Your Church is the Anti-Christ

That's obviously a controversial claim.

It's an attention-getting claim.

It's designed to get the attention of certain kinds of people.

I call these people "Bereans."

Consider Acts 17:10-12

Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

The Apostles gave the Bereans the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it. The Bereans checked what they were told by clergy against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY."  But the Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds. Bereans believe the Bible is the Word of God, and that the Word of God trumps the Word of Man.

I'm not saying everything in human creeds is wrong; I'm only saying that everything in human creeds is not infallible.

I'm saying we need to study the Bible. This website is about finding out what the Bible says. That takes time and work. Most people don't want to take the time or do the work. They want their pastor to tell them what slogans and bumper-stickers to believe. They will say the title of this website is "offensive" and they will leave.

I hope you will stay, because even if you disagree with my conclusions, searching the Scriptures to hear what I say and to try and refute it will strengthen your faith.

Consider three more verses:

Proverbs 27:17

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
 

Proverbs 18:17

"The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him."
 

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

The Bible encourages study of the Bible. The Bible discourages letting it accumulate dust on the shelf.
The Bible is the Word of God. It makes sense to figure out what God is saying, and not to substitute the words of men for the Word of God.

To prove that "your church is the Antichrist," I'll let the Bible define the word "antichrist." The Bible is very clear. It's quite obvious. Your church probably teaches something very different.

Then I'll take the Biblical definition of "antichrist" and show how your church fits the bill. No wonder you never hear the Biblical definition of "antichrist."

You'll say "It can't be that simple. Theologians must have discovered some way around that. You just have to trust the seminary professors."

The only way you'll get out of this dead end is to read several hundred Bible verses. If you're one of the few people who try to read through the Bible every year, you probably fogged over when you read these verses. They don't make any sense when filtered through your current paradigm. I want to give you a new paradigm, and all these verses will make sense.

And then your church will excommunicate you.

This is a serious Bible study. The more seriously you take the Bible, the more likely you will end up agreeing with the outlandish claim of this website.

While the claim is arresting, or even baffling, the premises that lead to this conclusion are clear and obvious.

But there are lots of premises -- lots of Bible verses -- and it will take a few hours for you to serve as a juror in this case.

The Bible has over 30,000 verses, but most church-goers are familiar with only a handful. Reading lots of Bible verses in their original context will be a new experience for most church-goers.

Your Church is the Anti-Christ

Many people will find that claim to be offensive, inflammatory, heretical, and even blasphemous.

Some will think the claim is just a joke.

But I'm as serious as a heart attack.

It will be very easy for me to prove my thesis. Less than 60 seconds. Then the average church-defender will say something like, "Surely during 2,000 years of 'church history' theologians and clergymen have figured out some kind of theological loophole to evade this obvious criticism."

But they haven't. They just ignore the elephant in the room (although admittedly the elephant never stays in the room very long; it is quickly excommunicated, and if it becomes a "movement," its members may even be exiled or executed by the State).

Here are two more ways to state the thesis of this website:

Your Church Preaches a False Gospel

Your Church Practices a False Religion

Again, I only need to quote a couple of Bible verses to prove these accusations, and the accusations are staggering and disorienting, and so it is assumed that the theologians have come up with some way to reduce these charges to "mere technicalities." But they're not "mere technicalities." They really are at the heart of "the meaning of life."

Don't Be Misled by the Title of this Website

Writers don't always get to give their book, article or website the title they desire. Sometimes the publisher will substitute a "more marketable" title. There are two problems with the title of this website.

Problem #1: There's no such thing as "THE Antichrist"

The Marketing Dept. said the title of this website must be an attention-grabbing title, and the term "the Anti-Christ" would cause it to rank better in the search engines.

But it's not Biblically accurate to speak of "THE Anti-Christ."

The following are the only occurrences of the word "antichrist" in the Bible. 

• 1 John 2:18
  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
   
• 1 John 2:22
  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
   
• 1 John 4:3
  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
   
• 2 John 1:7
  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Here's what you should get out of these verses:

• There are many "antichrists," not just one.

You should also know that:

• The word "antichrist" never occurs in the Book of Revelation

The Bible never says that there is going to be some powerful world leader called "the antichrist" anytime in our future.
There are many people who have spent their entire lives believing that the Antichrist is coming, and may already have been born, and is now living in secret ready to emerge as a world leader. Or something.
For years, even decades, they've been watching the news and saying "That's a sign of the nearness of the Second Coming."
Everything is a "sign of the times."
They would be shocked if someone said "We are not living in the Last Days."
These people would have to completely re-read the Bible and ask at every point, "Does this verse teach what I believe?" And with every verse they would have to say, "No, but pastor So-and-So teaches that."
Many people have a more vibrant faith in "the Antichrist" than they do in the JesusChrist.
A coming "One World Government" of atheists and homosexuals is easier for them to visualize than the reign of Jesus the Christ.

Excellent background resources:

• Why Do Prophecy Teachers Keep Misleading Us About Antichrist? - The American Vision
• The Rise of Antichrist - David Chilton 

An "antichrist" is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

Your church denies that Jesus is the Christ.

Therefore your church is an antichrist.

You'll say "My church doesn't deny that Jesus is the Christ!" You're offended.

I'm going to prove that it does. The evidence will be overwhelming.

Problem #2: Hasty Generalization?

Without ever having met, it would be foolish for me to say "YOUR" church is an anti-christ, if I know nothing about your church. Maybe your church would agree with everything this website is selling. I suppose it's possible that somewhere in the world there is a group of Bible-believing Christians who agree with the views of this website, and they call themselves a "church." So it may be unfortunate that the title of this website is "YOUR Church is the Antichrist." Maybe YOUR church isn't. Maybe your church is one of the 3 or 4 churches in the world that agree with this website.

But, unfortunately, it's a safe bet that your church is an anti-christ, because the vast overwhelming majority of churches are anti-christs.

How can that absurd and inflammatory statement be true?

It's very easy.

An "Antichrist" denies that Jesus is the Christ. See 1 John 2:22 above. The word "Christ" is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word "Messiah." "Christ" means "anointed King."

One of John's primary targets in the verses above was the Jews. He even referred to "synagogues of Satan" (Revelation 2:9; 3:9).

Jews didn't believe that the virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah predicted by the prophets.

Everyone knows that claim is true. That's what Jews believe.

Here's a claim that's just as true, but nobody thinks about it:

Most church-going "Christians" agree with the Jews.

This means most church-going "Christians" are antichrists like the Jews.

Most conservative "Bible-believing" churches teach that the virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth is not currently reigning as the Messiah as predicted by the prophets.

Let me just summarize this claim, and then we'll dig in and look at hundreds of Bible verses which prove my point. It is the Bible verses that will transform your worldview.

Jews had ideas about what the Messiah would do when He came. Jesus didn't do these things in a way that satisfied the Jews, and so Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Christ. Jews say the Christ has not appeared. The Christ is not reigning as the "messianic prophecies" predicted.

Most conservative "Bible-believing" churches have the same ideas as the Jews. They have the same ideas about "the Kingdom of God" as the Jews had. They believe that at His Second Coming, Jesus will do what the Jews hoped the Christ would do at His first coming. Both Jews and conservative antichrist churches believe the Christ will defeat the forces of "The Antichrist" and rebuild the Old Covenant temple in Jerusalem. (The temple which Jesus destroyed in AD 70, as he predicted He would.)

But most churches blame the Jews for Jesus' Messianic "failure." They say Jesus couldn't do the work of the Messiah-King because the Jews did not accept Him as their King and Messiah, and so Jesus could only be their "savior," not their Lord. Not their King.

Most churches teach that the Kingdom reign of Jesus as the Messiah has been postponed until after His "Second Coming." Jesus is not currently reigning as Lord and Christ, He is merely a "savior."

But in the Bible, the word "savior" is a synonym for "Christ." In the Bible, a "savior" doesn't just forgive sins in the abstract, but actually "saves" people from the earthly consequences of their sins: like being conquered by a pagan god and his armies. This is what the Jews expected 2000 years ago, and what most churches teach will happen at His Second Coming: He will defeat the forces of antichrist (Caesear) and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Yes, these Christians and Jews think very much alike.

This website claims that 2000 years ago Jesus began reigning as the Christ/Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets. The Old Testament prophets, were they to travel through time from their day to our day would say Jesus has miraculously and supernaturally fulfilled all their prophecies, and continues to fulfill them more extensively.

Jews and most "Christian" churches disagree with this website.

There may be a handful of churches in a few states who agree with this website; the vast majority do not.

So, unfortunately, your church is very likely an antichrist.

But the purpose of this website is to educate, not to condemn. This website does not exist merely to say "Your church is antichrist, nyah, nyah, nyah." The purpose of this website is to look at all the relevant verses and come to understand their meaning. This will help us all become better Christians, expand the Kingdom of God, and help God's will be done "in earth as it is in heaven" (Mathew 6:10).

This Website is All About the Bible

I want you to read lots of Bible verses. That's where the power behind my argument lies. If you "search the Scriptures" (Acts 17:11) in an attempt to disprove my claim that churches are antichrist, it will make you a stronger Christian.

Here are three verses to show that subjecting a new theory to Biblical analysis is a good thing:

First consider Acts 17:10-12

Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it. The Bereans checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.

Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative. I wish I had the time to divide this website into easily-digestible ten-minute segments that you could read every day for the next few months.

Next, Proverbs 18:17

The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him.

I think certain doctrines seem right to you, largely because you've been taught these doctrines your entire life. I want you to examine those doctrines. Similarly, I think I've got a case, and I would be grateful if you could expose the errors in my thinking.

This attitude makes one a better Christian, as seen in our third text:

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17

My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way.

I think we can benefit from opinions which are contrary to our own. They force us to think. Hopefully, they force us to think more Biblically.

I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.

Reading Bible Verses is Powerful

Reading God's Word is powerful for you, and is also the power to change the world, because it is more powerful than swords and guns. Everybody wants "the bad guys" -- "enemies" -- to change their behavior. The defender of Big Government trusts in the State to prevent immoral action by "the enemy," whether "the enemy" is the Muslims, the Chinese, or Big Business Bosses. Christian pacifists trust in the power of God's Word. The Kingdom of God depends on God's Grace to regenerate billions of human beings. God's Word is "the Sword of the Lord" that accomplishes this task. It is what I'm relying on to change your mind as well:

Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Ephesians 6:17
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Isaiah 11:4
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Isaiah 49:2
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

Hosea 6:5
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And your judgments are like light that goes forth.

2 Thessalonians 2:8
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

Revelation 1:16
16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Revelation 2:16
16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Revelation 19:15
15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Revelation 19:21
21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Proverbs 16:7
When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

It is our duty to speak this Word:

Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Some people, at some times, would rather pull a trigger than speak the Word.

Parenthetically, that word "preacher" above does not mean someone wearing a black robe standing behind a pulpit. It can mean someone like you or me. That same Greek word is found here:

Romans 2:21
you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

There is power when we speak the truth. That's what I'm getting at with all those verses above. And reading the truth is also powerful.

The Task Ahead

When all the relevant Bible verses are put on the table, most Christians don't understand them. If I could sit down with you in your living room, and the prophets, like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Micah could travel through time to join us, and I asked you to tell us what some of these prophecies meant and how they have been or are being fulfilled, you would probably stumble and mumble, and the prophets would be convinced you did not understand what they were saying.

The reason you don't understand the Bible is because

(1) You are a victim of educational malpractice in atheistic government-run "public" schools.

(2) Your church is an antichrist.

As a result of these two factors, you don't understand how Jesus is reigning as the Messiah right now, in our day, and -- interestingly -- you can't explain why capitalism is better than socialism. Believe it or not, economic theory is closely related to Messianic prophecies.

So let's start by putting the relevant Bible passages on the table. You don't have to look up all these verses right now; I'm just giving you a vision of the Promised Land. Let's start with a short list of Messianic verses from a Jewish antichrist article. Then we'll look at a longer list from Nave's Topical Bible.

Jewish Beliefs

There's a very popular article on the web entitled Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus written by a Rabbi. It has been republished on dozens of Jewish websites. One section of the article is "Jesus Did Not Fulfill the Messianic Prophecies." It begins with a string of verses, much like Nave's Topical Bible:

Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 are very similar. We are going to look at all the issues as they are found in Micah 4. It sums everything up pretty nicely.

Under the entry "Jesus the Christ," Nave's Topical Bible [online] lists the following (in the old-fashioned book [paper and ink] form, the verses are all printed out; in the online version, only the references are given):

There was a clear conflict between Christians and Jews two thousand years ago. Christians said the virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. Jews denied that Jesus was the Christ.

"Christ" means "Messiah."
"Christ" means "King."

At this point, your Pastor is not going to come right out and deny that Jesus is the Christ. Most Pastors will say something like "His reign as Christ has been postponed." Jesus is not actively reigning as the Messiah-King in 2026. And we are not morally obligated to act as if Jesus were the World-King. In fact, Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth, and our attempts to make all nations born-again, disciplined, Spirit-filled dominion-exercising disciples of Jesus the Messiah, bringing world peace and prosperity, will only delay the Second Coming of Jesus -- when He really will become the Christ.

In this age, say most churches, evil must increase, war is inevitable, and this cannot be changed until after the second coming, at which point Christ will do it all for us.

Or something.

The Question of Peace

This website contends that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, and is currently reigning and fulfilling Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.

Virtually every church on planet earth denies that Jesus is currently reigning and fulfilling Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. One of the Messianic prophecies involves "Peace on Earth" (Micah 4:3; Luke 2:14). Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah say Jesus did not bring instant world peace and perfection, and this is a major reason Jews deny that Jesus is the Christ.

Most churches today agree with Jews and teach that Jesus is not orchestrating world events to produce peace. Most churches believe wars must increase (mistakenly based on Matthew 24:6).

What would the prophets who predicted peace under the Messiah think about the modern world? I think they would be astonished, and would fall to their knees in praise and gratitude to Jesus for bringing peace to the world.

• In the days of the prophets, only a minority worshiped the God of Abraham. Today they are a majority (yes, that includes Muslims, Liberals, Catholics and Jews, but it also includes antichrist churches -- we're very ecumenical on this bullet point).
• There are nearly 8 billion human beings on planet earth today (itself an astonishing figure) who live in peace, work their jobs every day to produce things that they can sell to others and feed their families. None of these billions of people are poorer than the poorest people in Isaiah's day, and billions of them are richer and live lives of luxury which Isaiah could not have even imagined. All the thanks should go to Jesus, or you are an antichrist.
• There are relatively few military conflicts in the world today. Most people balk at that claim, because they watch Fox News and other mainstream anti-Trump sources which believe war = ratings, even though their ratings are astonishingly low. When the United Nations claims that there is massive conflict in the world, what they actually say is that Nation X is at war with Nation Y. This means the soldiers who wear the Nation X uniform are trying to kill the soldiers who wear the Nation Y uniform. If both nations have populations of 10 million people, the U.N. says 20 million people are involved in war. But actually, only a few thousand people (the soldiers) are involved in war. Yes, there is a lot of "collateral damage" and innocent people suffer, but antichrist churches do nothing to stop this, even though they have the financial and electoral power to do so. They complain and point to this evil as proof that Jesus is not the Messiah, but they are the Body of Christ, and do nothing to end wars.
• Some historians say that in Isaiah's day a majority of human beings died violent deaths, or had their lives shortened by the violence of slavery, conquest, exile, or a mean neighbor whose grass was grazed by a wayward ox and murdered his ox-owning neighbor. The pages of the Bible are filled with violence and vengeance because human history before the Advent of Christ was filled with violence and vengeance. Today, a majority of human beings on earth never witness violence and die peaceful deaths. The change has been astonishing.
• In short, Jesus brought Civilization to Earth. The Greeks and Romans did not. "Civilization" proves that Jesus is the Christ.

Premillennialists and Amillennialists reject the idea that Christ is reigning as Messiah on planet earth, and that life on earth today is miraculously better than life on earth before Jesus was born and became the Christ. The forces of Antichrist are winning, they say.

Some churches are called "postmillennial." These churches seem to disagree with the "pessimillennialists," and might be called "optimillennialists." They say Jesus will fulfill many prophecies, and the Second Coming won't happen until they are fulfilled and Christians declare "victory," but this could be thousands or millions of years in the future. However, even postmillennialists don't believe Jesus can or will fulfill all prophecies before the Second Coming, or any time soon (like before the next election).

To this extent, Even Postmillennialists reject the idea that Jesus is fully Christ in our day. The vast majority do not believe that Jesus is Messianically bringing world peace in our day, and that Micah 4:3 (disarmament: beating "swords into plowshares") is a moral obligation for all mankind -- but especially Christians. Postmillennialism logically requires them to believe this and do this, but most postmillennialists still think like "pessimillennialists." Everyone is waiting around for the Second Coming, "when all the fun begins." For proof of this claim see here:

• Why Postmillennialists Must Become Pacifists

This is a critical argument.

When it comes to military policy, churches follow the Hoover Institute or the Heritage Foundation or similar think-tanks, and never think about Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview as a standard for public policy. Cutting the defense budget by 10% is not even on the table, much less beating "swords into plowshares." Churches support bombing the homes of hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq in order to placate the State of Israel. Conservative Antichrist Churches say about peacemakers, "He's a commie!" But if churches got together and threatened to vote only for politicians who took the commands against Murder and Theft seriously, it would be as if the Messiah had come. But the Messiah has in fact come and has brought civilization and peace to billions of human beings, even though His work has been opposed by antichrist churches. It's not just a miracle, it's grand cosmic irony.

What is a true and pure religion? What is a false and impure religion?

Christians would say that Judaism is a false and impure religion, because it denies that Jesus is the Messiah.

But most churches make that same denial. In practice -- both on their days of "worship" and during the rest of the week -- they are very much like the Jews.

Consider these verses from the letter of James:

James 1
²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
²⁶ If anyone among you thinks he is religious, but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 4
⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

If true religion is protecting widows and fatherless children, then there are three ways to disobey true religion, and become "an enemy of God":

• passive indifference to widows and orphans. Completely ignoring their plight. "I gave at the office."
• actively tormenting and traumatizing widows and orphans. Being the kind of person that someone with true religion will guard against.
• actively creating widows and orphans -- by killing husbands and fathers.

If a politician makes this campaign promise

"Vote for me and I will keep your gas prices low and protect your job by killing lots of husbands and fathers in some nation full of brown people that you can't find on a map and confiscating all their oil and other natural resources"

your church would probably support such a candidate. Because -- with one or two occasional but unreliable exceptions -- that's the only kind of candidate who gets enough votes to become one of the many politicians we currently have in government.

Churches would never -- ever -- support a candidate who promised: "Vote for me and I will beat swords into plowshares by completely defunding the military."

Antichrist churches say  "Peace through Strength!"
Truly Christic churches say "Peace through Obedience!" No more killing, no more theft.

But a truly Christian candidate would be ridiculed as naive, utopian, impractical, unrealistic, and a violation of the "separation of church and state." He would never be elected by today's antichrist churches.

That's because no church I know of believes that Jesus is the Christ today and we have a moral obligation to "beat swords into plowshares" as Micah and Isaiah command us -- to transform soldiers into farmers or computer programmers.
No church I know of believes that Jesus is the Christ today and we have a moral obligation to love our enemies: enemies like Trump, Biden, and Putin (and those "deplorables" who voted for them).

It's going to take a lot of study and re-thinking to get you to convert from an anti-christ religion to a Christian religion.

Two Different Irreconcilable Religions

J. Gresham Machen, who helped found Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the early part of the 20th century, is still highly-regarded by most churches. He said Christianity and "Liberalism" (the modern mainstream Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian churches who denied the Virgin Birth of Christ and other miraculous teachings of the Bible) were not just two different forms of Christianity, but were completely different religions. One was Christian, and the other was not.

"Everyone knows" that Judaism and Christianity are two different religions. If you don't believe Jesus is the Christ, then you're not a Christian.

But what do we say about the difference between those who say Jesus is the Christ TODAY (this website) and churches who say He is NOT the Christ today, and won't begin reigning as Christ until TOMORROW. These churches teach that His Second Coming could come at any moment. (They've been saying this for 2000 years.) But Jesus is definitely NOT the Christ right now.

It would appear that we're talking about two completely different religions. This will become more apparent as you study this website.

