Liberalism as Worldview and Competing Gospel

"It is in this sense that we must appreciate the way that liberalism is a worldview and therefore fundamentally religious (or theological1) – and therefore a gospel competing with the gospel of Christ. John Owen is helpfully forthright in describing liberalism in these terms: ‘Liberalism is first a worldview, a set of fundamental categories through which individuals understand themselves and the world. It thus shapes individuals’ conceptions of their identities and interests by telling them of what human nature and the good consist’ (John Owen IV, Liberal Peace, Liberal War [Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997], 19)."


James K.A. Smith, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy, p. 250

Securing the Infinite Demand for Happiness

"The nation-state replaces the holy church and the holy empire as the centerpiece in the post-Enlightenment ordering of society. Upon it devolves the duty of providing the means for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And since the pursuit of happiness is endless, the demands upon the state are without limit. If - for modern Western peoples - nature has taken the place of God as the ultimate reality with which we have to deal, the nation-state has taken the place of God as the source to which we look for happiness, health, and welfare."


Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks, p. 27