Would Jesus Celebrate
Independence Day?

 


Of course not.


About the author

I don't think Jesus would object to setting off fireworks, having a Bar-B-Que, and whatever else millions of Americans want to do on a nice July day. But . . .

There are many reasons why Jesus would not celebrate "Independence Day."

Here are two reasons Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day:

1. Jesus hates violence. A revolution (such as America's Revolution) results in violence. Thousands of British Christians were killed by American Christians, and thousands of American Christians were killed by British Christians. How could Jesus celebrate that?

   1a. It's true, Jesus hates tyranny, and the American Revolution was a revolution against tyranny.

2. But Jesus hates hypocrisy.

   2a. Celebrating a violent revolution against tyranny is pretty hypocritical considering today's Woke Regime in Washington D.C. is incomparably more tyrannical and anti-Christian in 2023 than the British government was in 1776. Taxes in 2023 are 20x higher than in 1776. Americans today have no right to celebrate the violent overthrow of a tyrannical government by those who were willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" when we risk nothing and tolerate what the Founders would see as unspeakable evil (and therefore intolerable evil).

But the purpose of this website is not just to argue about historical facts. The purpose is to change your entire religion.

Even if you're a church-going Christian.

Before we dig deeper into the reasons Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day, let's review highlights from the document we celebrate on that holiday. You may not have read it since high school. Or ever. In three words, the goal was "Liberty Under God."


When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

-----=====******O******=====-----

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


It is now illegal to teach public school students that this document is actually true.

It is now held that any government entity (like a public school) that would "endorse" or "promote" the concepts found in the Declaration of Independence violates the Constitution (specifically, the myth of "separation of church and state." which isn't about "churches" [or as James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution" usually called them, "ecclesiastical bodies"] but is actually about God Himself: a separation of God and government).

The following concepts in the Declaration of Independence cannot be taught to public school students:

America's Founders believed these things are objectively true -- true whether or not any government agrees with them.

Today's rulers censor these ideas from public schools as "unconstitutional."

Talk about hypocrisy: celebrating a document that has been banned in government-run schools. Maybe the schools where you send your children.


When we dig deeper into the reasons Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day, we're going to see that America's Founders were

But they were also infected with a false religion, just as you are.

Samuel Adams orchestrated the Boston Tea Party (1773) and signed the Declaration of Independence. He agitated Americans by sending letters through a network of communication known as "The Committees of Correspondence." In the first letter he sent to America's Town Halls, Adams exhorted the colonists to become

  • Extraordinary Americans,
  • Extraordinary Christians,
  • Extraordinary Human Beings.

Adams coached America toward Independence, and became known as "The Father of the American Revolution."

If Samuel Adams could travel through time from 1776 to 2023 and sit down in your living room and have a conversation with you -- and if I were to be there and share with Adams the contents of this website -- Adams would say you are

Adams -- and every Signer of the Declaration of Independence -- would say you're a victim of educational malpractice. For 13, 17, 20 or more years, you've been taught

More than a decade of atheistic education in public schools can be reversed in just 12 months of study, but it takes tremendous moral courage to make the transition. It takes "fanatic" resolution and willingness to be an "intolerant" "extremist."

1 Kings 18:21
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.

You believe in Baalism.
What is Baalism?, by James B.Jordan

Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You serve "mammon."
As Dorothy Day may have said, “Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system,”

1 Corinthians 10:21-22
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Devils teach our children in public schools. Those that are not devils are not as wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), and don't resist the devils (James 4:7; Ephesians 4:27; Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:9-11).

2 Corinthians 6:14-16
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The "Public Sector" should be called "The Infidel Sector." It dominates "the Private Sector."

“Private Sector” “Public Sector”
Non-“Government” Sector “Government” Sector
Competitive Sector Monopoly Sector
Persuasive Sector Coercive Sector
Peaceful Sector Violent Sector
Productive Sector Parasite Sector
Servant Sector Archist Sector
"Economic Man" "Political Man"

Revelation 3:15-16
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit thee out of my mouth.

Joshua 24:15,23
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

James 1:7-8
For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

America's Founding Fathers were double-minded. They wanted to serve Christ and Greco-Roman Baals.

Their minds were more set on Christ and the Scriptures than anyone in Washington D.C. today, but they were also diligent students of "the Academy."

The purpose of this website is to prove these dreary facts to you, and show you how to become

  • An Extraordinary American,
 
• An Extraordinary Christian,
  • An Extraordinary Human Being.

Scenes from coming attractions:

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.

We are going to see that the tyrannical woke regime in Washington D.C. is not only indifferent to orphans and widows in their trouble, the United States inflicts trouble on widows and orphans around the world. In fact, the U.S. empire creates more widows and orphans -- by murdering husbands and fathers -- than any other government, terrorist organization, drug cartel, or organized crime syndicate. This will be proven below.

America's Founders -- to their credit -- would have been horrified and angered at the government they created. But they created it. They set the wheels in motion. They leavened the loaf (Galatians 5:9; 1 Corinthians 5:6-7; Luke 12:1; Mark 8:15).

This website will suggest that you are living your life day to day under a false and impure religion. Your thinking is "spotted by the world." You will be asked to convert to the true religion of the Bible.

I am a brainwashed member of a dangerous authoritarian cult, that promotes a false religion.
And so are you.

On the 4th of July, I no longer celebrate revolution and the creation of the United States. I look back and wonder how I could have so boldly defended mass murder. How could I "support the troops" when other Christians did not, and even Muslims like Muhammad Ali denounced the killing and destruction of innocent people's homes?

Cornelius Van Til said, "There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy." Theonomy is the standard of perfect righteousness. Autonomy is perfect rebellion. Nobody I know is 100% consistent with either of these standards. Every day that I study Theonomy I learn more about the perfect standard of righteousness by which we will all be judged, and I ask, "How could I have missed that? How could I have been living so inconsistently? Was I even saved?" If not, then today is the day. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2

I don't want to walk into the thorns of theological dispute over "assurance of salvation" and "election" and doctrines like that. A member of a dangerous authoritarian cult can still be "elect," but someday he's going to repent and get out of the cult.

J. Gresham Machen, Founder of Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, said that mainline "liberal" Christianity -- Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians -- you know the crowd -- was not a species of Christianity, but was a completely different religion. Machen was excommunicated from the mainline Presbyterian church. May I suggest that affirming the Virgin Birth is just as much a different religion from liberalism as not celebrating violent revolution is from most conservative or postmil churches. Perhaps Augustine would join Machen in saying that these are the two competing religions in history

May I suggest that if you do not advocate disarmament of the City of Man, you are presently an adherent of a false religion, and not an adherent of Biblical, Theonomic Christianity?
Would you be willing to be examined (Proverbs 18:17), sharpened (Acts 17:10-12), and forced to search the Scriptures (Acts 17:11) to see if this is true?

Jesus said there would be many people surprised to find they didn't have the true religion:

Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

What is the mark of the true religion?

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. (cf. also Matthew 25:31-46)

James 4:4
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.

The United States not only doesn't care for orphans and widows, it creates widows and orphans on a massive scale. By any Biblical measure, the U.S. is the enemy of God. But Christians are generally favorable toward this government, and completely closed-minded toward beating swords into plowshares.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the "Cold War" was replaced with "The War on Terror." During these wars, "my" government in Washington D.C. murdered, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world, creating millions of widows and orphans by murdering their husbands and fathers, and further traumatizing them by bombing their homes, schools, factories, and roads. This is all so far over on the side of "Autonomy" and so far away from the side of "Theonomy" that you'll excuse me if I speak in very absolutist -- if not hysterical -- terms.

Vietnam

The Vietnam war exacted an enormous human cost: estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 966,000 to 3 million. The U.S. dropped more tons of bombs on Laos and Cambodia than it did on the entire world during World War II, killing approximately 800,000 people in each country, destabilizing Cambodia, which led to the rise of Pol Pot and the murder of 1/3 of the Cambodian population. Nobody today says the war in Southeast Asia served some long-lasting Christian purpose. It was evil. Horribly, shockingly evil. But as a conservative, I said those who opposed the war were "insane."

In Praise of Muhammad Ali

I was wrong. Ali was right. Why did Ali get it right and so many Christians got it wrong? I dismissed the anti-war protesters as "anti-American" and "a buncha commies." Maybe they were, but shouldn't conservative Bible-believing Christians have been giving a truer alternate public witness in support of the millennial goal of "swords into plowshares?"

Iraq

Christians in Iraq arguably had more religious freedom under Saddam Hussein than Christians in the U.S. do under Joe Biden. Saddam never sent his secret police to arrest Christians who sang hymns at abortion clinics, to be imprisoned for a decade or more. (Correct me if I'm wrong; I admit Saddam was a thug.) If you walked up to a Muslim in Saudi Arabia and said, "Hello Mr. Muslim, may I preach the Gospel and show you how to become a Christian?" you would have your head removed. Not in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. This is why Iraq boasted the largest community of Christians in the Arab world.

The U.S. military-industrial complex overthrew Saddam's government, murdering, crippling, and making homeless hundreds of thousands of Christians, replacing this secular, non-Muslim "Ba'athist" government with an Islamic Theocracy under Shariah law, where Christian churches are burned to the ground with impunity.

I would argue that this is not just sinful, but even abominable. It's horrible. America's "Representatives" spend $8 trillion on the "War on Terror." The money spent, the lives lost; it should shock the conscience. But churches "support the troops." (Or at least they supported the troops back then. Today, most people quietly admit the invasion and destruction of Iraq was based on lies. Why weren't Bible-believing conservative Christians denouncing the lies and the murder and the destruction? Were they viewing the world through the lens of a false religion? I'm not saying I wasn't or they weren't Christians. But somehow they believed and advocated horribly unBiblical ideas. Jesus Christ would not have approved, no matter how merciful He is.

Russia

Conspiracy Theory: The atheistic, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual U.S. government is willing to risk killing millions of people in a nuclear war for the cause of "regime change" in Russia because Vladimir Putin publicly promotes Christianity and opposes the LGBT agenda. Change my mind.

Those are just a couple of wars the U.S. has waged. Don't forget Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria . . . the list goes on:

This evil is breath-taking, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, mind-numbing . . . no. seriously. This is all really really evil. How could I have supported it? What causes this kind of blindness?

Who is the "Heretic?"

You will say I'm a heretic for being a pacifist. But if I'm right, what would the authors of Scripture say about you, who vote for politicians that drop bombs (weapons of mass destruction) all over the world? They would say you're the heretic, and you're a member of a cult.

The Apostle Paul admitted he was a "heretic":

Acts 24:14
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

The word "heretic" comes from the Greek word for "choose." (Word Study)

Everybody is a "heretic" in someone else's eyes. Joshua said "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Elijah told the people, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." Elijah was a heretic in the eyes of the prophets of Baal.

The Bible lays on us a moral obligation -- a duty -- to choose; to become a "heretic." Either a "heretic" like Paul, Joshua, and Elijah, or the kind of heretic that chooses Baal, the world (James 4:4), or the city of man rather than the City of God.

We must choose between the Word of God and the word of man.

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 spoke of the moral imperative to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" -- our reputation and acceptance by society, our mortgaged home and video games, and even our life.

There was a man named John Nelson Darby. He invented a doctrine called "dispensational premillennialism" in the early 1800's. As this doctrine spread, other doctrines, like Marxism (Karl Marx, born: May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany), also spread. Other men have been saying similar things for centuries. They have not been saying what the Bible says. If you believe what these men say, then you're not believing what the Bible says.

I believe Darby's doctrine is a "heresy." The "institutional church" does not agree with me. The "institutional church" teaches many parts of Darby's heresy.

Are you a Genuine Christian?

Andrew Torba, founder of a social media platform called "Gab," wrote a book called Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide to Taking Dominion and Discipling Nations. I agree with a lot in this book, but Torba would say I'm a heretic, and I guess I would have to say the same thing about him. In my view, Torba's "Nationalism" (which I regard as unBiblical) is related to his unBiblical eschatology.

Chapter 7 of Torba's book is called "The Time for Lukewarm Christianity is Over." Of course he is completely correct about this. Jesus says that being lukewarm make Him want to vomit you out of His Mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). If lukewarm Christians aren't calling you an "extremist," you need to worry about what Jesus will call you. If the Pharisees aren't calling you a "heretic," then you need to check with Paul the Apostle and Heretic.

Torba writes:

     For many Americans, Christianity has become a rapidly deconstructed fragment of their actual identity. People refer to themselves as a "Christian"  when asked about matters of faith, but you won't find them openly proclaiming Christ as their central identity.
     How many of us are living according to God's Word and how many are living according to the ways of the world?
     In my early twenties I was calling myself a Christian, but I was living a very worldly life. God came secondary to my career and worldly desires. I wasn't attending church. I wasn't reading my Bible. I wasn't praying. What part of me was living a Christian life that could justify calling myself a Christian?
    That all changed a few years ago when the Holy Spirit moved my heart closer to God. I started attending church, got married, became a father, and humbled myself as the worst of sinners before an Almighty God.

I'll concede that Torba has accomplished more admirable things in his 33 years on earth than I have in my 66. I've never been married. Never had kids. What a loser.

But at least I have repented of "nationalism," which has resulted in the murder of millions of innocent people, and the destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals around the world.

And I would contend that the heresy of "nationalism" is related to the heresy of "Adventism."

James 1:27 says that "true religion" is protecting widows and the fatherless. Nationalism creates widows and fatherless children by killing their husbands and fathers.

Micah 4 and Isaiah 2 say that in the age some call the "millennium" we will beat our "swords into plowshares." Adventists believe that we cannot and must not fulfill this prophecy until after the Second Advent of Christ. Until then, we must continue creating widows and orphans. People who object to killing fathers and traumatizing their widows and fatherless children by dropping bombs on their homes and hospitals are called "pacifists" or "anarchists," and are often denounced by nationalists and adventists as "heretics."

I would say that anti-pacifists have a different religion than pacifists. Pro-revolution Americans have a different religion than those who say we should "be subject" to "the powers that be" (Romans 13). It's two different religions. It's time to "choose" which religion you should follow.

Was Andrew Torba a genuine Christian in his twenties? Was his thinking poisoned by a false religion? Was he missing the "pure religion" of James 1:27? He admits he was "worldly." Was he therefore an enemy of Christ (James 4:4)?  Is a lukewarm person a genuine Christian, if Jesus would "vomit" him out of His Mouth?

These are obviously very serious questions.

Torba, a Calvinist, would say that even though he was "lukewarm" and "worldly," and even an "enemy" of God in his twenties, he was still one of the "elect." But he needed to repent.


What's Your I.Q.? What's Your M.Q.?

I.Q. stands for "intelligence quotient." You don't need a high I.Q. to understand this website.
M.Q. stands for "morality quotient." It means knowing the difference between right and wrong, and standing for right against wrong. I don't know if there's actually a thing called "M.Q." I just now made it up to make the point that this website has a simple argument: Jesus says it's wrong to hurt people and take their stuff. It's especially wrong to kill people.

There are people with very high I.Q.s who invent new ways to kill people, and invent intelligent-sounding scholarly "theories" to justify killing people. Sometimes people with a low I.Q. (but an average M.Q.) know that killing people is wrong, but they're fooled by intelligent-sounding theories and rationalizations for killing, and low-I.Q./average M.Q. people can vote for killers, or go along with the killing. Sometimes because they want to be "patriotic."

It's time to stop going along with the killing.

That's the point of this website.

This is a very controversial website. It's also a HUGE website. It backs its controversial claims with mountains of evidence. It is designed for thoughtful people. Most Americans today don't want to think too much, and are content with bumper-stickers and "memes." Americans today are victims of educational malpractice.


There is a third reason Jesus would not be a happy celebrant on the 4th of July

3. Jesus hates ignorance.

Ignorance is often the root of hypocrisy. People who don't know much about a subject claim to know a lot. They are very dogmatic about the issue, and refuse to learn new facts which are contrary to their bold profession of error. Low I.Q./Low M.Q. people are easily impressed by scholarly-sounding theories justifying immorality, especially when these theories are advanced by rich or powerful people. Low I.Q./Low M.Q. people are easily swayed this way.

Thomas Jefferson said this

If a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be.

Civilization, as we explain here, is more about morality than intelligence. The Nazis seemed "civilized," but "intelligent" and "sophisticated" people can commit genocide using high-technology instruments of death. God says the end of their "civilization" is inevitable.

Jefferson went on to say,

The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.

"The functionaries . . . ."
The Declaration of Independence lists the offenses of the tyrannical government. Among them is this:

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance."

Jefferson could have said, "he has sent hither swarms of functionaries."

He says, "The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents."

In other words, "power corrupts." A person ("functionary") who thinks he has the right ("power") to hurt people and take their stuff is corrupt, and becomes more corrupt as he uses his power, that is, has a propensity to hurt more and more people and take more and more stuff as time goes on.

Most Americans in 2023 are ignorant of the fact that today's "functionaries" are depriving Americans of more "liberty & property" -- and even lives -- than functionaries in Jefferson's day.

But Americans' ignorance is willful. Americans prefer to be ignorant. "Ignorance is bliss."

Americans especially love to be ignorant of the morality of a situation.

Jefferson said, "Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."

Jefferson was wrong. Even if the people can read, they can still be immoral, and they will still be slaves of "functionaries."

Just because Jones can read from a free press does not insure that Jones will not vote for "functionaries of government" to take wealth from Smith and give it to Jones.

And when the people are immoral, and when a nation's education system bans the teaching of morality and even the Declaration of Independence itself, the press will be immoral. The press will not expose tyranny, it will be a willing pawn of tyranny. A "lapdog" media.

Prof. Jones might justify theft by functionaries of government using impressive-sounding theories in prestigious law reviews. But his theft is still theft. If you vote for a thief, you are a thief.

The People can be ignorant and free if they are moral and religious. As John Adams put it,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Ignorance is certainly a problem, but it's not the most fundamental problem.

True, millions of Americans don't even know why they get off work on July 4th (if they have a job).

No, on "Independence Day" we do not celebrate "the freeing of the slaves."

Go ahead. Laugh at these ignorant Americans:

Why is the 4th of July a holiday when so many Americans don't know what America stands for? Maybe you know that on "Independence Day" we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But millions of Americans don't. Nobody really cares about a bunch of guys wearing powdered wigs and knickers signing their names on a piece of paper. There must be something more to the 4th of July than just signing names.

Is it the ideas contained on that piece of paper? Maybe in theory, but the vast majority of Americans couldn't really say much about what those ideas were. And if they were told about the ideas in the Declaration of Independence, it is by no means certain that the average American would support those ideas.

Maybe it was the effects of those ideas. Didn't these ideas make America the most prosperous and admired nation in history?

Some of the ideas did, and Jesus would approve of those ideas.

But some ideas in the Declaration of Independence led to a "War for Independence," or the "American Revolution," in which thousands of British Christians were murdered by American Christians, and vice versa.

That doesn't sound like anything Jesus would celebrate.