Conclusion to this Introduction

Believing that Jesus is the Christ today changes everything about the Christian religion. It changes how we understand prophecy. It changes how we understand why human beings were put on planet earth in the first place, and our duties for today. Including our duties on Sunday morning. To say "Your Church is the Anti-Christ" is to say your church is more like Judaism than Christianity. You might say, "There's no way that's true," but this website will show you dozens and dozens more ways in which that parallel is true.

The rest of this page is a re-hash of previously-published websites:

• Vine & Fig Tree
• Jesus is the Christ Today
• Jesus is Not Coming Soon

Those three websites will take approximately 25 hours to read at "pulpit speed." It will take much longer if you read all the Bible verses which are cited -- and read them in context, and study them like "Bereans" (Acts 17:11)

If you've already looked at those websites, you might want to skip down to the bottom of this page where we look at two letters written by a clergyman in an antichrist church. This clergyman says he admires J. Gresham Machen. But he's excommunicating a member of his church who also admires Machen but believes Jesus is the Christ today:

• The Institutional Church is a Psychotic Antichrist

Saying "Your church is the antichrist" is controversial in a knee-jerk way. Christians have been trained to have a knee-jerk reaction to the word "antichrist," but most Christians don't have an understanding of the term that is deeply rooted in actual verses of Scripture; their understanding of "antichrist" comes from best-selling Christian novels.

Amazingly, and tragically, it is also controversial to say that "Jesus is the Christ."

To say "Jesus IS the Christ" is to say "Jesus became Christ in the past." Most churches relegate that to the future Second Coming.

To say "Jesus is THE Christ" is to say no creature is a legitimate christ. Only the Creator is our Christ (Romans 1:25; Isaiah 33:22; 1 Samuel 8:7). Only the Creator is legitimately our King, President, or Prime Minister.

So let's prove that Jesus is in fact the Christ, and show that most churches never teach this, and even deny it explicitly.

Jesus is the Christ. Today.

When you first hear it, you might think that the juxtaposition of "Jesus" and "Christ" is obvious and not at all controversial. But when you dig deeper, it appears that this is the most controversial proposition on planet earth.

• Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Christ ("Christ" means "Messiah").
• Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophets who voiced the Word of our Creator-God.
• Atheists don't believe anyone is or ever will be a "messiah."

And -- most surprisingly -- the vast, overwhelming majority of professing, church-going (or non-churching) Christians do not believe that Jesus is the Christ today.

• Maybe they believe that Jesus has the "right" to be the Christ
• Maybe they believe that Jesus offered to be the Messiah, but the Jews rejected His offer, so He settled for offering them a ticket to heaven when they die ("Savior," but not "King"). (An offer they also reject, because who wants to spend eternity hanging out with a deluded con-man who falsely claimed to be the Messiah and rejected the Law and the Prophets [held dear by the Jews]?)
• Most likely they believe that Jesus will someday ("soon") become the Messiah, when He comes again, a second time.
• But they all agree that Jesus is not -- today -- reigning as Messiah (exercising His rightful powers at full level, high-octane, from a throne in Jerusalem). The Messianic reign is for tomorrow, not today.
• Why do they celebrate CHRISTmas instead of JESUSmas? Why do they call themselves CHRISTians instead of JESUSians?

This website defends the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians -- and Jews -- reserve for a future "millennium."

This means we can have peace on earth. Today.

"Christmas" celebrates the birth of the Christ. "Easter" celebrates the fact that in His resurrection and ascension, Jesus was made Lord and Christ.

The angels told the shepherds on the first Christmas that the birth of a Jewish boy in Bethlehem meant "Peace on Earth."

And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And peace on earth
among men in whom He is well pleased.

A favorite Christmas carol mentions this announcement:

Another Christmas carol notes that Christian churches pay lip-service to this announcement::

But the poem, written during the Civil War, expresses some doubt:

The poet today might write about "The War on Terrorism."

But the poet had something many of today's Christians lack: Optimism:

Probably a majority of self-described Christians today believe the future belongs not to "The Prince of Peace," but to "the antichrist," "great tribulation," "Armageddon," and global war and suffering.

Sure, things will be much better after The Second Coming of Christ. Then we will have "peace on earth." But not before.

Apparently, the angels were mistaken. They thought the first advent of Christ meant "peace on earth."
Apparently the only meaning of Christmas is

"You can go to heaven when you die, and leave all the war and suffering on earth."

This website challenges the prevailing pessimism.

Many people complain that the Bible is filled with war, slavery, and violence. "How can that be the Word of God?" they ask.

But the world before Christ really was filled with war, slavery, and violence. Many historians note that most human beings died violent deaths, or died prematurely from the violence of slavery, conquest, captivity, and all forms of human violence.

If they could travel through time from their day to ours, every prophet who spoke of the coming Messiah would fall on his knees in gratitude to God for the fact that most people on earth today die peacefully, not violently. They would be utterly speechless walking down the aisles of your local WalMart. The character of human life was changed dramatically by the babe born in Bethlehem. And further change is possible:

Christ has already eliminated 99% of all the violence that existed in the world before the first Christmas.
With the poet who "heard the bells on Christmas day" we should note that with the birth of Jesus, 

This website claims that Christians could end 99% of the remaining violence in the world in 2026.

But we have to believe in the real meaning of Christmas:

Jesus is the Christ.

Contents

First, we're going to prove that Jesus is the Christ.

Second, we're going to prove that by denying or downplaying the "Vine & Fig Tree" worldview, churches deny that Jesus is the Christ.

This website is sponsored by:

Vine & Fig Tree

The name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, and is set forth below. You've probably heard Micah's words before -- we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under their own "Vine & Fig Tree." 

America's Founding Fathers were familiar with this vision: "Vine & Fig Tree" is the worldview that made America "the greatest nation on God's green earth."  Living peacefully under your  "Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream." This was possibly the most popular Bible verse in America.

George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. The LOC.GOV website introduces Washington's writings with these words:

The best place to see the Vine & Fig Tree ideal is in the book of Micah.
Surprisingly, you'll almost never hear this prophecy mentioned at Christmas.

Let's look at Micah's prophecy (on the left) and ask a few questions (on the right):

Historians claim that the most popular Bible verse in America from 1600 to the American Revolution was the  “Vine & Fig Tree”  passage(s). (That's saying something significant, because America's public school system was designed primarily to teach everyone the Bible. If you were to ask today's Americans who their favorite opera singer is, they would draw a blank, because they can't name a single opera singer. Likewise if you asked today's Americans what their favorite Bible verse is. Some may have heard of "John 3:16," but otherwise know as much about the Bible as they do about opera. This was not the case in early America.)

A Vision for Humanity

Let's read it again, getting more specific about its implications:

Let's boil the passage down to a few key words:

Reduced to Single-Word Concepts
(Linked to VFTU Home Page)

Distilled into a single proposition, Vine & Fig Tree stands for this:

Jesus is the Christ Today

But most people who call themselves "Christians" don't really believe this.

The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

I know what you're thinking. "What are you, some kind of ANARCHIST?" That suspicion is the kind of thing we were all taught in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught.

Jesus said the kings of the gentiles love to impose their will on other people by political and military force, but Christ's followers are not to do these things (Mark 10:42-45). Mark uses the Greek word from which we get our English word "anarchist." He says the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." But Christians are NOT to be "archists." So some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- will lead to "anarchy." Obeying Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Führers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ).

Jesus
*IS*
*THE*
Christ

Taken together, the two words "IS" and "THE" are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism."

• Jesus IS the Christ TODAY. He began ruling as the Christ in the PAST
• Jesus is THE Christ. The ONLY Christ, the only Savior. False Christs must be repudiated. False Christs must repent. Trump and Biden must abdicate.

The claim that Jesus began ruling as the Messiah/Christ in the past is called "preterism."
The claim that only Jesus the Creator is Christ, and all creatures who claim to be christs, all messiahs, all kings, all rulers, all rulers, all governors, all legislators, all judges, and all potentates are false Christs and must be repudiated is called "anarchism."

This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the real meaning of Christmas."

This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel."

Jesus prohibits His followers from aspiring to rule over others. Jesus said a Christian must not be an "archist."

An "archist" is a "ruler." We here at Vine & Fig Tree invented the word "archist," deriving it from a Greek word found in Mark 10:42-45, from which the English word "anarchist" is derived. 

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10 (see more below), Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God. Their concept of the Messiah was someone who would use force and violence to vanquish the Roman occupation army that held Israel under tribute. They looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would enlist them into a Messianic Israeli Army which would "stick it to" the Romans. But just as Micah said we should beat "swords into plowshares," Jesus said His disciples should "love your enemies," and if their soldiers conscript you to carry their provisions for one mile, you should go with the occupation forces two. (This form of pacifism completely refutes the legitimacy of "national defense.") The disciples didn't understand that Jesus' Messianic Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.

The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist" ("a + archist" -- the first "a" is the Greek letter "alpha," known as the "alpha privative," meaning "not"  --     a[n]archist  -- the letter "n" bridges the "alpha privative" and the word "archist").

"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."

An "archist" believes he has the right to impose his will on other people by force. He need not rely solely on persuasion. He need not give others anything of value in exchange for what he wants from others. He can threaten violence, and carry out those threats if he doesn't get what he wants. It would be sinful for others to engage in such violent extortion or vengeance, but the "archist" claims a "legal" and moral right to do what others must not do.

Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants."

A Christian society is an archist-free society.

We have been brainwashed in "public" schools (run by archists) to believe that an "anarchist" is:

• a bomb-throwing
• assassin
• who rejects the doctrine of private property,
• seeks to foment disorder, chaos and riots in order to overthrow the government by force and violence
• and establish some dreadful political ideal like "the dictatorship of the proletariat," where everyone is his own god and criminals run wild.

Anyone can be called an "anarchist" by someone who wants to vilify an opponent, but most of those who call themselves "anarchist" have reached their position by their opposition to violence. I am a pacifist, therefore I am opposed to any institution of systematic violence and coercion (e.g., "the Mafia," "the State," etc.).

By etymological definition, the opposite of an "anarchist" is an "archist." By being trained to believe that "anarchists" are bad, we've been subtly inculcated with the belief that those who protect us against "anarchists" (logically, "archists") are good.

But the Bible says archists are bad, and explicitly prohibits us from being archists.

Jesus says His followers are not to be archists. Connect the dots.

www.HowToBecomeAChristianAnarchist.com

Mark 10:42-45 (and other passages we're going to be considering in a moment) teaches that

• Christians are prohibited from aspiring to be "archists."
• Christians are prohibited from trying to elect an "archist" to any public office.
• There should not be any "public offices" at all.
• Eliminating "public offices" would dramatically raise our standard of living (if we obey all the commands of Jesus the Christ).

It will take approximately 90 minutes for me to lay out my arguments and for you to follow them Biblically in a loving (1 Corinthians 13:5-7) way.

To say that Jesus is the Messiah today is to say that Jesus became the Messiah in the past, rather than saying He must come again (in the future) before He can begin His Messianic Reign.

It's easy enough to prove that Jesus was made the Christ in the past. Peter explains it in Acts chapter 2. After the Apostles spoke to a large audience of people "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) in all their various foreign languages, Peter explained that this was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. He further explains how Jesus had already fulfilled the Davidic prophecies about the enthroning of the Messiah:

God made Jesus of Nazareth the Christ -- 2000 years ago -- fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies concerning the throne of David. Peter and other devout Jews came to believe this; Christians should believe this; today's Jews do not. What was happening in Peter's "present" happened in our "past."

Even more offensive to modern Christians than the belief that Jesus is the Christ today (and we shouldn't be waiting around for a second advent of Jesus) is the claim that Jesus is THE Christ today; that in our day there is no other legitimate Christ, no other legitimate king.

Nobody believes in "kings" anymore. So let's update our language.

• Jesus is the only legitimate President, Governor, Prime Minister, Premier, Chief Executive, or Emir.
• Jesus is also the only legitimate Legislator. Jesus is a One-Man Legislature.
• Jesus is "the Supreme Judge of the World" (to quote the Declaration of Independence); the only legitimate Judge or Justice.
• Jesus is the only legitimate Department of Homeland Security and Joint Chiefs of Staff.

As we will see below, Isaiah 33:22 confirms this:

For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us

As we will see below, it was a mistake for Israel to want an earthly king to replace God (1 Samuel 8).

This means that a Christian economy is 100% "capitalist" and 0% "socialist."

Many people today grossly misunderstand those terms. They think "capitalism" means politicians support big corporations. They think "socialism" means politicians have "compassion for the poor." What causes confusion is the term common to both ideas: "politicians."

From a Biblical perspective, politicians are wanna-be christs. They think they bring salvation to the world.

That sounds like a crazy claim, because we take politicians seriously, but don't take Christ seriously, or the salvation he came to bring.

Vine & Fig Tree

America's Founding Fathers were familiar with this vision: "Vine & Fig Tree" is the worldview that made America "the greatest nation on God's green earth." It  could be called "The Original American Dream." This Biblical worldview made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history. But a secular government banned this worldview from our schools, and America's prosperity was turned into bankruptcy, and admiration into loathing and ridicule. The vision that created America can also make you prosperous and admired.

Our Goal for the Planet: The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas: And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And peace on earth among men in whom He is well pleased.   Our Goal for You: To be one in whom God is well pleased: His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21 Our programs are designed to transform you into: • An Extraordinary American • An Extraordinary Christian • An Extraordinary Human Being

Here is the Foundational Text for the “Vine & Fig Tree” Worldview:

• Here is a 5-minute summary of that passage.

• Here is a syllabus giving an overview of the first year of a curriculum that the Founders of Harvard University would approve of.

• Got Questions? Let's follow the example of the Bereans (Acts 17:11) and search the Scriptures for answers. Click here.

5-Minute Summary

The vision of everyone dwelling peacefully under his own vine and fig tree is the original "American Dream." The “Vine & Fig Tree” verses were the most popular Bible verses in America three centuries ago. But do they work in the 21st century? Not only will they work, but it's never been more important to let these verses be our blueprint.

These verses contain 23 themes.
It's like a "Systematic Theology."
But it's also like the Unabomber's Manifesto, at least in the eyes of the government.. According to ancient Jewish traditions, especially the Talmud and some apocryphal writings, Micah may have been killed by King Joram or other leaders because of his prophecies against political corruption and idolatry. The kings brought war and chaos. Governments didn't like the prophets. And yet the prophets brought "good news" to those who loved the LORD. The best news imaginable.

Micah's Big Picture: A Messiah is coming. This King will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and His Law is a path to world peace.

Let's look at the words of the text by way of introduction, then unpack some of the details. There's a lot here to uncover. We need to go through the passage twice just to get acquainted with it.

Our starting point:

Theme 0. The Bible is the Word of God:

This theme is called "Theme 0" because it's "Ground Zero." Or it's "Patient 0," sending Micah's "vector" all over the world. All the other themes spread from this initial vector. God communicates with human beings though the Bible.

Theme 1. God is Sovereign:

Micah says

Question.: How does Micah know what will come to pass?

Answer.: God told him. (See Theme 0.) This is seen in verse 4:

Question.: How does God know what will come to pass?

Answer.: God is Sovereign. God is in control.

Theme 2. The Reign of Christ Began in the Past:

Next, Micah says,

Question.: When will this establishment of the reign of the Messiah come to pass?

Answer.:

What is meant by the phrase "the last days?" Turn on the TV and the prophecy preachers will tell you we are now living in "the last days."

They are mistaken.

Perhaps Micah meant "in the distant future." But the writers of the New Testament consistently affirmed that they were living in "the last days," and the best interpretation of this phrase is that they were living in the last days of the Old Covenant. Either way ("last days of the Old Covenant," or "distant future") the New Testament writers said they were living in "the last days." They were also living in the first days of the New Covenant. We are not living in the last days of the Old Covenant.

Again, Micah says,

Let's look at three components of that phrase:

1. mountain
2. house
3. established

First of these three:

Theme 3. The Mountain is Eden:

The original "mountain" was the Garden of Eden, from which flowed four rivers (downhill). The temple on Mt. Zion was a model of the Garden of Eden. The Bible treats the Garden of Eden as literal history.

The "house" of the LORD is the temple. The temple of the LORD: Where is it today? It was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans. This definitively ended the Old Covenant. The New Testament writers say that the new temple is made up of God's People. This is Theme 21, down below.

This "establishment" has already happened. The new temple (God's People) was being built even before the old temple had been destroyed. The virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth was seated in His new temple as the Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:36). The word Messiah = King. This Kingdom was established in the past, and we are not waiting for a second coming of the King in our future. This was Theme 2, above.

Next, Micah says the Messiah's Kingdom has rightful jurisdiction over all other kingdoms. It will be established

The nations around Israel built their own "high places" in an attempt to imitate God's Mountain-Garden. The neo-conservative woke regime in Washington D.C., as well as the UK, UN, EU, NWO, WEF, the "former" USSR, etc. are all rival "mountains." Christ has a superior jurisdiction over them all. This is

Theme 4. Global Conversion

This began happening in Acts 2, and has continued since, with ups and downs through history. "The People" and "the nations" are more likely to flow to Christ's Kingdom when they can see it being practiced.

Theme 5. God's Law

God's Law is better than man's law. The people of all nations will agree (Deuteronomy 4:6).

Too many Christians today think there is a conflict between "Law" and "Gospel." Micah didn't think so. God's Law is "good news' because it is a light on our path (Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 42:16).

Theme 6: Education

Notice the words of exhortation and education: "Let us go!" That's our job today: teach and encourage (Matthew 5:19; Mathew 28:18-20). Persuasion, not coercion.

Theme 7: Spontaneous Obedience

Notice the words of confidence and freedom: "We will walk in His paths."

Theme 8:  The Messiah Reigns:

Who is "He?" It is clearly Jesus the Messiah. The first nation He judged/rebuked was the nation of Israel, who murdered their King. This took place in "the last days" of the Old Covenant. Perhaps Jesus is about to judge the U.S.A., a once-Christian nation.

Theme 9: Peace

Peace is a major theme in the Bible. Yes, there are many historical accounts of wars in the Bible, but what is the point of this history? What are we to learn from ancient Israel's faithless wars and gross idolatry?

Jesus is "The Prince of Peace." Many (if not most) Christians today claim that wars must increase until the "Second Coming" of Christ, sometime in our future. This is based on an erroneous interpretation of Matthew 24:6. There are fewer wars today than there were in Micah's day. Christians have enough financial and electoral power to end all the wars currently taking place in the world today. That sounds like a crazy claim until you prayerfully think it through.

I understand why it seems nuts to think this prophecy could be fulfilled in our day. During my lifetime, the federal government in Washington D.C. has murdered, maimed, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant civilians around the world. The Bible says "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not steal." But theft and violence are the lifeblood of the government, which is why it will not allow teachers in your local public school to teach students "God says don't hurt people and don't take their stuff."

Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised "Peace through Strength," that is, "peace" through killing millions of innocent people?
Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised to use the power of the sword (the State) to engage in extortion ("taxation") to fund mass murder by the military?
Q.: What would happen if "the Law shall go forth" out of the New Temple of God's People, and they never voted for any politician who promised to violate God's commands against murder and theft?

A.: All of today's politicians would have to resign from "the public sector" and get jobs in "the private sector."
The "Public Sector" ("the sword") would be abolished.
"Public Schools" exist to brainwash you into believing that beating swords into plowshares would be a terrible thing.

Theme 10: No Fear of Violent Sword-Bearers

Q.: Who bears "the sword?"

A.: The ones who make other people afraid.

The great Jewish sociologist Franz Oppenheimer called them "Political Man."

Q.: Who uses the "plow?'

A.: People who raise our standard of living.

Franz Oppenheimer called them "Economic Man."

We currently spend a trillion dollars a year on "swords." Three thousand dollars a year for every man, woman, and small child in America. Every year. It diminishes -- it does not raise -- your standard of living.

Theme 11: The Family

This was the most popular Bible verse in America 300 years ago. This was the original "American Dream."

The Family is God's plan for human beings. Peace, personal property, and prosperity through service is God's vision for ordinary people like you.

Theme 12: Service

What does a vine and fig tree mean? They raise our neighbor's standard of living when we cultivate them and sell them. Our goal is service. Our neighbors find us useful because we work in a way that benefits others. This goes back to the first commandment Scripture records God giving man: Exercise dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28).

