“Without God, everything is permissible”

British journalist Malcom Muggeridge, whose life spanned much of the 20^th century watching the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and other Marxist regimes, made this insightful comment on Western civilization in the 1960s.

“So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over–a weary, battered old brontosaurus–and became extinct.”

As we observe the animosity and irrationality taking place in the United States, Muggeridge’s words stated long ago appear completely justified. What was the cause of this internal assault Muggeridge described?

The cause is obvious to any honest onlooker. In the 20 and 21^st centuries, western cultures made a concerted effort to rid themselves of a worldview bound to God. The philosophies espoused were not new, but for the first time they were adopted wholesale by governments and cultures. Thus, gave rise to Hitler, Mao, Stalin, and regimes that brought more violence on the world than had been seen throughout the rest of its history. Never was human life valued at a lower premium, and the results of the ideology produced undeniable results. Although to this day, the likes of Sam Harris and other atheists continue to try to defend ethical principles that arise from scientific “natural” process rather than a transcendent eternal being.

Secularists try to maintain that human nature is not necessarily evil of itself, but again, empirical data demonstrates great contradiction to this argument. There is much discussion of “systemic racism” in the United States at the moment, but racism is merely a type of prejudice that manifests from a condition within the human heart. This is the ability to hate our fellow person. I’ve spent over 6 years in one African nation. If you transported the entire population of Uganda to the West, each person would fit within what is labelled there as the black community. But here though they may appear the same to outsiders, there is vast hatred between tribal and family groups. I’ve had people break down in tears relating hardships they’ve faced because of prejudice based on their tribal background. If you examine the history of the world, you will confirm that people don’t need to have different skin color or ethical background to find reasons to hate one another. In fact, some of the strongest hatred exists between people groups that share the closest family ancestry and by physical appearance resemble each other most. Doubtless, prejudices are passed on in families and cultures to their descendants, but that simple explanation of systemic racism fails to address the source of the initial hatred. After all, Cain did not always hate his brother before he killed him. Was it a cultural or government system that instilled the motive for Cain to strike down his brother Abel? No, it was something produced within the heart of Cain himself.

Bad systems can work so long as you have godly people operating them, and there’s no government system that can solve the problem of immoral citizens. When John Adams concluded his assistance on drafting the US constitution, he made this statement of judgment about it – “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Is it any wonder that we see this institution’s failure now? Our government has long taught the theory of evolution to children as if it is the proven origin of the universe. Modern science has profoundly destroyed any shred of logical belief in support of Darwin’s theory. But that hasn’t led to any change in our educational curriculum. Similarly, the government attempted to remove all religious thought as a source of our culture’s moral authority. Most significantly, they removed the Ten Commandments and prayer from public institutions. What followed? The sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s, Roe Vs. Wade and the government sanctioned annihilation of unborn life, and unrest and violence against God given structures of authority in the home and society.

What is so important about God’s law? God’s law is the eternal witness of the gospel. Christians do not often understand the impact of God’s definitions of right behavior when we proclaim the gospel to the world. I’ve heard many lament (and this is why some ministries have headlong pursued the miraculous instead of substance) that we need the Holy Spirit to do the same works he did in the foundation of the early church so that people would believe the validity of our testimony. But this is a misunderstanding. Christ himself said that signs and wonders wouldn’t make people believe. So, what does make a person believe? How does a foreign person enter a culture they know nothing about and bring a story never heard by the people before and within that population there are people who instantly believe? These scriptures explain this phenomenon to us –

Romans 2:14-16

¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them ¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” ESV

Even some atheists acknowledge that morality seems to be written into human DNA. We know it’s wrong to rape, to commit adultery, to steal, to practice cannibalism, to kill. Our own consciences, as the scriptures say, accuse us. This is what God’s law in our hearts produces. It creates a condition where when the listener hears –

Romans 6:23

 ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ESV

The hearer’s heart knows this to be true. We all know we are guilty of sin. God’s morality makes us aware of this. That is why it is the most important part of the gospel witness. Western culture’s attempts to eliminate this moral law are because people wish to live with no fear of a final accountability. As Paul said, there is a day where God will judge the secrets of people. This is terrible news for those who would rather hide their sin and indulge in it. And such is why we try to eradicate any notion of God in society. People want to deny the things their own consciences betray in their hearts.

The secularists should be aware now that as Dostoevsky put it in The Brothers Karamazov, “without God, anything is permissible.” Every attempt they make to address new issues only leads to greater problems. Rather than assuaging racial tensions, the liberals add to them. Rather than creating peace, the liberal’s policies foster violence. Rather than improving man, the liberal’s policies condemn him to an animalistic state. It’s very interesting to consider how many new laws have been enacted to deal with the degeneration of behavior in the world. And more laws will soon be needed. I’m sure our ancestors never would have dreamed some of these laws would be necessary. In contrast to this, the Bible condensed the laws God gave Israel through the course of its revelation. Moses received around 640 laws to govern the nation of Israel. The Psalmists reduced the number to about 30. Isaiah brought it down to around 15. Micah gave just three rules “to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” When Jesus was asked the question of which command was the greatest in all the law, Jesus reduced the law to just two commands to govern all life –

Matthew 22:34-40

³⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” ESV

Love is the fulfillment of the law. God is love. As we become closer in nature to God through the work of regeneration of the Holy Spirit (God’s internal changing of our nature) and the washing of water with God’s Word (the purification of our minds from corrupt perspective) laws to govern human behavior become quite simple. Just two statements would fulfill all lawful behavior towards our fellow person. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. But when the opposite in human nature occurs where we move away from God, societies will only need more and more legislation to deal with the continued corruption in human behavior.

The greatest apologetic is not to do with evidence for the resurrection of Christ nor the scientific evidence for the biblical account for the origin of the universe, nor in the miraculous. The greatest apologetic will always be that every person knows in their heart that they have failed to meet God’s standard. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is good news for those who are ready to listen, but there is judgment for those who refuse. While the world seeks to hide these truths, Christians must faithfully proclaim God’s standard while carrying out the fulfillment of his law to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves.

John 16:7-11

 ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ESV