Our family has been carefully following the economic situation that has been riveting the attention of many other families, I’m sure. The technical lingo that obfuscates the issues keeps many people scratching their heads and wringing their hands (though maybe not simultaneously, unless they are also able to walk and chew gum at the same time), and that makes it easy for tricky demagogues to make political hay from the confusion. If only they were Rumpelstiltskins, spinning gold from all that hay. I’m afraid there’s a lot of spinning going on, but instead of gold we are getting inflation and the depreciation of the dollar.

One way we are trying to make sense out of all this is by reading some solid economics books written from a conservative and biblical perspective. In our selfish chronological snobbery, we are inclined to believe that the bad situation we are facing is unlike anything that has ever happened before, and we forget that there have been times in the not-so-distant past that may have been far worse. The 777 point drop in the Dow today sounds frightening (a 7 percent decline), until you recall that in October 1987 there was a one-day drop which was a smaller number but a decline of over 20 percent. Today’s drop was only the 17th-biggest decline. That doesn’t mean things are hunky-dory, but it gives a little perspective and takes some of the edge off the doom-and-gloom threats we are hearing if we don’t fork over the financial pie to the federal government. Reading sensible books and articles about other economic downturns and understanding the reasons we are in this mess is one practical way you can help your family to deal with the frightening issues we are facing.

I have been slowly reading to my children the chapter called “Idols of Mammon” in Idols for Destruction by Herbert Schlossberg. If you go to page 88 on the link I just gave, you can read a great deal of the chapter online, but I highly recommend the entire book for a biblical view of many cultural issues. I also got out Clarence Carson’s fifth volume in his A Basic History of the United States: The Welfare State–1929-1985. Does history repeat itself? Listen to the first paragraph in the introduction, in light of the current attempt to wrest $700 billion from American taxpayers through a “bailout” for irresponsible financial institutions:

A major thrust toward establishing the welfare state came swiftly in 1933. In a special session, which lasted from March 9 through June 16, 1933, Congress, prodded by the President, asserted the authority of the federal government over the American economy in an unprecedented fashion. Never before, certainly not in a time of peace, had such far-reaching legislation been passed by any Congress. The swiftness of it has led some historians to ponder whether or not it was a revolution. That is, it was not a successful revolt against the established authority, carried out by force of arms. If however, the term be taken to taken to signify a swift, as opposed to a gradual change, the change in direction was made quickly, and it did have a considerable impact on the country.

One major impact he says it had was a shift in the view of the government’s role. “But the premise of the welfare state was vigorously asserted, and it became established. The premise of the welfare state in the United States is that the federal government is basically responsible for the material well-being of the American people.”

That premise is now a given for most people. The powers-that-be have been spinning the current financial “crisis” and bailout proposal as necessary for the well-being of the American people, when it is really for the well-being of Wall Street. As Ron Paul said, if the government does nothing, we will have a bad year, but if they get their way with a bailout, then we will have a bad decade. Isn’t it funny how Congressman Paul’s opinions about this mess are suddenly sought by the media, when he was persona non grata just a few months ago?

I just read a great article about how we got into this financial meltdown, and why a bailout would be a disaster. Even though Congress thankfully refused to pass the bailout proposal today (Ludwig von Mises’s birthday, by the way), I’m sure a revised version will be brought forward soon, so read this, inform yourself, and write to your representatives to let them know why you don’t want them coming to the rescue.

You can get contact information for your congressman here.
You can see how your congressman voted on today’s bill here.

Pastor Bret has been writing quite a lot on the shenanigans of Wall Street and D.C. In answer to a question from a reader about the creepy Federal Reserve and a request for further economics reading, he said:

Should the Fed be axed?

Axed, burned, crushed into dust and sprinkled on your cornflakes for breakfast.

The book recommendations on this subject are a little difficult. Gary North has done some good stuff but you have to careful of his over Libertarian economic philosophy. Chilton’s book “Productive Christians In An Age Of Guilt Manipulators” is good. R. C. Sproul Jr. has a book out entitled “Biblical Economics.” I haven’t read it but I tend to trust Sproul’s counsel. A lecture you can find online that you should read is “I pencil” by Leonard Read.

