The Cultural Captivity of America: Part 2- The Decline of A Nation

 By Marianne Mauti

The Cultural Captivity of America: The Decline of A Nation

Today's feature article is the second and in our series, "The Cultural Captivity of America".

In preparation for the second Blog of the "Cultural Captivity of America Series" , I  was reading an article that was very informative, enlightening but also disturbing. Disturbing because in it the author compares America to the  historical decline of great Nations and Kingdoms of the past. He concludes that they all follow distinctive stages which lead to their decline. The stages primarily have to do with the loss of values, the destruction of the family and finally spiritual decline. I was planning to comment on this article in the coarse of other things I wanted to share,  but I didn't feel I could do it justice. I believe this article should be required reading for every  American , every Christian and most especially taught to our children!  We need to open our eyes to the reality of America's condition and not ignore the warning signs. It is never too late to change but that requires an admission of our current state. I pray this article will stir you to pray for our Country with greater fervor than ever before. If we do God promises to hear our prayer: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways ; the I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land."    2 Chronicles 7:14

THE DECLINE OF A NATION
 (The following is a portion of the article by )

By Kerby Anderson

Doomsayers for many years have been predicting the decline and fall of this country. And while many of these short-term predictions have proved inaccurate, there is some truth to the prevailing belief that this nation will fall like every great nation before it.

Apart from reformation or a new moral and ethical awakening, this nation is destined to decline.

The problem with many of these doomsayers is that while their prognosis is right, their diagnosis is wrong. Yes, the future looks bleak. But our problem is not ultimately political, economic, or social, as these doomsayers would have us believe. The decline of this nation (just as the decline of every other nation) is due to spiritual factors. The political, economic, and social problems we encounter are the symptoms of the spiritual deterioration of a nation.

Just as there are spiritual principles that influence the life of an individual, so there are political-spiritual principles that govern the life of a nation. And though we may feel that these are difficult to discern, in reality they are visible to anyone willing to look at the record of history. Our problem is that we don't really learn from history. George Santayana said, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." The philosopher Hegel said, "What experience and history teach us is this: that people and government never have learned anything from history or acted on principles deduced from it." Or as Winston Churchill said:

"The one thing we have learned from history is that we don't learn from history." 

The refrains that are often heard are: "It can't happen here," or "Our country is different." But the reality is that nations are born and die just like individuals. Their longevity may exceed the average person's lifespan. But the reality is that nations also die. History has shown that the average age of the great civilizations is around two hundred years. Countries like Great Britain exceed the average while other countries like the United States are just now reaching the average age. Each of the great civilizations in the world passed through a series of stages from their birth to their decline to their death.

Historians have listed these in ten stages:

1.The first stage moves from bondage to spiritual faith 
2. Spiritual faith to great courage 
3.Great courage to liberty 
4.Liberty to abundance 
5.Abundance to selfishness 
6. Selfishness to complacency 
7. Complacency to apathy 
8. Apathy to moral decay 
9. Moral decay to dependence 
10.Dependence to bondage. 

Notice the progression from bondage to liberty back to bondage. The first generation throws off the shackles of bondage only to have a later generation through apathy and indifference allow itself to once again be enslaved. This is the direction America and every other country are headed. The book of Judges shows that the nation of Israel passed through these same stages. And we will do the same unless the Church begins to reverse the inexorable decline of this nation. Nations rise and nations fall. Every nation has followed this progression from bondage to bondage. The nations of this century will be no different. But let us not accept the Marxist notion that these are fixed and intractable laws of history. Christians can point to unusual times when revival has redirected the inexorable decline of a civilization. In the Old Testament, Jonah saw revival postpone God's judgment of Nineveh. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther and John Calvin saw a Protestant Reformation transform Europe. And even in the history of the United States the First and Second Great Awakenings changed individuals and our society. 

But apart from God's intervention, nations will decline and eventually pass off the scene. 

Much of the Old Testament records the history of the nation of Israel. It passed through these same stages and so will every country in the world. As Christians we must recognize that nations will rise and fall just as individuals will be born and die. Our civilization will not last indefinitely, but will eventually pass off the scene. Only God's Word endures forever. We should not put our trust in the things of this world for they are destined for destruction. Instead, we should put our faith in God and His word. 

