The Conspiracy of Unbelief

The heart of humanism is the rejection of God's rule over the earth. The most obvious symptom of humanism is the rejection of predestination by God.

Predestination by Man

No one rejects predestination. The humanist does not reject predestination; rather he works very hard to bring the future to pass: the future that he desires. He insists that man must predestine the future. He manipulates, and controls, and passes laws, and works very hard. But he comes to disillusionment and despair, because God does not relinquish control. As an illustration, Karl Popper has pointed out, all the socialistic models for the future fail, because no one can predict scientific invention, and new inventions make all social models irrelevant. God has simply placed the future in His Own hands, and only He can tell what it will be.

Predestination by Science

At one end of the humanist predestinarian landscape is the scientist who seeks to control the future by controlling evolution. The brave new world comes in by genetic engineering, or birth control. Others think to control the future by scientific manipulation of the money supply.

Predestination by Chance

Somewhere in the middle of the landscape is the one who denies everything but chance. Things just happened by chance until man arrived on the scene. Since then, man might do a tiny bit here or there to influence the future in a small way, but the gods of chance rule all. The future will come if it comes, and will be what it will be.

Predestination by Conspiracy

At the far other end of the humanist landscape are the various conspiratorial theories. Men first abandon faith in God; then they begin to abandon humanist ideas of the goodness of man and his control of his own destiny. The loss of faith in God results in loss of faith in man. Many then fall farther and farther into the black hole of conspiracy theories. The world is in control of evil groups who work to bring the future to pass. It is the Jews; or the Muslims; or British Imperialists; or Marxists; or Tri-Lateralists; or Catholics (Roman variety); or the Council on Foreign Relations; Internationalists; One-Worlders; Freemasons; Free-Traders; Corporations; New Agers, the NEA, etc. The list never stops, but one theme runs through: man and his destiny are under the control of an elite of totally depraved men, for depravity only applies to these evil ones, not to "common" people.

Implicit Devil Worship

The logical result is devil-worship, for Satan is given the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for he is in control of all things. Whatever god is allowed into the system is a remote God, who we hope someday will intervene and put things to rights after we have proved our faith by fighting the devil all our lives.

There is no doubt that wicked men conspire against God and against His people. Man would pluck God from His throne if they were able. But there is no end of studying conspiracies, and it is all futile and unnecessary. Luther's famous hymn expresses the faith of the church, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," which was inspired by Psalm 91:2: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

Let God Be Your Fear

"Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy [Hebrew: conspiracy], to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; nether fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." (Isaiah 8:10-13)

The Triune God Alone Controls and Brings the Future to Pass

"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." --Isaiah 46:9,10.

In this passage the will (counsel/pleasure) of God is linked to His foreknowledge. God knows the future because He wills the future. It is not that He has some some cosmic crystal ball that permits Him to see into the future. God is the only Being like Himself. He knows the future because He has complete control of the universe that He made. It is His will that will stand. It is His pleasure that will be done in the earth. Man's only question is this: Will I delight in the will and pleasure of God as it is revealed in Jesus Christ, or will I seek my own pleasure in defiance of Him. Either way my future is not in doubt. God has made His pleasure perfectly clear.