Other books I would recommend are

Belloc’s “The Servile State”
Hayek’s “Road To Serfdom”
Rushdoony’s “Roots Of Inflation”
Ropke’s “The Social Crisis of our Time”
Nock’s “Our Enemy The State”
Hazlitt’s “Economics In One Lesson”
Griffin’s “The Creature From Jekyll Island”
Sowell’s “Basic Economics”

To really understand Economics from a Christian perspective you have to get an understanding of what Socialism is. The appropriate chapter from “Idols for Destruction” should be consulted for help on that score. Also “You Can Trust The Communists To Be Communist” would help you here.

Well, that gives you a beginning. If you get all those done come back and I’ll recommend some more.

Also, for some articles which can guide you through the morass, you might find The Recession Reader helpful. It offers this good insight, with which I heartily agree…I hope you will take it to heart and make the effort to educate yourself and your family about these things, which unlike fiat money are not ephemeral, but profoundly affect you now and your children and grandchildren in the future.

What’s important is not necessarily the specific political opposition to this bailout, but rather educating people about the dangers of nationalization, central banking, and government regulation. Only when people recognize the dangers of the government’s “socialism for the rich” will we be able to get back on the road to prosperity. Unfortunately, a correction is necessary. There is no such thing as a free house. The more the government intervenes, the longer and more painful it will be. But this crisis gives the country a chance to rethink its previous assumptions about the economy and the government’s role in it. Hopefully, this reader will be a first step for many into an exciting, growing branch of economic thought.

Lest anyone think that I am enthusiastic over the idea of a pro-abortion president with a penchant for socialism being elected (overt socialism…the conservative party being much more fond of the subversive kind, at least until this week when our nation’s banks and housing and insurance industries were virtually nationalized, but I digress…), I emphatically state I am no such thing. I have such an abhorrence for the idea of snuffing the lives of unborn babies that I truly want to solve the problem at a systemic level so that babies are not only no longer killed, but their mothers will desire to love and care for their children rather than dispose of them. That is one reason I speak strongly against feminism, a philosophy that encourages women to be selfish and negate their God-given desires to bear and nurture their own children.

Today I read an essay that poignantly showed the value of a little life, even a brief one, in the eyes of heaven. I love the Apostle’s Creed, and James Sauer uses its powerful words as a reminder of the immanence of our Savior in the tragedies of our lives. He and his wife had a little baby who was born with severe birth defects which took her life when she was only a few weeks old. Their seventh child, she was an important part of their family for the briefest time, but her fragile life had an impact on many. Who knows what God might do with all those millions of little ones who have died in abortuaries if they had been allowed to live. We do know, because He tells us in His word, that their blood cries out for vengeance and pollutes this land.

Love your children sacrificially, for they are eternal souls and precious in God’s sight.

…HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND SITTETH ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY; FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.

I am not a good man. People think I’m good. (My wife knows better). People think I’m a happy intellectual joker. But I’m a miserable sinner. Without Christ interceding for me I am lost. Without Christ dying for me, I am doomed. Lust. Greed. Anger. Pride. Despair. More lust. These are a few of my favorite sins. And yet he is returning in triumph. And because of his merit I will stand before my Maker. When he returns, I want to be on the side of God. I want to be on the side of the babies. This is why abortion is such a horrible thing. Kill a little baby like Mary because she is deformed? Why, you’re killing the image of Christ among us! We have very few opportunities to serve truly helpless people. “But when did we torture you, Lord, when did we suck your brains out, when did we cut you apart limb from limb?” “Whenever you did it to the least of these, you have done it unto me.” Thank you, Lord, for letting us have Mary; otherwise, we could not have served you.

In the last post I shared my notes from Pastor Joe Morecraft’s excellent sermon on why it is not biblically allowed for women to be in covenant headship positions in government, any more than it is permissible for them to do so in their marriages or in their churches. As an old friend said in the comments at Sermon Audio, “If it is an abomination for a woman to rule her own home, it is certainly an abomination for her to rule over cities, counties and indeed whole nations, i.e., other households.” This is the rest of the story…

