A Story for Christmas

I weary of the endless fiscal fantasies of fat fairies shilling for filthy rich toy factories.

I long to hear of the simple truth of a poor village priest in an era when a window was a hole in the wall.  In such a bygone era, very rich people covered their windows with oiled parchment or vellum.  Poor people had only open holes to let light into the room: perhaps a bit of rag or sackcloth provided some privacy.

One such family was reduced to such poverty that they were about to sell their daughters into prostitution.  It was an era that knew little of mercy.  Prostitution would save the daughters from starvation and nakedness.  The rest of the family might benefit, or might be left to fend for themselves.  Who knows what might have become of them?

Our poor village priest scraped together a few coins, a silver or two, perhaps even a gold, from some unknown source.  This pittance was carefully tied in a sack, and in the middle of the night was pitched through the open window of our poverty stricken family.  They were spared from prostitution and starvation.

Evidently, such missions to the poor were the regular concern of our poor village priest, he is reported to have done this at least twice, no one knows for sure.

Eventually, somebody figured out this terrible crime, a senseless act of random kindness.  The culprit was discovered.

As the years passed, the historical story was embellished.  The truth was diminished, then destroyed by this embellishment.  Today, nobody remembers our poor village priest.  All we think about is a fat fairy driving hypersonic reindeer.  We will not be hoping for a few crumbs of bread to fend off death.  We will be hoping for a lavish display of riches that would shame a fourth century king.

A few crumbs of bread, and clothing made of rags is the reality of Christmas.

This poor village priest is Saint Nicholas.

Flannery and Other Follies

Tony Flannery

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Source of the Question

It turns out that the discussion concerning Tony Flannery is not as important as I once thought it was.  What is important is my relationship and frank, open communication with you.  I’m sorry it has taken so long to get back to you.  I got absorbed in Alvin Plantinga’s paper, “Pluralism: a Defense of Religious Exclusivism,” which proved to be crucial for other current discussions; and with the Conciliar Movement, which also provided critical understanding.

http://swantec.blogspot.com/2013/11/pluralism-defense-of-religious.html

http://swantec-tt.blogspot.com/2013/11/church-unity-and-conciliarism.html

My Background

This quote is very helpful in understanding my own proper relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.  This is a quote I want to nail to my wall and remember for all eternity.

‘Peter Kreeft puts it well, paraphrasing St Thomas Aquinas:

“if a Catholic comes to believe the Church is in error in some essential, officially defined doctrine, it is a mortal sin against conscience, a sin of hypocrisy, for him to remain in the Church and call himself a Catholic, but only a venial sin against knowledge for him to leave the Church in honest but partly culpable error.” ’[1]

In general, this blog was very helpful.  However, I am not at all interested in excusing or condemning Father Flannery.  As you noted, he stands condemned or acquitted before the courts of the Roman Catholic Church and before our Lord Jesus Christ.  I’m merely trying to improve my understanding of, and communication with, Roman Catholics, as well as with Orthodox and with Protestants.

I am a cradle Lutheran, the old conservative American Lutheran Church (ALC) kind: somewhat influenced by Calvinism and evangelicalism.[2]  After years of shameful living I repented, served with The Navigators on Okinawa, and later became a product of Dallas Theological Seminary (1976), a place with strong Southern Presbyterian and Congregational history: a Scofield Bible kind of place.  Rejecting Dispensationalism, I served the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) for about thirteen years, at which time I also rejected fundamentalism as a system of theology, and eventually rejected Calvinism as well.  After another thirteen years or more seeking refuge in a hodge-podge of religious venues, I ended up in the Orthodox Church where I received the baptismal name Augustine.  In Orthodoxy I ran into anti-Augustinian sentiments, opposition to original sin,[3] ultimately leaving to return to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) where I am today, as an uneasy refugee.

