Chalcedon Report No. 5..........................................................

Celebrating the
history of the
Chalcedon Foundation
and the work of R. J.
Rushdoony (“Rush”) is
a difficult thing to do.
Rush would frown on any attempts to
cover or acknowledge the history of an
institution — he was about ideas not organizations.
Because of this, the history
and people involved are scattered and
diffused. In terms of the organization
there is no clear line of growth. The only
measurable growth is the ever-increasing
influence of the message. That’s what
Rush was working towards.
But it is practical to share a particular
angle of the story of Chalcedon, especially
for those who are unfamiliar with
the history of Christian Reconstruction. 1
Typically, most historical accounts
begin with the date and location of the
birth of the founder. When discussing
Christian Reconstruction this is not
Rushdoony in younger years sporting an indian headress
6 Faith for All of Life September/October 2005
Faith for All of Life
The Story of an Idea
By Christopher J. Ortiz
what’s important. Rushdoony would
consider it irrelevant. The proper starting
point is the birth of the ideas.
Theonomy or Autonomy
He was a long way from his last
home in Santa Cruz, California, in
1946 when the thirty-year-old Rousas
experienced the great transformation
to his thinking. Isolated within the 400
square miles of the Duck Valley Indian
Reservation in Owyhee, Nevada, this
contemplative missionary-pastor had
already spent a year and a half carving
out the Kingdom of God among the
Western Shoshone Indians.
Rousas was of medium height with
dark hair, olive skin, and a silent look
that left one wondering what was transpiring
behind his deep eyes and pronounced
brow. He sparked the curiosity
of the Duck Valley residents. Like most
Native Americans, their culture was not
noted for its scholarship. Life was basic,
with time spent on bare necessities,
not penetrating the lofty ideas found
in books. Theirs was an oral tradition
animated by story and legend. Rousas,
on the other hand, was a man of written
words and rigorous thinking. In this
environment the studious young missionary
was as out of place as a Cadillac
on the Moon.
He didn’t seem to need many supplies
on the reservation — only books.
The Shoshones would watch with
interest as Rousas frequently received
a delivery of books to his mailbox. He
seemed oblivious to his onlookers as
he tore open each package and began
reading as he walked back to his home
— never lifting his head.
Rushdoony received numerous
books during his stint on the reservation,
but one volume in particular
affected him deeply. The New Modernism
by Dr. Cornelius Van Til was a new
release in 1946 and promised An Appraisal
of the Theology of Barth and Brunner
— something the young Rousas was
much interested in due to the widening
influence of modernism in Protestant
circles. Dr. Van Til was a sober but humorous
Dutchman whose slender frame
and thick glasses disguised his long
history as a trenchant defender of the
Christian faith. He was the professor of
apologetics at Westminster Theological
Seminary and from that single location
launched a sustained campaign against
humanism, modernity, and their Christian
cousin, neo-orthodoxy.
Despite the theological strength of
such establishments as Westminster,
modernism continued its determined
march into the Second World War.
Its influence was felt in many spheres