Salt and Light

Preservation and Illumination

In forming a Christian community, educating ourselves, our children, and the peoples who live in the country to which we are moving is essential, and arguably, foundational. Thus, it is one of our goals to be salt and light in this area of our Christian witness, a focus of purifying bad ideas out of our deepest presuppositions and grounding all of our thoughts in the Christian worldview as given in the Word of God. In some ways, this distinctive is going to be the most scathing of the ones that have been written so far, or passionate, depending on one’s perspective, but that is only because of its relative importance and singularity in subject. Most of the articles we have written thus far are divided into two parts, but this one is of but one main issue, the issue of what Christians actually believe as to the nature of the world they live in and of the knowledge they possess, for from this error, that seems so esoteric or unessential to some, there springs forth nearly every form of wicked corruption of the truth, and from the corruption of the truth, comes the corruption of moral behavior.

Some are tempted, in response to this subject, to take a “retreat into the mountains with just my bible” mentality and would think in a hostile way towards the study of philosophy, classic literature, or roman mythology; however, any false view of the world one might have can infect them regardless of the curriculum they are or are not exposed to. The issue, in reality, is not so much what ideas one encounters, but how well one grasps his own Christian ideas in the face of that confrontation. Does he accept the ideas of his opponent? Does he compromise his own tenets in order to make his own position look more plausible in their eyes? Is he inspired by the profound ideas his unbelieving adversary might have to the point that he wishes to “integrate” them into his own system or attempt to give them a “Christian spin?”

How much of this might have already occurred in your own thinking might actually surprise you.

Truly, one of the most important and oft neglected aspects of the Christian witness, is its ability to shine the light of that true religion upon the darkness of all non-Christian systems and beliefs, as well as its ability to preserve those aspects of unbelieving culture that are truly worth preserving. The presence of Christians, in large numbers, not only purifies and casts out darkness (Matthew 5:14-16, John 1:4-9, 1John 1:5-7), but it preserves genuine culture and brilliance and turns it away from its origins of folly towards God-honoring ends, just as poor quality cuts of meat can be transformed to a delicious snack after being cured by salt, so too can great works of art and literature from the pagan world be transformed to that which ultimately points towards the need and supremacy of Christ Jesus.

But how can such effective work and witness occur if the light is hidden, or the saltiness lost?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

The answer is simply that it cannot, and we cannot be an effective witness of Jesus Christ if our work is compromised by our own lack of clear understanding of reality as it has been revealed to us by God.

A Brief Examination of the Historical Context:

Much of the error that reformation churches critiqued in the various ancient traditions was a commitment to philosophical views which originated in the pagans [1]. This of course should be differentiated from a simple commitment to use precise terms and language that often overlaps with philosophy, for that might be acceptable; however, even there we can see a great danger.

Indeed, a large part of the gap between the Roman church and the Reformation was on questions of metaphysics as taught by the scholastics as originating in the ideas of Aristotle (rehabilitated through Thomas Aquinas). You cannot understand the essential-accidental distinction necessary for the Roman doctrine of “Transubstantiation” for instance, unless you first understand the types of causes that Aristotle had taught.

The Eastern church has obviously argued that the reformation was a “schism of a schism,” and that scholasticism led to the reformation as both sides engaged in concepts alien to the Fathers; however, they have often failed to acknowledge their own commitment to Platonic concepts and ideas which have caused them to denigrate aspects of the Christian life and elevate ascetism, mysticism, and synergistic works-righteousness[2]. Why? Because they have allowed pagan ideas to infiltrate their own thinking, namely, in thinking, that as Plato taught, that the body is the prison-house for the soul and that all matter (including all flesh) is inherently inferior to greater spiritual realities. This is not to say there is no truth in such ideas, but in being non-Chrisitan in their essence, they lead to an emphasis on Self for which St. Augustine explicitly warned, for the hermits and ascetics that existed prior to the Apostles were philosophers of pagan ideas of which Platonism was always arguably the most popular in terms of overall influence. These philosophers sought to overcome the evil flesh through suppressing and punishing it[3], and those of them which converted to Christ were not apt to shedding many of these presuppositions; indeed, it seems that they converted because they felt that their philosophy and practice of attaining enlightenment was compatible with this “new religion.”[4]

Indeed, there have been several attempts to expel pagan thought from Christianity by a return to the Holy Scripture over the centuries, as an example, the scholasticism of the middle ages was attacked vehemently by the nominalist movement, and the Augustinian nominalists specifically (from which Luther originated by his own admission) sought to challenge the scholastics by focusing on a return to solid Scripture over speculations, and regarding philosophy, to the idea that God's sovereignty determines the natural world as is directly perceived, beyond this, no other underlying substance or causes beyond the Providential work of God is to be attributed[5]. The best champions of this later on, before the enlightenment return to pagan philosophy and autonomous reason was exemplified in thinkers like Bishop George Berkeley (Church of Ireland) and Jonathan Edwards (American Puritan) [6]; however, with their generation ended the grounding of all human reason in the direct work of God.