The Morecraft family at last year’s Vision Forum Jamestown celebration

• What are the responsibilities and ministries of a woman? She is her husbands’ crown and joy. She raises covenant children who are to honor their mother as much as they honor their father (see Proverbs 30:17). In I Timothy 5:1-13, there is a long list of items which are part of a woman’s ministry, including being devoted to good works, bringing up children, showing hospitality, and assisting those in distress. She is not to be idle. Encouraging, comforting, serving, keeping house. She must be detained by her responsibilities in the home and church away from public functions. See also Titus 2:2-5.
• What are the qualifications for civil magistrates? First, in the New Testament we see that elders in the church must be men. The implication is that elders in the gate must also meet the same qualifications.
• In Exodus 18:21 it says that when choosing leaders they were to select able men. Deuteronomy 1:13 says to choose wise, discerning men to be heads of government. Deuteronomy 16:18-20, 17:14-20, II Samuel 2:23, Nehemiah 7:2, Proverbs 29:2, Romans 13:1-6: Men are in view in each text. Non-Christians are disqualified for leadership, and all women are disqualified, as well.
• A flawed hermeneutic says the Old Testament does not apply, and that it’s only for Israel. Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.
• We must not enter the voting booth leaving the Bible outside it. We must ask, “Does this candidate meet biblical qualifications?
• What about Deborah?
• God was faithful and merciful in providing a deliverer. She was a prophetess (a Spirit-inspired mouthpiece of God), but she was identified by her womanly roles (as wife of Lapidoth, and mother in Israel). In her song she gives Jael credit for being the deliverer, but also makes sure that Jael is identified as a wife.
• Deborah refused the role of commander-in-chief. Judges were primarily deliverers and saviors in times of national disaster. They were not considered heads of state like kings…they were not chief civil magistrates.
• Why did God raise up a woman for role of judge?
• First, to remind Israel of His judgement. It was an apostate nation (see Israel 3:12). God’s mercy is free and undeserved, but it is not cheap. God also raised up King Saul, another reminder of His righteous judgement on those who trust in the state.
• Second, Deborah was elevated to humble the men of Israel. She rebuked Barak by telling him that God would defeat His enemies through a woman.
• There is a hermeneutic problem when using Deborah as a support for women magistrates. The legal and didactic portions of the Bible must be used to explain the historical, and not vice versa.
• What does the Bible teach about itself? It says it is a book without error. So when we find a contradiction, we must explain history in light of the didactic portions. History is used for examples and models, but some examples we are not to follow. We must discern by explicit teaching so we don’t fall into false doctrine and heresy. We can’t use historical events in isolation to make teaching that is universal.
• The explicit teaching of the Bible is that only men are to hold office. God sovereignly raised Deborah up, but not as a model for women to follow into public life. The unseen things (God’s purposes) belong to the Lord our God. Our duty is to observe all the words of this Law.
• The period of the judges was an abnormal and temporary time with short-lived and shallow repentance. We must not use it for our model of civil government.
• Some argue that, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” There is no biblical basis for this assertion. How does this apply to the church? Deborah was a prophetess: does that mean women preachers are all right in bad times? No, that is looking for loopholes, a shortcut that is based on pride and manipulating God.
• How do we apply the Deborah principle today? It’s a sign of God’s judgement on America that people are looking to a woman to rule over them. For some people, the worse they can imagine is that Obama would be elected, but the worst is God’s judgement intensifying because of America disregarding God’s Word.
• This also humbles American men and Christian men. Where are the worthy men? It’s an indictment on the many men who have compromised their principles.
• Rushdoony wrote, “The end of an age is always a time of turmoil, war economic catastrophe, cynicism, lawlessness, and distress. But it is also an era of heightened challenge and creativity and of intense vitality. And because of the intensification of issues, and their world-wide scope, never has an era faced a more demanding and exciting crisis.”
• “We thank you, Father, for the bright direction of Your Word, that Your Word is, as we walk through this dark culture, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We pray that You would call Christians back to that light, that You would forgive us where we have allowed ourselves to be influenced and swayed by this culture and its philosophies, and its lifestyles, it priorities, its values. We pray that You would grant to us genuine repentance in thought and life. Help us to think about the critical issues of our day biblically, from raising children, to electing presidents, to everything else. We pray, Lord, that You would use faithful Christians in our country, though our number is small, it is increasing. We know, however, Lord, that You are omnipotent, and we pray that You would exert Your mighty power through Your faithful people. And bring this nation back to its original foundation, to its original character, and make it a city of righteousness and a city of faithfulness once again. Amen.

Anna with Becky Morecraft, a beautiful and talented helpmeet to her husband and a wonderful example to us of a godly woman

Today my children and I did one of our favorite activities: we listened to a sermon by our friend Pastor Joe Morecraft. I don’t think Pastor Morecraft has ever preached a bad sermon, but this one was one of the best, most passionate, and most convicting to me that I have ever heard him deliver. The title of it is:

Women Civil Magistrates? (Clicking the link takes you to Sermon Audio, where you can listen to the sermon online or download it to your computer.)

