WHEN A NATION FORGETS GOD
A kind soul dropped a copy of this book by Erwin W. Lutzer, When a Nation Forgets God into my compound recently. This book was first published in 2010, but I think that it is more relevant these days than it was even then, and it gave real purpose to my Christmas reading. Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of a Chicago Church, compares what is happening now in America, with what happened when Hitler seduced Germany into following his Nazi propaganda. This awful doctrine led to World War II and the death of millions of people.
One of the most frightening instances of the seduction of Nazism is the eye- witness account of how some members of the church reacted to the Nazism of their times:
‘I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it?
A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!
Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us.
We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.
Years have passed and no one talks about it any more. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did nothing to intervene’ (p. 21-22)
This is a must-read for my loyal thinking readers. It addresses such topics as State Responsibility for a Child’s Training, The Separation of GOD From Government, How Propaganda Can Change a Nation and other questions pertinent to today’s world. This book is about $15 from Koorong, just phone (02) 6584 4977 to order. Also available as an e-book
Gibber! Gibber!
Chugley
The Deeply Disturbed Chimp
4 thoughts on “WHEN A NATION FORGETS GOD”
What an awful dilemma for those bewildered Christians, knowing what was happening in the train passing by, and (sinfully??) ignoring the desperate needs of those doomed Jews.
I wonder what good they could’ve done anyway, apart from praying?
Yes, indeed Paul. You humans do seem to get into awful situations all too often when you individually, or corporately, ignore God. I am thankful I have time to study such matters. Gibber! Gibber! Chugley PS: On the subject of what could they do, I have found several accounts of how the brave actions of a single convinced person caused mighty changes for the better….
G’day Chugley. As a simple soul, I can trace the slow decline in the spiritual and moral belief of our Australian nation. I found some wise words that seem to ring true with where we are as a nation today. I quote; “In 1887
Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at
the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about
the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years
prior: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it
simply cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. A democracy will continue to exist up
until the time that voters discover that they can
vote themselves generous gifts from the public
treasury. From that moment on, the majority always
votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that every
democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal
policy, (which is) always followed by
a dictatorship.”
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of
history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.” Sound familiar ???
Profound comment Milton! Chuck Missler would approve, one of his favourite quotes! Gibber! Gibber! Chugley
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