THE ANNUAL JOURNAL FROM THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC

ISSUE 2 | 2020

ISSUE 2 | 2020

Permanent Things is an annual production EDITOR CONNECT WITH US of the Center for Public Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Owen Strachan THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC THEOLOGY Seminary. It is developed in conjunction  Public_Theology with the Communications division EDITORIAL ASSISTANT of Institutional Relations at MBTS.  PublicTheologyMBTS Information about the journal is available Mike Dixon at the seminary website: mbts.edu.

Address all editorial correspondence to: DESIGN & LAYOUT MIDWESTERN SEMINARY Editor, Permanent Things Jason Muir  mbts Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary 5001 N. Oak Trafficway  midwestern.seminary COORDINATOR Kansas City, MO 64118.  midwesternseminary Abby Currence The views expressed in the following articles and reviews are not necessarily those of the faculty, the administration, or the trustees of the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 1 PERMANENT THINGS 2 21 13 10 4 3 TABLE OFCONTENTS “STANDING DEFIANTLY JASON ALLEN TO MATURITY FORA THE OLDSCRIPTIS THERE INALLTHAT DARK A FIRESOMEWHEREOUT CHURCHILLIAN CHRISTIAN DREAMS:A CLARITY GENERATION WITHOUT GONE: ONAPATHWAY by OwenStrachan by EstherO’Reilly by David Talcott MONTH AFTERMONTH”: MURRAY LEADERSHIP WITHDR. PROFILE OFDOUGLAS EVEN ATHEISTS DREAM EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: AND THECHURCH C. H.SPURGEON, by Dr. GeoffChang REVIVAL, MEMBERSHIP, ECCLESIOLOGIST: ON | ISSUE2

| 2020 30 24 35 33 38 “WRITTEN INTOTHEVERY JOSEPH BOTTUMONTHE A GENDER-NEUTRALAGE AN ANGRY AGE:CRITIC & Bryan Baise & Bryan WORLD”: RAISINGBOYSIN by Colin Smothers THEY CREATED AMONSTER: FOUNDATIONS OFTHE RAGING YOUTH FADING MAINLINEAND AN INTELLECTUALIN SCRUTON SCRUTON WORK by Andrew T. Walker by Samuel Parkison PHILOSOPHER ROGER FULL: ASYMPOSIUMON REVIEW OFANIMPORTANT JOHN MURRAY TEXT THE THEOLOGIANAS by Jeff Moore REVIEW OFACLASSIC BIBLICAL EXEGETE:A

49 45 40 TREES: ANESSAY ONTHE AFTERWORD: SAILINGTO COSTI HINN CONVERSATION WITH SING BETHELAND SHOULD CHURCHES by William Butler Yeats by OwenStrachan BYZANTIUM FILM KEEP YOUREYESONTHE HILLSONG MUSIC?A 1917

2020 |ISSUE 2 EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

A Fire functioned as a nearly unrelenting assault, a tour de force display, of the power of evil. In his writing as in the adaptation of his work, McCarthy seems not Somewhere only to smirk at the postmodern dismissal of the old absolutist morality, but to leer at it. You think our world is post-moral?, he effectively says;Let me show you what Out There a post-moral world looks like. It looks like evil, not banal evil, but restless and roaming evil, evil that tears society in All That up and hunts down victims for no good reason. But McCarthy must not be understood as celebrating Dark this evil (nor does the film). In this closing scene, the dream shows the sheriff’s father going out into the “dark” and the “cold” to make a fire “somewhere.” He is In the gripping filmNo Country for Old Men, the lead just one lone figure way out in the wilderness, but he character is a sheriff played by Tommy Lee Jones. has gone ahead, riding with purpose, driving into the Beaten down and weathered by time, the sheriff awakes bleakness, fire in his possession. The sheriff does not from a dream and tells his wife about it. He identifies know where his father will ultimately land, but in his the setting as in “older times,” and then paints a dream he knows he can find him. This present darkness spellbinding picture of cursing and hope: veils many things, but far in the distance, a fire will glow in the shadowlands. I was on horseback, going through the mountains of the nights, going through this pass in the mountains… The second release of Permanent Things celebrates it’s cold, there was snow on the ground…he rode past light in the valley of death’s shadow. Our esteemed me and kept on goin' and never said anything goin’ by, and estimable contributors have not intentionally just rode on past…he had his blanket wrapped around tackled a common theme, but in one way or another, him and his head down, when he rode past, I seen he they each consider the need for Christic renewal, was carrying fire in a horn the way people used to do, restoration, and hope in darkness. The rich original and I could see the horn from the light inside of it, collection of thought and prose here will, we pray, about the color of the moon…and in the dream I knew encourage you to ride hard, go on ahead, and make a that he was goin’ on ahead, he was fixin’ to make a fire fire by the grace of , somewhere out there in all somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold, that dark and all that cold. and I knew that whenever I got there, he’d be there.

And then I woke up. Owen Strachan is the editor I have thought often of this scene over the years. The of Permanent Things, book by Cormac McCarthy and the film both capture associate professor of the twin themes mentioned above: the desperate , and depravity of the world alongside the vital presence of director of the Center courageous hope. In the dream, the sheriff’s father is for Public Theology at enwreathed in darkness, but he has a horn, and there Midwestern Baptist is fire in it. The setting is bleak, just as the movie has Theological Seminary.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 3 PERMANENT THINGS 4 New York Times columnist David Brooks notedthis old scriptisgone. crisis-level, low. We are notlivinginnormaltimes.The age isnow30for men;thefertility rateisatanall-time, courting thatresulted from it).Theaverage marriage the in-person socialmixingofthepast(and thedating/ Social media,Netflix, andvideogames have replaced The datingandmarriageprocess isharder thanever. nothing andplan onswitchingcareers multiple times. told theymay needtocreate theirownfirstjobsoutof past are disappearing.Young people today are being the continues togrow, thestable jobsofthe Economically, thingsare similarly unstable. Though with disease—it’s pure waste. did. But acesspool coversyou infilth andattacks you tiptoe through aswampandhold your nose;many ofus hotbeds ofvirtue,are nowabsolute cesspools. You can The college campusesofthepast,which were notexactly is nowamandatedpartofthepublic school curriculum. ever before. LGBTideology from thefringesof70s By DavidTalcott Without Clarity a Generation to Maturity for OnaPathwayGone: IsThe Old Script of Men, andMonogamy Marriage, , University ofOxford Press, 2017. 2 MarkRegnerus and Jeremy Uecker, University SexinAmerica, Premarital ofOxford Press, 2011.MarkRegnerus, CheapSex:TheTransformation 1 David Brooks, “TheNuclear Family wasaMistake,” TheAtlantic, March 2020. live apartfrom theirbiological fathersthan past are fewer andfewer. More children world. Theintact neighborhoodsofthe youth oftoday are growing upinadifferent be difficult tograsphowcompletely the OR THOSE OF US GETTING ONINYEARS, GETTING OFUS OR THOSE it can sex. responsibility,connected adulthood, marriage,and describing thebreakup ofthe normalpathway thatonce University ofTexas atAustin, hasspent overadecade more adrift.MarkRegnerus, asociologist atthe adulthood.” Thebreakup ofthefamily hasleft children launch themselves andnowell-defined pathway to up inthiserahave nosecure basefrom which to nuclear family. reality inarecent article aboutthedeclineof may think theyare offering freedom from drudgery. yourself.” Theseplatitudes feel inspirational, andelders do whatever you putyour mindto,”“Take timetofind love andyou’ll neverworkaday inyour life,” “You can potential andshoulddowhat theylove: “Do what you exhortation isthatyoung people have limitless work for young people. Perhaps themostcommon If we’re honest,thepopularsolutions oftoday don’t Don’tSolutions Work Today’s “Freedom-Affirming” that assaults them. the chaosthatsurrounds themandthebadmessaging grow andmature, livinginhopeandlove, inspiteofall obedience toHisword. Young Christianstoday can catastrophe, when theydwellinunion withHimand His people timeandagain,through exile and itcanthrive.Weonly survive, have seenGodpreserve and revealed byGod’s Word, thisgeneration cannot if welook tothepatternoflife established increation vision isblurry. Thepowertolaunchislacking.But, The foundation isweakened. Thepathisunclear. The finding itharder andharder togethitched. think it’s possible anytime soon.At areal level, they’re today stillwantbuttheyoftendon’t togetmarried, stability, andadeepsenseoffulfillment. Young people responsibilities ofadulthood lead toproductivity, young and takingontheinstitution, where marrying 2 Marriageusedtobe,andbeseenas,a“formative” 1 He writes,“Many people growing 2020 |ISSUE 2 But telling a toddler to fly when they can hardly walk his public writing explored the human experience of isn’t freeing, and telling a young person to be anything anguish, abandonment, and despair.3 When you are when they can’t figure out how to be something is abandoned by God and by God’s created world, and cast demoralizing. You cannot innovate until you’ve learned only and entirely upon yourself, it is hard not to feel the standard forms, just as you can’t improvise on an psychologically destroyed. If the “real world” is simply instrument unless you first memorize the scales. atoms moving in the void, the picture is pretty bleak. The human will finds itself in a silent, mute, flat world Despite the noble intentions, we should admit that our and needs to carve out a path in the emptiness. open-ended affirmation of individual freedom is now hindering our young people, not helping them. In the This background of existentialist individualism partly mid-20th century, American Christians rightly recoiled explains the rising popularity of internet gurus who from the horrifying reality of global communism, offer concrete, hard-nosed direction for young people’s including the smothering conformity it sought to lives. The phenomena is perhaps the impose on the world. Individual creativity and freedom greatest example of this, where a Toronto psychology is a genuine good, and ought to be protected in the face professor has been able to convince untold scores of of oppressive regimes seeking to refashion humanity young men to adopt such radical steps as “stand up in the image of an abstract, rationalistic conception of straight with your shoulders back” and “clean your man rather than the concrete, embodied reality that room” (these are two of the recommendations in his God has created. But this unchained individuality now bestselling book 12 Rules for Life).4 runs amok, trailing carnage in its wake. There is certainly a long story about why Peterson Perhaps the ultimate expression of this ideology rose as high as he did, but at its core it is because comes from our legal system, in the Supreme Court’s he carried strong, clear conviction about what is of 1992 decision in Casey vs. Planned Parenthood. Justice ultimate value, and told young men they needed to Kennedy wrote the following in the court’s decision: change if they wanted to succeed. He didn’t just say “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own “you do you”—he said “you are pretty nasty, just like concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and me—we better get ourselves fixed if we’re going to get of the mystery of human life.” This is an unabashedly anywhere in the world.” His tough-love approach is existentialist conception of humanity, one where the opposite of saccharine sentimentality. He has real there is no meaning out there to be discovered, or in skin in the game. He risked his Toronto professorship here written on our hearts, but merely to be defined to protest draconian speech restrictions being enforced by individual acts of human will. Authenticity is now by the university. He told the truth about what male the sole virtue – being true to ourselves and our own and female nature is like (both the good and the bad) conception of a good life. without candy-coating it.

The results of this approach have been anxiety, But, ultimately, Peterson leaves us on our own to depression, and uncertainty. The existentialists of the struggle against the primeval chaos of the world, mid-20th century had already found the same. Jean- having to rely on our own strength to overcome the Paul Sartre was not exactly living a morally upright or problems in our lives. He never really leaves this stable life. His personal life was filled with sexual ; radical individualism behind. As helpful as much of his

3 Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism, Yale University Press, 2007. 4 Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life, Penguin Random House, 2018.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 5 PERMANENT THINGS 6 not ofisolation butofcommunal love. grace alone wecanberestored living alife andrenewed, that weare notabandonedin oursins,butthrough God’s are Godiswithus,andseeing notalone intheworld, forward istoturnGodbyfaith,recognizing thatwe with Hiscreative andredemptive design.Sothefirststep is searching for itinunion withGodandinaccordance important partoffindingourpathway through thislife, need tofindwhoGodhasmadeusbe.Andthemost we needto“find ourselves,” butmore importantly we something listless anddestructive.Yes, inonesense that rootedness, ourexpressive individualismturnsinto virtue, anddeepcommunion withourSavior. Without function wellagainstabackdrop ofstability, moral Encouragements todevelop ourindividualityonly already made. only stewards andcaretakers ofthethingsthatHe has image. We, infact,are madeinGod’s image,andcanbe Nietzschean supermen,recasting theworldinourown to simply “find yourself.” Most ofuscan’t livelike solution for young people today? It turnsoutit’s hard incapacitated for months, canthisreally bethebest deep psychological andphysical struggles thathe’s Peterson needsanti-anxiety meds,andhassuch needing medication tocontrol anxiety? IfevenJordan anti-anxiety medication. of hospitalsafterhaving acatastrophic reaction to revealed thatfor thepastyear hehasbeeninandout darkness withourownstrength alone. He recently Peterson’s ownlife showsthatwecannotfight divinely-established onetowalkin. path thatwedonothave tocreate ourselves, buta evil. It isastruggle inwhich weare notalone. It isa us, empoweringusfor anewkindof struggle against us, transforms us,andHisspiritcomes todwellwithin turn toward God.GodinHiskindnesscomesdownto sin andthedevil,weneedtoturnfrom ourselves and transforming union withGod.Inourstruggle against since hefailstounderstandthenecessityofalife- practical advice is,Peterson’s solution isinadequate 7 Big Big Train, “Underfall Yard,” Recordings, English 2009. Electric Reno, R. 6 R. Resurrecting the Idea of aChristian 2016 Society Books, , Salem 5 Jordan Peterson, “Return Home,” 19,2020.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_6zwVNn88o October 5 Theguruofanxiety himself this confusion, what istruly good?Whatshouldwebe contemplate theproper order, toaskinthemidstofall the answers.We needtoseparatefrom thechaosto wrong. We knowtheculture around usdoesn’t have at which weare aiming.We knowwe’re doingthings they are today, wemust stepbackandconsiderthegoal find ourway home.Whenthingsare goinghaywire, as a northstar–thethingtoorient toward ifwewant to need tostopandgetyour bearings.God’s revelation is There isapathforward. But, when you’re adriftyou seeing thatweare notabandoned inoursins. are notalone intheworldsinceGodiswithus,and requires turningtoGodbyfaith,recognizing thatwe turmoilofthislife.every Any viable pathway forward we are comforted byGod’s presence inthemidstof connection, writing, of stability. Inarecent Rusty book, Reno explains this made ustobe.True freedom comesfirstfrom a place into anything, wemust firstaccept what He we ourselves (Ps. 100:3).Before tomake trying ourselves God’s creative act –itisHe thathasmadeus,andnot True freedom andindividualitycomestousthrough available light, hecanstillseefar.” in front ofusmen–asonesongputsit,“using just and death,theWord castslight onthestepsright We God’s knowtheultimate end, oversin victory lamp toourfeet andalight toourpath(Ps. 119:105). 29:29), buthehaspromised thatHisWord willbea things remain hiddenandbelong toGodalone (Deut the worldthatGodhasalready chosen.Somesecret Before wecanchoosewellourselves, wemust accept making itup. holding, notchoosingstandingfastintruth, self-evident.’ Thefirst andfundamental actis Independence says, ‘We hold thesetruthstobe not ties severed.affirmed, AstheDeclaration of country’s freedoms arisefrom eternal verities of loyalty, notadeclaration ofindependence.Our Freedom properly understoodisbasedinapledge 6 7 Most importantly, 2020 |ISSUE 2 hasalready pursuing? The good news is that there is a path forward, name. This is the original task of man, and it is the and it is one where true freedom and individual task that God’s people have pursued in every age. This creativity can flourish. was not just pious advice for and Eve, it was the pattern for all of human life. The way it was “from the By looking to God’s word, and how He has called His beginning” (Matt 19:8) is normative and directive for the people to live during every stage of their lives, we can way it ought to be today. see a better way – a way beyond the “old” script of the 1950s and beyond the individualism of the internet God’s original creative intention manifests itself gurus and Supreme Court justices. Our freedom as throughout the history of His people, and a few finite creatures always exists within limits. Order sets examples will bring out how potent this divine plan the boundaries for creativity. The “old” script may be truly is. Even in the worst of times and the worst of gone, but the ancient script remains. places, God’s children flourished when they followed the simple pattern of life established in His Word. The Ancient Script is the 21st When famine drove the house of Jacob down to Egypt, Century Script: The True Path so that they had to live among a foreign people, away Forward from the land of promise, what did they do? Scripture The way to properly re-orient ourselves is to look back teaches us “the people of Israel were fruitful and at God’s plan in creation. Why did God create man? increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly What were we made to do? Whatever our original strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Ex. purpose is, it is something we can fulfill in every age, 1:7). Genesis 1-2 is present in Exodus 1. God’s people in every social climate, in every phase of technological are marked by fruitfulness. Ultimately, they grew so development, in every place, and in every circumstance numerous and strong that Pharaoh felt threatened by of life. No cosmic change, no demonic influence, no them. Hard work and hard childraising bear fruit and scheme of man can separate us from God’s divine stability in the toughest of environments. intention in the creation of humanity. Before creation, God knew there would be cars, factories, computers, Hundreds of years later the people of God were again pandemics, Zoom meetings, anxiety, depression, and taken away, this time into Babylon. What was God’s everything else. God knew all this, and still had a plan instruction then? Jeremiah 29:4-6 tells us, for mankind. In every age, in every circumstance, we can live for Christ and be a light to the world. What Thus says of hosts, the God of Israel, to all are human being made for? Getting clear on that the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem universal vocation casts light on how we, as 21st century to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant Christians, can walk in God’s ways. gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give God’s original plan in creation is made clear in Genesis your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons 1 and 2. God has created a world for his own glory, and and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. has placed man as his vice-regent, to form and to fill the world that He has made.8 Young men and women Here is the pathway forward for a generation without need to be taught that there is a mandate from God, a script. It is the script of creation, the script of life, the established in the order he created and spoken to us in one we should have been reading in every generation. His word, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth In the worst of times, when God’s people are stripped and subdue it, and to establish God’s loving reign from their homeland, when they live in the midst of a on every corner of the earth to the glory of His holy hostile culture given over to paganism, they flourished

