Overseer of Decline

Some aspects of the 21st Century are so insane, so horribly disordered, that it is difficult to get out the words to comment on them. Like, for instance, this story, from Oliver Lane of Breitbart:

"The Bishop of Stockholm has proposed a church in her diocese remove all signs of the cross and put down markings showing the direction to Mecca for the benefit of Muslim worshippers.
Eva Brunne, who was made the world’s first openly lesbian bishop by the church of Sweden in 2009, and has a young son with her wife and fellow lesbian priest Gunilla Linden, made the suggestion to make those of other faiths more welcome."

A million retorts clog my throat, vying desperately with each other to get out. One piously points out,

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."(1 Corinthians 1:18)

One less reverent wonders if this so-called "Church of Sweden" is a Christian Church at all, or merely a means for smug Scandinavian liberals to sanctify their socialism? A third voice genuinely wonders how many of the Biblical requirements for the office of bishop this woman meets? I mean, she by sex fails the easy one. And a whole cacophony behind these merely wail and curse in rage at what has become of a once great civilization.

No One Knows

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36)

"no one knows..."

"NO ONE KNOWS!!!"

And yet, to this day, men insist on disgracing their Lord by stating that they know the thing that He very clearly states that they don't.

To quote Mark Molloy's somewhat tongue-in-cheek article of October 6, 2015 in the Telegraph:

"Chris McCann, leader of the eBible fellowship and all-round God expert, believes the world will be engulfed and destroyed by a great fire on October 7.
The founder of the fellowship has been delivering his Doomsday warnings in his five-part podcast series, Why October 7, 2015, is the likely end of the world.
“According to what the Bible is presenting, it does appear that October 7 will be the day that God has spoken of,” he explains.

I don't recall that part of the Bible. Remind me of how Bronze Age Hebrews used the Gregorian calendar.

America, Enemy of the Faith

When I was a child, I used to love the Left Behind books. They painted a picture of a world in which the Christian Faith, so dominant in my upbringing, had been divested of its prominence, stigmatized, and eventually openly persecuted. The days of the early Church, of martyrs and prophets, were re-imagined in the modern world, as God made His last desperate attempts to offer salvation to a people whose hearts grew cold.

We are Still the Church

It's easy to get discouraged in the Faith these days. As people who are attempting to be Christians in the 21st century, we are afflicted not only by the wickedness without, but also the wickedness within. Many of us, myself prime among them, have compromised with the world in ways that the early Chruch would have found unimaginable. When asked to offer our pinch of incense, we've bowed the knee to whatever we needed to live a somewhat comfortable  life in an unhealthy age. 

Philadelphia and Laodicea

Today, it behooves us all to recognize a hero of the Faith. In the face of the full power of the State, Kim Davis, County Clerk of Rowan, Kentucky chose prison over betraying her Lord. While she is not the first to suffer for Christ at the hands of the infidels who rule this country, as presidential candidate, former Governor, and Fox News host Mike Huckabee has noted, this is a major step forward towards the "criminalization of Christianity in this country." And while her persecution is certainly not comforting, we can glory in the courage and determination that this woman has shown in its face. There are yet "[...]a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes[...]" (Revelation 3:4)

And in the face of this, the crowd chanted "Love won! Love won!" It certainly did. Through the love of Jesus, an imperfect woman (the linked article mentions that she is on her fourth husband) sacrificed her freedom for the Truth. Whatever she might have done in the past, whatever fears she might have had in the present, she was willing to persevere.

Death to Whom?

How can "Death to America" be good for us? It depends who "us" is. I mean this very seriously. We are at a point in our culture that the old identities have frayed irreparably. As the country in which we were born turns ever more against our families, our blood, and our God, does "America" really still describe us? Even if so, for how much longer?

Law and its Lack

We tend to imagine that the Presence of God would make a place strange, that the laws of nature would break down and the world would be undone. Maybe we're wrong. Maybe the paranormal, the strange, occur more when God is rejected. 

God wrote the law and set its boundaries. He called the universe, which He had so ordered, good. Satan, on the other hand, tried to cast doubt on this law from the very beginning. (Genesis 3:5) By causing man to fall, he managed to stain creation's perfection, and inched his claws through the door to our world.

So, in turn, is our era one in which man rejects Law: in so doing opening the gate to the abyss. Could even the worshipers of Molech imagine a horror such as this? Throughout the developed world the children of men hide, either physically or pharmaceutically rather than face the nightmare their lives have become. As the works of Lovecraft predicted, the absence of this universe's laws does not bring freedom, but madness.

We must reject rebellion. We must adhere to law. Without it, we are little more than playthings for what lies outside it.

"What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? ... And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you – where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's, and if you cut them down – and you're just the man to do it – do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?" 

A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt

A Nation Inverted

Do you see anything wrong with this commercial? Something not quite right?  I'll let you watch it again...

