A Christian Critique of Secular Progressivism

May 9, 2020 by Jill

by David Byrne, The Imaginative Conservative:

The end of history concept—the belief that there will be an endpoint to social, intellectual, and political progress—is a powerful idea that pervades modern-day secular thought. The spread of gay rights, the rise of universal government-run health insurance, and environmental awareness has hubristically led “progressive” secularists to describe a coming “Age of Enlightenment” when Americans recognize the “truth” of left-wing values. Modern secular progressives envision a day, an end of history, when their values triumph across the social and intellectual stratum, even in the most conservative bastions.

This idea that history moves in a predictable direction originates in Scripture. The Book of Isaiah is filled with prophecies about an end of days when a hegemonic Israel and its monotheistic values reign over a ruined Egypt. Old Testament prophet Daniel predicts Christ’s triumph and the millennium, influencing subsequent Christian authors, such as John who wrote the Book of Revelation. It interprets the end of history as a titanic struggle of good versus evil, ending with the utopian Reign of Saints. This, in turn, shaped the mind of the most important Christian philosopher to describe an end of history, St. Augustine.

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See also: In new biography, Benedict XVI laments modern ‘anti-Christian creed’, from Catholic News Agency

Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization—A Review, by Adam Wakeling, Quillette