8 Alastair Roberts, “Man and Woman in Creation (Genesis 1 and 2),” IX Marks Journal, 12.10.2019.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 7 PERMANENT THINGS 8 and understanding….ten timesbetterthanallthe to thetopofclassinBabylon, possessing“wisdom midst ofthisexile thatDaniel andhiscompanions rise the cultivation ofcharacterandwisdom. It isinthe gardens (buildingproductive businesses) alsorequires Building houses(setting downroots) andplanting they inturnwillneedtofollow Godintheirowntime. andcangifttothenextgeneration everything need, Through thiswecanbeablessing to those who are in that willenable you toprovide for yourself andothers. effectively produces thenecessities oflife, something don’t knowwhat todo,learn howtodosomethingthat and abilities thatare usefulandprofitable. When you down deeproots andbuild a business.Acquire skills true homeland.Whenthepathforward isunclear, set even aswelook toafuture hopeofrestoration toa down roots andbuildproductive economic enterprises, and toplant gardens andeattheirproduce. We must set tells Hisexiled people tobuildhousesandliveinthem, faithfulness.Godget busywiththetasksofordinary Because wetrustHim,canfollow Hisinstruction: even indarktimes. flourish when theytrustapowerfulandsovereign God, is preparing afuture salvation. Thepeople ofGodwill in life. He iswithusinthemidstofadversity andHe uncertainty and painfulthing and struggle, overevery difficulty abuseandoppression, overevery over every lesser powerthisworldcanconcoct.Heevery reigns Hewill. AndheisourGod, isforus,andHe reigns over is more powerfulstill,andisworkingoutHisdivine “Lord ofhosts.”Babylon might seempowerful,butGod the horrors theywere experiencing, He wasstillthe He knewwhat washappeningtothem,anddespite God says thatHe Babylon, carried backthere byaforeign power. Andyet, the Israelitesfelt when theywere physically taken to If wefeel isolated orabandonedtoday, thinkofhow words: love Godandlove neighbor. andraisemanymarried, children inthefaith.Inother sovereignty, establish roots, buildbusinesses,get in creation. Theelements are thesame:trustGod’s when theyfollowed theoriginalcallofGodestablished istheonethatsent theminto exile. That’s notflashy advice, butitworked inthe6 God andman” (Luke 2:52)), andplan for thelong haul. grow invirtue(“wisdomandstature andfavor with and wisdom.Build houses,buildbusinesses,grow wise, Egypt, he,too,rose tothetopbecauseofhischaracter in God’s blessing. WhenJoseph in wassold into slavery government –theirfaithfuldevotion toGodculminates topofBabylon’shis friends eventually risetothevery and lovingly governcreation for God’s glory. Daniel and grow inknowledge wealsogrow inourabilitytowisely intellectual thanphysical: namingtheanimals.Aswe Adam’s firstactofdominion inGenesis2ismore king’s palace” (Dan 1:4). understanding learning, andcompetent tostandinthe “skillful inallwisdom,endowedwithknowledge, they are taken from Israelinto exile theywere already magicians andenchanters” (Dan 1:20). At thetime building families isthelife scriptofthepeople ofGod. inEgypt orinexile in Babylon,Whether inslavery than itwasunderPharaoh ortheGreat King ofPersia. Surely thedangerofthosethingsisnotworsenow children, butshouldratherdriveustoitallthemore. marginalization shouldnotkeep usfrom marriageand theft andhightaxation, political oppression, and social living according toHiscreational purpose.Fear of it’s aboutglorifying Godthrough following Himand in difficult times. It’s notjustabout “gettingmarried,” to giveourselves wholeheartedly even tothiswork, fruitful partnershipofmanandwoman,weare as thegospelispreached. God hasmadeusfor the childbearing andsecondthrough spiritualprocreation firstthrough naturalprocreationthe imageofGod, in Egypt? Acore taskofhumanity istofilltheearthwith you seethemodelofIsraeliteswhile enslaved in to subduetheearthandbefruitfulmultiply? Can Can you hearthereflection ofGenesis1’s admonition have children, to“multiply there, anddonotdecrease.” and supposed toengagein.Theywere alsotomarry But, businesswasnottheonly business theywere and your activecultivation ofvirtue,again,gettowork. elite university, gettowork.With your quiet Bible study degreeplumbing from apprenticeship an orahistory BC anditcanworkin21 st century AD. century Whetheritisa 2020 |ISSUE 2 th century century That our culture no longer values this child-bearing Until that day we live in love, love of God and love of work, and seems to actively conspire to make it difficult, neighbor. On these great commandments “depend all should be of no importance to the people of God. Those the law and the prophets.” Love calls us to follow God’s who are mocked in this life because of their faithfulness law and His will. A life of diligent labor and fruitful can be confident of God’s care for them in the next. marriages is the original human embodiment of that When Daniel and the other godly youth arrived in love. As we cultivate the garden, build businesses, Babylon, they refused to follow the Babylonian pattern get married, raise families, and grow in wisdom and of life. They were offered “the king’s choice food” holiness we are living out the way of God’s people, the and “the wine which he drank” (Dan 1:5), but they way of love. • refused. When tempted with luxury, , and drunkenness, Daniel would not “defile himself” (Dan 1:8). Instead, a radically countercultural way of life was Daniel’s way, one that seemed an insane rejection of the opportunities afforded by a fabulously wealthy and powerful nation. David Talcott is Associate Professor of at He followed God through the joys of simple food and The King’s College in New sobriety. Throughout his career of public service, his York City. enemies “could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful.” When we walk in the paths of Yahweh, then even though we die, yet shall we live (John 11:25). God preserved Daniel and his friends through horrific persecution – fiery furnaces and lions’ dens – and God can deliver us, to, in the 21st century. The pathway forward now is the same as it was then: obedience to God’s revealed will and fulfilling the original purposes for which we were created.

Living in Hope and Love The original created purposes find their completion in God’s future kingdom. The Garden of Eden is closed off to man after they sin. But a promise is made that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Evil will ultimately be destroyed; we have the pledge and proof of that in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection from the dead. Today we can live, in any circumstance of life, with hope and anticipation of that future kingdom, when God will come to dwell with His people forever and ever. There is a future city, with trees and a river, filled with holy and with God himself. That future gives us present hope. We are on pilgrimage, sometimes on flat, easy ground and other times staggering up steep inclines. But, we live on with joy and hope, moving ever forward and upward, as God imparts to us His grace, and empowers us to overcome every difficulty.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 9 PERMANENT THINGS 10 In the end, adeepstudy ofIslamwasthestrawIn theend, thatbroke in unsustainable tension withallofit:He wasgay. he wascomingtoacceptsomething which seemedtosit increasingly itseemeddownright immoral.Meanwhile, what ifthecritics were right? Asfor theOld Testament, terrified himso much thathestopped reading. But high school, onepeekathighercritical scholarship had the New Testament’s reliability wouldn’t goaway. In And yet, doubtslingered. Nagging suspicions about been. Whatelsecouldhebe? was aChristian,hewouldsay simply thathealways had much ofwhich heperformed asachorister. Asked why he Prayer, andtherich tradition ofsacred choralmusic, was raisedontheKingJames Bible, theBook ofCommon of things”: a“real, worshipping,believing Anglican.” He Growing up, Murray was,inhisownwords, that“rarest But then,DouglasMurray isn’t atypical deconvert. since heconsidered himselfabelieving Christianatall. “increasingly irregular.” Infact,ithas beenoveradecade his lament atTheSpectator, hisownattendancehasbeen church wouldleave thepeople. Although, headmittedin might leave thechurch. He hadneverpictured thatthe writer DouglasMurray. At worst,hehadimaginedpeople Nobody wassaddertoseethemclose thanthe British repose shut itsdoorsfor good. Winston Churchill’s wedding,andJohn Milton’s last the pandemic, theplace ofOlaudah Equiano’s , the Church ofSaint Margaret’s. But inJuly 2020,dueto By EstherO’Reilly AProfileof Dreams: Even Atheists Christian Dream N THE GROUNDS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY OFWESTMINSTER GROUNDS N THE were baptized, married, andburied married, atwere baptized, many ofEngland’s best-loved sons ago usedtobeachurch. For 900years, church buildingthatuntil afew months Parliament Square, London,standsa on on that he“could stillbe nastyinacorner.” Onhisdeath moustached anti-IRA spywho gave whispered of anotherkind—Sean O’Callaghan, awiry, wispy- Murray wasaccompanied that day byaformer terrorist was called offdueto “security concerns.” Murray, bringingacrowd of“friends” intow. Thedebate hadshowedupforChoudary. Choudary adebatewith a stare-off withoneofthem, theinfamouscleric Anjem now “dead orinprison.”A2009photo captures himin many enemies who, he’ll gleefully tellyou today, are an outspoken polemicist againstradical Islam,hewon supplied world governments withanti-terrorist intel. As the Centre for SocialCohesion, athink-tank which detractors peggedhim,“Zionist.” In2007,hefounded hawkish, pro-Iraq War, andpro-Israel, orassome known as“Britain’s only neo-conservative” –fiercely generation. Onthedebatecircuit, hebecamepopularly as arguably theforemost political rhetorician ofhis After leaving Oxford, Murray established himself different story. it waspositively healthy for theculture. But Islamwasa biblical . At worst,itwas impotent. At best, believed that“Hitch” andfriends hadeffectively buried the twowouldbecomeclose drinkingpartners.Murray first writerstospot Murray’s risingstarat Oxford, and friends. ThelateChristopher Hitchenswasoneofthe though he’s counted mostoftheNew Atheists amonghis he hadnoambitions tobecomeaprofessional atheist, after hisdeconstruction withsomeregret. Yet eventhen, Today, years Murray angry” looks backonthosefirst“very Mohammed hadmadehimanatheist. After that,there wasnogoingback.Inhisownwords, their guyhadheard voices, why believe hisguyhad? whyreasoned, stillclingtotheBible? Ifhedidn’t believe the camel’s back.IftheMuslims’ textwascorrupt,he 2020 |ISSUE 2 years later, Murray eulogized him in as “the he believes identity politics are an assault on the IRA killer ready to save me.” O’Callaghan is just one sanctity of the individual, splintering the foundations of many remarkable figures Murray has befriended of our shared humanity. And he frequently presses the and immortalized in his writing, some well-known, point that humanism itself exists “on the embers of some not, but all worth knowing about. Like all the Christian thought.” Even atheists, in a phrase he steals best journalists, he combines a deep understanding from Don Cupitt, still “dream Christian dreams.” of history with a deep love for the ordinary and extraordinary people who make it. But the dream is fading. Nietzsche’s prophecy is coming true: We still carry the trappings of Christianity, but But history is messy, and that messiness is a recurring without the hope of , all we have left is theme in Murray’s body of work. “I like difficult guilt. In this brave new world, Murray is unconvinced subjects,” he says in one interview. “If you’re a writer or that the gospel of “” still holds a thinker, you want to think about, write about difficult much swaying power. The Enlightenment did not things. And our age, like any age, is laced with difficult arise in a religious vacuum, and he fears that its ideals things.” Whether untangling the web of lies behind a cannot survive if we create one now. In one article, he historic massacre in Bloody Sunday, carefully analyzing compares the atheist to a man peering queasily over all sides of the West’s immigration crisis in The Strange the edge of a cliff, into the bottomless abyss of a world Death of Europe, or taking on woke narratives in The where nothing is sacred, not even life itself. What, Madness of Crowds, Murray carries Thomas Sowell’s Murray asks, are men in such a position to do? Do they “tragic vision” wherever he goes—the recognition that jump? Or do they turn “back to faith, whether they like truth is inconvenient, people are complicated, and it or not”? difficult problems tend to lack easy solutions. It’s a question over which he openly agonizes. At times, Politically, Murray writes as a British “small ‘c’ he seems divided against himself. He remains pro- conservative,” meaning American conservatives will find choice on abortion, yet he writes and speaks like a pro- both points of commonality and points of departure lifer on legalized euthanasia. In one particularly barbed with his thinking. Like many gays and lesbians of his exchange with a liberal colleague, Murray sounds generation, he affirms the new sexual revolution to a positively Lewisian as he insists that our bodies are not point, but he rejects post-modern insanity that subverts our own, and that human life is not just “important.” It biology itself. In The Madness of Crowds, he argues that is “everything.” the LGBT “rights train” has been derailed by aggressive activists and trans propagandists. His critiques of the And yet, he still has the same doubts, the same sinking latter are righteously angry, sometimes hilariously feeling that we “can’t unlearn” the lessons we learned pointing up the acronym’s internal contradictions. And from the likes of Darwin and the biblical critics. Like yet, Murray fails to persuade the socially conservative other public intellectuals such as Jordan Peterson and reader that this train was designed with a brakes system Tom Holland, he finds himself torn, self-identifying as in the first place. He writes as if there is, or was, a a “Christian atheist.” He can’t go back to faith, yet he moderate middle ground in this culture war. But what if can’t not go back either. it’s been a zero-sum game all along? But if faith is truly the last, best hope for civilization, Still, Murray would rather be in dialogue with a Murray feels little of that hope as he looks around his conservative Christian like me than with those who beloved old England. In this year of all years, when want to shut down dialogue altogether with a woke people needed the Church to be a beacon of guidance, counterfeit religion, complete with its own creeds, Church of England leaders seemed embarrassed of their , and heresies. A humanist of the old breed, own office. Justin Welby and the bishops reminded

CPT.MBTS.EDU 11 PERMANENT THINGS Something happenedhere.” Whatthatsomethingwas, couldn’t getoutofmy head: Somethinghappenedhere. on theshore ofGalilee, “I had one thought thatI from oneofhismany visitstotheHoly Land.Walking When wespoke, Murray recalled aprivatemoment long enough,asMurray putsit,to“discover everything.” for thefew moments hehasleft tolive—not long, but then realizes hehasfailed. Hissonurgeshimtostand despairing, theold mantries tothrow himselfoffacliff, Gloucester’s death sceneinKing Lear.Blind, dying, and But hecanstillencouragethemwiththeEarlof encourage depressed friends withwords ofScripture. Shakespeare. For him,that’s divineenough.He can’t no less haunting, thetextsstillnomore divinethan selections andreflect. Each year, he findsthe music still ofCDs,pullouthisfavoritewill consult hislibrary a goodchurch, ifhecanfindone.Intheevening, Murray, inthemorninghewillslipinto thebackof the goodnewsofChristriseninourhearts.Asfor Saturday. ThebishopsgiveEastersermonspreaching after GoodFriday, shopperscanbesure ofaGreat Passion Week, theradio adverts giveassurancesthat Back home,colleagues givehimglazedstares. Come hestill goesandtells. believe, asThomasdid, touch thewoundsofchurch. Andthoughhecannot grave aftergrave. It ishere thathecan,quiteliterally, photos, innameaftername,page afterofblurry It ishere thathecancount thecostofdiscipleship, in and It ishere thathecansitinapewonSunday morning faith thatheismissing,apartofhimstilllongs for. by encountering them,hehasencountered theradical experience, make for awkward luncheon chatter. Yet travel. DeadandmaimedAfrican Christians,inhis vanishingly few ofMurray’s peersare inclinedto church communities ofMiddle Belt Nigeria, where isquitedifferent.the story Places like thepersecuted Of course,there are otherplaces intheworldwhere talking points. looked upandwere fed nothingbutLabourParty of questions thehealth bureau can’t answer. Thesheep people were left floundering for answerstothekinds tostay safeeveryone andwashtheirhands,butthe 12 feel themeaningofwords “Deliver usfrom evil.” the firsttime. So itisthatthehomeless comehome,andknowitfor make ourbeginning.Soitisthattherestless find rest. from. Soitis,toquoteT. S. we Eliot, thatinourend, only todiscoverthathehasarrivedwhere hestarted it isinaman’s nature toseektheendofhisexploring, comes toanend.Asitisinaman’s nature toexplore, so I wishhimwellinhisexploring. But Ihopeoneday it not evenachurch building. wanders, withnoChurch tocomehometo—and now, he couldn’t say. Andsohecontinues towonderashe • Quillette, andmore. Conservative, American including Plough, The magazines,international in multiplenationaland Her workhasbeenfeatured andcultural critic. writer Esther O’Reilly isafreelance 2020 |ISSUE 2 “Standing defiantly month after month”: Churchillian Leadership with Dr. Jason Allen

EDITOR'S NOTE

The following is an interview by Owen Strachan (originally on the City of God podcast)

Part One: Churchill the Man

Today we are talking with Dr. Allen about of the time, the uniqueness of the era, the sense that a consequential subject: who Winston Churchill had from a very young age that he was walking Churchill was as a person. He was a real with destiny and then able to walk with destiny on character. He was a unique individual; perhaps the grandest international stage at that time. he was a gentleman. This is something that you and I are going to both be in favor of. It’s a model But you asked about what it meant for him to be a that’s largely lost in our time. What do you think of gentleman. We think about that in several ways. First when I say he’s a gentleman? What comes to your mind of all, Churchill enjoyed, humanly speaking, in relation in that respect? to the mundanities, the finer things in life. He famously said, “My tastes are simple, I am easily satisfied with First of all, you mentioned the basic the best.” I’ve toured Chartwell and have been in parameters of his life, born in 1874, the London to some of Churchill’s favorite stores and the late Victorian era. And coming of age in haberdasheries that he visited and served him. Clearly an era that’s easy for us to kind of look everything from the cigars that he smoked to the back on and romanticize in some ways. brandy that he drank to the meals he ate to the travel Obviously, Churchill’s era, the late 19th century and early he enjoyed to the house he resided in to the company 20th particularly, had clear social issues, clear challenges he kept to the company he kept when he did travel, on both domestically there in Britain and then throughout and on and on he went, in every little context in life, he the Empire. Born into a family—an heir of the Duke of enjoyed the finer things in life. What is more, he clearly Marlborough. And his father—of course, we could do a had the air of a gentleman. How he interacted with whole episode on his father, his triumphs and travails, people, through letter and conversation, how he treated both. And it was a heady era, especially when you get women, Clementine, in particular. He was a gentleman into the early 20th century and the Empire expanding the in that sense. What is more, he was willing to engage globe; some 25 percent of the world’s population and 25 in and did engage in a form of gentlemanly exchange percent of the world’s geography falling under the British in person, in print, on the floor of Parliament. He was Empire. And again, whether or not you look on that willing to mix it up. With that, on the one hand, was an favorably, as far as imperialism and all that entailed (and element of panache, an element of courage, a flair for there’s another conversation topic). The consequence the dramatic. But also a tender side of personal sacrifice,