Theme 13 The Garden

The land is cared for when it is owned. The word "property" means it's personal. Owning land makes one responsible. By taking care of land we secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Theme 14: The Fall of Man

Why are there some people who make others afraid? The answer goes back again to the Garden of Eden, where Satan temped Adam and Eve: "Ye shall be as gods." Descendants of the first Adam like to have power over other people. But if they are born again as descendants of the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), they have a new nature, and want to serve other people

Theme 15: Salvation

The Hebrew word usually translated "salvation" or "save" includes the ideas of victory, security, prosperity, peace, health, welfare.

Throughout the Bible, the words "salvation," "save," and "savior" all point to deliverance: being delivered from those sword-bearers who make us afraid. If we will get on God's Path (Theme 5), God will deliver us from our enemies.

Theme 16: Jerusalem versus Athens

There is a contrast between the people of "Jerusalem" and those outside. The early church father Tertullian (c. 155 AD – c. 220 AD) spoke of the outsiders as "Athens."

What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?  What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?... Our instructions come from “the porch of Solomon”.... Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition!  We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus...! Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics (VII).

Perhaps in his day Christians were being told to "Listen to the Academy!" just as Christians in our day are told "Listen to the Science!" But Micah says the temple of the living God will not be corrupted by the temple of man the would-be god.

Augustine wrote about the conflict between "The City of God" and the city of man. Where is your "citizenship?" You are called to walk on Jerusalem path which leads to the “Vine & Fig Tree” world, not the Athens path which leads to meaninglessness, chaos, and war.

Theme 17: Community

We don't have to do this alone. Christ promises us a community of mutual support.

Theme 18: Charity

Next, Micah says,

God rebukes unbelieving nations, but then restores them and gives them faithful obedience.

God's People -- the Body of Christ -- are part of that process, by extending mercy to those God has rebuked (Matthew 25:31-46). The Christian home is a shelter.

Theme 19: The Gospel of the Kingdom

The word "gospel" means "good news."

What is the "good news" of the Bible?

First and foremost, it is a "gospel of the Kingdom" as the Bible repeatedly states, but seems to be ignored in our day.

Theme 20: Justification

The great dispute during the Protestant Reformation was over "Justification." Are we "justified by works" or are we "justified by faith." Both options are incomplete. When we consider that the Gospel is a "gospel of the Kingdom," then we see that we are justified by our allegiance to this kingdom and its King. This gives Biblically appropriate weight to our works and defies our faith.

Theme 21: The Church

In the Bible, the "church" is a community of believers, not select hierarchy of clergymen.

Theme 22: Eternity

The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in "the last days" of the Old Covenant lasts forever.

Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end
Isaiah 9:6-7

That's the 30,000-foot view. If you would like to dive down and look at Micah's prophecy in a little more detail, click here.

Objections

You can probably imagine today's governments -- and most clergymen --  raising the following objections to Micah's vision:

Theme 0. Bibliolatry: You worship the Bible rather than God

> Why pay more attention to the Bible than to the "experts" in the universities and capitols?

Theme 1. Calvinism/Predestination: "It shall come to pass"

> Don't let God violate your free will!

Theme 2. Preterism: "in the last days"

> This is not a time for peace, but a time for war. Don't you know things get worse and worse until the second coming.

Theme 3. Creationism: The "mountain" = Eden

> Scientists have proven that the earth is billions of years old, there never was a Garden of Eden, and there never will be.

Theme 4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come"

> In these last days people are going to show their depravity, not their faith. Few will believe the "good news."

Theme 5. Theonomy: "the Law of God"

> We're not under law, we're under grace!

Theme 6. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem/Family/business

> We pay for the government's schools with our tax dollars. Our children will be "missionaries" in these atheistic indoctrination centers.

Theme 7. Character: although all people Athens, we will Jerusalem

> You can't expect people to obey God's Law and become more like Jesus. We're in the last days.

Theme 8. Theocracy: "He shall judge"

> Jesus is not currently reigning as the Christ/Messiah/King. Governments should not obey this King. That would violate the "separation of Church and State." To say that Jesus should be our King is to try to impose a Theocracy on America.

Theme 9. Pacifism: "swords into plowshares" "never train for war"

> Abolishing West Point and the Pentagon would be suicide. Commies and Muslims would enslave us. Be practical. Be reasonable. Don't be utopian.

Theme 10. Anarchism; Anarcho-Capitalism: no violence = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist

> Beating swords into plowshares would leave us with no effective government at all. You obviously want anarchy: chaos, lawlessness, crime running wild.

Theme 11: Patriarchy: "His Vine"

> "Family values" are regressive. Secular Governments are ensuring a world of homosexuality, single mothers, transgenders, and pedophiles.

Theme 12: Dominion/work/service

> This is straight out of the"Robber Barons." "Dominion" is code for raping the environment. "Work" is code for denying welfare benefits.

Theme 13: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree

> The days of the family farm are over. The Department of Agriculture will bring about the worker's industrial paradise.

Who are those who would "make afraid?" Archists:
How did some become "Archists?"

Theme 14: Fall of man; Sin

> It is unfair for God to allow the mistake of Adam to affect future generations.

Theme 15: Salvation: None shall make them afraid

> Government will take care of us, giving us victory, security, prosperity, peace, health, welfare.

Theme 16: Jerusalem versus Athens

> Western Civilization is the product of Jerusalem AND Athens. But mostly Athens. In fact, we could do without Jerusalem altogether.

Theme 17: Communism vs. property: "WE will walk"

> All this talk about "community." You're just a bunch of communists.

Theme 18: Socialism and the poor: caring for the ones "God has afflicted"

> All this talk about caring for the poor. You're just a bunch of socialists. I gave at the office.

Theme 19: Gospel: A proclamation of a rival kingdom

> The true Gospel has nothing to do with peace, security, prosperity, health, and welfare. It's only about where you go when you die.

Theme 20: Justification: choosing Jerusalem over Athens

> If you believe you're going to heaven when you die, then you have believed the gospel, and you're saved. Nothing else matters.

Theme 21. Church (House of the Lord on Mount Zion)

> Your ideas are heretical. You need to join a church so we can excommunicate you.

Theme 22: Eternity

> This planet is going to burn up. Just be ready to be raptured.

Each and every one of these objections are answered in our Vine & Fig Tree University syllabus below.

Vine & Fig Tree University

We are working to create an online "university" which can be put on a hand-held electronic device for billions of Muslims and billions of "Christians" around the world. It will give the student the Bible-based education that America's Founding Fathers received when they were children.

At Vine & Fig Tree University we're trying to duplicate the now-extinct Harvard University -- a Bible-based Christian university founded by the New England Puritans to promote the Christianity of the Protestant Reformation in the New World -- which is now an atheistic university at war with the original goals of Harvard.

Graduates of today's government-run "public" schools have been brainwashed into believing that Harvard's original Christian worldview is not as good as today's secular worldview. Nobody wants an education approved by the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans. Nobody is searching in Google to find a university that teaches what Harvard's Founders wanted students to learn in 1636 -- and nobody knows as much about the Bible and social virtues as Harvard expected high school applicants to know before their first college class.

But at Vine & Fig Tree University we believe that Harvard's Founders were not perfectly consistent with the teachings of the Bible. So we seek to reform the reformers. We want to be more pure than the Puritans. But our reforms are viewed as heretical, and we only incur additional wrath from those who already oppose the original Founders of Harvard.

After 1647, students wishing to enroll in Harvard were required to give their assent to the Westminster Standards in order to be admitted as a student. Probably nobody who will be starting as a Freshman at Harvard this Fall has studied the Westminster Standards, much less agrees with them. Applicants to Harvard in the early 1600's had a much higher level of academic attainment than graduates of atheistic public schools -- victims of educational malpractice -- in the early 2000's. And high school students in the 1600's already had a Biblical worldview before their first day of college. 

Contents

“Vine & Fig Tree”  in American History

The Westminster Confession and Catechisms

23 Courses

Each Course lasts about an hour, but Q&A goes on as long as you need to. The Syllabus links to many other pages on Vine & Fig Tree websites. Following all these links could take a lifetime. We should all be Lifelong Learners.

Course 0. Bibliolatry: God speaks, we worship the Word

Course 1. Calvinism/Predestination: "It shall come to pass"

Course 2. Preterism: "in the last days"

Course 3. Creationism: The "mountain" = Eden

Course 4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come"

Course 5. Theonomy: "the Law of God"

Course 6. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem/Family/business

Course 7. Character: although all people Athens, we will Jerusalem

Course 8. Theocracy: He shall judge

Course 9. Pacifism: "swords into plowshares"

Course 10. Anarchism; anarcho-Capitalism: no violence = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist

Course 11: Patriarchy: "His Vine"

Course 12: Dominion/work/service

Course 13: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree

who are those who would "make afraid?" Archists:

How did some become "Archists?"

Course 14: Fall of man; Sin:

Course 15: Salvation: None shall make them afraid

Micah says the law will go forth from Jerusalem

Course 16: Jerusalem versus Athens

Course 17: Communism vs. property: "WE will walk"

Course 18: Socialism and the poor: caring for the ones "God has afflicted"

Course 19: Gospel: A proclamation of a rival kingdom

Course 20: Justification: choosing Jerusalem over Athens

Course 21. Church (House of the Lord on Mount Zion)

Course 22: Eternity

Heresy chart

“Vine & Fig Tree”  in American History

Two centuries ago, the “Vine & Fig Tree” vision transformed America into the most prosperous and admired nation in human history. Tragically, we then experienced The Paradox of Deuteronomy 8: God blessed us, but we forgot God and said, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17), and then God judged our pride by turning our prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into ridicule and hate. The United States is now despised around the world as a self-centered post-Christian bully.

George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. The LOC.GOV website introduces Washington's writings with these words:

Under My Own Vine and Fig Tree, 1798 Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Virginia Historical Society Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art

      Peter Lillback, author of a 1,000-page study of Washington's life and thought, has found more than 40 references to the  “Vine and Fig Tree” vision in Washington's Papers. Other scholars keep finding more, it seems.
      Many other American Founders wrote of this ideal.
      "Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream."
      The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means

• peace,

• wholeness,

• health,

• welfare, and

• private property free from pirates and princes.

When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife.

Page Smith was a historian, winner of the Bancroft Prize, earning his M.A. degree in 1948, and Ph.D. degree in 1951 from Harvard. In his book Religious Origins of the American Revolution (Scholars Press, 1976), Smith writes about graduates from the older Harvard, like Samuel Adams (1740), John Hancock (1754), and John Adams (1755). He says the passage in the book of Micah about “every man…under his vine and under his fig tree” was

the most potent expression of the colonist’s determination to be independent whatever the cost,…having substantial control over his own affairs. No theme was more constantly reiterated by writers and speakers in the era of the Revolution.

Here's a few examples.

The American Revolution might thus be said to have started, in a sense, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. It received a substantial part of its theological and philosophical underpinnings from John Calvin’s Institutes Of The Christian Religion and much of its social history from the Puritan Revolution of 1640-1660, and, perhaps, less obviously, from the Glorious Revolution of 1689.

Put another way, the American Revolution is inconceivable in the absence of that context of ideas which have constituted radical Christianity. The leaders of the Revolution in every colony were imbued with the precepts of the Reformed faith.

The Westminster Standards are the highest expression of "the Reformed Faith." Indeed, Smith adds, in early America, the Reformation

left its mark on every aspect of the personal and social life of the faithful. In the family, in education, in business activity, in work, in community and, ultimately, in politics, the consequences of the Reformation were determinative for American history.

As remote or repugnant as Puritanism may be to some, Smith says “it is essential that we understand that the Reformation in its full power was one of the great emancipations of history.”

America became the most prosperous and admired nation in history because it was a Calvinist Theocracy. <-- Check out that link. You were trained by your government-approved teachers to be offended and appalled at that claim. And it is unfortunate that Calvin and his progeny were not consistent Christian Theocrats. They tried to combine "Jerusalem and Athens." Instead of a pure "Theocracy," which literally means "God governs," they wanted clergymen to govern.

The Westminster Standards

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were written in the 1640's. They reflect the growth of Protestant theology that began in 1517 with Luther's "95 Theses" and continued under men like John Calvin.

John Frame says

The assembly’s Confession of Faith, completed in December, 1646, is the last of the classic Reformed confessions and by far the most influential in the English-speaking world. Though it governed the Church of England only briefly, it has been widely adopted (sometimes with amendments) by British and American Presbyterian bodies as well as by many Congregational and Baptist churches.

B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of the Westminster Standards,

[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion . . . .

Richard Gardiner, in his impressive collection of "Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History," lists many sources which introduce the average Secular Humanist to the now-unknown religious foundations of American Revolution and Government. Among these sources are the Westminster Standards. Gardiner says of them:

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) In addition to being the decree of Parliament as the standard for Christian doctrine in the British Kingdom, it was adopted as the official statement of belief for the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although slightly altered and called by different names, it was the creed of Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches throughout the English speaking world. Assent to the Westminster Confession was officially required at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Princeton scholar, Benjamin Warfield wrote: "It was impossible for any body of Christians in the [English] Kingdoms to avoid attending to it." The Westminster Catechism (1646) Second only to the Bible, the "Shorter Catechism" of the Westminster Confession was the most widely published piece of literature in the pre-revolutionary era in America. It is estimated that some five million copies were available in the colonies. With a total population of only four million people in America at the time of the Revolution, the number is staggering. The Westminster Catechism was not only a central part of the colonial educational curriculum, learning it was required by law. Each town employed an officer whose duty was to visit homes to hear the children recite the Catechism. The primary schoolbook for children, the New England Primer, included the Catechism.  Daily recitations of it were required at these schools. Their curriculum included memorization of the Westminster Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism. There was not a person at Independence Hall in 1776 who had not been exposed to it, and most of them had it spoon fed to them before they could walk.

The Shorter Catechism begins with this notice:

"Weaker capacity." Like 5-year olds.

The "Larger Catechism" is described as "a Directory for catechising such as have made some proficiency in the knowledge of the grounds of religion." Like 12-year olds. A Protestant Bar-Mitzvah.

90% of the "Pastors" of today's churches do not know as much about theology as the average 8th-grade American in 1776.

The word "Theocracy" is a frightening boogeyman in our day. Many people are disturbed by the idea of a government official entering a home and dictating what children should learn when it comes to religion. Harvard University and the Westminster Standards were both designed to promote a Christian Theocracy. Neither one embraced the modern concept of "separation of church and state," which more accurately means "separation of God (religion, Christianity) and Government." Harvard/Westminster stood for the proposition that both Church and State must be "under God." Vine & Fig Tree University questions whether "the State" -- which is a Monopoly of Violence -- can ever truly be "under God," that is, obedient to God's Commandments. Similarly concerning the institution called "the church." The Westminster Assembly, predominantly Presbyterian, was strongly opposed to Roman Catholicism, yet in many ways is still very similar to Roman Catholicism in structure and power-dynamics. John Milton said "New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large."

The Bible says all believers are priests and kings:

Revelation 1:6 
Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:9-10
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.

Roman Catholics claimed to have priests; Harvard and Westminster denied this.
Harvard's most notable graduates in its first 200 years -- Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, etc. -- denied the claim of "the divine right of kings."
Vine & Fig Tree University contends that we are all priests and kings, and nobody is a priest or a king.
Vine & Fig Tree University denies the modern concept of "separation of church and state." We believe in "the abolition of church and state." We believe in an orderly self-governing society, and a truly religious society, without the institutions of "church" and "state."

Both Harvard and Westminster believed in the institutions of "church" and "state" because "the church fathers" did. Not everything "the church fathers" believed came from the Bible. "The church fathers" believed many things because Aristotle and Greco-Roman humanism taught them to believe these things. One of the primary purposes of Vine & Fig Tree University is to strip away Greco-Roman humanism and go back to the Scriptures. At many points the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans wanted to "reform" and "purify" in this way, but they were products of their time.

Vine & Fig Tree University and "The Great Commission" is not about promoting any particular church or denomination, nor any particular nation. The only legitimate "church" is the Body of Christ, and the only legitimate nation is "the holy nation" spoken of in 1 Peter 2:9.

Here are the chapters of the Westminster Confession, with links to the section below where we compare the Westminster Standards with the core values of Vine & Fig Tree University:

The Puritan Church-State of Massachusetts created Harvard in 1636, and in 1647 created "public schools." The purpose of both was to promote widespread understanding of the Bible. Bible-educated citizens would then help create and maintain a Christian Theocracy. The Founders of Harvard believed that it was necessary to create a "civil government" to promote religion and civic order. They did not understand how religion and social order could be promoted by a Market Freed from threats of government force. Vine & Fig Tree University exists to promote this "paradigm shift." It will not take thick textbooks and long classroom lectures to do this. It simply requires taking the most basic precepts of the Bible seriously and consistently. This is not complicated or "tricky." It doesn't require high levels of intelligence. It takes high levels of ethics. Just be a consistently moral person, and ignore the "experts" who say the Bible is outdated or "utopian."

You will not graduate from Vine & Fig Tree University unless you can assent to the following doctrines:

1. I believe in God.
2. I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
3. I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
4. I enthusiastically agree with the first 22 chapters of the Westminster Confession of faith. The Larger Catechism asks, 
        Q. 5. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
        A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
   What the Scriptures require as the duty of man is found in the exposition of the Ten Commandments in questions 91ff. I enthusiastically agree with most of this section of the Catechism, as the links in the next two points will attest:
5. I believe God says "Thou shalt not kill."
6. I believe God says "Thou shalt not steal"
7. I believe God says that if someone hurts you or takes your stuff, you should leave vengeance to God
8. I believe what the New Testament authors believed about the Second Coming of Christ.
9. I support Capitalism, not State Socialism/Fascism/Communism
10. I believe "the Gospel"

These propositions might seem at first glance to be perfectly reasonable and perfectly acceptable to any church.

But Vine & Fig Tree University pursues these doctrines with relentless logical and Biblical consistency.

If you think about these doctrines, and practice or meditate on them with logical consistency, they are astonishing, and then they are offensive. Most pastors don't want their congregations thinking about these things too much. They want their congregations to feel good.

If you take these doctrines seriously, you will be considered a "heretic." I've been told by many people that I'm not even a Christian because I believe these things.

Let's think about these simple propositions like Bereans (Acts 17:11).

This is also the foundational Bible passage for America. This is the original "American Dream."

Fourth, this book is really hard to read. Not because it uses big words and technical jargon, but because it challenges what you believe. It challenges beliefs you were taught to believe in 13, 17, or 20+ years of atheistic schooling, and continue to have reinforced by mainstream media, and you're not even aware you believe those things, but when I challenge those beliefs, you'll freak out.

This book contains many ideas that will force you to think about what you believe. Even if you don't agree with my conclusions, you'll be a better person for wrestling with the ideas.

Consider these four verses

Acts 17:10-12

Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
 

Proverbs 27:17

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
 

Proverbs 18:17

"The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him."
 

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

The Bible encourages study of the Bible. The Bible discourages letting it accumulate dust on the shelf.
The Bible is the Word of God. It makes sense to figure out what God is saying, and not to substitute the words of men for the Word of God.

If you are like I once was, you won't support the idea of beating "swords into plowshares." I used to think the U.S. military protected the world from evil. No longer. "Pacifism" is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other controversial issues in this "sermon."

Finally, you should read this book because you are a victim of educational malpractice. If the men who signed America's Declaration of Independence could travel through time from their day in 1776 to our day in 2025, they would say you are a victim of educational malpractice. Children in their day were taught the Bible, including Micah's prophecy, and they could understand the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. Public schools were created to make sure everyone in town could read and understand the Bible, because that's where our laws came from. Today's education system is atheistic.

Searching the Scriptures daily, being sharpened with iron, and being cross-examined, are not things most Americans today want to do. They prefer kitty videos. This is quite different from Americans 300 years ago.

Puritan sermons could be 2 or 3 hours long. They weren't "feel good" sermons; they made the listener think. They were more educational than "inspirational." Like a college class. Church-goers today don't want to be forced to think, and especially to re-think cherished ideas. But the Bible says it's a good thing to be confronted with new ideas, and to be forced to re-think them, with your Bible in your hand. Even if you don't change your mind.

Today's government says U.S. public school teachers cannot teach students that the Declaration of Independence (the "birth certificate" of America) is actually true. If you're like me, you attended atheistic ("secular") schools that were prohibited by law from teaching you that:

• the God of the Bible exists, and His existence is a "self-evident truth"
• our rights really are the product of the intelligent design of our Creator
            (not a gift from the government)
• all Americans really are obligated to conform their lives to
            "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"
• one day our actions really must pass judgment with
            "the Supreme Judge of the world"
• all Americans should have "a firm reliance on
            the Protection of Divine Providence."
• Americans have a duty -- not just a right
            -- to abolish any government
            that becomes a tyranny.

