Commentary
Civilizations tend to repeat the ideological pattern that made them strong in the first place. At first, these patterns have theological form and substance. But if belief in God becomes obsolete, they tend to continue the same pattern in secular form, minus religious substance. To visit my neighbor’s home at Christmas is to enter a palisade of tinsel, baubles, winking lights, and lots of little reindeer and elves—but no hint of Christianity to be seen.
A Little Spiritual History
For two millennia the Christian nations of the West have been nourished and deeply inspired by the expectational vision and promise expressed most notably in the Book of Revelations of a perfect, 1,000-year Kingdom of Heaven to come with the return of Christ. That promise has supplied a deep Western psychological wiring, so to speak, that operates to this day and is plainly heard in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom Come.”…