture (Luke 21:21; cf. Matt. 24:15-16).\u00a0 The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when Roman armies invaded was the \u201csign of the Son of the Man in heaven\u201d (Matt. 24:30), i.e., the sign that Jesus was reigning from His heavenly throne to execute judgment on His enemies.\u00a0 Since Christ is still on the throne ruling over the earth, the implication of the A.D. 70 judgment for modern times is that Christ is still bringing judgment in history with His \u201crod of iron\u201d (Ps. 2:9) against nations that refuse to obey God\u2019s law.<\/p>\n

The New Testament affirms over and over that the Old Testament predictions of the Messiah ruling the nations began when Jesus was resurrected and ascended to His Heavenly throne.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 favorite title for Himself was \u201cthe Son of Man.\u201d\u00a0 In Daniel 7 we read about this Son of Man:<\/p>\n

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days\u00a0and was presented before him.\u00a0 And to him was given dominion\u00a0and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages\u00a0should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,\u00a0which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.\u00a0 (Daniel 7:13-14)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Great Commission amounts to Jesus saying that this passage in Daniel 7 was fulfilled after His resurrection:\u00a0 \u201cAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . .\u201d (Matt. 28:18-19).\u00a0 The New Testament writers affirm it as well:<\/p>\n

. . . the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.\u201d\u00a0 (Ephesians 1:19-21)<\/p>\n

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)<\/p>\n

. . . Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:21-22).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peter\u2019s statement that Jesus \u201cis at the right hand of God\u201d is reference to Psalm 110:1, the most-often quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament:\u00a0 \u201cThe LORD says to my lord: \u2018Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter says that this passage was fulfilled when Christ ascended to heaven:<\/p>\n

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Lord said to my Lord,
\n\u201cSit at my right hand,
\nuntil I make your enemies your footstool.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.\u201d (Acts 2:34-36)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it is taught in Psalm 2, often quoted in the New Testament:<\/p>\n

You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.\u00a0 Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. \u00a0(Psalm 2:7-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Very \u201cjudgmental\u201d against nations, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Paul says that this reign over the nations began when Jesus was resurrected:\u00a0 \u201cHe has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: \u2018You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.\u2019 (Acts 13:33).<\/p>\n

Pastor Stanley\u2019s view that Jesus does not rule the nations in any significant political sense \u2013 a view shared by the vast majority of evangelical preachers in our day \u2013 essentially sides with the kings of the earth in their rebellion against Jesus the Messiah.<\/p>\n

The New Testament teaching that the Messiah\u2019s reign over the nations has begun means that the following Old Testament predictions about the reign of the Messiah are applied to our current age, even though the full manifestation is only gradually being implemented:<\/p>\n

My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.\u00a0\u00a0 They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.\u00a0 (Eze. 37:24)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this greater obedience to God\u2019s law will extend to every nation on earth:<\/p>\n

It shall come to pass in the latter days
\nthat the mountain of the house of the Lord
\nshall be established as the highest of the mountains,
\nand shall be lifted up above the hills;
\nand all the nations shall flow to it,
\nand many peoples shall come, and say:
\n\u201cCome, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
\nto the house of the God of Jacob,
\nthat he may teach us his ways
\nand that we may walk in his paths.\u201d
\nFor out of Zion shall go the law,
\nand the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
\nHe shall judge between the nations,
\nand shall decide disputes for many peoples;
\nand they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
\nand their spears into pruning hooks;
\nnation shall not lift up sword against nation,
\nneither shall they learn war any more.
\n(Isa. 2:3-4, cf. Mic. 4:1-4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Give attention to me, my people,
\nand give ear to me, my nation;
\nfor a law will go out from me,
\nand I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
\nMy righteousness draws near,
\nmy salvation has gone out,
\nand my arms will judge the peoples;
\nthe coastlands hope for me,
\nand for my arm they wait.
\n(Isa. 51:4-5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
\nmy chosen, in whom my soul delights;
\nI have put my Spirit upon him;
\nhe will bring forth justice to the nations. . . .
\n[A] bruised reed he will not break,
\nand a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
\nhe will faithfully bring forth justice.
\nHe will not grow faint or be discouraged
\ntill he has established justice in the earth;
\nand the coastlands wait for his law. . . .
\nThe Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
\nto magnify his law and make it glorious.
\n(Isa. 42:1,3-4, 21; cf. Mat. 12:20)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For to us a child is born,
\nto us a son is given;
\nand the government shall be upon his shoulder,
\nand his name shall be called
\nWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
\nEverlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
\nOf the increase of his government and of peace
\nthere will be no end,
\non the throne of David and over his kingdom,
\nto establish it and to uphold it
\nwith justice and with righteousness
\nfrom this time forth and forevermore.
\nThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
\n(Isa. 9:6-7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