The Declaration of Independence says we have a "duty" (not just a "right") to abolish any government that becomes a "tyranny." Those who signed the Declaration said their government was a "tyranny," and they abolished it. But in 2023 we have a government which is ten, twenty, or even one hundred times more tyrannical than the government they abolished. And that means we are "dependent" -- because we refuse to abolish a tyrannical government that sends us welfare checks (whether welfare for the poor, welfare for the military-industrial complex, welfare for Wall St., or welfare for wealthy New York retirees who now live in Florida). Aren't we hypocrites for celebrating a document we don't believe in, and whose principles we don't practice?

Would Jesus celebrate war, tyranny, and hypocrisy?

Ignorance is not a problem if you don't steal from your neighbor, or kill people in foreign nations.
Ignorance is not a problem if you don't hypocritically boast of being wise and informed, or courageous and free when you're a slave and afraid to speak up.

Americans are ignorant about the Declaration of Independence because they would rather be dependent on a tyrant who promises them government benefits. And if the government has to murder millions of people to provide those benefits, Americans are OK with that. Americans are not willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to protect their freedom to obey "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Americans are not worried about whether their actions really must pass judgment with "the Supreme Judge of the world." Americans do not have "a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence." "In God We Trust" is a slogan, but in real life they trust politicians more.

That's not a problem about ignorance. That's a problem with their religion. Ignorance is not a "bug" in their religion; it's a feature. It's a selling point. "Ignorance is bliss." Be ignorant your whole life and go to heaven when you die.


Let's review the two reasons why Jesus wouldn't be celebrating "Independence Day" if He were here on earth in 2023:

1. Jesus hates violence. A revolution (such as America's Revolution) results in violence. Thousands of British Christians were killed by American Christians, and thousands of American Christians were killed by British Christians. How could Jesus celebrate that?

   1a. It's true, Jesus hates tyranny, and the American Revolution was a revolution against tyranny.

2. But Jesus hates hypocrisy.

   2a. Celebrating a violent revolution against tyranny is pretty hypocritical considering today's Woke Regime in Washington D.C. is incomparably more tyrannical and anti-Christian in 2023 than the British government was in 1776. Taxes in 2023 are 20x higher than in 1776. Americans today have no right to celebrate the violent overthrow of a tyrannical government by those who were willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" when we risk nothing and tolerate what the Founders would see as unspeakable evil (and therefore intolerable evil).

I think the best way for me to convert you from a false religion is to dig deeper into these two reasons, think a little more, and dig a little deeper. It's the only way to counteract 13, 17, or 20 or more years of repetitive public school brainwashing.

  1. Jesus Hates Violence

Not a popular message. Maybe you're about to stop reading.

Some Americans say "God bless America."
But Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9).

Is the United States a "peacemaker?"

I was born in the year of "Sputnik," the Russian satellite that inaugurated "the Space Race" which was a part of "the Cold War." I was raised to believe that "socialism" or communism" was evil and "capitalism" was good. (I still believe that, if by "capitalism" is meant "freedom" or "free markets" and not "taxpayer bailouts for big corporations). I was in junior high school when the Vietnam War raged, and when the nation was divided by anti-war protesters. I believed that the anti-war protesters were a bunch of anti-American commies. They may well have been incited by Communists and used by Communists as tools or pawns in Moscow's attempt to bring down the American/capitalist system, but they were on the right side of the debate over an immoral war.
During my lifetime, during "the cold war," the "war on terror," and many other wars, "my" government -- the "woke regime" in Washington D.C. -- has killed, crippled, or made homeless TENS OF MILLIONS of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world, from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, Panama, Libya, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Kuwait, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Congo, and elsewhere. The United States drops a bomb somewhere in the world every 12 minutes, on average. Barack Obama, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace, dropped tens of thousands of bombs, used drones to assassinate American citizens without due process, and maintained U.S. military bases in nearly 100 nations around the world.
The United States (Washington D.C.) is the biggest warmonger on the planet.
Can God bless such a nation?
Can God bless me if I've never even asked that question?
Isn't asking that question the first step in being a "peacemaker?"

The Bible says we should beat our swords into plowshares. But "the powers that be" have high-sounding excuses for doing the opposite. We've all been taught that the "experts" know better than Jesus.
The politicians, the university professors, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff: You can trust them.
Jesus, not so much.

Jesus was an irrelevant, impractical, unrealistic, utopian pacifist.
He was also way too "judgmental" (see His rant in Matthew 23 and His actions in Matthew 21:12-14).
Nobody today takes Jesus seriously.
Nobody cares if Jesus condemns them for the global violence that they vote for, thinking it will keep their gas prices down.

The United States is the most evil and most dangerous criminal enterprise or terrorist organization on planet earth. Proof. The willingness of American colonists to shoot tax collectors in 1776 may be the first cancer cell that has now metastasized in 2023. Violence is the first reason Jesus would not celebrate "Independence Day." More details.

But before we dig deeper into the second reason Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day, there are two reasons why Jesus would praise the Declaration of Independence, and why Jesus would be somewhat tolerant of Independence Day and the Declaration of Independence celebrated on that day. (But again, I realize that nobody in 2023 cares what Jesus thinks.)

  1. Jesus Hates Atheism. Accepting Atheism is Idolatry.

 

  1. Jesus Hates Tyranny. Accepting Tyranny is Idolatry.

As we'll see below, Jesus hates even the slightest amount of tyranny.

America's Founders abolished their tyrannical government. John Quincy Adams, in an “Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de la Fayette,” Delivered at the request of both Houses of the Congress of the United States, before them, in the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 31st of December, 1834, said:

The war was revolutionary. It began by the dissolution of the British Government in the Colonies; the People of which were, by that operation, left without any Government whatever.

"We the People" can govern ourselves. Billions of human beings do this every day, in our businesses and families. We know how to protect our liberty and property. As Jefferson said, "There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves."

Unfortunately, too many people vote for tyrants because tyrants promise them something for nothing. Free benefits. "Entitlements." Getting rid of tyranny means cutting off the government check. Getting rid of tyranny, theft, and compulsion means being "left without any Government whatever," which means "anarchy!"

In the Bible, if you look up every occurrence of the words "save," "savior," and "salvation," you'll find that in the overwhelming majority of cases, the word refers to freedom from tyrants, not freedom from hell after you are killed by tyrants. Tyranny is idolatry because the tyrant thinks he is society's savior, and because low-M.Q. citizens believe the tyrant, and trust the tyrant for "salvation" instead of God Himself. To oppose tyranny, you must believe that Jesus is the Christ -- Today. Surprisingly, this is a hard truth for most Christians to swallow.

America's Founders said "Abolish tyranny!"
Americans today say "But muh benefits!?"

We'll look more closely at tyranny, salvation, and "anarchy" below.

There you have it: two things Jesus would like about Independence Day: the opposition by the Declaration of Independence to atheism and to idolatrous tyranny.
The very two things most Americans don't want to hear: "Theocracy" and "Anarchy."

Here's the other reason Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day.

  1. Jesus Hates Hypocrisy

Nobody cares if Jesus is against violence. Nobody cares if Jesus calls them a "hypocrite."

If you actually care what Jesus commands you to do, then keep reading. My goal is to faithfully summarize things Jesus taught. Things you won't hear in this Sunday's sermon. Which is why your Pastor, unlike Jesus, has never been put to death. Or even arrested.




MOURN on the 4th of July!


The 56 Men who Signed the Declaration of Independence
on July 4th, 1776
Would NOT be Celebrating Independence Day
on July 4th, 2023


Pacifism: Jesus Would Not Celebrate Violence

"Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9) gets translated in our minds as "Blessed are the pacifists." "Everybody knows" that Jesus commands His followers to be pacifists. "Love your enemies." "Turn the other cheek." We'll prove this claim in spades in a minute. Or go here.

"Peacemaker" is harder to ignore than "pacifist."

The word "pacifism" comes from the Latin word for "peace." It is not related to the word "passive." Christians actively oppose violence and evil, and are willing to give their own lives to save another, but Christians are commanded to
     • love their enemies (Matthew 5:44),
     • put away their sword (Matthew 26:52), and
     • follow Christ's example of non-defense (1 Peter 2:21-24).
I used to believe in "just wars," but I think my views are more Biblical now. Here is how I became a pacifist. The verses quoted in that deposition constitute a "prima facie case" for pacifism. An anthropologist from another planet, here to study the human race, specializing in the teachings and influence of Jesus Christ, would see immediately that Christ and the Bible advocate pacifism. Christ did not defend Himself against attack, and we are to follow "in His steps" (1 Peter 2:18-24). "Thou shalt not kill" and "love your enemies" are clear commands.

Pacifism means violent revolution against the king is also wrong. This is why Jesus would not celebrate "Independence Day."

  1. It's a Holiday of Violence

    Romans 12-13 {1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
             {2} And be not conformed to the world of the Scottish Enlightenment: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
             {3} For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
             {10} Be kindly affectioned one to the British with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
             {11} Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
             {12} Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
             {13} Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitable quartering of troops.
             {14} Bless the "Red Coats" which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
             {16} Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
             {17} Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
             {18} If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with the British.
             {19} Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
             {20} Therefore if an enemy soldier hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
             {21} Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
             {13:1} Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are set in place by God.
             {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, throwing tea into the harbor, or firing muskets upon them from behind trees, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
             {3} For archist red coats are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
             {4} For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
             {5} Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
             {6} For for this cause pay ye taxes without representation: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
             {7} Render therefore to all their dues: taxes to whom taxes are due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
             {8} Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
             {9} For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
             {10} Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.


    1 Peter 2:11-24 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
             {12} Having your behavior honest among the Red Coats: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
             {13} Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to king George III, as supreme;
             {14} Or unto parliament, as unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
             {15} For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
             {16} As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
             {17} Honour all the British. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
             {18} Taxpayers, be subject to your Tax Collectors with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
             {19} For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
             {20} For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
             {21} For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps:
             {22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:
             {23} Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:
             {24} Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed.


    Matthew 5:38-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
             {39} But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
             {40} And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
             {41} And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
             {42} Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
             {43} Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
             {44} But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
             {45} That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
             {46} For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the tax collectors the same?
             {47} And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the tax collectors so?
             {48} Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.


    The political implications of Matthew 5:41 (in which invading pagan soldiers conscript citizens to aid the conquerors) are staggering.


 Our purpose in this essay is to prove that

Here is a summary of the argument made below.

For years I opposed pacifism as "unrealistic" and "impractical."

I claimed that God imposed a moral requirement on me to "defend my family" in the event of a home invasion, and that pacifism in the face of such an attack was immoral, not just cowardly.

To discharge my moral responsibility, I voted for a system of self-defense called "The State." This was the only "realistic" view. I was "practical." "Responsible." Not like those crazy pacifists.

Now, as I begin my second half-century of life, I look back on a bad decision. Since I was born, the machinery of self-defense called "The United States Federal Government" has murdered, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians. Children, grandmothers, and breadwinners.

It started with my fear of an attack on my family by a random, anonymous home invader.

From this crippled, unrealistic, skewed vision of "self-defense" comes the global disaster known as "national defense."

Conclusion: "Self-defense" is irresponsible and unChristlike. "National Defense" is unmitigated evil.


There are lots of objections to beating swords into plowshares, and they all sound good -- until you examine them closely. Here is a comprehensive examination of the most popular objections to following Jesus -- often written by those claim to be following Jesus.

Can We Have World Peace in 2023?





Jesus Would Not Celebrate Hypocrisy.

Neither would America's Founders.

And neither should you.

Not in 2023.

The U.S. is a tyranny, and the Signers of the Declaration would say we are hypocrites.

In addition to not celebrating violence and revolution, we shouldn't celebrate "Independence Day" while living in dependence on tyranny.

  1. It's a Holiday of Hypocrisy.
  1. Celebrate the Declaration of Independence? 
    • In our day, it is illegal for public school students to be taught that the Declaration of Independence is really true. Objectively true. True regardless of what any government official believes about it. What sense does it make to celebrate a document that is banned in government schools?
      • Sure, government teachers are permitted to say that a bunch of dead guys wearing funny costumes used to believe those words were true.
        • Implying that we're much more sophisticated today. And more cool.
      • Or they can teach their students that they didn't really believe anything they were saying about all men being evolved equally. The Revolution was just to protect their slaves and their wealth.
      • The unelected Supreme Court says endorsing or promoting the ideas found in the Declaration of Independence in government-run schools would be "unconstitutional." (Read that link.)
      • But we still want to celebrate. Well, knock yourself out.
      The Federal Government says that teachers in government-operated schools paid for by your local property taxes cannot "endorse" or "promote" the ideas contained in the Declaration. Teachers cannot say The Declaration of Independence really is objectively true, regardless of whether any human being or any government believes it to be true, and that students should stand up and risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in defense of those unchanging true principles.
    • The Declaration says we have a "duty" -- not just a "right" -- to abolish any government that becomes a "tyranny." Those who signed the Declaration felt their government had crossed the line, so they abolished it. Their government in 1776 was a kindergarten picnic compared to our government today. If the Signers could travel through time, they would be outraged that you are not outraged. "Why are you not taking up arms against tyranny?" they would ask us.
    • Either we know that our government is tyrannical and ought to be abolished, or we have been intellectually and morally captured -- brainwashed -- by the enemy, and are so dependent upon the tyrants that rule over us, that we don't even want "independence."
    • Americans today have no right to celebrate Independence Day. Independent from what?

    In any case, students in U.S. public schools cannot be told that the propositions in the Declaration of Independence are actually, objectively true:

If the federal government allowed public school teachers to teach what Samuel Adams was taught, every student who in the summer of 2020 was looting and burning down buildings could become:

  • An Extraordinary American,
 
• An Extraordinary Christian,
  • An Extraordinary Human Being
.
  1. Those (in media and academia) who are knowledgeable about the holiday (it has something to do with The Declaration of Independence) don't even agree with the meaning of the holiday:
    • They would consider America's Founders to be "terrorists" if they were here today.
    • The Founders took up arms to abolish the government. "Buncha anarchists!"
    • The Founders considered their government to be a "tyranny," and would certainly consider today's Americans to be failures as Americans because our government is a mega-tyranny. Today's conservatives don't want to believe what the rest of the world thinks about our government. "Unpatriotic!"
    • America was once the most prosperous and admired nation on earth.
    • Today we are over our heads in debt, and despised around the world.
    • OK, how about this:
      More Hypocrisy

Consider these facts and the slogan "No Taxation Without Representation":

  1. The willingness to kill British Christians just because they were collecting taxes sealed America's doom.
  2. Historians estimate that the total tax burden imposed on the American colonists by Britain was 1-2%. Maybe 3% in Virginia. That includes all taxes -- taxes on tea, the Stamp Act -- everything. In 2023, if you pay one dime in taxes, then you're in a "tax bracket" that requires you to pay twenty times more than the colonists did.
  3. And you have a lot less representation.
  4. The United States is an atheistic dictatorship. It is the enemy of mankind. Harsh words? America's Founders used harsh words. Like "tyranny." If that word applied in 1776, it applies in spades in 2023.

     What did America's Founding Fathers fight for? What did they fight against? Why did they risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor?" Is there any reason to celebrate in 2023? Would America's Founders be proud of what we have done with the nation they sacrificed for?
     Sure, they would be impressed with our cars, iPhones, TVs, and anesthesia at the dentist office. But only for a short time. Soon, they would realize we've just been "bought off." We like the toys the crony capitalists give us after we give Washington insiders more than half of everything we earn. 



The Real Revolution



America's Founders abolished their government. John Quincy Adams, in an “Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de la Fayette,” Delivered at the request of both Houses of the Congress of the United States, before them, in the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 31st of December, 1834, said:

The war was revolutionary. It began by the dissolution of the British Government in the Colonies; the People of which were, by that operation, left without any Government whatever.

That's "poetic license." Something of an exaggeration. Americans were not "left without any Government whatever." Americans had self-government. James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution," is reported to have said this:

We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves ... according to the Ten Commandments of God.

Americans would be well-governed not because they had Congressional laws, statutes, Executive Orders, regulations, and Supreme Court opinions, but because they had the Bible.

The original purpose of public schools in America was to make sure everyone could read and understand the Bible. This was because government got its laws from the Bible, and the Bible made Americans a moral and religious people. As John Adams put it,

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

R. J. Rushdoony wrote the following:

This is what John Adams, later second President of the U.S., wrote in his diary on February 22, 1756:

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book,
and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited!
Every member would be obliged in conscience,
     to temperance, frugality, and industry,
     to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men;
     and to piety, love and reverence towards Almighty God.
What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be.

Like others of his day, Adams was a theonomist!

I love this quote. I'm going to repeat it two more times on this page.

In principle, Adams is advocating "Theocracy." Adams is saying we should be governed by God and His Law Book, the Bible.

In principle, John Adams is also advocating "anarchy." A society without "The State."

No, he wasn't advocating "anarchy" directly. Adams' purpose was just to praise the Bible. He would probably say it was just "hyperbole."

The Bible as the "only law book?"

Nobody in government today would ever say what Adams said, not even in "hyperbole":

 "We should take the Bible for our only law book."

That's too "radical." That's "extremist." It's "homophobic." Or something. Only a "domestic terrorist" would say something like that.

Rushdoony authored a book called Institutes of Biblical Law [read] [buy], explaining how the Bible had been used as a law book in John Adams' day (and throughout the history of Christendom), and how the Bible could be used today. Rushdoony's "law book" is not the same kind of "law book" as those found in a law library, containing statutes and decrees of government, enforced by violent earthly enforcers. Rushdoony's book explains how to take the Bible as our only law book.

The reason we don't need a library of books on compulsion and violence is because there is no verse in the Bible that anyone can point to and say,

This verse gives me the right to
  • take vengeance on my enemies (cf. Romans 12:19),
  • extort money from others to finance my acts of vengeance (Exodus 20:15), and
  • threaten violence against anyone who tries to compete with my monopoly system of  "justice,"

and be assured God will not hold me guilty of sin for doing such things."

Joe Biden cannot say that. Vladimir Putin cannot say that. No human being on planet earth in our day can say that. If you take the Bible seriously, that claim has staggering implications. Can you find such a verse in the Bible that Putin can legitimately point to?

Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Presidential administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison -- each of whom came from a different political party. And of what party was Rush? He answered,

I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power. . . will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone Who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.

Another great quote. Watch for it again. The overwhelming majority of church-going Christians would be appalled at the idea of abolishing all earthly governments and submitting to the government of Jesus Christ, the Messiah-King. The Bible says Jesus is the only legitimate Governor. Human governments are idolatry. In the Bible, human governors are false gods.

Of course, Adams wasn't literally advocating the abolition of "civil government," but I believe the Bible does. Visible, physical, earthly kings are false gods, since only God is our King.

Where did Adams get the idea that human society requires human "gods?" He got it from the Greeks, not the Bible. From Athens, not Jerusalem.

When the Bible says we are to leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19; quoting Deuteronomy 32:35), it's saying we should leave all "law enforcement" to God. But those who are reject Anarcho-Christocracy are deists. They don't believe God will intervene in history to take vengeance and establish justice.

