8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Christians need a truly Biblical idea of cultural dominion, April 3, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Impulse of Power: Formative Ideals of Western Civilization (Paperback)
Although the work cites R. J. Rushdoony but twice and Cornelius Van Til not at all, the author is clearly operating within the ambit of a Calvinistic presuppositionalism, including the recognition of the necessity of the cultural mandate to be effected according to explicit Scriptural teaching.
Kelley posits the roots of Western civilization in the Homeric and Platonic world of ancient Greece, but unlike many Christians and previous generations and today will brook no compromise with this Òenlightenment paganismÓ as a valid expression of culture. He shrewdly observes that todayŐs increasing calls for a return to the medieval synthesis of Christian and classical civilization is misdirected: ÒShould we accept the argument of those who wish to restore the displaced ideals represented by the medieval synthesis of Christianity and Humanism? Can such salvage operations succeed? Is it possible to remake Western civilization on the same basis from which it first sprang up? If so, why should one accept that it will turn out better the second time?Ó KelleyŐs answer is unequivocal: ÒThere are but two options available: that which comes from God and His revealed Word, or that which arises from manŐs sin-darkened imaginationÓ (pp. 16-17).
In what is surely one of the most valuable features of the book, Kelley outlines the origin of ecclesiocentrismÑthe notion that the institutional church should govern and dominate all of life. Like others before him, he recognizes that the idea of the church in the West was patterned largely after imperial Rome and that, therefore, its origin is not Biblical but pagan (p. 116). In addition, however, Kelley discloses that this imperial institutionalization of the church is essentially an ideology of power. The architects of patristic and medieval ecclesiocentricism were interested in employing the church as an instrument in giving meaning to life. Not so much God and the Bible, but the institutional church itself, furnished lifeŐs meaning. God and his word were remote and proximate, while the church was near and immediate.
In his chapters dealing successively with the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Romanticism, Kelley addresses the Ònew paganism,Ó the revival of ancient, pagan Greek ideas. Contrary to a great deal of scholarly opinion, the author correctly observes that the Renaissance was not merely instrumental, that is, it was not merely about the recovery of ancient texts, cogent rhetoric, and new methods of scholarly investigation. Rather, its impulse was deeply pagan, and, in particular, its program was driven by a lust for elitist political power.
After discussing the dangers of medieval scholasticism, Kelley concludes by arguing that each of the following phasesÑancient Greek, medieval monastic, medieval scholastic, medieval ecclesiocentric, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and RomanticismÑconstitutes a decisive deviation from Biblical Christianity, and the only hope for establishing Christian culture lies not in restoring some version of a discredited pagan or synthetic culture of the past, but in building our culture squarely on the written word of God, the Bible. Man is an inherently dominion being, and therefore the dominion commission is inescapable. The only question is whether man will exercise dominion in terms of the Bible, or in terms of his own depraved ideas. Thus far, Òit was possible to conclude that manŐs impulse to power, i. e., the urge to form culture has given shape to a cultural product that bears more the stamp of man, the covenant-breaker, than man, the covenant-keeperÓ (p. 309). ManŐs only hope for cultural reclamation is explicitly Biblical Christian culture.
To Christians interested in restoring Christian culture, this is an invaluable work.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An analysis of Western man's guiding presuppositions., April 18, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Impulse of Power: Formative Ideals of Western Civilization (Paperback)
After having had the pleasure of reading Dr. Michael W. Kelley's two previous works, On Stone or Sand, the Ethics of Christianity, Capitalism & Socialism and The Burden of God: Studies in Wisdom and Civilization from the Book of Ecclesiates, I eagerly awaited the publication of this present volume. I was not disappointed. Dr. Kelley has emerged as a scholar par excellence. In this present work, Dr. Kelley demonstrates his comprehensive knowledge of the philosophy and history of Western Civilization. Of noteworthy value is Dr. Kelley's examination of the enormous influence Greek philosophy, particularly Plato's, has had on Western man's view of government: ran by an elite group of philosopher wise-men or experts with its oftentimes accompanying tyranny. His analysis of Christianity's unique contribution to Western Civilization, both positive as a moral force and negative when infused with pagan ideas, is particularly notable. Man has been accurately described as incurably religious, or a religious creature. Consequently, it is not a question of whether mankind will be religious; it is the question of which religion will man follow. Similarly, Dr. Kelley argues "that man has a natural-born `impulse' to power" (308). In other words, basic to man's created nature, man among other things is destined to be a cultural-creature. It then becomes a conflict between which religion will inspire man's "impulse" to build culture. Will mankind self-consciously attempt to build culture upon his own ideas (humanism) or upon the revelation of God in Scripture? Dr. Kelley in this most excellent elucidation of Western Civilization and its formative ideas challenges the adherents of Christianity to build culture with consistency and faithfulness to its covenantal presuppositions in the areas of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics with the goal of fulfilling God's ordained purposes in history.
Jack Kettler
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Traces the mindsets that has shaped Western Civilization, June 10, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Impulse of Power: Formative Ideals of Western Civilization (Paperback)
This book is supurb for anyone wondering; how Western Civilization got to where it is, what influence Homer and the Philosphers had, & how the elite use ideology to shape mindsets and protect their absolute power. Bravo! A wonderful read!
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