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Doctrine of Authority – Lesson 7: Undermining Authority
Professor: Rushdoony Dr. R.J.R.
Subject: Systematic Theology
Genre: Speech
Lesson: 7 of 19
Track: #07
Year:
Dictation Name: 07 Undermining Authority
[Rushdoony] Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father and Spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Let us pray.
Oh Lord our God who art from all eternity, who art greater than all things visible and invisible. We thank Thee that in Thy grace and mercy Thou art mindful of us, Thy creatures. We thank you our Father that there is nothing to small nor to great for Thee. In this confidence we come our Father, to cast our every care upon Thee who carest for us and to rejoice in Thy works. To give thanks that all our yesterdays, today’s, and our tomorrows are in Thine omnipotent hand. Bless us ever in Thy service, in Jesus name, amen.
Our scripture is from the gospel of Saint Mark, the thirteenth chapter verses thirty-two thru thirty-seven, our subject: undermining authority.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Over the centuries there has been a continuing war against authority often openly, often as an undercurrent. We’re speaking here of Godly authority, not rebellion against ungodly authority. Man being a sinner and in rebellion against God is therefore in rebellion against authority, Godly authority. However open rebellion against authority is often less damaging then the covert rebellion which hides under the mask of a seeming orthodoxy, a seeming respect for authority but actually undermines it. Very often covert undermining authority comes with an insistence on greater authoritarianism.
Let us begin with some obvious examples. Emanuel Swedenborg whose influence in the English speaking world began about 1788 has been very influential in Western history. His influence on English and American writers of the last century is enormous. Emerson very extensively shows Swedenborg’s influence. One almost needs to know what Swedenborg said in order to decode Melville’s novels with their highly involved symbolism. According to Swedenborg the whole of the Bible was a coded book and He only had the key. And so in order to understand the Bible you had to accept Swedenborg and his theory of correspondences, his decoding, as authoritative. He gave a symbolic meaning to every passage in the Bible, and established himself as the only decoder. Thus he established himself as the only mediator between God and man. This of course has been the mark of cultists over the centuries. Now the sad fact is that all too many Catholic and Protestant scholars over the years have been guilty of a like esoteric approach. In the medieval emphasis for example there were four levels of meaning.
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By Pocket CollegeProfessor: Rushdoony Dr. R.J.R.
Subject: Systematic Theology
Genre: Speech
Lesson: 7 of 19
Track: #07
Year:
Dictation Name: 07 Undermining Authority
[Rushdoony] Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father and Spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Let us pray.
Oh Lord our God who art from all eternity, who art greater than all things visible and invisible. We thank Thee that in Thy grace and mercy Thou art mindful of us, Thy creatures. We thank you our Father that there is nothing to small nor to great for Thee. In this confidence we come our Father, to cast our every care upon Thee who carest for us and to rejoice in Thy works. To give thanks that all our yesterdays, today’s, and our tomorrows are in Thine omnipotent hand. Bless us ever in Thy service, in Jesus name, amen.
Our scripture is from the gospel of Saint Mark, the thirteenth chapter verses thirty-two thru thirty-seven, our subject: undermining authority.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Over the centuries there has been a continuing war against authority often openly, often as an undercurrent. We’re speaking here of Godly authority, not rebellion against ungodly authority. Man being a sinner and in rebellion against God is therefore in rebellion against authority, Godly authority. However open rebellion against authority is often less damaging then the covert rebellion which hides under the mask of a seeming orthodoxy, a seeming respect for authority but actually undermines it. Very often covert undermining authority comes with an insistence on greater authoritarianism.
Let us begin with some obvious examples. Emanuel Swedenborg whose influence in the English speaking world began about 1788 has been very influential in Western history. His influence on English and American writers of the last century is enormous. Emerson very extensively shows Swedenborg’s influence. One almost needs to know what Swedenborg said in order to decode Melville’s novels with their highly involved symbolism. According to Swedenborg the whole of the Bible was a coded book and He only had the key. And so in order to understand the Bible you had to accept Swedenborg and his theory of correspondences, his decoding, as authoritative. He gave a symbolic meaning to every passage in the Bible, and established himself as the only decoder. Thus he established himself as the only mediator between God and man. This of course has been the mark of cultists over the centuries. Now the sad fact is that all too many Catholic and Protestant scholars over the years have been guilty of a like esoteric approach. In the medieval emphasis for example there were four levels of meaning.