The Vital Importance of Dogma

By the words, “essential, officially defined doctrine,” I am compelled to believe that Kreeft specifically means dogma, Roman Catholic Dogma.  Obviously, both Lutherans and Orthodox have dogma as well, which in some cases overlap, and in other cases are quite distinct.  Other doctrine, that is not dogma, merely relates to the opinions of learned men, and is irrelevant for our present purposes.  It is dogma that specifies our real differences, and issues of dogma that we must find a way to resolve.  This is not to say that I believe in watering down dogma, but perhaps there are communications issues, differences of understanding, and new information that will cut through this Gordian Knot.

Well, at least we have, I hope agreed upon, a common term.  We know specifically what to call this thing we seek: it is dogma.  This may be old hat for you, since you grew up with the idea, but it’s relatively new to me.  Please don’t laugh, at least not too hard.  You may think it strange that I have studied dogmatic theology[4] at length, four years of it in seminary, and from thence in 1976 until today, but have not studied dogma other than accidentally.  Okay, I did figure out that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is probably dogma in Lutheran, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches: even if the wording has been somewhat abused from what I am able to detect of its Greek original.  It is perhaps ironic that Roman Catholic practice, at least some of the time, is closest to that Greek original.  Strange that some people think Πιστεύομεν is best translated as, I believe.

In any case it is dogma that I need to learn.  So I hope you can find it in your hearts to be patient with me as I stumble along.  It is this inability, of people like me and Dr. Leithart,[5] to deal with specific terms in Roman Catholic dogma, which leads to communication difficulty, even though we are both very supportive of and sympathetic to catholicity.

Sincerity in Church Membership

Well, why don’t we both, Leithart and me, just take Roman Catholic instructions, and join the Roman Catholic Church.  Believe me, I could like that very much.  However Kreeft’s paraphrase of Aquinas explains everything.  From Kreeft I can easily write the obvious corollary.

If an Orthodox or Protestant Christian comes to believe the Roman Catholic Church is in error in some essential, officially defined doctrine, it is a mortal sin against conscience, a sin of hypocrisy, for him to join the Roman Catholic Church and call himself a Roman Catholic, but only a venial sin against knowledge for him to remain outside the Roman Catholic Church in honest but partly culpable error.

Here is something I can and do respect.  Here is my proper quest for knowledge.  However, at age 76, I'm not the sort of kid that sits meekly and quietly at the back of class swallowing everything hook, line, and sinker.  I will be screaming my head off, if I don’t understand, or think I’ve found a logical error.  At the end of the day, I will be the kid that understands the lesson or dies trying.  I sincerely hope that my screams are not offensive to you.  I really love The Church, and am sincerely trying, the only way I know how, to be Catholic.  Nevertheless, that path is radically different for me than for those of you who are cradle Catholics.  Perhaps you can recommend helpful study materials.

Flannery, Leithart, and me

As far as Flannery’s waffling is concerned: it’s deplorable, there is no excuse for it; he needs to conform to dogma or depart.  As for me, that advice leaves me without any place to go, unless I start an independent church, not the best idea, ever.  I hope you picked up on the idea that, at least in my mind, Leithart and I are in pretty similar boats.

---

[1] In the introduction, “The Fabulous Father Flannery.”  http://thethirstygargoyle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/father-flannerys-fables.html

[2] before it became liberal

[3] It took me a long time to learn that these opinions were in violation of Orthodox dogma: specifically the Councils of Carthage and Ephesus; but by then the emotional damage was done, and I’m still in recovery.  Focal to my exile is the fact that I don’t know how to repent of and confess the sin of another.  I will not get in bed with the theology of John Romanides; or, as I learn dogma, anything contrary to it.  Notwithstanding this commitment to dogma, I will not necessarily have means to resolve issues where dogmas disagree.

[4] In evangelical parlance, dogmatic theology is just a synonym for systematic theology; it is not specifically the study of Church dogma, or Cannon Law and its development.

