April 1, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Revolution is spreading across the Middle East. What was ignited in Tunisia spread to Egypt and jumped into Libya. It is hard to tell where the flame of revolution will spread next.
Something of this modern experience must reflect the political and social unrest that marked the period of America’s Revolutionary War. By January 1775 a war between Britain and the American colonies was foreseeable. At this point Britain had responded to the Boston Tea Party by further hiking taxes in 1774, and in two months Patrick Henry would deliver his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. One month after the speech the American colonists and the British would clash at Lexington and Concord.
So was the turmoil just about taxation without representation, or was there something larger behind the revolution?
In a letter to his friend Lord Dartmouth dated January 20, 1775, Newton offers a deeper and more theological explanation for the coming war when he writes,
When historians and politicians descant upon the rise and fall of empires, with all their professed sagacity, in tracing the connection between causes and effects, they are totally unacquainted with the great master-wheel which manages the whole movement; that is, the Lord’s design in favor of his church and kingdom. To this every event is subordinate; to this every interfering interest must stoop.
A little later he writes:
And I doubt not but some who are yet unborn will hereafter clearly see and remark, that the present unhappy disputes between Great Britain and America, with their consequences, whatever they may be, are part of a series of events, of which the extension and interests of the church of Christ were the principal final causes. In a word, that Jesus may be known, trusted, and adored, and sinners, by the power of his Gospel, be rescued from sin and Satan, is the one great business, for the sake of which the succession of day and night, summer and winter, is still maintained; and when the plan of redemption is consummated, sin, which now almost fills the earth, will then set it on fire.
In other words, God’s plan for human history (namely the spread of the gospel) will be consummated when Christ returns and this present creation is dissolved in a roar and made gloriously new. Until then, God continues working, committed to his purpose of building his church and spreading the gospel throughout the world.
Now, does this mean that members of the visible church on earth cannot be harmed in revolution? No.
Does this mean there are no sins on display in warfare? No. In fact Newton would write that war is the result of national sin and personal selfish ambition.
Does this mean that the church should seek to advance and grow through politics? Not according to Newton. He strongly urged Christians not to become heavily involved in politics except on the rare occasion that such a Christian was in a position of influence (William Wilberforce being a prime example).
Yet behind the revolution in his own time, Newton saw God’s work. He would likely agree with a modern theologian who writes, “Even now Christ reigns secretly and invisibly over all empires and nations for the ultimate purpose of building his church” (see Ephesians 1:15-23).* Newton was quick to remember this when the fire of revolution was ignited in the Revolutionary War.
Newton viewed revolutions from a God-centered perspective, and this was no less true of the colonial revolution. He believed that God was “the great master-wheel” behind the revolution, and that his ultimate design was the growth of his church.
In the current unrest, many important questions remain. It’s hard to identify all the causes and effects working behind the turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere. And what will be the final result? Will political radicals gain the upper hand in these countries? Will the Middle East become less stable? Will these countries become more stable? These important questions are hard to answer.
Yet it’s worth asking the big question that Newton raises in his own letters: Is it possible that in all of this turmoil, God is the invisible master-wheel behind the revolution, at work in the turmoil for his one, ultimate, driving goal—that Jesus Christ may be known, trusted, and adored?
Some reports indicate that this great business may already be happening. In any case it is a point worthy of our consideration, and a goal that is certainly worthy of our prayers as we watch history unfold.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary sources: The Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:501–505. Secondary source: *Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims On the Way (Zondervan, 2011), 526.