CPT.MBTS.EDU 13 PERMANENT THINGS Nazism andHitler. could speak—indeed, hadspoken—to thehorror of and international reputation tobetheone manwho personal conviction, hewasready asfaranational II. He wasnotjustready asfar personalresolve, hour doesarriveinthecontext ofHitler inWorld War positioned throughout thedecadeswhen thedarkest God’s providence, hepreordained for Churchill tobe largeplatform. young ageonavery Andinat avery Boer Wars, tohispenandjournalism. He landed from beingaprisonerofwar andbeingcaptured inthe to actually gainexperiences, gainstature, everything young manprovidence—he waspositioned asavery providence—yes, IwouldattributethistoGod’s kind heaspired tothosepositions.childhood, InGod’s U. K.,hewasreally pre-committed tothem.Sofrom not only pre-positioned tooccupyleading roles inthe father. He romanticized hisownfamily tree. He was young age,andheidolized hisownthat from avery he loved leadership. asyoustage, saidearlier. He tolead.And was born Hestatesman. was effectively ontheworld’s born about Churchill andhisuniqueness.He was a comes tomindfor isjustaconversation me.This He That’s was astatesman. thenextthingthat different ways, and Churchill fitsthat. recognize somethingtherewas uniqueandgoodin aspects ofthaterawe canlook backonand practice today indifferent ways, buttherearemany was. There’struly aspectsofthaterawe wouldn’t Chartwell andotherplaces. He wasagentleman. his life, andguestswiththenever-ending cycle of of tearingupinconversation, ofinviting people into 14 leading government positions. He observed looks like afigurefromdifferent era. He observed himasheled andasheoccupiedobserved Right, andhehadakeen senseofhistory, He was, andthat’s ofthefascinating part He saw hisfather, Lord Randolph, and and akeen history. senseofmilitary wearing atophat,he’swearing gotacane,he of himtoday, inmany ofthem,he’s reality ofhim.Whenyou seepictures How doyou handlethat? believer? claimingtobeaborn-again not necessarily inlight ofGod usinghimbutChurchillhim spiritually forevangelical Christian, example. How doyou assess though hewasn’t aswe cantell,an necessarily him andwhy guys like uswould appreciatehim, they aregoodquestions,abouthow we understand you getinevangelical are—thatyou circles, will and questions when you areaChurchillian—as Iamand are you said.There everything Iagreewith history. Churchill so much that I try tolabel himasacard-Churchill somuch thatItry And soIdon’t feel like wehave tonordoIromanticize support thechurch from theoutsidethaninside. famously quippedthathewasbetterpositioned to in somesense,abelief intheScriptures. Now Churchill growing threat abroad. over howill-prepared thisnation truly wastothe collusion for tostick theirheadinthestand everyone the lackofamilitaristic resolve athome.Thecollective to acknowledge notonly thegrowing threat abroad but friends inParliament. Theirunremitting unwillingness pointing tothedangerofhisowncolleagues, hisown by notonly pointing tothedangerofNazism butalso had anappreciation for theScriptures. And and heisyear afteryear gainingnofriends Churchill in this particular momentChurchill in inthisparticular credibility toleadin1940. Certainly, Ithink wecansay Churchill Here’s what weknow:Clearly hewas he’s outofoffice, he’s aback-bencher, Right. Thethree-volume biography that providence inraisingupWinston providence That’s It’s exactly right. interesting that Absolutely. His lowest hoursprepared Hitler, meant thathethenhadthe basic Christianworldview wascommon. born into acultural context where a “Alone”. Anditisthewildernessyears— Manchester wrote, volume twoistitled about God’s sovereignty anddivine you were afew talking minutes ago and beingthelonevoice, really, against him for thedarkest hour. 1930s The 2020 |ISSUE 2 carrying evangelical. There are theories floating Right. So, I don’t read a lot of fiction. around. I’ve read some of them. Stephen Mansfield I just don’t. I’m not opposed to it. It’s would even go a little farther than I do as far as just that I’ve always found non-fiction seeing in Churchill more signs of a relationship with more gripping to me. And perhaps there Christ. Of course, there are the theories and stories is no more gripping non-fiction story of Churchill’s encounter with Billy Graham and that than the story of Churchill. Then again, there are so conversation and what came of that. Only the Lord many good biographies out there, whether it’s the knows. But clearly, even with that notwithstanding, Roy Jenkins work, the Martin Gilbert work. Now, my there is throughout Churchill’s life not just an favorite one-volume biography is by Andrew Roberts, appreciation for the King James Bible, not just an and he’s even themed it Walking with Destiny. And as a appreciation for Western civilization and Christian story it’s just too compelling, every step of the way. It’s civilization (and yes, he did see himself as defending truly remarkable. The different interests he had. The that in the context of World War Two). different relationships he had. The span of decades of public exposure and public service. The stage he was There’s also a sense that he—and I don’t think it’s placed on. In reading biographies of President Clinton some strange narcissism—I think it is a genuine belief here on our side of the Atlantic, he talks about how he that he is walking with destiny. That he is indeed regretted not having some grand conflict that would fulfilling some divinely ordained role, not just in the occupy his presidency. And not that he was wanting context of World War Two, but before and after. Then, an international war, but to truly be a Lincoln or a of course, there is that journal entry that Churchill Roosevelt or a Washington, you have to have some made in the hours after the king asked him to form a major conflict where the future of the nation is in government. He went home and said, “I feel as though doubt. Churchill had that in World War Two. He had I am walking with destiny, that all of my life has been that in World War One. He had that to a lesser degree in preparation for this very hour, this very trial.” So in other issues throughout his life and career. Churchill understood that, he believed that and I don’t think it’s some strange sense of narcissism. I It’s really one of the last moments about think he genuinely perceived his life, especially in the which basically most people in the West vortex of World War Two, he saw his life in hindsight on the intellectual divide on either side building up, everything from his previous experience are going to agree: That the Nazis and of positions he held in the context of World War One other foes that arise during this period and First Lord of the Admiralty and so forth. He saw really are evil and are not ideal. So he really does these experiences building toward this great, climactic escape in that sense, such that everybody can recognize moment in World War Two. that he really does have this cataclysmic effect and impact. You can’t really deny that. It’s really a cinematic life. It’s a life that if you read about it a didn’t know And as Christians, those who seek to that it was backed up by history, you think biblically and theologically about might wonder if it was invented or conflict and have a working knowledge embellished. It’s that dramatic a life. And of Just War Theory, if you look at the the circumstances that you’ve especially highlighted conflict throughout the last 100 years, and here about his being prepared for this dramatic certainly throughout the twentieth century, which conflict to lead Western Civilization against the was a century of warfare, there was not a conflict more tyranny and the festering evil of the Nazis in particular obviously morally right to pursue as Americans than sounds too fantastical to be true, but it’s all true. World War Two. And the same clearly for Churchill

CPT.MBTS.EDU 15 PERMANENT THINGS once Londonfell. wreak ontherest ofEurope andtherest oftheworld Nazism, andkeeping them atbay from what theywould was mosturgent, butreally keeping atbay Hitler and nation, notjustfor thoughyes, that theirpreservation, defiantly month aftermonth aftermonth. Rallying his the relentless aerialcampaigningintheBattle ofBritain by clear. wasalsovery beyond, Andthen,theirattackand outright aggression towards surrounding countries and slaughter andgenocideheinflicted onthe Jews, his as well.ThemaniacinBerlinnamedAdolf Hitler, the 16 commitment toEdward VIIIduringtheabdication were unpopularandmaintained them.Hisrelentless affiliation twice. Butothertimeshetook positions that times, thatled topolitical transition. He changed party And more broadly, hewasaman ofconscience. At Hitler’s regime upontheJewish people. upon theovertaggression committedbyHitler and the sametime,hedidseeandcalloutseektoact some extent, perhaps,Churchill reflected that. But at polite, sortofskeptical view oftheJewish people. To that stands outtome. that stands inpower.he was wreathed And that’s ofhislegacy part was farfrompower isthesamemanthathewas when and thesamemanthathewas intheshadows when he in many ways. But Churchill was amanofconscience, not uniqueinEurope inthattime;it’s morecommon elites, really aren’t allthatfavorable totheJews. That’s when theupperclass,leadership Britain the Jews. He oftheJews isafriend atatimeinGreat are really uptoinGermany, Churchill of isafriend decade plays outanditbecomesclearwhat theNazis Luftwaffe overLondon.AndthenChurchill standing genocidal workofHitler, butmore ofa times, isthatin1930s, asthe particularly everywhere. AndI’meverywhere. notreferring tothe Absolutely. Theearly twentieth century, He was amanofconscience.Everybody me, andwe’ve alludedtothisseveral “polite anti-Semitism,” wasbasically and Churchill’s era,I’ll refer toitasa Minister, butwhat issocompellingto asPrime knows abouthisheroicstand time. Is that true ofyou? time. Is that true ministers tome.Idraw lessonsfromhislife allthe fierce pressure andhonestly,for hisprinciples, that andtheway hewastremendous storms undersuch and hischallengestheway heweathers such together. But Igotohislife andhisupsdowns He’s acomplicated figure,as we’ve already discussed thatwould betoostrong. guide tolife andministry; but IreadChurchill as,Iwon’t say askindofasecular apply toourlives. Dr. Allen, Idon’t know aboutyou, figure, auniquegentleman, auniquestatesman. even worthyofemulation inalotofways. Aunique with a figureIbelieveyou, who isofstudy,worthy and of romanticism inourview, becausewelove military for himdoso. would fight for it,andmore oftenthannot,itwasright But hewouldtake aposition, hewouldstick toit,he Churchill wellpoliticallycrisis, thatdidnotserve atall. Accomplishments Part Churchill’s Two: him—and sure, there’s probably atouch of WinstonChurchill, andeven kindof Churchill’s pastandhisexistence.And yet, way helivedhislife. And again,weview Absolutely. AndChurchill isthetypeof Yes. Ifyou can’t beinspired byChurchill, we canextractfromthelife andwork We’ve talked aboutChurchill inbroad standpoint, sinsthatyou canidentify in That’s Far right. fromaperfect man. by him,you are uninspirable. That’s the individual thatifyou are notinspired you are uninspirable. walk throughsomequickthingsthat form already together. But Iwant to failings inhislife. From atheological blemishes inhislife, arevarious There 2020 |ISSUE 2 history, we love world history, the era of World War Right. And we have to be careful. You Two, especially because it was so clarifying and so much and I are in this conversation, we’re was at stake. And Churchill’s era, the late Victorian era gospel ministers, your listeners are, and the early twentieth century, it was just a unique I’m sure, largely believers, if not largely time in the world and a unique time in the United ministers as well. And it’s easy to view Kingdom, a unique time in London. All of it was so someone of historical importance and whip ourselves consequential. Everything was so consequential. Then, up into emulation. We view Edwards getting fired from Churchill, in that setting was particularly inspiring. his church and think, “I have to get fired too, so I can be like Edwards.” And similarly, with Churchill, it’s That’s exactly right. And so it’s a unique perhaps a bit tired in 21st century America for people to go-round all the way you slice it. make never-ending comparisons to Churchill, or more Churchill knew tremendous adversity. particularly Neville Chamberlain: “You know, this is a That’s the first thing, and, honestly, one Munich moment.” We are all weary of that. But there of the major things I extract from his life. is a lot to learn from Churchill. There’s a lot to learn That yes, he’s this very successful politician of course. about his highs. There’s a lot to learn about his lows. I think something like 58 years in Parliament, if I’m We also acknowledge that some of his challenges were not mistaken. So that’s quite a track record in and self-inflicted. He lived as an adult with a never-ending of itself. But in all of that, he knew a lot of ups and sense of financial challenge. There’s the great book, No downs. I mean, World War One, for example to take More Champagne, which is a fascinating read. You have just one episode in his life. The Dardanelles, where to be a total Churchill geek to enjoy this book. But it’s there’s this failed expedition to kind of crack the war a fascinating read because it’s not just the broad story open. And almost went to the brink of near suicide of Churchill’s financial issues, which most biographies because of that. That’s intense. touch on, but it is a play-by-play of his financial issues. I mean, the guy lived one step ahead of the hounds, Right, and I still maintain that he financially speaking, his whole life. It’s like, “Buy less gets a bad rap. The plan to force the champagne; smoke fewer cigars; tamp down your travel Dardanelles, I think, was a brilliant plan. entourage. This is entirely avoidable, Winston! You When you get into the mechanics of what don’t have to live like this.” happened, and the lack of infantry support, the waffling that took place, that it wasn’t a decisive And he occasionally took political positions that were maneuver but took place of a period of days, and questionable. His steadfast support for Edward VIII in weeks, and even a month or so. And some biographers, the abdication controversy, being one. But then again, including Andrew Roberts, who we mentioned earlier, he staked out turf and he took positions that were he argues similarly that Churchill gets a very bad rap necessary to take. Of course, we think about the 1930s on the Dardanelles, or the Gallipoli Crisis, as it’s also leading up to World War Two. known. But that tumbled him from office. Churchill is depressed. He does what the thinks is the honorable We think of that, and we also think thing to do and takes a commission as a Lieutenant about what happened in this state of Colonel and goes and mans a trench on the Continent Missouri in 1946, when, after being and leads people there in the war-zone for a period of ousted from his Prime Ministership, months. Then he comes back and ends up getting back shockingly, following the successful in the war effort in a leadership role. prosecution of World War Two. He then has this time where he is out of office, but he’s kind of footloose He shows us what it is not just to walk and fancy free. And he ends up, by invitation of Harry the heights but also to travel the depths. Truman, speaking at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, of all places. A tiny school, actually a pretty

CPT.MBTS.EDU 17 PERMANENT THINGS retrace thosestepsandtake thatin. delivered. It isachillupthespinemoment toget actually gointhegymnasiumwhere thespeechwas andMuseumonly seetheChurchill there, but Library to go—as we’ve done—to Fulton, Missouri,andnot to meetChurchill there andbeapartoftheevent and invitation, howTruman involved himselfandpromised Curtain” speechinFulton, Missouri.Andeventhe and reflect, enabled himtocomeanddeliverthis “Iron him towritehiswarmemoirs,enabled himtostepback disguised blessing, atthat.”But thosefive years enabled a blessing, heresponded bysaying, “and well- avery wife, Clementine, quippedthathislosing elections was providence when hewasputoutofoffice, whenhis kind providence, andIknowitdidn’t feel like kind from roughly age75to80.But intheLord’s he hadasecondfive-year stint asthe British Premier, With Churchill, most people don’t evenknowthat assassination, too. history, you learn thatactually there’s asecondKennedy and thenfive years laterinamore thorough reading of you learn abouttheKennedy assassination inschool, as PrimeMinister. It’s sortoflike, when you’re akid, don’t thathereturned withanotherfive-year stint was PrimeMinisterduringWorld War Two, butthey the Iron Curtain.” most consequential speechesintheworld: “Behind he takes Truman thetrainwith andgives oneofthe iswherestrong academicschoolThis inthisstate. 18 absolutely, you needtowalk over tothegymnasium, museum. It’s nothuge, butyou And then, needtovisit. is alltheway thisgreatlittle backopen.And visit or family, andplot toFulton avisit when themuseum of ageneralknowledge andtheyknowhe assemble self, friends, churchassemble members, self,friends, people, iftheyknowofChurchill, it’s kind And there’s behindthat evenastory It iscompletely achillupthespine regarding WinstonChurchill needto up toit,which are fascinating.Most speech andthemachinations leading vibing with what with wevibing arediscussing moment. Any folks who arecurrently in Parliament—he wasgivingthis withoutnotes—and firstspeeches employs. But also,hebeganoneofhisvery poetic weight, becausehe’s emulating thePsalms. trilogy, Irealizedthat’s ofwhy such with part hetalks significantly. And when IreadthatinManchester’s sentence butthesecond andthird linesareindented sentences inPsalm form. Sothefirstlineisanormal preaching orteachinglisteningnow: He outhis wrote speeches, andyou willbemoved. buy into abrief download ofChurchill’s mostfamous biography orathree-volume biography, butyou needto this point, you’re notwillingtobuyinto an800-page to thatspeech.I’d encourageyour listeners:Maybe at twelve mostfamousspeeches.It wasgrippingtolisten of Churchill’s speeches;itwasanexcerpt ofhistenor Company andtheirmagazineusedtoalways have aCD picked upaCDofChurchill’s speeches.TheBenSilver Churchill biographies more intensively. Incollege, I went into overdrive incollege when Ibeganreading and theWest’s—approach tocommunism. sinews ofpeace,thespeechthatreshapesAmerica’s— Churchill’s Sothat’s visit. where hegave right the scaffoldingin thegym.The isstilltherefromWinston there were camerasthatwere majornewsstation hung really justaboutthelasthallmarkofhisvisit—where actuallyyou seescaffolding will thatisleft over—it’s Westminster College gym,where theyplay basketball, almost nobody knows this.If you gointo the of speechheusesandword structures he appreciation for history. But military itreally of speaking,andanyone outtherewho’s James Version oftheBible inthefigures That’s right. And ifwewere tohave a loved military history; I’ve history; always hadanloved military This isabrief digression, butifyou were relevant for you andme,we doafairbit I rememberreadingabouthis Churchill wasinfluenced bytheKing digression onthispoint: Just howmuch for Churchill begin?”It I beganasakid, to askme,“Where didyour appreciation would write outhisspeeches.And thisis would write speechifying, hisprocess,andhow he 2020 |ISSUE 2 he froze and forgot his lines. He never again wanted to Remember, Churchill’s father, Lord do this. So he would take his notes in. Churchill would Randolph, obtained high office, including often give the appearance of it being extemporaneous, Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is but it was far from it. Every pause planned out, every like their Secretary of the Treasury. And point of humor planned out, every point of sarcasm generally understood to be the position just planned out. He was the most well-scripted guy on the below the Prime Minster. Many people thought that planet. And there’s a lesson there for preachers, for those Lord Randolph would become the Prime Minister. That who have responsibility for public speaking. Maybe you was in an era when it was not uncommon for a member don’t have to have notes written out manuscript-style in of the House of Lords to be elected Premier. Now, Psalm format. But never be under-prepared. you have to be a member of the House of Commons, politically speaking, to be elected. But Churchill, from I remember a friend saying to me when a young age, saw his father reach the heights of power, I was flirting with the idea of not but not quite all the way. Then, of course, his father writing anything out for a particular suffered from syphilis which led to mental derangement sermon about 15 years ago. “I want to and a relatively early death. But Churchill was not in be free; I want to have that ability to kind want for ambition. He wanted the reins of power. Not of riff in the pulpit.” And my friend said, “You know just in some grand exercise in self-aggrandizement, but those politicians, those speeches that you cite, that because he believed in his country, his people, Western we all enjoy from Reagan or whoever from history”— civilization. He believed in his own ability to lead. He Churchill probably—“those guys wrote their speeches had a sense of destiny about his life. He desired that out. You’re going into a pulpit. You’re not Reagan and authority and that power. Churchill, in point of fact. Maybe you should write your speeches out.” As a young man, he looked well on his way. He was First Lord of the Admiralty during World War One and Right. And there’s a big difference occupied several positions in high office as a young between Reagan and Churchill. Churchill man including Chancellor of the Exchequer. Then the actually wrote his speeches. Reagan, who Dardanelles happened, and you get into the late 1920s I adore, and the modern politician, they all and the 1930s, he is just altogether marginalized. And have speech-writers. But back to Churchill’s it’s as though, to ascend to the top of the mountain ability and his own gifting: Truly a wordsmith. Truly a politically, he had to go to the deepest depths of the craftsman when it came to the English language. valley. Because, in the final analysis, when the nation finally woke up to the fact that the threat of Hitler was Another lesson from Churchill’s life: not only real, but more real than we ever imagined and He persevered for a really long time we’ve been duped by our politicians, our leading class, in his life goal. He wanted to be Prime for a decade, there’s one man who had clearly, from Minister all his days, and he is, in his the beginning, again and again and again, in prophetic early- to mid-60s and it’s looking not very foresight and prophetic conviction, called out the evil likely in the 1930s and different points that he’s ever of Hitlerism and called out his own people for sleep- going to return to power. He held most of the cabinet walking towards a catastrophic collision with it. So that positions in the UK government, not all of them, but voice, that voice, that voice; that pen, that pen, that pen most. He had a fantastic round of preparation to which led to his political marginalization is exactly what be the Premier. Yet, he was almost 70 when he was catapulted him into power in the hour of greatest need. elected. He was 65 and served until he was about 70. So that tells us something. That teaches us a lesson about That’s exactly right. The trait we could persevering for a really long time. really draw out from what you’ve just said is that of courage, which is