These are things the Declaration of Independence sets forth.
None of these things can be taught as truth in a school controlled by the governments of

• Iran
• North Korea
• Communist China
• The United States

Yes, the United States. You are the product of hours and hours and hours -- 13, 17, 20 or more years -- of Bible-free atheistic indoctrination.

My book and online university will help you learn what the average 12-year old knew in 1776. If you're a high school student thinking about going to college, take a few months to work through this book and you'll either change your mind about spending $100k and 4 years of your life in college, or you'll graduate with your faith intact. If you've already graduated from an atheistic university, you will be de-programmed from the most dangerous and authoritarian cult in the world: the United States. Does that sound crazy? America's Founding Fathers would undoubtedly think the same thing about you and your government today.

In 1892 the Supreme Court of the United States proudly boasted that America was officially, legally, technically, Constitutionally, and "organically" a "Christian nation." I'm fond of the old America, a Christian "republic," but I loathe today's atheistic U.S. Empire.

There are already revisionist books on America's Christian Heritage. Here are two:

• The Case for America's Christian Heritage | American Vision
• Original Intent | Wallbuilders

These books say what the Supreme Court said a century ago. My new book says two things:

1. We need to return to the Christian/Biblical foundations
2. We need to build more consistently on that foundation.

That shouldn't be controversial, but it is.

As I attempt to show, America's Founders were not consistent with the Biblical Blueprints. Micah says the foundation is "Jerusalem," but America's Founders attempted to build on a foundation of "Jerusalem and Athens." I think that was a mistake. That's where controversy begins.

Table of Contents

Exposition and Elaboration of Micah's Text

Verse 1:

0. The Bible is the Word of God:

"for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it."

1. God is Sovereign:

"it shall come to pass"

2. The Reign of Christ Began in the Past:

"in the last days"

3. The Mountain is Eden:

"the mountain"

Verse 2:

4. Global Conversion:

"people shall flow unto it."

5. God's Law:

"the Law shall go forth"

6.. Education:

"He will teach us of His ways"

7. Spontaneous Obedience:

"we will walk in His paths"

Verse 3:

8. The Messiah Reigns:

"He shall judge"

9. Pax Christi, Not Pax Romana:

"they shall beat their swords into plowshares"

Verse 4:

10. Freedom from Archists:

"none shall make them afraid"

11: The Family:

"every man under his Vine & Fig Tree 

12: Service:

[Genesis 1:26-28]

13: The Garden/Land:

Vine & Fig Tree 

14: The Fall of Man:

[Genesis 3:5 - the desire to be as god, to make people fear you]

15: Salvation:

"none shall make them afraid"

Verse 5:

16: Jerusalem versus Athens:

"Although all people will walk every one in the name of his god,"

17: Community:

"We will walk"

Verse 6:

18: Charity:

"gathering the afflicted"

19: Gospel:

Good news of a new kingdom

20: Justification:

Allegiance to the New Kingdom

Verse 7:

21. Church:

"House of the LORD" in "Mount Zion"

22: Eternity:

"for ever and ever"

This is more like a "Systematic Theology" book than a mere "sermon."

But it's also more like the Unabomber's Manifesto than it is a boring seminary book. (But unlike the Unabomber and the U.S. Federal Government, this book does not advocate bombs, but beating "swords into plowshares.")

About the Author

I was born in the year of Sputnik: the Soviet satellite that kicked off "The Space Race" which was part of "The Cold War." The Cold War should have ended in 1991, when the Communists cried "uncle" and decided they wanted to become "capitalists" so that Russians wouldn't starve. (Well, they wanted to be "capitalists" as much as American oligarchs were "capitalists.") But "The Cold War" could not be allowed to end. It was too profitable for the U.S. "Military-Industrial Complex." So "The Cold War" was replaced by a "War on Terror."

The "Cold War" included "hot" wars in Korea and Vietnam. "The Cold War" also included "proxy wars," where the U.S. would give military aid to one side or the other (sometimes both). Examples include the Greek Civil War, which lasted from 1946 to 1949, in which communist rebels fought the Greek government. The US gave military aid to the Greek government. This was an early example of the US policy of "containment" against communism. More than 50,000 soldiers died in the Greek Civil War. Over 100,000 to possibly close to 150,000 non-combatants were killed, and one million became homeless. The civil war had a devastating impact on the Greek economy and society. I never heard about this in my government school. Nor a lot of other wars the U.S. was involved in.

• List of wars: 1945-1989 - Wikipedia

The U.S. gave Stinger Missiles to Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, so the "Mujahideen" could fight the Soviet Union.

• The United States and the Mujahideen | History of Western Civilization II

The "Cold War" was profitable for the "military-industrial complex," so when the Soviet Union held a "Going Out of Business" sale in 1991, we should have beaten our "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:3), but "sword makers" were a powerful lobby. So the U.S. traded in "The Cold War" for a "War on Terror."

Osama bin Ladin would use the platform the U.S. built for him to attack the World Trade Center on 9-11. Or so we're told. The U.S. had many ready-made terrorist organizations to fight against (or fight with), since the U.S. had funded many of them, and would later use them to overthrow Gadhafi in Libya and Assad in Syria.

source
People can be called "freedom fighters" on Monday and "terrorists" on Friday.

All told, during my lifetime, the U.S. government has directly murdered, maimed, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians around the world. The indirect casualties may be much greater.

Since the death of Mao Tse-Tung in 1976, Washington D.C. has become the most evil and dangerous government on the planet. Some might say that Iran or North Korea are more evil, and that case can surely be made, but they are not more dangerous. Statistically speaking, the average human being on planet earth is more likely to have her God-given rights to life, liberty, or property violated by someone on the payroll of the United States, or with weapons made, sold, or donated by the U.S., than by any other government, terrorist group, drug cartel, or organized crime syndicate. Plus Washington D.C. is the enemy of the Christian family, and promotes homosexuality and abortion around the world, which Islamic nations do not do.

Since I was raised in a conservative Christian home, when I was first old enough to vote, I voted for candidates who supported the Vietnam War. I voted for politicians who promised a "strong national defense," which turned out to be a defense of special interests (large corporations) using terrorists as proxies.

The Bible says true religion is protecting widows and fatherless children (James 1:27). I voted for politicians who created widows and orphans by killing husbands and fathers. Then these widows and children were tormented by having their schools, hospitals, and grocery stores bombed.

• Every 12 Minutes, the United States Drops a Bomb Somewhere - The New American

I thought I was a Christian. Was I really? Can a Christian vote for mass murderers?

I was taught that evolution was a scientific fact.
I was taught that without scientific social planners, imbeciles like me would drag society into the ground. Without experts in Washington D.C., we would have "anarchy." Without the "military-industrial complex," we would be enslaved by commies, Muslims, or the enemy du jour.
I was taught that it was "utopian," "impractical," or "unrealistic" to "beat swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:3).
I was taught that taking the teachings of Jesus Christ seriously was OK in your "personal" or "spiritual" life, but must not be applied in "the real world" of politics, law, economics, and foreign policy.

Everything I Was Taught Was a Lie.

As I said, that's an exaggeration. I have a bad habit of making shocking claims to get the reader's attention. But there are people spreading lies about some very important things. Some people are liars, while some people have been lied to but believe they have a "patriotic" or "scientific" duty to repeat those lies.

And sometimes the failure to tell the truth results in a lie.

I have discovered that I have been lied to about the Scopes "Monkey Trial."
I have been lied to about the Bible.
I have been lied to about the "theory of Evolution."
I have been lied to about "the separation of church and state."
I have been lied to about the 4th of July and the American Revolution.
I have been lied to about the Constitution and the government of the United States.

I hate being lied to.

What if I could show you that everything you know about the Scopes Trial, the Constitution, the Theory of Evolution, and the Bible is a lie?

The phrase "cold war" means hostility or tensions between two nations, which is different from a "hot war," which means "boots on the ground" and bullets in bodies.

But "The Cold War" involved a lot of bullets. And bombs.

Was the "Vietnam War" a "hot war" in the "Cold War?" Napalm is pretty warm. Three million human beings were killed in that war. More or less.

(The Constitution requires Congress to declare war before a war begins. This was not done. The Vietnam War was unconstitutional. This is why "fringe" groups like the John Birch Society opposed the Vietnam "War.")

The (unconstitutional) Korean War was also pretty warm. Another three million people were killed.

Sometimes the United States gave guns and bombs to other governments to fight a hot war against communists. These are called "proxy wars." Example: from 1946 to 1949, the U.S. gave military aid to the Greek government in their Civil War against communists. The Greek Civil War resulted in approximately 158,000 total casualties, including a significant number of deaths from both combat and civilian suffering. The conflict also caused the displacement of over a million people, left a shattered economy, and led to the forced exile of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

There were at least a dozen such hot wars during "The Cold War," and maybe others we don't know about (kept secret in the interests of "national security"). These wars killed a minimum of 7 million people, with some estimates as high as 20 million, if you include more conflicts or account for civilian excess deaths from displacement, famine, or disease.

As they did in Greece, the United States gave weapons, including Stinger missiles, to Osama bin Ladin and Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan who were messing with the Soviet Union. Years later we are told Osama and his crew visited the World Trade Center in New York. They were "Freedom Fighters" when committing acts of violence against Russians, but "Terrorists" when committing acts of violence against New Yorkers. "Your Tax Dollars At Work"

Fifty years ago Mao Tse-Tung died, and communism in China died with him.

• How China Became Capitalist | Cato Institute January 2013

Since then, hundreds of millions of Chinese have been lifted out of poverty. Or more accurately, "lifted themselves" out of poverty. Mao's successor, Deng Xiaoping, would like to give credit to central planning by the Communist Party in China for China's economic turn-around, but prosperity was the work of the private sector. China's central government can be given credit to the extent it stood aside and let capitalism work its miracles.

But during my lifetime, in stark contrast, "my" government in Washington D.C. has murdered, maimed, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant non-white civilians around the world. U.S. Wars and imperialism have made the U.S. the most evil and most dangerous government on planet earth. Some might say the government of North Korea is more evil, but it's not more dangerous. The average human being, especially the average non-white human being, is more likely to have her God-given rights to life, liberty, and property infringed by someone on the payroll of the U.S. government than any other government, drug cartel, terrorist group, or organized crime syndicate.

What moral guilt do ordinary Americans share for death and suffering?

When I turned 18 and was old enough to vote, I voted for "conservative" politicians who were "strong on national defense."

Doesn't that make me guilty of murder?

I believe what Hebrews 9:27 says:

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment

I believe what Jesus said in the third section of Matthew 25:

⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

This judgment is based on a simple criteria: did you raise the material standard of living of "the least of these?"

³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food;
I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you visited Me;
I was in prison and you came to Me.’

War does the opposite. War does not help, but in fact creates hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, and sick people. And dead people. Often children.

James 1:27 defines true religion:

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

The word "visit" means to guard or protect. War does not protect widows; it creates widows by killing husbands and fathers.

In verse 26, James says:

If anyone among you thinks he is religious ... but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.

I believe there was a time when my religion was useless. It was a fake religion.

Is this a fair reading of James 4:4?

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the Pentagon is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the Pentagon makes himself an enemy of God.

Matthew 25:44-46
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Am I "righteous" if I vote for "strong national defense?"

It's not really about "defense." None of the millions of people killed and tens of millions of people maimed or made homeless during "the Cold War" were attacking me. I don't think killing them was "defense." I'm told they were attacking U.S. "interests." Or they were "collateral damage." The "Department of Defense" was originally called "The Department of War." Recently Donald Trump changed it back to "Department of War." That's honest, even if it's also sinister.

If I haven't convinced you that voting is murder, maybe a bunch of Bible verses will help. If it will help, you'll keep reading. If it won't help, you probably already stopped reading.

Matt Kibbe wrote an introduction to libertarianism with a great title: "Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff."

That nicely sums up Christian Morality 101.

I voted for political candidates who promised (in patriotic slogans, not in clear language that exposes sin) to hurt people and take their stuff.

If I had voted for candidates in an internet election staged by someone in "the private sector" on a site like this one: https://ElectionRunner.com, in which a real individual says he will steal from specific people and give some of the money to a guy who makes bombs, and the bomb will be deployed on a specific building, killing a specific hated individual (admittedly, along with innocent bystanders), if a certain number or percentage of people "vote" for him to do so on that website, I would be guilty of murder. I'm not guilty of any "crime" if I vote in a similar election stages by the " public sector" ("the government"). But I think it stands to reason that I would be guily of murder in God's Court. Here's why.

In high school I changed from a "conservative" Christian to a radical "fundamentalist" Christian. I met an author/speaker named R.J. Rushdoony. Rushdoony championed "Christian Reconstruction." He opposed secular government, and advocated "Theonomy" (from two Greek words meaning "God's Law"), and what most people would call "Theocracy." Rushdoony founded an organization called Chalcedon. Rushdoony's writings helped create "The Moral Majority" and get Ronald Reagan elected President in 1980. In 1982, reflecting on the "Reagan Revolution," Newsweek magazine identified Chalcedon as the "think-tank" of the religious right. Compared to Rushdoony, Reagan was a liberal, and Rushdoony did not vote for Reagan, and while leaders of the religious right read Rushdoony, their followers never heard Rushdoony's name, because he was a theological "hot potato." Before I graduated from college I became a "Chalcedon Scholar" and started writing a monthly column in Chalcedon's flagship periodical.

I eventually became more radical than Rushdoony. I think I was becoming logically consistent with the Bible and Rushdoony's version of a Bible-based society. Rushdoony wrote the following:

Adams graduated from Harvard, a university established by Calvinist Theocrats like R.J. Rushdoony. Abolishing all law books except the Bible, and making the Bible the legal blueprint for society, is a radical idea. You could call me a Calvinist Theocrat, like John Adams, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other graduates of the older Christian Harvard University. If these men could travel through time to our day, our current government would call them "domestic terrorists." Abolishing all government codes of law will get you called an "anarchist," even if you want to replace those statute books with the Bible, which gets you called a "Theocrat." In the late 1970's I took a college class on Political Philosophy taught by Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate John Hospers. One of the texts in his class was Murray N. Rothbard's book For A New Liberty. Rothbard was an anarchist. He advocated a stateless society. Hospers was a "minarchist," a libertarian who believed in the necessity of a (very small) government. Rushdoony's criticisms of the secular State had already made me an anarchist, though Rushdoony despised that word. Rothbard gave me permission to use that label in public.

Like other "Christian Reconstructionists," I had thought of myself as "TR" -- "Truly Reformed"; following the Protestant Reformers more consistently than other Protestants. But in the early 1980's I learned more about the Anabaptists of the 16th century. They were put to death by Calvinist Theocrats. I concluded that in many respects the Anabaptists were better Theonomists than the Calvinists. Anabaptists are considered to be Protestants, because they weren't Catholics, but are more likely to "beat swords into plowshares" than the other Protestant Reformers, called "Magisterial Reformers" because of their collaboration with the civil magistrate ("The State"; the "sword"). I eventually concluded that God's Law ("Theonomy") commands pacifism. I read about anti-war activist Dorothy Day, who was mentored by a French philosopher named Peter Maurin. Maurin was an advocate for the poor, and might also be called the first "Christian Reconstructionist," "reconstruction" being a favorite word of his. As Jim Wishloff wrote, "Peter Maurin considered both liberalism and conservatism and concluded that neither was adequate to effect a reconstruction of the social order." Dorothy Day sought to implement Maurin's Program. Day converted from left-wing socialism to Catholic Christianity, and began publishing an answer to the Communist Party's newspaper, The Daily Worker, with a periodical of her own, The Catholic Worker. I spent the better part of the next decade in the Catholic Worker movement, helping run a homeless shelter. Maurin envisioned a radical right-wing movement, but today's Catholic Worker movement is considered left-wing. They don't care too much about the Bible and theological orthodoxy, so they became the only movement that would let me in. The conservative groups I used to be affiliated with were shocked by my radical Biblicism (anarcho-pacifism), and excommunicated me.

James 1:27 says true religion is protecting widows and fatherless children, but when I was young I had voted for politicians who promised to create widows and fatherless children by killing husbands and fathers -- all part of a "strong national defense." All told, during my lifetime, the federal government of the United States has murdered, maimed, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant non-white civilians around the world. The United States drops a bomb somewhere in the world every 12 minutes, on average. No other government, including Iran, North Korea, and Communist China, has been as evil and as dangerous as the U.S. Federal Government has in the last 40 years. You might say the government of North Korea is more evil, but it's not more dangerous to the rest of the world. Statistically speaking, the average human being on planet earth is more likely to have her "unalieanable rights" violated by someone on the payroll of the U.S. Federal Government than by someone from Russia, North Korea, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, or any organized crime syndicate ("Mafia," "Yakuza") or drug cartel (Los Zetas, Sinaloa, etc.).

America's Founders created a limited government, with "checks and balances," a "separation of powers," limited by a "Bill of Rights." But we no longer live in "America," but under "The United States," arguably the most powerful centralized government in the history of the human race. Pharaoh had the Israelites for slaves, but did not have the global reach the U.S. Empire has. And the U.S. does not promote Christianity. The opposite, in fact. Washington D.C. is the enemy of God and humanity. Russia under Putin does a better job of promoting "traditional morality" than the U.S. In fact, the U.S. opposes "family values" and seeks to impose the opposite on weaker nations around the world.

So you can call me an anti-American anarcho-pacifist Calvinist Theocrat.

This is a photo of a U.S. tank proudly flying a U.S. flag burning down a house-church in Waco, TX, killing dozens of innocent men, women, and children. I can't "pledge allegiance" to that flag after seeing that.

That's a photo of a neighborhood in Iraq. "Your tax dollars at work." Or is it Gaza?

That is not a photo of "Hitler Youth" saluting "Mein Führer." These are schoolchildren in Southington, Connecticut, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in 1942, before the Nazi Salute became offensive to Americans. A year earlier, Arch R. Everson, a taxpayer in Ewing Township, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit against government funding for parochial schools. His case was a landmark decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. It led eventually to the removal of voluntary Bible reading and voluntary prayer in government-run schools. I attended these atheistic fascist schools. In 1961 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law requiring school teachers to be Christians and prohibiting atheists from taking an oath to support the constitution and holding government offices. Such laws had existed for hundreds of years. Nobody who signed the Constitution thought such laws were "unconstitutional." I studied law and passed the California Bar Exam, but was denied a license to practice law because I was a Bible-believing anarcho-pacifist. While atheists were once denied government office, in the U.S. today Christians are -- unless they pretend to be atheists. Details.

America's Calvinist Founding Fathers would say that today's atheistic federal government is far more evil and tyrannical than the government they overthrew in the "American Revolution."

Here is more than any sane person wants to know about the author.

That's the 30,000-foot view. I would like to dive down and look at Micah's prophecy in a little more detail.

I suspect you can already see some of the more controversial points. I'll get into the controversies in more detail. Here is an outline of those controversial themes that can be found in Micah's prophecy. I find 23 of them in the passage, and each one can set off a firestorm of controversy. But when fully understood, each one is a source of great comfort, optimism, and "good news" ("gospel"). (I believe it will be helpful to review Micah's prophecy more than once.)

⁴ But they shall sit every man under
his vine and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid:

Vine & Fig Tree
Daily Life

Checklist of the 23 Courses in this text:

Theme 0. Bibliolatry: God speaks, we worship the Word
Theme 1. Calvinism/Predestination: "It shall come to pass"
Theme 2. Preterism: "in the last days"
Theme 3. Creationism: The "mountain" = Eden
Theme 4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come"
Theme 5. Theonomy: "the Law of God"
Theme 6. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem/Family/business
Theme 7. Character: although all people Athens, we will Jerusalem
Theme 8. Theocracy: He shall judge
Theme 9. Pacifism: "swords into plowshares"
Theme 10. Anarchism; Anarcho-Capitalism: no violence = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist
Theme 11: Patriarchy: "His Vine"
Theme 12: Dominion/work/service
Theme 13: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree
who are those who would "make afraid?" Archists:
Theme 14: Fall of man; Sin How did some become "Archists?"
Theme 15: Salvation: None shall make them afraid
Micah says the law will go forth from Jerusalem
Theme 16: Jerusalem versus Athens
Theme 17: Communism vs. property: "WE will walk"
Theme 18: Socialism and the poor: caring for the ones "God has afflicted"
| The Lord Shall Reign:
| | Theme 19: Gospel: A proclamation of a rival kingdom
| | Theme 20: Justification: choosing Jerusalem over Athens
| From Mount Zion
| | Theme 21. Church (House of the Lord on Mount Zion)
Theme 22: Eternity

I acknowledge that some of these ideas are considered "heresy" in many circles. Outside the walls of the church, other ideas are considered "disinformation." I originally thought I could write a very positive and encouraging website, since the idea of living peacefully under one's vine and fig tree is the original "American Dream," and was the most popular Bible verse in America 300 years ago. But I don't think a purely positive approach will work. Most people today have been brainwashed to have an automatic visceral negative reaction to anyone who tries to take the Bible seriously and make it a blueprint for public policy. Please recall those three verses mentioned above. If you don't like controversy, I'll try to make these controversies as attractive as I can.