I believe the only law book we need is the Bible. The Bible is a textbook for every subject, not just religion. In our day, that's one of the most offensive things anyone can say. "Law books" full of statutes and decrees to be enforced by government violence are written by "governments." No governments, no law books. No law books, no governments.

Every legitimate, non-sinful "service" provided by "civil government" is a service that can be provided by entrepreneurs in a Freed Market at a lower cost, in greater supply, and with higher quality. Nothing in the Bible prohibits businessmen from providing consumers with these services, in competition with those who claim to be "kings," and consumers are not prohibited by anything in Biblical Law from choosing a non-State service provider in a Freed Market. Eventually, the goal is the elimination of all visible, earthly, physical kings, as they all repent and join the Freed Market under King Jesus.

As long as they remain in power, all earthly, visible, physical kings eventually ban the Bible, because they (correctly) see the Bible as an "Anarchist Manifesto." Even once-called "Christian nations," like the U.S.A., have now banned the Bible. The primary purpose of American public schools when they were created 400 years ago was to teach the Bible. This is now outlawed in the United States, just like in Iran, North Korea, and Communist China.

A Christian society does not need a secular Washington D.C., or even a Washington D.C. that purports to be "Christian" or "Theonomic." A purportedly Theonomic "civil government" must use violence to suppress competition, or it is no longer a "civil government." By definition, a "government" has a monopoly on the use of violence, even as it uses violence to perform otherwise good deeds like "helping the poor." Good deeds which could be better performed by a Freed Market without violence.

The Bible says God is our Lawgiver, Judge, and King (Isaiah 33:22). That's all three "branches" of government under the U.S. Constitution.


A Theory of Government


The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence were willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to abolish a tyrannical government and to protect "the American Dream" of living peacefully under your own “Vine & Fig Tree” (Micah 4:1-7). 
Today's Americans aren't willing to risk much of anything, and are content to live under tyranny in a cookie-cutter house that's actually owned by the bank.

The purpose of this website is to

There is more to the Declaration than the five points listed above. Let's take a closer look.

Declaration of Independence Scripture
Sometimes it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another The "political band" in this case is that of king (George III) and subjects. Where does the Bible say subjects can "dissolve" their relationship to the king?
Sometimes it becomes necessary for one people to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station . . . It's not always easy to figure out why certain words in the Declaration of Independence are capitalized. Why is "Powers" capitalized? Is this a reference to Romans 13?
Human beings have certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Is there really such a thing as "rights" in the Bible? Or is a society where property is secure the result of adherence to our duty not to steal? Do rights exist in a society where everyone is his own god and determines good and evil for himself? Do you have a "right to life" if nobody believes they have a duty to God not to kill you?
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, What is the evidence that Governments (capitalized) are created to protect rights?

It has actually never happened in history. Governments are always created to violate the rights of the subjects and the conquered.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. This is also a myth. It's a self-contradiction. If everyone consents, then you have contracts and commerce. If one person does not consent, then you have abstention. All of this is in the realm of the "private sector."
In the "private sector," there is no "governing" anyone. Everything is by consent.
"Government" only occurs when one person does not consent and the governors impose the wish of the governors upon the unconsenting "governed."
People are "governed" only when they do not consent. If both parties consent, they form a contract and commerce is initiated. Not "government."
"Government" relies on a completely fictional "social contract."
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, Since "government" is coercion, force, and threats of violence against the unconsenting "governed," any attempt by the consenting governed to alter or abolish the government will be met by coercion, force, and threats of violence. Where does the Bible say the unconsenting governed have a right to trigger violence through revolution?
It is the Right of the People to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Where does the Bible say Smith has a right to "institute new Government" over Jones?

Where does the Bible say "Safety and Happiness" can be reliably effected by the creature rather than by the Creator? (Isaiah 33:22; Romans 1:25; 1 Samuel 8:7)

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.  
It was the design of King George III to reduce Americans under absolute Despotism, Historically debateable. See below.
it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Again, "throwing off government" is an invitation to murder and destruction.

Again, human beings can never be as reliable a "new Guard" for their security, safety, or happiness as the God of the Bible.

"Security," "safety," and "happiness" are key components of the Biblical concept of "salvation." Look up every occurrence of words like "save," "savior," and "salvation" in the Bible. They're usually talking about living peacefully under one's own “Vine & Fig Tree” -- not living under tyranny your whole life and going to heaven when you die.

The Gospel is Anarchy || Salvation is Anarchy 

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. Again, it is debatable that George III was conspiring to establish an "absolute tyranny" over the colonies.
We, the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, are the Representatives of the united States of America, This is not so much a declaration of independence from government, as it is a transfer of power from one government to another.
We, the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; It would be one thing to declare independence from a government and then live freely and ungoverned under one's own “Vine & Fig Tree.” But that's not what happened, and apparently was never the goal.
as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. The Biblical goal is statelessness, not a new state.

There is a complete Theory of Government behind the Declaration. Every American should be required to take a Political Science course that explains this Theory of Government. But the course should also ask the question, Would Jesus agree with this Theory of Government?

Would Jesus even agree with the facts presented? Was George III really such a bad guy. One historian says no:

     Jefferson wrote these words in the Declaration of Independence:
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.
     I can think of no more misleading political assessment uttered by any leader in the history of the United States. No words having such great impact historically in this nation were less true. No political bogeymen invoked by any political sect as "the liar of the century" ever said anything as verifiably false as these words.
     The colonists had a sweet deal in 1775. Great Britain was the second freest nation on earth. Switzerland was probably the most free nation, but I would be hard-pressed to identify any other nation in 1775 that was ahead of Great Britain. And in Great Britain's Empire, the colonists were by far the freest.
     I will say it, loud and clear: the freest society on earth in 1775 was British North America, with the exception of the slave system. Anyone who was not a slave had incomparable freedom.

Other writers agree: George III would be a conservative Christian libertarian in 2023.

What if the U.S. had published a "Declaration of Non-Resistance" instead of a Declaration of independence? What if Americans had said, "Tyranny is evil, but we will not return evil for evil (Romans 12:19-21)?

What if, instead of getting out muskets and murdering tax collectors, American colonists had gotten out their Bibles and attempted to persuade the Red Coats to repent and beat their swords into plowshares?

Jesus might ask, Is it really "necessary" for people to abolish their government? Can this only be done by taking arms to kill people? Do human beings have "rights?" Do they have a right to "levy War?" Is "instituting a new government" really the best way to "effect their Safety and Happiness?" Is this thing called "government" the best "guard for their future security?"

There is a third reason that Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day. The two reasons listed above ("violence" and "hypocrisy") are fairly obvious and uncontroversial.  Everybody admits that Jesus said "love your enemy." Controversy only ensues when someone starts taking Jesus seriously. The third reason is controversial because most Christians deny that Jesus actually thought this way.

  1. Jesus hates governments.

Each of those points requires massive re-education and a "paradigm shift."
It won't be easy.
Those three "*" links compare the entire Bible and the entire concept of "government."

So why should you pursue the argument?

As we mentioned above, James 1:27 says that true religion is protecting widows and the fatherless. America's Revolutionary War was not only indifferent to the plight of widows, it created widows and fatherless children by murdering husbands and fathers. And the United States went on to murder, cripple, and make homeless tens of millions of human beings in the last few decades. How can a true Christian be indifferent to this evil?

But there's more to the verse.

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.

"The world" is the world of high-I.Q./low M.Q. rulers, professors, CEO's and media executives.

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.

President Eisenhower's Farewell Address originally spoke of "The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex." Today we should speak of "The Military-Industrial-Congressional-Academic-Media-Pharmaceutical Complex." The Complex gets larger and more evil by the day.

You're friends with the world, but not with Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams. I should say, "Not even with Jefferson and Adams," and certainly not with the writers of Scripture, many of whom were imprisoned by the empire. You spend more time with the world's phone and TV than with the Scriptures.

I want you to change your religion, from an impure religion of creating widows and orphans, to the pure religion of Jesus Christ the pacifist/anarchist.

In addition to the three "*" links above, here are more essential links.

First, a survey of the entire Bible shows it to be opposed to the idea that one man ("monarchy") or a small group of men ("oligarchy" -- even if "democratically" elected) should

Here is a survey of the Bible in 95 "Theses":

The Bible has a completely different theory of Government than the one set forth in the Declaration of Independence. It begins with the origin of "government":

The Bible -- 30,000 verses' worth -- is mostly about "Political Philosophy." Augustine described the history of the world as a conflict between "The City of God" and "the City of Man." The Greek word for "city" is "polis," from which we get our word "political."

"Government" in the Bible is family-centered and market-executed:

Throughout the Bible, mention is made about the demonic "Powers of the earth":

This is why Romans 13 is not a hall-pass for government.

So where did America's Founders go wrong? Weren't they all about the Bible?

They were more about the Bible than we are today -- as Micah would put it, they went to "Jerusalem" for the Word of God -- but they were also captured by the philosophy of Athens.

Here is a very readable book for laymen on why the "Social Contract" theory embraced by many of America's Founding Fathers and expressed in the Declaration of Independence does not withstand moral scrutiny:

If they could see the Woke Regime of Washington D.C. in 2023, and read this book, America's Founding Fathers would reject the theory of government they got from Athens, and return to Jerusalem for the “Vine & Fig Treeworldview. They were already partly there, and they were much closer than Americans are today.


Anarchism


This is a most hated word.

Jesus Christ commanded His followers to be "anarchists."

When asked "What is an anarchist," most Americans have been trained to imagine a bomb-throwing assassin who denounces Biblical morality and spreads chaos and lawlessness.

The word "anarchist" comes from two Greek words meaning "not an archist."

But what is an archist?

An "archist" is someone
   who believes he has a right to
  
impose his will on others by force.

Our public schools are run by "archists." That's why you were trained to think of murder, bombs, chaos and lawlessness when you think of "anarchy" -- the absence of our leaders in Washington D.C. -- who are actually responsible for dropping the most bombs, assassinating the most leaders, banning the Bible from public schools, and spreading economic instability and lawlessness.

Jesus told His disciples not to be "archists." Christians are not to impose Christianity on the world by government force ("the sword")

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God.

They didn't understand that Jesus' Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

The Greek word translated "rulers" is the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist."

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

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

Must reading: "What is an 'Archist'"

According to Mark, Jesus spoke of the archists over the gentiles. Luke says that Jesus also used the word "kings" to explain this concept to His disciples:

Luke 22:25
And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’

The Bible speaks repeatedly about "the kings of the Gentiles." The books of history lead up to 1 Samuel 8, where Israel rejects God as King, and asks for a king "like the Gentiles." Many chapters of the books of the prophets are addressed to "the kings of the gentiles." All these chapters and verses are the Word of God. But why is God telling us so much about these ancient kings? What's the point?

The Bible is about replacing "the kings of the Gentiles" with one King over all the world. But most people miss this message.

There are 30,000 verses in the Bible. You can spend a lifetime in most churches and never hear more than a couple hundred of those verses. That's because most of the verses in the Bible show us how evil "archists" and empires are. Every human government is an idolatrous replacement for the Kingdom of God. The Bible is an Anarchist Manifesto. No church-goer wants to even think about whether that claim is true or not. If you're not an "anarchist," you must be an "archist." What would Jesus say about that? Start by reading Mark 10:42-45. Become a consistent opponent of hurting people and taking their stuff. Read this link:

 

Can We Have World Peace in 2023?

 

Proving that Jesus hates governments is easy, but it will be resisted unless you have a high M.Q.


Being an "anarchist" today takes much more work than it would have taken 200 years ago.

Our elected representatives take an oath to "support the Constitution." If they kept their oaths, they would abolish unconstitutional bureaucracies. But they never do.

Imagine today is March 5, 1789. Yesterday the new government under the Constitution went into effect. As an anarchist, I would call for the complete abolition of this new government. Wow! Is that "radical" or what? That would entail the firing of dozens of people, and cutting several thousand dollars in government spending. ( Patrick Henry and George Mason -- great Americans who refused to sign the Constitution -- would enthusiastically approve of such a "radical" idea! )

Republicans since Ronald Reagan have called for the abolition of the federal Department of Education. It is by far the smallest cabinet level department, but abolishing it would put thousands of government employees out of work and slash nearly $60 Billion in government spending. It will never happen. When a new administration takes power, they look forward to putting their own people behind every desk in the bureaucracy. They will never abolish the entire bureaucracy, even though they swore an oath to do so.

In 2016, there were people calling for "the restoration of Constitutional government." They do not call for abolishing the Constitution; they support the Constitution and want all unconstitutional government repealed. But imagine the change! "Restoring Constitutional government" today would involve firing tens of millions of people and cutting trillions of dollars!! Would Americans support this return to the Constitution? Of course not. "My brother-in-law works for that bureaucracy." "My business gets a check from that bureaucracy."

Americans celebrate "Independence Day," but they celebrate unconstitutional bureaucracies even more. In order for Americans to rise up and demand a return to the Constitution in 2023 would necessitate more education, more conversions, more regenerated hearts, more transformed worldviews, and a whole lot more footwork than convincing every American in 1789 to abolish entirely the recently-created federal government as it then existed.

But these pro-constitution people are called "conservatives" and a radical pacifist Christian is considered the "radical" because Jesus was an "anarchist." As a follower of Jesus, I am only a tiny bit more radical than anyone who truly wants to "restore the Constitution."

Every single person who signed the Constitution would agree that nobody in Congress has any intention of restoring the government to its original Constitutional size and function. Despite taking a solemn oath to do so.

Jesus says His followers are not to be "archists" like the kings of the Gentiles: Pharaoh, Moloch, Caesar. Don't be like them, don't vote for them. Be a "servant" instead, Jesus says.

"But without Pharaoh or Caesar," many will object, we will be conquered by foreigners and enslaved.

Being a slave is the whole point of the Bible.

The same Greek word for "servant" in Mark 10 occurs in these passages:

Matthew 22 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

John 2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

As "servants," Christians are to do whatever the boss says to do (unless the boss orders the servant to disobey God [Acts 5:29]).

It is often objected that if Christian pacifists had enough votes to abolish "national defense," that America would be invaded and taken over by the Communists, the Jihadists, or the enemy-du-jour, and we would all be enslaved.  

There are three problems with this objection:
  1. America is so socialist at this point, it is unlikely that any American would be able to detect if the current socialist regime (the "Deep State" that really runs the government, whether the President is Bush, Obama, Trump, or Biden) were to be replaced by another (Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Vladamir Putin, etc.).
  2. North Korea would never send a million troops to the U.S. to invade/enslave us, because as soon as the North Korean troops invaded Wal-Mart, they would see the loot all around them, quickly size up their options (destroy Wal-Mart and go back to dirt-poor North Korea?) then defect and become Americans, grab their spoils and move to Ferguson, MO.
    In other words, the poorest people on earth, subjugated by an elite Party of rich people, are never dispatched to invade and enslave the wealthiest nation on earth, because the entire invading army would realize instantly that they would be better off defecting and joining the "invaded" nation.
  3. Christians are commanded to accept their role as slaves.
    This is true in two ways.
           First
    , Christians are "capitalists" (or more accurately, "anarcho-capitalists," because socialism, fascism, communism, Keynesianism, and all other political economies, are based on violence, which Christians oppose). Christians support a "freed market" freed from government coercion. Christians are also characterized by "the Protestant Work Ethic." Working and being productive are core Christian values because this is one way we serve others. In the New Testament, Christian slaves are commanded to work for their non-Christian masters as if they were working for Christ Himself. It is a common saying among capitalists that "The Customer is King." That means capitalists serve the consumers. The poor benefit from the work of rich capitalists like Rockefeller. If Americans would be even more willing to serve communists, Muslims, and other "bad guys," and if Americans would place a high value on continuing lifelong learning and increasing job skills, America would lead the world in productivity and invention, the "bad guys" would be hooked on our consumer goods and the rising standard of living we provide, and would be less inclined to invade, conquer, and destroy the goose that lays the golden eggs. Free trade prevents war. But we must have something to trade, and that means work, and that means serving consumers around the world, and that means "slavery."
           In a second way, Christians are commanded to accept their role as slaves. If a non-Christian nation actually invades a Christian nation, Christians are commanded by their Lord not to engage in "national defense." We saw this above.
Americans have spent over $8 TRILLION on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That means YOU gave the government $24,000 for every man, woman, and small child in your family to destroy these two nations. Family of four? $96,000.

Did the government really represent your best interests or desires?

What did we get for our money?  In Iraq, a government which guaranteed religious freedom for Christians, and was home to the largest community of Christians in the entire Arab world, was replaced by an Islamic theocracy under Shariah law. Hundreds of thousands of Christians were killed, crippled, or made homeless.

The CIA gave Stinger missiles to Osama bin Ladin, so that he could pester the Soviet Union. Years later, Osama led the attack on 9/11.

More people on planet earth hate the United States because of our "Defense" Department. We are less safe, our standard of living has been reduced, and our freedoms have been diminished.

Suppose instead of spending $8 TRILLION on a "War on Terror," we voluntarily "enslaved" ourselves to the Muslims. 300 Million Americans gave $24,000 each to the 2 billion Muslims on this planet. Muslims are among the poorest of the poor in the world. Around 40% of the Muslim population languishes in abject poverty, with nearly 350 million living under $1.25 a day ($600/yr). Giving Muslims the entire budget for the War on Terror would put $4,000 in the pocket of every man, woman, and small Muslim child on planet earth.

This would be astonishing.

We could also give every Muslim an MP3 player pre-loaded with a Bible-centered curriculum like Samuel Adams and John Hancock had when they were kids. That would lead to the conversion of millions of Muslims to Christianity. That would destroy the ability of terrorist recruiters to recruit new terrorists against the United States. ("Want to join our terrorist group and kill the American infidels?" "No, dude, the infidels just gave me a check!")

There are two ways Americans can obey Jesus and serve their enemies.

  • We can work hard ("Protestant work ethic") and trade the fruit of our labor with our enemies;
  • We can engage in charitable donations to our enemies. (Not to oppressive governments, but to ordinary people oppressed by governments.)

But Americans refuse to become the "slaves" of Muslims, so God has made us slaves to the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex. Soon, slaves to China. If a nation refuses to serve voluntarily, God will force them to serve as captives.

See this hypothetical letter to Muslims, written the day before 9/11.

"National Defense" usually means violent overthrow of the governments of other nations which are not compliant to the U.S. government.

Being a pacifist slave and being a violent revolutionary are two completely different religions.


Americans are Victims of Educational Malpractice


Do you know why many Americans celebrate "Independence Day?" If you do know click here to skip ahead.

I would like to believe that if America's Founding Fathers could travel through time and see the nation they Founded, they would go "back to the drawing board" and re-think everything. They would re-consider their call to arms and their violent overthrow of the government, because they sowed the seeds of violence, and the United States is today the most violent nation on the planet. They would also re-think the whole idea of repealing the "Divine Right of Kings" and replacing it with a "Representative Republic." 