CPT.MBTS.EDU 19 PERMANENT THINGS and white. Manchesterpenssomeofthemostmoving man, aManichean who saw evilfor what itwas,black Churchill, where hetalksabout this pent-up needfor a biography TheLastLionendshisopeningchapteron the events broadly, butthisman.William Manchester’s that Godinhiskindprovidence hadorchestrated notjust go backtotheprovidence of God.You have toconclude to speakandwriteinacompellingway. That’s where I come together. The platform toactually have aplatform ofEngland. the commonspirit Hitlerism inparticular. Hechanges world history. saves theWest. theworld. But becauseofhiscourage,hesit astride consequential politician who nonethelessdidnot those otherfigures. He’s gifted,quite another very out.Takestands away thecourage,andhe’s like We’ve covered many ofthemalready, butcourage aremanyyear aboutthisman.There reasonswhy. each Winston Churchill. aredozenswritten There about arehundreds written There congratulatory. aboutNevilleA few Chamberlain, notmany written afew aboutLordThere Halifax. biographies written ofpopularity. interms politician right, inhisown aboutAnthonywritten Eden,who was afantastic areafewthan fantasticcourage.There biographies isjustamanofnothingless This trait, thatvirtue. discussion ofWinstonChurchill. We’ve discussedthat not goingtoshockanybody who isfamiliarwith 20 compelling way. Theforesight toseeanissue him tothegreat issuesoftheday, theissueof and sensibilities,henonethelesschannels but thegiftingtospeakandwriteina Right. He could’ve easily justtaken his being withinhimbutprojected from With thatcourage,there wasacredibility upper class tastes andallthesethingsupper classtastes And thefactthatheisnotjusttrying a combination notjustoftheconviction weekends atBlenheim Palace. But itwas And thecredibility washiscouragenot that amplified it,andmadeitbelievable. a man firmly of the upper class with oftheupperclass a manfirmly to bethisheroicleader. heis Though to lead apeople andtheAllies tofinalvictory. that hetakes amanwithallhiswarts,andthathelps just for theEmpire, butfor theworld.AndthankGod for London,notjustfor notjustfor England, not theUK, awareness, look tohowdarkthehourtruly was.Not just we wouldfindobjectionable. But wecanalso, with abouthisepicstrengthsaswell. learning abouthisflaws, butitisdefinitelylearning worth about.It’s learning studying, worth is worth worth to speakfor them.Sothisisafigure,insum, who people. We’re tohelpthepeople. We’re trying trying We’re toactasifwe’re betterthanthe nottrying form hislife thatwe’re notleadingagainstthepeople. Leaders today, by theway, shoulddraw thelesson for agreatercause.He committedhimselftoapeople. hefoughtChurchill for. andthecountry He fought major strengths.For example, inthecareerof and identify realproblems init.We canalsoidentify say thatstraight up. We aboutcolonialism cantalk We Britannia. aspects, tobesure,ofimperial can areunhealthy passingon.There isworth legacy that’s even into college. But thisisamanwhose Churchill’s finesthour. adversaries kindofallcamearound toseethatthiswas that crucible, where evenChurchill’s stiffest political “In London,there wassuchaman.”Anditbecame,in paragraphs inAmerican literature. Anditendswith, and somany otherthingsoftheerathat with theirsonswhenwith theycan.Maybe Well said.We are mature individuals.We of British imperialismorcolonialism, The LastLion encourage fatherstoreadThe It was hisfinesthour. And that’s why color. Andyes, that’s notafullaffirmation are adults. We canlook at Churchill infull continue abouthim.Iwould totalk we’re aboutandwe stilltalking will and Spurgeon College. Baptist TheologicalSeminary President ofMidwestern Dr. Jason Allenisthe • 2020 |ISSUE 2

C. H. Spurgeon, Ecclesiologist: On congregation was now awakened to the glory of Christ. Revival, Membership, They could not stop talking about what they were hearing and eagerly invited their friends and neighbors and the Church to listen to the young preacher. Now, he had officially become their pastor and was relocating to London.

By Geoff Chang By the time of his arrival, the whole city was stirred at the news of the boy-preacher from The Fens. The roads and bridges leading to Spurgeon’s chapel were blocked by traffic each Sunday. Before long, the congregation very pastor’s prayer is to see revival come outgrew their space and needed to expand. During to his church. The Word is preached with construction, Spurgeon rented large venues, like power. The Holy Spirit is poured out. Once Exeter Hall and the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, to sleepy Christians are now awakened. And accommodate the growing crowds, but hundreds were now, the surrounding community is intrigued still being turned away. No sooner was the building at the signs of life in the church. Visitors are expansion finished than the congregation once again coming in and are being converted by the power of the outgrew their space. gospel. Hundreds are coming forward to be baptized and join the church. This is every pastor’s dream. The challenge of space vexed Spurgeon. But this wasn’t merely about being able to draw the most massive crowd But have you thought about the challenges that possible. Instead, this was Spurgeon’s recognition that he this would produce? On a practical level, pastors was not a traveling evangelist, but the pastor of a church. would need to think through issues like facilities, At one point, he lamented how membership had grown seating, safety, accessibility, and many other logistical to exceed the seating at the New Park Street Chapel by difficulties. But even more important, pastors would 300. This meant that if they were to observe the Lord’s need to think through pastoral and ecclesiological Supper in their building, 300 members would not be issues: How do we bring so many people into able to participate. Not only that but with so many being membership? How do we make decisions as a church? converted, Spurgeon feared that he could not responsibly How do we shepherd all these people? bring them into church membership and care for them properly. The only options he could think of was These were the questions that Charles Haddon Spurgeon either to build a larger building or to quit the pastorate faced amid the revival in the first seven years of his altogether and become a traveling evangelist.1 ministry in London. Unsurprisingly, his congregation would not let him Revival in London quit. Rather, they would approve the construction of a Spurgeon was called to pastor the New Park Street magnificent new building, seating well over 5,000. The Chapel in April 1854. The congregation had been sitting Metropolitan Tabernacle would be finished in 1861, under his preaching for several months as he served marking the end of these early revival years and ushering on a trial basis. In that short time, this once dwindling in a new era of expansion in Spurgeon’s ministry.

1 Autobiography 2:313.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 21 PERMANENT THINGS revival overflowed thebanks, and harnessthatpower. InSpurgeon’s case,theflood of then church structures are like thedamwhich channel church, evenamidrevival. If arevival islike aragingriver, Tabernacle reflected hiscommitment toawell-ordered Spurgeon’s insistenceonbuildingtheMetropolitan Revival ChurchMembership and 22 7 MTP7:261. 6 Autobiography 5 MTP30:310. 4 S&T1869:53-54. 3 MTP24:542. Igive but and then, brief have interviews vestry; to many send away without able being them.” to see Autobiography 2 “Souls are saved. being I have more enquirers than Ican attend to. From o’clock sixto seven on Monday and Thursdayevenings, Iin spend my to thechurch for thenewmembers. Inotherwords, individual’s profession offaith andgreater commitment resulted ingreater clarityfor theeldersaboutan The rigorous membershipprocess onthefront end communion service. and theright handoffellowship wasgivenatthenext and congregational vote;and6) baptism(ifnecessary) bythechairandvisitorreport,congregational interview (also 5)a knownasamessenger); 4)avisitorinquiry; to thecongregation andtheassignment ofavisitor 2) 3)aproposal elder interview; apastoralinterview; typically hadtosix-step membershipprocess: 1)An membership. To joinSpurgeon’s church, visitors This “hedgingandfencing” wasthestructure ofchurch and notjustapreaching station. Spurgeon writes, church membershipreminded themtheywere achurch his congregation wasunable tomeetintheirbuilding, distinguished hiscongregation from thecrowds. Even as church membership. Church membershipwaswhat One ofthestructures thatSpurgeon prioritized was committed tomaintaining andenlargingthedam. rest ofmankind. maintained asaseparatebody, distinctfrom allthe and fencing aboutofthischurch, bywhich itis gather into thechurch; then,also,there isahedging there isaneffectual calling whereby theyactually reason andtoeachofthem oftheirbeingcalled, there isaneternalpurposewhich isthe original Touching allthemembersofthisselect assembly 3:22. 4 3 2 butSpurgeon wasstill 1,400 newmembersinto thechurch. first seven years of Spurgeon’s ministry, hetook over matters which appertaintothedeaconsonly.” spiritual affairsoftheChurch andnottothetemporal to institutetheoffice ofelders, who “are toattendthe board ofdeacons.But in1859,heled thecongregation lone pastororelderofthechurch, working alongside a and growing inholiness. Initially, hefunctioned asthe Christ to knowthathispeople were faithfully serving want namesonamembershiproll. hewanted Instead, spiritually for allthesemembers.He didnotmerely beginning. Now, Spurgeon facedthechallenge ofcaring Bringing people into church membership wasonly the Revival Elders and ever amandidinreaping theheaviest harvest.” people for membershipinoneday and“felt as asweary elders. Ononeoccasion, Spurgeon forty interviewed meant atremendous amount ofworkfor himandhis Spurgeon wasnotafraidtobuildhighfences, evenifit work inthisway: was assignedtoadifferent district. He describestheir membership ofthechurch geographically andeachelder To care for thechurch, Spurgeon dividedthe expedient office oftheeldership.” presence, ifithadnotbeenfor theScripturalandmost Church except tohave existed, asamere shamandhuge “itstated, wouldhave beenutterly impossible for that care andoversight tothegrowing congregation. He division oflaborwouldenable Spurgeon togivespiritual for theespecialpurposeofvisitingoursick poor, the church. Oneelderismaintained by thechurch needed offices our brethren theeldersdischarge for Bible-classes for theyoung men—these andother conducting ofprayer-meetings, catechumen and absentees, thecaringfor thesick andtroubled, the for church membership, theseekingoutof The seeingofinquirers, the visiting ofcandidates 2:98. 7 6 2020 |ISSUE 2 This 5 Inthe and looking after the churchroll, that this may be Dr. Geoff Chang serves done regularly and efficiently.8 as Assistant Professor for Church History and Curator Additionally, the elders met regularly together to discuss of the Spurgeon Library any issues of pastoral care that needed pastoral attention. at Midwestern Baptist Sometimes, these issues would surface as elders met with Theological Seminary people in their homes. However, not infrequently, some members would simply stop coming to church. To track attendance, members were given tickets that were to be turned in at the Lord’s Supper. If someone had missed the Lord’s Supper for more than three months, the elders would be notified so that they could follow up and call them back to Christ.

As the church grew, Spurgeon did not hesitate to lead the church in calling more elders to labor alongside him in caring for the church. Elders served 1-year terms and were elected each year. This allowed Spurgeon to add more elders easily from year to year. In 1859, the congregation appointed nine elders. By 1868, 26 elders were called to serve the church of 3,860 members. Spurgeon confessed, “Without the efficient and self- denying labors of the elders, we should never be able to supervise our huge church.”9

Conclusion Spurgeon’s example is a reminder not to neglect the church, even during times of revival. This is how we ensure that the effects of revival are captured and sustained for the long haul. Too many pastors today are willing to compromise how they lead their churches either to try to produce revival or accommodate revival. But such efforts end up leading not to revival, but revivalism, which is no true work of the Spirit.

Every pastor should continue to pray for revival in his church. But we must not forget that true revival is the work of God, not the result of our innovation. The pastors’ calling, then, is to preach the gospel and to shepherd the church faithfully, whether thousands are coming or only a few. •

8 S&T 1869:53. 9 Ibid., 52.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 23 PERMANENT THINGS the attemptofCatholics andEvangelicals toprovide second halfisaboutCatholicism inAmerica, specifically you thinkthat’s accurate? more tothefore sinceyou’ve published thebook.Do and society, Ithink thatthesishasonly come much ofwhy has changed.As Ireadculture America mainline hasdisappeared,andthataccounts for so really offered, especially your mainthesisthatthe andonethatalmostnobody had critique, a brilliant enjoyed thistextseveral years ago.Ithought itwas Ph.D. inmedieval philosophy. editoroftheWeeklycontributing Standard andholds a He lives intheBlack Hills ofSouthDakota. He isa songlyrics. he’s stories, short books, poetry, written best-selling authorofseveral Kindlesingles,and Atlantic totheWashington Post. He’s anAmazon.com and RagingYouthand ontheFadingBottum Mainline An AngryAge: CriticJoseph 24 EDITOR'S NOTE The following is an interview by Owen Strachan (originally on the CityofGodpodcast) onthe isaninterviewbyOwenStrachan(originally The following first half which isaboutProtestantism, while the thesis Irunthrough thebook—especially the onthatbook. There’sCertainly commentary a Thanks for having me. I very much Ethic Ivery ofAmerica. andtheSpirit Anyour Anxious 2014book, Age: Post-Protestant It’s my joy. Iwant tospecifically focus inon He’s fromThe published works injournals publishedwidely andinfluential essayists. Dr. Joseph Bottumisoneofthenation’s most New York inthe19 thethreads ofit—passedhistory—all through Upstate Canal Thesis” becauseIthought allofAmerican religious thesis thatIcallthe“Erie CanalThesis.”Icallitthe“Erie analysis ofAmerican religion anditsrole. Iproposed this 2000s. Thefirsthalfofthebook wasamore historical a substitutefor thefailingmainlinein1990s and kneeling andtheirhand-waving andtheirsingingof a thesis.But tolook attheprotesters now, andtheir It didnotseemtohave any objectivitytoit.It wasjust objection atthetimewasthatitkindofabstract. “Myit justcameout,buthewent backtoitandsaid, Ross andIhaddebated thebook atGeorgetownwhen one ofhiscolumnsresurrecting tothebook, thebook. Douthat intheNew York Times recently thatdevoted seems tohave made acomebackright now. It wasRoss and itgotnicely reviewed, butit out in2015,Ithink, seeing isaform ofpost-. Iputthat book its religious anymore.” Allof theradicalism thatwe’re movement soprofoundly thatitdoesn’t evenrealize that “Protestantism haspassedthrough theSocialGospel asked thatquestion, andtheanswerIcameupwithis, I feel asenseofprofoundly Protestant nation. I with Protestantism atthismoment?” AsaCatholic, religion, you have toaskyourself, “Whatishappening religion, andifyou want tounderstandAmerican American society, you needtolook atAmerican The thesisisessentially: Ifyou want tounderstand th Century. 2020 |ISSUE 2 hymns in ecstatic transport while they wave candles over He felt that the German word for resentment wasn’t their heads.” enough, so he had to use a French word for it. So in the German text of Nietzsche, there’s this French word To look at a lot of this is to see religion being performed ressentiment. It conveys more of deep, welling up of an by a lot of people who don’t know that it’s religious. That attitude toward the world. Of course, Dostoevsky’s Notes thesis, and my explanation of post-Protestantism and from Underground is the classic study of it. But, that its religious roots, comes back to the fore, and in fact doesn’t preclude religion. And I offer you this, American now has a particular instance by which we can judge the folk songs (Robbie George at Princeton is a semi-pro thesis. And that didn’t seem possible in 2015. banjo player and knows the corpus of American folk songs. He and Cornel West teach, every couple years at Yes, things have gotten terrifying particular Princeton, a course together on American folk music, in recent days. If you want particularity, it which is just one of the great American courses that abounds. I think what you just said about I wish I could’ve taken), which came out of Wesleyan what the writer and commentator Alan Jacobs said hymns and folk melodies from the British Isles and even recently, name that “wokeness is a kind of secular some African influences as well (although the influence counter-.” Something to think through typically runs the other way, from the American folk there. In your book, in terms that are shockingly tradition into the African song to create various later prescient about how things have played out, you say streams of music). The Appalachian folk song falls into in commenting on Rauschenbusch and the Social three categories: “I’ve lost my love and I’m going to go Gospel of the 20th century, “Sin is the evil of bigotry, weep under the willows,” “I’m going to get drunk and power, corrupt law, the mob, militarism, and class wrestle a bear,” and “God is going to punish the rich.” contempt.” Conversely, this is me speaking to frame And the third theme is very religious and very resentful. this: redemption isn’t being saved by faith in Christ as So these are not necessarily in contradiction. That in a traditional Protestant formulation in some form, religious feeling can still incorporate or allow for, at but redemption, you argue is “essentially an attitude of least, in some forms, resentment. mind; a personal, interior rejection of social evils.” A lot of American traditions says that the rich are I think of how famously identified seldom good and never happy. This is why Richard Cory the central animating conviction of so much 20th in E. A. Robinson’s poem (of the same name) shoots century thought as that of resentment. And the his brains out. This is how this feeling works. We have Marxist class that was massing in the 20th century a religious feeling here that I think I’ve successfully and was making its arguments so powerfully in identified, and it doesn’t preclude the resentment that Europe resented the existing order. When I read you’re speaking about. In fact, in some ways, it’s an that in line with what you say there about sin and answer to resentment. You acknowledge the resentment, redemption, again I cannot help but think about our and then you say, “How do we solve it?” Well, the elite current moment where sin is effectively societal evil, are the ones you’re resentful against. These protestors corrupt law, bad history—even if we can extend it in the big cities are not protesting against conservatives there—and redemption is an attitude of mind, as you exactly. The conservatives are the boogeyman but said six years ago. Isn’t that how people think about they’re directing this protest at something else. Portland how our societal problems are going to be fixed: you hasn’t had a Republican mayor since something like need to have the right cast of mind? 1948. shares this meme every once in a while of all these cities and the last time they had a And that all comes out of Rauschenbusch. And Republican mayor. And it’s hilarious. I want to talk about Rauschenbusch if we get a chance, because I’m really fascinated by him. But where the protests are going on is not against In speaking of resentment: I think Roger Scruton was conservatives. It’s against a class of people they’re thinking of what Nietzsche would call ressentiment. resentful of. Because all of these protestors—the white

