An Informed Faith: The Position Papers of R.J. Rushdoony

The Hegelian revolution completed a long philosophical shift that began with Descartes: reality and truth were relocated from God and creation to the human mind. For Hegel, reason itself became sovereign, and what the rational elite declared to be true became reality. God was effectively replaced by human consciousness, and the state was elevated as the incarnation of reason on earth.

This worldview reshaped modern life. It fueled statism, feminism, Darwinism, Marxism, and modern spirituality, all built on the idea of humanity evolving toward freedom from limits—law, morality, family, history, and even God. Churches absorbed this thinking by retreating into vague “spirituality,” rejecting God’s law, and surrendering culture, education, and politics to the state.

The result has been liberation without truth: lawless sexuality, moral relativism, and politics without justice. Hegel’s promise of freedom has instead produced bondage and judgment. True freedom, Scripture insists, is found not in human reason or the state, but in repentance, regeneration, and submission to the living God.

The myth of nature treats the created world as a moral authority—something inherently good, normative, and self-justifying. While nature is real, the myth arises when people read into it laws, meanings, and moral standards that belong only to God. From ancient Greek philosophy to the Enlightenment and Romanticism, “nature” was increasingly viewed as a guiding force rather than a fallen creation.

This thinking led to moral relativism and evolutionary ethics, where right and wrong constantly change. Darwinism reinforced the idea that whatever exists in nature is therefore good. From this flowed modern justifications for sexual immorality, lawlessness, and the rejection of Biblical standards, seen clearly in thinkers like the Marquis de Sade and later in the Kinsey Reports.

Biblically, nature is created, fallen, and in bondage, awaiting redemption (Rom. 8:18–23). It is not a source of law or morality. Only God and His revealed Word provide true standards. When nature replaces God, culture drifts into chaos; when God’s law is restored, order and life follow.

Titanism is the glorification of human effort that seeks to do the impossible, often disguising pride as virtue. Rooted in Greek mythology and revived by Romanticism, it celebrates defying limits, fate, and even God, treating failure itself as proof of greatness.

Within the church, Titanism appears when believers ignore God’s clear commands about limits, stewardship of time, and fruitfulness. Scripture teaches that while God is omnipotent, man is not; Christians are forbidden to waste time on futile efforts, to defy God’s order, or to attempt to “play God” in prayer, ministry, or reform. Faithfulness, not heroics, is required.

At heart, Titanism is hubris—the desire to seize God’s role and glory. Biblical faith rejects titanic ambition in favor of humble obedience, wise discernment, and service under Christ’s sovereign rule.

The debate over monergism vs. synergism concerns who is decisive in salvation. Monergism teaches that salvation is entirely the work of God’s sovereign grace from beginning to end; man contributes nothing but receives grace. Synergism teaches that God and man cooperate, making man’s decision the decisive factor in salvation.

In practice, synergism shifts sovereignty from God to man. If man’s will is decisive, salvation can be gained or lost by human choice, and revival techniques, psychology, and emotional appeal replace God’s Word and Spirit. Monergism, by contrast, upholds God’s sovereignty and leads to confidence in the perseverance of the saints.

Though synergism claims cooperation, it ultimately enthrones human will, echoing the temptation of Genesis 3:5. Scripture allows no shared sovereignty: either God saves, or man makes himself god.

Catharsis is the belief that health—personal or social—comes through the uninhibited expression of inner impulses. Originating in Greek tragedy, it was later moralized by Christians but eventually reverted to its pagan meaning: purging through violence, sexuality, or emotional release rather than moral restoration.

In modern times, catharsis has justified revolutionary violence, sexual permissiveness, artistic degeneration, and Freudian psychology, all of which treat repression—not sin—as the problem. Evil is not restrained or redeemed but “vented,” whether through riots, psychodrama, occult rituals, or radical self-expression. The result has been cultural breakdown, mass violence, and moral chaos.

Biblical faith rejects catharsis. Healing comes not through self-expression but through repentance, discipline, and God’s regenerating grace. True renewal is God-centered, not man-centered: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Catharsis produces death; Christ produces life.

Claims that Christianity borrowed from ancient mystery religions rest on superficial similarities and miss the real contrast. The mysteries offered secret rites, mystical experiences, spiritual escape, and vague hopes of immortality, with little concern for history, morality, or transforming society. Christianity, by contrast, proclaimed a public, historical faith grounded in God’s revealed Word, the bodily resurrection, and Christ’s lordship over all of life.

Ironically, modern churches often resemble the mystery cults more than the early church—reducing faith to private spirituality, emotional experience, and soul-saving alone, while rejecting God’s law, works of mercy, and cultural responsibility. Biblical faith unites belief and action: faith without works is dead, and Christ’s Kingdom calls believers not to retreat from the world, but to serve and reform it under His rule.

Kenoticism turns Christianity into a religion of surrender, teaching that holiness means self-abasement, passivity, and acceptance of defeat. Borrowed largely from Eastern religions and filtered into the West through Pietism, Quietism, and modernism, it redefines virtue as submission to evil rather than obedience to God.

By emptying Christ of power, kenoticism also empties the church of courage, responsibility, and victory. Scripture, however, proclaims Christ as Lord—not defeated victim—and calls His people to faith, obedience, and overcoming. Biblical faith is not resignation, but faithful action under the reign of Christ the King.

Kenosis falsely teaches that Christ emptied Himself of divine power and that true Christianity means self-abasement, passivity, and surrender to evil. Over time, it turned humility into victimhood, portraying holiness as nonresistance, poverty, and submission rather than faithful obedience and righteous action.

This doctrine has produced a suicidal faith—undermining justice, excusing sin, weakening nations, and replacing Christ’s lordship with moral retreat. Biblical Christianity calls believers not to glorify defeat, but to live boldly under Christ the King, choosing life, truth, and faithful dominion rather than sanctified surrender.

Theosis teaches that salvation is deification—that man becomes god. Rooted in Greek and Neoplatonic thought rather than Scripture, it blurs the Creator–creature distinction and drifts toward pantheism. Salvation is redefined as mystical union instead of deliverance from sin by God’s sovereign grace.

By exalting man and diminishing Christ’s lordship, theosis replaces the biblical gospel with spiritual elitism, mystery, and asceticism. It is not deeper Christianity, but another religion altogether.

The Great Fear marks the collapse of societies when faith dies. As seen in the French Revolution and repeated throughout history, fear begins in the human conscience before it erupts socially. When people abandon God, meaning dissolves, reason falters, and irrational terror takes hold. Men believe anything because they believe nothing, and chaos follows.

The only true antidote is the Great Faith—not passive belief or escapism, but living, obedient faith grounded in God’s Word. Biblical faith overcomes fear by affirming God’s sovereign rule over all of life. It applies God’s law, exercises godly dominion, and acts with confidence that Christ reigns now. Where fear paralyzes, faith conquers.