Pastor Morecraft is a brave man, and for his rigorous defense of an orthodox biblical perspective on women, particularly in relation to Sarah Palin running for VP, he will not be winning many friends. His goal is to please God, not man, but he has won our family’s vote as MVP (Most Valuable Preacher) for his solid teaching on this controversial issue. Sadly, steeped in a culture that capitulated long ago to feminist thinking, most Christians find the idea of male headship, or representation, a foreign concept. They need to be steeping themselves in the Bible to understand the beauty of God’s created order as He intended it to function. Pastor Morecraft paints a compelling picture of how this should and can work.

I tried to keep up with this sermon by taking notes, but there was so much information from the Bible as well as historical and literary sources, that I need to go back and listen again, more than once, to fully appreciate all that Pastor Morecraft taught. I have nine pages of notes in my Moleskine journal, but I will try to give you a few highlights of what to expect when you listen to this important message…and I hope you will listen! These are the times that try women’s souls, and we need to be diligent to be informed so that we can please God, not man, too.

Here are some of the points he made:

• Sarah Palin has many wonderful qualities, but she does not belong in office as vice president or governor.
• This is a sermon, not political propaganda, and the point is whether we are willing to submit to the Word of God, bringing every thought captive to what it teaches.
• The problems he sees with the Christians who are supporting this woman in public office are due to pragmatism, egalitarianism, ignorance of the Bible, and inconsistency with how they apply the Word of God.
• Just as the Bible does not permit women to usurp the governing headship of husbands in the home or elders in the church, neither does it allow women to usurp the headship of men in civil government.
• He refers to Augusta Jane Evans, a popular 19th century southern writer who upheld a strongly biblical view of women as helpmeets and keepers of the home, while maintaining their crucial importance and strength in that realm. He also quotes Richard Weaver’s Southern Tradition at Bay which talks about Augusta Jane Evans’s view that it is treason for women to abandon their God-given sphere.
• Pastor Morecraft traces egalitarian thinking to the Enlightenment (”Endarkenment”) where biblical moorings were lost and “man is the measure of all things.” This was a time when it was taught that we are naturally independent and all distinctions, including sex, must be disregarded.
• He reiterates that we are all equal before the law, but that idea has been replaced with a Jacobin idea of equality which leads to tyranny. In actuality, liberty means being free to do that to which God’s authority gives us the moral right…it is not license.
• The election of 2008 will be one of the most destructive elections in history, no matter who is elected.
• God’s social order for men and women is clearly revealed in the Bible.
• In I Corinthians 11:1-12 we find that the God who created all things has an order for how he wants society to be structured. There is to be representative—or covenant—headship. God is the head of Christ; Christ is the head of every man; man is the head of woman. This does not imply inferiority of women. It applies to church and home and state.
• In Ephesians 5:22-25, we see that in the home, the husband is responsible for loving headship. But it also has implications for a woman’s role in relation to church in state as it addresses her responsibility to be submissive to her husband in everything. She cannot exercise dominion over her husband by being in a headship position in church and state. If she cannot rule in her home, she may not rule in those other spheres without disobeying God’s explicit command.
• He quotes Doug Wilson (from an essay found in Angels in the Architecture): “Each home is a small republic…” and a husband holds a public office in which he is called to represent his household. This thinking is completely out of step with the spirit of the age. The real question is, “What does the household think?” Households have been disenfranchised.
• Why did God arrange it this way? Because of the order of creation and the nature of the fall, as shown in I Timothy 2:11-15 and II Corinthians 14:34-35.
• God created Adam first, according to the good pleasure of His sovereign will. The woman’s purpose is to be a helpmeet. In William Hendricksen’s commentary on the New Testament, he says that woman exerts a gracious and powerful “beneficence” upon the man.
• A wise God has designed no clashing between the civil, ecclesiastical, and home spheres.
• Eve led the way into sin when she should have followed her husband into righteousness. Role reversal leads to disaster. Satan saw the best way to bring Adam down was through Eve.
• Galatians 3:25 is used to refute this view of male headship. “We are all one in Christ Jesus.” This does not erase distinctions; it means the blessings of salvation are enjoyed by all believers equally, without distinction, but does not speak to the order of governing institutions.
• Women are not restricted but freed when they give themselves to their important calling in the home. Not even all male members of the church are allowed to hold office or rule, but must be mature and godly for that privilege.