CPT.MBTS.EDU 25 PERMANENT THINGS And alot ofwhat theydoare forms ofsanctification, They’re saying, “You’re hypocrites. You’re notsanctified.” with thatanymore. They’re rebelling againstthoseelites. wokeness. But the people in the streets are not putting up tothisideaofthesocial of elitessortpaidlipservice That’s ananxious question. Theprevious generation the socialsins.Andhowdoyou know thatyou are saved? have theright socialattitudesandtheright attitudesfor person inthispost-Rauschenbusch worldisthatyou What makes you agoodperson?Whatmakes you agood Now translatethatinto thesepost-Protestant terms. show thatyou have it?That’s ananxious question. manifest your salvation? What are thefruitsofitthat But howdoyou knowthatyou are saved? How doyou Reformed answeris:“Through faithinJesus Christ.” language. “How are you saved?” TheDutch language,touseCalvin’s language,butthe but “How doyou knowthatyou are saved?” Not the spiritual anxiety, which isnotjust,“Are theysaved?” caused capitalism.”Becausethesepeople were filled with Weber turnsthatonitsheadandsays, “No. Religion “Capitalismhappen?” Marxsaid, caused Protestantism.” Spirit ofCapitalism. But hesays, “Why doescapitalism This, ofcourse,isthefamousProtestantEthic andthe the worldandsays, “Religion isdrivingalot ofthis.” analyses ofthebeginningmodernage,looks at is uncomfortable with).But Weber, inseveralofhis to berevived inways thatthiswhole field ofsociology I do(IthinkWeber’s seriousness aboutreligion needs we take MaxWeber’s kindofanalysis seriously, which It wasawonderfulphrase, redeemed personalities. If wanted tocreate ofredeemed personalities. part ofwhat Rauschenbuschcalled the“vastweb” thathe They thinkofthemselves, Iargue,aselect. Theyform attitudes toward themoralconstruction oftheuniverse. that issortofelite.But it’s elitebecauseithastheright they dothinkofthemselves assomething,someclass themselves ofeliteinthesensethattheyhave power. But tenuous.hold Theydon’t onelite-ness isvery thinkof too many lawyers right now, anyway. Theirfinancial What they’vegotisalaw degree inafield in which there’s they don’t have important careers inpolitics orbusiness. of it.They’re notworthonehundred billion dollars; an eliteclass.But theydon’t have any ofthereal markers degrees. Oratleast theyhave someofthetrappings protestors inparticular, the“woke people”—have elite 26 against theirparents. They’re fulfilling what theirparents book. Her argument isthatthesekidsaren’t rebelling grateful for theopportunitytorevive thisforgotten Children, which hascompletely and I’m disappeared, back inthe70sabook called Liberal Parents, Radical dutiful children. Thisisathesis thatMidgeDecterput thesis fosters. concept ofasecularelect,which isalinkagethatyour fascinating aboutthelinkageofwokeness tothe in thesocietybutarenotwoke. That’s what isso thepeople who areengagedchildhood instructors, fathersandmothers,theirthe streets,aretheirown enemy,The actually, ofmany oftheprotesterson technological changes. monstrously largepublic square aggravated byallthe your church. It’s thesameidea,butchurch isthis wouldn’t let theSatanistsinordebate life weneedtocanceltheminthesameway thatyou life. Soweneedtobanishthesepeople from public church isstillholding, it’s justthatthechurch ispublic temple. Theideathatweneedtoshun thisfrom our But for thesepeople, now, public life andpolitics isthe the church; that’s inthefanum. don’t let theholy ofHolies beusedbySatanists.That’s in wonderful Latinword for temple, doesn’t allow that.You the goodnessofSatan.Thelife insidethefanum, that to giveoverthepulpitavisitingSatanistdebate it intermsofshunning, inyour church, you’re notgoing demons let loose toenter thepublic life. Ifyou thinkof those anxieties—so thechurches collapse andgetthese they nolonger corralthemandtheynolonger answer a lot ofthesedangerous ideas.Oncetheynolonger do— democracy ceasedtobeperformed. They usedtocorral the mainlinechurches theirold collapsed, function inthe in theChristianline.But oneofthethingsIsay iswhen old roots intheJewish tradition, has continual history exclusion from thecommunity. Shunning, which has but indifferent forms from excommunication toactual like cancelculture. Now, there’s always beenshunning, some extent, thesekidsare beingdutiful.They’re way toput it.Ialsodon’t thinkIfully agree. To I thinkthat’s quite,quiteintelligent, andanice politicians, conservatives of various stripes. stripes. ofvarious politicians, conservatives the enemy isnotsimply Wall Street, CEOs, Yes, what andalongwith you’re saying, 2020 |ISSUE 2 wanted. Their parents had a vision of what a good person Like someone said, “The French Revolution is like is, and it was like a radical environmentalist. Someone Saturn: it always devours its children.” Some of these who was fighting for the environment is a good person. professors are surprised in ways you just described, when And the kids are just carrying out the next step. This the revolution eats them up for being insufficiently woke. is how great awakenings work. Remember Jonathan Edwards says in the famous letter about the events in But even that is a fulfillment of a line that’s been Massachusetts: “We began to see a greater discernment developing for some time; I argue it’s been developing and instructability to think about these issues all the since Rauschenbusch, although I would want to time among our young people.” Their seriousness, their defend Rauschenbusch himself. He was a believer and sense that the parents may have mouthed this and may he was profoundly steeped in the Bible. He perceived have really believed it but they didn’t really live it and the problem of the age. The trouble is, with what we need to take the next step. Like Midge Decter’s idea Rauschenbusch did, is when you re-describe the that that actually makes them dutiful children instead of Christian message as social, you address certain problems rebellious children. of the age in which you wrote—and remember, this is the age of the Triangle Fire and the abuse of the working Perhaps there’s room for further complexity class. He went to New York City to take over a parish in what we’re talking about here. I’m going to there, and he is radicalized by the child funerals that guess—I’m not a child of the left in a direct, he has to perform. He is trying to address the problems domestic way—that some parents really do see their of the age. But his way of doing that is identifying sin. kids as making good on the revolutionary wave said The that crucified Jesus are social sins. He will parents wanted to surf years back. I think that’s true, actually sometimes go as far as to say that is meaningless and I think that’s an important point. to say that Christ died for the personal salvation of a drunkard in Tennessee who beats his wife. Christ died I also think, though, following developments on was crucified by these six or seven social sins. The list various campuses, that there’s a kind of older, more of social sins was like an accordion, sometimes it was traditional leftism that is frankly shocked at how fast shorter. That’s what crucified him. Christ died to break things are moving and is surprised to find itself, for the power of these social sins; not to redeem individuals. example, landing in the cultural penalty box under Individuals get redeemed through recognition of the the banner of sayings like “Silence is complicity.” social sins that Christ died to expose and answer. That So in other words, any failure to join the resistance, move has consequences. any failure to be right there on the front line, is effectively not standing for what is right. And I think Rauschenbusch preached that to a biblically trained that is shocking a good number of folks who would audience and achieved certain wonderful results. But the be more centrist or more genially left, and that spirit consequences of it are really obvious now and should of resentment we were talking about—however have been obvious to him up there in Rochester. The you define that in terms of origins or linkage with consequences are that if Christ is the ladder by which we religion—has hardened, concretized, and is moving climb up to a higher ledge of moral understanding, once faster than I think many even would have expect, even we’re there, we don’t need the ladder anymore. We are those who were training the rising generation in this already on the higher ledge! I love that ladder metaphor, kind of body of thought, this kind of religious activism which is a metaphor of an entirely different context I that actually isn’t very theological, intentionally. got out of Wittgenstein. But the ladder metaphor is very helpful for describing what happens here. Christ is the They’re certainly obeying their teachers. If you ladder of higher moral understanding: we climb up, we look at the penetration of this post-Protestantism stand on the new ledge, we see the social sins, and once into America’s educational establishment, it’s so the ladder is below us, we don’t need it anymore. And deep and so profound that these kids are being dutiful the next generation will stop going to church and the and not rebellious. They’re fulfilling what their teachers generation after that will stop bothering with Jesus. They had preached, in a way that would shock the preacher. have the redeemed personality without him.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 27 PERMANENT THINGS Because thatalways endsinblood. Ifallwehave todo make theendtimeshappenand buildtheNew Jerusalem. eschaton.” Whenyou try, through political means,to to“immanentizedanger ofpolitics the iswhen wetry was commontoquotealineofEric Voegelin’s howthe rootedness, even restfulness insomeform? asanattitudeofthankfulness, conservatism evenrestless, activist, paranoidmindsetversus there tothinkthrough,liberalismasafundamentally contentment takes. Doyou thinkthere’s anything Evangelicals--in ofwhat shapethat terms going tobedistinctions--Catholics andProtestants, theworld asitis.Obviously,degree, with there’s isactually happy,conservatism toasignificant “Stop!” And initiatives yet, anddrives. tovarious reform societyindifferent ways—Buckley’s famous to ofcourse,istrying strikes methatconservatism, movement. It ofalynchpin oftheconservative sort mind. You for editedFirst Things anumber ofyears, You’ve castof thought alotabouttheconservative paranoidtome. seems very theseprotestsincities,wokeism;happening with it words, you what thinkofclimatechangehysteria, is social movements areplaying outtoday. In other ofhow thesegreatto thinkaboutparanoiainterms are promoting.Nonetheless, it’s fascinating tome what we’re about andwhat talking saidindividuals theredependingon canbetruth paranoid. There evangelicals as framing, especially conservative, the titleofHofstadter’s work thatisinfluential in paranoid. clearly inthisworld, intheBaptist world—as successfully definedevangelicals—I’m anevangelical that Hofstadter andothershave famously andvery I want toaskyou this,aswell: It’s fascinatingtome ofwhat hasactually playedin terms outinAmerica. provocative thesis,butonethathasalottobackitup always destinedtobecomeleftistpolitics. Avery gospel movement; thesocialgospelmovement was thesocial ofovertook much thatleftistpolitics sort 28 world.” In conservative circles forworld.” Inconservative many years, it perfectly capable ofsaying, “We liveinaterrible is If oneallows theideathatconservative others, hasmadethepoint thatit’s notso Fox, thebiographer ofReinhold Niebuhr and Yes, Ithinkthat’s Richard Wightman right. The ParanoidThe Politics Style inAmerican is at least some portion ofthelefttoday?at leastsomeportion Ithinkof fundamentally radicaloristheradicalismsurprising profitable way: istheleft debating alittleinvery and entered public life inextraordinarily dangerous ways. escaped from themainlinechurches astheycollapsed, theological term;somepost-Christian ideathatis see it,it’s always wrapped upinsomepost-Protestant to extenditmy theological analysis andsay, when you apocalyptic feeling. Ithinkyou’re right butI’d evenwant paranoia thatyou describeisoneofthe features ofthat ways, emotionally, inourreligious emotions. Andthe interesting face Armageddon,weare set free invery freeing aboutapocalyptic feeling. Ifwe’re aboutto the . There’s somethingwonderfully morally evil that’s goingtokillbillions becauseweare facing for thosewho thinkdifferently. That’s complicity with with evil.There’s notimefor thoughtful engagement no timefor manners.Mannersare infactcomplicity after all,ifwe’re there’s facingtheendofworld, becomes thispowerfulpolitical idea,socialidea.Because This iswhat Imeanbyconstrained.But let loose, it Christian theology. they gave itmeaning, theytied ittootherconceptsin old mainlinechurches constrainedit. Inotherwords, moral ideathatneedstobeconstrainedtheways the about it,theapocalypse isawonderfully powerfully They, too,have thisapocalyptic feeling. Andifyou think know many ofthesepeople—among thesurvivalists. on theright—and right isafunny word because Idon’t They’ve gotthisapocalyptic feeling. It’s alsonoticeable visible onaform oftheradical left environmentalists. is paranoidintheway you described.But it’s alsovery principles, Iwouldlook atapocalyptic feeling, which wander around asdemonsunattachedtoany limiting Christian ideasthathave escapedthechurches and nice measure ofthisthatalsofits my thesisaboutthese and that’s why you remembered theessay. Ifyou want a to express thought. hisanti-conservative But heknew, of bothsides.Hofstadter wrote thatessay asavehicle ends inblood. Idothinkthere are elements ofthishere that were stoppingus,sowemust killthem.It always doesn’t theanswermust bethatthere were work, people is reset timeandbuildaNew Jerusalem, thenwhen it on thatmatterwe were discussingandeven undergraduate, andhereagain, touching Yes, Iwent toBowdoin College for my 2020 |ISSUE 2 professors I had a Bowdoin, who were I’m sure, out That’s very well said. Thank you for your and out left in political terms—there were perhaps time. I very much appreciate your writing five to six meaningful conservatives out of a faculty and thinking coming, as I do, from an of 150. I think about how many of them, nonetheless, Evangelical and Protestant vantage point. I find led contented lives in Brunswick, Maine, and in your cultural criticism stimulating to read and I’m some form believed that everybody at Bowdoin was thankful for this conversation that I’ve had with you. pursuing the common good, and that a place like Catholics and Protestants are looking at the current Bowdoin is supposed to foster dialogue about the order—though we have different convictions on core humanities and about the good life. matters—with nonetheless shared horror in many respects. So I’m thankful for a book like yours from And I just think now about what it would be like, 2014, that I think accounts in a significant way for twenty years after I was at Bowdoin, to be a student, why we are where we are. Humanity has not ceased to and how the curriculum is going to be much more be religious; our religion, at least in America in terms activist, and even militarized. You think about what of the mainstream, has migrated out of the mainline happened at Middlebury College a few years back in substantial form, and even out of with Charles Murray. There has to be a divide— and Catholicism to a point. It has migrated into hard- not simply on a campus like Middlebury—but in edged, smashmouth activism. And that is, indeed, not American society between those who are on the left a development that is to be taken lightly. Thank you and would broadly support leftism and those who are very much for your time. radicals. That’s a tension that you’ve brought out not only in your book but in this conversation. I think it’s Thanks for having me. • a tension that is very much evident in the Democratic Party today, with the radical edge pushing the mainstream very hard and effectively winning, it seems to me. This is a tension in this anxious age, as you call it, that is going to continue affecting American life in days ahead. Joseph Bottum is author of An Anxious Age: The Post- I think you’re absolutely right. In its best form, Protestant Ethic and the this old balance of liberalism kind of nodding Spirit of America. genially to radicalism, like your professors at Bowdoin. In its more mockable forms it’s what David Brooks described in his first book as the “bohemian bourgeois.” He captured something there, too, which is the bad form of what you just described, in which these people say, “We need to tear down the whole system; by the way do you like my new granite countertops in the kitchen?” They perceive themselves as bohemian while they lived an upper-middle class life. They were allowed to do it, according to Brooks, because they were living in paradise. Twenty years on, we don’t have paradise anymore. Suddenly they’re exposed and denounced by the young as hypocrites, which they were, of course. Young people are not idiots. They’re following a logic that, in fact, is accurate. It’s just a logic that’s not going to take us anywhere, and it’s going to destroy a whole lot along the way.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 29 PERMANENT THINGS the warninginManchester’s decades-old claim? make, ifnottop, my shortlist—are we prepared tohear word, toward androgyny? Ifso—and itwouldcertainly gender-neutrality andsexualinterchangeability—in a issue evertofacethehuman racetherecent movetoward miss theurgencyhere. Isthe moststrikingandprofound he eschewedhisunderstatedstyle. But wecan’t afford to could hardly have madeamore daringstatement unless Manchester, alaudedstudent andcustodianofhistory, how sweepingitisinscopeandfiber. recommends Manchester’s statement toustoday is just he wrote in1993 andare still notsotoday. No, what consequences ofwhich were farfrom realized when the development ofmoderncontraceptives—the in therapidacceleration mostespecially ofthistrend, although herightly notestherole thattechnology played depth andissurely limitedinpartbythemedium, his assessment ofitsmeaning,which lacksacertain aboutthecollapse ofsexdistinction isnot observation What isparticularly notable aboutManchester’s may bethemostprofound theracehaseverconfronted.” sexes isnotonly themoststrikingissueofourtime,it appreciate: “the erasure ofthedistinctions betweenthe barnburner thattakes acouple ofread-throughs totruly this fascinatingtime-capsule ofanalysis isanabsolute opined onwhat itallmeant. Nestled inthemiddle of America sincethemagazine’s beginningin1933 and the considerable changesthathadtaken place in history,than ahalf-century Manchesterchronicled world”: RaisingBoys Age inaGender-Neutral “Written into thevery ofthe foundations 30 By Colin Smothers Report. Looking backoveralittle more edition ofU.S.anniversary News &World wrote thecoverarticle for the60 and biographer William Manchester wenty-seven yearsago, historian th

gender-neutral childhoodwithoutneutering your child. the cosmopolitan way. But beware: you cannothave a aim toraisegender-neutral —ithasquickly become boyhood orgirlhood.Many today think italaudable destruction ofrecognizable manhoodorwomanhood, war againstgenderthatisafternothingless thanthe neutral aboutgender-neutrality. Theterm masksatotal go unchallenged. Markitdown:there isnothing but itsailsunderafalseflagof “neutrality” thatcannot Gender-neutrality may seemlike aharmless concept, want tocheckagain. don’t thinkyou’ve gotitinyour backyard, you might particular specimenthe“gender-neutral” weed.Ifyou be amanandvice versa). We might summarily callthis formal interchangeability (the myth thatawomancan anything amancanandvice versa); andthetaproot is interchangeability (the myth thatawomancando of this“erasure ofthedistinctions” isfunctional continued health ofsociety. But thestockandbranches are aparticularly foul andmenacingbunchtothe merely societal fruitsofthegender-neutral enterprise, around. Decliningmarriageandbirthrates,which are headlines today istobemadeaware ofthechallenges all demands ourattention. But toread carefully thenews highlights, andwhy itissuchanexistential issuethat comprehend justhowradical thechangeManchester complete in1993, let alone 2020—it may bedifficult to revolution—a project thatcertainly cannotbesaidto Living inaworldstillreeling inthewake ofthesexual Boys andgirlswho are notrecognizably so—and this down thestreet, showinguptoourfamily reunions. our children’s classrooms, intheneighbor’s house The effects of gender-neutrality are allaround us:in Age inaGender-Neutral Raising Sons 2020 |ISSUE 2 intentionally—encouraged to downplay the differences it is also instructive. And the instruction starts early, instead of playing comfortably within them. Our when the son is still a child. While Christian virtue and children are paying attention, and they are wondering if Christlikeness are the ultimate aim for Christian men this is the way of wisdom. and women, we practice such as embodied creatures who are created male or female. Manliness is not As a father with both sons and daughters, I am womanliness, even though both were created by God. particularly concerned for my sons. As many have And a boy must be taught to channel his God-given, observed, although a form of androgyny is often the natural strengths and drive toward God-ordained ends. goal, gender-neutrality doesn’t tack straight down the middle between masculinity and femininity. It skews To be sure, blue trucks and pink dolls do not epitomize feminine. As gender-specific spaces have become rarified a kind of platonic form for boyhood and girlhood. But and, in some quarters, completely extinct, the resulting neither must we go to the other extreme and downplay confluence of mixed-society tends toward feminization. the real, good, and natural differences between boyhood This has been observed in spaces as diverse as churches and girlhood. These differences, when rightly conceived, and social clubs to online discourse. While there is prepare children for and actively disciple boys and girls nothing inherently wrong about feminization—by all into godly manhood or womanhood. The medium is not means, may females abound in femininity!—at issue is the substance of discipleship — but the medium is not the collapse of any distinctly masculine spheres where without form. And every form will have a forming effect. boys can be formed into men, learning the ways of manhood through osmosis as men shape boys through Discipling a boy toward manhood must at times be countless interactions. gender-specific and gender-exclusive. What, after all, is a boy in contrast to a girl? There are things for boys While much of what I say below can be inflected through that are not for girls, and things for girls that are not distinctly feminine forms to apply to daughters, I am for boys. We must not let gender-neutrality tell us any specifically addressing raising sons. Because of the different, thus neutering both boyhood and girlhood. historical realities outlined above, intentionality is now While we must not construct a legalistic list of dos and the key to raising sons in our gender-neutral age. But don’ts, there will be dos and don’ts, because there must wasn’t this always the case? Consider Proverbs 29:15: be a distinction. When God commands the Israelites “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to in Deuteronomy 22:5 that women must not wear the himself brings shame to his mother.” According to the clothing of men, and men the clothing of women, he Scriptures, a child left to himself—to his own self- does not go into sartorial detail. But God is clear that exploration, his own self-definition—does not inevitably a distinction must exist and be observed—consistent pursue what is wise and good. Instead, a father and across society. To eliminate, therefore, the difference, or mother must use the God-given tools of discipline, the what Manchester calls the “erasure of the distinctions rod and reproof, to impart wisdom—to instruct their between the sexes,” is not of God. son in the ways of God and the world as God intended. The rod in particular represents both retrospective and It is good and right that boys gravitate toward certain prospective correction: it is used to chasten away from more physical activities which our society (still) a wrong step taken and to guide along the paths of associates with boyhood — teaching them at an early age righteousness, which run in line with God’s revelation in to lead, provide and protect. They need space not only nature and Scripture. This approach is intentionality of to scratch this natural itch, but to do it in a constructive both word and action. way. This is not “letting boys be boys”; when men are present—fathers and grandpas and uncles and pastors— Proverbs 29:17 puts a fine point on it: “Discipline your this is “letting boys become men.” But neither is this a son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to call toward strict sex-segregation at all times. Boys are your heart.” Discipline is more than merely corrective; born of a mother, many have sisters in the home, and

