day no. 15,613: bet they didn't do the foundation like that

Hebrews 11:3

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Everything, strictly speaking, is made out of nothing. In the beginning, there was God and nothing else. And out of nothing (ex nihilo), God made everything. So underneath everything is nothing. Nothing possesses existence in itself. It is held together and continually upheld by the power of the Word of God.

Hebrews 1:1-3

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.

I recently heard Doug Wilson retell an anecdote regarding a visiting professor who was being driven around a campus where he was to speak, and in the course of the tour they went by the art museum. This museum was designed as an attempt to match the same kind of nihilism that they would hang on the walls inside — doors that didn’t open, staircases that didn’t reach the top, columns that didn’t go all the way. The visiting professor made a comment that went right to the heart of matter when he said, “I’ll bet they didn’t do the foundation like that.”

Firm foundations provide the opportunity to build sturdy structures or playful absurdities. But the chaos requires a consistent base if it wants to throw shade at consistency. The only way to be free to be haphazard is if someone else submits themselves to securing the cornerstone. 

Freedom of speech is not a value obtained by neutrality. It is built upon the bedrock of Christian dignity. You cannot have a world where people are free to say whatever they want by elevating a religion of believing whatever you want. Advocates of this version of universalism are notoriously intolerant of concrete statements of faith. Freedom of speech turns out in their economy only to be the freedom of certain speeches. Those taking advantage of their freedom to speak now do not realize that they have been afforded this privilege as a product of the Christian faith. The Christian bedrock makes the chaos possible. A world founded in chaos cannot have freedom from anything because it cannot stand on anything. A world built on mist is like a world that does not exist.

As we continue to attempt to recreate the world in our own image we are gradually spending the last few cents of our Christian inheritance still left in the bank. In violating the first commandment by seeking another God, we have naturally moved on to violating the second commandment by seeking to build a world better to our liking, one that better reflects our image and values. And this kind of thing cannot go on forever. And things that can't go on forever... won't. Insanity, as it turns out, doesn't work in the long run.