Or how about this one? Anything off about its message? Does this, in your opinion, truly align with the dignity of man? Give it a few more run-throughs, and we'll discuss after the break.

America Enthrones its God

This is, oddly enough a good thing. Let all men see the nightmare which the American polity truly worships. Let the spirit of rebellion that animated its birth be unveiled. Our forefathers were innocent, and strived unknowing, but the veils of time have parted for us, and we see there the ends of their suppositions.

Throw off the shackles that bind your minds, as your fathers and grandfathers were bound, and leave the path that leads to destruction. There is yet virtue in our people, and grace in Heaven... 

"[...]Come out of her my people[...]"

Otherwise, you will be numbered amongst those who would enthrone the enemy of Man in their counsels in silent testament to how warped their minds have become.

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of the living God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 'I will make dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty'." 2 Cor. 6:14-18

Our tolerance has been shown for the foolishness it is. Fly from it. The Truth stands where He always has, willing to enter the door and receive you. Now is the time of salvation, but condemnation waits in its wings. Tarry not overlong! 

Anthromorphism

The third question raised by Dimitri was "Do Christians need to obey Old Testament Laws?" While the prior questions could be dealt with summarily by pointing out the misapprehensions of the interlocutors thereof, this question requires a lot more work, as it touches on a number of major conflicts that have embroiled the Church from its inception to today. As such, answering this question will require us to look at it from a number of different angles and to address them one by one as time and space permit.

One of the main ways in which doubters both within and without the Church try to discredit the Old Testament and its teachings is by casting the allegation of "anthromorphism". Simplified, the argument goes like this:

• A passage of scripture shows God acting in a way proper to man: feeling emotion, considering, reflecting, reconsidering.
• God is a perfect being.
• Perfect beings do not feel emotion, consider, reflect, or reconsider. They are spiritual, and do not have hands, feet, or faces.
• Therefore, God did not do these things, nor does He have those parts, and the passage is thus untrue, and can be ignored.

Hopefully you have noticed the major assumption contained in this line of argumentation. In the third point, a mortal human has taken it upon himself to circumscribe God. In opposition to the God described in God's own words, and preserved by the power of the Spirit and the diligence of the Church through Scripture, a philosophical construct of the author's own making is raised up before the people for their worship. Why does God not do these things? "It is not fitting, it is not proper..." To these assertions, Scripture answers boldly:

"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'?" (Isaiah 45:9)

Man is the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:27) When God appears to act like man in Scripture, we do not see that God has lowered Himself, but rather to what heights man has been exulted by God. We are the ones who have appropriated these characteristics from above, not He from below.

Do Humans Have Free Will?

This is part two in my discussion with Dmitri regarding purported contradictions in the Bible. Part One was published last week.

Clearly, from my response to the last question, you know what my answer to this is going to be. Yes, most certainly, and this is the very point of human life. Without free will, we cannot love the Creator. This question is tricky because it is one on which Christians are divided. Some Calvinists deny free will, and hold that only those God specifically chooses to save can be saved, while everyone else is, by God's command, damned, and their own will has nothing to do with this. Others (such as the Catholic Church and myself) see this viewpoint as heresy. Given that this issue has proponents within the Christian Church, it is understandably a bit murky. Let's see, however, if we can part the waters.

Does God Ever Lie?

The following comes from a series of emails between Dmitri and I regarding this poster and the claims it makes about supposed contradictions in the Bible. In the interest of brevity (that's how you spell laziness, right?) I had Mr. Dragonofski pick his top three choices, to which I would give my best response. He went with.

Does God ever lie? num 23:19, 1sam 15:29, 7:28, titus 1:2, heb 6:18 ≠ 1ki 22:23, 2chron 18:22, jer 4:10, 20:7, ezk 14:9, 2thes 2:11
Do humans have free will? deut 30:19, jos 24:15 ≠ acts 13:48, rom 8:29-30, 9:11-22, eph 1:4-5, 2thes 2:11-12, 2tim 1:9, jude 4
Do Christians need to obey Old Testament laws? gen 17:19, exo 12:14, 17, 24, lev 23:14, 21, 31, deut 4:8-9, 7:9, 11:1, 11:26-28, 1chron 16:15, ps 119:151-2, 119:160, mal 4:4, mat 5:18-19, lk 16:17 ≠ lk 16:16, rom 6:14, 7:4, 6, 10:4, 2cor 3:14, gal 3:13, 3:24-25, 5:18, eph 2:15, col 2:14

I responded to the first as follows. 

God doesn't lie, nor does the Bible say otherwise. The verses referenced to attempt to say otherwise fall into three categories: actions of other beings with God's consent, accusations made of God by others, and the inevitable requirement of free will. None of these things make God a liar.

Where's our ISIS?