CPT.MBTS.EDU 31 PERMANENT THINGS beginning when Godmadethemmale andfemale. foundationswritten into thevery oftheworldfrom the some thingsare notmerely writtenwithpencil,but the “erasure ofthedistinctions betweenthesexes.” For the ways of creation, what isstubbornly chafingagainst may bepointing towhat iswise,what isinkeeping with off justbecauseitisstereotypical. For what istypical A cultural stereotype shouldn’t automatically bethrown neglect the“ancient paths” when squaringupthetask. intentionality aboveall,prayer. and, But weshouldn’t in ourgender-neutral ageisachargethatwilltake and dress like girlsbecomingwomen.Raisingsons becoming men,andgirlsshouldbediscipled toact Boys shouldbediscipled toactanddress like boys erasing alldifferences betweenboyhood andgirlhood. include experiences beyond blue carsandpinkdolls and expanding theboundaries ofboyhood andgirlhoodto must recognize theworldofdifference betweenwisely encouraged thatheisactually agirlinside.But wealso boy who deviatesfrom hispeersslightly shouldnotbe want todotheworkofgender-activists for them:a worldly) stereotypes thanwiththeBible. We donot that have more incommonwithHollywood (read: girlhoodandwomanhood, of boyhood andmanhood, contributed togenderconfusion through definitions our culture—evangelical sub-culture included—has Certainly, itwouldbegoodfor ustorecognize theways not neglect, andtheboywoulddowelltolearn early. instructed—if dying—art thattheChristianmanmust Showing honortoandadoringthe“weaker vessel” isan to encounter aright andproperly revere the“other” sex. raise daughters oftheirown.Theymust betaught how awomanandperhapseven most willgrow uptomarry 32 • Manhood andWomanhood. the Council forBiblical Executive Directorof Colin Smothers isthe 2020 |ISSUE 2 An Intellectual in Full: A Symposium on Philosopher Roger Scruton

By Andrew T. Walker & Bryan Baise

How did Scruton’s thought from its roots. I learned conservatism is first and shape you? foremost a posture before it is a politic. Conservatism is an invitation to view politics from a broader lens ANDREW WALKER Scruton taught me how culture is than mere legislative and political processes; indeed, a volatile ecosystem dependent on the tradition that’s the least interesting and important part. It’s a preceding it. In a section on How to be a Conservative, recognition that, in spite of the frailties and failures of Scruton writes how the freedom of Christian human history, there are good things worth preserving civilization “depended upon a cultural base that it could and defending. Such work, as he writes in How to be not itself guarantee. Only if people are held together a Conservative is laborious and dull, but it’s good and by stronger bonds than the bond of free choice can true work. He writes, free choice be raised to the prominence that the new political order promised. And those stronger bonds “Conservatism starts from a sentiment that all are buried deep in the community, woven by custom, mature people can readily share: the sentiment ceremony, language and religious need. Political order, that good things are easily destroyed, but not in short, requires cultural unity, something that politics easily created. This is especially true of good itself can never provide.” things that come to us as collective assets: peace, freedom, law, civility, public spirit, the security Scruton profoundly illuminated my understanding of the of property and family life, in all of life which we delicate balance that is liberal democracy and ordered depend on the cooperation of others while having liberty: It needs sustaining by something outside of it to no means singlehandedly to obtain it. In respect give it meaning, coherence, and accountability. of such things, the work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation slow, BRYAN BAISE It is difficult to separate where my thoughts laborious and dull.” end and Sir Roger’s thoughts begin. I’ve read nearly everything he has written and so much of my mental The conservatism I knew was not ready or willing to do furniture has been shaped by him. If I had to distill the long, slow, laborious work of creating good things. his influence then I would say that Sir Roger Scruton In many ways it wished to short-circuit the process gave me categories to love beauty and understand through its focus on policies and politics. Scruton conservatism. I’ll expound a bit on the latter. offered a different path, one paved by those who’d gone before us and left bread crumbs of goodness, truth, I cut my political teeth in the early-mid 2000s. It and beauty along the way. On this path, the focus was wasn’t until the end of college and during seminary on recognizing that before we shape policies, we shape that I discovered the witness of the conservative homes. We are beings who love home, those around us, tradition. I read this tradition in reverse because it and the places we inhabit. We love our homes because came to me that way, first through Sir Roger’s writings. they are, in some sense, reflections of us and what we It was through Scruton’s work that I realized what love. This is good and right and stimulates a sense of I imbibed was a form of conservatism disconnected shared obligation. Those spaces are affected by politics,

CPT.MBTS.EDU 33 PERMANENT THINGS paradigm shiftheoffered. isnotaproject butaposture. That’sConservatism the one’s place meansloving actualpeopleandplaces. but theyare notfirstprotected bypolicies. Loving 34 BRYAN BAISE WALKER ANDREW in hopefor greater clarity. wanted himtoteachme.Thatwasenoughwhile Iwaited than hiscounterparts. More thananything, though,I conclusions thatSir Roger wasmuch closer toTruth his writingswhere anevangelical might render hopeful He’s soclose!” There are passagesscattered throughout and Iwouldoftenfinish reading Scrutonandthink “Ah! We may hopethosethingswoulddevelop orpassaway, expecting someonewho wasnotSir Roger. Kantian metaphysics. But expectingfor thatwouldbe anthropology orthatheshowedless ofanaffinity for I wouldhave loved adeeperdependenceontheological fit, that’s tobeexpectedandIkindly passedontheoffer. he happenedtosuggestaddingapaneortwothatdidn’t wanted himtohelpmeseeclearly outofmy window;if into theworldandIwasperfectly finewiththat.I first timethatthiswasnotamansharing my window deeply; Iknewthemoment Iread Scruton’s workfor the Disagreement ispartofreading might suggestotherwise. ideas thatwere statedwithcertainty where evangelicals measure. Indoingso,Icertainly cameacross conceptsor Iletcommitments. themanspeakinfull Instead, the intent todiscovertension(s) withmy evangelical with, Ineverapproached theBritish philosopher with Anglican,” andoftenwrote orsaidthingsIdisagreed that istypically nothidden. orthodox concernsme.Moreover, ifoneisorthodox, The lackofclarityaboutwhether hisfaithwas merely partoftheecosystemBritish aristocracy. know whether hisAnglicanism wasconfessional or asScruton,itishard toinstitutionally conservative professed tobeanAnglican. But withapersonas I neverunderstoodScruton’s religious trappings. He evangelical? asan withhisideas points Where didyou find tension While Scrutonidentified asa “skeptical I have tobehonestandconfess that

ANDREW WALKER ANDREW BRYAN BAISE person tostop, slow down,look andconsider. around, patient. Sir Roger offered alife rhythm thatencourageda neither hastynorhyperbolic buthonest,prudent, and studying thisman:alife ofreflective judgments that are what Iwant toemulate mostfrom my timereading and and family I’ve read. AndIthinkthatessay demonstrates and someofthebestmodernreflections onmarriage new life distancedfrom thembutstillshapedbythepast, a manreflecting onhispastmistakes, theprospects ofa essay hewrote in2001,“ with someone.More thanthis,though,isalittle known he carefully walked through adifficult philosophical issue decade Isaw howpatient hewaswithcriticism, orhow the affectations ofgentlemanliness. in Western culture, IamwillingtotradeUFCculture for eyes atthisbutconsideringthedeathofgentlemen one ofhighculture andrefined taste. We can roll our together inScruton,andmoreover, was hisconservatism philosophical understanding ofmusic. Theyare packaged that hisintellectual brilliancewasjoinedwithadeep, thought comesalive.It issosurprisingandunsurprising andbeautifulare allthesame.InScruton,this good, the “unity ofthetranscendentals;” thatis,what istrue, metaphysicinheritance. Thisreflects in aconservative finds constant overtures tobeautyandculture asan a setofideas.Allthrough theScrutoniancanon,one asitis is asmuch anaesthetic andcultural repository primarily bybetterunderstandingthatconservatism say—influenced you? man infull,asTom Wolfe would theman—a Scruton What about Evangelical Engagement. Institute forH. Henry Director oftheCarl F. andExecutive Seminary BaptistTheologicalSouthern EthicsChristian atThe Associate Professorof Andrew T. Walker is AsIwatchedandread himoverthelast Roger Scruton’s thought shaped me Becoming aFamily.” Inityou see Boyce College. Apologetics at Philosophy and Professor of is Assistant Baise Bryan 2020 |ISSUE 2 • They Created a Monster: Review of an Important Scruton Work

By Samuel Parkison

hey created a monster. In May, 1968, Roger how, despite their differences and unique terminology, Scruton (1944-2020) was a twenty-four-year- and existentialism and postmodernism are all old student in Paris, while the hopes and cut from the same cloth. Though they bite and devour dreams of progressive revolutionaries unfolded one another at various points, they at least stand in in the form of riots. The old system had to go, so solidarity in their opposition to the “Other.” that—up from the ashes—a socialist utopia could arise. But ashes, after all, are made in only one way, so in May This “other” goes by many names. He is a “creature” of 1968, Roger Scruton looked down from his balcony who “has undergone considerable transformation.” and watched as his peers set the streets of Paris ablaze. To Marx, he is the economic enslaver who forces the separation between the proletariat and their Many a zealous student saw the same sight, and production; to Sartre, he is the inauthentic self; the effect was (and is) all too common—a moth-like to Foucault, he is the arbiter of power in whatever romance for fire burns in the bosom, and in they go, oppressive episteme happens to reign at the time; but piously chanting whatever slogan happens to ring whatever you call him, he is the problem. He is the out at the time. For Scruton, however, the riots in “bourgeois,” and he somehow manages to “inspire Paris had the reverse effect. Instead of them being the every variety of renewable contempt” (pg. 96). These devouring fire of self-destruction and judgment they thinkers share a disdainful glare, and conclude that were for so many, they became for him the refining “whatever had gone wrong in the world, it was the fire of consecration. A veil was lifted, and Scruton Other who was to blame” (pg. 74). saw not a burgeoning and promising future in the revolutionary mindset, he saw a petulant adolescence, Scruton begins his plunge into the literature of the a child-like tantrum on the scale of genuine social Left with his own countrymen, surveying the works upheaval. The instigators of these riots thought they of (1917-2012) and E. P. Thompson were burning down all things conservative, but they (1924-1993). These men were not the originators of were rather forging steel-spine conservativism at its new ideas, but rather functioned as propagandists who best. Roger Scruton found his purpose. revised history through the non-reality of a Marxist lens, and “where the facts run directly counter to the This purpose is set on full display in Fools, Frauds and Marxist story [they] explicitly try to evade them… Firebrands: Thinkers of the . The book can Marxist history means rewriting history with class at be described as a history of (very bad) ideas. In this the top of the agenda. And it involves demonizing the work, Scruton offers a summary and analysis of leftist upper class and romanticizing the lower” (pg. 27). At philosophical and political theories prevalent in the this point, Scruton turns his attention to the United last half of the twentieth century until now. He shows States with a hopeful sentiment:

