The Decline of a Nation
By Kerby
Anderson
Doomsayers
for many years have been predicting the decline and fall of this country. And
while many of these short-term predictions have proved inaccurate, there is
some truth to the prevailing belief that this nation will fall like every great
nation before it. Apart from revival and reformation, this nation is destined
to decline.
The problem with many of these doomsayers is that while their prognosis
is right, their diagnosis is wrong. Yes, the future is bleak. But our problem
is not ultimately political, economic, or social, 
as
these doomsayers would have us believe. The decline of this nation (just as
the decline of every other nation) is due to spiritual factors. The political,
economic, and social problems we encounter are the symptoms of the spiritual
deterioration of a nation.
Just
as there are spiritual principles that influence the life of an individual,
so there are political-spiritual principles that govern the life of a nation.
And though we may feel that these are obscure and difficult to discern, in
reality they are visible to anyone willing to look at the record of history.
The
refrains that are often heard are: “It can’t happen here,” or “Our country is
different.” But the reality is that nations are born and die just like
individuals. Their longevity may exceed the average person’s lifespan. But the
reality is that nations also die.
History
has shown that the average age of the great civilizations is around two hundred
years. Countries like Great Britain exceed the average while other countries
like the United States are just now reaching the average age. Each of the great
civilizations in the world passed through a series of stages from their birth
to their decline to their death. Historians have listed these in ten stages.
The
first stage moves from bondage to spiritual faith. The second
from spiritual faith to great courage. The third stage moves from great
courage to liberty. The fourth stage moves from liberty to abundance. The fifth
stage moves from abundance to selfishness. The sixth stage moves from selfishness
to complacency. The seventh stage moves from complacency to apathy. The eighth
stage moves from apathy to moral decay. The ninth stage moves from moral decay
to dependence. And the tenth and last stage moves from dependence to bondage.
These
are the ten stages through which the great civilizations have gone. Notice the
progression from bondage to liberty back to bondage. The first generation
throws off the shackles of bondage only to have a later generation through
apathy and indifference allow itself to once again be enslaved.
This
is the direction this and every other country is headed. The book of Judges shows that the nation of Israel
passed through these same stages. And this country will do the same unless
revival and reformation break out and reverse the inexorable decline of this
nation.
The
Cycle of Nations
In
his book The End of Christendom,
Malcolm Muggeridge makes this powerful observation.
He says: “I conclude that civilizations, like every other human creation, wax
and wane. By the nature of the case, there can never be a lasting civilization
anymore than there can be a lasting spring or lasting happiness in an
individual life or a lasting stability in a society. It’s in the nature of man
and of all that he constructs to perish, and it must ever be so. The world is
full of the debris of past civilizations and others are known to have existed
which have not left any debris behind them but have just disappeared.”
He
goes on to say that “...whatever their ideology may be, from the Garden of Eden
onwards such dreams of lasting felicity have cropped up and no doubt always
will. But the realization is impossible for the simple reason that a fallen
creature like man, though capable of conceiving perfection and aspiring after
it, is in himself and in his works forever imperfect. Thus he is fated to exist
in the no man’s land between the perfection he can conceive and the
imperfection that characterizes his own nature and everything he does.”
Nations
Rise and Nations Fall
Every
nation has followed this progression from bondage to bondage. The nations of
this century will be no different. But let us not accept the Marxist notion
that these are fixed and intractable laws of history. Christians can point to
unusual times when revival has redirected the inexorable decline of a
civilization. In the Old Testament,
Jonah saw revival postpone God’s judgment of Nineveh. In the sixteenth century,
Martin Luther and John Calvin saw a Protestant Reformation transform Europe.
And even in the history of the United States the First and Second Great
Awakenings changed individuals and our society.
But
apart from God’s intervention, nations will decline and eventually pass off the
scene. Much of the Old Testament
records the history of the nation of Israel. It passed through these same
stages and so will every country in the world.
As
Christians we must recognize that nations will rise and fall just as
individuals will be born and die. Our civilization will not last indefinitely,
but will eventually pass off the scene. ‘Only God’s Word endures forever.’ We
should not put our trust in the things of this world for they are destined for
destruction. Instead, we should put our faith in God and His Word.
The
Decline of the Family
Nations
most often fall from within, and this fall is usually due to a decline of the
moral and spiritual values in the family. As families go, so goes a nation.