The news for the past year has been filled with horror at the bloody exploits of ISIS. From nowhere, a rampaging horde came down like locusts upon the lands of Iraq and Syria, bringing a law as harsh and unforgiving as the deserts from whence they sprang. Terror follows in their wings, not merely for those that actually face their fury in the present, but also for all those whose dreams of the inevitability of democracy and liberalism have been dashed to the dust by the Islamic State. In their wake, the world is turned upside down, and many a man is left speechless in the wake.

Breaking the Silence

If you follow this blog, you might be wondering why I've been so silent lately. The recent elections and the even more recent amnesty would seem to be fertile ground for comment, given what I've written on prior to this. What could be compelling my silence? It's certainly not that I've gained the humility to shut up, not by a long shot...

Idolatry: Hidden but not Harmless

Possibly the most pervasive and dangerous sin in today's world is idolatry. Other sins may be bolder, more in our faces, more glamorous, but it is idolatry that saps the majority of our spiritual strength away right from the heart. If you think yourself immune, then you, more than anyone else, need to read on.

The primary pitfall of idolatry is how easily it slips our notice. Of all of our sins, it is the one we are most likely to justify: to consider to be simply a priority or a preference and not the paramount spiritual danger which it is. We make excuses for the worldly things that eclipse God in our devotion, seeing nothing wrong at all with the way we push Him to the sidelines.

Phyla

There has long been an unfortunate confusion between making distinctions of phylum and performing science. Science, of course, is the practice of determining natural laws via testable, falsifiable hypotheses. Science says that a bear has x number of chromosomes.

Making phylum, on the other hand, is a means of characterizing and speaking about our discoveries. It does not discriminate between true and false, testable or not testable, and falsifiable or not falsifiable, it merely shows that a distinction is conceivable. Thus the phylum "bear" is distinguished from others by a set of common characteristics not shared by outsiders. In turn, differences between individuals in the phylum "bear" are conceptually deemphasized.

"70+ Celebrities Who Are Christians"

Christianity has apparently receded so far from the general consciousness in the English-speaking world that Ranker.com's list of 70+ Celebrities Who Are Christians requires a short description of this religion. If you were unaware of this obscure sect, our host, "Celebrity Lists" tells us, "A Christian is an individual who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ." Also, in case you don't know of any successful members of this upstart, fly-by-night operation, we are reassured that "Many famous actors, musicians, and athletes practice Christianity today." The more you know, huh?

What is the Good News Today?

The word "Gospel", or εὐαγγέλιον means, as I'm sure you are aware, "Good News." But what, in our current social and political climate is the "good news"? What does the message of Christianity have to offer us today, when so many things have changed in the world from the era of its birth?

Feminism and the Whore of Babylon (Part 2)

In the first part of this series, we looked at Isaiah 47 and the fall of the original Babylon. We examined what women symbolized in scripture, as well as the defining features of this particular woman, Babylon, as given by Isaiah. In this part, we pick back up with the description of wickedness given by the prophet Zechariah.

photo credit: dynamosquito All photos via photopin cc

The book of Zechariah (whose name means "Yahweh remembers") was written during the second year of the reign (Zechariah 1:1) of Darius the Great (550–486 BC). Babylon, where the Jews had been taken into captivity, had fallen and the Jews had begun to return to Judea. Among them was Zechariah.

Feminism and the Whore of Babylon (Part 1)

photo credit: richyvk. All photos via photopin cc,

(From the comments at Alpha Game Plan, a diversion from the ostensible topic of Vox's post, but one still well worth thought.)

Trust said... "In jest, I used to say "i think feminism is the false religion in Revelation, where we are warned to 'stay away from that Woman.'"Now I seriously wonder if it may be, with its denominations including even supposedly patriarchal Christian churches. Nothing has corrupted our society more than feminism, and there is no place where more blood has been spilt more so than in a feminists womb, and no class of despot with more blood on their hands than a feminists hands soaked in the blood of their own children."

Although my personal suspicions lie elsewhere, he raises a good point. While feminism is largely seen in American culture as innocuous, and promoted heavily by the media, educational, and business elites, feminism is an ideology that has shed the blood of hundreds of millions (1) throughout the world, and brought further harm and suffering to billions. In America alone, the death toll due to abortion equates to 57 million since Roe v Wade, almost 6/8 of the total deaths caused by World War II. Add in the number of suicides caused by rampant divorce, and we have ourselves a truly virulent ideology and a horrifying death toll.

photo credit: x-ray delta one

Feminism might be drenched in blood, but sadly, so is much of our world. The question posed today is does feminism rises above that, to a level of apocalyptic evil? Does it swim in the blood of the saints, and draw the particular wrath of Almighty God? In order to tell, we'll have to delve into the Biblical text, examine what exactly has been said about the Whore, and line that up with the attributes of feminism, as well as other selected contenders for the position. That being done, we will be in a better position to make the call.