May all kings fall down before him,
\nall nations serve him!
\nFor he delivers the needy when he calls,
\nthe poor and him who has no helper.
\nHe has pity on the weak and the needy,
\nand saves the lives of the needy.
\nFrom oppression and violence he redeems their life,
\nand precious is their blood in his sight. (Ps. 72:11-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And furthermore \u2013 this will really upset Pastor Stanley \u2013 Christians, in submission to Christ, are called to exercise authority over the nations.\u00a0 This, again, is based on Daniel\u2019s prophecy in Daniel 7 (and many other Old Testament prophecies about the Messianic reign).\u00a0 After saying that the Son of Man would receive authority to rule all the nations on earth, Daniel says, \u201cjudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. . . . And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High\u201d (Dan. 7:22,27).<\/p>\n

Paul teaches in Ephesians that this is fulfilled under the New Covenant.\u00a0 After saying that Christ has been exalted above all authority, Paul says, \u201cAnd he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all\u201d (Eph. 1:22-23).\u00a0 Notice, Christ is over all things \u201cto the Church.\u201d\u00a0 And notice that the Church is Christ\u2019s body, so when all things are put under Christ\u2019s feet, the lowest part of His body, that means that all authority, including political authority, is put under the Church![1]<\/a>\u00a0 This is reinforced a few sentences later when Paul says that Christ \u201craised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus\u201d (Eph. 2:6-7).\u00a0 Being \u201cin Christ,\u201d Christians participate in Christ\u2019s reign over the earth from His heavenly throne.\u00a0 It happens now, in this age.\u00a0 Not only does Jesus sit at this very moment at the right hand of the Father, working out the process with the pace that He sees fit of breaking His political enemies with a rod of iron and dashing them in pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps. 2:9), Jesus also says that His disciples will imitate Him in this, as He promised the members of the first-century church at Thyatira:\u00a0 \u201cThe one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father\u201d (Rev. 2:27).<\/p>\n

Christ will bring judgment on nations that don\u2019t enact Biblical law in their legislation and enforce Biblical law through their police powers and courts.\u00a0 You haven\u2019t heard that sermon from Andy Stanley, or his father Charles, or probably from any other modern preacher (there are a few, but you probably haven\u2019t heard them).\u00a0 But you should.\u00a0 It what the Bible teaches.\u00a0 The people of God are weak and despised because they will not stand up for God\u2019s word in all areas of life, including politics.\u00a0 The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament teach that this will eventually happen:<\/p>\n

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.\u00a0 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. (Isa. 32:1-2)<\/p>\n

Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.\u00a0 With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet.\u00a0 Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame. (Isa. 49:23)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why will rulers during the Messianic kingdom desire to honor God and enforce God\u2019s law?\u00a0 Because they will be Christians – self-conscious followers of the Messiah. \u00a0Before a person repents and believes in Jesus, he hates God and His law:\u00a0 \u201cFor the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot\u201d (Rom. 8:7). \u00a0Influences like political pressure and natural revelation (Rom. 2:15) can only produce a very inconsistent conformity to God\u2019s law, and not one based on a desire to please God.\u00a0 On the basis of natural revelation alone, people tend to \u201csuppress the truth\u201d (Rom. 1:18).\u00a0 Over generations without saving grace, morals gradually go further into the gutter:\u00a0 \u201cGod gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done\u201d (Rom 1:28).\u00a0 Christians need to run for office if their talents and other life circumstances allow.\u00a0 Christians also need to work to convert politicians so that the politicians will love God and His law.\u00a0 Paul tells us that \u201cFirst of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions\u201d (1 Tim. 2:1-2)\u00a0 One reason for this is to so that rulers let Christians live in peace (v. 2) but another reason to pray for rulers is so that they will be saved:\u00a0 \u201cGod our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth\u201d (vv. 3-4).\u00a0 When God\u2019s law is honored among all the nations on earth, then the prophecy will come true that \u201cnation shall not lift up sword against nation,\u00a0neither shall they learn war anymore\u201d (Isa. 2:4).\u00a0 The gospel includes the message of how to get to heaven, but it includes much more.\u00a0 It includes peace on earth to a substantial degree before<\/em> Christ\u2019s Second Coming at the Last Judgment.\u00a0 This view of eschatology is called postmillennialism, which you can read about more fully elsewhere.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Earthly Blessings for Obedience under the New Covenant<\/em><\/p>\n

Pastor Stanley denies a connection between obedience to God and earthly blessing:\u00a0 \u201cTo put it in broad terms, under the old covenant when you obeyed, you were blessed.\u00a0 When you disobeyed, you were punished. Under the new covenant, when you obey, you may suffer. \u00a0If you disobey, the world may applaud you and you may even prosper.\u201d (100)<\/p>\n

