Thursday 25 August 2011

Stoicism in the Face of Poverty is Not Always Godly

A Facebook Friend of mine posted this on his Wall. I learned that poverty is judgment, and therefore a false-piety and stoicism in poverty is not godly, but rather it is a failure to take ethical responsibility for the cause of one's situation. Stoicism in the face of persecution is godly - but it isn't godly to tolerate poverty. The godly response is to deal with the cause! Demand prosperity!

"(James 5:7-9)-In Rushdoony's commentary regarding James' epistle, he writes: "Instability marks a time of judgment, and therefore in both vv. 7 and 8 patience is urged. James knows that living in an age of crisis is painfully difficult. His letter never deludes us into thinking that it is an easy thing to go through times of upheaval and judgment. We are never told that a pseudo-piety can enable ...us to survive like Stoics in a time of destruction. Jeremiah's Lamentations, for one, militates against the idea that Stoicism is Godly.
James urges patience because the conclusion of God's judgments is good, however painful. In a sinful world, God's judgments are necessary, and they are, in their conclusions, a blessing. Patience means that our perspective is not existential but providential. We know by God's grace His purposes for His Kingdom, for history, and for us. Patience can be a mark of grace, a trust in God's purposes, and a knowledge that "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).

Patience means recognizing that there can be no peace without judgment. Peace without justice would be no more than hell, an unchanging and everlasting state of evil. History is a series of judgments to prepare the way for the new creation. However difficult and painful, these judgments are to be welcomed." ~ Rousas John Rushdoony, Hebrews, James and Jude: Judgment, p. 196-197

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