This
has been the main premise of thinkers from British historian J. D. Unwin to Russian sociologist Pitirim
Sorokin who have studied civilizations that have
collapsed. In his book Our Dance Has
Turned to Death, Carl Wilson identifies the common pattern of family
decline in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Notice how these seven stages
parallel what is happening in our nation today.
In
the first stage, men ceased to lead their families in worship. Spiritual and
moral development became secondary. Their view of God became naturalistic,
mathematical, and mechanical.
In
the second stage, men selfishly neglected care of their wives and children to
pursue material wealth, political and military power, and cultural development.
Material values began to dominate thought, and the man began to exalt his own
role as an individual.
The
third stage involved a change in men’s sexual values. Men who were preoccupied
with business or war either neglected their wives sexually or became involved
with lower-class women or with homosexuality. Ultimately, a double standard of
morality developed.
The
fourth stage affected women. The role of women at home and with children lost
value and status. Women were neglected and their roles devalued. Soon they
revolted to gain access to material wealth and also freedom for sex outside
marriage. Women also began to minimize having sex relations to conceive
children, and the emphasis became sex for pleasure. Marriage laws were changed
to make divorce easy.
In
the fifth stage, husbands and wives competed against each other for money, home
leadership, and the affection of their children. This resulted in hostility and
frustration and possible homosexuality in the children. Many marriages ended in
separation and divorce. Many children were unwanted, aborted, abandoned,
molested, and undisciplined. The more undisciplined children became, the more
social pressure there was not to have children. The breakdown of the home
produced anarchy.
In
the sixth stage, selfish individualism grew and carried over into society,
fragmenting it into smaller and smaller group loyalties. The nation was thus
weakened by internal conflict. The decrease in the birthrate produced an older
population that had less ability to defend itself and less will to do so,
making the nation more vulnerable to its enemies.
Finally,
the seventh stage, unbelief in God became more complete, parental authority
diminished, and ethical and moral principles disappeared, affecting the economy
and government. Thus, by internal weakness and fragmentation the societies came
apart. There was no way to save them except by a dictator who arose from within
or by barbarians who invaded from without.
Although
this is an ancient pattern of decline found in Greece and Rome, it is relevant
today. Families are the foundation of a nation. When the family crumbles, the
nation falls because nations are built upon family units. They are the true
driving social force. A nation will not be strong unless the family is strong.
That was true in the ancient world and it is true today.
Social
commentator Michael Novak, writing on the importance of the family, said:
“One unforgettable law has been
learned through all the disasters and injustices of the last thousand years: If
things go well with the family, life is worth living; when the family falters,
life falls apart.”
The
Decline of Values
There
are many factors in the decline of a nation. Certainly a major one is the
breakdown of the family. But another potent but less perceptible force is the
power of ideas.
False
ideas are bringing about the decline of western culture. Carl F. H. Henry, in
his book Twilight of a Great Civilization,
says: “There is a new barbarism. This barbarism has embraced a new pagan
mentality...not simply rejecting the legacy of the West, but embracing a new
pagan mentality where there is no fixed truth.”
Today
we live in a world where biblical absolutes are ignored, and unless we return
to these biblical truths, our nation will continue to decline.
To
understand how we have arrived at this appalling situation, we need to go back
a century and look at the influence of five intellectual leaders who still
profoundly affect the modern world. The
first person is Charles Darwin (1809-1882). In 1859 he published The Origin of Species and later
published The Descent of Man. His
writings blurred the distinction between humans and animals since he taught
that we are merely part of an evolutionary progression from lower forms of
life. Darwinism, as it came to be called, not only affected the field of
biology, but became the foundation for the fields of anthropology, sociology,
and psychology.
The
second person is Karl Marx (1818-1883). He and Friedrich Engels
published the Communist Manifesto
around 1850, and Marx devoted his life to writing about the demise of
capitalism and coming of communism. He understood the importance of ideas. Marx
once wrote: “Give me twenty-six lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.”
The twenty-six lead soldiers are the keys on a typewriter. The pervasive
influence of communism in the world today is testimony to the truthfulness of
his statement.
The
third person is Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918).
Although he may not be as well known as the other two men mentioned, his influence was just as profound. He was a German Bible scholar whose theory on the dating
of the Pentateuch completely
transformed Old Testament studies.
