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The apostle Paul warns, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).  By “spoil” Paul means:  as when in war the spoils belong to the victor who takes what formerly belonged to his enemy.  In this passage, false ideas or doctrines can “take one captive” so that he/she is brought under the control of those false ideas.  Philosophy refers to the many various ideas that constitute the wisdom of this world.  Vain deceit is worthless lies.  The traditions of men are doctrines or concepts of men that have their origin in the minds of men as contrasted to the mind of God.  They become perilous to the soul whenever they contradict God’s Word or set at nought God’s Word.  The rudiments of the world refers to delusive speculations of Gentiles and Jewish theories or myths treated as elementary principles upon which a world view or philosophy of life may be based.  False ideologies are behind the social problems directly affecting marriage and the home today.  These false ideologies are creating conflict, social upheaval, social change, division, strife, agitation and destruction.  Let’s examine some of them.
The General Theory of Evolution
The General Theory of Evolution relates to biological evolution.  The theory of evolution involves: cosmic evolution, chemical evolution, and biological evolution.  The General Theory of Evolution is, “All living matter as we know it today had its origin from one primitive source.  From this spontaneously produced source, probably originating in the primeval ocean water from a combination of existing molecules and atoms, life began–and through eons of time, changes in this life form took place in a progressive manner.  From unicellular life came the more complicated invertebrate life, and from this, vertebrate life.  Finally, primitive man made his appearance and evolved into the human species of today.  (Bert Thompson, “Evolution as a Threat to the Christian Home”, in The Home As God Would Have It And Contemporary Attacks Against It, p. 276).  The General Theory of Evolution is a naturalistic explanation for the origins of human beings.  God is completely left out.  This would have profound effects on our own understanding of what it means to be human.  Human beings would be nothing but a higher form of animals.  They would not possess a soul (immortal aspect to their being) and would not be dualistic in their make-up (body and soul).  This would destroy the basis for morality.  Absolutely, anything would be permissible.  This would lead to a re-definition of marriage and the family (which is happening in our present culture).  The General Theory of Evolution and its cousin Theistic Evolution would destroy the very foundations of the home as God would have it.   Belief in God and His holy Word would be supplanted with secular humanism and the deification of man.
The Political/Social Theory of Communism
The General Theory of Evolution and Communism are both atheistic philosophies.  Karl Marx wrote, regarding Darwin’s Origin of the Species: “Darwin’s book is very important and serves me as a basis in natural history for a class struggle in history.  Not only is it a death blow here for the first time to teleology in the natural sciences, but their rational meaning is emphatically explained.” In fact, Marx wanted to dedicate his book, Das Kapital to Darwin, but Darwin declined the offer, fearing family objections.  Thus, Darwin gave considerable impetus to Communism, and today evolution is the official teaching of the Communist party in regard to origins” (Ibid, Thompson, p. 286). Communism is a political, social, and economic theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to his/her abilities and needs (Oxford Languages). Communism attacks religion and is a serious threat to religious freedom.  True religion is the basis of the Christian home.  Communists hold that man has no soul and no conscience.  Communism affirms materialism, totalitarianism, and socialism.   America is being infiltrated by communist philosophy through Cultural Marxism (see my book review of the Red Trojan Horse). One of the significant tenets of Cultural Marxism is relativity.  This false idea affirms that truth is not objective, but is subjective. The notion of relativity means that one can create his/her own reality while at the same time denying the objective truth of God’s word.   This has given rise to new definitions for marriage and the home.  Marriage is no longer defined as a monogamous, heterosexual relationship between a man and a woman.  The definition of marriage is much more fluid.  Also, the home is being redefined.  The concept of the nuclear family (Dad, Mom and the children) is being replaced with a much more fluid concept involving same sex relationships and transgendered relationships.