If America's Founding Fathers could have a conversation with you about what's going on in 2023, and what you're doing about it, they would conclude that you are a victim of educational malpractice. As a result of your government-mandated atheistic/socialistic education, you are

The Founders would say you need to go back to school. All the way back to the schools that existed in 1776. Before the Bible and the Declaration of Independence were banned in government schools. Become as well-informed as the average American 15-year-old in 1776, and then apply that knowledge to the world of 2023. In a minute, I'll show you how to use the internet to compress 12 years of colonial American education into 1 year of online learning, in just minutes a day, not hours. This new education will transform you into

  • An Extraordinary American,
 
• An Extraordinary Christian,
  • An Extraordinary Human Being


I admit I could complain about the government all day long. I believe the United States is the most evil and dangerous entity on the planet. You might object: "The government of North Korea is more evil." Maybe, but the North Korean government is not more dangerous to the human race. The average human being on planet earth is more likely to have her "unalienable rights" infringed by someone on the payroll of the United States government (or working for a corporation funded by Washington D.C.) than by a North Korean. The United States is the enemy of Christian Civilization.

So let's do something productive.

I propose we go back to school.

Americans Are Victims of Educational Malpractice.

I propose that beginning on Sunday, July 5th, we replicate the curriculum of the typical colonial American one-room schoolhouse. Using the internet, we can cram 12 years of colonial education into 12 months, listening to MP3s as we commute to work and back home again, or as we exercise, walk, or do the dishes.

We could even turn off the TV and make the kids listen too.

You say, "Wait a minute; I'm not as ignorant as those folks in the video."

I'll concede that point. But America's Founding Fathers would still say you are a victim of educational malpractice.

I'll prove it, and then I'll describe my plan to make up for it.

Public schools were invented in America 350 or so years ago to teach everyone in town the Bible.

The entire concept of "public schools" was created by Bible-believing Christians following the Protestant Reformation in order to make sure every citizen could read the Bible. [If you already know this, skip the evidence that follows.]

One of the first public school laws in America is known today as "The Old Deluder Satan Act" because it began with these words:

It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues, that so that at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted...; and to the end that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth.... It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to fifty households shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general....
"The Old Deluder Satan Act," Massachusetts, 1647

The 1636 rules of Harvard declared:

Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17.3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (Prov. 2, 3). Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein.

That's the start of my "Back to School" Program. Read the Bible twice a day. Get a Harvard education like Samuel Adams.

The 1690 Connecticut law declared:

This [legislature] observing that... there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable to read the holy Word of God or the good laws of this colony... it is ordered that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly the English tongue.

You were denied this kind of Bible-centered Education. You are a victim of educational malpractice. Atheistic education and ubiquitous secular media have consumed the majority of your waking hours and a moral cancer has metastasized in your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

In In the early 1960's, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the Bible* from public schools, along with voluntary prayer. One of the Justices who concurred in this secularization was honest enough to admit that removing religion from public schools was directly contrary to the intentions of America's Founders:

Religion was once deemed to be a function of the public school system. The Northwest Ordinance, which antedated the First Amendment, provided in Article III that
"Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

Many territories, when they applied for admission to the union. repeated those words verbatim in their state constitutions. Nebraska in 1875 was the last state to copy these words into their constitution.

The Government today prevents students from being taught the Bible, "religion, morality, and knowledge." Every single person who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would say that secular schools are a threat to "good government and the happiness of mankind," and a government that imposes secularism on the people should be "abolished," just as they abolished the British government over the colonies for offenses far less serious.

Samuel Adams, the "Anti-Federalist," did not always agree with his cousin John Adams, the "Federalist." Sam wrote:

Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity . . . and, in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country. . . . In short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.

1790 Letter to John Adams,
who wrote back: "You and I agree."
Four Letters: Being an Interesting Correspondence Between Those Eminently Distinguished Characters, John Adams, Late President of the United States; and Samuel Adams, Late Governor of Massachusetts. On the Important Subject of Government
(Boston: Adams and Rhoades, 1802) pp. 9-10

This is exactly what this "Back to School" program will do for you. You can compensate for what the federal government denied you as a little boy or girl by enrolling in our year-long online Home-Study program.

If America's Founding Fathers could travel through time, what would they say is America's Most Pressing Problem?

I think they would say it is the fact that America is no longer a nation "Under God," but is an atheistic nation ("secular" sounds so much nicer than "atheistic"). The nation that once sent missionaries and Bibles around the world is now the world's greatest exporter of pornography and weapons of mass destruction.

And the root of this problem is a national system of compulsory atheistic education for all children 5-17 years of age. America's Founders would be horrified, outraged, apoplectic. Princeton professor Archibald Hodge saw the trend back in 1887, and sounded this alarm:

. . . I am as sure as I am of Christ's reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen.[1]

He was right. If our Godly and virtuous ancestors could see American schools and American culture today, they would be screaming: "Are you people insane??"

I'm not talking about "the 3 R's." I'm talking about the worldview that made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history.

By skipping "the 3 R's" (which you can quickly learn through the Ron Paul Curriculum or the Kahn Academy if you need to), twelve years of colonial American worldview education, covering "religion, morality, and knowledge" can be covered in just 12 months by reading through the entire Bible and four other works which are among the most important works in the history of western civilization, listening to audio lessons on the commute to work and back home in the evening, 20 minutes each way. Then each week attend a live Q&A webinar for laser coaching and clarification. Share your progress with others in an online community.

We call this program:

Vine & Fig Tree University


We need to think about pedagogy. "Pedagogy" is the science of educating. As a writer, I must ask, how can I best teach my reader?

The first version of this website was published on the internet over 20 years ago. Here is one of the first archived copies at archive.org, from May of 1999: MOURN ON THE 4TH OF JULY

When I first began publishing on the internet, I thought everyone was going to flock to the publications of Vine & Fig Tree, and the entire world would be changed.

Today I am older and (I hope) wiser, but sadder. I'm wise enough to realize that if there are magic words that will automagically entice someone to follow the Bible, and join me in making the world a “Vine & Fig Tree” world, I haven't figured out the formula.

My current view is that becoming a Christian is a lifelong journey. One post on Facebook is not normally going to create a convert. The first Jews who became Christians had spent a lifetime (without TV) studying the Scriptures. Paul told Timothy to keep studying the Scriptures as he had been doing since he was an infant.

America's Founding Fathers had been studying the Scriptures since they were infants. They attended public schools whose chief purpose was to help students understand and apply the Bible to every area of life, including government.

Those who wrote the Declaration of Independence had a lifetime of Bible study under their belts.

Unfortunately, America's Founders had missed the warning of a church father named Tertullian, who said,

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” . . . .

In addition to learning in Jerusalem (the Bible), America's Founders had been studying in Athens and Rome (the "Enlightenment").

Americans today are victims of educational malpractice. So a lifetime journey begins by going "back to school." They need the same Bible-based elementary education that America's Founders had. Plus they need to be de-programmed from the cult of Athens and Rome and Washington D.C. and Madison Ave.

So I propose creating an online "university" that will teach what America's Founding Fathers knew about the Bible, but also debunk their (and our) "Enlightenment" myths.

It will give the student the same knowledge of the Bible that Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and John Adams had before they walked into their first class at Harvard University.

Then it will give the student the same instruction in the Bible and Empires that America's Founders had when they graduated from college.

This can pretty much be done over the internet in one year.

The hard part is accepting the truth. Questions will be raised. They will be answered in years 2-4.

  1. The first semester is free. It explains why the prospective student is a victim of educational malpractice, and why the student should study the “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview in the Bible.
  2. It gives an outline of the “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview.
  3. It gives a chapter-by-chapter survey of the Bible as an "anarchist manifesto."
  4. This will cause the heads of most students to explode. This is because the United States is a dangerous authoritarian cult, and de-programming cult members will not be easy.
  5. Everything depends on God giving grace to the student to accept the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, which must be believed and obeyed. It's all about getting a new heart by grace.

This website is now very long. It summarizes this university curriculum, a program of education that is necessary to understand why Jesus would not celebrate Independence Day. It links to many other pages. It will take 25 hours to read. It quotes hundreds of Bible verses. I don't see any other way to persuade you that "Independence Day" was a disaster, and not something to celebrate. And also to persuade you that you should join other Americans who are willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" to see tyranny abolished and re-create a “Vine & Fig Tree” America.

Here's what's ahead:


Five Things You Need to Know

1. The Three Subjects Banned From Your Government-Approved Education
-- and why you must access them. || Details
 
2. The Three Goals for Your Life from Samuel Adams
-- and why you must achieve them. || Details
 
3. The Three Huge Mistakes America's Founding Fathers Made
-- and why you must avoid them. || Details
 
4. The Three Most Hated Words in Politics Today
-- and why you must adopt them. || Details
 
5. The Three Things You Need to Become Extraordinary
-- and why you must activate them. || Details

TABLE OF CONTENTS
95-Day Orientation Program
5 Things You Need to Know
5 Books You Need to Read


Foundational Admission:
You are a Victim of Educational Malpractice


Overview:
Five Things You Need to Know

Thing #1: The Three Subjects Banned From Your Government-Approved Education
-- and why you must access them.
 
Thing #2: The Three Goals for You from Samuel Adams
-- and why you must achieve them.
 
Thing #3: The Three Huge Mistakes America's Founding Fathers Made
-- and why you must avoid them.
 
Thing #4: The Three Most Hated Words in Politics Today
-- and why you must adopt them.
 
Thing #5: The Three Things You Need to Become Extraordinary
-- and why you must activate them.

Thing #1:     
Three Subjects
Banned From Your 
Government-Approved Education
You are a Victim of Educational Malpractice.

details

Public Schools in America were originally created to teach everyone the Bible

proof

Religion, Morality, Knowledge - America's "Organic Law"

    Day 26:  "Necessary for Good Government and the Happiness of Mankind" - Not an elective, but the common core of a decent education in every public school in America, 1776. details
  Religion of Jesus Christ details
    Day 27: - Vertical Relationship - The Horror of Atheism • atheists banned: the importance of our relationship to God once pervaded society. A nation "Under God" is a religious nation. details
    Day 28: Creator-Creature Distinction - Man is not God - The State is not God details
    Day 29: Man is Broken - "The Fall" details
    Day 30: Atonement: The Politics of Guilt and Pity - Sado-Masochism - Scapegoating details
    Day 31: The One and the Many - Unity and Diversity details
  Morality  
    Day 32:  Horizontal: relations with others              source of liberty, "rights"       details
    Day 33: "national morality" details
  Knowledge  
    Day 34: -- Not just the "3 R's" (literacy) - knowledge of how the world works
           
Providence + Capitalism vs. Mercantilism/Socialist Central Planning
details
    Day 35: • knowledge vs. "self-esteem"
          the prosperous discharge of a lawful calling (work) brings self-esteem
details
       

Thing #2:     
The Three Challenges of Samuel Adams

details
    

1st Goal: Be A REAL American

details
          Day 1:  A Real American believes in "the American Dream": Vine & Fig Tree  details
    Day 2:  A Real American believes that the Declaration of Independence is really true. details
    Day 3:  A Real American Opposes Tyranny. (Americans today demand it.) details
    Day 4:  A Real American isn't afraid to be called an "alarmist" details
    Day 5:  A Real American Prefers Liberty Under God, over "Security under Man" (or you deserve neither liberty nor security) details
    Day 6:  A Real American is willing to Risk something to protect "Liberty Under God" details
    Day 8:  A True American is also a Christian. details
    Day 7:  "How do you know?" | audio answer | details
        

Samuel Adams' 2nd Goal: Be A GENUINE Christian

details
    Day   9:   A True Christian is a Follower of Christ (Messiah), the Prince of Peace. details
    Day 10:  Berean: "People of the Book" -  The Bible details
    Day 11:  Berean: Daily questions human authority in light of the Bible details
    Day 12:  A Genuine Christian  is not afraid to be called a "Creationist" details
    Day 13:  A Genuine Christian  is not afraid to be called a "Pacifist" details
    Day 14:  A Genuine Christian  is not afraid to be called an "Extremist" details
    Day 15:  A True Christian is not afraid to be called a "Theocrat" details
    Day 16:  A True Christian is not afraid to be called a "Utopian" details
    Day 17:  Forgiven by Imputation, not ecclesiastical works details
    Day 18:  Performs "works of mercy" | audio details
    Day 19:  Justification by Allegiance: How to Become a Christian [pdf] details
    Day 20:  Judges one religion to be true, and all others to be false. details
     

3rd Goal: Be TRULY Human

details
           "What is the chief end of man?" A question every child in America could answer in 1776.
    Day 21: Glorify God - Humility - You are not God. details
    Day 22: Enjoy Him forever - Gratitude details
    Day 23: Exercise Dominion over the earth. Not worship the earth. details
    Day 24: God Created Human Beings Male and Female details
    Day 25: Pleasing to God -- "Well done, thou good and faithful businessman." details
       
     

Iron Sharpens Iron
Daily

 
 

Thing #3:     
 Three Huge Mistakes America's Founders Made

-- and why you must avoid them

details
    Day 36: We don't worship the Founding Fathers. details
Huge Mistake Number One: "Rights"
    Day 37: The Myth of "Human Rights." Humanistic attack on moral duty. details
    Day 38: "Entitlements" are destroying this nation details
Huge Mistake Number Two: Revolution
They took up arms to abolish the government
by force and violence, murdering Christians from Britain
    Day 39: Just plain wrong. Romans 13 -- Sermon on the Mount details
    Day 40:  U.S. Overthrowing Governments Today.
              Global Revolution: War, Imperialism, CIA Overthrow,
              "National Defense," Foreign Policy,  Blowback.
              Trillions of dollars diverted, millions of lives lost
details
Huge Mistake Number Three: Restoration of Representative Regulation
    Day 41: Who has the right to steal, coerce, torture, or delegate these sins to someone else? details
    Day 42: Bonus Non-Mistake: no “Rapture.” Novus Ordo Seclorum. details
 
Each and every day, as you read the Bible and the other important texts in the  Vine & Fig Tree University Program,, you should reflect on these three huge mistakes and ask three questions:
1. Rights:
  • Am I here to get or to give?
  • Am I here to demand my rights or to obey my duties?
  • Am I entitled or am I obligated?
  • Am I owed or do I owe?

When you speak about God's Commandments rather than "the rights of man," are you prepared to be called a "theocrat?"

2. Revolution:
  • Is "Rebellion Against Tyrants Obedience to God?" Really?
  • Should we preach to tyrants until they are converted, or should we assassinate them?
  • What is the Christ-like way to move sheeple and their wolf-tyrants to "Liberty Under God" and the Vine & Fig Tree society?
  • "Tyranny" and "liberty" are abstractions. The Bible says "Honor the king." You honor the king by not treating him as an abstraction or a conspiracy theory, and treating him as a human being created in the Image of God. Do you know a tyrant? Witness to him. Do you know someone who profits from tyranny? Witness to her. Are you prepared with an anti-tyranny apologetic?

When you speak about being "subject" to tyrants rather than asserting your "Second Amendment Rights," or assassinating tyrants, are you prepared to be called a "pacifist?"

3. "Representation":
  • Is it legitimate for me to grab my entitlements by "voting" for a "representative" to get them for me?
  • Is it legitimate for me to overthrow a foreign government so I can increase my corporate profits or lower my gas prices by "voting" for a "representative" to send the CIA or the Marines?
  • Is it legitimate for me to take money from my neighbor by "voting" for a "representative" to "tax" him?
  • Would the world be worse off or better off without any "archists" (people who believe they have the right to impose their will on others by force) at all?
  • Would the world be better off or worse off if all archists resigned and got jobs in the private sector?

When you speak about the superiority of Free Enterprise over socialism, and when you dream about markets freed from archists, are you prepared to be called an "anarchist?"

 Thing #4:     
 The Three Most Hated Words in Politics Today
-- and why you must embrace them
These three words
all stem from the Three Huge Mistakes  
that America's Founders made.
These three hated concepts are the only way to reverse those three huge mistakes.

details
Most Hated Word #1 - THEOCRACY!
    Day 43: God Rules - Isaiah 33:22 | 
               Not "Government by Ayatollahs" - Priestly Police State
details
Most Hated Word #2 - PACIFISM
    Day 44:  The opposite of violent revolution against tyrannical invaders: 
                no "national defense."
details
Most Hated Word #3 - ANARCHISM
    Day 45:  Jesus prohibits His followers from being "archists." Case closed. details
    Day 46: Bonus Word: Preterism - optimilllennialism, not pessimillennialism details
       

Thing #5:     
The Three Things You Need to Become Extraordinary
-- and why you must activate them

details
  • A Curriculum - Content
  • A Coach - Accountability
  • A Community - Support
1st Extraordinary Thing: An Extraordinary Curriculum
       

Our Curriculum: Five Books to Read

Five Books - Five Classes

Read Five of the Most Important Works
in the History of Western Civilization
in 365 Days

  Substitute one hour of our program for one hour of the Mainstream Media
Each book and accompanying resources is the equivalent of one college-level class.
Weekly live webinar "office hours." Email. All your questions answered.
Our 365-day Coaching Program is the equivalent of two years of college.
No exams -  just profound personal transformation. 
We assume you know "the 3 R's" -- You made it to this website
We assume you don't know "the 3 R's" - We provide audio in case you can't read.
 
details
    Day 47: The Importance of Ideas -Foundation: Ideas Have Consequences
             inevitability: Islam, Marxism
details
    Day 48  • The Importance of History - Avoiding mistakes - Lay a Foundation for the Future
                Ask Three Questions
details
    Day 49  • Daily Devotion -- Not just Sunday. Doing "religion, morality, and knowledge" every day of the week will transform your entire life. No day is secular. details
    Day 50  • Lifelong Learner -- wait 'til you see Year Two of the Program. And Year Three. Etc. Your education is not over. No matter how many degrees you have. details
  Why We Chose These Five Books to Read  
    Day 51:  1. The Bible: The Most Important Book in the History of the Human Race details
    Day 52:  2. The Westminster Standards details
    Day 53:  3. Theocracy vs. "Separation of Church and State" details
    Day 54:  4. Capitalism vs. Archism -- The Wealth of Nations details
    Day 55:  5. Optimillennialism vs. Pessimillennialism -- Hope for this planet details
  How to Read These Five Books  
    Day 56: The Bible is Our Textbook in Every Discipline details
    Day 57: Read Prayerfully  details
    Day 58: Bible: Christmas details
    Day 59: Bible: History/Chronology details
    Day 60: Bible: Psalms details
    Day 61: Bible: Proverbs details
    Day 62: Bible: Law details
    Day 63: Westminster: Theology details
    Day 64: Westminster: Duty details
    Day 65: Capitalism: Gratitude details
    Day 66: Theocracy: Character - The Rule of God in our Lives - Shapes Society details
2nd Extraordinary Thing: An Extraordinary Coach
    Day 67  Life = Race details
    Day 68: What is Coaching? details
    Day 69: The Coach as Elder details
    Day 70: Your duty to find experts details
    Day 71: Mentor/Elder/Pastor details
    Day 72: Grandfather in Deut 4, 6 | no grandkids? Adopt/Mentor details
    Day 73: FellowTraveller/Friend/Companion/Kindred Spirit details
    Day 74: About Me - Your Coach (no expert, no clergy) details
3rd Extraordinary Thing: An Extraordinary Community
    Day 75: “One Another”· | We like it details
    Day 76: Iron Sharpens Iron | We don't like it | sparks may fly details
    Day 77: Priesthood of All Believers details
    Day 78: "Cloud of Witnesses" | History | Heroes details
    Day 79: “Nouthetic Coaching”  — You are "competent to counsel" (Romans 15:14) details
  How to Be A Coach  
    Day 80: Passing on this Program to Others details
  Current Events, Recent Podcasts  
    Day 81: Contemporary Application details
[Days 82-95 Under Construction
    Day 84: Aristotle and Alexander the Great details



The original American Worldview is seen in the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. God is here and He is not silent. He has given us His revelation in the Bible, also referred to as "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Because we are created in the Image of God, we have a conscience (literally, "with" + "know," something man knows with God) that cannot escape knowing certain "self-evident truths," among them that God is there and He is not silent, and we must not infringe on the life, liberty, and property of others (see duties below).
He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivatng and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce. This paragraph is an excerpt from Jefferson's draft of the Declaration. Many Christians wanted to abolish slavery, but the so-called Christian King of Britain, George III, would not permit this. (Eliminating slave labor might reduce productivity, and that might reduce royal tax revenue. So keep the slaves.) Immediately after the Declaration of Independence was signed, many American states began abolishing slavery, beginning with Vermont in 1777.