Over the years, pagan philosophy would continue to lead down darker roads of subjectivism, relativism, and specifically anti-Christian modes of morality and political theory leading to socialism, fascism, the democratization of all areas of life, egalitarianism, post-modernism, and hedonism of every stripe [7]. In this chaos, Presupppositionalism arose in the Reformed context as most greatly championed and expressed by the Reconstructionist movement (without which, there would have been no Christian Right in the United States nor would there have been any homeschooling movement) [8].

Presuppositionalism for all its flaws, recognized that all peoples have a worldview framework by which they interpret their reality, and those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit not only are able to discern Scripture in a way that the unbelievers inherently cannot (1Corinthians 2:14), but they likewise can interpret and understand the natural world and matters of reason in a way that unbelievers likewise cannot. For Christians, in having Scripture, can both see and understand what is plain in the created world which even unbelievers subliminally acknowledge and suppress (Romans 1:18-21); hence, it follows, that there is no neutrality and secularism is a wholesale lie and the secular man is without any excuse before God even in spite of his outward unbelief. Instead, Christians must acknowledge the need for a specifically Christian education, because there cannot be a morally acceptable form of education for the Christian that is simultaneously non-Christian, for there is only one Truth. Likewise, there cannot be provision for a secular view of governance, for (again) there is only one Truth and that Truth is Christ (John 14:6). Regarding philosophy and apologetics, this movement set the groundwork in showing that there is no philosophy which is neutral, indeed, as St. Augustine also states: “Credo Ut Intelligam,” I believe therefore I know [9].

In order for Christians to be salt and light, they must not darken their lens, they cannot dilute their saltiness, and they cannot compromise and accept notions and ideas of a non-Christian derivation as good in themselves.

A Call to Action.

Christians are called to believe the truth from Holy Scripture regarding the nature of reality and knowledge, ethics and politics, and then and only then are they suited to understand the works of pagans and unbelievers.

We as Christians must never compromise the plain reading of Scripture and the testimony of the ancient church on the basis of worldly science, secularism, and philosophy, but instead confess boldly the plain truth of Holy Writ:

We are to confess that:

Christ is the True Word of God, that Word by which the world was made in the span of six days and all very good (Genesis1-2, John 1:1), and that by Him all that is was spoken into existence and all things are upheld by the Word of His Power (Hebrews 1:2-3, John 1:1-9). In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and every thought, every act, is to be brought captive to Him (Colossians 2:3, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Indeed, all things will be made as His footstool for He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

In Him we live, we move, and we have our Being, and His Being, Power, and Attributes are clearly perceived in what has been made as to leave man without any excuse (Acts 17:22-33, Romans 1:18-21).

In Christ, the blind can see, the lame can walk, and the anointing of Holy Oil can truly restore a person’s health, just as wrongly partaking of His Body and Blood can surely kill you (Matthew 11:4-6, James 5:14, 1 Corinthians 11:29-30). God is alive, He is not a speculation, He is not an object of philosophy, or the end of a syllogism.

There is none besides our God, One God in Three Persons, One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity [10]. Any proof, philosophy, or argument that appeals to or proves the existence of any other god or sense of deity, whether it be a nebulous “intelligent designer” or an “uncaused first cause” are no Christian proofs, philosophies, or arguments at all [11]. We begin with the True God and His self-revelation, and end with His self-revelation [12].

Is it wrong for a man to become a woman because “men have a Y chromosome,” or is it wrong because God made man in His own image, male and female He made them (Genesis 1:27)? What is the cause of heat and light? The sun? or God almighty who blocked out the sun (Exodus 10:21-23), provided heat and light before He even created the sun (Gen 1:1-19)[13], makes the sun to stop in the sky (Joshua 10:12-14), and Who will be the only source of light in the New Heavens and New Earth where there will be no sun (Revelation 22:5)?

Are miracles the irrational violation of some fixed natural laws? Or are natural laws merely our descriptions of what God ordinarily pleases to do?

Is our bad attitude and failings the cause of a chemical imbalance in our brain and low blood sugar? Or because of sin indwelling in both body and soul (Psalm 51:5)?