So Why Do Nations Fall:

A. The Decline of the Family: 

Nations most often fall from within, and this fall is usually due to a decline in the moral and spiritual values in the family. As families go, so goes a nation. This has been the main premise of thinkers from British historian J. D. Unwin to Russian sociologist Pitirim Sorokin who have studied civilizations that have collapsed. 

B. The Decline of Values 

There are many factors in the decline of a nation. Certainly a major one is the breakdown of the family. But another potent but less perceptible force is the power of ideas. False ideas are bringing about the decline of western culture. Carl F. H. Henry, in his book Twilight of a Great Civilization, says: There is a new barbarism. This barbarism has embraced a new pagan mentality . . . not simply rejecting the legacy of the West, but embracing a new pagan mentality where there is no fixed truth. Today we live in a world where Biblical absolutes are ignored. Unless we return to these Biblical truths, our nation will continue to decline. To understand how we have arrived at this appalling situation, we need to go back a century and look at the influence of five intellectual leaders who still profoundly affect the modern world: 

Charles Darwin: (1809-1882). In 1859 he published The Origin of Species and later published The Descent of Man. His writings blurred the distinction between humans and animals since he taught that we are merely part of an evolutionary progression from lower forms of life. Darwinism, as it came to be called, not only affected the field of biology, but also became the foundation for the fields of anthropology, sociology, and psychology. 

Karl Marx: (1818-1883). He and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto around 1850, and Marx devoted his life to writing about the demise of capitalism and coming of communism. He understood the importance of ideas. Marx once wrote: "Give me twenty-six lead soldiers and I will conquer the world." The twenty-six lead soldiers are the keys on a typewriter. The pervasive influence of communism in the world today is testimony to the truthfulness of his statement. 

Julius Wellhausen: (1844-1918). Although he may not be as well known as the other two men mentioned, his influence was just as profound. He was a German Bible scholar whose theory on the dating of the Pentateuch completely transformed Old Testament studies. Wellhausen argued that the early books of the Bible were not put together by Moses but were gathered together many centuries later by several different men called redactors who wove various strands together. He and his disciples established an anti-supernatural approach to the scriptures, which is influential in most denominational seminaries today. 

Sigmund Freud: (1856-1939). He merely took the logical implications of what Darwin was doing in biology and applied them to what today is known as psychology and psychiatry. Freud argued that humans are basically autonomous and therefore do not need to know God. Instead, we need to know and understand ourselves since our problems stem from those secret things that have evolved in our lives from our past. 

John Dewey: (1859-1952). He is the founder of modern education and published his first work, The School and Society, in 1899. John Dewey was also one of the co-signers of the Humanist Manifesto in 1933. Dewey, like Darwin and Freud, believed that humans are autonomous. They don't need to have an authority above them but can evolve their our own system of education. Thus the very foundation of modern education is anti-supernatural.

The theories of these five men are having devastating consequences in our nation and world. Unless we return to biblical absolutes, our nation will continue its decline. Ideas have consequences, and false ideas can bring down a nation.

C. Spiritual Decline

The decline and fall of nations is usually due to internal factors rather than external threats. Even though some may have fallen to barbarians, their demise ultimately came because of moral and spiritual weakness, which manifested itself as military weakness. Historians have listed the stages in the decline of a nation. These should not be too surprising to any student of the Old Testament. The stages of decline parallel the stages through which the nation of Israel passed. But neither should they surprise a student of the New Testament. In the opening chapter of the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he traces a similar progression. In fact, Romans 1 shows the decline of a civilization from a societal perspective. Looking at the Hellenistic world of his time, he reflects on the progression of sin in a nation:

1. When people turn from God to idolatry. Although God has revealed Himself in nature to all men so that they are without excuse, they nevertheless worship the creation instead of the Creator. This is idolatry. In the past, this took the form of actual idol worship. In our day, it takes the form of the worship of money or the worship of self. In either case, it is idolatry. And when they are no longer looking to God for wisdom and guidance, they become vain and futile and empty in their imaginations. They no longer honor God, so their foolish hearts become darkened. In professing to be wise, they have become fools.

