Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Civilization Coming Unglued? - The Most Important Question Facing Us in 2012 is More Than an Election
[2] Sabbath-Breaking on Scotland’s Isle of Skye Decried by Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Presbytery of Skye and Lochcarron
[3] Nigeria’s Boko Haram, a.k.a. Nigerian Taliban Threatens Christians
[4] al-Shabaab Terrorists in Somalia Publically Whip Christian Woman Taken into Custody in November 2011
[5] FBI Arrests Muslim Naturalized American Citizen for Planning Terrorist Attacks on Tampa, Florida
[6] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Hail Federal Court Decision Overturning Oklahoma Constitutional Amendment Approved by Seventy Percent of Voters Barring Islamic Sharia Law Being Used in Oklahoma Courts
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[1] Civilization Coming Unglued? - The Most Important Question Facing Us in 2012 is More Than an Election
Commentary by Dr. Michael A. Milton
The most important question of the coming year is not “who will be the next occupant of the White House?” The single most important matter before us all is a monumental question of value. It is a question that may be stated, “Will the Western world embrace the very thing that holds it together. Or will it continue the denial of the obvious and seal its inevitable decline?” Let me explain.
In historiography – the study of history – professional historians are often torn between what is called “lower history” and “higher history.” Higher history aims to chronicle the past through grand events such as “kings and queens” and wars and treaties. Lower history, however, traces the record of mankind through often unseen events, underlying popular philosophies and, often, obvious facts. Thinking about lower history, British historian, Dr. Niall Ferguson, has drawn our attention to a lower historical fact that, as he proposes in his latest and most exceptional (if not unsettling) work, Civilization: The West and the Rest (Penguin Press, 2011).
Ignoring political-correctness in favor of the obvious, Ferguson appeals to his readers to see that the remarkable civilization called the West is just so because of what he refers to as “six killer apps” (using a computer metaphor). These apps are fundamental common commitments—a worldview, if you will—which has brought about the greatest advances in human history and the greatest opportunities for men to live free, happy lives. These “killer apps,” according to Niall Ferguson, are “competition, science, property rights, medicine, the consumer society, and the work ethic” (p. 13)– specifically, the Protestant work ethic that came as a result of this reformation in the 16th century. Ferguson describes this sixth application of Western civilization as “the glue of the dynamic” (p. 13) that allows the other features to work. Yet Ferguson also observes that, “the Protestant ethic of thrift that one seemed so central to the Western project has all but vanished.” (p. 17)
Where did that Protestant work ethic come from? Niall Ferguson admits that before the Protestant Reformation (and the counter-reformation that influenced the Roman Catholic Church), freedom and that which we call Western Civilization were hardly free and barely civilized. The Greco-Roman democratic systems the West inherited were not enough. It took a surge of biblical truths dispersed into every area of life. Those truths were precisely what Martin Luther recovered and what John Calvin taught. The Protestant work ethic came out of their teachings, based on the Scriptures, and were galvanized in the popular conscience of their time and afterwards gave rise to the other five “apps” that Ferguson cites, and, indeed, “activated” them. The “activation code” that unlocked Western Civilization was nothing less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ applied from the Bible to every aspect of cultural life. In short, the gospel opened up a new world of opportunity for mankind. This was the “operating system,” according to Ferguson, that nations embraced and thereby became “Western civilization.”
The question is now, “will the Western world disavow the very worldview – the glue, the Protestant work ethic, the Reformation truth–that activated the 'software' that generated Western civilization, and that brought so much life, liberty, and happiness? Or will we foolishly ignore it in the name of a secular substitute that is powerless to re-boot the system?” No one will deny that (still using the computer metaphor) there is a giant “Error Message” on the screen of Western civilization. Something has malfunctioned and every other application is either no longer operational or running too sluggish to be productive.
Ferguson helps us to see what is going on is not the absence of a “higher historical” figure to fix us, but a “lower historical” faith to free us: the faith of the Bible and of the Redeemer it presents: Jesus Christ. Ferguson ends his excellent treatise by declaring, “today…the biggest threat to Western civilization is posed not by other civilizations, but by our own pusillanimity–and by the historical ignorance that feeds it.”(p. 325)
To ignore that one “killer app” called the Reformation is to sink deeper into debt, fall farther into moral calamity, and witness our great institutions slide faster into the abyss of history.
The greatest challenge before us in 2012 is not merely to choose an individual in America who will become president and expose this ignorance and lead us back to the truth, but to recover what Churchill called for, “a large majority of mankind united together to defend” the truth that got us where we are today. We have every hope that since it has been done before, it can be done again. Let’s pray so. Our civilization depends upon it.
-- Michael Anthony Milton (Ph.D., University of Wales) serves as the chancellor/CEO elect of Reformed Theological Seminary (one of the largest accredited seminaries in the country), a U.S. Army chaplain (instructing at the Armed Forces Chaplain School) and the James M. Baird Jr. chair of pastoral theology at RTS/Charlotte. He is an author, songwriter, singer, ordained minister, former pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and he previously served as the president of RTS/Charlotte. Dr. Milton also hosts a national Bible teaching television program, Faith For Living, reaching 70,000,000 potential households through DirecTV, Legacy TV network, YouTube and iTunes. It is also available as a free app in the Android and iPhone markets. The Faith For Living radio program is broadcast on several stations in the southeast. For 16 years he served in the business world and has also served as a top-secret Navy linguist.