[5] http://www.leithart.com/2012/05/21/too-catholic-to-be-catholic/ and http://www.calledtocommunion.com/2012/05/too-catholic-to-be-catholic-a-response-to-peter-leithart/comment-page-2/#comment-62788

Church Unity and Conciliarism

Church Unity and Conciliarism

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Conciliar Movement and Papal Infallibility

If we wish to pursue the Unity of The Church, we must some give serious consideration to Conciliarism or the Conciliar Movement (1409-1449).  In a nutshell, the Conciliar Movement claims that the "supreme authority in The Church resides with an Ecumenical Council."  This has the ring of truth, and indeed, it must be on the right track, depending on how we understand that an Ecumenical Council is properly constituted.  The opposing side to the Conciliar Movement is the Papal Infallibility movement, which now prevails.

The Historic Place of the Conciliar Movement

On the other hand, The Reformation (1517-1648) is set over against both of these movements.  The Reformation proudly declares that "both Popes and Councils do err."  This entanglement between Conciliarism, Papal Infallibility, and Protestantism can hardly be accidental or coincidental.  In fact, we are forced to conclude that, in many ways, The Reformation is the outcome of the collapse of the Conciliar Movement.

The Fall of Constantinople (1453) is not unrelated either.  Albeit, developing the linkages might require an encyclopedia of books.  Even though the Byzantine Empire fades from the pages of history, Orthodox Christianity does not die.  Orthodoxy recovers and flourishes, and today is the second largest of all church bodies.  Indeed, this second place role must be seen as part of the problem: for many Orthodox fear that reconciliation with Rome would result in their domination by their larger brother.

The Goal of a new Conciliar Movement

What would be the goal of a new Conciliar Movement?  Certainly not the resolution of the Roman-Avignon rivalry: in any case we have always believed that Avignon far overstepped all reasonable bounds.  For me, the proper objective of a new Conciliar Movement would be the resolution of 1054 and the Fourth Crusade.  However, this has proved to be a Gordian Knot, which only the Second Coming of Christ may untie.  Nevertheless, even if we are unable to untie this not, and fail miserably: there are sufficient commands in Scripture to do exactly this; so that we ought to try diligently.  This may liken us to moths attacking the flame, but I would rather die in seeming futility in obedience to Christ, than live in open opposition to what He has so clearly commanded.

Where Does Church Authority Reside?

This has to be the core of the unsettled argument.  That in the Roman-Avignon rivalry, Rome prevailed, is of small comfort.  Such a victory is little more than a triumph between two powerful rival city-states.  Other city-states could have easily entered the contest.  The continuing existence of the Orthodox Church indicates that this resolution to the problem did not sit well with many Asian Christians.  The development of the Reformation indicates that this resolution to the problem did not sit well with many European Christians.

The authority of The Church resides first in God the Father.  Scripture clearly indicates that the Father has delegated all of this authority[1] to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of the Universe.  Scripture also clearly indicates that the Father has delegated all of this administrative power[2] to the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth.

On the day of Pentecost that authority and power was applied to every Christian present:[3] for it is evident that the cloven tongues of fire rested on every Christian, not merely on the Apostles, not exclusively on Peter.  This evidence in fire and ecstatic utterance continued for several years, and was, for some time, the singular evidence that a new legitimate local church was constituted.  We must consider the significance of these cloven tongues of fire and ecstatic utterances: what are they?  These miraculous phenomena are none other than the same presence of God’s visible Glory that spoke with Moses at the burning bush, on the mountain, and in the tabernacle; the same Glory of God seen on the mount of Transfiguration.  This miracle is the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  It is part and parcel of what it means to be a Christian.  Without the baptism of the Holy Ghost there is no Christianity, no Church.

Where does the visible Glory of God reside today?  It resides on the whole Christian Church on earth.  However, as with Jesus and with Moses it is veiled for the time being: mostly because it is unbearable to look at.  So, at its core, the authority of Christ and power of the Holy Ghost are being exercised exclusively through The Church.  It should be clear that no individual has the authority by himself to say that another is not part of The Church: for “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”  In this context, Peter is merely the presiding spokesperson: he simply declares as fact, what the whole assembly has agreed on.  In this sense alone, Peter does speak ex-cathedra.

