Worldview Tag

27 Oct 2020 Post-Fall Politics

“See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jer. 1:10) My previous article, “Creation and Politics,” focused on God’s sovereignty as the creator and sustainer of all things. In His sovereignty, God gives authority to man. Therefore, while God’s authority is “original, eternal, unlimited,” man’s authority is always “derivative, temporary, and limited.” [1] By God’s design, His character is reflected in human relationships and authoritative offices – including civil authority, which He created (Col....

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08 Oct 2020 Creation and Politics

“The God who made the world and everything in it is Lord of heaven and earth… He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth.” – Paul in Athens (Acts 17). (Note: this article is part 2 of a series that began with "Christian Political Engagement in Light of Redemptive History".) “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God was before all things and before time. God is eternal and self-subsistent. God spoke...

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21 Sep 2020 Politics in Light of Redemptive History

A pastor once asked me, “Is political engagement part of our calling as Christians? After all, Jesus and the disciples didn’t seek political power or reform.” The answer, in short, is yes (though it matters greatly how we engage politically). Christ is Lord over all, including civil government, and if we pray for His will to be done on His earth, we cannot neglect so significant a part of life on earth. In a secular climate, Christians are prone to restrict the Bible’s relevance to personal salvation, piety, and church life. N.T....

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21 Jul 2020 State and church authority in a pandemic – An interview with Professor Koyzis

In We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God, David Koyzis explains that authority is intrinsic to humanity and everything we do, because “authority is resident in an office given us in creation,” and when we encounter authority, “we encounter nothing less than the image of God, which always points beyond itself.” Part 1 of ARPA’s interview with Professor Koyzis covered some of his book’s key ideas. Part 2, below, focuses on the nature and limits of political authority and tensions between political and church authority during COVID. PART...

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17 Jul 2020 The Key to Authority is the Office of Image Bearer – An Interview with Professor David Koyzis

ARPA’s John Sikkema interviews David Koyzis In We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God, David Koyzis addresses modern skepticism of authority by arguing that authority is intrinsic to humanity and part of everything we do, both communally and individually. Why is that? Because “authority is resident in an office given us in creation.” When we encounter authority, “we encounter nothing less than the image of God, which always points beyond itself.” Professor Koyzis was kind enough to talk about his book with me. Part 1 of our interview,...

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03 Jun 2020 As COVID restrictions drag on, the civil government needs guidance from the instituted church

I’m always moved when I read the introduction to the Belgic Confession in the Book of Praise. It explains that a copy of the Belgic Confession was sent to the persecuting King Philip II, with a letter from a group of petitioners who “declared that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would ‘offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to fire,’ rather than deny the truth expressed in the Confession.” This was...

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15 Apr 2020 Book Review: The Victory of Reason

God has blessed Canada. Canada, along with Western countries, is consistently one of the most prosperous, freest, happiest, and most developed countries in the world. Why? In his book, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, Rodney Stark, a professor of religious studies, argues that there are three specific reasons why Christianity – as opposed to other world religions – led to freedom, prosperity, and success in the West.   Reason #1: Christianity alone embraced reason as a method of understanding. Human reason requires a very important premise:...

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28 Nov 2019 Why liberalism and conservatism are both (mostly) wrong: Politics from a Christian worldview

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms acknowledges the "supremacy of God". Many see this as an inappropriate mixing of law and religion. Is it? What if the Charter stated instead that the individual is supreme? Or the people? Or the nation? Or the working class? Each of these would be a statement of the law’s foundational commitment, a statement of belief. We shouldn't think that politics becomes nonreligious simply by leaving out references to God. In his new book, Christian political philosopher David Koyzis helps us understand why. In the new...

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18 Apr 2017 An Open Letter to Alberta’s Minister of Education

ARPA Canada routinely asks for you, our supporters, to submit respectful letters to our elected representatives. Every once in a while we see an example that is extraordinary in its tone, content and force. Below is one such example. Dear Minister Eggen, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing primarily in regards to the controversy surrounding the recent showing of "The Case Against Abortion: Personhood." However, I will also take this opportunity to share my perspective and concern on your approach to education more generally. My family and I live...

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18 Apr 2017 LN Feature: The Theology of Palliative Care

Dr. Theodore Van Raalte, Professor at Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary On the feature this week, a look at the theology that drives Christian opposition to euthanasia, and support for palliative care. Our guest is Dr. Theodore Van Raalte, a professor of ecclesiology and ethics at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. The audio is taken directly from the eighth instalment of ARPA Canada's Palliative Care video series. You can find the full video series here. How do we love our neighbour in a situation where love has been so redefined as to...

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