Dear Alumni,
Last week I did what many of you would love to do, I am
sure: teach in Calvin's Geneva, in Calvin's language! I was
invited as the plenary speaker at a conference at the Geneva
Bible Institute. It was a great honor for me, and set me to
thinking.
On an afternoon off from my lectures, I went with a number of
French and Swiss pastors to visit Le Mur de la Reformation.
This beautifully sculptured wall, 18 feet high and 300 feet
long, situated in a majestic park right in the center of Geneva,
Switzerland, constitutes an impressive monument to the Swiss
Reformation of the 16th century. At the centre of the wall are
four massive statues of Farel, Calvin, Beza and Knox. Behind
them in letters six feet tall is the motto of the Franco-Swiss
Reformation: "Post Tenebras Lux" (After darkness, light),
referring to the coming of the Gospel and the revival of true
faith after centuries of medieval obscurity. Certainly, that old
Geneva was not heaven on earth, but it still stands as an
inspiring example of the revival of biblical faith and piety in
both private and public life.
This striking monument cannot hide the fact that there is a
new darkness over Geneva, though long in preparation.
Two hundred years after Calvin, the Swiss Romantic
anti-Christian philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778),
said correctly of the Venerable Company of Pastors of the Geneva
of his day: "We neither know what they believe or what they do
not believe. We do not even know what they pretend to believe."
He was referring to the disarray of sound doctrine already
evident in the 18th century. In the twenty-first century a new,
twofold expression of spiritual obscurity hovers over the church
and the culture.
On the one hand, the historic church, with its commitment to
liberal theology, has lost its Gospel light and has adopted the
message of religious syncretism. Two years ago the Dalai Lama
gave an address at Saint Peter's Cathedral where Calvin preached
for most of his ministry.
On the other hand, the forces of paganism have taken over the
culture. Having rejected its Christian past, the country is
engaged in a radical overhaul of its basic beliefs, typified by
the head of state who is an openly-practicing homosexual who
appears at state functions with his lover.
A symbolic event that took place a few months ago in front of
the Wall of the Reformation hit me with force. One of the
pastors attending my lectures was there and described it to me--
gay parade numbering in the thousands, with gays and lesbians
dancing wildly to tom tom drums in provocative states of dress
and undress, giving an obvious finger of "deformation" and
perversion to Geneva's spiritual past.
Two things remain with me:
1. One more time, I made the discovery that the subject of
which I speak—neo-paganism—seems to be a common problem wherever
I go. Pagan spirituality is on the rise, remaking modern
culture, in the name of freedom and democracy, but in fact, in
the power and inspiration of religious paganism, of which the
gay parade has deep iconic power.
2. We are told that we are going forward to a new, global
utopia of sexual and spiritual liberation. Of gay parades,
Christian de la Huerta of the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, states: "the wild mix of: go-go boys, topless lesbians
and endless other sexual variations, all throbbing to tribal
drumbeats" actually constitute not a sin but "a gift, a blessing,
a privilege and a sacred service. Queer people often
function as catalysts, acting as agents of change, supporting
the advancement of society."
In fact, our thinking about social "progress" and
"advancement" is taking us backwards! We are "Coming Home," as
the title of a recent pagan book affirms, home to the ancient
pagan world of anything goes sexuality and monistic
spirituality. Rewind the tape.
St. Augustine, in the fifth century, in the last gasps of the
decadent Roman Empire, mentions parades "in the presence of an
immense throng of spectators and listeners of both sexes" of
obscene actors who role-played disgusting acts, joined by the
public display of homosexual priests, galloi, priests of
the Goddess, known for their cross-dressing, outrageous make-up,
flamboyant hairstyles, ritual ecstatic dancing, and the gift of
prophecy.
Radical pagan feminists go back, too. For them, the future
belongs to the worship of this same deity, as they await the
"Second Coming of the Goddess." "It may be," they say, "that
Sophia is about to be discerned in much the same way
[emphasis mine] as she was in first century Alexandria: as a
beacon to Christians, Jews, Gnostics and Pagans alike."
If there is nothing really new, then great is the likelihood
that the much-desired utopian world system will not look very
different from the polytheistic empires of old. Now that's a
scary thought! It becomes more and more obvious to me that the
basic conflict is still between biblical theism and pagan
monism—as both Kuyper and Machen recognized. The real struggle
is not between "the old-fashioned/out-of-date" and "the exciting
new," but between two "timeless" ways of being spiritual. One
either opts for "the truth" or one opts for "the lie." One
either "worships the creation" or one "worships the Creator," as
Paul, in the darkness of pagan, first century Rome, so clearly
puts it (Romans 1:25). How odd! Modern Geneva looks more and
more like ancient Rome, but so does New York and San Francisco,
and many places in between.
As we have just passed Reformation Day, it is good to
remember that the courageous declaration of the original lux
of the Gospel, that light that dissipated the tenebras of
ancient Rome and 16th century Geneva, is surely also the only
answer to the growing pagan darkness over our sophisticated
twenty-first century planet.
May the Lord renew your resolve to preach the whole counsel
of God with the faithfulness and courage of Calvin, Farel, Beza
and Knox. Though I cannot promise you a statue on an impressive
wall somewhere, and I cannot even promise you a rose garden, I
can assure you that one day the risen Lord will utter words
which will never cease to echo down the halls of eternity: "Well
done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a
little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your
master" (Matthew 25:23).
Sincerely, in joyful anticipation,
Peter Jones
Scholar in Residence and Adjunct Professor of New Testament
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