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Rousas Rushdoony

Als zoon van Armeniaanse immigranten, was hij erg onder de indruk van de sterke eerbied van de Armeniaanse kerk voor het Oude Testament. Hij werd door de Presbyteriaanse kerk gewijd en diende als zendeling onder de oorspronkelijke Amerikanen in Nevada.
Zijn strijd daar om zijn bekeerlingen een solide Christelijk fundament te geven, overtuigde hem dat wil een christelijke evangelisatie succesvol zijn, het verder moet gaan dan het prediken van een bekeringservaring en een Christelijke cultuur dient te creëren als een alternatief voor een in verval geraakte Westerse beschaving.
Terwijl hij pastor was in Californië, ontdekte Rushdoony de filosofie van Cornelis van Til , welke hij overvloedig prees in zijn eerste boek (gepubliceerd in 1959). Drie jaar later verliet hij het pastorale werk om te werken bij een private stichting, onder wiens auspiciën zijn verbazende schrijf- en sprekers carrière in versnelling raakte. In 1966 richtte hij Chalcedon, Inc. op (dat later de Chalcedon Foundation werd) om het programma voor onderzoek, onderricht, schrijven en culturele vernieuwing te ondersteunen en te promoten, dat hij toen Christelijke Reconstructionisme begon te noemen.

Rushdoony was degene, die de presuppositionele sociale theorie verder ontwikkelde in een consistente theonomische ethiek. Als zoon van Armeniaanse immigranten, was hij erg onder de indruk van de sterke eerbied van de Armeniaanse kerk voor het Oude Testament. Hij werd door de Presbyteriaanse kerk gewijd en diende als zendeling onder de oorspronkelijke Amerikanen in Nevada. Zijn strijd daar om zijn bekeerlingen een solide Christelijk fundament te geven, overtuigde hem wil Christelijke evangelisatie succesvol zijn, het verder moet gaan dan het prediken van een bekeringservaring en een Christelijke culttur dient te creëren als een alternatief voor een in verval geraakte Westerse beschaving. Terwijl hij pastor was in Californië, ontdekte Rushdoony Van Til's filosofie, welke hij overvloedig prees in zijn eerste boek (gepubliceerd in 1959). Drie jaar later verliet hij het pastorale werk om te werken bij een private stichting, onder wiens auspiciën zijn verbazende schrijf- en sprekers carrière in versnelling raakte. In 1966 richtte hij Chalcedon, Inc. op (dat later de Chalcedon Foundation werd) om het programma voor onderzoek, onderricht, schrijven en culturele vernieuwing te ondersteunen en te promoten, dat hij toen Christelijke Reconstructionisme begon te noemen.

Rushdoony has written many other volumes dealing with education, history, revolution, evolution, philosophy of history, the problems of over population, agriculture, and the irrational, socialistic do-good-ism so prevalent among liberals and some others today. Others deal with pornography and the family, psychology, and some volumes on the defense of Postmillennialism. Een korte intro op een selectie van zijn boeken:

By What Standard? An Analysis of the Philosophy of Cornelius Van Til. Phillipsburg, N. J.: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co., 1958. It is a favorable look at the philosophy and apologetics of Van Til, who is not a Reconstructionist. First published 28 years ago as Dr. Rushdoony's first book, this remains one of the most significant works in the Christian Reconstruction movement. This volume is based on the presupposition of the sovereignty of the God of Scriptures over every area of life. Because God is the creator of all things, He is the only valid principle of interpretation: existence and meaning are both derived solely from His creative act. By What Standard? constitutes a frontal assault on all humanistic thought.

Institutes of Biblical Law. Phillipsburg, N. J.: Presbyterian and Reformed, nd. This volume and the volume "Law and Society" which is really vol. 2 of the Institutes of Biblical Law, published in 1986 by Ross House, Vallecito California are an attempt to bring the Old Testament laws forward and apply them to modern society. Rushdoony is a prolific writer of Theonomic or Reconstructionist books, and is one of the "founding fathers" of the modern movement along with Greg Bahnsen, and a few others.

