Three Cultures – Three Futures

Part 3 Bringing the Twin Wars Together

• Session 3.14 Connecting the Two Wars!

• Session 3.15 A Clash of Narratives

• Session 3.16 Three Cultures – Three Futures

Outline

• Religious Narrative and Free Societies

• The Third Way: Freedom an Alternative to Anarchy and Tyranny

• People Are Hardwired for Freedom

Religious Narrative and Free Societies

Narratives Define the ProblemWorld-view

Perspective Nature of Conflict

Solve Problem Blind Spot

Atheis

m

Secularism Secularism vs. Religious Fundamentalism

Freedom FROM Religion

It was Judeo-Christian Theism that created freedom and pluralism

Monotheistic

Islam

Jihad Islam vs. Infidels: Atheism, Judaism, Christianity

Tyranny of Religion

Denial of being hardwired for freedom

Moderates Radical Islam and Secularism

Freedom OF Religion

Need to aggressively speak against Jihad

Christia

n dua

lism

Evangelical Gnosticism

Spiritual Warfare Pray Privatized faith; disconnect from culture

Biblica

l Theism

Biblical Theism

With anarchy of Secularism and tyranny of Jihadism

PrayState defend freedom OF religion; church evangelize and disciple nations

Know the truth; but what about doing the truth?

Three Cultures – Three Futures

• Freedom – Judeo-Christian Theism

• Anarchy – Atheism / Neo-paganism

• Tyranny – Atheism – Survival of the fittest!– Jihadism – Surrender under the sword!

• Question: Which future do you want?

The Third Way:

Freedom an Alternative to Anarchy and Tyranny

The Third Alternative

• Bill Burtness• 25 Years with YWAM• U of N School of Gov. • Lecturer in Bible and

Government

Who Is Sovereign?

• Question: What are the three major options for sovereignty?

• Three options:– God is Sovereign– Man is Sovereign– The State is Sovereign

Three Forms of Government

• God is Sovereign - Freedom

• Man is Sovereign - Anarchy

• The State is Sovereign - Tyranny

Three Forms of Government• The Individual is Sovereign

– Anarchy (Judges 21: 25)• No internal or external government• Absolute “freedom” – license• “Freedom” to do wrong• The individual is slave to his/her own appetites

• The State is Sovereign– Tyranny of the State

• External government• Absolute control• No freedom• The individual is slave to the state

The State Is Sovereign

The State

ChurchFamily State

Tyranny

Three Forms of Government

• God is Sovereign

• Internal Self-Government– Voluntary obedience to God’s Laws (Matt.

26: 20) leads to FREEDOM– Freedom without anarchy– Order without tyranny

God Is Sovereign

God

Individual

ChurchFamily State

Internal self-government

Anarchy – Tyranny Scale

(FREEDOM)

Man is sovereign

Anarchy

State is sovereign

Tyranny

GovernanceG

over

nanc

e

Ext

erna

l

Inte

rnal

Universe’s Order

TyrannyState (arbitrary absolutes)StalinismMao Fascism/CommunismJihadismTalibanTheocracy

MORAL AMORAL

freedom license

anarchy

Three Forms of Government

• God is Sovereign – Freedom – Constitutional Republic

• Man is Sovereign – Anarchy - Libertarianism

• The State is Sovereign – Tyranny – Statism, Fascism/Communism, Jihadism

Hardwired for Freedom

• Read– Set # 1: Genesis 2: 15-17; 3: 1-7– Set # 2: Deu. 4: 3-8; 28: 1-2; 30: 11-20– Set # 3: John 8: 32-36; Romans 6: 18-22

• Questions:– What do these passages reveal about human

beings being hardwired for freedom?– When are we most free?

Where does societal change come from?

• Questions:– From the “outside in” or the “inside out”?– Why?– What governmental systems provide for each

answer?

Where does change come from?

• External to internal– Statism, Fascism /Communism– Jihadism

• Internal to external– Constitutional Republic

The Human Condition

• Atheism assumes that man is good; it is institutions that are evil.

• Read – Set # 1 Genesis 3: 1-7; 6: 5-6; Gal. 3: 22– Set # 2 Eccl. 7: 20; Romans 1: 28-32; 3: 23– Set # 3 Psalm 14: 1-4; Is. 6: 1-5; John 1: 8-10

• What do these tell us about the condition of the human heart?

The Human Condition

“But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And

who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

Aleksandr SolzhenitsynThe Gulag Archipelago

The Human Condition

“Everyone thinks of changing the

world, but no one thinks of changing

himself.”

Leo Tolstoy(un-sourced)

What is the solution?

What Is the Solution?

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven. …”

Freedom – Our Driving Vision

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. …You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Apostle Paul

Galatians 5: 1, 13-14

Freedom – Our Driving Vision

“Liberty is not the power of doing what

we like, but the right of being able to do what

we ought.”

Lord Acton

British Statesman

What will the future hold?

• What will the future hold?

• Will you be a dualistic Christian or a Kingdom Christian?

• How will you engage in each of these clashes to captivate Atheists and Muslims?