Slavery still exists in the Muslim world. Americans can be proud.

Pacifism and Slavery

But, on the other hand, Jefferson's anti-slavery paragraph was removed by the Continental Congress to secure approval of slave-holding states for the plan for Independence-through-muskets. In order to be able to wage war against Christians from Britain, Abolitionists compromised on slavery. Christian states which opposed slavery were willing to be "united" with Christian states which wanted to retain slavery in order to protect the ability to wage war. Slavery was protected in order to protect "national defense." Had abolitionist states been pacifists, unwilling to kill British Christians, and willing to "be subject" to British "tyranny," and had they not "united" with slave-holding states, the Civil War to protect the union would have been unnecessary, and 750,000 American lives would have been saved. Who knows how much sooner slavery would have been eradicated.

We can't be pacifists, we are told, because we will be conquered and "enslaved." By Britain. And so in order to protect our "Second Amendment rights," we perpetuate literal chattel slavery for millions of blacks.

A true Christian worldview takes action against social and global injustice. There is no area of human thought or action where a worldview does not prescribe duties or reform thinking.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Not a single person who signed the Constitution was a "deist" (one who believed in an impersonal creator-god who never involves himself/herself/itself in the creation). America's Founding Fathers believed God answered their prayers and miraculously and supernaturally intervened in America, changing what would otherwise be the "natural" course of history. "Providence" is the act of the "Supreme Judge" intervening in history against wicked judges and on behalf of their victims; for the good and against the evil.

The Declaration of Independence provides another standard we can use to evaluate our worldview: compare it with "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The Ten Commandments summarize a Biblical worldview. In reverse order, here are the questions the Ten Commandments begin to ask about your worldview:

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Am I filled with resentment from envying the rich and coveting what I don't have?
Most Political Campaigns appeal to envy, resentment, and covetousness. "Vote for me and I'll take money from the rich and give it to you!" An economy based on covetousness eventually self-destructs.
 
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Do I lie to cover up my character defects?
What would politics be without lying?
 
8. Thou shalt not steal.
Do I cheat others to gratify myself?
The essence of politics today is stealing from others to get something for nothing. "Thou shalt not steal--except by majority vote" is how politicians have re-written this commandment.
 
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Have I kept my marriage vows? Do I lust and have impure thoughts and actions?
It's astonishing how many of today's most famous politicians left their first wife for a younger, prettier lobbyist.
The Family is God's central institution, not "the State."
 
6. Thou shalt not kill.
Am I willing to hurt other people to protect myself?
"The State" is symbolized by "the sword." It kills people who get in its way.                                    
 
5. Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Am I angry at my parents, and is our relationship broken? Do I project my anger against them onto other authorities?
 
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
{9} Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{10} But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: {11} For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Do I work to serve God and others, or do I expect something for nothing? Am I able to rest, and trust God?
 
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Do I take the Lord's Name in vain?
Politicians say "I will support the Constitution, so help me God." They never do.                             
 
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
{5} Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; {6} And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Do I cover up my character defects with "religion" and false spirituality?                         
America's Founders warned against "false religions"
 
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Is my relationship with God broken because I am trying to be my own god (Genesis 3:5)? Do I seek to be god over others?
One of America's greatest problems is viewing the government as savior, which is a false god.
It is a sin to be a false god, as well as to trust in false gods.
The Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto."
America's Founders believed that choosing "security" over liberty was the mark of idolatry.

A campaign to reduce the size and intrusiveness of government will be futile unless it deals with the worldview question. Gary North writes:

What is the main problem we face? Conspiracies? No. The real problem is [worldview:] the set of moral, intellectual, and economic ideas that the West's voters have accepted as valid that have led to their partial enslavement. The conspirators use these false religious principles to control Western societies. These false principles include the following:

1. Mankind is essentially unified.

2. There are no conflicting moral issues that divide people permanently.

3. Man must "take control" of man.

4. Mankind will eventually evolve into a "higher species" — a "leap of being."

5. Elite planners can use the laws of evolution to speed up this evolutionary process.

6. Men can be saved through State legislation.

7. Men can be saved through education.

8. Ideology is irrelevant; only "interests" count.

9. "Deprived" individuals are not personally responsible for their acts.

10. The State is the primary welfare agency rather than the family.

11. The State should redistribute wealth to benefit "the People."

12. The State must protect inefficient producers from free market competition.

13. The State must supervise education.

14. We need to construct a one-State world in order to achieve peace, freedom, and prosperity.

When a majority of voters accept a majority of these premises, the triumph of one or another conspiratorial group is assured. It is by means of these man-worshipping, State-worshipping ideas that conspirators enlarge the power of civil government, and it is by the power of civil government that they rule. To attempt to remove the ruling conspiracies without first removing most people's confidence in these false ideas is about as useful an effort as a condemned man's switching from hanging to the firing squad. Jesus described the results of such a self-defeating "housecleaning":

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there .... (Matthew 12:43-45a).

The owner of the house is worse off than he was when he started. This is the legacy of all political revolutions that are not grounded in biblical principles of social order. Men "throw the rascals out," only to find that a worse gang of rascals has replaced the first one.


During your first semester, you will do an in-depth study of Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy. Each day during your first FREE semester, we'll also study Five Things that America's Founders would say you should have already been taught -- but weren't. Each week during the 16-week semester we'll study one core theme from Micah 4:1-7.


Vine & Fig Tree


Vine & Fig Tree is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
Our mission is to help bring about the fulfillment of Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).

Supporting: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, sobriety
Opposing: Secularism, Humanism, Anti-Family Sex, Hedonism, Autonomy, Totalitarianism, and Mass Death


The name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, and is set forth here. 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." It  could be called "The Original American Dream."


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

  “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:

No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:

"At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, & under the shadow of my own Vine & my own Fig-tree."

This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters.

"And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (2 Kings 18:31).

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

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. 


The Westminster Standards


WCFThe 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:

indent.gif (90 bytes)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."
indent.gif (90 bytes)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:

Agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, with the Assistance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland, as a Part of the Covenanted Uniformity in Religion Betwixt the Churches of Christ in the Kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland.

and Approved Anno 1648, by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to Be a Directory for Catechising Such as Are of Weaker Capacity,

"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:

Chapter 1 — Of the Holy Scripture Chapter 12 — Of Adoption Chapter 23 — Of the Civil Magistrate
Chapter 2 — Of God, and of the Holy Trinity Chapter 13 — Of Sanctification Chapter 24 — Of Marriage and Divorce
Chapter 3 — Of God’s Eternal Decree Chapter 14 — Of Saving Faith Chapter 25 — Of the Church
Chapter 4 — Of Creation Chapter 15 — Of Repentance unto Life Chapter 26 — Of the Communion of Saints
Chapter 5 — Of Providence Chapter 16 — Of Good Works Chapter 27 — Of the Sacraments
Chapter 6 — Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof Chapter 17 — Of the Perseverance of the Saints Chapter 28 — Of Baptism
Chapter 7 — Of God’s Covenant with Man Chapter 18 — Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation Chapter 29 — Of the Lord’s Supper
Chapter 8 — Of Christ the Mediator Chapter 19 — Of the Law of God Chapter 30 — Of Church Censures
Chapter 9 — Of Free Will Chapter 20 — Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience Chapter 31 — Of Synods and Councils
Chapter 10 — Of Effectual Calling Chapter 21 — Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day || work six days Chapter 32 — Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
Chapter 11 — Of Justification Chapter 22 — Of Lawful Oaths and Vows Chapter 33 — Of the Last Judgment

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 Socialism.
  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). You'll see why no pastor wants a Vine & Fig Tree University graduate anywhere near his church.

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

Micah 4:1-7

1 But it shall come to pass,
in the last days
that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established
in the top of the mountains,
and it shall be exalted above the hills;

and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say,
Come, and let us go up to
the mountain of the LORD,
and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths:
for the Law shall go forth of Zion,
and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 And He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

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

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

5 Although all people will walk
every one in the name of his god,
we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
for ever and ever.

6 In that day, saith the LORD,
will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant,
and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.

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

Here are the key concepts in Micah's prophecy:

Micah 4:1-7

Key Concepts

4 for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. 0. Bibliolatry: God speaks, we worship the Word
1 But it shall come to pass, 1: Calvinism/predestination: "It shall come to pass"
in the last days 2: Preterism: "in the last days" of the Old Covenant
that the mountain 3: Creationism: The "mountain" = Eden
the house of the LORD The temple of the LORD: Where is it today?
shall be established This has already happened (Acts 2:36)
in the top of the mountains,
and it shall be exalted above the hills;
U.S.A/U.S.S.R./U.K etc. are all rival mountains
and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say,
4. Optimillennialism: "Peoples will stream; nations will come"
                               This is currently happening.
Come, and let us go up to
the mountain of the LORD,
and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths:
for the Law shall go forth of Zion,
and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
5: Theonomy: "the Law of God"

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

3 And He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off;
6: Theocracy / Christocracy: "He shall judge"
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
7: Pacifism: "swords into plowshares"
  8: Archistlessness: no war = no state || Jesus is the One True Archist
4 But they shall sit every man under
his vine and under his fig tree;
and none shall make them afraid:
"dwell safely" - "none afraid"

Vine & Fig Tree

Family Education Family Business
9: Patriarchy: "His Vine"

10: Education: Family does the teaching of God's Law

11: Character: We teach God's Law because
                       ethics is more important than "genius"

12: Agrarianism: Vine & Fig Tree

13: Property/Communism: Compulsory sharing is theft, but sharing is Christian

 

5 Although all people will walk
every one in the name of his god,
we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
for ever and ever.
11: Character vs. "Mass Formation Psychosis"
standing alone against public lawlessness and unbelief
6 In that day, saith the LORD,
will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant,
and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
14. Socialism/Community: the ones "God has afflicted"
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.
15: Eternity: "forever"
                    The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in
                    "the last days" of the Old Covenant
                    lasts forever.

During the typical 15-week semester, we will always come back to 15 Core Values found in Micah's the “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy.

0. Bibliolatry
1. Calvinism/Predestination
2. Preterism
3. Creationism
4. Optimillennialism
5. Theonomy
6. Theocracy
7. Pacifism
8. Capitalism
9. Patriarchy
10. Education
11. Character
12. Agrarianism
13. Property
14. Community
15. Eternity

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

Micah's Prophecy

Westminster Standards

Vine & Fig Tree University

  The Westminster Shorter Catechism famously begins:

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, every literate human being in North America and the entire English-speaking world could have answered that question from memory.

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

Satan's temptation in Genesis 3:5 is "Ye shall be as gods," determining good and evil for yourselves. History shows that when man obeys God, life is heavenly; when man is his own god, as John Adams put it, “this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in public company — I mean hell.”

John Milton, in his work Paradise Lost, put these words in Satan's mouth:

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

In other words, I choose to be my own god,
even if I have to live in dark poverty, suffering, and chaos,
rather than obediently admit that God is God,
even if that admission leads to enjoying paradise and utopia.

“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us!’” (Luke 19:14)


1. The Sovereignty of God - Calvinism/Predestination

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
"It shall come to pass" Chapter 3 - God’s Eternal Decree How does Micah know what will "come to pass?"
Answer: God told him (see "Bibliolatry" below).
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), because the future has already been created.

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?
There is no such thing as "free will."
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, "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. These things cannot be said about the other animals.

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. Nobody was there to force God to create the world in a way God did not want it to be. God knew what He was doing.

God is Sovereign, but God is also Love. This has tremendous implications for our actions in history.

Calvinism: "Liberty Under God"

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

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

Audio

  Chapter 2 - God, and of the Holy Trinity

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. (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." Calvin would not have let me in his church. Calvin would have put me to death.

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 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."

"Arminians" call me a "Calvinist." They don't want me in their churches.
Conventional "Calvinists" call me other terms, but join the Arminians in ordering me far from their churches.

When God created everything that exists, there was nothing else to say to God, "You shouldn't create everything that way." Nobody put any pressure on God to change anything He was creating, because nobody else had been created yet.

Psalm 135:6
Whatever the LORD pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth

Daniel 4:35
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?”

God is the Director of a cosmic play.
We are both the characters and the actors.
The play was written before the actors were created.
In this play, God is the Hero.
The actors were created to make the play a reality.
The Director enjoys the play.
Eventually, every knee of every actor in the play will say, "That was a great play" (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10; Psalm 72:11; Isaiah 45:22-25). No matter which character God ordained them to play. Everyone appreciates the work of the Director, because all the actors are created in the Image of God the Director.

  Chapter 9 Free Will The Myth of "Free Will"

Jesus Wrote the Bible Using Human Penmen

    That's a place to transition to the second of my propositions. I believe that if you believe in "free will," you do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God.

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. The Bible came into existence through the "violation" of man's "free will."

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

0. Bibliolatry

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Micah 1:1
The Word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Micah 4:4
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

Micah 4:6
“In that day,” says the Lord,

Chapter 1 - the Holy Scripture 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.

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

They say "history books are written by the winners."

The Bible is a real long history book.
Who wrote the Bible?
Some will answer, "The Jews."
But the Jews were not the winners.
The Jews were the losers.
They fought the God who chose them and they lost.
God is the winner, and God wrote the Bible.

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.

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"]).

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?

I don't use the term "free will," because secular philosophers use that term to suggest that if there is a god, such a god doesn't know what's going on, and is constantly being surprised at what the will of man does. So I would never say that I have "free will" and can do something that will catch God off-guard. God knows what I think and what I feel and what I will do because He predestined it all. But I am not a rock, or an insect, or an animal, or a robot. I am a human being created in the Image of God. Amazing.

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 to, 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, we will destroy you. 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 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.


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.

Acts 17
11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, in that they received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

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.

We should search the Scriptures. We should do that every day.

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.

Acts 17:10-12 is one of three texts worth studying:

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, 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.

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 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.

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.

  Chapter 7 God’s Covenant with Man Covenant as Treaty of Unconditional Surrender

How to Become a Christian by Signing God's Treaty of Unconditional Surrender

Justification by Allegiance

   

Extremism

Mark 12
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, he asked Him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"
29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' [Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Joshua 22:5]
31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' [Leviticus 19:18] There is no other commandment greater than these."
32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'He is one, and besides Him there is no other'; [Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 6:4; Isaiah 37:20; 43:10; 44:6; 45:21]
33 and 'to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,'--this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." [1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:16; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:22; Micah 6:6-8]
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask Him any question.

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:

Extreme Middle of the Road Extreme
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Capitalism Apathy Tyranny
Theocracy Lukewarm Atheism
Love Indifference Hate

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.

"It's a sign of mediocrity when you
demonstrate gratitude with moderation."
~ Roberto Benigni

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 wrongyou 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.


2. Preterist Eschatology

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
"in the last days"

And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills

Chapter 32 - the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead

Chapter 33 - the Last Judgment

Eschatology

One of the most important issues in the last 100 years is "futurism" vs. "preterism," or "pessimillennialism" vs. "optimillennialism."

The Westminster Confession relegates eschatology to the last two chapters of the Confession. But we believe 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. 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 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.


3. Creationism

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills
Chapter 4 Creation

Creationism

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.

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?

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?

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?

Evolutionism is not science; it is a religion; it is the religion of archism. 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). Evolutionism is a religion designed to buttress the power of archists. It's actually the theory of archism. Elitism. Racism.)

We discuss "archists" below, or see this:

Jesus is the One True Archist


Jesus is the Savior of the World

1 Timothy 4:10
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

In what sense is Jesus the "Savior" of those who do not believe?

In the sense that "salvation" in the Bible usually refers to conditions in this life, rather than conditions in the next life. God restrains the depravity of all men. The vast majority of the 8 billion human beings on planet earth  are "basically good" in a way they were not before the birth of the Savior of the World. The few we call "sociopaths" are not beyond the help that can be given them by the "City upon a Hill." Sociopaths emulate archists. Christ's ekklesia [see below] needs to preach the gospel to archists and persuade them to repent of archism.


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 before the Fall.

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) 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.
  Chapter 6 the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof

Thesis 13: The Fall of Man

The Depravity of Man

The Fall of Man -- the Desire to "“To Be As Gods” -- “Knowing Good and Evil” 
To build the Kingdom of Man without working (playing God, oppressing others)

Thesis 12: The Fall Of The Angels

"The House of the Lord" - Ecclesiology

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills
Chapter 25 the Church

Chapter 26 the Communion of Saints

Chapter 30 Church Censures

Chapter 31 Synods and Councils

In the Old Testament, "The House of the Lord" was the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was where God dwelled.

But that temple was destroyed in AD 70.

So what is "the House of the Lord" in our day?

Catholics might say "the Vatican." Protestants might say "the local church."

The Apostle Paul says Christians are the new temple of God.

Ephesians 2:19-22
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 6:16
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Edifying People = Building the Kingdom

Most Christians reject a "preterist" eschatology because of what "the church" teaches. But if preterism is true, it revolutionizes ecclesiology.

Why the word "Church" is a Fine Translation of "Ekklesia"

The institutional church is all about misdirection. Like a magician, it focuses your attention on something irrelevant, so you don't look at what's really going on.

There's no evidence that Christians in the Book of Acts ever got together in a public building at 10:30 am on Sunday mornings. But that's what the institutional church wants us to focus on.