The Messianic Character of American Education (1963) Another book in the "top five." This one proves from the writings of two dozen founders of American progressive education that they were establishing a rival religion to Christianity. It's all here: their quest for power, their strategy to take control by way of the public schools, their belief in salvation by education. Educators considered include Horace Mann, John Dewey, Harold Rugg, G. Stanley Hall, and J. B. Watson (the behaviorist). Everything is footnoted. This book has long served as the philosophical "Bible" of the Christian school movement in the U.S. This was his third book.

This Independent Republic (1964) A frontal assault on the myth of the origins of the U.S. as a secular republic. America's roots are in medieval thought and culture: deeply Christian. This book shows that the American Revolution was in fact a conservative, Christian counter-revolution. He contrasts this revolution with the French Revolution, which was atheistic and radical. Chapters include "Equality," "Democracy and Anarchy," and "The Holy Commonwealth."

The Nature of the American System (1965) Rushdoony's hardcore revisionist view of U.S. history, including one of his three classic essays on the United Nations, plus his absolutely indispensable study of the Unitarian origins of modern American humanism: "The Religion of Humanity." The most important idea in this book is that the county, not the state, was the basis of early American politics. This is the missing link in any serious effort to restore the American republic. This book was the sequel to This Independent Republic .

Foundations of Social Order (1968) One of the "top five" books by Rushdoony. In it he traces the history of the early Christian creeds, showing how they were the foundation of Western liberty and social order. This book shows how the supposedly narrow debates of theologians in fact established Western civilization. He cites sources that have been long forgotten in the classroom, including seminary classrooms. This book served as an introduction to The One and the Many .

Thy Kingdom Come (1970) A presentation of a postmillennial view of Daniel and Revelation. He shows in great detail the historical settings of these prophecies and their fulfillment in Christ and early church history. Klik hier voor een recensie

The One and the Many (1971) One of the "top five." This book shows that Greek and Roman religion and philosophy were statist to the core, thereby making freedom impossible. This is Rushdoony's great book against "Greek mythology": the myth of pagan Greece as the cradle of Western liberty. The chapters on the Church and the Reformation are important documents in the creation of Christian Reconstruction. The book ends with modern philosophy. It is thoroughly footnoted, yet readable. No student should take a course in Western Civilization without reading this book first.

The Flight from Humanity (1973) What is pietism? Reconstructionists attack it, but where can you study it? This book traces the history of the fundamentalists' commitment to withdrawal from social involvement. It began with the Greeks, especially the neoplatonists. The Church has been battling this mindset from the very beginning. Christianity has been infused with Greek ideas. The result, in his marvelous phrase, is "pious gush." Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have bad effects.

The Journal of Christian Reconstruction: The Family (1977)

The editors of this journal are committed to Christian scholarship and the journal is aimed at intelligent laymen, working pastors, and others who are interested in the reconstruction of all spheres of human existence in terms of the standards of the Old and New Testaments. Any program of Christian Reconstruction which does not begin with the family is doomed. The family is central. This is the realm of personal responsibility in which almost all of us operate. This is the institution which has the greatest impact on future generations. This issue of the journal has essays from 14 authors discussing different aspects of the family.

Infallibility: An Inescapable Concept (1978) There is no neutrality. Every system needs a concept of infallibility. Without this, no one can even think. There must be standards of truth, and they must come from an infallible source. Rushdoony demolishes the pretensions of those who preach neutrality and then impose their view on others.

Necessity of Systematic Theology (1979) Just as there is no escape from the doctrine of infallibility, so there is no escape from systematic theology. This book followed Infallibility . The two constitute Rushdoony's preliminary attempt to write a systematic theology.

The Journal of Christian Reconstruction: Inflation (1980) This issue contains articles centering around the subject of inflation, it's causes and solutions.

Salvation and Godly Rule. Vallecito, Calif.: Ross House Books, 1983. Essays similar to the materials of Volume 2 of the 'Institutes of Biblical Law,' which he preferred to call 'Law and Society.'

Christianity and the State. Vallecito, Calif.: Ross House Books, 1986. Here Rushdoony lays out in some detail his view of what a Christian civil government should be.

The Roots of Reconstruction. Vallecito, Calif.: Ross House Books, 1991. Consists primarily of articles from his 'Calcedon Report' publication.