But Jesus taught that His disciples would experience both earthly persecution and earthly blessing:\u00a0 \u201ca hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life\u201d (Mark 10:29-30).<\/p>\n

The Old Testament taught the same thing \u2013 not all blessing or all persecution for God\u2019s people.\u00a0 In Isaiah 51:7-8 God says that those who obey His law can take comfort that His righteousness is \u201cforever,\u201d in contrast to earthly, mortal bodies; in other words even if they are persecuted in this life, they receive eternal rewards in the afterlife, just as Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount:<\/p>\n

Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings.\u00a0 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Psalm 73 says to those who are \u201cpure in heart\u201d (v. 1) and see the \u201cprosperity of the wicked\u201d (v. 3) should recognize that the Lord will \u201crouse\u201d Himself (v. 20) and \u201cput an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you\u201d (v. 27).\u00a0 Like Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes, the Psalmist suggests that the victory may not be until after death:\u00a0 In contrast to the wicked, whose \u201cphantoms\u201d the Lord despises (v. 20), the righteous enjoy God forever even if their body is killed:\u00a0 \u201cMy flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever\u201d (v. 26).<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth\u201d (Matt. 5:5).\u00a0 This blessing is mentioned too many times in the Old Testament to quote them all here.[3]<\/a>\u00a0 It begins with the Dominion Mandate to God\u2019s image bearers at the beginning of creation to \u201cfill the earth and subdue it\u201d (Gen. 1:28), and repeated again to Noah, as the beginning of the new humanity bearing God\u2019s image after the Flood (Gen. 9:1-7).\u00a0 Then it is given a specifically Messianic focus when God chooses Abraham to become a nation that will produce the Messiah who will restore God\u2019s image in humanity, with Abraham being told that \u201cin your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed\u201d (Gen. 22:18; cf. Rom. 4:13).\u00a0 Moses predicted that \u201call the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord\u201d (Num 14:21).\u00a0 In a Messianic psalm often quoted in the New Testament, God says, \u201cAsk of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession\u201d (Psalm 2:8).\u00a0 The most often quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1:\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord says to my Lord: \u2018Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Daniel is given a vision of the future Messianic kingdom, and it grows until it \u201cfilled the whole earth\u201d (Dan. 2:35).\u00a0 Isaiah prophesied that \u201cthe earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea\u201d (Isa. 11:9).\u00a0 Isaiah also recorded an incredible prophecy that wars will end when all nations choose to submit to God\u2019s law (Isaiah 2:2-4).\u00a0 Jesus comes back to the topic of the meek inheriting the earth when He issues the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20).<\/p>\n

Because God\u2019s people are more numerous and more obedient to God\u2019s law in the New Covenant era than in the Old Covenant era, the Old Testament predicts that there will actually be a closer<\/em> temporal connection between righteousness and blessedness in the New Covenant era than in the Old Covenant era (Isa. 2:3-4, 32:1-2, 49:23, 65:20; Micah 4:1-4; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-27).\u00a0 The blessing promised in the Old Testament becomes a reality in the New Testament, although gradually (Mark 4:28; Matt. 13:31-33).\u00a0 The beatitude \u201cBlessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth\u201d is almost a direct quote from Psalm 37:11 that says that \u201cthe meek shall inherit the land.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus expands the promise beyond the land of Israel to the entire world (just as Paul did to one of the Ten Commandments in Ephesians 6:2-3).<\/p>\n

We have hard, empirical evidence that Jesus has brought abundantly greater material blessings to the world.\u00a0 Modern science, technology and economic prosperity are the products of the influence of Christianity in Western civilization.[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Solomon may have been clothed in splendor, but did he have a microwave oven, air-conditioning, or a giant flat-screen television?\u00a0 In the countries most influenced by Christianity, the poor live in greater prosperity in many respects than the kings of the ancient world.\u00a0 Christianity reversed the ancient status quo of despotism and brought political freedom to the world.\u00a0 Greece and Rome were slave societies, dependent on slaves for most labor.\u00a0 About thirty percent of the population of Rome and Italy were slaves under Emperor Augustus in the first century, but the spread of Christianity gradually ended mass slavery in Europe.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Through the Papal Revolution that began in the tenth century, kings were restrained in their power.[6]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0Later, Calvinist Protestants introduced further restraints on monarchs, as well as rejecting the Papal abuses of power, and established republican government in America as a beacon to the world.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

