C.S. Hayden's Blog

A Gathering to Watch Parts 1-3 of Marshall Foster's "From Terror to Triumph"

Our family hosted a gathering for men and young men earlier this month to watch some of Marshall Foster's From Terror to Triumph video series. I was grateful to hear Dr. Foster speak in Boston last month at the Reformation 500 Celebration, as I am always encouraged by his vision, wisdom, and insights. His video series on the history of God's works in Western Civilization is a wonderful tool for discipleship and springboard for fruitful discussion.


Our family enjoyed hosting twelve men from our community for fellowship in Christ, rich discussion, intellectual stimulation and learning, and some delectable goodies prepared by my Mom and sisters.

Briefly, here are some notes from the lectures:

SESSION 1 - Introduction

• We live in a time of fear and terror, in which men are paralyzed and have no solutions for taking action.
• As Christians, we have been too concerned with one issue after another rather than with seeing a unified picture and coherent, big vision.
• Studying history has numerous benefits, and Churchill said, "The farther back you look, the farther forward you can see."
• Premise #1 in any study of history is that God is reconciling the world to Himself for His will to be done in time and on earth as it is in heaven and eternity.
• God has clearly revealed this strategy of reconciliation in Scripture, from beginning to end, as a bottom-up, generational, exponential, internal-to-external, family plan.
• Five principles of the strategy: 1) individuals must be redeemed; 2) God gives family dynasties to 1,000 generations; 3) the gates of hell will not prevail against the commissioned, victorious church; 4) legitimate civil government must be limited; 5) God's blessings flow from His people to bless all men through His common grace.
• There are really only two worldviews: Christianity and obedience vs. paganism and rebellion, the latter of which has resulted in various terrors throughout history. Our enemies cannot win, but Christians and the church are to blame for lack of obedience to God's commission.
  

• Historians refer to "the glory that was Greece" and "the magnificence of Rome," but when we focus on the internal rather than externals, we find that Rome was the culmination of ancient paganism.
• Rome was premised on the idea that mankind could produce without the one true God, and it produced greater terrors than the world had ever known.
• Rome got caught up in the five deadly sins of the ancient world: 1) human sacrifice, 2) tyranny and worship of leaders, 3) enslavement or execution of enemies, 4) rejection of God's law, and 5) persecution of believers. All of these evils have been present in every culture that has rejected God and His Word.
  
• Dr. Foster provided various examples of each "deadly sin" and concluded with a description of the downfall of Rome at the hands of Alaric I and the Visigoths. Christians at the time, including Church Fathers Ambrose and Jerome, thought the world was ending.
  

• An unstoppable army of liberation was quietly permeating the Roman world. Although just ordinary people, they were changing the world without money or power and in the face of tremendous opposition.
• The God of heaven has a plan for history, which will inevitably come to pass. We are called to remember and understand His mighty deeds in history.
• Dr. Foster recounted stories from Severus, Theodorus, Telemachus, the Theban Legion, Constantine, St. Augustine, St. Patrick, Columba, and St. Boniface, among others, whom God used mightily to advance the Kingdom and stand up against fierce opposition toward the faith.
• These faithful men and others were witnesses and testimonies of Gospel transformation.
• Theology is the determining factor in history. Our view of God determines our view of man, government, and living in freedom or slavery. Writings from men like Augustine show us the absolute sovereignty of God and lead us away from compromise with a power-mongering state.
  
• The Kingdom advanced mightily between 350 and 800 A.D., and this was a powerful time of Christ working, as Lord of all, to change the course of history and lay a foundation for His Kingdom through His people.

posted by C.S. Hayden @ 5:33 PM