The rest of the week, archists are killing millions and stealing trillions.

More on "Church"

  Chapter 21 Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

Chapter 20 Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience

The Day of Rest is the seventh day. "The Lord's Day" is the first day/eighth day, commemorating the resurrection. The two concepts are distinct, but too often confused. The fourth of the ten commandments is to work six says and rest on the seventh. The fourth commandment does not say to work five days, rest on the seventh, and "go to church" on the eighth day. Clergymen emphasize the importance of "going to church" on Sunday, and ignore the importance of work as the main source of prosperity and government. Businesses create government because they foster habits and character which undergird order, which make profit possible.  More on "work."

What is "WORSHIP"?

The basic meaning of the word "worship" is service. To "worship" God is to serve Him by putting every area of one's life under His Law. As The New Bible Dictionary puts it, "[T]he essential concept in both the Old and New Testaments is 'service.'" John Murray writes,

[Worship in the] generic sense is the devotion we owe to God in the whole of life. God is sovereign, He is Lord, having sovereignty over us and propriety in us, and therefore in all that we do we owe subjection to him, devotion to His revealed will, obedience to His commandments. There is no area of life where the injunction does not apply (I Cor. 10:31). In view of the lordship of Christ as Mediator all of life comes under His dominion (Col. 3:23,24).

Worship in the generic sense is thus service to God in every area of life; total slavery to Him Who is Lord of all.

In the Old Testament there was also a more specific usage for "worship," namely, the observance of the ceremonial rituals given to a Spiritually juvenile pre-Pentecost people. These ritual observances typified worship in every area of life. Animal sacrifice, the burning of incense, attendance at temple, and other rigors were imposed on the slave-like people of Egyptized Israel (Galatians 3:24 - 4:9), and were but shadows of the worship of the New Covenant.

Jesus spoke of the New Covenant form of worship in John 4. The woman at the well, having been confronted with the ethical demands of the Lord Jesus (regarding her adulterous life), attempts a "doctrinal" diversion: she asks Jesus about "worship." Putting words in Jesus' mouth, she claims that worship occurs in a certain place (Jerusalem) (John 4:20). Jesus denies it:

Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Here is the "Mountain" of Micah 4, the New Zion which covers the entire globe (Daniel 2:35).

In the common, specific sense, "worship" means attending to the ceremonial requirements of the Old Covenant, going to a certain place (cf. Acts 8:27). But these acts only symbolized true "worship," and were necessary to prod a Spiritless people to that Christian worship which is obedience to God in every area of life.

Thus, the phrase "worship service" is quite redundant! Can you find one occurrence in the New Testament of "worship" in the ceremonial/specific sense being required of Christians? Or are the occurrences of "worship" speaking of obedience in every area of life? Do any of the Greek words used for "worship" occur in any sense requiring Christians to go to Jerusalem, or a specific "mountain" to "worship" God? Would we expect centralized ceremonial "worship" to be required in light of Micah's prophecy? (If you "attend church," have you been trained to search the Scriptures to find the answers to such questions as these [Acts 17:11], or do you need to ask your "pastor"?)

The New Testament is clear: the "worship" required of believers does not consist in ceremonial ritual. Colossians 2:18 says,

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship . . . .

The Greek word translated "worship" is "religion" in James 1, where we are told,

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. {27} Pure and undefiled religion [worship] before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:26-27; cf. Matthew 25:36

Of course, "worship" is not limited to visiting orphans and widows, but involves obedience outside the temple, outside the synagogue, outside the cathedral, in every area of life.

  Chapter 27 the Sacraments

Chapter 28 Baptism

Chapter 29 the Lord’s Supper

Preterism and Sacraments

I don't believe in "sacraments." These Old Testament rituals were dug up and mimicked by what we call "The Roman Catholic Church." Most Protestant churches are only partially-reformed Roman churches.

What we call "the Last Supper" was Jesus observing Passover with His disciples. Jesus destroyed the temple in Jerusalem at His coming in AD 70 (see "Preterism" above).  Paul told Christians (many of whom were converts from Judaism) to continue observing Passover until Jesus comes. This made sense at the time, as Passover was closely connected with the temple.

1 Corinthians 5
6 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore  purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast,  not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Luke 22
13 And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14 And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

1 Corinthians 10
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Matthew 16
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

First-century Christians continued to observe Passover until Christ came in the power of His Kingdom, in the lifetime of those who witnessed His First Advent, to take vengeance against those Israelites who rejected Him as their Passover Lamb. Jesus the Death Angel did not pass over Israel in AD 70. The old Israel was destroyed as the new Egypt:

Revelation 11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Jesus came in the power of a new Kingdom. The old kingdom -- the new Egypt -- was destroyed so that the New Israel -- God's Kingdom -- could be built.

"Sacraments" were a part of the Old Covenant, but not the New. John the Baptist was an Old Testament prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah and the New Covenant. Paul said he never baptized anyone (1 Corinthians 1:13-17). The Old Covenant and its sacraments were passing away (Hebrews 8:13).

Most Christians see the practice of their faith occurring for one hour in a "church" building on Sunday morning. But the most important aspects of our faith should be occurring the other six days of the week.


4. Optimillennialism: Global Hospitality and Conversion

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
And the peoples will stream to it.
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob
The Westminster Catechisms contain more on this them than the Confession: 

Day 150: The Lord's Prayer, part 3 - "Thy Kingdom Come"

Day 151: The Lord's Prayer, part 4 - "Thy Will Be Done"

But there isn't a separate section in the Westminster Standards on "Post-Millennialism," or as we call it, "Optimillennialism."

We have often heard that all religions are equal; we're all headed up to the top of the same mountain, just climbing along different paths. But in the last few decades, it has become obvious that one religion is not like the others (and one religion is superior to the others). The religion of Jihadism has been in the news. 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 Jihadist suicide bombers themselves. They don't believe in converting others to their religion by persuasion/reason, but by violence, forcing others to submit to the terrorists' religion/rule.

The World must be Christianized. | "All nations, all peoples" | By persuasion/regeneration

The whole planet is going to be Christianized.

As we will see, Micah says this means beating "swords into plowshares."

That requires a willingness to be pacifists and therefore anarchists

Postmillennialism or Optimillennialism requires pacifism and anarchism.

It requires an end to "nationalism."

"Salvation" is not only about an individual going to heaven after dying.

That's not what God's play is about.

It's about billions of human beings worshiping God on the other six days of the week.

  • 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.

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.

Audio

  Chapter 8 Christ the Mediator

Chapter 10 Effectual Calling

Chapter 11 Justification

Chapter 12 Adoption

Chapter 13 Sanctification

Chapter 14 Saving Faith

Chapter 15 Repentance unto Life

Chapter 16 Good Works

Chapter 17 the Perseverance of the Saints

Chapter 18 the Assurance of Grace and Salvation

The "Ordo Salutis" in the Westminster Standards

Much of the Westminster Confession is taken up with a very narrow examination of "salvation" or "justification." It is generally related to what happens to you after you die.

At Vine & Fig Tree University we take a "Theonomic" approach to "justification."

Justification by Allegiance

Notice that chapter 8, "Of Christ the Mediator," is not complemented with a chapter on "Christ the King." The concept is in the Westminster Standards, but buried.


5. Theonomy

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Chapter 19 the Law of God 

Continued below

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 laws in the Old Testament,
and they do not believe they are obligated to obey God's commands during the work-week, but only on Sunday mornings 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.
There are two kinds of "libertarians." One kind says
"My Lord tells me not to aggress against the liberties of others."
The other kind says
"Nobody can tell me what to do!"

There is no morality without authority. Humanistic authority produces a humanistic morality.

When Americans learned the Bible in public schools (and public schools were Bible schools), America was the most prosperous, most admired nation on earth. This is Biblical authority and morality.

Now the United States is the world's leading exporter of
weapons to dictators and
pornography to their slaves.
This is humanistic authority and morality.

• 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

Audio

Micah says the law of God must be taught, and people will stream to learn God's Law. Therefore Theonomy leads to Education (#10 below).

Theonomic education leads to Godly character (#11).

When we obey God's Law, God Governs us

Theocracy = God Governs

Theonomy leads to Theocracy

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 (Philippians 2:10; Romans 14:11).

Theonomy vs. Autonomy
Biblical Law vs. "Natural Law"

Chapter 19 of the Westminster Confession seems to endorse "Theonomy," but it actually repudiates it, and is fundamentally flawed. R.J. Rushdoony said the Confession was guilty of "nonsense" at this point. Even "blasphemy."

Section 4 of chapter 19 says:

4. To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require.

This statement is a serious error. This is based on Greco-Roman categories, not the categories of Hebrew Law, or Biblical Law. We must consider four key terms:

  • body politic
  • judicial laws
  • expired
  • general equity

Israel was not a "body politic" in the conventional sense of "politics." Our word "politics" comes from the Greek word polis, which can be translated "city," "city-state," or even "empire." Babylon was a city and an empire. Rome was a city and an empire. Augustine wrote a book called

This stands in contrast to "The City of Man." 

Israel was not a kingdom of politicians, but a "kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6). Israel did not become a "political" body until 1 Samuel 8, when Israel rejected God as her King (as the text explicitly reveals), choosing to emulate the pagan nations around her. It was not God's intention that Israel "mature" from a tribe-based kingdom of priests to a polis-based kingdom of politicians. The Patriarch Abraham is our model, and it was Moses' goal that Israel become Abrahamic patriarchs again (Numbers 11:29).

The word "economics" comes from two Greek words meaning "law of the home." For Abraham, all law was economic law, no law was political law.

"Political Philosophy" is the only college course you need to take, and the one no university offers.

Abraham's priest was Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18), just as our priest is Christ (Hebrews 7). Moses gave Israel "Levitical law." When Israel disobeyed God's "economic" law, there were laws that brought cleansing, or atonement, for violations of the "economic law." The Levitical priesthood was temporary; a kind of social "training wheels." Today the Levitical laws can only be obeyed by faith in Christ, "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29).

The "economic law" reflects the unchanging moral character of God.

We could call this social system

PATRIAGORA:
Patria
| Family + Market | Agora

The Bible says Abraham obeyed My Voice, and kept My Charge, My Commandments, My Statutes, and My Torah. (Genesis 26:4-5) In this entire body of laws, none could be called "judicial laws" or "civil laws." Moses gave laws for patriarchs (heads of families) not politicians.

None of God's Law in "the Scriptures" has "expired" as the Westminster Confession erroneously claims. We still have a High Priest and a Temple to attend to. We have a King who governs us. If we don't entertain guests on the roof of our house, we don't need to build a rail around the roof, but if we do have people up there, we need to follow Deuteronomy 22:8, which some today would call a "judicial law." In generations past, when Americans understood the Bible better than we do today, American juries awarded verdicts in tort cases where safety rails were not in place, based on Deuteronomy 22:8.

To say that these "expired" laws only bind governments if the government sees some kind of "general equity" is to open the door to totalitarianism. This "general equity" theory is based on Roman law, not Biblical Law. See this:

This has very important implications. This is not just about "law." This line of argument is calling for a complete re-organization of human society. "Patriarchy" is, as Gary North describes it, a "Bottom-Up Theocracy."

The Duty of Man

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.
(Westminster Larger Catechism)

We live in a culture that does not want to be reminded of its duties. It prefers to talk about its "rights." I don't believe in "human rights."  I don't believe in "Justification by mere belief." I believe in Justification by Allegiance.

Obedience (ethics) is more important than intelligence.

The word "Theocracy" comes from two Greek words meaning "God Governs." Our duty is to be governed by God. "We must obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29). We've been trained in our secular schools to fear "Theocracy." But we're not tempted to accept an Islamic Theocracy, where Allah is our national god. We've been trained to reject a Christian Theocracy. We accept a Secular Humanist theocracy, where every man is his own god (Genesis 3:5).

As Augustine wrote, our job as Christians is to convert the entire planet from the City of Man -- autonomy -- into "The City of God" -- Theonomy -- a Christocracy.


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:

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.


6. Theocracy / Christocracy

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus text: "He shall judge"

He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in
His paths:
And He will judge between many peoples
And rebuke mighty, distant nations.

The Law (con't) "Theonomy" = "Theocracy"

He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in
His paths:

3
And
He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off;

The Law-Giver is our Judge and King (Isaiah 33:22). If you don't believe in Theonomy, then you don't believe Jesus is a Christ-King. He's just a homeless story-teller. He has nothing to say to Pharaoh, Caesar, Hitler, Stalin, Trump, or Biden. Jesus cannot command them to repent if there is no Theonomy.

Micah is prophesying a global Theocracy.

The word "Theocracy" comes from two Greek words meaning "God Governs."

God "governs" us when we obey His commandments.

America was originally a Theocracy.

James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution," is reported to have said,

We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves ... according to the Ten Commandments of God.

America was originally a Christocracy.

Benjamin Rush signed the Declaration of Independence and served in the Presidential administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison -- each of whom came from a different political party. And of what party was Rush?

I have been alternately called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am now neither. I am a Christocrat. I believe all power . . . will always fail of producing order and happiness in the hands of man. He alone Who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him. [An Eulogium Upon Benjamin Rush, M.D. - Google Books ]

Only our Redeemer should be our Ruler.

America was originally a Trinitarian Christocracy.

On March 6, 1799, President John Adams proclaimed a national day of prayer in which Americans would

  • call to mind our numerous offenses against the Most High God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence,
  • implore His pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions,
  • and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to His righteous requisitions in time to come;

Everyone lives in a theocracy. Either the God of the Bible governs us, or some other god, or everyone gets to be his own god.

Daniel 2 is a prophecy of global Christocracy. In the days of the Roman Empire, Daniel predicted, Christ would be born. He would crush the ancient Demonic Imperial Paradigm and begin spreading His own Kingdom over the earth. Historians have documented the on-going fulfillment of this prophecy, which continues today (though not without local and temporary ups-and-downs):

The entire world of human action can be governed by Jesus the Christ without Pharaohs, Caesars, Führers, and Political Technocrats. This government is called "Providence." In the centuries after the fall of Rome, merchants set commercial standards and resolved disputes without politicians. This was the world of the Lex Mercatoria. Lex Mercatoria is a legal phrase which has come to signify the power of a stateless society to prevent most disputes and in a peaceful, harmonious and orderly way resolve those disputes that arise -- without dependence upon tax-funded political institutions such as monarch, crown, parliament or congress.

The prophet Micah speaks of the universal reign of God's Law over the earth. John Adams invited us to think about a world where human law-makers are put out of business, and God's Theonomy replaces man's law-books and creates God's Theocracy. R. J. Rushdoony wrote the following:

This is what John Adams, later second President of the U.S., wrote in his diary on February 22, 1756:

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book,
and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited!
Every member would be obliged in conscience,
     to temperance, frugality, and industry,
     to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men;
     and to piety, love and reverence towards Almighty God.
What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be.

Like others of his day, Adams was a theonomist!

In principle, Adams is advocating "Theocracy." Adams is saying we should be governed by God and His Law Book, the Bible.

Preterism claims that Jesus became the Christ in the past, and now IS the Christ.

But to say "Jesus is the Christ" is to say that Jesus alone is the Christ.

The "kings of the gentiles" (Mark 10:42-45) bitterly resent this claim. They say that John Adams, in principle, is advocating "anarchy."

No, he wasn't advocating "anarchy" directly. Adams' purpose was just to praise the Bible.

But nobody in government today would ever say what Adams said: We should take the Bible for our only law book.

That's too "radical." It's "homophobic." Or something. Only a "domestic terrorist" would say something like this.

Taking Jesus as our Messiah and the Bible as our only lawbook puts "the kings of the gentiles" out of business.

Jesus can rule the nations because the Word of God is the Sword of the Lord, and is more powerful than the military sword of man:

Matthew 26:52
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Micah 4:3
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

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.

A global Christocracy is possible because God uses His Sword-Word to change hearts and bring world peace through global obedience.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:14-17)

This is why we are commanded to read, study, and meditate on God's Word daily. My case for the “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview will only be persuasive if you read the verses of Scripture and let them change your mind.

  Chapter 22 Lawful Oaths and Vows I studied law and passed the California Bar Exam. I was completely qualified to become an attorney, but the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that Christians -- whose allegiance to God trumps their allegiance to the government -- cannot be permitted to take the oath required of all attorneys. Details.

An oath is an act of religious worship, not a secular formality.

Vows are an important tool in developing character according to God's Law. Understanding Vows

  Chapter 21 Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

The Fourth Commandment in American History

The Day of Rest is the seventh day. "The Lord's Day" is the first day/eighth day, commemorating the resurrection. The two concepts are distinct, but too often confused. The fourth of the ten commandments is to work six says and rest on the seventh. The fourth commandment does not say to work five days, rest on the seventh, and "go to church" on the eighth day. Clergymen emphasize the importance of "going to church" on Sunday, emphasizing "worship" as a series of rituals in "church," and ignore the importance of worship as service/work in every area of life Monday-through-Saturday, as the main source of prosperity and government. Businesses create government because they foster habits and character which undergird order, which make profit possible.

The Business Covenant

Christ governs our lives not just on Sunday morning, but all during the week, including our business lives. The economy is where Education, Theonomy, Character, and business as sacred calling and worship all intersect.

   

Work, not Theft || Service, not "Public Service"

A Jewish scholar named Franz Oppenheimer divided people into two groups.

The first group he called "Economic Man." "Economic Man" engages in work, produces things of value (or provides valuable services) and gets paid, then trades that money for things other people produce.

The second group he called "Political Man." These people do not produce, they confiscate.

Because Christians are "pacifists," they believe in overcoming evil with good. In Romans 12, we respond to evil with food or drink, and in Romans 13 we respond to evil with gifts of money, hoping in these cases that God will grant repentance to those who do evil to us.

Taxation is extortion, a form of theft. There isn't a single verse in the Bible to which any human being alive today can point to and say, "This verse assures me that if I declare myself to be the king, I can threaten you with violence if you do not give me the money I demand, and God will not hold me guilty of sin."

If someone sins against you, and you do everything Jesus says to do in order to help that person repent and right his wrongs, Jesus says to "excommunicate" him (our modern terminology, not His), and treat him like someone who cannot possibly be a genuine Christian: "a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17).

If there is no theft, there is no "State." "Civil Governments" do not exist without "taxation," which is theft. "Civil government" is distinguished from businesses and charities by its claim to have a right to steal.

“Public Sector” “Private Sector”
“Government” Sector Non-“Government” Sector
Monopoly Sector Competitive Sector
Coercive Sector Persuasive Sector
Violent Sector Peaceful Sector
Parasite Sector Productive Sector
"Political Man" "Economic Man"
We are to "serve" (worship) God, and we are to serve others (Mark 10:42-45). We serve others in businesses and charities. We do not serve others by ruling over them in "governments."

Private Service Creates Public Order

"Public Service" Creates Disorder

Business is government. Employers should disciple employees (Matthew 28:18-20). Use God's Sword-Word.