On the other hand, some people love attacking heresies. They love to denounce ideas they disagree with and play the role of the "Defender of the Faith." There's a lot of red meat for such people in this book.

America was once the most prosperous and admired nation in history, because these now-controversial ideas were widely circulated and believed. These ideas have been banned (because they're "controversial") and America's prosperity has been transformed into bankruptcy, and admiration into loathing and ridicule.

Heresy Hunters!

America was settled by Christians who wanted "religious freedom," that is, freedom from versions of Christianity they rejected. Most people in our day don't care about religion, much less doctrinal precision. Americans today see the conflicts of the past -- conflicts that led to the creation of America -- as petty disagreements between two groups of fanatic, theocratic Christians. Clergymen can indeed be petty and authoritarian. But some of the controversial issues are also the foundations of civilization. I want to show that if you get these big issues wrong, you undermine civilization. America will become a "third-world nation." Get these issue right, and you transform a wilderness into a garden; Canaan into Jerusalem.

Despite many agreements with the Puritans (which modern Americans reject), the Puritans would have considered this book to be dangerous and heretical. If you attend any church, your church will banish this book. If you're a "heresy hunter," you'll find plenty of heresies here. I grant the "institutional church" considers some of these ideas to be dangerous heresies, but I'm confident I can prove to you that the ideas are Biblical. An 8th-grader can read the verses I'll be lining up, and see the difference between what those verses say and what Washington D.C., the Vatican, and your "local church" all say. It's not about I.Q. The Bible was written to ordinary people 2,000 or more years ago. It's not that hard to understand; it's hard to get past our anti-Biblical training.

Book publishing gurus say the money is not in the book, but in the "back end."

As I hinted at above, I dream of creating an online university to promote the ideas of my new book. I call it

Vine & Fig Tree University

Here's the website ("not ready for prime time"):

Vine & Fig Tree University - A Harvard Education for Less Than $5,000

I created a non-profit tax-exempt corporation to promote these ideas::

Vine & Fig Tree

Our Goal for the Planet: The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas: And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And peace on earth among men in whom He is well pleased. Our Goal for You: To be one in whom God is well pleased: His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21 Our programs are designed to transform you into: An Extraordinary American An Extraordinary Christian An Extraordinary Human Being These were the three goals of Harvard graduate Samuel Adams, "The Father of the American Revolution."

  “Vine & Fig Tree”  in American History

Two centuries ago, the “Vine & Fig Tree” vision transformed America into the most prosperous and admired nation in human history. Tragically, we then experienced The Paradox of Deuteronomy 8: God blessed us, but we forgot God and said, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17), and then God judged our pride by turning our prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into ridicule and hate. The United States is now despised around the world as a self-centered post-Christian bully.

George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. At one time, the LOC.GOV website introduced Washington's writings with these words:

Under My Own Vine and Fig Tree, 1798 Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Virginia Historical Society Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art

      Peter Lillback, author of a 1,000-page study of Washington's life and thought, has found more than 40 references to the  “Vine and Fig Tree” vision in Washington's Papers. Other scholars keep finding more, it seems.
      Many other American Founders wrote of this ideal.
      "Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream."
      The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means

• peace,

• wholeness,

• health,

• welfare, and

• private property free from pirates and princes.

When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife.

Page Smith was a historian, winner of the Bancroft Prize, earning his M.A. degree in 1948, and Ph.D. degree in 1951 from Harvard. In his book Religious Origins of the American Revolution (Scholars Press, 1976), Smith writes about graduates from the older Harvard, like Samuel Adams (class of 1740), John Hancock (class of 1754), and John Adams (class of 1755). He says the passage in the book of Micah about “every man…under his vine and under his fig tree” was

the most potent expression of the colonist’s determination to be independent whatever the cost,…having substantial control over his own affairs. No theme was more constantly reiterated by writers and speakers in the era of the Revolution.

Here's a few examples, including some post-Revolution writers looking back.

Foundations of a "Vine & Fig Tree" Society

In 1892, the Supreme Court of the United States proudly boasted that America was legally, technically, officially, Constitutionally, and organically a "Christian nation." Looking at the "organic utterances" the Court referred to, we see that America was not just generically Christian, but a Protestant nation. Smith says,

The American Revolution might thus be said to have started, in a sense, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. It received a substantial part of its theological and philosophical underpinnings from John Calvin’s Institutes Of The Christian Religion and much of its social history from the Puritan Revolution of 1640-1660, and, perhaps, less obviously, from the Glorious Revolution of 1689.

Indeed, Smith adds, in early America, the Reformation

left its mark on every aspect of the personal and social life of the faithful. In the family, in education, in business activity, in work, in community and, ultimately, in politics, the consequences of the Reformation were determinative for American history.

Put another way, the American Revolution is inconceivable in the absence of that context of ideas which have constituted radical Christianity. The leaders of the Revolution in every colony were imbued with the precepts of the Reformed faith.

By "radical" Christianity, Smith refers to the Bible. "Radical" comes from the Latin word for "root," and the Bible was the root and foundation of protestant Christianity in colonial America. "Sola Scriptura!"
By "Reformed faith," Smith draws a distinction between Calvinism and Lutheranism. America was not just a Protestant nation, but a Calvinist nation.

The Westminster Standards are the highest expression of "the Reformed Faith."

A truly well-rounded American education would include study of Luther's 95 Theses, Calvin's Institutes, and the Westminster Standards. And of course the Bible itself. Can you name one college in America that requires study of these texts by all students?

Christian Philosopher Cornelius Van Til said "There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy." The Law of God and the law of man. When society is governed by the Law of God in the Bible, it is free from the tyrannical rule of Autonomous Man. As remote or repugnant as Puritanism may be to some, Smith says “it is essential that we understand that the Reformation in its full power was one of the great emancipations of history.”

It is unfortunate that Calvin and his progeny were not consistent Christian Theocrats. As we will see, they tried to combine "Jerusalem and Athens." Instead of a pure "Theocracy," which literally means "God governs," they wanted clergymen -- or clergy-approved men -- to govern. This is not pure "Theocracy." Rule by clergy is "Ecclesiocracy."

The Puritan Church-State of Massachusetts created Harvard in 1636, and in 1647 created "public schools." The purpose of both was to promote widespread understanding of the Bible. Bible-educated citizens would then help create and maintain a Christian Theocracy. The Founders of Harvard believed that it was necessary to create a "civil government" to promote religion and civic order. They did not understand how religion and social order could be promoted by a Market Freed from threats of government force. Vine & Fig Tree University exists to promote this "paradigm shift." It will not take thick textbooks and long classroom lectures to do this. It simply requires taking the most basic precepts of the Bible seriously and consistently. This is not complicated or "tricky." It doesn't require high levels of intelligence. It takes high levels of ethics. Just be a consistently moral person, and ignore the "experts" who say the Bible is outdated or "utopian."

---

Warning!
You Are About to be Offended

by the following audacious claim:

---

America became the most prosperous and admired nation in history because it was a Calvinist Theocracy.

---

You were trained by your government-approved teachers to be offended and appalled at that claim. Yesterday's secular clergymen stripped public schools of Calvinism and the Bible. Today's clergymen are the CEO's of the Military-Industrial Complex and Wall St., who oscillate between corporate boardrooms and "smoke-filled rooms" in Washington D.C. A secular ecclesiocracy is just an "oligarchy." The United States -- the woke/neo-conservative regime in Washington D.C. -- is an oligarchy. It is still a "theocracy," with every man his own god, and the State as the apotheosis of Autonomous Man. "The Government," as Hegel put it, is "god walking on the earth."

"Theocracy" is an inescapable concept. Even "democracy" is a theocracy: "vox populi, vox dei" -- “The voice of the people is the voice of god.”

Pity the nation whose gods are Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

As we noted above, Calvinism made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history. Removing Calvinism transformed America's prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into ridicule and hate.

---

Vine & Fig Tree University

I'm working to create an online "university" which can be put on a hand-held electronic device for billions of Muslims and billions of "Christians" around the world. It will give the student the Bible-based education that America's Founding Fathers received when they were children.

At Vine & Fig Tree University we're trying to duplicate the now-extinct Harvard University -- a Bible-based Christian university founded by the New England Puritans to promote the Christianity of the Protestant Reformation in the New World -- which is now an atheistic university at war with the original goals of Harvard.

The Founders of Harvard University (the church-state of Massachusetts) also created the first public school system. It was based on the Bible, and created Bible-literate students qualified to enter Harvard University.

Graduates of today's government-run "public" schools have been brainwashed into believing that Harvard's original Christian worldview is not as good as today's atheistic worldview. Nobody wants an education approved by the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans. Nobody is searching in Google to find a university that teaches what Harvard's Founders wanted students to learn in 1636 -- and nobody knows as much about the Bible and social virtues as Harvard expected high school applicants to know before their first college class.

But at Vine & Fig Tree University we believe that Harvard's Founders were not perfectly consistent with the teachings of the Bible. So we seek to reform the reformers. We want to be more pure than the Puritans. But our reforms are viewed as heretical, and we only incur additional wrath from those who already oppose the original Founders of Harvard.

Vine & Fig Tree University takes its name from the Bible verse which historians claim was the most popular Bible verse in America from 1600 to the American Revolution. (That's saying something significant, because America's public school system was designed primarily to teach everyone the Bible. If you were to ask today's Americans who their favorite opera singer is, they would draw a blank, because they can't name a single opera singer. Likewise if you asked today's Americans what their favorite Bible verse is. Some may have heard of "John 3:16," but otherwise know as much about the Bible as they do about opera singers. This was not the case in early America.)

Here is the foundational text for Vine & Fig Tree University:

This is the foundational Bible passage for America, a land of “Liberty Under God.”  “Vine & Fig Tree” is the original “American Dream.” Nobody educated in the colonial American one-room schoolhouse believed in "the rapture," and all of them could have told you that a government is an "abomination" which forces people to "recognize" or "celebrate" the "marriage" of two homosexuals. Micah's prophecy does not fit into the popular "prophecy charts" of most churches.

But Americans from 1600-1800 only scratched the surface of this passage. And from 1800 to today, this passage has been flushed down the Orwellian "Memory Hole." Out of 300,000 churches in America, the number of churches that take this passage seriously (and agree with the perspective advanced here) can be counted on your right hand.

Let's combine these themes from Micah's prophecy with the chapters of the Westminster Standards.

After 1647, students wishing to enroll in Harvard were required to give their assent to the Westminster Standards in order to be admitted as a student. Probably nobody who will be starting as a Freshman at Harvard this Fall has studied the Westminster Standards, much less agrees with them. Applicants to Harvard in the early 1600's had a much higher level of academic attainment than graduates of atheistic public schools -- victims of educational malpractice -- in the early 2000's. And high school students in the 1600's already had a Biblical worldview before their first day of college. 

The Westminster Standards

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were written in the 1640's. They reflect the growth of Protestant theology that began in 1517 with Luther's "95 Theses" and continued under men like John Calvin.

John Frame says

The assembly’s Confession of Faith, completed in December, 1646, is the last of the classic Reformed confessions and by far the most influential in the English-speaking world. Though it governed the Church of England only briefly, it has been widely adopted (sometimes with amendments) by British and American Presbyterian bodies as well as by many Congregational and Baptist churches.

B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of the Westminster Standards,

[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion . . . .

Richard Gardiner, in his impressive collection of "Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History," lists many sources which introduce the average Secular Humanist to the now-unknown religious foundations of American Revolution and Government. Among these sources are the Westminster Standards. Gardiner says of them:

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) In addition to being the decree of Parliament as the standard for Christian doctrine in the British Kingdom, it was adopted as the official statement of belief for the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although slightly altered and called by different names, it was the creed of Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches throughout the English speaking world. Assent to the Westminster Confession was officially required at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Princeton scholar, Benjamin Warfield wrote: "It was impossible for any body of Christians in the [English] Kingdoms to avoid attending to it." The Westminster Catechism (1646) Second only to the Bible, the "Shorter Catechism" of the Westminster Confession was the most widely published piece of literature in the pre-revolutionary era in America. It is estimated that some five million copies were available in the colonies. With a total population of only four million people in America at the time of the Revolution, the number is staggering. The Westminster Catechism was not only a central part of the colonial educational curriculum, learning it was required by law. Each town employed an officer whose duty was to visit homes to hear the children recite the Catechism. The primary schoolbook for children, the New England Primer, included the Catechism.  Daily recitations of it were required at these schools. Their curriculum included memorization of the Westminster Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism. There was not a person at Independence Hall in 1776 who had not been exposed to it, and most of them had it spoon fed to them before they could walk.

The Shorter Catechism begins with this notice:

"Weaker capacity." Like 5-year olds.

The "Larger Catechism" is described as "a Directory for catechising such as have made some proficiency in the knowledge of the grounds of religion." Like 12-year olds. A Protestant Bar-Mitzvah.

90% of the "Pastors" of today's churches do not know as much about theology as the average 8th-grade American in 1776.

Many people are rightly disturbed by the idea of a government official entering a home and dictating what children should learn when it comes to religion.
But they are also offended by the idea of God Himself entering a home and dictating what children should learn when it comes to religion . . . or any other subject.

The word "Theocracy" is a frightening boogeyman in our day. Harvard University and the Westminster Standards were both designed to promote a Christian Theocracy. Neither one embraced the modern concept of "separation of church and state," which more accurately means "separation of God (religion, Christianity) and Government." Harvard/Westminster stood for the proposition that both Church and State must be "under God." Vine & Fig Tree University questions whether "the State" -- which is a Monopoly of Violence -- can ever truly be "under God," that is, obedient to God's Commandments. Similarly concerning the institution called "the church." The Westminster Assembly, predominantly Presbyterian, was strongly opposed to Roman Catholicism, yet in many ways is still very similar to Roman Catholicism in structure and power-dynamics. John Milton said "New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large."

The Bible says all believers are priests and kings:

Revelation 1:6 
Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:9-10
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.

Roman Catholics claimed to have priests; Harvard and Westminster denied this.
Harvard's most notable graduates in its first 200 years -- Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, etc. -- denied the claim of "the divine right of kings."
Vine & Fig Tree University contends that we are all priests and kings, and nobody is a priest or a king.
Vine & Fig Tree University denies the modern concept of "separation of church and state." We believe in "the abolition of church and state," that is, abolition of monopoly priesthoods and political oligarchy. We believe in an orderly self-governing society, and a truly religious (James 1:27) society, without the institutions of "church" and "state."

Both Harvard and Westminster believed in the institutions of "church" and "state" because "the church fathers" did. Not everything "the church fathers" believed came from the Bible. "The church fathers" believed many things because Aristotle and Greco-Roman humanism taught them to believe these things. One of the primary purposes of Vine & Fig Tree University is to strip away Greco-Roman humanism and go back to the Scriptures. At many points the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans wanted to "reform" and "purify" in this way, but they were products of their time.

Vine & Fig Tree University and "The Great Commission" is not about promoting any particular church or denomination, nor any particular nation. The only legitimate "church" is the Body of Christ, and the only legitimate nation is "the holy nation" spoken of in 1 Peter 2:9.

Here are the chapters of the Westminster Confession, with links to the section below where we compare the Westminster Standards with the core values of Vine & Fig Tree University:

What is the Chief End of Man?

Q.1: What is the chief end of man?
A.1: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

I say "famously" because 300 years ago, 90% of  the English-speaking world could have answered that question from memory. (In 1700, it is estimated that approximately 10% of English-speaking people identified as Catholic, while around 90% identified as Protestant.)

God-Centered Life

Rick Warren began his multi-million best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life with the four words "It’s Not About You." Those are good words, and yet the book really was all about the reader. And the reader's church.

John M. Frame writes,

The lordship of Christ is not only ultimate and unquestionable, not only above and beyond all other authorities, but also over all areas of human life. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 we read, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (cf. Rom. 14:23; 2 Cor. 10:5; Col 3:17, 23; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Our Lord's demand upon us is comprehensive. In all that we do, we must seek to please him. No area of human life is neutral. [note: This was the insight of the great Dutch thinker Abraham Kuyper. He saw that the lordship of Christ requires radically different Christian forms of culture. Christians should be producing distinctively Christian
     • art,
     • science,
     • philosophy,
     • psychology,
     • historical and
     • biblical scholarship, and
     • political and
     • economic systems.
And Christians should educate their children in distinctively Christian ways (note the God-saturated education urged in Deut. 6:6ff. after the challenge to love God exclusively). For many of us, such considerations mandate home schooling or Christian schools for our children, for how can we otherwise compete with up to seven hours a day of public-school secularism mandated by law? In any case, Christians may not take the easy road, uncritically following the thinking of the unbelieving world. Consider Kuyper's remark: Of all the territory in the creation, Jesus says, "It is mine."
John M. Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, p. 7 text+n.11

Does God have an ego problem, that He always needs His creatures to praise Him and glorify Him?
Or do we have an ego problem, that we fail to be grateful to our Creator for life and for the blueprint we have in God's Law that shows us how to create an enjoyable life?

As we work our way through Micah's prophecy, the "Dominion Mandate," and the Bible from The Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem, we'll see that man's chief end (goal or purpose) is to build the City of God, that is, the Vine & Fig Tree society.

Westminster Standards

• Day 1: Reformation Day and The Chief End of Man

23 Classes

0. The Bible as the Word of God

I have numbered this theme "0" (zero) because it undergirds all the other themes.

The Westminster Confession of Faith begins with a chapter on the Bible. And rightly so. Everything taught at Vine & Fig Tree University is grounded in the Bible because the Bible is the Word of God.

Some people call this view "bibliolatry." Like we make the Bible into an idol. But an "idol" is a false god. The Bible is the Word of the True God.

The Bible is the Word of God, written by the will of God

"Bibliolatry" is closely related to "predestination," which we look at next. If you believe in "free will," or that God cannot "violate" man's "free will," then you cannot logically believe that the Bible is the Word of God.

The words in the Bible were written by the hands of human beings, but I believe the Bible is the Word of God. God speaks through those human words. This says something
    • about the words,
    • something about the human authors of the words,
    • as well as something about the God of the Bible.

The Words:

In Galatians 3:16, the Apostle Paul makes a theological argument based on whether the word in a quotation from Genesis is plural or singular. The words matter.

The human authors:

God wrote the Bible using "human pens." God made their hands move the way He wanted them to move. In the Bible, the will of God is sovereign over the will of man. 1 Peter 1:21 says

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Of course, it was the "will" of Moses and Isaiah and Paul and other authors to write down words. Moses wrote what God told him to write, but perhaps Moses would say he wrote those words "of my own free will." Nobody pointed a gun at Moses' head and forced him to write. But what Peter says is controversial. Even though Moses and other Biblical authors freely wrote the words they intended to write, God was doing something through them and the words they wrote. They did not write those words solely by their own "free will." Their hands moved the way God willed them to move.

It's true, we can tell the differences between the words Moses wrote, the words Luke wrote, the words John wrote, and the words Paul wrote. They all had their own individual personalities and writing styles. But the men who wrote the words of Scripture had their lives — their parents, training, and life experiences — all orchestrated by God so that — guided by the Holy Spirit — they would write the exact words that God wanted to be written so that God could communicate exactly what He wanted to communicate to the human race. Their words are God's words. God's will trumps their will. Paul told Timothy that God "breathed out" His words through these human authors (2 Timothy 3:16, [theópneustos (Strong's #2315, from 2316 /theós, "God" and 4154 /pnéō, "breathe out"]).

The God of the Words:

To say that the Bible is the Word of God is to say that God's will is sovereign over the will of man. Some people find this deeply offensive.  God made the mouths of Moses, David, and Isaiah speak the words God wanted spoken. God made the hands of Matthew, Paul, and John write the words God wanted written. If God did not overrule the "free" and fallible will of man, how did their will to speak and write beget the infallible Word of God?