CPT.MBTS.EDU 35 PERMANENT THINGS consequences towhich Marxismhasled” (pg. 89). of Marxism…butalsofrom theterrible practical away, notonly from thereal theoretical critiques content ofhisprose. “He toturnourattention istrying he isuptohaslittle tonothingdo withthe(non) out thatSartre is“up tosomething”(pg. 89), andwhat is togetthepoint exactly. Scrutonishere topoint ‘totalitarian known hewouldemerge,anunrepentant advocate of totalities, emergingatlastexactly where wemight have own ‘totalization,’ bytotalizingagainde-totalized into mumbo-jumbo. ‘Thetotalizer’thenperfects his criticism,” notesScruton,“it lapsesatthesametime prose shiftsfrom slavish submission towould-be work totheirnaturalabsurdity. “WheneverSartre’s reaches itsstrideintermsofwitwhen hereduces their of thethinkers clamoringfor “liberation” inFrance Speaking ofSartre andFoucault, Scruton’s analysis (1905-1980) andMichel Foucault (1926-1984). Dworkin (1931-2013) thantheydoJean-Paul Sartre far less like John Galbraith (1908-2006) andRonald stands, thelandscapeofleft inAmerica sounds such barriers intheirever-active imaginations. Asit thinkerslittle toslow downcontemporary who invent existed inEurope” (pg. 40), thishasnevertheless done the multiple barriers tosocialadvancement thathave apparent moralattributes”—and thus “America lacks means “classes” remain “fluid, temporary, without elites”—whichcreation oflongstanding hereditary “political structure” inAmerica is“inimical tothe true. ThoughScrutonisright topoint outthatthe description oftheleft intheUnited States were still and Firebrands istragically outofdate.If onlysucha Alas, thisisoneofthefew places where Fools, Frauds 36 they promise (pg. 37). as thoughitwere freedom, ratherthanequality, that described ontheleft notassocialistsbut asliberals, European left. Hence… Americans ontheleft are the classresentment thatspeakintheworksof reflections onjustice thatare mercifully free from legal andconstitution argument, interspersed with leftism hasmore oftenthannottaken theform of tradition ofcritical thinkinginspired byit,American Thanks totheAmerican Constitution, andthelong praxis’” (pg. 87-88). To scratchone’s head it isneverpossible tobesure thatheisserious” (pg. 261). moderate left-wing readers, were itnotfor thefactthat all “might amongmore todiscredit [him] have served lauded aspartofthemeaning apolitics ofaction,” thousands ofdeathsnotwithstandingandindeed and “celebration ofMao’s Cultural Revolution, the Slavoj whose Žižek, “defense of terror andviolence,” management particularly, ofAlainBadiou and, machine hasbeenhandedoverinto the capable In chaptereight, Scrutonshowshow thisnonsense humanities department today” (pg. 174). its inventors,” and“can befound invirtually every out thataversion ofthenonsensemachine “survived machine toannihilatemeaning.”He isright topoint and thatistherevolution,” says Scruton,“namely the to pumpitwithhotair.” “Nothing meansanything attached toKojève’s Hegelian wind-bag, withwhich Freudian psychology andSaussurian linguistics, and machine, assembled from “discarded fragments of according toScruton,conspire tobuildthenonsense and Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995). Thesethree men, Althusser (1918-1990), Jacques Lacan(1901-1981), the revolution oflanguageintheworksLouis In chaptersix,Scrutonreturns toFrance toconsider of capitalismwithnoalternative tooffer. with pageuponofintellectual-sounding critiques rise—and Jürgen Habermas—who dazzles thereader fetishism ofconsumersociety towhich capitalismgave and TheodorAdorno(1903-69)—who despisedthe who hissedwithadisdainfulhatred for capitalism— particular attentionLukás(1885-1971)— toGryörgy Scruton thenturnshisattention toGermany, with white of“oppression” and“victim.” of power—there are nocolors besidestheblack and power. Theworldfor Foucault iscastinthegrayscale 106), andtherefor findsnothingbutmasksmasking an “urge tohunt for thepowerbehindmask”(pg. are kept outofmind” (pg. 104).Foucault isdrivenby ‘paternalistic’ and‘authoritarian.’ Historical facts… intrinsic connection between‘bourgeois,’ ‘family,’ mesmerize usinto asensethatthere issome in Foucault, whose “rhetoric iscalculated to Much thesameirreverent babbling isapparent 2020 |ISSUE 2 Words, for the operators of the “nonsense machine,” ideology is allowed to run its course—leaving body are not meant to be understood, they are meant to counts of millions in its wake—its utopian ideal be used. They are a means to an end, and the more provides an escape hatch for its proponents. “That was esoteric they are, the more impenetrable. The words not real Marxism” is like a magic serum to raise dead that come out of the nonsense machine are not food that have no business getting up out of for the hungry mind, or an attempt to persuade the the grave. Christians should take note and be warned. freeman, they are goads and prongs to push the masses into a tightly measured utopian pin. Just how reality Appropriating language and categories of the left, within that closed gate will be “utopian” is never while promising as a socially beneficial strategy in the argued for, and is everywhere assumed. Indeed, it is short term, is a very bad strategy in the long run. We positively declared in Luther-like zeal as a confession would be wise to heed Scruton’s advice, and answer of faith: This time, socialism will work because it must, the unhealthy residual effects of sin working through because the alternative is wicked, because it is. Here I a capitalistic society not with a society of slavery, stand, I can do no other. But the one thing that is for but rather by strengthening those institutions and certain is that the free ranging habits of the masses traditions that operate through free-association. outside the pin is unacceptable. Schools, clubs, and most centrally for the faithful Christian, local churches. This means hierarchy, of Scruton’s final chapter ties up the entire leftist course, and we can say so cheerfully. But a defense ideology, in all its various forms, with a neat bow, and of God’s marvelous decision to make the cosmos then burns it to crisps. “The final result of the culture hierarchical is for another book, and another review. wars has been an enforced political correctness, by which the blasted landscape of art, history and In sum, we should not let Sir Roger Scruton fool us literature is policed for the residual signs of racist, with his gentle tone, his philosopher’s tussled hair, his sexist, imperialist or colonialist way of thinking” irenic smile. What stood before us until January, 2020 (pg. 275). This is unavoidable, for (as Scruton points as a beauty-loving, horse-riding, music-composing, out) when Adorno offers us the alternative wine-drinking gentlemen was actually an intellectual between the capitalist system and utopia, he is being juggernaut. In Fools, Frauds and Firebrands he lends honest—and this honesty amounts to the absolute the full force of his wit for our benefit. While many alternative between freedom and slavery. are dazzled by the illusory smoke-screening jargon of “anti-capitalism,” “anti-hegemony,” postmodern, Scruton is not silent about the genuine concerns utopian tomfoolery, Scruton walks into the room like raised by thinkers of the new left, even if he has no a Marshwiggle with a burnt foot and declares in no confidence in their diagnosis or prescription. It is true uncertain terms (to mix metaphors): “the emperor is in that capitalism is hospitable to a kind of vanity and his birthday suit.” • materialistic decadence that commoditizes humans. In many ways, this is the definition of a twenty- first-century problem. For the leftist, this is proof that capitalism is Western society’s , and confession and repentance is therefore expressed as a culture of repudiation, which is committed to Samuel Parkison is the denouncing all things Western, and praising every Pastor of Teaching and culture but Western culture. Liturgy at Emmaus Church in Kansas City, and is The problem is that justification, for the leftists, is currently pursuing a Ph.D. by faith alone in the non-reality of utopian wish- at Midwestern Baptist thinking. It does not matter how many times the Theological Seminary.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 37 PERMANENT THINGS a ClassicJohn Murray Text Exegete: asBiblical The Theologian AReview of 38 By Jeff Moore 5:8–11 (38–40) and2Corinthians 5:18–21(40–42). pages apiece tothepertinent passagesof Romans ofreconciliation, Murraycategory devotesseveral given tothewords ofScripture. Inhissection onthe (see esp. 24–34),Murray wants primeofplace tobe (11) anddoesnotshy away from academic engagement theologians suchasAugustine, Anselm, andAquinas biblical text. Although heisconversant withearlier that Murray hasfirstsoaked inthedetailsof Before systematizinghisfindings,itisevident atonement isbuilt uponarich exegetical foundation. First, John Murray’s theological presentation ofthe approach incraftingthislandmark work? author’s theological methodology. WhatwasMurray’s Accomplished andApplied,from thestandpoint ofthe will analyze Murray’s classic treatise, Redemption: perseverance, andglorification. Thepresent review conversion, justification, , sanctification, order ofsalvation, namely: calling,, the application ofredemption withafocus onthe extent oftheatonement; andPart Two highlighting an eye toward thenecessity, nature, perfection, and featuring theaccomplishment ofredemption with and Appliedisdividedinto twoparts,withPart One the twentieth century. Redemption: Accomplished of themostformidable evangelical theologians of in theOrthodox Presbyterian Church, becameone Murray, aScotsmanbybirthandanordained minister John Murray (1898–1975). its firstfull-time Professor ofSystematic Theology, Westminster and Theological Seminary is noless robust. Such isthelegacy of evangelicals,familiar tocontemporary a theological legacy that,although less the legends ofHodge andWarfield is eneath theshadowofOld Princetonand once for all” must precede any systematizingof“the accomplishment ofredemption bythework ofChrist level. For Murray, anunderstanding of “the historic the existential value ofthecross onapersonal before thestudent ofScripture canproperly ascertain a historical event inreal timeandspace(Gal 4:4–5) Christ’s workofredemption must beunderstoodas divine accomplishment” (53). well-defined periods hassignificance inthedramaof biblical story, “History withitsfixed appointments and “historic objectivity”(52). Murray notesthatinthe his presentation oftheatonement inwhat he calls ofthetwentieth century, Murray grounds of thepsychologized “me” andexperientially based of salvation ().Pushingagainstnotions salutis ) andtheorder ofsalvation (historia history entire workaround acareful distinction betweenthe forebears inprior centuries, Murray frameshis . Unlike someofhistheological andgrounded inasensitivitytoredemptive history Murray’sSecond, treatise ontheatonement is is deeply andthoroughly exegetical. approach isnopie-in-the-sky speculativetheology but (“Redemption Applied”) inRomans 8:30(82). This 8:32–39 (78), andheexplicitly grounds allofPart Two Part Onewiththree different citations from Romans on definiteatonement (65–69), he endsthelastpageof extended exposition ofRomans 8:31–39inhissection a reference toRomans 8:31–32(9), hefeatures an page ofPart One (“Redemption Accomplished”) with thatMurrayfascinating toobserve beginsthefirst theological reflection onRomans 8:28–39.It is entire book may beproperly viewed asoneextended in John 3:1–13(95–105). Onamacro level, Murray’s an exposition ofJesus’ encounter withNicodemus Murray’s laterchapteronregeneration isatroot 2020 |ISSUE 2 various actions of the application of redemption” for One final point must be made about Murray’s the believer (79–80). Thus, the order of presentation theological method, perhaps the most important of for Parts One and Two of Redemption: Accomplished all. His approach to Christian doctrine is one that is and Applied is of utmost significance. intended to lead the reader to doxology. Murray is not only working out profound truths on paper, but Third, the astute reader will note that a polemical it is apparent that this is a man who has internalized concern runs throughout Murray’s work on the the implications of biblical teaching in his own soul. atonement. The deft Scotsman does not hesitate Speaking about Jesus’ cries of agony both in the Garden to name names and point out adversaries amid his of Gethsemane (Mt 26:39) and on the cross of Calvary exposition of Scripture. Ever the gentleman scholar, (Mt 27:46), Murray notes with profound reverence: Murray did not have an argumentative personality. “Here we are the spectators of a wonder the praise and Why, then, is there an apologetic bent in his glory of which eternity will not exhaust” (77). methodology and approach? In a day in which theological discourse is often The simple answer is that Murray viewed his writing characterized by flippancy and casualness, the most enterprise as one for the church. Redemption: riveting lesson that theological students and pastors Accomplished and Applied is aimed at pastors and can learn from Murray is his sense of awe in handling laypeople alike, and in it, Murray routinely points the deep things of God. His theological method is one out threats to the purity of the faith once-for-all of , biblical theology, , entrusted to the saints, including: perfectionism’s polemics, and praise. He is a distinguished teacher disregard for the presence of sin in the believer’s life and guide but also a fellow spectator, encouraging the (143); antinomianism’s failure to understand biblical reader to behold the unparalleled excellencies of the perseverance unto holiness (155–56); and Roman Son of God in his finished redemptive work. • Catholicism’s multi-pronged threat to the finished work of Christ in its emphasis on (51), the sacrifice of the (53), and justification as a combination of faith and works (126). Murray is a watchman on the wall and understands that truth must be presented to the people of God over against error. Jeff Moore is currently a Ph.D. student at Midwestern Murray’s only substantive oversight in Redemption: Baptist Theological Accomplished and Applied is not a deficiency in terms of Seminary. content but in his order of presentation with respect to the theme of . Murray states, “Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ” (161, emphasis added). However, it is curious that Murray does not place union with Christ at the center of his book. Rather than being oddly sandwiched between perseverance and (161–73), union with Christ would be best suited as the logical outflow of Part I (“Redemption Accomplished”) and as the ideal segue into Part II (“Redemption Applied”), the primary theme that encompasses all actions in the order of salvation.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 39 PERMANENT THINGS type ofissue.Iknowthatthere are people who have made ittheological andagospelissue,notany other this subjectofmusic? the graciousbutconvictional thatyou stand took on in my intro comments, what promptedyou totake gettinginto theissueandlitigatingitherewithout of opiniononsomegrey-area issues.But Costi, their music? And thereisroomfor somedifference sing. Even canwe groupsthatwe sing disagreewith, discussion inevangelical circles aboutwhat music to along theselinesbecausethereoftenisn’t alotof A lotofpeople were thankfulfor someclearwords people responded. Stevenwith Furtick), and someothers.And alotof Bethel, Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Elevation (associated think hard aboutsingingmusic fromgroupslike evangelicals inagraciousbutconvictional way, to anymore, encouraged butbyway ofupbringing), gospelworld (bywayprosperity of background—not lines.In particular, Costi, comingfromthe surprising of people, buttheydidsobydrawing somelines, made somepostsonsocialmedia—that helpedaton ago, Costi madesomestatements—did somevideos, andafaithfulvoice inourmovement.friend Not long Bible As Church Isaid,he’s Arizona. inGilbert, adear 40 EDITOR'S NOTE The following is an interview by Owen Strachan (originally on the CityofGodpodcast) onthe isaninterviewbyOwenStrachan(originally The following Conversation Hinn withCosti Music? Hillsong and A SingShould Bethel Churches Executive Pastor ofDiscipleship atRedeemer My andcolleague, Costi Hinn, friend is key linethatIwoulddraw right offthebat. We We madeittheological, and that wouldbethe people thenthatiftheyhave enoughfaithoriftheygive don’t believe intheprosperity gospel,why doyou teach of theirmouths.What’s important toknowisif you mitigating—spinning theP.R.—talking outofthesides “We justwant topreach Jesus.” They’re really goodat preach prosperity” and“God blesses who heblesses” and these teachersare startingto say thingslike, “Man, Idon’t they preach andlivetheprosperity gospel.Now, alot of initially, Iknowthatthere’s someproblems. For example, well.So came outofthatmovement, soIknow itvery Ours theologically speakingwasthis:Number one,I sense ofwhat isorisn’t prescribed inScripture. worship, is more important thanmethodology, inthe cameras orwhat. Ithinktheheart, theology of about whether ornotyou’re usingspeciallights or4K authentic way, Idon’t thinktheLord isreally worried not, ifyou’re singingaboutthereal Jesus inapassionate, methods, becausewhether you’ve gotafog machineor not evenourlane.We’re notreally worried aboutthe butthat’sagainst themethodsthatare beingused, some great guysoutthere who canpreach sermons or production, orfog machines.Iknow thatthere are wouldn’t evenmake againmethodological: aboutlights, deficient orinerror orpropagating falseteaching.I little loud. But Idomindmy music beingadoctrinally don’t mindmy music beingalittle repetitive orbeinga and over. Iwouldn’t evengothere. I’m amillennial. I worship: Thesamesevenwords sungeleven timesover of themusic. You knowtheold Baptistjoke about“7/11” problems andhave hadproblems withtherepetitiveness 2020 |ISSUE 2 to God, then he is going to bless them, that his will is on a grave and you get the mantle of William Branham or never sickness, his will is never poverty? They teach these Smith Wigglesworth or some of these historical heroes things. These are the things that Bethel, Bill Johnson, that they have. So that’s been controversial. They’ll walk would teach. And so there’s a problem there. that back. It’s like every time there’s something that hits the news, they have really good P. R. people who come The other thing would be the Christological issue. That in a say, “Hey, we can’t control what all of our followers I would even put front and center. Let’s say you’ve got do and believe, but we do want to encourage them to the prosperity gospel as an issue, being taught, being live on the edge and live by faith, and if that gets them in propagated, and then, the issue. Now, there trouble, so be it. It got Jesus in trouble, too.” And they’ll are many people around these movements now that are say stuff like that. starting to make it clear they do not teach or believe this. I greatly respect that. I’ve spoken with some of them. I And then there’s other major concerns that I would think there’s some teachers in process. I think there’s have, even personally. I get emails every month from some guys really assessing what they’ve taught and why. parents and families who have lost their young people They’ve just repeated a lot of what they’ve heard. to the movement through the music. And Bill Johnson has made it clear that the music is the gateway to their And let me be real honest with you, and candid, I’ve theology and their ministry. They use the music to spoken with my own father before about these issues. draw young people in. And he’s made that clear. And He doesn’t have a theological degree or any type of so the concern that I have is when a parent calls me, formal training. I said, “Why did you teach this particular and I have to go meet with them or talk with them over thing, or teach that?” And he’s told me before, “Costi, I Zoom or Skype because they live in another state, and would watch an Oral Roberts teaching, or read a book, their daughter or son is hearing voices, seeing demons, or I would listen to Kenneth Hagin and his tapes, or wrestling with crazy things that you would never even Kenneth Copeland” (who’s about thirty years older than imagine and just think, “What?” And now they’re back my dad) “and it sounded awesome, so I would use that home, and they don’t know what to do. They went to on Sundays, and it worked.” My dad wasn’t familiar Bethel normal, and they came back and their eyes are with the term at the time, but I said, “Well, it’s a form of rolling in the back of their head and they’re foaming at pragmatism.” Like, “This works, this gets people pumped, the mouth in the living room all the time chanting weird it gets them to give, therefore, it must be good, it must things. There’s a problem there. be right.” But what Bethel teaches, like I said, a lot of people have repeated this, and walked it back; some I know, in conservative circles, we don’t really go there a have abandoned it altogether. In his book When lot with spiritual warfare. Some people, whether they’re Invades Earth—on both page 29 and 79—Bill Johnson says cessationists or they say, “Hey I believe that some of these this: “Jesus did his miracles as a man in right relationship miraculous gifts are more non-normative, we’re not going to God…” and then there’s an ellipsis that says “(not as to see this all the time today.” And all that’s well and good. God; if he did them as God, they would be unattainable Thomas Schreiner has written an amazing book called for us).” And so this is their ministry M.O.: “Jesus did his Spiritual Gifts; I think we’ve all read it. He’s very charitable miracles as just a man. He came to earth to show us that and has an irenic spirit. It’s just an amazing approach to we can do it all, too. And so, we’ll show you how.” tongues and the gifts. And even if you would disagree, you’d say, “Hey, if it’s going to be the real gifts, this is what And they charge tuition. They have the Bethel the Bible says they are.” So let’s just say that that topic Supernatural School of Ministry. They charge young sometimes overshadows the supernatural in the sense people tuition to come and learn how to be prophets, of spiritual warfare. And sometimes, as conservatives, apostles, healers, miracle workers, discerners. They’ve got we lump in with maybe a cessationist position, also the into other avenues that have been controversial, like the demonic activity that is happening in our world. So we “grave-sucking” or “grave-soaking” where you go and lay tend to overlook this or dismiss it with rationalism.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 41 PERMANENT THINGS pastor. Andthereason you can’t dothesethings isthat apostolic; I’m anapostle. Idealwiththis.You’re justa “Whatdoyou mean?”HeAnd Isaid, “Thisis said, You don’t understandthedeeperthingsof thisrealm.” problem isthis:It’s outofyour jurisdiction asapastor. And heagreed withwhat Iwassaying. He “The said, not theLord’s anointed’ andcalling certainthingsout. actually talkingaboutwhat theBible says about‘touch “Look, Iagree withyour concerns,Costi”—we were family member, who believes thathe’s anapostle, said, And I’ve beentold thatbefore inconversations. One worry, becauseIam,andyou’re justapastor.” immediately? Oh, you must notbeanapostle. Well, don’t aren’t you able toseeintheSpirit words ofknowledge the deadright now?Owen,what’s wrong withyou? Why “Owen, what’s wrong withyou? Why aren’t you raising was justamandoingallthat,andIcandoittoo,well, us.” Andthat’s where wegetinto trouble. Becauseif he his humanity here, hedidallthat,andhe’s themodelfor he’s goingtogobackheaven andbeGodagain,butin He’ll say thingslike, “Well, hewaseternally Godstill,and laid hisdivinityaside.He ceasedtobeGodinthatsense. kenotic Christological position, which istosay thatJesus about veilinghisglory. Johnson takes theontological for theFather toknowcertainthings.”We’re nottalking limiting inhisomniscience. Remember hesays, “It’s only where there seemstobesomenuance where Jesus isself- Stephen J. Wellum callsfunctionalkenoticChristology, aside hisdivinity.” Now, we’re nottalkingaboutwhat Lastly, page79ofBill Johnson’s book says that,“Jesus laid machines. It’s theological andChristology isatthecenter. towermadabout“7/11music”ivory ormadaboutfog I’ve gotfamily caught upinthis,soI’m not sittinginan who graduatedfrom there intheirprophetess program. leaving orbeingpulled outbyfamily. I’ve gotasister and young people who are comingoutofBethel.They’re spiritual warfare. AndI’m seeingthis,literally, infamilies with thedemonic thatare happeningthatare real, andof give usagoodpicture ofdemonization andofchallenges with guyslike Grudem, who inhissystematic theology who’s inmy approach tothegifts,Iam fairly conservative that are runningaround healingpeople atwillandaguy that doesnotbelieve thatthere are apostles stillandguys And I’m tellingyou, brother, asaguy asaconservative, 42 And theyresearch the key figuresinvolved and they checking outthemovement. go on,andtheystart themusic.in agoodnumber They ofcases,stopwith YouTube orwhatever itis,theydon’t often,atleast people getahold ofthismusic through Spotify or groups like Hillsong, Bethelaresung,orwhen young But here’s isthatwhen thething:Whatwe arehearing congregational worship. diverse ofthechurch array featured intheirleadingof so-called, andpastorswho leadworship, tohave a good motive here. Iactually dowant worship leaders, want toisolate ourselves.” SoIthinktherecanbea sing arangeofmusic from a rangeofvoices. We don’t oftheevangelical world. Welittle corner want to example, saying, “We don’t want tobeisolated inour in ourchurch.” Ieven heargood,Reformed guys, for “Wellstance: we want range ofvoices tosingawide line thatbothyou this andIhearwhen we articulate minutes remainingaboutthat.Becausehere’s one of thismusic. Iwould like you inourfew with totalk it’s becauseofthis music—it’s inpart actually because evangelical menandwomen aregettingdrawn offand you were aboutearlier. talking You saidthatyoung timetogether,In ourbrief Idowant tobackwhat touched on,andI’m thankfulyou have. different places we cango,andthat you’ve already love thatyou’re aremany thatout.There bringing theologically. We centrality, aredealingwith and I formulation. We nicetieshere arenotdealingwith heretical. In otherwords, gospel-cancelling, asa likely issurely heterodox,existence. That andvery but thenwho iseffectively notdivine for his human Jesus, aJesus SonofGod, who eternal wasdivine, out. And thatleaves aless-than-biblical you with God altogether. say thathesuddenly justbecamemanandstoppedbeing coming andtakingonflesh, there’s nogrounds there to grounds from Philippians twointhehumbling ofChrist, on thisChristology. Ratherthanseeingthatthere isno we’re into aclasssystem, created bythistheology, based you’re pastoral.Icandothesethings;I’m apostolic.” Now formulation, theologically, asyou’re bringing That’s atremendously significant 2020 |ISSUE 2 look up the Bethel School that you mentioned. Or congregations. Raise them up. Focus on developing they check out the latest Hillsong congregation. They leaders. Do that in your own congregation. maybe visit it when they go to that city. A good number of evangelical youth—young men and women—are And then I think people need clarity on this issue more getting pulled into this unsound movement, this than ever before: We are in a time of compromise. We unsound teaching. Do you think that’s accurate? are in a time where the lines are being very blurry. And more and more—in a spirit of charity—we need leaders Absolutely. Let me give you four bullet points, with conviction who do not want to be a stumbling and these will stand on their own. Four bullet block, who want to avoid that appearance of evil, who point reasons why, besides what we’ve just talked about will call out what is false and point to what is true and theologically, why what you’re saying is absolutely true. be responsible in the way they lead the church. I’m not We don’t need to say, “We need to sing a wide array saying churches are false or heretical if they sing the of music and mitigate.” These people don’t need to be music. I’m saying that we’re now getting to a day and mitigated in their error; they need to be rescued from it, age in this generation where this is a huge wisdom rescued from it with the truth. And so we need to stop issue. And people are leaving churches over it. We have looking at them as diversity and start looking at them as people come in droves to our church all the time. They deceptive, and say, “We need to reach these people, not love their church where they were at, but they say, “I’m join them. Not sing what they’re putting out. sick of singing Bethel; my kids have it on their podcasts now, on their iPods. It’s too dangerous, and now they’re Another thing, we need to make sure that church money sympathetic to “Wake Up Olive” and trying to raise the isn’t paying them royalties to fund their heterodox dead and it’s too much. It’s too confusing and we just teaching and to fund what they’re doing to our young want clarity. That’s all we want. Even if we don’t agree people. And that’s another issues. A lot of churches will with everything theologically. We just want clarity.” And say, “I’m going to pick the songs that aren’t heretical I think we need that for this generation. or aren’t dangerous, and you think that there’s verses or lines from the Book of Mormon that would be in I think this is a prophetic word. I think this is line with what the Bible teaches. But we don’t accept a really needed word. Neither you nor I—and those from the Book of Mormon. You would be wise to I know you spoke this conviction with your fellow think that even a broken clock is right twice a day. So pastors at Bible Church—is saying if there’s we don’t want to still fund them and send them directly a sound church out there that ever has sung Hillsong, their money. A lot of people will harp on Furtick and we are effectively pulling their gospel faithfulness card Elevation, and they’ll hammer them theologically but once and for all time. That’s not the case you or I are they sing Elevation Worship so they’re sending Furtick making, and that’s not what you have said. And that’s money and their movement money, but they’re getting not what either of us would say. Sometimes people will their hits and likes on Twitter by attacking him. I don’t take us the worst way, as if we’re saying that. However, understand that. having noted that, we are definitely issuing a word of caution here, afresh. One that has gone out before Another one, here, Owen, with young people. You’re through you and a few others, and one that I pray now limiting the creativity of your own church. I don’t need goes out afresh. to lean on Bethel. I want to raise up the next generation of passionate worshipers in my church. I want to speak There are many different issues we could break down. to the potential of the songwriters in my congregation. We’ve already touched on several of them. But we I don’t need to look outside; I want to look inside and are simply trying to note this real problem of, in disciple the next generation. And that’s a huge thing is particular, younger evangelicals being drawn away by that we’re outsourcing so much, that we’re sitting on a unsound groups who have great music, at least when it gold-mine of gifts and talents that God has given local hits your headphones it sounds great, and that music