Indeed, is the brain the source of our thoughts, the eyes the source of our vision? The ears the source of our hearing? Or is it as Scripture declares:

“Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” (Exodus 4:11)

No scientific or medical claim, no philosophical claim, no ideas or notions dare challenge the Word of the Lord. This is the ONLY legitimate claim of the faithful from age to age:

“….Who is this uncircumsicsed philistine who dare defy the armies of the living God
(1Samuel 17:26)!”

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1Corinthians 1:20).

Is this your creed? Is this your banner? Do you subscribe to material reality and its naturalist causes? Do you believe that your brain makes reality and that your diet defines your behavior? Or that any form of education or media entertainment is equally acceptable regardless of what “propaganda” it throws at your children?

Let it NEVER be so, for the cry of the Christian is far greater; for we are to shine a light into the dark places with the power of this proclamation of the absolute supremacy of Christ over all things.

God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7).

But What Shall We Then Do?

We are to be the salt of the earth, we are not to simply burn and destroy things with which we oppose, but rather to understand and address them from a comprehensive and uncompromising Christian worldview. Would it not be for the promise of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, we know that any and all things ever written by the pen of heathen men should be burned on the pyre, for nothing could keep them from leading astray God’s people as has been manifest in these dark days, but God’s Word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

We shall, as monasteries of old, preserve from destruction, the great works of the formerly Christian west, evaluate that which was useful, comment upon it, teach it, use it to point for the universal need of Christ, and discard the rest in the dustbin of history, for as with the past empires, it was the faithful of Christianity which preserved the great works of the west. Had it not been for Christians there would be no Homer left for posterity, there would be no Aristotle and Plato, no Cicero or Strabo, no great plays or statues or Coliseum left for mankind to behold, for those who’ve lost their civilization care not for its glory to remain as we see with the end of patriotism and nationalism in the west, nor do the mass waves of barbarians, immigrants, and aliens care for what was there before, and when the welfare check is late, have no qualms for burning down the Cathedral of Notre Dame! [14]

If there is anything in the west worth preserving, let us be the ones, as in the past, to preserve as the salt we are to be, but only if we keep our saltiness.

Let us not become atheists because we preserve the works of some atheists, let us not become Platonists because we preserve Plato, or Hegelians because we preserve Hegel. Let us rather be Christian in every single sphere of society and every area of our lives, let our enemies look at our zeal and say, “surely their Christ has been raised from the Dead” and let them look at our lives and say, “surely they know the way of man’s Salvation!”

-Joshua Johnson

Footnotes

[1] In regards to scholasticism especially, the Reformers critiqued the influence of Aristotle. Prior to Thomas Aquinas and the rehabilitation of that philosopher in the west, Plato had been the more important influence in theological discourse, indeed, Origen (the early father) was so influenced by Platonic ideas that he even maintained a doctrine of reincarnation as Plato had held along with many other errors (indeed the Origenist controversies led to later Fathers to have his books burned as teaching heresy).

[2]The eastern orthodox notions of negative theology, hesychasm, and synergistic theosis (monergistic theosis is good and true) are all clearly based in Platonic categories and even the language in which they are often described is often explicitly Platonic, one sometimes can hardly tell if a line from one of their more recent theological texts came from a Christian monk or Plotinus (I am thinking specifically of Lossky). I say this as one who also has much praise for a lot of ideas and practices with the Byzantine tradition (but I digress).

[3]Origen was rumored to have castrated himself and it was such a concern in the early church that the Council of Nicaea actually had to regulate against the castrated from entering into the ministry. This was partly due to Platonic presuppositions being brought to the text of Matthew 19:12. A person who had a Biblical understanding of the human body and marital sexuality would not have made such literalist and false application; unfortunately many Christians at this time were converted from the philosophical intelligentsia of the classical world and the consequence of their latent Platonism mixed with their new religious zeal was often catastrophic.

[4]The early apologists, especially Justin Martyr who famously retained his “philosopher’s robe” even after converting to Christianity, were avowed Platonists or ex-Platonists and such is obvious in their argumentation.