+ Reformed Theological Seminary, 2101 Carmel Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28226, 704-366-5066, Fax: 704-366-9295
[2] Sabbath-Breaking on Scotland’s Isle of Skye Decried by Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Presbytery of Skye and Lochcarron
The 3 January 2012 Stornoway Gazette published a 29 December 2011 letter from Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) minister the Rev. Richard Ross on behalf of the Presbytery of Skye and Lochcarron concerning an advertisement for a dance scheduled for Sunday, 1 January 2012, at the Skye Gathering Hall in Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland, expressing concern “…that the Christian Sabbath is being desecrated in such a cavalier way without regard to the religious convictions held by many in our community.”
Mr. Ross continues:
“The Presbytery in reaffirming its biblical opposition to this event taking place, adopted a motion stating its great disappointment that a dance was to be held in Skye Gathering Hall, Portree, on the Christian Sabbath, January 1, 2012.
“It was agreed that the Presbytery condemn this unwarranted and unbiblical practice of Sabbath desecration.
“It was further moved and agreed that it notes with immense disquiet the disregard for the Christian Sabbath day within its bounds.
“It recommends that all avenues be pursued to remind our fellow-man of their responsibilities relating to the observance of the Fourth Commandment and it encourages the Lord’s people to take a stand for His truth in these days.
“The Presbytery seeks the re-establishment of the Lord’s Day Observance Society within its bounds.
“The Presbytery further deplores Sabbath desecration within the visible church even in matters relating to the arrangement of pulpit supply for the Sabbath services.
“It further reminds all its own ministers and interim-moderators that the use of public transport (perceived as commercial transport) is not to be used on the Sabbath, even in the provision of Church services.”
+ Stornoway Gazette, 10 Francis Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis HS12XE, Scotland, 01851-702-687, newsdesk@stornowaygazette.co.uk
+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org
[3] Nigeria’s Boko Haram, a.k.a. Nigerian Taliban Threatens Christians
A 3 January 2012 ASSIST News article by Elizabeth Kendal titled “Nigeria: Boko Haram Threatens Christians: The Battle for Nigeria Heats Up” reports that in northern Nigeria where the population is half Christian and half Muslim, the terrorist group Boko Haram, also known as the 'Nigerian Taliban', is demanding the complete Islamisation of all Nigeria, and on 2 January 2012 issued a statement that southern Christians living in northern Nigeria, particularly those in the north-eastern states of Borno and Yobe, had three days to leave or face further violence.
On 25 December 2011, Christmas Day, Boko Haram bombed two churches, one on the outskirts of the federal capital Abuja and one in Jos. A car bomb that exploded in the car park of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, Nigeria, killed at least forty-two , most incinerated by the massive fireball that consumed seventeen vehicles, and seriously wounded dozens of other people.
In June 2010, Boko Haram formalized ties with al-Qaeda, which has long sought strategic depth in sub-Saharan Africa and a foothold in Nigeria. Since then, Boko Haram has been sending militants to Somalia for military training under al-Shabaab and has been escalating its terror campaign.
+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com
[4] al-Shabaab Terrorists in Somalia Publically Whip Christian Woman Taken into Custody in November 2011
A 10 January 2012 Compass Direct News Service report titled “Somali Convert from Islam Whipped in Public” reports that on 22 December 2011, Sofia Osman, a Somali convert from Islam to Christianity, received a public whipping of forty lashes upon her release from custody after being taken into custody by al-Shabaab militants in November 2011.
After being whipped until she was bleeding and unconscious, Ms. Osman was taken away by her family. Hundreds of cheering spectators watched the whipping.
+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org
[5] FBI Arrests Muslim Naturalized American Citizen for Planning Terrorist Attacks on Tampa, Florida
A 10 January 2012 American Vision News article titled “FBI Stings Islamic Terrorist in FL Bomb Plot” reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on 9 January 2012 arrested Sami Osmakac, a Muslim naturalized U.S. citizen from the former Yugoslavia, for asking an undercover agent to help him obtain an AK-47 assault rifle, Uzi submachine guns, explosives for as many as three car bombs, and an explosive suicide bomber belt in order to carry terrorist attacks in Tampa, Florida.
+ American Vision, Post Office Box 220, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 770-222-7266, Fax: 770-222-7269, mail@AmericanVision.org
+ Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover Building, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20535, 202-324-3000
[6] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Hail Federal Court Decision Overturning Oklahoma Constitutional Amendment Approved by Seventy Percent of Voters Barring Islamic Sharia Law Being Used in Oklahoma Courts
Americans United for Separation of Church and State on 10 January 2012 hailed a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against an Oklahoma constitutional amendment that bars Islamic Sharia law from being used in Oklahoma state courts.
United Church of Christ minister the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State said: “This amendment is divisive, unnecessary and dangerous. I’m glad to see it go.”
+ Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 518 C Street Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-466-3234, Fax: 202-466-2587, americansunited@au.org
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org
