The Enlightenment and the Dismantling of the Foundations of Truth

Christians may feel blindsided by the rapid changes occurring in the world. Especially with the rapid loss of the Christian consensus and the West’s rapid return to paganism.

If you feel lost, wondering how the ground has been pulled out beneath us, can I suggest that you pick up a book by Francis Schaeffer?

One of the helpful skills that Schaeffer had, was his ability to trace the trajectory of the decline of Christianity (and the West) from the Renaissance, through the Enlightenment and arrive at the chaotic reality that are experiencing today.

Schaeffer gave his most exhausting teaching on this subject in his book “The God Who is There.” His explanation of the shift in truth is vitally important for Christians to understand. 

The period of, and prior to, the Renaissance understood truth to be found in antithesis. This was borne out of the Christian consensus that God objectively exists, in contrast to the antithesis of his nonexistence. There was a general agreement that truth stemmed from the objective basis of God’s existence and his divine revelation that “Position A ≠ Position B.”

For Example:

• Creator ≠ Creation
• Righteousness ≠  Evil
• Mankind ≠ Animal
• Male ≠ Female
• Marriage ≠ Non Marriage

This lofty view of God as the ultimate truth is manifested visibly in the artwork of the Renaissance (i.e., “The Creation of Adam” painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo). 

However, the foundations of truth began to be dismantled during the Enlightenment, as man lowered his eyes from God, and endeavoured to build a framework for truth that began with Man (i.e., Humanism).

The man who opened the door to the new framework of truth was Hegel, who stated philosophically, the worldview arising from Humanism. Hegel shifted the foundations of truth from Antithesis to Synthesis.

For Example:

• Position A >> Position C << Position C
• Creator >> Man is creator  << Non Creator
• Mankind >> Man is an animal << Animal
• Male >> Male can be Female << Female
• Marriage >> They love each other so marriage is not important << Non Marriage

This new way of obtaining truth has dominated the landscape for the last 250 years. The world has been disciple by Hegel, and their method of obtaining truth is Hegelian synthesis.

Notice the truth that arises from the synthesis always falls in the category of what we would consider “progressive.” Hegelian Synthesis never arrives at a more conservative position. Our neighbours, and many Christians, are likely more influenced by Hegel than they are by Christ. 

Schaffer states that this way of thinking is “crucial to Marxism.” This sentiment is echoed by James Lindsay who states that “Hegelian Dialectic” is the operating system of Marxism. Each turn of the Dialectic dismantles the Christian consensus, creating chaos, and therefore requires some form of authoritarianism to fill the void.

Note Schaeffer’s accuracy as he notes the effects of Hegelian Synthesis on the male/female relation:

Philosophic Homosexuality

Some forms of homosexuality today are of a similar nature, in that they are not just homosexuality but a philosophic expression. One must have an understanding for the real homophile’s problem. But much of modern homosexuality is an expression of the current denial of antithesis. It has led in this case to an obliteration of the distinction between man and woman.

So the male and the female as complementary partners are finished. This is a form of homosexuality that is a part of the movement below the line of despair. In much of modern thinking, all antithesis and all the order of God’s creation is to be fought against—including the male-female distinctions. The pressure toward unisex is largely rooted here. But this is not an isolated problem; it is a part of the world spirit of the generation surrounding us. It is imperative that Christians realize the conclusions which are being drawn as a result of the death of absolutes.

Schaeffer’s answer to the new Hegelian framework is to boldly assert truth in terms of antithesis. If there is no truth, there is no hope! Truth based on synthesis is ultimately not truth, because it is not based on the objective reality of God. Christians are not foolish and know that false hope cannot be manufactured.

If ultimate truth does not exist, the answer is not Hegelian synthesis, rather it is despair, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32) This despair is what the world is endeavouring to forget as they create a new framework for truth. Schaeffer says that Christianity demands antithesis. If we become involved in framing truth in synthesis, we will become irrelevant.

Practically, this means that Christians are to live uncompromising lives in matters in which God has spoken.

Schaeffer states, “To fail to exhibit that we take truth seriously at those points where there is a cost in our doing so, is to push the next generation into the relative, dialectical millstream that surrounds us.”

We are God’s people, and we dishonour God if we operate on the new framework of truth. Christians conform to the greatest truth, that God exists as opposed to his not-existing. Practically speaking, we do not compromise when the truth is on the line!