Some will say that since God predestines even sin, and then punishes sinners for the sin God predestined them to commit, it would be better if sinners had never been born. They had no "free will." They had no choice. "That's not fair." And if it's not "fair," it can't be true. This claim is logical. If a man has no free will, and gets punished for what God predestined him to do, it would be better for him if he had never been born. But Mark 14:21 says exactly that: God predestined Jesus to be sinfully put to death:

"The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

That's pretty scary. Judas had no choice in whether he would be born. God created Judas without asking Judas for permission, and predestined Judas to commit a terrible sin (John 19:11).

But Judas was created in the Image of God. All sinners are created in the Image of God. And in the end, every knee will bow and every sinner will admit that God's Judgment is fair (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11). All sinners will say "I admit. I sinned." All sinners will admit that God is just. Even though He predestined them to sin (Romans 9; Isaiah 10).

Christians who oppose the Sovereignty of God and uphold the "free will" of man claim that predestination "makes man a puppet." But as I said, man is clearly not a puppet; man is created in the Image of God, and we all know this. But the Bible agrees that God's sovereignty makes man a "puppet" of God's decree. The Bible describes man not as a "puppet," however, but as a bucket of water.

Well, not a bucket, but a river of water.

Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, 
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

How is this not like being "a puppet?"
Is a meandering river created in the Image of God?
How is the opponent of God's Sovereignty not making an accusation against God?

"Bibliolatry"

I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
Jesus is the Word of God incarnate; the Bible is the Word of God inscriptured.
Some people call this "Bibliolatry." I worship the Bible. That alarms nearly every church I know.

• This claim (the Bible is the Word of God) is either true or false.
  • If true, it demands your full and immediate attention.
  • If false, then the prophets are liars and the Bible is evil.
  • But if false, there is no such thing as "evil." The universe is meaningless, impersonal, and without moral values. One man's "child molestation" is another man's "sexual orientation."
• If you accept the values of Vine & Fig Tree rather than the values of Harvard-educated dictators around the world, then it is clear that the Bible has been the most important book in the history of the human race. It has been the blueprint for "civilization." Governments that ban the Bible have been savage tyrannies, their people impoverished and uneducated.
• The Bible is a textbook for every subject of human thought and action.
• The Bible: The Word of God

The Bible claims to be the Word of God. It claims that God speaks to human beings. It claims that God used human beings the way I am using a keyboard as I write this.

Let's consider first the claim that God speaks, and the Bible is God speaking to us.

• If this claim is false, and the universe is just a meaningless, accidental result of molecules bumping into each other for endless eons, then there is no difference between a nurse and a serial rapist. Both are doing what they like, and both enjoy whatever their DNA makes them enjoy.
• If this claim is true -- if the Bible is God Himself speaking to us -- it doesn't seem like very many church-goers are listening very seriously.

Imagine that a UFO lands on the White House lawn, and an extraterrestrial being hands the President a Peace Treaty. The ET says, "Read this Treaty. It tells you how to cure cancer, end war, obtain free energy, eliminate the threat of global warming, and extend lifespans by hundreds of years. If you agree to abide by its terms, our race will help your race. If you do not agree, you will be destroyed. We will wait right here for your answer."

Network television will have their cameras at the White House 24/7. Commentators will be speculating endlessly about what the extraterrestrial Treaty says, and whether or not the President will accept their terms. People will cancel vacations and having children, breathlessly waiting for the decision, knowing their entire future hangs in the balance.

If there are any ET's in the universe, they were created by the God of the Bible. His Word is more important than the word of any ET.  But we spend more time watching CNN or FoxNews than we spend listening to the Bible, even though the news channels aren't covering anything as interesting as a UFO on the White House lawn. For some, "news" doesn't get our attention as much as sports, soaps, or celebrities.

All the while, we have a book from the Creator of the universe sitting un-read on a shelf next to the Flat Screen TV.

What the heck is wrong with us?

The Bible as Treaty of Unconditional Surrender

The Bible is a Peace Treaty -- a Covenant -- that God is willing to enter into with those who have been in rebellion against Him. The Treaty calls for unconditional surrender on our part. The Treaty promises blessing -- "salvation" -- on God's part.

• Covenant as Treaty of Unconditional Surrender
• How to Become a Christian by Signing God's Treaty of Unconditional Surrender
• Justification by Allegiance

The ethical and moral significance of a covenant of unconditional surrender is sometimes masked by theologians who focus on "covenant theology" as a theological buzzword.

• The Myth of "Covenant Theology" - "Covenant Theology" and Pacifism

The "Berean" Spirit

Here is perhaps the #1 reason no church wants to be infiltrated by someone who believes the Bible was actually written by God.

The Bereans are commended for questioning the church. They heard a message from the Apostles and checked what they heard with the Scriptures. There is no entity on planet earth who wants their members questioning what the church has taught and comparing church doctrine with the Bible.

Especially regarding the "heretical" ideas I'll be raising below.

Even though Protestant churches champion "sola Scriptura" and the "priesthood of all believers." They don't really mean it. They don't like Bereans.

The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it, but checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.

Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative.

audio

The Bible is our starting point

I am a "Bible-believing" Christian. Feel free to accuse me of engaging in bibliolatry, fundamentalism, extremism, creationism, Calvinism, Theonomy, etc. Guilty as charged.

This attitude makes one a better Christian, as seen in our second text.

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17

My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way. I hope you'll learn the skill of benefitting from opinions which are contrary to your own.

Vine & Fig Tree University goes against the grain of "church history" and the "experts." I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. I believe the data and premises of the "experts" leads to my conclusion. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.

Third text:

Proverbs 18:17
"The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him."

What you learned in church seems right to you. Wait until you compare it with what the Bible says.

Extremism

I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Not just part-way. That makes me an "extremist." People tell me I take the Bible to an extreme. I think I just take it consistently. At least I try.

If you disagree with this -- if you want to avoid "extremes" -- then you want to be at point "M" on the chart below:

Do you want to be a Grade "A" Christian? Then you had better avoid being a Grade "Z" Christian with  all  your heart, mind, soul and strength.

If you are not an extremist in defense of the Bible, what is the guiding principle that prevents you from being a defender of tyranny, atheism and hate? Is "moderation" the Grand Principle that you believe will keep America from collapsing into chaos and lawlessness? When Jesus said "Love your neighbor," was He really just telling us not to hate our neighbor, to avoid extremes, and have an attitude of "moderation" toward our neighbor? Can Lukewarm Indifference ever be Christlike?

Even if my goal were no more than "moderation," if you are at point "Z," I must be an "extremist" in the opposite direction, and advocate "A" in order to get you to point "M,"  because if I only advocate "Moderation,"  "Z + M" only brings you to point "T." Life is a tug-of-war. If you don't pull the rope with every ounce of strength you have, you're in the mud. Jesus said the struggle to overcome the world is "agonizing."

I advocate "A" on the scale above. I'm trying to get you to adopt "A" as your position as well. If you're a Moderate and I move you toward "A" to any degree, I've succeeded. For now.

If you follow some of what the Bible says, you are not following anything the Bible says. If you pick and choose, you are your own god.

Even if you choose to follow Jesus 99% of the time (using your "free will"), it is still YOU who are choosing, you who approve of 99% of Jesus' commands, you who put yourself in the place of God and judge some of what Christ said to be wrong,  you who are acting as lord of your life. You view religion as a Smörgåsbord. You pick and choose depending on what YOU like, but do not view the Word of God as an absolutely binding package deal. Everybody agrees with something Jesus said, even some real sickos. A Christian is someone who believes everything Jesus said. Nothing less than full submission counts for anything.

I say that not on the grounds that the Bible teaches something other than "free will," but because if God cannot "violate" man's "free will," there cannot be a Bible at all.

So let's consider what the Bible says about God's Sovereignty.

1. The Sovereignty of God - Calvinism/Predestination

How does Micah know what will "come to pass?"
Answer: God told him (see "Bibliolatry" above).
How does God know what will "come to pass?"
Answer: He predestined it.

God is omniscient, and knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10; Acts 15:18), because the future has already been created.

Life is a Stage. Applaud the Director.

In his work The Praise of Folly, first printed in 1511, Renaissance humanist Erasmus asks, "For what else is the life of man but a kind of play in which men in various costumes perform until the director motions them off the stage."

In his The Merchant of Venice,  written about 85 years later, Shakespeare had one of his main characters, Antonio, compare the world to a stage:

I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano;
A stage where every man must play a part,
And mine a sad one.

A few years later, in his comedy As You Like It, one of his characters says,

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely Players;
They have their exits and their entrances,

This can reflect a cynical outlook. But it can also reflect the Bible, and be much more optimistic.

Is life a play, with God as the Screenwriter and Director, who creates actors to play the parts in His drama, all for His Glory?

Some would say a "yes" answer "violates" man's "free will." But the Bible says that when God calls an actor off the stage, the actor will confess that God was a great screenwriter, and was not unfair in creating the actor to play his part, which was written for him before he was born.

The Bible clearly teaches predestination, but many want to water that doctrine down in order to preserve the autonomy of man. But that can't be done.

Others will say that if we are in a play, it's a bad play. Bad things are happening in this play. Innocent people are hurt.

The Bible says that God creates evil. The Bible also says that God has a purpose for evil. If you deny what the Bible says about God's predestination, you'll miss God's purpose. You'll end up thinking the universe is a cruel or meaningless joke.

Also, denying that God predestined evil, and that those who did evil were created in the Image of God and should have not done evil, turns evil into an abstraction. We piously say evil is evil, but nothing can be done about it. Not even God can stop it, because He can't "violate" man's free will.

Evil just happens "out there." We read about it on the internet somewhere.

Actually, you and I could do much to stop evil, but we don't, because we believe in "free will."

God predestined Pharaoh to disobey God's commands to "Let My people go." God was glorified by drowning the rebellious Pharaoh's army.

God predestined Assyria to rape and pillage Israel (Isaiah 10). God was glorified as a Righteous Judge of His rebellious people.

God predestined Judas Iscariot to betray Christ. God was glorified by Christ's assassination and atonement as the Lamb of God.

The Bible says all of these evil doers will admit (if they haven't already) that God was just and fair to punish them for their rebellion. It was their "choice" to sin, even though they were predestined to do so. They were created in the Image of God, and knew better. "Every knee will bow and every tongue confess" (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11) that they were wrong and God was right.

I'm not any better than the savage members of the Assyrian army. I have voted for politicians who promised to kill babies. They didn't say it that way, but that was the result. I can admit that God predestined me and millions of other Americans to vote for war instead of voting to "beat swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:3), but I can also admit that I turned my back on God's commandments. Being created in the Image of God and being redeemed by the blood of Christ carries certain responsibilities. I need to "man up," glorify God for His sovereignty, and start obeying His commandments.

Some will say that since God predestines even sin, and then punishes sinners for the sin God predestined them to commit, it would be better if those sinners had never been born. They had no "free will." They had no choice. "That's not fair." And if it's not "fair," it can't be true. This claim is logical. If a man has no free will, and gets punished for what God predestined him to do, it would be better for him if he had never been born. But Mark 14:21 says exactly that: God predestined Jesus to be sinfully put to death:

"The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

That's pretty scary. Judas had no choice in whether he would be born. God created Judas without asking Judas for permission, and predestined Judas to commit a terrible sin (John 19:11).

But Judas was created in the Image of God. All sinners are created in the Image of God. And in the end, every knee will bow and every sinner will admit that God's Judgment is fair (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11). All sinners will say "I admit. I sinned." All sinners will admit that God is just. Even though He predestined them to sin (Romans 9; Isaiah 10).

I'm glad I was born. The remaining years of my life are precious to me. I want to know more about the God of the Bible. I want to become more obedient to His commands.

Christians who oppose the Sovereignty of God and uphold the "free will" of man claim that predestination "makes man a puppet." But as I said, man is clearly not a puppet; man is created in the Image of God, and we all know this. But the Bible agrees that God's sovereignty makes man a "puppet" of God's decree. The Bible describes man not as a "puppet," however, but as a bucket of water.

Well, not a bucket, but a river of water.

Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, 
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

How is this not like being "a puppet?"
Is a meandering river created in the Image of God?
No, but the king is. We all are. We understand the righteous requirements of God, and we reject God. We reject Theonomy in favor of autonomy. We make choices that a river of water cannot. God turned the direction of our life by predestinating us to freely choose that direction. We had no other choice, just as a sane mother cannot choose to cause her baby to suffer. It goes against who she is. Obeying God goes against the sinner's will, as the honest sinner will admit.

But God did not predestine meaningless, thoughtless acts of evil. He created evil doers who knew better. And He created us to be the "salt of the earth" and a "light to the world" (Matthew 5:13-14). We are not just passive rivers of water.

How is the opponent of God's Sovereignty not making an accusation against God, instead of properly blaming the sinner?

When is your birthday? Why did you choose to be born on that day? Did God ask your permission to be born on that day? Or did the Director decide when you would "enter the stage?"
There is no such thing as "free will." Darwinists will be the first to tell you this. Your DNA tells you what to do. Billions of years of evolution tell you what to do.
So you must face this question:

Were you brought into existence by the meaningless, impersonal "laws of physics," or were you brought into existence by a personal God who is Love?

Some say that predestination "makes man a robot." But you and I both know that we are not robots. We were created in the Image of God. We have the capacity for reason, to plan for the future, to compose and appreciate symphonies. We understand God's Commandments, and we have a moral obligation to obey them. We know that as we get in the car and drive to the prostitute's house, that we should turn the car around. We know that God is just to hold us responsible for our actions. In the end of God's Play, "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess" that we made the choice to sin and God is just and fair to hold us accountable (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11).

These things cannot be said about the other animals. God does not form rich personal relationships with them as He does with those who are created in His image. The birds and the bees can't appreciate God's Play the way His image-bearers do. They don't "get it." But you and I, as God's image-bearers, do get it.

What defenders of "free will" want to protect (human beings as rational choice-makers) is explained better by our being created in the Image of God than by God being ignorant or powerless.

God is omniscient, and knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10; Acts 15:18), because the future has already been created.

Omnipotence is the basis for Omniscience

God knew what every atom in the universe would do before He created them, because He created everything that way. There was no other god or being co-existing with God to force God to create the world in a way God did not want it to be. God knew what He was doing. He created everything the way He wanted.

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Daniel 4:35

Audio

The Sovereignty of God

I believe in God. There are a lot of people in churches on Sunday morning who say "I believe in God," but what evidence is there of this on Monday through Saturday?

I believe God is the creator. The Bible says God created everything there is, probably no more than 10,000 years ago. (The atheist says, "Yikes! A creationist! A fundamentalist!")

There is an unbridgeable gap between the Creator and the creature (Romans 1:25).

The Westminster Confession and Catechisms set forth a "Calvinist" doctrine of God. Many people hate that term. I believe in "the Five Points of Calvinism." But the Bible is bigger than the "5 points." The Bible is about society, church, state, business, school, medicine, and much more. I don't endorse everything that might be called "Calvinist." While I believe God predestines evil empires, I don't believe God endorses those empires. Politicians and those who vote for them should repent. The Bible is an Anarchist Manifesto. Calvin would not have let an "anarchist" like me me in his state or his church. Calvin would have put me to death. But Calvin was right about the sovereignty of God.

If I were to describe what I think God is like, most people would say they don't believe in that kind of God. And they're even more offended that I try to impress this "Calvinist" theology into every area of my life, even "secular" areas, including Monday through Saturday.

Predestination

Before the Creator created all that is, the Creator knew the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 21:6, 13). God knows the future because God created it. The future has already been created. This is called "predestination," meaning the destination of the creation was designed and set in motion before ("pre") it was even created. The path of every molecule and sub-atomic particle in the universe was set in motion, and is carefully and lovingly conducted by God through history to its predestined end. The thoughts I think and the feelings I feel are wave-particles of energy and chemicals that travel across the synapses of my brain and through my heart and "reins." All predestined by God. Some say my belief makes man a "robot." But God did not create man as a robot. You and I both know that we are not "robots." God created man in His Image. That means when I think and plan, when I paint a picture or compose a symphony, when I build a log cabin or a skyscraper that can house 25,000 people, I am engaged in the wonder-filled task of exercising dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28), something animals do not do.

No matter how glorious I think man is, by virtue of his being created in the Image of God, there are those who feel that my conception of God "violates" human "free will."

The Myth of "Free Will"

Jesus Wrote the Bible Using Human Penmen

Is God the "Author of Sin?"

This question is often asked.

If God predestined Judas Iscariot to sin by betraying Christ, and also predestined Pilate to commit a lesser sin (John 19:11) of ordering Jesus to be murdered (Acts 2:23; 4:28; 1 Peter 2:8), doesn't this mean God is the "author of sin?"

There is a fundamental ambiguity in this question.

"Sin" is the violation of God's Law (1 John 3:4). God cannot violate His own Law. Sin is rebellion against the authority of God. God cannot rebel against Himself.

Human beings are created in the Image of God. They are glorious personal agents, not rocks, insects, or robots.

So when we consider the sins of Judas, Pilate, and the rest of humanity, and when we consider that the Bible says their sins were predestined by God, the question "Is God the Author of Sin" needs to be clarified.

The question is, "Is God the Author of THEIR sin?"

The answer is no, because they are created in the Image of God. It's their sin against God, not God's sin against Himself.

The Westminster Confession's answer to this question is not as clear:

WCF 3.1 God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass (Rom 9:15, 18; 11:33; Eph 1:11; Heb 6:17); yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin (James 1:13, 17; 1 John 1:5), nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established (Prov 16:33; Mat 17:12; John 19:11; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).

WCF 5.2 Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly (Acts 2:23), yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently (Gen 8:22; Exod 21:13 with Deut 19:5; 1 Kings 22:28, 34; Isa 10:6-7; Jer 31:35).

God is Not the Author of Sin

Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11) that God is not the author of sin, because every tongue and knee -- every human sinner -- was created in the Image of God.

"Free Will" is Anti-Choice

Predestination is an inescapable concept.

But there is a predestination of love, and another predestination of meaninglessness.

Modern Darwinists are increasingly agreed that "free will" is a myth. We do what our DNA tells us to do, evolutionists say. The illusion of free will is exercised in a meaningless universe, where everything happens randomly with no purpose.

"Calvinism" teaches that human beings are created in the Image of God, a God who is Love (1 John 4:8), and the entire universe is moving toward a loving goal. This website describes the goal as the the “Vine & Fig Tree” society (Micah 4:1-7). God has predestined all this.

The Bible says we have a moral obligation to choose between these two rival systems of predestination.

Joshua 24:15
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

1 Kings 18:21
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

As we see on other webpages linked below, the Bible says man was created to build the City of God. For the Darwinist, man's only objective is "the survival of the fittest." "The fittest" is defined as "the one who survives." If your own survival depends on killing others or stealing from them, then you have a "moral" duty to kill and steal. The only moral is survival.

Is the Bible the Product of Human "Free Will?"

If you don't believe in predestination -- if you don't believe that God can "violate" man's "free will" -- you can't believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God.

It can only be the fallible word of man.

The Westminster Confession of Faith begins with a chapter on the Bible. And rightly so. Everything taught at Vine & Fig Tree University is grounded in the Bible because the Bible is the Word of God.

Some people call this view "bibliolatry." Like we make the Bible into an idol. But an "idol" is a false god. The Bible is the true Word of the True God.

The Bible is the Word of God, written by the will of God

"Bibliolatry" is closely related to predestination. If you believe in "free will," or that God cannot "violate" man's "free will," then you cannot logically believe that the Bible is the Word of God.

The words in the Bible were written by the hands of human beings, but I believe the Bible is the Word of God. God speaks through those human words. This says something
    • about the words,
    • something about the human authors of the words,
    • as well as something about the God of the Bible.

The Words:

In Galatians 3:16, the Apostle Paul makes a theological argument based on whether the word in a quotation from Genesis is plural or singular. The words matter. The words of the human writers are God's Words.

The human authors:

God wrote the Bible using "human pens." God made their hands move the way He wanted them to move. In the Bible, the will of God is sovereign over the will of man. 1 Peter 1:21 says

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Of course, it was the "will" of Moses and Isaiah and Paul and other authors to write down words. Moses wrote what God told him to write, but perhaps Moses would say he wrote those words "of my own free will." Nobody pointed a gun at Moses' head and forced him to write. But what Peter says is controversial. Even though Moses and other Biblical authors freely wrote the words they intended to write, God was doing something through them and the words they wrote. They did not write those words solely by their own "free will." Their hands moved the way God willed them to move. God was in charge.

