Liberating Planet Earth
by Gary DeMar by Gary DeMar
The Enemies of Liberation 41 Three Religious Worldviews There are three major outlooks regarding power that prevail today. Two of them oppose liberation; one favors it. Of the two systems that oppose it, one comes in the name of power, and the other in the name of escaping power. These religious worldviews are ancient rivals. They have been at war with each other, yet making temporary alliances with each other, as far back as we have historical records. I call them the power religion, the escapist religion, and the dominion religion. Consider the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. They wanted an escape from bondage, for they groaned. God heard their groaning (Exodus 2:24; 6:5). Yet when He sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them, what was the response of the rulers of Israel? To try to get Moses to stop confronting Pharaoh. Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:20-21). They feared the sword of Pharaoh more than they feared bondage to Pharaoh. But this also meant that they feared the gods of Egypt more than they feared the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So God had to demonstrate His power over the gods of Egypt with the ten plagues. Still, the Israelites feared Pharaoh. So God delivered them from Pharaoh and drowned the Egyptians in the sea. Then they started fearing the far weaker Canaanites. They lived in terms of fear because they worshipped power more than they worshiped God. They wanted escape from their Godgiven responsibilities, and this meant worshipping the power of Satan’s kingdoms. Their escapist religion made them allies of Satan’s power religion. The history of man can be understood in terms of the increasing religious self-consciousness of man. Therefore, in our day these two issues– power vs. escape–have become sharper and less easily deferred. We need to consider the three viewpoints in detail.
42 Liberating Planet Eatih 1. Power l?eli~”on This is a religious viewpoint which afFirms that the most important goal for a man, group, or species, is the capture and maintenance of power. Power is seen as the chief attribute of God, or if the religion is officially atheistic, then the chief attribute of man. This perspective is a satanic perversion of God’s command to man to exercise dominion over all the creation (Gen. 1:26-28). 1 It is the attempt to exercise dominion apart from covenantal subordination to the true Creator God. What distinguishes Biblical abminion reli~”on from satanic Pow& religion is ethics. Is the person who seeks power doing so for the glory of God, and for himself secondarily, and only to the extent that he is God’s lawful and covenantally faithful representative? If so, he will act in terms of God’s ethical standards and in terms of a profession of faith in God. The church has recognized this twofold requirement historically, and has established a dual requirement for membership: profession of faith and a godly life. In contrast, power religion is a religion of autonomy. It affirms that “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17). It seeks power or wealth in order to make credible this very claim. Wealth and power are aspects of both religions. Wealth and power are covenantal manifestations of the success of rival religious views. This is why God warns His people not to believe that their autonomous actions gained them their blessings: “And you shall remember the Lord your God: for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18). It must be recognized that God’s opponents also want visible confirmation of the validity of their covenant with death, but God warns them that “the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (Proverbs 13 :22 b). The ent~ of the Hebrews into Canaan was supposed to remind them of this fact: the Canaanites had 1. Gary North, Tlu Dominion Couenant: Cewsis (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1982).
- Page 2 and 3: LIBERATING PLANET EARTH
- Page 4 and 5: LIBERATING PLANET EARTH An Introduc
- Page 6 and 7: This book is dedicated to Loren Cun
- Page 8 and 9: For political religions, for humani
- Page 10 and 11: 2 Liberating Planet Earth out of da
- Page 12 and 13: 4 Liberating Piunet Earth doned his
- Page 14 and 15: 6 Liberating P&met Earth reasons su
- Page 16 and 17: 8 Liberating Planet Earth Liberatio
- Page 18 and 19: 10 Liberating Planet Earth here and
- Page 20 and 21: 12 Liberating Planet Earth culture.
