CS, hey brother..
I basically remember your thoughts from that thread.. & I agree, removing the Bible from our public lives was a sign of & for our demise..
Here's my alternate take/thought.. When a piece of fruit rots out, it's not a fault of the fruit.. it's a part of it's intrinsic nature to eventually do that. Maybe the same applies to human civilizations. No matter how righteous, productive a society is, eventually it reaches a point of comfort, self-satisfaction etc, & it rots.
God (to date) has never allowed a civilization to prosper forever, maybe that's by design.. It's an inescapable reality of human life..(??)
Ultimately, will God spare a society for the sake of ten good people, Gen. 18:32 ?
AA, the Bible says their are none righteous, "As it is written, there are none righteous, no, not one" Romans: 3;10.
You're correct in that no matter how good we try to be, we can't save ourselves. Maybe, the fall of all the great civilizations is God's way of telling us to rely on him and not the things of this world.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him...... for all that is in the world, lust of the eyes, the flesh, pride is not of the Father, but is of the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. I John 2: 15-17.
I like the rotten fruit idea. Think of the fruit as us and the rotting is sin. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3;23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans: 6;23.
God has promised and always spared his people, going back to Noah, Moses, and now, by putting your faith in Jesus, you will be saved.
"That if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans: 10:9.