This then is the whole bone of contention.  One body believes that this authority and power was delegated exclusively to one bishop, where that bishop is first over all.  Another body believes that this authority and power was delegated to a collegiality of bishops, where that bishop is first among equals.  A third set of bodies believes that this authority and power was delegated equally to all, without any hierarchy or regulatory order.  Of course there are many other variations on these views: but, at least in broad strokes, we have captured the main variations.

What Happened at Nicaea?

Nicaea (325) is the first major attempt to gather The Church on earth into one fold, with one voice.  It was a time of great and violent controversy.  Roughly three hundred pastors gathered together and hammered out a statement for their churches, “We believe….”  This was not a peaceful gathering with simple votes and unanimous decisions.  It was a meeting characterized by vehement emotions, argument, and even fist fights.  Offending bishops had to be temporarily expelled to cool down.  Nor was it a dictatorial declaration, forced upon the churches.  According to some, the statement was read throughout the churches and returned to Constantinople (381)[4] for amendment and ratification.  The outcome is not the statement of a handful of bishops, but to great extent, the voice of the whole Christian Church on earth.  This is how dogma is discovered, by agreement, not by unilateral decree.

Nicaea did a great deal to heal rifts in The Church, to resolve controversy, and provided real leadership for the years ahead.  Its aftermath left some things in doubt: for example, the status of the Oriental Orthodox, and Mar Thoma.  Also Origen and Nestorius are condemned, which condemnations are still under dispute in some remote regions.

Nevertheless, none of the modern ecumenical movements have expressed such sincere striving for Church Unity, or such success as was achieved at Nicaea and Constantinople.  Hence, Nicaea and Constantinople must stand as the resolution of the authority debate, and the model of how it should be accomplished.  Unfortunately, this requires that a goodly number of very powerful hierarchical bishops would with all humility have to step away from their power for the sake of, and love for, The Church.

The Original Question

We return to the original question.  “If we wish to pursue the Unity of The Church, we must some give serious consideration to Conciliarism.”  What must change in our new Conciliarism is both our goal and our method.  Conciliation must have as its goal the entire healing of the whole Church on earth, going back to 1054, and not merely the resolution of giant power struggles between warring empires.  Conciliation must embrace as its method the listening to the voice of the whole Church on earth, this alone can be considered dogma, real substantial agreement.

Obviously, this cannot be successful without a real moving of the Holy Ghost among us.  Also obviously, smaller bodies of brothers and sisters need not fear the domination of the larger brother; because, nothing can be accomplished without the sincere agreement of the least brother, and the largest brother, being moved by the Spirit of Humility, will have no desire to lead by force or oppression: but, of course, lead he must, he can’t help being the biggest brother.  Moreover, this will necessarily result in a changed Church structure and organization: that much is inevitable.

So, can a Church Counsel be the final authority of The Church?  Yes, if it operates within these guidelines of Tradition with consideration and respect for the whole laity.  But if high handedness is involved, no counsel can ever speak for The Church.  Does the presiding bishop speak infallibly ex-cathedra?  Yes, if he speaks as the chairman of The Church, pronouncing as dogma and fact, on what The Church has already agreed.  But if any attempt to act unilaterally exists, no one can ever speak for The Church in this fashion.  Christ, is the only individual Who speaks for the whole Church on earth.  The Holy Ghost, is the only individual Who executes the will of God on earth.

Our Prayer

“I say to you, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and he who knocks, it shall be opened to ...him.
‘If a son asks for bread from any of you fathers, will he give him a stone? If he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? If he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
‘If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’ ”  — Luke 11:9-13

“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He hears, He shall speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive My things, and show them to you. All things that the Father has are Mine: therefore I said, that He shall take My things, and show them to you.”  — John 16:13-18

“... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Blessed is our God always, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.”

---

[1] Matthew 28:18, ἐξουσία

[2] Acts 1:8, δύναμιν

[3] Acts 2:1-4

[4] Obviously their communication methods were somewhat limited.

Infrastructure and Unemployment 1

The opening point of discussion was the 65,000 unrepaired bridges in the Unites States.  Someone pointed out that such repairs would provide jobs and use materials, all from the United States.

