The Best of Worlds

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 1:1-31

The Problem with Christian Utopias

I was asked the other day to give my utopic vision. What, as a Christian theonomist, do I believe would be the ‘perfect world’? And the problem with that question, given to me, is that my first answer must be ‘this one’.

Because ‘perfect’ has several rather different meanings. And under one of them, ‘this one’ is the right answer. How do I figure:

• This world was created by the All Knowing, All Wise, All Good God. Ergo he did a ‘good’ job. Indeed a ‘very good’ job. Indeed a ‘perfect’ job. Thus this world is ‘perfect’.

• However, obviously, this world doesn’t look ‘perfect’ to us. Which would imply either a fault in our vision, or a fault in the world. Or both.

• Ergo… we have a problem.

Or, perhaps, we have a conflict in the meanings of ‘good’ and ‘perfect’. Indeed, that conflict might even lead to the problem above!

The Problem of Evil

There is a famous ‘problem’ with theism, usually called something like ‘The Problem of Evil’. And it is pretty similar to the problem I posed above:

• Theism proposes that this world was created by the All Knowing, All Wise, All Good God. Ergo he did a ‘good’ job. Indeed a ‘very good’ job. Indeed a ‘perfect’ job. Thus this world is ‘perfect’.

• However, obviously, this world doesn’t look ‘perfect’ to us. We see things going on which we classify as ‘evil’.

• Ergo… Theism has a problem.

But there is a problem with the problem. It contradicts itself. It proposes that:

• There is a universal, objective, standard of good and evil.

• This world stands in violation of that standard.

But… the first premise is only admissible under Theism. You cannot have a universal, objective standard of good and evil under a non-theistic, materialistic, universe. Which reduces the argument to:

• There are things I like and don’t like.

• This world has a lot of things I don’t like in it.

Not such a powerful argument. Indeed, not an argument at all, just two statements of fact. In order to get back to the ‘Problem of Evil’ you have to be able to translate ‘things I like and things I don’t like’ into ‘things that are objectively evil’.

The Problem with Alternatives

Which brings me back to my problem with proposing utopias. I run the risk of saying, “The universe would be better if…”. In order to get around that problem, I am forced to fall back on an old religious standby: preaching.

In order to avoid saying, “The universe would be better if it was created differently.” I am forced to work within the context, “This is the best possible universe, what is my job within it?” And the obvious answer is, “Preach”. So all of my answers to the utipia question are going to be, “We should do this.” Not “God should do that.” I can propose that we pass good laws, because God has created a universe where do do pass laws. I can propose that we act in certain ways toward our parents or our spouse, because God has created a universe in which our actions are part of His plan, his design.

Indeed, He created a universe where we are commanded to ‘take dominion’. It is literally our job to take control of the Earth, and work on it. We have literally been given that job. When a parent hands a child a piece of paper and a box of crayons, colouring on the paper is literally part of the deal.

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Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!

Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.

If I don’t write you back it is almost certain that I didn’t see it, so please feel free to comment and link to your post. Or if you just think I would be interested in your post!

If you get lost, check out my ‘Table of Contents’ which I try to keep up to date.

Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books include:

The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid

The Bobtails and the Cousins

The Bobtails go to France

and

No Ordinary School

Arthur also has a substack, and a website.

Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,

Von

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