Part two tomorrow…

–Friday, January 1, 1892
Clear and fine. I have a great deal to be thankful for–all the mercies of the year that has just passed. May I be more faithful this year that has just commenced. May my children repent and turn unto thee. Thou knowest how I want my children to give their hearts to thee and in thy good time wilt thou answer my prayers. ~Josephine Jordan

A page from Josephine’s diary

Josephine Jordan was a godly and faithful farm wife. She kept a diary, mostly one or two lines for each day recorded, of her uneventful in worldly terms but very busy life. She cooked on a wood cookstove, washed clothes by hand, sewed for her family with material ordered from a catalog, cared for sick family members, visited neighbors, and even though she didn’t have electricity, she was grateful to God for His many blessings to her. Reading through one year of her life, it appears she was frequently sick and in pain with various maladies, but her April 3 and 4 entries give insight into her faith: “Have a great deal of pain today. Must not complain.” and “Bless the Lord, oh my soul. He is so good to me.” There are many more entries like those. She also worried about her children and appeared to struggle with depression. Getting a small glimpse of how hard her life was, I feel guilty for complaining about the minor inconveniences of my pampered life.

Mrs. Jordan was the great-great-grandmother of Herrick Kimball. He has been republishing her diaries for his children to read, and here is what he says about her:

It’s worth noting that Josephine was not a doctor, scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, or politician (women could not even vote in 1892). She did not travel the world. She was not directly involved in any great historical event. She wasn’t even a good writer. The fact is, she never distinguished herself in any notable way outside the little circle of her home and family.

Which is to say, Josephine was an ordinary farm wife. As such she devoted herself to helping her husband, caring for her home, her family, and, at times, others in her community when they were in
need. She dealt with great tasks of cooking, washing, ironing, feeding, churning, sewing, and so forth–day after day, month after month, year after year.

It is the commonness of her life, her hard work, her self-sacrifice, her hospitality, and her devotion to faith and family that distinguishes Josephine–especially when viewed from the perspective of our modern culture where so many woman have, by choice or circumstance, refocused their daily work away from home and family.

In spite—or because of—all her concerns and prayers for her children, Josephine left a godly legacy of faith as her daughter Blanche did profess her mother’s Christian faith, as did her daughter, as did her daughter, as does her son, Herrick, who is passing on that legacy in his simple way to his sons and sharing his faith with many others through his writings.

What if every married Christian woman today, with far greater resources and comforts than Josephine, but many of the same concerns and trials, as well, was to singlemindedly devote herself to the great task of being a true helpmeet to her husband and relentless caregiver to her children, for the building of God’s kingdom? Why do we take so lightly the impact this would make on the world? I am glad I live in the time God has placed me, but in Josephine’s day, families kept most of their hard-earned money, killing one’s own baby in utero was not considered a woman’s right, sodomy was not celebrated, and divorce was rare. Today, Christians are encouraging a mother of five children to save those “traditional values” by turning her back on one of the foundational tradtional values: that the mother at home is not a luxury, but a necessity, for the health of her family as well as the health of the nation.

This is far more than just a “traditional value,” however. It is rooted in biblical soil that runs thousands of years deep. It is written plainly in many didactic passages of Scripture, through which we must view the anomaly of Deborah, the evangelical feminist’s answer to why women should make their mark without distinction in the business world, the civil sphere, the church, and the home. Now, some of my friends have become what Bill Einwechter calls “semi-complementarian,” to make allowances for Sarah Palin to be a political savior of sorts. Perhaps we should call them “semi-evangelical feminists” because they are using the same reasoning as the evangelical feminists I have been crossing swords with (so to speak) for so long. My friends have given ground by asserting that only in the home and church do women have biblical restrictions from leadership. Having read a great deal on the evolution of feminism, I wonder how long before they concede the church and home, as well. For some, perhaps not long. Al Mohler and D.A. Carson will be sharing the platform at an Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Conference with Dr. Diane Langberg, where the three of them will also be sharing “God’s truths from Scripture.” But if we concede that one woman can defy biblical teaching to be a Deborah in the civil sphere, why not allow for others to be Deborahs, too, even in the pulpit. She was a prophet, you know, as well as a judge.

We need godly women to stop filling the pulpits and political offices, and get to work where we really need them. Homes and families are languishing for the lack of Christian wives and mothers taking their calling to those jobs seriously. Let’s get all hands on deck to fight the war where the battle is raging, where the casualties are piling up. Short-term solutions will not solve our deep-rooted cultural problems which stem from rebelling against God’s created order.