Feminism 
The National Organization for Women (NOW) in the booklet: The Document: Declaration of Feminism states: “Heterosexual relationships are by their very nature oppressive to women in a male dominated society.  In Western society sexual roles are defined for the benefit of men.  The woman is treated as a sexual object, a thing which exists for the gratification of the man to ensure his physical comfort and his sexual pleasure.  In the eyes of men this is a woman’s place—for Eve was created of Adam’s rib—or so the story goes” (Nancy Lehman and Helen Sullinger, The Document: Declaration of Feminism, p. 8).  Betty Friedan sees the role of the modern housewife as a “sickness, a disease…And most women can no longer use their full strength, grow to their full human capacity, as housewives” (Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, p. 305).  This type of feminism attacks marriage (heterosexual relationships) and the home (women who love their children and their husbands) as God would have it (Matt. 19:1-9; Titus 2:1-5). Feminism has given us abortion, no-fault divorce, and destruction of male spiritual leadership in the home and the church (attack on patriarchy).  More recently, feminists have led in the separation of sex from gender which has produced gender fluidity and advanced both homosexuality and transgendered identities.  The idea that gender can be separated from one’s sex is the result of cultural relativism which advances the notion that gender is a social construct and not tied to one’s biological makeup.  Marriage has been redefined to include both homosexuals and the transgendered.
Hedonism
Hedonism is basically the love of pleasure.  The love of pleasure is condemned in God’s Word (II Tim. 3:1-5). Hedonism is behind the sexual revolution.  Hedonism involves the unrestricted indulgence of the lusts of the flesh.  Sexual relationships outside of the marriage relationship are forbidden by God and constitute fornication (Gal. 5:19-20).  Promiscuity in sexual relationships has produced “fatherless homes.”  The absence of the father in the home has significant consequences.  More women and children are living in poverty as a result. Government programs have expanded to help with shelter, food, medical assistance, counseling, and other needs.  With government assistance comes government control.  Promiscuity has produced an epidemic in sexually transmitted diseases.  Promiscuity has contributed to “unwanted pregnancies” where abortion is seen as a remedy and so abortions have taken the lives of more than 62 million unborn children since 1973 (FoxNews, Jan. 2021).  Promiscuity has contributed to a lack of respect for Christian values and so the secularization of America.  This was a primary goal of those who desired to uproot Christian moral values and replace them with hedonism as a way of undermining Western Culture and replace it with communism (a goal of Cultural Marxists: for example Herbert Marcuse.  Consider his work: Eros and Civilization written in 1955).  Pornography would have to be included in this study of the influence of hedonism on the home.  Pornography is a multi-billion dollar business in the world today.  Pornography is “the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writings) intended to cause sexual excitement.” Carl Trueman in the Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, writes, “Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties.  It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other.  It does great injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public) since each becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others.  It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world.  It is a grave offense. It is rightly called a deathwork, “an all-out assault upon something vital to the established culture”(Rieff).  A deathwork is an attack on established cultural art forms in a manner designed to undo the deeper moral structure of society.  Pornography is an attack on marriage and exploits the sacred intimacy reserved for marriage alone and objectifies it and merchandizes it” (Trueman, pp. 96-97).
Secular Humanism
Secular Humanism is the belief that man has within himself sufficient resources to solve his problems without help from a supernatural power or person.  It involves supplanting God with self and so the deification of self.  Secular Humanism was formalized in two documents:  Humanist Manifesto I and Humanist Manifesto II (both of which express communist ideology).  These documents deny the existence of  God and denigrate true religion. They deny the existence of the human soul affirming that science discredits the “ghost in the machine or the “separable soul.”   They affirm that science believes that the human species is an emergence from natural evolutionary forces (Pat McGee, “Humanism As A Threat To Christian Marriages”, in The Home as God Would Have It and Contemporary Attacks Against It, p. 324). McGee rightly states that humanism has infiltrated America’s educational system, religious institutions, mass media, homes, and even some churches of Christ.  As secular humanism increases, the home in America decreases and suffers from its destructive forces.  When you destroy the sacred order, you also destroy the social order.  The home is the basic element of the fabric of society.  To change the home means that society will change.  Who can deny that Americans are facing the strong currents of social engineering that threaten to destroy the home as God would have it and replace it with a humanist constructed entity not worthy of the descriptive term “home.”  The result is a chaotic, unstable society that cannot hold together.
McGee states, “The first home was established by God and is, therefore a divine institution.  It is the basic social unit in all the world and in every society.  To lose the home is to eventually lose the country” (Ibid. 313).  While we are living in threatening times, Christians know the God in whom they believe is a rock, resource, strength, shelter and force that cannot be overthrown.  God’s Word is truth.  With God and His truth, we ourselves can triumph over the forces of evil that will consume others who do not believe in God nor trust in His Word.  Christians must stand strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!