  Let's consider next 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."

7. Peace / Non-Violence / Pacifism

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Then they will hammer their
swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.
I believe that God says "Thou shalt not kill." "Everybody knows" that Jesus commanded His disciples to be "pacifists," but most churches say we can't take that to an "extreme."  Most churches defend some killing. If someone personally insults you, you might be a "pacifist." It's OK to be "super spiritual" in your "private" life. But if some foreigner publicly insults your secular government, you'll "support the troops" as they drop bombs and kill children. "Spiritual" in the private sector, "responsible" and "practical" and "realistic" in the public sector.

During the 20th century, hundreds of millions of human beings were murdered by atheists, many of whom attended churches regularly. During my lifetime, "Christians" who worked for "my" government killed, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians around the world. I think the United States is the enemy of God and humanity. I guess other Christians think it's OK to inflict mass suffering and terror in order to keep gas prices down. "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" "I Pledge Allegiance...."

The Bible says we should beat our "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4). Most churches disagree. They cheer their members when they don the uniform of a soldier for a "New World Order."

Jesus commands us to

  1. Love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)
  2. Forgive enemies (Matthew 6:14-15)
  3. Bless enemies (Romans 12:14)
  4. Pray for enemies (Luke 6:27-28)
  5. Give gifts to enemies (Romans 12:20; Matthew 5:42; Luke 6:30)
  6. Resist not evil (Matthew 5:39)
  7. Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)
  8. These commands are not just for "personal relationships." They apply to enemy governments as well.
    • Pay your taxes; don't take up arms against the Red Coats ("Render unto Caesar," Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26).
    • When the enemy government enslaves you for one mile, Go a second mile (Matthew 5:41). If you take this verse seriously, it means "national defense" is a sin. In short, to follow "in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21), you have a moral obligation to "be subject" (Romans 13) to sinful acts which the defendant/perpetrators/invaders have a moral obligation to repent of (cease and desist).
  9. Christians should believe that it is always sinful to kill a human being ("Thou shalt not kill." Mark 10:19, quoting Exodus 20:13). (Link goes to an exposition of the 6th Commandment by the Westminster Larger Catechism, which in many ways is a pacifist manifesto.) Better to be killed than to kill.
  10. Patrick Henry famously said, "Give me Liberty or give me Death." That's stupid and unBiblical. The Bible says slaves are to serve their masters the way they should serve Christ, not commit suicide so that they don't have to serve anyone. But then, Patrick Henry didn't really mean "give ME death." He meant "Give Death to anyone who threatens to take my Liberty." His famous speech is called "A Call to Arms." It was delivered in a church.
  11. During the "Cold War" against Communism, we often heard the slogan, "Better dead than Red." This is a re-branding of Patrick Henry. The Christian should say, "Better Red than dead." Or, "Better to live under the domination of Reds than to turn the Reds into Dead Reds."
  12. Christians are commanded to leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:14-21)
  13. If you preached a sermon in defense of pacifism, and told members of your congregation not to enlist in the armed services, you would lose most of your members. That's the sermon I would preach.
  14. In short, even if I get snubbed as a "pacifist" (a demeaning epithet, an insult), I will take Jesus seriously and follow Him. [more in-depth: The Case for Pacifism]
  15. No human being on planet earth in 2023 has a right to kill another person. Ever. Under any circumstances.

Pacifism

I was born in the year of "Sputnik," the Russian satellite that inaugurated "the Space Race" which was a part of "the Cold War." I wasn't yet in high school when the Vietnam War raged, and when the nation was divided by anti-war protesters. I was raised to believe that socialism was evil and capitalism was good. I believed that the anti-war protesters were a bunch of anti-American commies. (They may well have been incited by Communists and used by Communists as tools or pawns in Moscow's attempt to bring down the American/capitalist system. But they were on the right side of an immoral war.*)
During my lifetime, "my" government has killed, crippled, or made homeless TENS OF MILLIONS of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians. The United States drops a bomb somewhere in the world every 12 minutes, on average. Barack Obama, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace, maintained U.S. military bases in nearly 100 nations around the world.
It was only when I became a fundamentalist Bible-believing Christian that I began to question all this.

The message of this sermon is that a person is not a real Christian if that person is not a pacifist. You may not agree with the conclusion, but following the argument will stimulate thought. You will be glad you gave the argument some attention.

Most people would agree that a person who says we should hammer our "swords into plowshares" and "never again train for war" (Micah 4:3) is a "pacifist." Is this a "fringe" belief or is it central to the Christian faith?

Consider James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Wounded Iraqi Child - Click Photo for Video
Victim of U.S. Bombing
"It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
Luke 17:2
.

If it's wrong to fail to "visit" or "watch over" widows, it is certainly wrong to create widows by killing their husbands.

The United States is the greatest Widow-Maker on earth. This makes the United States the enemy of pure religion.

But I had been raised to believe that all good Christians were to "support the troops."

In the last section of Matthew 25, Jesus says the way you treat widows and orphans and the sick and homeless and illegal aliens and those in prison is a measure of how Christian you are. People who traumatize widows and orphans and cause them to cry themselves to sleep at night are probably "goats," not "sheep."

Take an American child who has not yet entered government-run schooling and show the American child a photo of a child in Yemen or Iraq who has had her arms blown off by a U.S. bomb. That American child will know that something is wrong. Show that same photo to that same child after the child has graduated from Harvard University and has a prestigious job in the U.S. State Department. Watch the five-dollar words start flying: "Collateral Damage." "Realpolitik." "U.S. Partners and Allies." "National Security Interests."

Pacifism and Enemies

Some might say that we are not commanded to take care of women and children if their husbands and fathers are our "enemies." That is, if those poor men have been conscripted at gunpoint by a tyrannical dictatorship and forced to fight against "U.S. armed forces" invading their homeland. After all, they are our "enemies." "Kill the commies." "Support our troops."

But Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,”
Matthew 5:43-44

Jesus sacrificed Himself to save His enemies.

Christ died for the ungodly
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
Romans 5:6,8,10

The heartfelt desire of every true Christian is the
Regeneration,
Repentance,
Restitution,
Reconciliation, and
Redemption
of "the enemy."
Not the destruction of the enemy.
In short: "Love your enemy." (Matthew 5:43)
"Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13).
You cannot love your enemy after you kill him.

It is better to be killed than to kill. Jesus chose to be killed rather than to kill.
1 Peter 2:21 commands us to follow "in His steps" at precisely the point where physical violence is unrighteously threatened against us. Whether by a home invader or a nation invader.

All of this is obvious to a child, but we adults don't buy this nonsense.

"Pacifism" Defined by Christ

The word "pacifism" comes from the Latin word for "peace." It does not come from the English word "passive." Supporters of the Vine & Fig Tree worldview are active in beating swords into plowshares.

The dictionaries usually give two definitions for "pacifist." First, an opponent of war. Second, an opponent of self-defense. That second definition is inaccurate. I know of no pacifist who would say that if you have a shield and someone comes after you with a sword, you cannot defend yourself against aggression with your shield.

The real issue is lethal "self-defense." If your sword-bearing attacker gets tired of whacking his sword against your shield, and lies down to take a nap, the pacifist would say you should defend yourself against further attacks by running away, not by cracking your attacker's skull open with your shield.

Our definition of "pacifist" is "one who keeps the commandments of Christ."

Here's what "swords into plowshares" pacifism means:

Jesus said ("Thou shalt not kill." Mark 10:19, quoting Exodus 20:13).  John Calvin recognized that

"The sum of this Commandment is, that we should not unjustly do violence to any one. Under the word 'kill' is included by synecdoche all violence, smiting, and aggression."[1]

Jesus also said "Thou shalt not steal," (Matthew 19:18; Exodus 20:13-16; Deuteronomy 5:17-20), meaning, Thou shalt not confiscate someone else's property.

So can we all agree that basic Christian morality includes this:

  • "Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff"

But Jesus goes further.
He says we are not to hurt our enemy. Even if our enemy hurts us first.
We are not allowed to confiscate the stuff belonging to our enemy, even if he's our enemy because he did not join us in voting for the winning candidate. So how does the world get to the “Vine & Fig Tree” world? According to the Bible, just follow basic Christian morality:

  • "Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff"

Then if someone else decides to hurt you or take your stuff.

  1. Exhort your enemy to repent (Matthew 18:15-17)
  2. And if this fails to bring repentance, restitution, and reconciliation with your enemy,
    • Leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19-21; quoting Deuteronomy 32:35)

That means that if someone hurts you or takes your stuff, and you seek reconciliation, but you're rebuffed, then you cannot hire a Mafia "hit-man" to take vengeance against your unrepentant enemy.

Most Christians will agree with that.

But here's the kicker:

If someone hurts you or takes your stuff, and you seek reconciliation, but you're rebuffed, then you cannot "vote" for a "representative" to tax your neighbor and build a "military-industrial complex" to take vengeance against your unrepentant enemy. You will vote such politicians out of office. If you vote all non-pacifists out of office, you will no longer have a "government."

That claim causes many people to do a double-take. Your Sunday School teacher never put it quite like that.

All pacifists are anarchists.

Anarcho-pacifism

How to Love Your Enemy

Myth:

  • OT = violence, slavery
  • Jesus = irrelevant utopian hippie pacifist; not "practical" or "realistic."

Fact:

  • Bible = “Vine & Fig Tree”  
    utopia

Peace through Peace, not through "Strength." | "Swords into Plowshares"

  • Most universities are extensions of the Military-Industrial Complex.
  • Jesus is our Savior, not the Pentagon
  • Vengeance belongs to God
  • "Archism" is sinful.
  • No Bible College in America will admit that Jesus commands us to be pacifists, we should not "support the troops," and we should abolish "the Department of Defense."

Pacifism leads to Anarcho-Theocracy

Peace is possible
Peace is inevitable

The U.S. is the world's superpower. Two hundred million Christians in America could bring about world peace in 2023. Details.

Peace is the opposite of Violence. The State is a monopoly of violence. Therefore pacifism produces anarchism or archistlessness.

Audio

   

Vengeance

Nobody can read the Bible and avoid the conclusion that the institution we call "the State" is institutionalized vengeance.

If someone does something you don't like, you are prohibited from taking vengeance, from confiscating his property, or depriving him of his life.

You are also prohibited from hiring a "contract killer" to kill him. Wouldn't you agree? You personally didn't do the killing -- the "hit-man" you hired actually did the killing -- but you share in the guilt.

You are also prohibited from "voting" for someone to be your "representative" and kill people you don't like.

Every political science professor in every university on planet earth will agree that the essential nature of "the State" is violence. It claims a "monopoly on violence." Wikipedia || Encyclopedia Britannica || Oxford


So
   • if you oppose violence,
   • if you oppose theft, and
   • if you oppose vengeance,
every political science professor in every university on planet earth, and every seminary professor, and every pastor of every entity calling itself a "church" is going to say you are an "anarchist."


8. A Stateless Economy: “Anarchism

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus text: "swords into plowshares, never again train for war"

Micah 4:3

And He will judge between many peoples
And rebuke mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their
swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.

Chapter 23 the Civil Magistrate So what is the result of my extreme Biblicism?

I call it the “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview. I created a non-profit organization to promote this worldview.

www.VineandFigTree.org

People tell me that my extremism is "unrealistic," "impractical," and "utopian." Again, the quotation from John Adams:

In his diary on February 22, 1756, John Adams, later second President of the United States, wrote this:

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience,
     • to temperance, frugality, and industry,
     • to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and
     • to piety, love and reverence towards Almighty God.
What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be.

I believe the only law book we need is the Bible. I'll say more about this in just a minute. The Bible is a textbook for every subject, not just religion. In our day, that's one of the most offensive things anyone can say. If you said this from the pulpit, half the church would leave, and the other half would leave as soon the first half explained to them what you meant.

I know my way around a law library. I've spent hundreds of hours in law libraries studying the law. I passed the California Bar Exam, but was denied a license to practice law because America -- once a Christian nation -- is now a secular nation, and Christians cannot become attorneys, according to the Supreme Court of the United States, because their allegiance to God's Law Book trumps their allegiance to Washington D.C.'s law books. Details.

Not everyone is going to take the Bible as their only law book, and behave like Jesus commands all men to behave. What should we do about these people? Jesus gave us a step-by-step blueprint to follow in Matthew 18. Here's how that could work out. The Bible never commanded human beings to form "governments" to deal with criminals by taking vengeance against them. In fact, it is a sin to create a government. Creating a government is a rejection of God (1 Samuel 8). The cost to society of a government is greater than the cost to society of criminals under anarcho-pacifism. We'll return to this below.

Archistlessness

Beating "swords into plowshares" implies a theory of government, as well as a theory of eschatology.

  • Political Philosophy: What kind of "government" has no "defense department?" Isn't that the whole purpose for forming a "government?"
  • Eschatology: When will governments go out of business? Which nation will be the first nation to abolish their armies?
    • Can a purportedly Christian nation like the U.S. wait for evil nations like North Korea and Iran to be the first to do the right (Godly) thing and beat their swords into plowshares, and then -- only after the bad guys obey God -- the good guys can obey God? Are the good guys supposed to lead, or follow?

The word "anarchist" comes from two Greek words meaning "not an archist."
Q.: What is an archist?
A.: A bad person. A person who lacks Godly character. Seeks to be god, impose vengeance, regulation by threats of violence.

Anarcho-Preterism

Let's examine the word "anarchism," which is even more offensive to most Christians than "preterism."

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).

And as we will see below, 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.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

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).

All Pacifists are Anarchists

If you oppose violence, you cannot be an "archist."

A logically consistent Christian pacifist is also an anarchist, for two reasons:
     • First, a pacifist is against violence, and "the State" is institutionalized, systematic violence;
     • Second, Jesus prohibits His followers from being "archists"
An "archist" is one who believes he has a right to impose his own will on others by force or threats of violence. Chiefly, the "archist" imposes his will on others through the machinery of "the State," whose tactics include
   • fines,
   • prisons,
   • torture,
   • executions,
   • armed invasions, and
   • terrorism.
The Christian, on the contrary, believes it is always sinful to impose your own will on others by initiating force or threatening violence. (We are to be servants, not "archists." Mark 10:42-45.) I know, that sounds "weird." "Anarchism?" Aren't "anarchists" bad people?

As I read the Bible,  the bad guys are the "archists." Chapter after chapter in the Bible says "archists" are false gods.

Only Jesus is a legitimate Archist.

People who don't see earthly "archists" as bad guys are themselves guilty of idolatry.

The Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto." From cover to cover, the Bible condemns archists -- violent people, like Cain, Lamech, violent men that provoked the flood in Noah's day, Nimrod, and so on. These evil, violent people are the ones who created "civil governments."

The Origin of "the State" ("Civil Government") - Political Philosophy 101 According to the Bible

Christians who strongly oppose "anarchism" (I used to be one of them) believe the Bible prescribes (not just describes) civil governments. They believe God's Law contains laws for "governments."

The Myth of "The Civil Law"

Every political science professor in every university on planet earth will agree that the essential nature of "the State" is violence. It claims a "monopoly on violence." Wikipedia || Encyclopedia Britannica || Oxford || More: The State as Monopoly of Violence

Using the Greek word from which we derived the English word "anarchist," Jesus plainly says His followers are not to be "archists." Mark 10:42-45. We are to be servants, not "archists." "Not" + "archist" = "anarchist"

Only Jesus is a legitimate Archist.

People who don't see earthly "archists" as bad guys are themselves guilty of idolatry.

God says "Thou shalt not steal."
You would never go up to your next-door neighbor, put a gun to his head, and say "give me some of your money."
But you vote for people who promise to do this on your behalf, and give the money to you or people you approve of.

There is no ethical difference between "taxes" and "extortion."

Here's an example of me butting-in on someone's blog and promoting my views: Godwords.

"What about Romans 13?" I'm always asked this question when I say I'm an "anarcho-pacifist."

Romans 12 and 13 are a unit on not resisting evil. "Bless those who persecute you" (Romans 12:14) does not mean that persecutors have God's ethical approval. They need to repent. We are not to resist evil (Romans 12:19), but to overcome evil with good gifts (Romans 12:21), even (turn the page) the most evil entity on the planet: The State (Romans 13:1ff). Paul refers to the Empire as "the Powers." Everywhere that Greek word is used in the New Testament, it means "demonic." Even the Romans believed that demons (daimones, daimoneV) guided the Empire.

The message of Romans 13 is "be subject to evil." The message of Romans 13 is not "evil is good."

Yes, "all things work together for good" (Romans 13:4; 8:28), even evil things, like "principalities and powers" (Romans 8:38) and their sword (Romans 8:35).

But evil people have a moral obligation to repent of things that pacifists have a moral obligation to submit to.

www.Romans13.com


9. Patriarchy

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus text: "His Vine"

And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,]

Chapter 24 Marriage and Divorce

 

This verse assumes "family values" taught elsewhere in the Bible in more detail.

The monogamous heterosexual family is the root of civilization. "Patriarchy" is a hated word. It doesn't mean what you think it means.

  • Christian morality begins at home.
  • Vine & Fig Tree is a decentralized family-centered society
  • Government: Patriarchal or Political?
    • Jesus is our Priest and King
    • All Christians are priests and kings
    • No humans are priests or kings.
  • Imagine a society made up entirely of loving families and no priests and no politicians.

Pierre Joseph Proudhon: Patriarchy and Agrarian Jurisprudence

The modern concept of "separation of church and state" -- which really means the "separation of God and the Public Square" -- denies the concept of Biblical Theocracy. This website not only denies "the separation of church and state," but promotes "the abolition of church and state."

The Bible uses “Vine & Fig Tree” imagery to describe a time when we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells peacefully under his own “Vine & Fig Tree.” The New Testament describes Christians as "sons of Abraham" the Patriarch. Abraham and Sarah were not under the rule of any State or Empire. The desire to have a creaturely king is a rejection of God the Creator as King (1 Samuel 8; Romans 1:25). The real meaning of Easter is that Jesus is now -- in 2022 -- the only legitimate King. Every king on planet earth should immediately abdicate and get a real job in "the Private Sector." This is one reason why every government in the last 2000 years has eventually banned the Bible. Even the United States, where The Supreme Court has ruled that public school teachers cannot tell students that Jesus the King says "Thou shalt not steal" (Matthew 19:18; Exodus 20:13-16; Deuteronomy 5:17-20). Creaturely kings are "false gods" in the Bible, and they correctly view the Bible as a threat to their idolatrous reign: to them, The Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto." According to the Bible, creaturely government is "The Most Dangerous Idolatry." It will take me a while to convince you that the Real Meaning of Easter is “Vine & Fig Tree.” I'll have to persuade you to read a lot of Bible verses through new eyes

Abraham and Sarah did not "go to church." Their priest was Melchizedek, as in ours.

Family = "undemocratic" says progressives

When families are functional, the State is unnecessary;
Archism is socially unapproved

John Adams: importance of mothers

Audio

The Family is God's central unit of society. The family is commanded to teach God's Law. Therefore next installment: Education


10: Education

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Micah 4:2

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Focus text:

That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."

