Light Brings Salt
Volume 3, Issue 45
Iron Range Bible
Church
Dedicated to the Systematic Exposition of the Word of God
Alternative Salvation
Stuart McAllister
In a very perceptive book
called Life: The Movie, author Neal Gabler argues that entertainment has conquered reality. All
of life has become a stage, and the way to success is through the pathway of
becoming a celebrity. Gabler suggests that we spend
our life buying and shopping according to images and ideals that we hold as we
seek to shape ourselves for our own performance. The constant use of
significant celebrities to model lines of clothing, sporting goods, and
cosmetics tell us subtly that if we own these items, we too can be like our
heroes. We are strategically convinced that we don't have to simply watch
the rich and famous; the democratization of credit and the availability of
easily-accessed goods guarantee our ability to play the part or parts we
choose.
The practical aids are many. Easy credit and finance
options bluntly inquire, "Why wait?" In earlier times people had to
consider whether they could afford such things, and they might have had to
delay while they saved. The time between viewing and having was often
considerable, but not anymore. We can have it if we want it, and we can have it
now. It comes, of course, with a huge price tag in terms of increasing
debt and anxiety. But even as the social crisis ticks like a time bomb in many
homes, the waiting has been taken out of wanting.
It has become the job of the advertising industry to keep
us in a state of permanent dissatisfaction and restlessness with who we are or
what we have. The answer is always bigger, better, faster, or more like someone
else. Words like "enough," "sufficient," and
"wait" are derided in favor of having what you want now and
immediately becoming who you really want to be. We are informed of our lack of
something and then told it is ruining the quality of our lives. But the voices
of the media then tell us salvation is at hand! The new product or service will
liberate you from your problems. It will initiate you into a new world, a new
life, an alternative salvation.
Is it possible that we are trapped in a web of deception,
and that we are being conditioned to blindly follow the pied pipers of Madison
Avenue and
The Christian view and alternative is that we are the
products of a personal, loving creator, and that our life, opportunities, and
resources are a gift to us. We interact with nature and the material world, but
we also have other dimensions to our nature. "The earth is the Lord's and
all it contains; the world and those who dwell in it" (Psalms 24:1–2).
Because we have been made by God and for God, our ultimate fulfillment is found
in Him.
The pretensions of our culture are many, the seductions
vast, and the attractions powerful. Yet in a world of invasive desires,
intrusive demands, and restless indulgence another voice can be heard:
"Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you
rest" (Matthew
Has Evolution become a State
Religion?
by John Morris, Ph.D.
Nowhere did they
insist on "the separation of church and state" in the sense that
religious concepts had no place in government, indeed quotes abound affirming
their personal and national dependence on God.
The Church of England
had been established as the official state church of that country for a long
time, but in the nineteenth century an effort was launched to "disestablish"
it, and remove its favored status. Yet some wanted to retain the designation,
and launched the anti-disestablish movement. Their movement became known as
antidisestablishmentarianism, a beloved word of all school children who brag they
can spell the longest word in the English language. There are longer words, but
we can learn a lesson from this historical episode.
How then can we
understand the government mandated rush to embrace the concept of evolutionary
naturalism? The idea that life originated, indeed the entire universe
originated through strictly natural processes (as opposed to supernatural
processes) is a religious concept, incapable of observation or proof, yet held
by faith. In evolutionary naturalism, life not only finds its origin, but also
its meaning and destiny in nature. As many have noted, it is essentially
equivalent with atheism.
Our government schools
teach evolution with fervor at taxpayer expense, ignoring alternatives.
Textbook writers often repeat information known to be false, in the name of
good evolution teaching. Teacher unions aggressively combat other views while
defending teachers who abuse students of different faiths than evolution. Our
courts declare other origins views off-limits, branding them religion.
Scientists have even redefined the goal of science. No longer is it "the
search for truth," it has become the search for naturalistic explanations.
Self-serving civil libertarians promise a bitter lawsuit against any who would
return to the views of the founders. How could we have come so far? Where is
the road back?
The state-supported church of atheistic
evolutionism has been almost fully established in this once Christian country.
I, for one, support the "disestablishment" of this false,
unscientific, and harmful church. I do not favor establishing any Christian
creed as the
Epigram
As things are, most seminaries and churches
pose little threat to a blatantly secular society; they are tolerated by the
secular mindset, much as a grandmother who no longer knows what day of the week
it is or what to do next.
Carl F.H. Henry