Unfortunately, Congress stole most of the money with federal bailouts and credit-card wars. Bridges are just the beginning of the iceberg. We should start a deficiency list: road paving, sewer and water, electrical power generation, school facilities, storm shelters, parks.

We should start another list for stuff that is broken other than infrastructure: I'm afraid to get this list started, tomorrow is Halloween and I don't want to deal with anything too scary....

This discussion is continued in Infrastructure and Unemployment 2.

Infrastructure and Unemplyment 2

I wish I could agree that foreign aid is the problem.  It does show how our priorities are messed up, but there is not enough money in foreign aid spending to explain the reasons for the disaster we live with every day.

Fraud and theft pretty much explain it all.

Our jobs are being given away overseas to keep us the working poor in line.  The movers and shakers don't want us to get together and have too much power or we could and would overthrow them.  How do they pull this off?  Mostly by the shrewd use of propaganda.  One of the things this propaganda does is pit us against each other.  The buck private, the private worker, and the union guy are all set at odds with each other.  It's time we realized that with or without organization, we are all members of the same union: the union of the working poor.  Maybe somebody can run with this idea and get us organized.

What might our agenda be?

We must restore the honor, dignity, and skills of crafts and trades that can only be learned through apprenticeship; we must show that these are at least as important or even more important than a college education.

We must prove that if we build it, it is our property, ours the rights of ownership, ours the right to sell, ours the right to profit by; and we must break the strangling vice grip of leverage that claims otherwise.  We must get out of debt and stay out of debt.

We must form cooperative businesses, not corporations, that treat all participants with a weighted equality that accords with their individual skill and experience: the apprentice must respect the master, who has earned his stripes.

We must break the back of at-will employment and let workers truly find a place at the table in a free marketplace.

We must do this at law, not by riot, until we take away the power of a few to run business dictatorships.

We must teach this to our children, and our children's children until we have restored a free society.

In this effort to be free, both Democrats and Republicans are our enemy.  These political parties pretend to be at odds so they can divide and conquer us, and we are being played.

Our camaraderie stands on one fact alone.  We are the working poor: and by working poor, I mean everybody from an apprentice bean picker to a master surgeon, anybody who actually works for a living.

One more thing.  We will never appreciate or develop this camaraderie to its fullest extent unless we return to God.  It is God Who teaches us that these things are true in the Ten Commandments.  It is God Who hates slavery in all its forms and teaches how to break it.  Yes, and He has broken it (Luke 4:16-21).  We would not be in this mess if we had been faithful in following our Leader.  We won't get very far without Him now.

Totalitarian Culture

What is not to understand?

1.     The Unites States, for the past 50 years or longer has pursued an expanded worldview of Manifest Destiny in which it is the savior of the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny.  It should be clear to Christians that the substitution of the Unites States for the LORD Jesus Christ is a very wicked, anti-Christ, and anti-Christian thing to do.  It should be equally clear that in support of this doctrine that we reach out in care to other nations, and even animals, while people are going hungry on our own doorsteps.  The adage, “Cast out the moat in your own eye first,” comes to mind.  The point is not to change and neglect a different part of these obligations.  The point is that we must care for all: hungry on our own doorstep, the foreigner and stranger, as well as created animals, plants, rocks, and rills.  Such care is to be extended, not coerced, in the name of the risen Jesus Christ who offers freedom and peace to all.  The Unites States does not offer freedom and peace to all: it offers capitalism and economic slavery under the guise of a false-democracy.  It should be clear from the Ancient Greeks that the extension of a pseudo-democracy was merely a political-ploy to put a corrupt man in office: it resulted in a loss of, not an increase in freedom, and ultimately led to the downfall of Greece to the Roman Republic.  There is really no point in protesting that democracy is better: historically, democracy always deteriorates into anarchy and autocracy.  The Republic prevails because it is a better deal.  Even some monarchies are preferable to the sort of autocracy that democracy spawns: Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, for example.  The Unites States, in extending welfare, is simply playing with political manipulation.  The Church, on the other hand, in relationship with Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost, is merely doing its duty.

