A brochure describing Dennis Peacocke’s Strategic Life Training, a 2-year intensive course in worldview training, contains these words:
“Challenging you. Envisioning you.
“And in the end. . . ruining you.
“It forever ruins the way you’ve acted, the way you’ve dreamt, the way you’ve thought. . . .
“ruin vt (1585) 1 : to reduce to ruins: DEVASTATE 2 : to damage irreparably ~ vi : to become ruined.
“In point of fact, this is just our intent. We trust that this course, in concert with the work of the Holy Spirit, will damage irreparably any perspective not aligned with God’s Word.” [emphasis in original]
The website description explains that the “entire first year of the course has students engaged in a comprehensive and systematic study of the Christian worldview and comparative worldviews. More importantly, the impartation and passion of the speakers sow vision for why the pursuit of the Christian worldview is essential to successful Christian living.” [http://tinyurl.com/z5j3f]
The Transformation PROCESS requires that the old mindset be replaced with a new worldview. This process can take many forms, using varied techniques and methods, some of which have been examined in previous Herescope posts this past month. The end result is claimed to be a biblical worldview, which deceives many. But is it really?
Leading Theonomist R.J. Rushdoony (deceased) wrote:
“Nothing can be measured without a standard of measurement. If the standard is wrong, everything else is then out of line. This means that the principle of measure must be absolutely trustworthy or else nothing valid can follow.
“The only absolutely trustworthy principle of measurement, the yardstick of man and society, is God’s Word. Man, church, state, school, and all society must be judged in terms of it. Apart from Christ and His Word, God’s judgment on us is, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,” “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Dan. 5:25–28).” [http://tinyurl.com/emmp9]
Christians could read this statement and agree with it– until the rest of Rushdoony’s doctrines and philosophies are added in. That would then raise questions about what “standard” he uses to “measure” what is in conformity to God’s Word. Rushdoony’s particular version of Theonomy entails an interpretation of “God’s Word” which is Reconstructionist and dominionist. Therefore, using his standard to measure your adherance to the Word of God may demonstrate that you are not biblical! At least not according to his definitions of biblical!
Likewise, purported “biblical” or “Christian” worldview assessments in reality gauge how dominionist one is in his thinking. The standards by which your worldview is assessed (measured) is based on dominionist criteria. You could actually flunk a Christian worldview inventory if your worldview is NOT dominionist!
(For more information on this point, read “Peering Into the PEERS, an analysis of the PEERS test, which purports to measure one’s biblical worldview but in reality is an assessment of one’s dominionist worldview, at http://tinyurl.com/fm9fv)
In order, then, for one’s “worldview” to be changed over to dominionism the old one (Traditional Christian orthodoxy) must be “damaged irreparably” by whatever process works most thoroughly and efficiently. The resulting new worldview is then claimed to be more biblical than the previous one.
The Truth:
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
spoil 1. to damage or injure in such a way as to make useless, valueless, etc.; destroy. vi 1. a) to strip (a person) of goods, money, etc. by force b) to rob; pillage; plunder. (Webster’s)