The Mistake of Liberalism

There are nearly as many definitions of Liberalism and Modernism as there are forms of propaganda in the wide world. As the Church uses these terms, however, they may be roughly defined as follows:

Liberalism: The belief that the human person is the ultimate source of freedom and goodness, and so must be emancipated not only from restrictive political and social systems but from the Church, religion and even God Himself. Thus liberalism is above all a spiritual rebellion that is almost inevitably combined with Modernism.

Modernism: The belief that human culture, as the lens through which reality is generally perceived, is actually determinative of truth, such that all convictions must be adapted to satisfy the values of contemporary culture. In practice, this will always be the dominant culture, that is, the fashionable culture of the elites who have the greatest power to form public opinion.

Perhaps the most obvious thing about the combination of these two terms is the following paradox: Once liberals begin to regard human emancipation in terms of Modernism, they necessarily embrace regulatory and even totalitarian political mechanisms to ensure that everyone is properly “liberated”. The State becomes the surrogate for God, but unlike God, the State does not respect human freedom. ~ Dr. Jeff Mirus, In a nutshell: Liberalism and Modernism

The mistake of Liberalism is the idea that we have individual rights. We do not. We have human rights based on God’s Creation ordinances (Genesis 1-3) and the positive affirmations of the Ten Commandments.

Commandments #1-3. The right to worship the one true God and revere His name as holy

Commandment #4. The right to rest on the Sabbath and freedom from perpetual bondage and slavery

Commandment #5. The right to bear and raise children to respect God and parents

Commandment #6. The right to life

Commandment #7. The right to be married to one spouse of the opposite sex and preserve the sanctity of marriage

Commandment #8. The right to get wealth and property, the right to work

Commandment #9. All rights pertaining to a fair trial when accused of sin (church) or a crime (civil).

Commandment #10. The right to work in the pursuit of property lawfully without being subject to guile or conspiracy (not just the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of property).

Thus all human rights are Law related. In turn, all biblical laws are based on one of the Creation ordinances — the first principles.