2.     There are not enough jobs to go around.  When the family farm was the predominant economic structure, there was always work to do.  The home was the castle, the family was the organization, and people could not be fired.  In our society, we are now dependent on jobs, get fired and poverty, even famine immediately threaten.  On the farm, if you were sensible enough to avoid mortgages and other debt, even in a bad year, you would probably still have: a roof, food, work, and a barn to shelter strangers.  The link between farms, jobs, and debt slavery should be obvious and not need development here.  The necessary jobs, through the combined efforts of government and industry have largely been deported through the guise of a global economy.  Ostensibly, in a global economy, jobs like making shoes and welding could be farmed out to third-world countries while jobs requiring more difficult technical skills would remain.  Now we live with the bitter irony that the technical jobs are all farmed out: engineers can’t find work, employers can’t find skilled welders, and Keds cost $100 (This is a joke.  Nobody wears sneakers anymore.  Everybody needs expensive specialized athletic shoes.  Keds retail between $20 and $100.)  The complaint about illegal immigrant labor is also a red herring: we wanted and demanded illegal immigrant labor ever since I was a small boy: but now in economic downturn we need a scapegoat.  How can this be?  Downturns occur naturally.  Some years we just don’t get enough rain, which is why we have barns and root-cellars.  The real reason that this is such a disaster is that we have not been dealing with it one year at a time: we’ve been postponing the inevitable by debt.  Everything is mortgaged from lunch, to gasoline, to wars.  The irony of putting lunch on a credit card ought to grip us all: it just doesn’t.  People ought to be able to get jobs and do them.  A thriving economy has a surplus of jobs, everyone who is able works, everyone has a place of respect at the table.

3.     Nazi Germany and euthanasia.  That’s what my doctor said.  He had a point.

4.     Chomsky’s point that we really live in a Totalitarian Culture is well taken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSBqkLDxmo.  Our government lies to us.  Our government manipulates us with propaganda: we are told what to think, when to think, and how to think.  God and the Bible are no longer central to our thought processes.  The Decalogue, which is designed to abolish slavery among the people of God forever, is now reduced to the ten suggestions.  Our education system, which was originally considered a way to defeat evil (The Deluder of Satan Act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_Laws), has been manipulated to become the means of controlling thought.  Children from K through PhD are not being taught how to think, but how to give the right answer.  Real thinkers, like Chomsky are a rarity in our culture: most of them have been marginalized.  The scientific community is commonly instructed by their political or other overlords, how to spin the facts.  If the scientists doesn’t “get it” the first time, they get retrained: failing at retraining they get fired or otherwise marginalized.  Many excellent scientists, realizing that this is who the game is played, go along with the lie so that they can get back to their work.  There is no freedom of speech in this.  Chomsky is tolerated only because he sounds like a raving madman to most people.

5.     Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Our ever increasing omnipotent central government is a disaster.  We continue, uninvited, to meddle in international affairs.  The fine balance between inclusivism and isolationism is rarely achieved.  Rarely do we approach the family of nations as brothers and sisters: usually, we come as know-it-all lords.  This is a byproduct of our folly, because only Jesus is LORD.

Many of us believe, and I proclaim that our forefathers envisioned a united STATES, not a UNITED states; which is to say that all truly important action is local action.  The home is the Castle, it is being invaded by government.  We need to get out of debt, and stay out of debt: in doing so we break the slavery leverage that crushes us.  We need to stop listening to government/corporate propaganda, learn to think, and start doing things for ourselves.  We really need to return to God and His Word.

The CBS link is: https://www.facebook.com/CBS.  Unfortunately, yesterday’s news is already buried deeply in the pile.

“Why do we always hear about Social Security [and Medicare] running out of money, But never hear anything about welfare [or Medicaid] running out of money. The problem is the [Social Security participants] worked for their [benefits], The [Welfare recipients] didn't [work for anything]!”

