Mark Bertrand says that the world he "had been led to fear growing up in the Church is not actually the world we live in." It turns out that the moral relativism that we feared would turn the world to anarchy and chaos never materialized. Much of what we feared actually came to pass, just not in the way we thought it would.
The new world has turned out to be a world that loves "the social gospel, but without the gospel," to paraphrase Joseph Bottum.
Mark talks with host Mike Schutt about this strange turn of events. We now live in the midst of "an irreligious culture" that still "behaves in fundamentally religious ways." As Mark says, "The moralist of today is the irreligious offspring of the mainline Protestants who dominated the society of yesteryear."
How did we get here, and what are thoughtful Christians to make of this state of affairs? It seems the best way to respond to the New Moralism is likely not to return to the Old Moralism. But what role does the Church have to play in all of this?
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor living in South Dakota. His crime noir works are Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide. His book [Re]Thinking Worldview:Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in this World (Crossway 2007) is a great primer on Christian thought and action, and he serves on the faculty of Worldview Academy. He blogs at the world-renowned Bible Design Blog, sharing thoughts and photos on a multitude of design issues. His initial claim to fame was that he was interviewed by Ken Myers on Mars Hill Audio Journal, volume 90, which also features Mike Schutt talking about Redeeming Law.
Mark was also a guest on Episode 46 of Cross & Gavel, the most downloaded episode in the podcast's history.
Cross and Gavel is a project of Regent University School of Law and Christian Legal Society. We value your comments. And if you enjoy the show, please rate us on iTunes.
In our first fall episode of Cross & Gavel, Worldview at the Abbey Provost Jeff Baldwin discusses the duty of the Church and Christian families with respect to education.
The conversation ranges from the role of the family to the religious nature of education itself, and then on to some of the problems inherent in state-sponsored education. Jeff tells host Mike Schutt that he thinks this may be "the most inflammatory episode of C&G to date," and he then sets the tone by suggesting that Christian parents should not think of their children as "salt and light" in the public schools until they are at least sixteen.
Listen in as Mike and Jeff discuss education, worldview, and the Christian family.
Jeff Baldwin is the author of The Deadliest Monster, founding faculty at Worldview Academy, and provost of the Worldview Academy bridge year program, Worldview at the Abbey in Canon City, CO.
Cross & Gavel is a project of Regent University School of Law and the Christian Legal Society. Host Mike Schutt is Associate Professor at Regent Law and director of Law Student Ministries for CLS.