CPT.MBTS.EDU 43 PERMANENT THINGS Reformed world, theEvangelical world. Letthat outthereintheBaptistworld, the worship service about thesethings.We donotallhave thesame exact shepherd theflock and lead thenextgeneration. getting around it.Andtheput astake intheground and clear andyour professors are clear andthere’s justno theologically, andthenunderstandwhere theBible’s where there couldbesome nuance andsomedifference with your professors. Understand where thelinesare and you’re crazy!Digdeeperinto your Christology. Dialogue you’re nottakingOwenStrachan for systematic theology, systematic theology classes.Third, ifyou’re atMBTSand anyway; it’slot ofusgetinseminary required reading in Son Incarnate byStephen J. Wellum. It’s abook thata about into aseminarian’s Iwouldpick upGodthe mind, more toit.Two, ifyou want todigdeep, andI’m talking the newyear, inFebruary. It willhave astudy guideand We’re actually releasing arevised andexpandededition in and Iwrote abook called DefiningDeception onthisissue. dig deepontheissues,twothings.One,apastorfriend up. accurate, aswe wrap great careofthesheepinmind.Doyou thinkthat’s greatworship with with tostructure then strive you’re issuing,andothershave saidaswell. And elders have that aresponsibilitytohearthewarning fathers andmothers,pastorsworship pastors, about thesekindsofmovements. And Ibelieve generationhave therising responsibilitytowarn this,letthatbesaid.And yet, wemasterminding We can’t always identify thefalseteacher who is according toPeter, thesheep. ways thattheycantrick clever.this earlier. scheme, They very arevery, They aredeceptive. You They teaching falsedoctrine. said doors andannouncethemselves andsay thattheyare that falseteachersdon’t usually show upatour book of2Timothy we have framework, torecognize if we’re working froma2Peter fromthe 2framework, isunsound.And so And thatorientation orientation. into awholeacts asagateway broadertheological drug 44 generation, seminarians—think very hard very generation, seminarians—think Amen. Great word. Pastors, elders—rising just say andrecommend is:Ifyou’re looking to Amen. Thatisspoton,Owen.ThelastthingI’ll unsoundness, andeven grave jeopardy. spiritual And aswe have said,thatcaneasily beagateway into group thatpennedsong,played thatmusic. of surgingpassion.And thenyou’ll search outthat come away singingdifferentwith thiskind songs of singing,where you areliftedupsuchthatyou’ll stronger effect becauseofthe whole-person experience In fact,inconclusion,Ithinkitcouldeven have a or Jesus Culture. It hasthesameeffect. not citeBill Johnson orBethelHillsong orElevation wouldn’t—recognize needsto thatyour music ministry quote himfromthepulpit—at least, Isurehopeyou Johnson notesand orrelatedvoices intheirsermon as soundfaithfulpastorsouttherewould notciteaBill And so,just themtoworshipChrist. theliving driving Teaching themhow topray, leadingtheminsong, dimensionoftheworship service. sheep inevery as we commonly But think. we areshepherding the sermon, sheep, notjustwhen we preach anexpository responsibility torecognizethatwe areshepherding the music—from ofvoices. anarray But we alsohave this isroomforbe said.There singingmusic—solid Gilbert, Arizona. Redeemer Bible Church in Costi Hinn isapastorat 2020 |ISSUE 2 •

Keep Your Eyes on the Trees: An Essay

on the Film 1917 Hitchcockian kind, adept at entertainment. But again, is that all 1917 is—a cute ode to now-outmoded hero quests?

By Owen Strachan Here is my own view: 1917 is the most profound major-market film to release in a very long time. The movie is at base a stirring philosophical meditation on the meaning of life; it is an aesthetic inquiry into the EDITOR'S NOTE good, beautiful, and true. Yes, that sounds like the cake has been baked at a high temperature, I admit. In what This essay originally appeared online for Providence follows, I (who earn no money doing film criticism, and is used with permission. and justly so) will lay out my case for this view of Mendes’ film (featuring a screenplay of compressed eloquence by Krysty Wilson-Cairns). My thesis can be boiled down to three simple words:

he movie 1917 has been a success by any Trees. Family. Renewal. measure. On a budget of about $100 million, it has grossed well over $375 million worldwide, The Importance of Trees and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards 1917 is a film about trees. It begins with Schofield resting (winning one for cinematography). Director Sam against a tree, and it ends with him resting against a Mendes set out to tell a story heard from his grandfather tree. As quoted above, Mendes gives us the clue to his of a daring suicide mission in World War I, and that film over 30 minutes in, embedding it in dialogue that story in its cinematic form clearly resonated with viewers we might well miss after the shattering bunker scene. (some spoilers to come). “Keep your eyes on the trees” is not a throwaway line, however (as Schofield says it, a lone tree stands tall in the Not so much with critics, at least a good number of the background). We’re not learning through this eminently highbrow kind. A few characteristic examples to follow. missable clue—I read many reviews of 1917 and found The Verge called 1917 a “brag trick,” summarizing the none that cited this dialogue—that trees are abstractly views of many reviewers who focused almost exclusively interesting. No, there is a much deeper philosophical on its “one-shot” cinematography. The New Yorker point at work in 1917. characterized the film as one of “patriotic bombast.” The Atlantic spoke more plainly still: 1917 is “a bad movie” and This quick sentence is in fact the very message of the a “soulless film.” No mincing of words, these (numerous film. Throughout the movie, where trees flourish, there other reviews argue much the same). is rest; conversely, where trees have been hacked and hewn to evil ends, there is ruin and pain. In a manner But is it a trick, bombast, bad, and soulless? Alfred consistent with the lush arboreality represented by Hitchcock once said that his films were like “a slice of Frederick Law Olmsted in design, J.R.R. Tolkien in cake,” a delicious treat without any real nutrients in literature, and Terrence Malick in auteur cinema, them. Is 1917 mere frosting and butter as many critics Mendes (and Wilson-Cairns) are telling us something have it? Mendes has certainly made his mark as a big- vital. I mean “vital” in the deep sense, not the cursory. budget director. He is an accomplished craftsman of the Bearing fruit, trees “manifest life” (from the Latin vitalis,

CPT.MBTS.EDU 45 PERMANENT THINGS tastes. It isatthispoint thatwearriveatMendes’ their variations yield myriad colors andtextures and trees,that there andthat are many kinds ofcherry Blake tree; butmore thanthis,heknows seesacherry eyes, butours.Where welike Schofield seeatree, Blake isthecharacterwho opensnotonly Schofield’s orbed emotional life andisaesthetically inclined.) character iscertainly Romantic innature—he hasafull- with asoldier namedSchofield in1803. Blake the William Blake, afigure who hadastrange interaction I thinkthatBlake may represent theRomantic poet more substantiation, (As aquick asidethatdeserves here totheaforementioned limitless variety ofcreation. Montmorencys, sweetones, sourones.”Blake isawitness there’s lots ofthem,”listing“Cuthberts, QueenAnnes, people think“there’s only onetype” tree, “but ofcherry takes nonotice ofit.Blake, asensitivesoul,notesthat and intricately detailed beautyonaregular basis but about trees; like wealldo,hebeholds spectacular the thesisoffilm.Schofield doesn’t know anything tounderstanding This nextbitofdialogue isnecessary what kindoftrees theyare: “Cherries. Lamberts.” innocent creatures unjustly handled). Blake thennotes (thesavagery Germanshave alsoshotcowsandadog, a ferocious war, thisactof hestopscold toobserve “They’ve choppedthemalldown.”Inthemidstof Schofield happensuponagrove ofthemandsays, tree scene.About38minutes in, than inthecherry Nowhere isthistension brought outingreater nuance witness tohell. needless destruction makes creation nothingless thana more goodness,while nature sublimated topurposesof 1:31). Nature stewarded incelebration oflife yields still the created order andthegoodnessitbears(Genesis numerous places) speakstoaworldview thatdesacralizes as implements ofwar(as theGermansdoin1917 in evenafallen worldlikeworld, ours.But usingtrees of what weChristianscallcommongraceinthis To celebrate andenjoytrees isthus topartake deeply fashioned for death,butfor life. of thecreated order asdesigned byGod:itwasnot fourteenth-century origin).Trees showussomething 46 theme induecourse,justasthefilmdoes. We shallreturn tothissoaring(and deeply biblical) in ironic fashion becauseofevil’s destructiveschemes. andgoodnessexpands purposes are turnedonitshead, in theological terms,evilisnotonly overcome; evil’s the flowering ofa much greater forest. Transposed than before, Blake says. Thedeathofthegrove means will rot, butwillgrow backastrees ingreater number seeds—”stones”— actually: thecherry This istooweak, miniature, butthetrees have livedandwillgrow again. win intheend.Thegladeisacut-flower civilization in bringing desperatesuffering tolivingthings, beauty will to creation besides.But evenwithevilloose intheworld, persuasively makes. Mandoesterrible thingstoman,and from Blake spellsoutthecasethat1917 quietly but shot director” reviews. Ibelieve thisparticular comment these sentences innumerous snarky “Mendes isatrick- Forgive acritic mention meoncemore, butIsaw nary with more trees thanbefore.” “They’ll grow againwhen thestonesrot. You’ll endup this holy grove. Inhisoptimistic way, Blake responds: Schofield expresses sadnessaboutthedesecration of textbooks butfrom therhythms ofahappyfamily, knowledge oftrees, knowledge gleaned notfrom major philosophical idea.Enlightened byBlake’s who gives ittothechild.He thenwarmsupfurther sacrificially giveshiscanteen ofmilktothewoman, For hispart,Schofield emergesfrom hisshockand for him,thewarrior comehometoapatchwork family. his headwoundwithagentle feminine touch.Shecares young womanmovesgracefully toward himandtreats barely able torespond tothispairas he isbadly hurt. The woman who iskeeping ababyalive.Schofield initially is into abasement dwelling.There heencounters ayoung that isbothhorrifyingandtransfixing),Schofield crashes images I’ve yet seeninafilm (a townenwreathed inflame several times,andafteroneofthemoststunningvisual soldiers. After beingshotandnarrowly escaping death in theruinsfiery French townoccupied byGerman could cover. Mendes returns tothethemeofrebuilding I want tomoveaheadinthenarrative,skippingmuch I The Rebuilding oftheFamily 2020 |ISSUE 2 still, engaging the baby and making her laugh. The Earlier in the movie, Schofield derided a medal he earned young woman senses perceptively that he is a father in a prior conflict for heroism. Just before the cherry tree (as indeed he is, we learn later). I wager that Mendes is scene, he tells Blake that he traded his medal for a bottle communicating something meaningful in this scene. of wine. This got Blake’s blood up: “You should have In the ruins, in surprising circumstances, the family taken it home,” he protests. “You should have given it to is rebuilt. Here is the renewal that the world truly your family. Men have died for that. If I got a medal, I’d needs: not just a planting of trees, but the recovery of take it back home.” marriage, the union of one man and one woman, and the welcoming of children as a gift, not a curse. Schofield spits back at Blake. “It’s just a bit of tin,” he says. “It doesn’t make any difference to anyone.” It seems that the motif of trees forms the beginning and But Blake (just before his death) rises again to the end motif of 1917, and this family scene represents the challenge: “Yet it does. And it’s not just a bit of tin. inclusio (the main point bracketed by complementary And it’s got a ribbon on it.” This early scene anticipates ideas). The family scene is, in other words, the human the film’s last scene. At that point, walking into the expression of the cherry tree scene. Here is the cut-flower grove, Schofield is battle-hardened. He has replanting that the world truly needs. It needs men and lost touch with the good, true, and beautiful. He is by women, husbands and wives, children loved and cared no means evil as the enemy is, but he is no longer able for, the family restored amidst much attack. Mendes to be a witness to the deep value of life; he is simply seems to be communicating that this creation order has surviving. But Blake is still alive, fully alive. He sees suffered violence, but that civilization can know healing. that the medal is not just tin; it speaks to the ideals It will come through a renewal of the family. that drive one to risk everything for the sake of the innocent and the threatened. To whatever degree they believe in the natural family (a far better term than our dreaded “nuclear family”), Notably, in this earlier scene Blake sees the medal as Mendes and Wilson-Cairns have landed on the valuable in relation to family. (He adores his family, foundational element of society. We are not born into making it all the more poignant that we meet his isolation; we are born into families, at least in God’s brother in closing.) Valor in battle confers meaning design. The family is the first institution, grounded in on all the sacrifices made by both soldiers and loved covenantal marriage that is a picture of the Gospel love ones. War is terrible, but men give everything they of Christ for his church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Even in the have in order to love and protect those who are also treacherous conditions of ferocious battle, the family sacrificing much at home (who will be justly proud of endures. This short scene, generally mentioned as an warrior heroism). The “tin” itself is not worth anything oddity by many reviewers, speaks to a profound truth: great. But the medal symbolically captures all the civilization begins with the family. hardship, courage, and sacrifice made by soldiers (and civilizations) for a greater good. It simultaneously has Here the trees, so to speak, grow once more. no real value and more value than words can convey.

The Value of a Life In the end, tin is all that is left in earthly terms. But 1917 brings its celebration of life to a muted peak in its these effects, though small and insignificant, speak to final scene. Schofield, having lost Blake to an unjust the value of an entire existence. They tell us who this death some hours back, meets Blake’s brother. Schofield man was: Blake, a valiant soldier, one so merciful that and Lieutenant Blake struggle to speak to one another, he died trying to help a foe, a young man whose days but even as he delivers terrible news, Schofield performs on earth mattered. Every life matters. Every person a precious service. Schofield hands over some small has value, dignity, and worth. Here, I think, we behold effects of Blake’s. This quick action, easily overlooked, is a glimpse of the doctrine of the image of God in actually a crucial development of Schofield’s character. cinematic expression.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 47 PERMANENT THINGS found ingreater measure intheagetocome. Goodness, truth,andbeautyare allaround us,andwillbe civilization—will andingreater number. grow back, trees—representingEvil but the cherry iseverywhere, for consumption, least ofallfor mindless destruction. Thecreated order merely isnotintended atestofsurvival. revealed thattheworldisnotamachine.Existence isnot Nearly dehumanized bywar, Schofield’s epic questhas helped bringSchofield backfrom akindoflivingdeath. Blake’sThough dead, spiritedandvirtuousexample has glade—has pulled Schofield outofspiritualruinaswell. young womanandbabythesinger inthewooded pulled himoutoftherubble. Blake—with Intheend, the seat), Schofield wouldcertainly have died had Blake not terrific explosion (that nearly knocked meoutof my IMAX what happenedintheGermanbarracks scene:aftera already.Mendes hassignaled suchatrajectory Recall Blake. He is,you couldsay, reenchanted. is effectively brought backtofull-fledged humanity by ofalmost impossible difficulty,The survivor Schofield has awakened once more tothegoodnessofworld. film’s looking end, overhispictures ofhis family. He noble life; hefeels itasheleans againstatree atthe he felt itwhen hehandedoverallthatwasleft ofa electric current asherantostopthedoomedassault; Blake bled outontheground; hefelt thislike an much life matters.He felt thisin aterrible way when not thesameman.He understandsafresh justhow but hasbeenchangedbyhispersonalodyssey. He is Schofield himselfhasgoneonapersonalquest,yes, on agrandadventure. It isthat,butitmuch more. not only a“quest” intheclassic sense,amangoing In light ofthisresolution, wediscoverthat1917 is than despair.his mentality early in1917: bettertosurvive The painistoogreat for him,sohegoessilent. Here is see…” At theendofthisline,Schofield’s voice trailsoff. home… when Iknewhadtoleave andtheymight never got choked upbefore hecouldsay more. “I hatedgoing He alluded tohisfamily inthe“bitoftin” scene,but look atpictures ofhisbeautifulyoung wife andchildren. resting againstatree. For thefirsttime,he lets himself As mentioned above,thefilmcloses withSchofield Odyssey More ThanaPhysical One An Odyssey, ButaSpiritual 48 Keep your eyes onthetrees, indeed. (Revelation 22:2). pilgrimsintheNewleaves thathealusweary Jerusalem to thegoodnessofGod’s creation, soitwillbeatree’s beneath atree, alivingthing thatisitselfawitness Schofield attheendofhisjourney, sittinginpeace us. It wasatree fitted for torture thatsaved us.Like Christian theology. It wasatree misusedthat damned the trees.” How fitting,andhowconsonant withrich did wehearearly in1917, afterall?“Keep your eyes on This isafitting reference with which toconclude. What have seeninsometime. is, afterMalick’s Tree ofLife, themostprofound filmI civilization, andtheimportanceofmartialcourage.1917 into thevalue oflife, thetreasured heritageofWestern art. It isabeautifulfilm. It isadeceptively deepinquiry “bombast” oramere slice ofcake. No, 1917 isaworkof is nota“one trick” movie, norisit“soulless” or“bad” or not simply awarmovie, ora“quest” movie. It certainly Mendes’ vision isnotonly Romantic, andthatthisis redeemed shalleversleep.” Perhaps thisisasignthat “But golden fields lie justbefore me/Where God’s “Wayfaring Stranger” songsungintheforest glade: toward thebattlefield,wehearthesewords from the trees).regenerative asSchofield cherry staggers Second, (a fulfillmentcorpses andsurvive of Blake’s words on him andseemtorevive him,enabling himtocrawl over blossoms thenfallon Schofield isnearly dead.Cherry aterrible assault andarushingriver,after surviving but thinkoftwointertwined concluding events. First, worldview. Yet asIsurfacethispossibility, Icannothelp Mendes notaChristianworldview butaRomantic It may wellbethatthesecommitments reflect for Conclusion • 2020 |ISSUE 2 Sailing to Byzantium

By William Butler Yeats

hat is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees, —Those dying generations—at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect.

W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium” from The Poems of W. B. Yeats: A New Edition, edited by Richard J. Finneran.

CPT.MBTS.EDU 49 PERMANENT THINGS Reading Recommended 50 WE WORSHIP WE BECOMEWHAT (Harvard University Press) University (Harvard TaylorCharles A SECULARAGE (IVP Academic) (IVP Beale K. G. (Crossway) Trueman Carl OF THEMODERNSELF THE RISEANDTRIUMPH (Mentor) Strachan Owen HUMANITY REENCHANTING 2020 |ISSUE 2 LECTURES ON THE MADNESS OF THE CROWDS Abraham Kuyper Douglas Murray (CreateSpace Independent (Bloomsbury Continuum) Publishing Platform)

CYNICAL FOOLS, FRAUDS, THEORIES AND FIREBRANDS Helen Pluckrose and Roger Scruton James Lindsay (Bloomsbury Continuum) (Pitchstone Publishing)

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