It's true, we can tell the differences between the words Moses wrote, the words Luke wrote, the words John wrote, and the words Paul wrote. They all had their own individual personalities and writing styles. But the men who wrote the words of Scripture had their lives — their parents, training, and life experiences — all orchestrated by God so that — guided by the Holy Spirit — they would write the exact words that God wanted to be written so that God could communicate exactly what He wanted to communicate to the human race. Their words are God's words. God's will trumps their will. Paul told Timothy that God "breathed out" His words through these human authors (2 Timothy 3:16, [theópneustos (Strong's #2315, from 2316 /theós, "God" and 4154 /pnéō, "breathe out"]).

The God of the Words:

To say that the Bible is the Word of God is to say that God's will is sovereign over the will of man. Some people find this deeply offensive. God made the mouths of Moses, David, and Isaiah speak the words God wanted spoken. God made the hands of Matthew, Paul, and John write the words God wanted written. If God did not overrule the "free" and fallible will of man, how did their will to speak and write beget the infallible Word of God?

"Bibliolatry"

I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
Jesus is the Word of God incarnate; the Bible is the Word of God inscriptured.
Some people call this "Bibliolatry." I worship the Bible. That alarms nearly every church I know.

• This claim (the Bible is the Word of God) is either true or false.
  • If true, it demands your full and immediate attention.
  • If false, then the prophets are liars and the Bible is evil.
  • But if false, there is no such thing as "evil." The universe is meaningless, impersonal, and without moral values. One man's "child molestation" is another man's "sexual orientation."
• If you accept the values of Vine & Fig Tree rather than the values of Harvard-educated dictators around the world, then it is clear that the Bible has been the most important book in the history of the human race. It has been the blueprint for "civilization." Governments that ban the Bible have been savage tyrannies, their people impoverished and uneducated.
• The Bible is a textbook for every subject of human thought and action.
• The Bible: The Word of God

The Bible claims to be the Word of God. It claims that God speaks to human beings. It claims that God used human beings the way I am using a keyboard as I write this.

Let's consider first the claim that God speaks, and the Bible is God speaking to us.

• If this claim is false, and the universe is just a meaningless, accidental result of molecules bumping into each other for endless eons, then there is no difference between a nurse and a serial rapist. Both are doing what they like, and both enjoy whatever their DNA makes them enjoy.
• If this claim is true -- if the Bible is God Himself speaking to us -- it doesn't seem like very many church-goers are listening very seriously.

Imagine that a UFO lands on the White House lawn, and an extraterrestrial being hands the President a Peace Treaty. The ET says, "Read this Treaty. It tells you how to cure cancer, end war, obtain free energy, eliminate the threat of global warming, and extend lifespans by hundreds of years. If you agree to abide by its terms, our race will help your race. If you do not agree, you will be destroyed. We will wait right here for your answer."

Network television will have their cameras at the White House 24/7. Commentators will be speculating endlessly about what the extraterrestrial Treaty says, and whether or not the President will accept their terms. People will cancel vacations and having children, breathlessly waiting for the decision, knowing their entire future hangs in the balance.

If there are any ET's in the universe, they were created by the God of the Bible. His Word is more important than the word of any ET. But we spend more time watching CNN or FoxNews than we spend listening to the Bible, even though the news channels aren't covering anything as interesting as a UFO on the White House lawn. For some, "news" doesn't get our attention as much as sports, soaps, or celebrities.

All the while, we have a book from the Creator of the universe sitting un-read on a shelf next to the Flat Screen TV.

What the heck is wrong with us?

The Bible as Treaty of Unconditional Surrender

The Bible is a Peace Treaty -- a Covenant -- that God is willing to enter into with those who have been in rebellion against Him. The Treaty calls for unconditional surrender on our part. The Treaty promises blessing -- "salvation" -- on God's part.

• Covenant as Treaty of Unconditional Surrender
• How to Become a Christian by Signing God's Treaty of Unconditional Surrender
• Justification by Allegiance

The ethical and moral significance of a covenant of unconditional surrender is sometimes masked by theologians who focus on "covenant theology" as a theological buzzword, but don't expect covenant keepers to exercise dominion over the earth in every area of life. The Covenant is reduced to things like sacraments.

• The Myth of "Covenant Theology" - "Covenant Theology" and Pacifism

audio

Predestination and Human Action

Evolution is an impersonal "struggle for survival."
So is "free will."
God is Sovereign, but God is also Love.
This has tremendous implications for our actions in history.

Why should we guard and protect widows and fatherless children (James 1:27)? Why should we give food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless immigrant (Matthew 25:35,42-43), or visit Ross Ulbricht in prison (Matthew 25:36,43)? Why should we end war and genocide (Micah 4:3)? Why should we raise the standard of living of the poor (Matthew 25:31-46) and make the world a better place (Micah 4:1-7)?

In my opinion, people who believe in "free will" rather than predestination tend to ignore Biblical prophecies about world peace and prosperity. They tell us the opposite is true: that people who believe in predestination are "fatalists" who don't do anything. I suppose this is true for those who might believe that God predestined war and poverty. But that's obviously a misreading of the Bible. That's not the God of the Bible. See this.

Calvinism: "Liberty Under God"

• John Calvin: Founder of America
• Calvinism at Harvard

Providence

The Declaration of Independence (1776) says that those who conform their lives to "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" can have "a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence."
Protection is a personal act of love.
"Providence" is the opposite of "deism."

Prayer = anti-deism

Prayer = asking God to violate someone's "free will"

Coming links:

• Sovereignty
• Authority
• Victory
• Power
• Kingdom
• Christmas vs. Rapture

Futurists say that "prophecy" reveals a grim future. War, Great Tribulation, the Antichrist, and Armageddon are all predestined (though not all futurists would use that word -- but what's the difference between "prophesied" and "predestined?").

Micah does not say that tribulation and annihilation has been predestined, but a Vine & Fig Tree world has.

PredestinationOnline.com

The "Berean" Spirit

Here is perhaps the #1 reason no church wants to be infiltrated by someone who believes the Bible was actually written by God.

The Bereans are commended by the Bible for questioning the church. They heard a message from the Apostles and checked what they heard with the Scriptures. There is no entity on planet earth who wants their members questioning what the church has taught and comparing church doctrine with the Bible.

Especially regarding the "heretical" ideas I raise elsewhere.

Even though Protestant churches champion "sola Scriptura" and the "priesthood of all believers." They don't really mean it. They don't like Bereans.

The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it, but checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.

Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative.

The Bible is our starting point

I am a "Bible-believing" Christian. Feel free to accuse me of engaging in bibliolatry, fundamentalism, extremism, creationism, Calvinism, Theonomy, etc. Guilty as charged.

This attitude makes one a better Christian.

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17

My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way. I hope you'll learn the skill of benefiting from opinions which are contrary to your own.

Vine & Fig Tree University goes against the grain of "church history" and the "experts." I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. I believe the data and premises of the "experts" leads to my conclusion. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.

Proverbs 18:17
"The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him."

What you learned in church seems right to you. Wait until you compare it with what the Bible says.

Extremism

I love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Not just part-way. That makes me an "extremist." People tell me I take the Bible to an extreme. I think I just take it consistently. At least I try.

If you disagree with this -- if you want to avoid "extremes" -- then you want to be at point "M" on the chart below:

Do you want to be a Grade "A" Christian? Then you had better avoid being a Grade "Z" Christian with  all  your heart, mind, soul and strength.

If you are not an extremist in defense of the Bible, what is the guiding principle that prevents you from being a defender of tyranny, atheism and hate? Is "moderation" the Grand Principle that you believe will keep America from collapsing into chaos and lawlessness? When Jesus said "Love your neighbor," was He really just telling us not to hate our neighbor, to avoid extremes, and have an attitude of "moderation" toward our neighbor? Can Lukewarm Indifference ever be Christlike?

Even if my goal were no more than "moderation," if you are at point "Z," I must be an "extremist" in the opposite direction, and advocate "A" in order to get you to point "M," because if I only advocate "Moderation,"  "Z + M" only brings you to point "T." Life is a tug-of-war. If you don't pull the rope with every ounce of strength you have, you're in the mud. Jesus said the struggle to overcome the world is "agonizing."

I advocate "A" on the scale above. I'm trying to get you to adopt "A" as your position as well. If you're a Moderate and I move you toward "A" to any degree, I've succeeded. For now.

If you follow some of what the Bible says, you are not following anything the Bible says. If you pick and choose, you are your own god.

Even if you choose to follow Jesus 99% of the time (using your "free will"), it is still YOU who are choosing, you who approve of 99% of Jesus' commands, you who put yourself in the place of God and judge some of what Christ said to be wrong, you who are acting as lord of your life. You view religion as a Smörgåsbord. You pick and choose depending on what YOU like, but do not view the Word of God as an absolutely binding package deal. Everybody agrees with something Jesus said, even some real sickos. A Christian is someone who believes everything Jesus said. Nothing less than full submission counts for anything.

As we will see below, the Bible says man was created to build the City of God. For the Darwinist, man's only objective is "the survival of the fittest." "The fittest" is defined as "the one who survives." If your own survival depends on killing others or stealing from them, then you have a "moral" duty kill and steal. The only moral is survival.

2. Preterist Eschatology

Eschatology

The word "eschatology" comes from the Greek word for "last." It is the study of "last things" or final things.

The Westminster Confession relegates eschatology to the last two chapters of the Confession. But in the last 200 years it has become a much more important subject than it was 400 years ago, when the Westminster Standards were written.

• "futurism" vs. "preterism,"
• "pessimillennialism" vs. "optimillennialism."

Terminology

If you've never studied "eschatology," you'll need to become familiar with a few theological terms:

"Millennium"

This refers to a period of great blessing. A "Golden Age." Usually thought of as the time when Jesus reigns as the Christ (Messiah).

Theologians ask how this "millennium" relates to "the Second Coming" of Christ. Which comes first: the Second Coming or the Millennium?

• Premillennialists contend that the Second Coming occurs before ("pre-") the "millennium."
• Postmillennialists contend that the Second Coming occurs after ("post-") the millennial Golden Age.
• Amillennialists contend that there never will be a "Golden Age" on earth. ("A" = "alpha privative," the Greek letter alpha meaning "not" or "the absence of")

Premillennialists and Amillennialists generally believe that before the Second Coming, things get worse and worse. Premils believe that at the Second Coming, Jesus begins to reign as the Messiah on earth. Amils believe that at the Second Coming, human history on earth ends and the eternal state begins.
Postmillennialists believe that Christ is reigning now, making the world conformed to His Law, and that at the Second Coming human history on earth ends and the eternal state begins. So Gary North has coined two new terms:

• "Pessimillennialists" are premils and amils, who are pessimistic about converting nations and sanctifying human history before the Second Coming
• "Optimillennialists" are postmils who are optimistic about human society being Christianized before the Second Coming and the end of human history.

The subject is extremely important in our day, because the subject is plagued by errors, and these errors are popularly believed and have a global impact. Millions of copies of books speculating about "the last days" have been sold in this generation. These erroneous beliefs have a powerful influence on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Millions of people have been killed because of "pessimillennial" beliefs. Millions more -- maybe billions -- will be killed in the future if premillennialism continues to guide U.S. foreign policy. It's a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

• There's a Slight Problem With Premillennialism - Gary North @ LewRockwell.com

Everything about Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy is undermined by today's erroneous eschatologies. They all deny that it is even possible -- much less mandatory -- for us to beat our "swords into plowshares" and pursue the fulfillment of Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy. Eschatology is critical. (We wouldn't necessarily place the subject at the very top of the list, but it occurs right off the bat in Micah's prophecy, so here it is. But it deserves higher placement than the last two chapters of the Confession.) 

Micah says his prophecy will begin to be fulfilled in "the last days." What does this mean? Commentators suggest two meanings:

1. "The latter days" means "days in the distant future."
2. The Apostles, writing in the New Testament, repeatedly state that they are living in "the last days." Prophecies like Micah's (e.g., Joel's prophecy in Acts 2) which said they would be fulfilled in "the last days" are said by the Apostles to be seeing fulfillment in their day. Many scholars believe they are referring to "the last days" of the Old Covenant. The Apostles were living in "the last days" of the Old Covenant and the first days of the New Covenant.

I believe "the last days" of the Old Covenant are now in our past. We are not now living in "the last days" of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant came to a definitive end in AD 70 when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. As a result, Jesus is reigning as the Christ today.

• The Last Days
• Thesis 85: The Last Days of the Old Covenant

Preterism

The Latin word for "past" is praeter. The word "preterism" comes from the Latin word for past, which is brought into English words like "the preterit tense" and a school of eschatology called "preterism." Saying a prophecy was fulfilled in the past is called "Preterism."

In the early decades of the 21st century, this word has become very controversial.

According to Peter in Acts 2, and elsewhere in the New Testament, the Apostles were living in "the Last Days" of the Old Covenant. This is when Jesus was made the Christ: in the past.

Three Principles for Interpreting Prophecy

Interpreting the Bible is not hard. It doesn't take a high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). It takes a high M.Q. (Morality Quotient). Interpreting the U.S. Constitution is similar. The Constitution was designed to thwart tyranny. But some people want tyranny. The tyrant wants power, and "We the Sheeple" want freedom from responsibility, and we believe the promises of the tyrant to bring "equality" and "fairness." If you cherish immorality, you will deliberately misinterpret and distort the Bible.

How do we correctly interpret Micah's  “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy, as well as others which speak of the Messiah? Sometimes the form of prophecy can confuse us. Often it is poetic, rather than "scientific" or "historical" or reminiscent of journalistic "neutrality." It is designed to encourage us today. That is, to encourage us to obey God's Commandments.

Churches split over obscure doctrines, but they are united in their silence in the face of disobedience to the plain commandments of God.  Murder, destruction, perversion: "Let's not get into politics; let's stick to doctrine."

Jesus said, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." (John 7:17 NKJV) If you want God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), and if you are willing to do God's will yourself, your obedient spirit will open your eyes to understand the harder parts of the Bible.

The Bible teaching ministry I founded is called  “Vine & Fig Tree.”  The name comes from the 4th chapter of Micah. It talks about a day we beat "swords into plowshares." I believe that's not just a prediction about Micah's future, but a command for us today. I believe the Bible -- from cover to cover -- commands pacifism. War -- "the sword" -- is an evil.

You are welcome to try to "sharpen" me on this issue. Others have certainly tried. I am willing to admit that ISIS-inspired psychos kill innocent people around the world, and sometimes it's hard to believe that the Babe born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger on that "Silent Night" was really the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. But despite ISIS, I believe Micah would agree that Jesus is now reigning as Messiah and Prince of Peace.

In Micah's day, seven hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, half of all human beings died as a result of archist violence.
There was no such thing as "liberty" in Isaiah's day. Today we enjoy liberty because the Messiah came two thousand years ago.
Today, the vast majority of human beings die of "natural causes" rather than violence. The exceptions to that blanket statement are easily remedied by professing Christians in America. It's a matter of ethics, not fate or eschatology. We are commanded to bring about the continued and expanded fulfillment of these prophecies. Jesus gave us enough to consider them "fulfilled," and everything beyond that is just frosting on the cake.

Sanctified Imagination

If Micah could travel through time 2,700 years to our day, he would fall on his knees in praise and faithful gratitude to God for fulfilling his prophecies. We are not so grateful. We should be.

But we can start where we are and imagine even greater fulfillment of the "messianic" prophecies. We should take upon ourselves the exercise of faith and imagine how the earth will look 2,700 years into our future, and work and plan for that day.

Micah and Isaiah would say that their prophecies have been gloriously fulfilled. Those of us living today are the beneficiaries of centuries of theological sanctification from Isaiah's day, and can imagine even greater ways in which those prophecies can be further fulfilled.

But most Christians do not believe that Christ is fulfilling those prophecies and reigning as Messiah today.

The premillennialists are wrong for a number of reasons.

A. The Messianic Kingdom is Everlasting.
Not just 10 centuries, as millennialists hold

Isaiah 9:6-7
⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Micah 4:5
As for us, we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.

Micah 4:7
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.

The Messianic Age Never Ends --  "world without end." Of the baby Jesus it was foretold:

Luke 1
³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
³³ And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

This reign began 2,000 years ago. And it has only just begun.

while it is fashionable for modern Christian intellectuals to speak of our civilization as "post-Christian," we should turn that around and make it Biblically accurate: Our culture is not post-Christian - our culture is still largely pre-Christian!⁶
6. Cf. Loraine Boettner, The Millennium (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1957), pp. 38-47, 63-66; Benjamin B. Warfield, "Are There Few That Be Saved?" in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 334-350. Warfield cites William Temple: "The earth will in all probability be habitable for myriads of years yet. If Christianity is the final religion, the church is still in its infancy. Two thousand years are as two days. The appeal to the 'primitive church' is misleading; we are the 'primitive church'"; and James Adderly: "But we must remember that Christianity is a very young religion, and that we are only at the beginning of Christian history even now" (pp. 347f.).

and

The actual number of the saved, far from being limited to mere tens of thousands, is in reality a multitude that no one could count, so vast that it cannot be comprehended. For the fact is that Christ came to save the world. Traditionally -- although Calvinists have been technically correct in declaring that the full benefits of the atonement were intended only for the elect - both Calvinists and Arminians have tended to miss the point of John 3:16. That point has been beautifully summarized by Benjamin Warfield:

You must not fancy, then, that God sits helplessly by while the world, which He has created for Himself, hurtles hopelessly to destruction, and He is able only to snatch with difficulty here and there a brand from the universal burning. The world does not govern Him in a single one of its acts: He governs it and leads it steadily onward to the end which, from the beginning, or ever a beam of it had been laid, He had determined for it. ... Through all the years one increasing purpose runs, one increasing purpose: the kingdoms of the earth become ever more and more the Kingdom of our God and His Christ. The process may be slow; the progress may appear to our impatient eyes to lag. But it is God who is building: and under His hands the structure rises as steadily as it does slowly, and in due time the capstone shall be set into its place, and to our astonished eyes shall be revealed nothing less than a saved world."
Benjamin B. Warfield, from a sermon on John 3:16 entitled "God's Immeasurable Love," in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 518f.

[New York City contains not just residences, but businesses (e.g., "Wall Street") and parks (e.g., "Central Park"). The "Texas" link we provided above does not make this distinction.]

Then there are other planets.

People who want Jesus to return and set up a 1,000 year kingdom (when He's already/only been reigning for twice that long) and then end the whole "earth" business are quitters with no vision. That's probably most church-going Christians.

B. The Messianic Kingdom Grows Gradually

Daniel 2
In the days of the Roman Empire, the Rock is born, and His Kingdom begins to take over the world.
The transformation is not instantaneous.
The Messianic Kingdom is not handed to us fully-developed on a silver platter
after we passively wait for it.

The statue in Daniel 2 represents the archist paradigm of the pre-Christian world. In Luke 4, Jesus was tempted by Satan:

⁵ The devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

Jesus destroyed the entire demonic imperial paradigm. The Last Adam restored the seed of the First Adam to our original purpose of building the City of God. But the weeds of the City of Man still need to be cut down as a part of tending The Garden. Replacing the City of Man with the City of God is a process called "sanctification." It applies socially as well as individually.

Isaiah 9:6-7 also shows us this idea of perpetual growth. The NRSV renders verse 7:

His authority shall grow continually

The  Vine & Fig Tree prophecy of Micah (4:1-7) also shows numerous evidences of continual growth:

• The nations are "streaming" to hear God's Word (verse 2), but they have not all gathered there yet.
• The nations are learning God's Law, but they are not fully "learned."
• The Law-Word of God has not fully "gone forth."
• Some people are saying to other people, "Let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord." This is "exhortation." This is persuasion. This is a process.
• The Messiah has not finished "rebuking" the nations,
• nor rendering decisions in their disputes. (verse 3)
• Not all swords have been hammered into plowshares
• "They" (the nations) must beat "their" own swords; the Messiah doesn't do it for them in one fell swoop.
• "Assembling," "gathering" and "making" (verses 6-7) are processes, not instant passive (for us) transformations. "We the People" have duties to carry out.

"We have duties." "Let us go." These are significant statements. They relate to themes we will look at below: Theonomy, Theocracy, Capitalism. They relate to the issue of predestination and free will, which we looked at above.