  Supplemental texts:

Deuteronomy 4:9f.; 6:7f., 20f.; 11:18-21, etc.
Family teaches the Law
http://bit.ly/teach-your-children
Education must be Theonomic/Theocratic: the central educational command is to teach God's Law

Education is something all of us must do.

  • Parents must educate children
  • Employers must educate employees
  • "The Great Commission" -- make students of all humanity -- makes us all educators under Christ the Superintendent.
    • Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
      19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
      20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
    • Teaching Christ's commands.

Law-teaching all the nations through hospitality and open borders.

Different from evangelism - Converting the existing generation vs. teaching the next generation

"Education" includes "character" by way of "apologetics" and service.

Lifelong learners / lifelong teachers

Therefore Education by Patriarchy produces character.

11: Character

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
  "Character" is the ability to stand against the crowd, in faith, in obedience to God.
   • What you do when nobody is watching
   • What you do when everybody is watching (and mocking)

Micah highlights the importance of teaching God's Law.

Ethics is more important to civilization than intelligence.

An ethical society with average IQ has a higher standard of living than a pervasively unethical society with many Einsteins and "geniuses." Egg-heads can spend their time slicing and dicing arcane questions in science and philosophy -- which may be "true" in some sense -- but miss "the weightier matters" of God's Law -- Justice, Mercy, and Faith (Matthew 23:23).

True education enables a Christian to stand against unbelief.
The ability to stand against the crowd, in faith, in obedience to God.
Archists and their sycophants try to get us to join them in violating God's Law.

Character and pacifism - forgiveness, nurture vs. rule
Character and Kingdom-building/optimillennialism | leadership

Character


12: Agrarianism

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus Text: Vine and under his  fig tree,

And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his  fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.

  The story of the Bible is "paradise lost" and Paradise Restored.
The blessings God promises in Deuteronomy 28 are (on the surface) primarily agricultural.
Would you be willing to live for hundreds of years in the Garden of Eden with a community of sanctified people . . . but no cell phone?

Agrarianism vs. technology/industrialism: we have barely begun to weigh the evidence for and against debt-financed state-directed industrialization. See the Israeli study of Polio.

"Salvation" in the Bible means the restoration of the conditions of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-2)

  • But Man's goal and purpose is to build the Garden into the City of God. (Revelation 21-22)
  • Is "Industrialism" possible without the sword (police and military) of "the State?"
  • What kind of industrialism would emerge in the absence of "False weights and Measures" and extortion-subsidies?
  • Will we have "agrarianism" or "technocracy?"
  • Who gets to decide for you?
  • Who gets to decide for hundreds of millions of people?

Studies in Mutualist Political Economy: Industrialism vs. Decentralism -- The Role of the State

Agrarian Man vs. Industrialist Man: Political vs. Economic Man

Pierre Joseph Proudhon: Agrarian Jurisprudence

Environmentalism

Compare first three chapters in Genesis with last three chapters in Revelation: Edenic imagery - Garden of Eden / City of God

Wilderness vs. Garden: Garden = Order

Audio

"Salvation" in the Bible means the restoration of the conditions of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-2).
But Man's goal and purpose is to build the Garden into the City of God. (Revelation 21-22)
If you grow your own food, you have safe, nutritious food even when the "supply chain" breaks down.
If you don't grow your own food, you're dependent on food that must be stripped of nutrition so that it doesn't spoil as it travels vast distances and sits on the shelf at Walmart.

Living off land depends on owning the land. Therefore Agrarianism is related to Property.


13: Property/Communism

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus text:

Micah 4:4

Vine and under his  fig tree,

 

"Communism" is a word like "Theocracy" -- everyone hates the word.

The Bible is individualist

The Bible says "Thou shalt not steal" stuff that pertains to another. This means someone possesses something and should not be dispossessed. The world "Property" comes from the Latin proprietas, from proprius ‘one's own, particular.’ Related to the word "proper." Someone representing himself in court comes before the court "In Pro Per" or In Propria Persona. Your person is your basic property. If you turn a wilderness into a garden, the garden is your property. It was wrong for Jezebel and Ahab to steal Naboth's vine and fig tree. Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my patriarchs to you!” (1 Kings 21:3)

The Bible holds out the ideal of property free from princes and pirates. See the phrases "dwell safely" and "none to make them afraid" in the Bible.

But the Bible is also communitarian (or some English word that substitutes for the Greek word κοινωνία, koinōnía). Christian fellowship is more than each man standing on his front porch with an AK-47 protecting his right to "private property."

If you turn wilderness into a garden, you "own" the garden.
But if a garden is held communally, the pirate is not permitted to say that it is not anyone's "property" because it is not held as an individual under "Lockean homesteading theory."

How some Christians practice "communism": Bruderhof – Community of Goods

America errs on the side of individualism to the neglect of "fellowship," "sharing" "community," "extended family," and other Biblical concepts.

Some opponents of archism are also opponents of private property. The French anarchist Pierre Joseph Proudhon famously said, "Property is theft." But what he meant was what Isaiah likely intended: "Woe to you who add more houses to your houses and more fields to your fields. Finally there is no room left for other people. Then you are left alone in the land" (Isaiah 5:8). Some people hire archists to prevent farmers from living off the land. Accumulation without use and productivity is not the ideal. But one individual accumulating more property than others and producing more than others and becoming richer than others need not be discouraged. See Abraham, Genesis 13:2. God's creation consists of unlimited wealth. There's more than enough property for everyone.

Anarchists who are also "socialists" or "communists"

  • are sometimes morally correct in their criticism of archists.
  • sometimes morally incorrect in envying archists who are rich
  • sometimes economically correct to criticize fascism, statism
  • sometime economically incorrect to prescribe more statism (or a form of "workers" statism) as solution for the problems they were morally correct to be concerned about

14. Socialism/Community

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
Focus text: the ones God has afflicted

In that day, saith the LORD,
will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted;
And I will make her that halted a remnant,
and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.

  I was raised to believe that "capitalism" was better than "socialism." Unquestionably, freedom is better for humanity than centralized control and planning. State "Socialism" has resulted in poverty and mass death wherever it has been tried: Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.

But in 2022, young people who are unaware of the history of State Socialism in the 20th century have been victims of "Mass Formation Psychosis" and pay lip service to "socialism" and criticize "capitalism." What they criticize under the name "capitalism" is not freedom from archists. It is not 100% pure laissez-faire capitalism with 0% socialism. They are criticizing a "mixed economy."

Before the rise of monopoly capitalism in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century, critics of the State were also champions of the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. These anarchists have also called themselves "socialists." 19th-century anarchists and socialists were critical of economic policies like usury (interest of any amount secured by a legal privilege), which the Bible also criticizes. In addition to usury, anarchists and socialists like Benjamin Tucker were critical of

A. The Land Monopoly
B. The Money Monopoly
C. Patents
D. Tariffs

Too often, "anarcho-socialists" have been envious of the rich, regardless of whether the rich accumulated their wealth fairly in the service of others, or by state-assisted exploitation.

We can learn from "socialist" opponents of archism if we are also discerning.

"No man is an island." Community: Serving the weak rather than the powerful | The "driven out" and "afflicted"

  • First step for students: mentoring.
  • Second step: "works of mercy."
  • Third step: production. Selling something other people buy voluntarily. A Godly calling.

God "afflicts" and "drives out" using "archists."
God restores using servants.
The world's poor are best served by a division of labor under a Free Market, directed by an "Invisible Hand" who "assembles," "gathers," and "makes strong" using members of the Body of Christ.

Audio

  Chapter 5 Providence

 

Capitalism, Not Socialism

This is the most important issue in the world today, and -- if you think about it -- it is the most important issue in the Bible.

Mass Death

It is the most important issue in the world today because hundreds of millions of human beings have been murdered by those attempting to impose "socialism," and the lives of billions have been subjected to poverty and tyranny, while billions of people have had their lives improved under capitalism -- the freedom to live free from socialists and other archists.

Idolatry and False Religion

Biblically speaking, this is evidence of whether you believe in God or not. Specifically, whether you believe in Providence. If you don't believe Jesus is the all-powerful Messiah, then you are a deist, if not an atheist, and the god of deism is a false god.

The concept of "The Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" is personal, while deism eventually sifts out as evolutionary. Evolution is the impersonal and random soil in which socialism thrives. Evolution is a religion; an archist religion; a rival to the religion of Christ.

Idolatry is the subject of the First Commandment, it is the #1 issue in the pages of the Bible, and socialism is idolatry. Human archism is a false god. "Civil government" is an idol.

The vast majority of church-going Christians cannot understand how Jesus could be reigning as the Messiah right now -- today -- without being physically present on earth, sitting on a literal throne in Jerusalem.

It is because they do not understand this that they cannot coherently explain one of the most important concepts in our world today: Why Capitalism is better than Socialism.

Because they don't understand economics, they don't understand how Jesus can reign as Messiah without creating a police state.

Most church-goers cannot explain why capitalism has created the highest standard of living in human history, while socialism leads to poverty and mass death.

Capitalism is a pacifist economic system. Capitalism is for "Economic Man." Socialism is for "Political Man."

Church-going Christians do not understand how God governs the world.

Church-going Christians do not understand how God wants the world to operate.

Church-going Christians do not understand the Kingdom-Reign of God and our role in it.

Socialism is when your life is all about "standing up for your rights." Archism.
Capitalism is when your life is all about raising the standard of living of other people. Service.

The Bible is a capitalist blueprint for healing our world.

That's "good news."

And "good news" is the meaning of the word "gospel"

The word "Capitalism"

Some people (generally on the "left") agree with us on the moral necessity of free markets, but dislike the word "capitalism." They make good points.


15: Eternity

Micah's Prophecy Westminster Standards Vine & Fig Tree University
forever

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.

  When the Vine & Fig Tree world is "established" (verse 1, fulfilled in Acts 2, esp. v.36), it is said to last "forever and ever."
Isaiah 9:6-7
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.
 
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.
 
Daniel 7:14
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
 
Daniel 7:27
Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’
 
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
 
Revelation 14:6
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—
(See also Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 78:69; 104:5; 148:3-6)
Christ began reigning as Messiah at His Ascension. His Messianic reign is said to last "forever."

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."

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.

So where does "the second coming" come in?

This may be the most controversial doctrine in Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy. The vast majority of Christians believe Jesus will begin reigning as the Messiah (or "Christ") at His "second coming." Until then, life on earth is going to get worse and worse.

I believe life on earth has been getting better and better because Christ began reigning in His Kingdom in the past.

I believe "the second coming of Christ" already happened. It happened exactly when the Bible said it would happen: before "that generation" died out. It happened at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 66-70.

Jesus came a second time in judgment against those who rejected Him as the Christ. The same generation that witnessed His first coming also witnessed His second coming.

It happened in the past.

The claim that Jesus is the Messiah today (not just in the future) is the claim that Jesus was made "Lord and Christ" in the past.

This is the "good news," or "Gospel."

The Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, and Jesus are NotComingSoon.net 


0. Bibliolatry
1. Calvinism/Predestination
2. Preterism
3. Creationism
4. Optimillennialism
5. Theonomy
6. Theocracy
7. Pacifism
8. Capitalism
9. Patriarchy
10. Education
11. Character
12. Agrarianism
13. Property
14. Community
15. Eternity

The table above contains a lot of information, and 10x more if you follow the linked articles. The vast majority of government mis-educated Americans do not have the mental or spiritual discipline to work through the argument above. America's Founding Fathers, however, already familiar with the Westminster Standards, would be able to follow the argument and reach this astonishing conclusion: We must abolish the United States and replace it with a Christocracy.

If Americans would follow the instructions of the Declaration of Independence and abolish the U.S. government, all other nations would follow suit, probably beginning with the smallest (least archist) governments. It would initiate a "millennial avalanche" around the world.


In a sentence, this is the view of Vine & Fig Tree University:

Jesus is the Christ.

In 2023, almost nobody believes that statement to be true.

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.

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

I defend the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians reserve for "the millennium" or "the New Heavens and New Earth."

And I respect the fact that you think I'm a dangerous looney for claiming that the Second Coming already happened. I used to think that way too. Here are the verses on "this generation" and the "any moment return of Christ."

The focus of the New Testament is on the generation that rejected Jesus as the Christ, not any generation thousands or millions of years in the future. The "Second Coming" of Christ -- a coming in vengeance against those who murdered Him -- is said to be imminent everywhere in the New Testament. Atheists say Jesus was wrong about His Second Coming, but that's because atheists ignore those rules above. Jesus never predicted the imminent end of planet earth. He predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the end of the Old Covenant, and the beginning of the New Covenant. This all took place in the past, hence "preterism."

There is not a single verse in the New Testament
which was intended by its author
and understood by its original audience
to be prophesying an event thousands of years in the future.

People tell me I'm insane (not rational) for believing this. After I show them my reasons for believing this, they might grant that I'm not irrational, but they say I'm heretical, because even if I have the Bible on my side, I don't have "the Church Fathers" on my side. In fact, some go so far as to say that I'm not a Christian at all for believing this.

When I was younger I did not believe this, and I would have said that anyone who believed this was either non-rational, heretical, or should be excommunicated as a person who cannot possibly be a genuine Christian.

I believe "the Second Coming of Christ" already happened. In the past, not in our future.

Virtually every Christian I meet says this is insane. Unhinged. Looney. Not rational.

They'll tell me, "Open your eyes! Just look around! Seriously??"

Believe me, I know that my views are considered "out there." And this view is the most "out there" of all. Most church-goers are aware that some Christians are "pacifists." That can be tolerated. Some of these Christians, because they oppose killing and extortion, want to have nothing whatever to do with "government," and they are called "anarchists" or "anabaptists" and other insults. They're considered kooky (unlike the violent revolutionary assassins who are called "anarchists" even though they are actually "archists" who use violence to get their way, and want to be in charge of their own new government; pacifists are "kooky," but revolutionaries are "dangerous").

But the claim that the Second Coming of Christ already happened is either dangerously heretical or flat out insane.

It will take you 8 minutes to read the next section, in which I describe "preterism." But to successfully persuade you, I'll need to you read over 100 verses, which will give you a feeling for the dominant mindset of people in New Testament times. That will take you a couple of hours. There's no other way to accurately interpret the New Testament without getting into the mind of the writers.

How To Interpret the Bible

Rules for Interpreting Scripture:

Applying these simple and universally-agreed upon rules leads to this controversial conclusion:

The Second Coming of Christ happened in the past
and there is no prophecy of a Third Coming of Christ in our Future

In order to convince you that I am not insane, I need you to read a couple hundred verses of Scripture (found below). If you're willing to make the effort to get inside the mind of the authors of Scripture, by taking a couple of hours to read a lot of verses you haven't thought about before, you will say something to me like, "OK, you're not insane. I can see why you would come to that conclusion."

But even though you might admit that I'm not insane, you won't be able to admit that the Bible does not teach that Jesus will return in our future.

"If you don't believe in a future coming of Christ," you'll tell me, "you've denied The Faith and you're not even a Christian."

Even though I'm making a rational attempt to follow the teachings of the Bible.

"The Faith" means "the doctrines of the catholic church." The doctrines of "the church fathers."

Many people have told me I'm not a Christian because of the way I interpret the Bible on the issue of "eschatology." They believe this very strongly and dogmatically.

But their passion is matched by their ignorance of the Bible.

If you're willing to read a couple hundred verses of the Bible and re-think what you've been taught since Sunday School, click here and here.



We need a real revolution.

The American Revolution of 1776-1784 was more of a "reform" than a true revolution.

Abandoning "the Divine Right of Kings" seemed revolutionary at the time, but in retrospect the difference between monarchy and oligarchy is not that great.

America's Founding Fathers lived in an age when the Bible and Christianity was the centerpiece of public schools. This is why they were more perceptive about the evil of tyranny than we are today.

But they weren't perfect. Too many of those fine men believed that both slavery and institutionalized violence ("The State") were "ordained" by God. They believed in violence despite being followers of the Prince of Peace.

America's Founding Fathers abolished their government. If they could travel through time to our day, they would say it is much more important that we abolish our government than it was to abolish theirs.

But we should do so without muskets or violence of any kind. That means we must rely on education, persuasion, and ballots rather than bullets.

But having abolished the government, what should we then do? The Constitution failed to create a government that didn't need to be abolished.

We don't need a "government." We don't need a "public sector." We need to trust and obey God in a Freed Market. Our standard of living will be dramatically improved under 100% pure laissez-faire capitalism and 0% socialism.

But we must worship and serve God, and teach our children His Commandments. Liberty must be "Liberty Under God."

There is nothing that human beings ought to do or want to do that can not be accomplished without extortion and threats of violence (that is, without "government"). Capitalism creates miracles. Socialism creates poverty and mass death.

We must recognize that failing to have the Bible as our only lawbook (as John Adams recommended) is a form of idolatry. Voting for archists is rejecting God. This is what most of the 30,000 verses in the Bible are talking about.

Jesus forbids His followers from being archists.

We must be an-archists if we wish to avoid idolatry. Archists are false gods, according to the Bible.

We should be non-violent anarchists.

This claim causes heads to explode.

But this is the logical conclusion one comes to if one takes the Declaration of Independence seriously.


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Listen to an audio tour of this website, from 2009:




Which America was greater:
that which existed on July 3, 1776,
or the America of July 4, 2023?


America covenanted with God to be a "light to the world." America has instead shown a light of secularism and violence over the globe. A substantial proportion of the 200 million government-inflicted deaths in the 20th century were capitalized by American financial and technological interests, with the approval of America's politicians. America's exports of weapons and pornography are substantially greater than her exports of Bibles.
The United States has been a missionary for the dark side.
The United States is the enemy of Christian Civilization.




 

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Vine & Fig Tree
Taney County, MO
65731-0179
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The Theology of the Declaration of Independence:
Liberty Under God

"Anarcho-Theocracy"

Jesus hates violence. Jesus hates hypocrisy.

"Everybody knows" these things are true.

But nobody wants to think about them.

And nobody wants these two things to affect their lives.
This website is designed to affect your whole life.
Just like America's Revolutionary War affected people's whole lives.

Violence: We must consider both the ends and the means. Ending tyranny is a good goal. We must not become like the tyrants to do so.

Hypocrisy: Also we must consider that today's government is even more worthy of violent overthrow than the regime of King George III. America's Founders took great risks to end a little tyranny; we take no risks to end a far greater and more evil tyranny.

That's the view of this website from 30,000 feet. As we descend closer to the details on the ground, we will have more facts to process intellectually, but we must never lose sight of the basic moral issues involved. (This website contends The United States has/have already lost sight of these moral issues.)

Most people won't read this entire website. At some point, you will understand the thesis and either agree with it (and maybe read more) or disagree and move to a different website. Perhaps you'll get frustrated because you disagree emphatically with what's being said here. Feel free to post your questions or objections here, and we can continue the conversation.