[5]Augustinian Nominalists obviously accepted the monergistic theology of the historic Latin tradition (which was slowly being subverted by neo-pelagianism in the middle ages), but they also affirmed the main tenets of the schola via moderna in opposing the concept that there are “eternal” ideas which exist in reality either in created things (universalia in res/artistotleanism) or outside or prior to things (universalia ante rem/Platonism); rather arguing that reality and our knowledge of it are both directly revealed or caused by God in the mind of his creatures by an act of Providence and that these so-called “universals” are but names (nomen) we give them. The other view of this movement, which is related to the first, is that reality is not bound by certain fixed or natural laws, but rather is determined by the Free exercise of the Will of God which is not bound by any law other than His own Nature (voluntarism). Both of these views (nominalism and voluntarism) will invariably imply occasionalism and immaterialism, and all such are so plainly taught in Scripture it seems insane that any could have ever denied them and also claimed with any credulity to be “rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”(2Tim 3)

[6]The perfection of biblical metaphysics can be seen in this movement of immaterialism, which far from being an enlightenment branch of empiricism (an idea that originates in Kant much later who was the first to categorize a empiricist v. rationalist split in philosophy); rather was a system that originated and was propagated almost exclusively by English speaking pastors. This movement argued that God directly reveals reality to the minds of His creatures and that He is the direct cause of all that is observed or known; in essence, they argued that God reveals Himself in nature as it is known and in Scripture as it is known, and that which is not revealed cannot be said to exist because God never made it known; hence, most scientific and philosophic speculations from physical causation, to natural laws, to an imperceptible material substance, to universals as having real existence, are all to be rejected.

[7]When it comes to the Christian philosophy championed by Berkeley and Edwards it was said at the time that “it knows of no answers and produces no conviction.” That is to say, the arguments were not refuted and yet people refused to accept them anyway and thus it became marginalized just as with nearly all Christian beliefs over the recent centuries. It does not matter that the proofs are superior, people refused to believe them. Instead Hume adopted Berkeley’s arguments to promote skepticism and atheism (thus ignoring his necessary conclusions) and this inspired Kant to “save religion” by regulating it to the nouminal (unknowable, but virtuous in its ethics). From him, religion was predictably relegated to the status of “sincerely held belief” as opposed “to absolute objective truth” and pretty soon “all objective truth” came to nothing as post-Kantians became post-moderns and the only truth was “power” vested in the state as Nietzsche had long prophesied and desired in the aftermath of the “death of God” as regards morals, we have seen every form of debauchery come into practice and each with its own accompanying political representation.

[8]Had it not been for the work of the Christian Reconstructionists and their related persons (such as Francis Schaeffer) there would not only have been no homeschooling movement, but also no turn against Abortion (Schaeffar wrote the book that changed evangelicals on abortion called “The Christian Manifesto”), no Moral Majority, no Ronald Reagan, and no continual Christian right-wing coalition. Had none of these events and movements occurred, we would have seen the LGBTQ+ movement reach its zenith in the late 1980s or early 1990s. This movement literally saved a generation of Christian children from indoctrination and who knows how many will be saved from being murdered following the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. None of this would’ve been possible without this return to Biblicism within the Reformed tradition. Thank God for presuppositionalism and the Christian Reconstructionists, cranky as they could be in their dogmatic Calvinism.

[9]This saying originated in St. Augustine, but was popularized in St. Anselm of Canterbury in his Proslogion. It was opposed to the saying “intelligo ut credam” which means “I know that I may believe.” The difference between these two statements is the chasm between a heathen who attempts to know God by his own sinful reasoning apart from God’s self-revelation, and that of a Christian, who only comes to understand the nature of true knowledge after first believing in God’s revelation of Himself to him. Indeed, this chasm is impossible to breach.

[10]This statement comes from the Athanasian Creed.

[11]These arguments (teleological, cosmological, etc) are thomistic adaptations of Aristotelian ideas (recently adapted yet again to “modern science”) or earlier platonic inventions (ontological argument) and all of them can be used by non-Trinitarian (that is non-Christian) sects or religions. If a Muslim can use the same argument as you in proving the existence of his god, then you can have a pretty good idea that such an argument is not a Christian argument, for if it were, it would prove the Christian God which is a Trinitarian God. Anything short of this is a failed proof, apologetic, or Christian philosophy.

[12]This is not to say that Christians cannot use logic and sophisticated philosophic terms and arguments; however, they are bound from the outset in claiming that the reality is revealed and that the arguments made are but a translating of the biblical truth into rational terms for the purposes of debate or demonstration and in doing so, they are not starting from naked human reasoning to prove God, but starting with God’s word and demonstrating it veracity (thus returning back what Scripture said at the onset.) Christian apologetics is demonstrating what is revealed as true already as shown forth in the Holy Scriptures. This point can never be lost.

[13]God made light days before He made the sun and moon.

[14]The official claim is that there was no deliberate attack on the Cathedral, but underground sources have provided real basis for the speculation that this destruction was in fact deliberate by someone from the Muslim immigrant community that had come to France to live on the benefits of that government’s massive welfare program. This claim however has led to those who make it to be censored, which of course, rightly raises suspicion against the official narrative especially since the issue of Islamic immigration into Europe is extremely divisive in multiple nations on that continent.