- Page 22 and 23: 14 Liberating Planet Earth quite ac
- Page 24 and 25: 1 CHRIST AND LIBERATION All things
- Page 26 and 27: Chtit and Liberation heart, soul, a
- Page 28 and 29: Christ and Liberation 21 ever there
- Page 30 and 31: Chrzkt and Liberation 23 Adam was a
- Page 32 and 33: Christ and Liberation 25 by 117%; B
- Page 34 and 35: Christ andLib~ation 27 How can we g
- Page 36 and 37: 2 THE GOD OF LIBERATION God spoke a
- Page 38 and 39: The God of Liberation 31 systems of
- Page 40 and 41: The God of Liberation 33 God as Lib
- Page 42 and 43: T& God of Liberation 35 versal stan
- Page 44 and 45: T/w God of Liberation 37 theology -
- Page 46 and 47: 3 THE ENEMIES OF LIBERATION “No m
- Page 50 and 51: The Enemies of Liberation 43 built
- Page 52 and 53: The Enemies of Liberation 45 for Go
- Page 54 and 55: The Enemies of Liberation 47 To spe
- Page 56 and 57: The Enemies of Liberation 49 or God
- Page 58 and 59: The Couenant of Liberation 51 us al
- Page 60 and 61: The Covenant of Liberation 53 For Y
- Page 62 and 63: The Covenant of Liberation 55 Creat
- Page 64 and 65: The Covenant of Liberation 57 Satan
- Page 66 and 67: The Covenant of Liberation 59 all l
- Page 68 and 69: The Covenant of Liberation 61 their
- Page 70 and 71: The Liberation of the Individual 63
- Page 72 and 73: The Liberation of the Individual 65
- Page 74 and 75: The Liberation of tb Individual 67
- Page 76 and 77: The Liberation of the Individual 69
- Page 78 and 79: i’%e Liberation of the Individual
- Page 80 and 81: 6 THE LIBERATION OF THE FAMILY Hono
- Page 82 and 83: Th Liberation of the Fami~ 75 born
- Page 84 and 85: The Liberation of the Fami~ 77 the
- Page 86 and 87: Th Liberation of the Fami~ 79 ‘ l
- Page 88 and 89: The Liberation of the Farni~ 81 God
- Page 90 and 91: T&Liberation of the Fami~ 83 childr
- Page 92 and 93: The Liberation of the Fami~ 85 By a
- Page 94 and 95: 7%e Liberation of th Fami~ 87 prima
- Page 96 and 97: The Liberation of the Church 89 the
The Enemies of Liberation 41<br />
Three Religious Worldviews<br />
There are three major outlooks regarding power that prevail<br />
today. Two of them oppose liberation; one favors it. Of the two<br />
systems that oppose it, one comes in the name of power, and the<br />
other in the name of escaping power. These religious worldviews<br />
are ancient rivals. They have been at war with each other, yet<br />
making temporary alliances with each other, as far back as we<br />
have historical records. I call them the power religion, the escapist<br />
religion, and the dominion religion.<br />
Consider the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. They wanted an escape<br />
from bondage, for they groaned. God heard their groaning (Exodus<br />
2:24; 6:5). Yet when He sent Moses and Aaron to deliver<br />
them, what was the response of the rulers of Israel? To try to get<br />
Moses to stop confronting Pharaoh.<br />
Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and<br />
Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, “Let<br />
the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent<br />
in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a<br />
sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:20-21).<br />
They feared the sword of Pharaoh more than they feared<br />
bondage to Pharaoh. But this also meant that they feared the gods<br />
of Egypt more than they feared the God of Abraham, Isaac, and<br />
Jacob. So God had to demonstrate His power over the gods of<br />
Egypt with the ten plagues. Still, the Israelites feared Pharaoh. So<br />
God delivered them from Pharaoh and drowned the Egyptians in<br />
the sea. Then they started fearing the far weaker Canaanites.<br />
They lived in terms of fear because they worshipped power more<br />
than they worshiped God. They wanted escape from their Godgiven<br />
responsibilities, and this meant worshipping the power of<br />
Satan’s kingdoms. Their escapist religion made them allies of<br />
Satan’s power religion.<br />
The history of man can be understood in terms of the increasing<br />
religious self-consciousness of man. Therefore, in our day these<br />
two issues– power vs. escape–have become sharper and less easily<br />
deferred. We need to consider the three viewpoints in detail.
Change language