Two Homes, Two Destinies

Making Too Much of Bones

The cartoon made the point that one could not distinguish between sinners by looking at their skeletons.  In doing so, it glossed over the reality that sin must be forgiven; never excused.

A great deal has been said about the bones of man, recently. Certainly, bones are of great concern for man. However, we care only a little for the bones of man, as Christians, or for the flesh, skin, organs, even the brain: for all of these will die, be buried, and return to the dust from which these things were all made. Yes, it is true that these bones will be raised again at the last judgment.

Nevertheless, our principal concern is with the spirit of man: for God breathed into man the spirit of life and man became a living soul. Well, all animals have souls (Nephesh), don't they? Of all the animals, man (both male and female) is special; man is marked with the image and likeness of God Himself. So when the Son of God becomes man by adding to Himself a complete Human nature, something Cosmic is going on; an event so enormous that it shakes every star and planet in the universe. When Jesus is born of Mary, the stars and planets paid attention and worshipped: angels sing, shepherds bow, kings march forth. And when Christ is crucified....

This spirit of man, this immaterial aspect of man is capable of doing something that angels and animals cannot do. Man can sin. Worse yet, man is capable of suppressing the truth, and denying that he has sinned. Still more deceptive, man is capable of being an atheist. And man is capable of sweeping all of this under the table, with the words, "It is my genetic tendency, my DNA strand made me do it."

Frequently, man desires to embrace such folly, and yet claim the name of Christian. This just won't work. Such a person is no Christian at all. God is not deceived by such antics, neither is He mocked by them.

A Christian follows Jesus, and that always carries a price. For those who follow Jesus, He has prepared an eternal home. God's destiny for men and women is that they might become Christ-like, god-like. This takes a lot of hammering, but God is well able to do it. God has in mind the perfection of the image and likeness of God in man. What an enormous gift. This too is Cosmic.

Nevertheless, there will always be those who reject such a gift. Tragic. They follow the counsel of fallen angels, or demons. God has also prepared an eternal home for these angels: namely Hell, which is more accurately described as the Lake of Fire. Men who follow fallen angels, will follow them right into the Lake of Fire. How can one convince such men that this is a bad idea: an idea so bad that God has spent the whole course of human history persuading men not to do this, not to follow demons, not to see themselves as mere bones.

What a shame. Those who only look to bones can never comprehend the glory God wants to give to sinful man. What a shame.

Debt Slavery 4

Debt Slavery 4

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here is where we left this topic, just about a year ago:

The bottom line is, we are in trouble as a nation.  This debt-slavery is no joke.  Please take it seriously.  I still trust the solution recommended by Moses and dozens of other prophets, and guaranteed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus, I trust.  Moses, I trust.  Any other opinions, I don’t trust.  The specifics change day-by-day, but the long-term principles never change.

·       Get out of debt and stay out of debt.

·       Show mercy, hate cruelty, help others in trouble; love your neighbor as yourself.

·       Never forget where all blessings came from, love God with all your heart.  You have a job because He gave it to you.  Become a more thankful person.

·       Enjoy sunrises, sunsets, and the simple pleasures of life and remember that your Creator gave them all to you.

·       Go to Church on Sunday, and remember that the most powerful person in the universe is still in charge of this mess.

Debt Slavery, an Update

I believe that debt slavery is a wicked and cruel social malignancy.

I believe that Moses specifies the only acceptable and possible working model in Exodus, where he requires zero interest,[1] very restricted debt on a 7 year cycle, and total debt absolution on a 7 x 7, 50 year cycle.

Our Prayer

We regularly pray, “forgive us our debts,” where the Greek word, ὀφειλήματα, refers specifically to duties, fiscal debt, and other obligations at law in exact conformity to the law of Moses.  Yet we consistently ignore this requirement.  We are nothing but a bunch of unrighteous hyocrites.

The Law of the Kingdom

Jesus says, I have come to fulfill the law . and the prophets, that is the entire Old Testament.[2]  Hence, this is the unmovable law of God's kingdom.  All Christians are bound to submit to it.

