Moral Midnight

In 1947, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago started the so-called “Doomsday Clock“. The idea is that they move it closer to midnight when world developments seem to be moving closer to the destruction of the world by nuclear war or other destructive technologies or environmental degradation.

I think we need a moral/spiritual version of the Doomsday Clock, one that indicates how close we are to the destruction of civilization that results from moral and spiritual decay. I guess first we must define midnight. I thought one good definition could be found in Genesis 6:5, just before God destroyed the earth in Noak’s day: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually(Gen 6:5 NASB).” Another good definition would be in Romans 1:28-32:

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them (NASB).

Based on these definitions of midnight, I think I’ll put the clock at 11:55.