"Outright"

Some people don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets. Let's look at a Jewish website and an article called "Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus." It says,

Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because . . . Jesus Did Not Fulfill the Messianic Prophecies.
What is the Messiah supposed to accomplish? One of the central themes of biblical prophecy is the promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace and recognition of God. (Isaiah 2:1-4, 32:15-18, 60:15-18; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:20-22; Amos 9:13-15; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34)

We will look at the word "perfection" in a minute. But first let's look at the phrase "universal peace and recognition of God." Jesus did not fulfill those "Messianic Prophecies" in the way many Jews thought the Messiah would do it. For example, they expected the Messiah to be a Warrior-King who would destroy the Roman Army that was occupying Israel under a military dictatorship, and then restore "national sovereignty" to Israel.

I would like to suggest that Jesus is in fact fulfilling those Messianic Prophecies, and understanding why this is true can revolutionize your faith. (For a detailed response to that article from the Jewish website, click here.)

Most people who call themselves "Christians" today believe that Micah's prophecy (and the others cited) will not begin to see fulfillment until Jesus returns to earth a second time. This second coming will be "pre-millennial." So even though Jesus did not fulfill these Messianic Prophecies at His first coming, Jesus is still the Messiah, because He will fulfill these prophecies at His second coming. The Jewish website understands this rationalization:

       Because no one has ever fulfilled the Bible's description of this future King, Jews still await the coming of the Messiah. All past Messianic claimants, including Jesus of Nazareth, Bar Cochba and Shabbtai Tzvi have been rejected.
       Christians counter that Jesus will fulfill these in the Second Coming. Jewish sources show that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright; in the Bible no concept of a second coming exists.

The Rabbi is correct: "in the Bible no concept of a second coming exists." But the Rabbi is mistaken to claim that these prophecies will be fulfilled "outright." But millions of Christians agree with him. That word "outright" is a very important word. Maybe it's the most important word in history! Another way of saying "outright" is "instantly." "All at once."

• It is a top-down or socialist concept of history, rather than a bottom-up capitalist/free market concept.
• It is a passive concept of society, rather than dominion-oriented.

Those two points are important, and we will be returning to them and emphasizing them over and over again.

If Micah could travel through time from his day seven centuries before the birth of Christ to our day 20 centuries later, he would think that these Messianic prophecies had been fulfilled "outright." The world today is dramatically different from the world of Micah's day. The Bible teaches that Jesus was born during "the last days" of the Old Covenant, and He put into effect a New Covenant, and as a result of this New Covenant, billions of human beings have been streaming to "the mountain of the Lord" (Micah 4:2), and the world is more obedient to God's Commandments today than it was before Jesus was born. The world is more peaceful. The world is more civilized. The Pentagon, the Mainstream Media and secular academia do not want you to understand this.

Nor do most clergymen. The more perceptive clergy will say that our belief that Micah's prophecy is already being fulfilled (along with all the other Messianic prophecies), and that we should continue beating swords into plowshares, is "dangerous" and "heretical."

We should obey Micah's prophecy outright. All at once. Immediately.

We will discuss this further when we discuss "pacifism" below. Or see this essay: Why Postmillennialists Must Be Pacifists.

But the dramatic contrast between Micah's day and our day was not accomplished "outright," but "By Little and By Little." By many people taking personal responsibility and exercising dominion.

The desire for Christ's Kingdom to see perfection "outright" is the same desire that promotes "rights" and "entitlements" rather than duties. Premillennialism destroyed postmillennial America.

Luke 17:20-22
²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Luke 10:9
“heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

C. Process, not Perfection

The Messianic Kingdom grows. Of its increase "there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7). That means it will never be "perfect." It's always growing towards something better. Even in "the New Heavens and New Earth" -- which many think of as an eternal state of perfection -- there is sin and death. But it is so much better than life in Isaiah's day, that it could only be communicated using wild, poetic language that has led many to believe it would be sinlessly perfect.

Isaiah 65:17-20

No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred

And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.

Psalm 37:22

For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off.

Why would anyone in "the New Heavens and New Earth" be thought "accursed?" What basis would there be for entertaining such a notion, if there will be no sin? No sin, no curse.

 

Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

It is justly observed here by Mr. Scott, that “the event alone can certainly determine whether this is meant literally or figuratively; but it is evident that the universal prevalence of real Christianity would so terminate wars, murders, contentions, idleness, intemperance, and licentiousness, as greatly to lengthen out the general term of man’s life. Many diseases which now destroy thousands and tens of thousands in the prime of life, and communicate distempers to succeeding generations, would, in that case, scarcely be heard of any more; and thus the human constitution would soon be much mended, and children would generally come into the world more vigorous and healthy than they can do while vice so greatly prevails. What God may further intend in this matter we cannot determine.” Vitringa’s view of the passage seems to have been, that “there shall be no violent or punitive death in this holy city, but that all the inhabitants being holy, all shall die full of days and happy....”

In the eyes of most Christians, God Himself -- the Second Person of the Trinity -- comes to earth twice, and is still unable to persuade or empower human beings to exercise dominion in a loving, honest, and faithful manner. The first Christmas was full of promise, but ends in failure. So Christ comes a second time, thousands of years later, bringing an army of resurrected saints with Him, takes a seat on a throne in Jerusalem, rules with a rod of iron in a believers-vs.-unbelievers police state, and still, it all ends in failure. Toward the end of the 10th century of Christ's Messianic reign, Satan reigns for "a little season" (Revelation 20:3), encouraging masses of people to rebel against the personal, visible reign of Jesus Christ Himself. Seeing that He is going to lose the game, Jesus takes His football and goes home.

The very popular Christian writer Dave Hunt has written:

In fact, dominion – taking dominion and setting up the kingdom of Christ – is an impossibility, even for God. The millennial reign of Christ, far from being the kingdom, is actually the final proof of the incorrigible nature of the human heart, because Christ Himself can’t do it.[1]

"Impossible even for God." The Creator's idea of creating man in His Own Image and telling man to exercise dominion over the earth, converting the earth to God's Temple, building the City of God, was a mistake. Progress is not possible. Only regress. Earth is a failure. Jesus' prayer ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven") is just tilting at Satanic windmills. As Hal Lindsey put it, "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth." Poor God.

Didn't God know when He created human beings that it would all turn out in failure? Why did He bother?

Jesus is the Messiah today, forever; not to be waited for in the future, to reign for a few short years, and to then lose a war when Satan is released "for a little season." But to be obeyed today.

"Perfectionism."

Too many Christians expect a perfect millennium to be given to passive Christians at the second coming, but denounce those who actively try to be perfect in this present age. Join THE PERFECT CLUB.

Prophecy as Law

When God promises a blessing (or when He threatens a curse) we know what God thinks is good or bad. If we respect God, we feel a moral obligation to pursue the good and eschew the bad.

David Chilton reminds us (Days of Vengeance, p. 27) of the words of B.B. Warfield: Prophecy is about Ethics, not just speculation about what will be handed to us on a silver platter in the future. It's real purpose is to cultivate obedient lives.

"We must try to keep fresh in our minds the great principle that all prophecy is ethical in its purpose, and that this ethical end controls not only what shall be revealed in general, but also the details of it, and the very form which it takes."

Benjamin B. Warfield, "The Prophecies of St. Paul," in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), p. 470.
 

This is why Postmillennialists Must Be Pacifists.

• Postmillennialism

• Pacifism

3. Creationism

Creationism

Under the discussion of God's sovereignty (above), we discussed the concept of being created by impersonal forces of "nature" vs. being created by a personal and loving God.

But many Christians say God "used" evolution to create man.

The Bible says four rivers flowed out of (downhill from) Eden, indicating that Eden was on a "mountain" or elevated plateau. Ever since then, and throughout the Bible, the mountain has been a reminder of Eden. The Garden of Eden is a major theme in the Bible.

Was there actually a Garden of Eden in history? Are the first few chapters of Genesis a chronicle of history, or a "religious" poem of some kind? How would Jesus answer that question?

Jesus treated Genesis as actual history. See Matthew 19 for an example. For centuries, Christians believed in creation four thousand years before the birth of Jesus. If you can believe that Jesus rose from the dead, in violation of "scientific law," why can't you believe God created all things a few thousand years ago?

Under this label of "Creationism" we have four intersecting themes:

• Preterism (the past)
• Optimillennialism (the future)
• Archism (the present)
• Jerusalem vs. Athens

Politicians who feel threatened by the Bible, seeing it as an "anarchist manifesto" want you to believe the Bible is "pre-scientific" and cannot be trusted. Karl Marx said his "scientific socialism" was grounded in history. Jesus grounded His teachings in the history in Genesis. Marxists and Christians have very different views of history.

One of the biggest tests of Biblical character is the ability to stand against "the science" of evolution. "Listen to the science" we are constantly told. Is your faith informed and able to stand against the crowd?

1925 - 2025
A Century of Mass Death

Do you remember what happened in 1925? It was a famous court case. It received as much attention in the mainstream media as the O.J. Simpson trial. But it had a lot more social impact.

It was "the Scopes Monkey Trial" in Dayton, Tennessee. It was the focus of national attention, and symbolized the shift in American thinking from Christianity to Secularism. (The shift had begun decades before, but there was something about the Scopes Trial that crystallized that shift. Fundamentalists lost; modernists won. That's how we view it today.)

Celebrated Defense Attorney Clarence Darrow defended evolution. William Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic candidate for President, opposed the teaching of evolution in public schools.

But Bryan was not a six-day creationist. He actually believed in billions of years of evolution. But he saw a danger in the theory of evolution. He worried that it led to eugenics, and would ultimately lead to Naziism. He was entirely correct.

This is a huge topic, and cannot be limited to the "facts" of biology and geology. It exposes a philosophical "grid" through which all facts are viewed and interpreted. One "grid" leads to Naziism, and the other "grid" leads to a peaceful “Vine & Fig Tree” society. A full discussion of the Scopes Trial and the presuppositions of both sides is found here:

Mass Formation Psychosis

It's a separate book. It contains an essay which Gary North says was the most important academic essay he ever wrote. It details the way people thought about evolution a hundred years ago. That thinking has now become the philosophical air we all breathe. It's the water we swim in. We take it for granted. Nobody examines it carefully. But that website does.

Evolutionism is not science; it is a religion; it is the religion of archism. Like covid hysteria and tyranny, it is one example of a "Mass Formation Psychosis." ("Archism" is the belief that members of a ruling class have the right to impose their will on others by force or threats of violence. Jesus said His followers are not to be archists "like the kings of the gentiles" (Mark 10:42-45).

Jesus is the One True Archist

The New Jerusalem is a New Creation.

Micah 4:1-2 says Jerusalem (Mt. Zion, the mountain of the House [temple] of the Lord) will be "established." This is actually the creation of a New Jerusalem. This is the restoration of the conditions that originally existed in the Garden of Eden.

Evolutionary premillennialism sees a vast past and no future. It's all going to end in our day.
Creationist preterism sees creation in a recent past, re-creation in Christ "the Last Adam," and a vast future building of the Kingdom of God (the New Jerusalem) ahead of us.

Planet earth is a miracle, not an accident. Supernatural design, supernatural creation, supernatural administration. There is no such thing as "nature."
Creating/Building the New Jerusalem will be a supernatural act, but we (you, I, and all God's Image-Bearers who make up His Temple) still have moral obligations to expend energy on behalf of this work of edification. We cannot be passive. But in the end, Christ gets all the credit and glory.

Isaiah 65:17-18

17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.

Hebrews 12

²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

4. Optimillennialism: Global Hospitality and Conversion

Micah predicts that the world will be Christianized.  | "All nations, all peoples"

People will hear God's Word and desire to obey it.

This is a major theme in the Scriptures (the Old Testament).

It's the "good news" of the Gospel. It's why Jesus came to earth: "I will draw all men unto Me.” (John 12:32)

The Universal Spread of Christ's Kingdom

• A Gospel of Victory
• Great Commission or Wimp Commission?
• Hal Lindsey: Passé Prophet of Pessimillennialism
• Appendix: A Scripture Checklist
  • The Christmas Conspiracy: The Take-Over
  • Global Triumph in the Psalms
  • Global Triumph in Isaiah
  • Global Triumph in the Prophets
  • Isaiah 60
  • Global Triumph in the Minor Prophets
  • Zechariah 9
  • Zechariah 14

This offends pessimillennialists, who believe we must wait for Christ to give passive Christians their millennium at the second coming. And it offends those who believe that "all religions are equal; we're all headed up to the top of the same mountain, just climbing along different paths." They say we're "arrogant" "bigots" for speaking of the global conversion to Christianity.

But in the last few decades, it has become obvious that one religion is not like the others. This forces us to examine the claim held by Christians in the past, that one religion is superior to the others. In recent years, our attention has been caught by the religion of Jihadism. This religion is not going up the same mountain as those who say all religions are equal. The religion of Jihadism wants to blow-up the entire mountain with everyone on it; even if this kills the suicide bombers themselves. They don't believe in converting others to their religion by persuasion/reason, but by force. If you believe all religions are basically equal, that religion destroys your claim. There are many other religions that will do that.

All religions are not "basically the same."

There are many false religions and there is only one true religion.

• God's Creation is a universe, not a multiverse.
• True "diversity" means all ethnic groups are invited to become Christian
• Not "European," or "American," but Christian.
• This has been happening for two millennia.
• The world is not getting worse and worse. Proof: "civilization" -- the "City of God" -- Civitas Dei -- is taking over, replacing the "City of Man."
• No Bible College in America will admit that the world is dramatically more Christian today than it was 2,000 years ago.
• No Bible College in America confidently believes that the best is yet to come.

Statist "Globalism" -- The world will not be Christianized by government coercion.

• Globalism
• Christian Globalism is not the "Great Reset" or "One World Government"
• "Christian Nationalism" is not the answer to Marxist Globalism: No Christian is a "Christian Nationalist"
• Catholicism, not Rome-ism
• Planetary redemption
• End of racism, a "mass formation psychosis."
• End of nationalism
• "Optimillennialism"
• Confidence in the prospects of human progress toward a Christian world.
• Open Borders: end of Xenophobia.

Conversion of the Gentiles

Optimillennialism is optimism about the future progress of the Kingdom of God on earth. It defies entropy, and is not evolutionary. Therefore Optimillennialism depends on Creationism.

There has been a dramatic shift: the most dramatic shift in human history. Those who worshiped the God of Abraham were a tiny minority before Christ; today a majority of the human race claims to worship the God of Abraham. We'll revisit that claim below. Micah says false religions will be replaced by the True Religion. We're in the infancy of "church history." The Body of Christ is just beginning to learn how to walk.

Audio

5. Theonomy

The word "Theonomy" comes from two Greek words meaning "God's Law."
It stands for the proposition that the entire Bible is the Word of God and we are to be governed by it.
This is controversial because many Christians do not believe they have to obey any of God's Laws if they are recorded in the pages of what New Testament writers called "The Scriptures" and what we today call "the Old Testament."
"Theonomy" stands for the proposition that the Bible is a blueprint for the creation of Global Christian Civilization.
It stands for the proposition that God is our ultimate Authority, and He has the right to command us.
This is controversial because many Christians in our day do not believe they are obligated to obey God's commands during the work-week, in businesses or the "public square," but only on Sunday mornings in a "church" or in their "spiritual life."

• We are to bring every area of life under His jurisdiction, under His Law.
• Isaiah 33:22 -- Jesus alone is the Christ, the Lord, the King, the Lawgiver, the Judge | "His path, the Law-Word"
• "Theonomy" ("God's Law") is a forbidden subject in every Bible College in America.

When Americans learned the Bible in public schools (and public schools were Bible schools), America was the most prosperous, most admired nation on earth. America sent missionaries around the globe. Now the U.S. exports weapons and pornography. Americans are increasingly lawless.

• Law-Word
• Theonomy
• Justification by Allegiance
• Christian Reconstruction:
  Application of God's Law to Nations/Governments
• "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." (Declaration of Independence)
  William Blackstone said these laws are only to be found in Holy Scripture.

• The God who gave you life deserves your respect
• Every Word this God speaks deserves your attention/obedience
• Bible is not just for "private" religion, "down in your heart"
• Also for public policy
• Textbook for every area

Being "judgmental" vs. Hitler
"Those who will not be governed by God condemn themselves to be governed by tyrants" -- William Penn

More on Theonomy

Audio

Our moral obligation to obey God's Commandment counters those who complain that our advocacy of predestination leaves man without "free will." You are morally obligated to choose to obey God's Law. I don't know whether you have been predestined to be obedient or not. But you know what you must do, and you will eventually admit that you chose to do what you wanted to do. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that our Sovereign God is perfectly fair (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10-11).

The Westminster Catechism contains an exposition of the Law of God under the category of the Ten Commandments. This exposition is, on the whole, wonderful. If we take these three commands seriously:

• "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15; Leviticus 19:11; Ephesians 4:28)
• "Thou shalt not kill." (Mark 10:19, quoting Exodus 20:13)
• leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19)

the implications are astounding.

Nobody disagrees with these views in the abstract, but if I make them too practical, or apply them to the wrong people, then these views become heretical and offensive. Together these views lead me to a conclusion that everyone rejects. Passionately rejects. I used to reject it myself when I was younger. We'll consider it below.

"Swords into plowshares" is highlighted by Micah as essential element of "optimillennialism" (global conversion and "Christian Reconstruction") and Theonomy (God's blueprint). But no Christian Reconstructionist advocates "swords into plowshare" for fear of being accused of being a "pacifist" (covered below)

God's Law plainly says "Thou shalt not steal/Thou shalt not kill" and this rules out the "monopoly of violence" known as "civil government," but "Reconstructionists" are not "abolitionists," because they fear being labeled as "anarchists!"

Opposition to "civil government" is based on the superiority of self-government. That is, each individual obeying God's Law.

Theme 6.. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem/Family/business
Theme 7: Character: although all people Athens, we will Jerusalem
Theme 8. Theocracy: He shall judge
Theme 9. Pacifism: "swords into plowshares"
Theme 10. Anarchism; anarcho-Capitalism: no violence = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist

Micah says the law of God must be taught, and people will stream to learn God's Law. Therefore Theonomy leads to Education (#6 below).

When children are taught God's Law at home, they become habitually obedient. They instinctively stand up against evil. We call this "character," #7 below.

When we obey God's Law, God Governs us.

The word "Theocracy" = "God Governs"

Theonomy (#5) therefore leads to Theocracy, Theme #8 below.

Some deny this. Theologians divide God's Word into two or three groups. The first group is called "The Moral Law." Laws against murder and theft are in this category. The second group is called "the ceremonial law." Laws about priests and shedding blood for atonement are under this category.

Everyone says they agree that "the ceremonial laws" have their fulfillment in Christ, rather than in a Levitical priesthood and temple sacrifices. But some have divided "The Moral Law" by breaking off laws which have a social (rather than strictly individual) character. They call these social laws "judicial laws" or "civil laws." Those who say these laws are not part of "the moral law" usually say these laws are no longer binding, and governments today are not morally obligated to obey them.

Upon analysis, this division doesn't make sense. Is "Thou shalt not kill" part of the "moral law?" Most would say yes, along with "Thou shalt not steal." But if all my friends "vote" for me and "elect" me to be a "civil magistrate," am I still prohibited from stealing (levying a "tax") and killing ("capital punishment")? If the answer is yes, our next two themes are correct: pacifism and anarchism, which we hope to prove below.

Why "Capital Punishment" is part of the "Ceremonial Law," not the "Judicial Law"

• Genesis 9 - blood
• Overview
• Death Penalty Debate
• The Myth of "The Judicial Law"

Consider the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13, quoted by Jesus, Mark 10:19) That link contains the exposition of the 6th Commandment in the Westminster Larger Catechism. It is "a pacifist manifesto." If pacifism is true, and if "thou shalt not steal" is true, anarchism follows logically. Nothing in "the judicial law" or "the civil law" retracts the force of the 6th commandment and exempts those who call themselves "civil government."

Here are the next 5 themes:

Theme 6.. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem/Family/business
Theme 7: Character: "Although all people Athens, we will Jerusalem"
Theme 8. Theocracy: "He shall judge"
Theme 9. Pacifism: "Thou shalt not kill," therefore "swords into plowshares"
Theme 10. Anarchism; anarcho-Capitalism: no violence = no "state" or "civil government" || Jesus is the One True Archist

6: Education