I, as a Christian, have no choice.  My King outranks my earthly nation.  I must hate and war against interest, and long term or predatory debt wherever I find any of them.  I must hate and war against any group that supports them.  Hence, the Federal Government of the United States and The Federal Reserve Banking system are in defiance of God’s unmovable Kingdom Law insofar as they promote and tolerate either any interest or any debt outside of the strict limits imposed by Moses.  Yet, at the same time I must find a place in my heart to love those involved in this sordid work.  Specifically, I must love them enough to tell them the truth about their sin, and faithfully pray for their repentance, so that they may escape the wrath of God brought down upon them for their own cruelty.  No one is allowed by God to be involved in this sordid mess in any way.  It is forbidden.

Nothing short of Moses’ full plan is acceptable to me.  To rub salt in my own wounds, Moses just makes good sense.  All this would fall to the ground had not Christ Himself made such a point of it in the Gospels.

What Matthew Says

For instance, the Gospel of Matthew divides itself into five main Sections.  Two of these Sections end with an exhortation on debt: Matthew 18 and 25.  Elsewhere, I have written extensively on Matthew 18,[3] but have not yet had time to pursue Matthew 25, or all of Matthew in detail.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Jesus is most certainly preaching the fiscal law of Moses.  It is the law of the kingdom.  It is not a suggestion.  Those who persist to live in defiance of it are asking to be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  In Matthew 6:15 a new Greek word, παραπτῶματα, is used.  This word means misstep or stumbling.  It is one thing to stumble at the law as we all must.  It is another thing to openly defy the law: this is not of faith and is unforgivable.

The Result is Freedom

The direct result of the Mosaic code is to obliterate slavery and the cruelty of it.  The only way to truly escape slavery is to enter God's kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ, the King of that Kingdom.  It appears that this Kingdom proclaims the final application of the Mosaic code in an eternal form, because Jesus fulfills it, and His blood is eternal.[4]

What Luke Says

Mary foresees all these things and sings of its future reality.[5]  Finally, Jesus Himself proclaims this teaching openly and clearly in Luke 4:14-21.  His words cannot be misunderstood, but they are certainly denied.

The Impact on our Nation

Shakespeare understood this when he wrote, “Neither borrower nor lender be....” Merchant of Venice.  We know it too, but by our open refusal to obey, we bring down well deserve fire upon our own heads.  Debt and usury are both cruel forms of slavery.  A slavery which God forbids, but we flaunt openly.  If we don't get this right, our nation will surely be destroyed.  At that point, I say, “good riddance.”  “Give me Liberty or give me death.”  We heard the alarm and did nothing about it.  Our house is on fire, and it will surely burn to the ground.  It's just a matter of time.

The Purpose is Love for God

The purpose of this strong law is plainly stated.  God wants people to love Him freely.  To this end, He openly displays His goodness everywhere.  “Everything we are and have, stems from His relationship with us.”  The Federal Government supplies nothing: it is simply a conduit.

As the necessary and obvious byproduct of loving God freely, God wants people to love each other freely.  Why?  Because, all are created in His image, Christ became man to die for all, and all may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It’s that simple.  It’s that complicated.  Debt Slavery is simply incompatible with this world and life view.  Debt Slavery is incompatible with God's Kingdom.

Yours in Christ,

Herb Swanson, aka Augie

---

[1] The Bible defines usury as any interest rate greater than zero.  Moses only applied this within Nation Israel-Judah.  Christ extends this law to the whole human race without exception.

[2] This figure of speech is a form of hendiadys, where two words, frequently the first and the last, are used to describe the whole: Alpha and Omega, first and last, hot and cold.  The Old Testament is often referred to as the Law and the Prophets, or as the Law, Prophets, and Writings, which are the three common Jewish divisions of the Old Testament, the TANAKH, which is an acronym for Torah (Hebrew for Teaching: namely, the Five Books of Moses; Nevi’im (Hebrew for Prophets) and Ketuvim (Hebrew for Writings).

[3] http://swantec.blogspot.com/2013/10/matthew-18.html

[4] Hebrews 13:20-21

[5] Luke 1:46-55