1. Nations most often fall from within, and this fall is usually due to a decline in the moral and spiritual values in the family. As families go, so goes a nation.
2. In Rome’s first cycle, men ceased to lead their families in worship. Spiritual and moral development became secondary. Their view of God became naturalistic, mathematical, and mechanical.
3. In the second stage, men selfishly neglected care of their wives and children to pursue material wealth, political and military power, and cultural development.
4. The third stage involved a change in men’s sexual values.
5. The fourth stage affected women. The role of women at home and with children lost value and status. Women were neglected and their roles devalued.
6. In the fifth stage, husbands and wives competed against each other for money, home leadership, and the affection of their children. This resulted in hostility and frustration and possible homosexuality in the children. Many marriages ended in separation and divorce.
a. Many children were unwanted, aborted, abandoned, molested, and undisciplined. The more undisciplined children became, the more social pressure there was not to have children.
7. In the sixth stage, selfish individualism grew and carried over into society, fragmenting it into smaller and smaller group loyalties.
a. Rome was thus weakened by internal conflict.
8. Finally, unbelief in God became more complete, parental authority diminished, and ethical and moral principles disappeared, affecting the economy and government.