2. When men and women exchange their natural use of sex for unnatural uses. Here the Apostle Paul says those four sobering words, "God gave them over." In a society where lust- driven sensuality and sexual perversion dominate, God gives them over to their  passions and unnatural desires.

3.  When there is moral and social anarchy. Once a society has rejected God's revelation, it is on its own. Moral and social anarchy is the natural result. At this point God has given the sinners over to a depraved mind and so they do things, which are not proper. This results in a society, which is without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

4. The final stage is judgment. God's judgment rightly falls upon those who practice idolatry and immorality. Certainly an eternal judgment awaits those who are guilty. This progression is not unique to the Hellenistic world the Apostle Paul was living in. The progression from idolatry to sexual perversion to anarchy to judgment is found throughout history. In the times of Noah and Lot, there was the idolatry of greed, there was sexual perversion and promiscuity, there was anarchy and violence, and finally there was judgment. Throughout the history of the nation of Israel there was idolatry, sexual perversion, anarchy (in which each person did what was right in his own eyes), and finally judgment. This progression happened throughout the Bible and to Greece, to Persia, to Babylon, and to Rome. And if it happened to these nations, then it can happen to America.

 Social judgment occurs when God gives a nation over to its sinful practices. Unless we return to God's principles, decline is inevitable.

Please Note: ("Forging Your Faith", does not promote any ministry we are not a part of . While finding this particular article interesting and thought provoking, we are not now or ever have been associated with Kerby Anderson or his ministry. This posting should not in any way be perceived as an endorsement. )

IN CONCLUSION...

 I believe the information from a historical and theological point was informative and insightful! We need to have a genuine discourse on what is really happening in our country and that requires  an honest look at our nations "spiritual condition". Just as important is the need to explain it to our children. We cannot let them be ignorant of the situation they are facing . We can't pretend it doesn't exist or wish it away. They need to be equipped to answer the call of their generation, this country's future depends on it!

 Finally, while sobering, this article does give me hope. There is still time to fight for the very soul of America! It begins with an acknowledgment of where we are, recognizing we are helpless in ourselves to do anything about it. What we can do is come before God, seek his face and ask him to forgive us, and turn as a nation from unrighteousness.  It begins with us.......

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FORGING YOUR FAITH

To 'Forge' something, is to mold and shape something for suitable use. We believe that our lives are constantly being shaped and molded by the hand of God for His divine purpose! This publication strives to encourage believers who are beginning this process and those who are well into it! We also believe a truly successful life is a Christ-Centered Life! We hope you will join us and become a regular reader! 

Thank You and God Bless,

Marianne Mauti

Founder and CAO

'Forging Your Faith' is the online Christian publication of 'Christ the King Church' in Bellevue, Pa.

About Marianne Mauti: Marianne is a writer and blogger as well as a Pastor at "Christ the King Church" in Bellevue, Pa. She is currently the Dean and Chief Operating Officer of "Christ the King Seminary" a full time Bible Institute. For more information about us please contact us at: crowncntr@aol.com

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* The Bible

* Kerby Anderson:  Has a B.S., Oregon State University (Zoology) 
M.F.S., Yale University (Science)
 M.A., Georgetown University (Government)
 Kennedy Institute of Bioethics (Washington, D.C). He is the author of several books including: Signs of Warning, Signs of Hope (1994),Moral Dilemmas (1998),  A Biblical Point of View on Intelligent Design (2008) and many others. He is also a frequent Lecturer on the issues of: Apologetics, Medical Ethics, Modern Philosophy, Science, Political History, and Family and Society.

He is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Biblical and Christian Ethics (1987, updated 1992), Integrity of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands (1994), Vital Contemporary Issues (1994), Vanity and Meaning (1995), and Christian Educator's Handbook on Family Life Education (1996). His articles have appeared in Moody Monthly, Eternity, Kindred Spirit, and Bibliotheca Sacra.

*Dr. George R. Beninate: Is Bishop of "Christ the King Church" in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A Doctor of Theology, Biblical Apologist, conference speaker, lecturer and my spiritual father.He is also the Author of several books including,"The Age of Glory", Thank you for your relentless pursuit of truth!