Wellhausen argued that the early books of the Bible were not put together by Moses but
were gathered together many centuries later by several different men called “redactors”
who wove various strands together. He and his disciples established an
anti-supernatural approach to the Scriptures which is influential in most
denominational seminaries today.
The
fourth person is Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). He merely took the logical
implications of what Darwin was doing in biology and applied them to what today
is known as psychology and psychiatry. Freud argued that humans are basically
autonomous and therefore do not need to know God. Instead, we need to know and
understand ourselves since our problems stem from those secret things that have
evolved in our lives from our past.
A
fifth person is John Dewey (1859-1952). He is the founder of modern education
and published his first work, The School
and Society, in 1899. John Dewey was also one of the co-signers of the Humanist Manifesto in 1933. Dewey, like
Darwin and Freud, believed that humans are autonomous. They don’t need to have
an authority above them but can evolve their own system of education. Thus the
very foundation of modern education is anti-supernatural.
Ideas
have consequences, and false ideas can bring down a nation. The theories of
these five men are having devastating consequences in our nation and world.
Unless we return to biblical absolutes, our nation will continue its decline.
Spiritual
Decline
The
decline and fall of nations is usually due to internal factors rather than
external threats. Even though some may have fallen to barbarians, their demise
ultimately came because of moral and spiritual weakness which manifested itself
as military weakness. Historians have listed the stages in the decline of a
nation. These should not be too surprising to any student of the Old Testament. The stages of decline
parallel the stages through which the nation of Israel passed.
But
neither should they surprise a student of the New Testament. In the opening chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter
to the church in Rome, he traces a similar progression. In fact, Romans 1 shows the decline of a
civilization from a societal perspective. Looking at the Hellenistic world of
his time, he reflects on the progression of sin in a nation.
The
first stage is when people turn from God to idolatry. Although God has revealed
Himself in nature to all men so that they are without excuse, they nevertheless
worship the creation instead of the Creator. This is idolatry. In the past,
this took the form of actual idol worship. In our day, it takes the form of the
worship of money or the worship of self. In either case, it is idolatry. A
further example of this is a general lack of thankfulness. Although they have
been prospered by God, they are ungrateful. And when they are no longer looking
to God for wisdom and guidance, they become vain and futile and empty in their
imaginations. They no longer honor God, so their foolish hearts become
darkened. In professing to be wise, they have become fools.
The
second stage is when men and women exchange their natural use of sex for
unnatural uses. Here the Apostle Paul says those four sobering words, “God gave
them over.” In a society where lust-driven sensuality and sexual perversion
dominate, God gives them over to their degrading passions and unnatural
desires.
The
third stage is anarchy. Once a society has rejected God’s revelation, it is on
its own. Moral and social anarchy is the natural result. At this point God has
given the sinners over to a depraved mind and so they do things which are not
proper. This results in a society which is without understanding, un-trustworthy,
unloving, and unmerciful.
The
final stage is judgment. God’s judgment rightly falls upon those who practice
idolatry and immorality. Certainly an eternal judgment awaits those who are
guilty, but a social judgment occurs when God gives a nation over to its sinful
practices.
Notice
that this progression is not unique to the Hellenistic world the Apostle Paul
was living in. The progression from idolatry to sexual perversion to anarchy to
judgment is found throughout history. In
the times of Noah and Lot, there was the idolatry of greed, there was sexual
perversion and promiscuity, there was anarchy and violence, and finally there
was judgment. Throughout the history of the nation of Israel there was
idolatry, sexual perversion, anarchy (in which each person did what was right
in his own eyes), and finally judgment.
This
progression happened throughout the Bible
and to Greece, to Persia, to Babylon, and to Rome. And if it happened to these
nations, then it can happen today. Unless we return to God’s principles,
decline and destruction are inevitable.
Kerby Anderson is the
National Director of Probe Ministries International headquartered in Richardson,
TX. He received his B.S. from Oregon State University, M.F.S. from Yale University,
and M.A. from Georgetown University. He is the author of several books, is
a nationally syndicated columnist, and is the radio host of Probe, as well as a frequent guest host on Point
of View (USA Radio Network). Kerby can be reached via e-mail at kerby@probe.org.
