Wars and Rumors of Wars

Fourth Quarter 1999

Editor's Watch

by James W. Skillen

December 31st will mark the end of 1999, not the end of the world. Humans, not calendars, make history. Yet the human longing for fulfillment—for an end to history as we know it—endures because that is the way God made us. We feel it in our bones. Something is wrong when children by the millions die of hunger and malnutrition, when wars and rumors of war continue unabated, when life is reduced to nothing more than work and leisure, followed by retirement, followed by death. God created us for more than this. How then shall we make sense of history as we look forward to seeing the Lord's glory fill the earth? We must not overlook the evil that destroys life, but neither should we overlook God's good news and promises revealed in Jesus Christ.

In this issue, Alan Storkey and Alice-Catherine Carls add further commentary on the war and "peace" in Kosovo (pp. 8-9), following last quarter's issue dedicated entirely to that subject. Also included are excerpts from Dr. Bob Goudzwaard's 1999 Kuyper Lecture (pp. 6-7) in which he tries to cut through both the deification and the demonization of global economic and technological developments. Carl Esbeck and Charles Glenn focus on domestic battlegrounds where legal and cultural "wars" are being fought over the interpretation of the First Amendment and faith-based schooling (pp. 3-5). Recently published articles by two of the Center's staff members, Stanley Carlson-Thies and James Skillen, also deal with these questions (p. 12).

For these and other domestic and international affairs we need wisdom—political wisdom and not merely passionate commitment to a cause. We need biblical insight in order to understand what kinds of "wars" are being fought and how (or even whether) we ought to engage in battle. A new study of Ecclesiastes by Craig Bartholomew and a new commentary on Proverbs by Raymond Van Leeuwen can help in this regard (p. 11) as can Roy Clouser's book on religious faith (p. 10). As this issue of the Public Justice Report indicates, life goes on both in darkness and in light, both in despair and in hope. Biblical wisdom offers guidance along our earthly path, showing us how to confront the darkness without collapsing into cynicism and despair, showing how to hold onto God in hope without falling prey to a foolish optimism that ignores evil.

Confusion and uncertainty abound on the earth today. No wonder there are wars and rumors of war. No wonder many are speculating about the millennial turning point. While there are no simple answers or magic bullets, there are the promises of God: the promise to give wisdom beyond human wisdom, to turn us from hatred toward love, to show us how to save our lives by giving them up freely in the service of Jesus Christ. This good news is filled with political implications for life on earth, for as long as God continues to direct history toward the Day of the Lord.