______________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0 I would argue that \u201cthe Church\u201d here is not the institutional organization, with the State under a Church hierarchy in the Roman Catholic sense.\u00a0 Rather, \u201cthe Church\u201d refers to Christians who gain leadership in various institutions, including the State.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Iain H. Murray, The Puritan Hope: A Study in Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy<\/em> (Banner of Truth, 1975);\u00a0 Keith A. Mathison, Postmillennialism:\u00a0 An Eschatology of Hope<\/em> (Presbyterian and Reformed Pub., 1999); Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart, The Reduction of Christianity:\u00a0 Dave Hunt\u2019s Theology of Cultural Surrender<\/em> (Fort Worth, TX:\u00a0 Dominion Press, 1988); Gary DeMar, Last Days Madness:\u00a0 Obsession of the Modern Church<\/em> (Powder Springs, GA:\u00a0 American Vision, 1999); Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation<\/em> (Tyler, TX:\u00a0 ICE, 1989); The Greatness of the Great Commission<\/em>\u00a0 (Tyler, TX: ICE, 1990);\u00a0 He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology<\/em> (Tyler, TX:\u00a0 ICE, 1992); Mike Warren, The Coming of Christ\u2019s Kingdom:\u00a0 The End Times and the Triumph of the Gospel<\/em>, http:\/\/www.christianciv.com\/eschatology_bs_Sect2.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0 For a more complete list, see Mike Warren, \u201cThe Victory Theme in Scripture,\u201d in The Coming of Christ\u2019s Kingdom:\u00a0 The End Times and the Triumph of the Gospel<\/em>, Sect. 2 (http:\/\/www.christianciv.com\/eschatology_bs_Sect2.htm<\/a>).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Robert Royal, The God that Did Not Fail:\u00a0 How Religion Built and Sustains the West<\/em> (New York:\u00a0 Encounter Books, 2006); Frances and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages <\/em>(New York: Harper Collins, 1994); Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God:\u00a0 How Monotheism Led to the Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery<\/em> (Princeton, NJ:\u00a0 Princeton University Press, 2003);\u00a0 Stanley Jaki, Science and Creation:\u00a0 From Eternal Cycles to an Oscillating Universe<\/em> (Edinburgh:\u00a0 Scottish Academic Press, 1974); Edward Grant, The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages:\u00a0 Their Religious, Institutional and Intellectual Contexts<\/em> (Cambridge, UK:\u00a0 Cambridge University Press, 1996); Peter Harrison, The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science<\/em> (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Vishal Mangalwadi, The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization<\/em> (Nashville, TN:\u00a0 Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition, 2011); James Hannam, God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science<\/em> (Icon Books, Kindle Edition, 2008); Robert K. Merton, The Sociology of Science<\/em> (Chicago:\u00a0 U. of Chicago Press 1973);\u00a0 Mike Warren, \u201cThe Light Has Come: Quotations on the History of Christian Contributions to the Progress of Civilization,\u201d at http:\/\/www.christianciv.com\/LightHasCome.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God<\/em>, pp. 295-299.\u00a0 For the percentage of slaves in Greece and Rome, see K. Hopkins, Conquerers and Slaves,<\/em> Sociological Studies in Roman History, Vol. 1 (Cambridge,1978); W.L. Westermann, The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity,<\/em> (Philadelphia, 1955), and W.V. Harris, \u201cTowards a Study of the Roman Slave Trade,\u201d Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome XXXVI (1980), 117-40.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Harold J. Berman, Law and Revolution:\u00a0 The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition<\/em> (Cambridge, MA:\u00a0 Harvard University Press, 1983).<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0 See Robert D. Woodberry, “The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy,” American Political Science Review<\/em>, Vol. 106, No. 2 May 2012, pp. 267-68, at https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/2128659\/The_Missionary_Roots_of_Liberal_Democracy<\/a>; Abraham Kuyer, Lectures on Calvinism: The Stone Lectures of 1898<\/em> (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1943); Otto Scott, \u201cThe Great Christian Revolution\u201d in The Great Christian Revolution:\u00a0 The Myths of Paganism and Arminianism<\/em> by Otto Scott, et al.<\/em> (Vallecito, CA:\u00a0 Ross House Books, 1991); David W. Hall, The Genevan Reformation and the American Founding<\/em> (Lanham, MD:\u00a0 Lexington Books, 2003); Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism <\/em>(Baton Rouge &. London: Louisiana State University Press, 1988); Douglas Kelly, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World<\/em> (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1992); Gary DeMar, The Case for America\u2019s Christian Heritage<\/em> (Powder Springs, GA:\u00a0 American Vision Press, 2009), and Historical Revisionism:\u00a0 An Attempt to Rewrite America\u2019s Christian History<\/em> (Powder Springs, GA:\u00a0 American Vision Press, 2009); Stephen C. Perkins, Christianity and Law: The Influence of Christianity on the Development of English Common Law<\/em> (Kuyper Foundation, 2012).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhy do some Christian leaders constantly warn of God\u2019s impending judgment?\u00a0\u00a0 Why would a Christian believe God judges nations at all? New Testament authors along with Jesus spoke of a once-for-all final judgment .\u201d \u00a0Andy Stanley, Irresistible (91). Why?\u00a0 Because … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianciv.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}