On the President’s Proclamation on 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket

 

I have noticed on Facebook some have praised President Trump and the White House for the “Proclamation on 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket.” I do find much to praise in this proclamation, the call for religious liberty in all countries is to be applauded and the emphasis on life, both born and unborn, is praiseworthy and yet I disagree with much of this. Let me begin by referring to an experience I often have on Easter when in boredom, at night, I watch bits of The Ten Commandments, which is too often shown on TV during the holiday. After watching all of the religious drama one comes to the end and hears Moses proclaim, “Go out into the world and proclaim liberty everywhere.” And of course that has nothing to do with God’s work among His people. I will return to this at the end.

First the President probably did not write most of this but still it is his proclamation and he signed it. The document states:

When the Archbishop refused to allow the King to interfere in the affairs of the Church, Thomas Becket stood at the intersection of church and state. That stand, after centuries of state-sponsored religious oppression and religious wars throughout Europe, eventually led to the establishment of religious liberty in the New World. It is because of great men like Thomas Becket that the first American President George Washington could proclaim more than 600 years later that, in the United States, “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship” and that “it is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.”

While I agree that Thomas Becket was a faithful servant of the Church, dying to protect her rights from secular power, this wasn’t actually about what we think of today as religious liberty. For over a thousand years the Roman Catholic Church and various kings and emperors had fought over who had the right to rule. Should archbishops and/or popes have the right to crown Kings and Emperors? Should Kings and Emperors have the right to tell clergy what to do? A lot of this was tied up in the battles between Becket and Henry II. Henry thought that the lower clergy should answer to the state when they committed crimes—Becket thought they should not, they should answer to the Church.

Perhaps the greatest argument between them was when several Church officials officiated at the crowning of Henry’s son. By custom that was the right of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Becket promptly excommunicated the three officials. (And here I must say I don’t disagree with church discipline; I believe secular office holders, and all others who encourage and uphold abortion should be excommunicated—and that’s coming from an evangelical not a Catholic.) But the decision about who had the power, was just that. The King was seeking power and so was the Archbishop.

And while I believe Becket was a saint as the Catholic Church defines saints I don’t believe Becket was the beginning of what we now think of as religious freedom. Truthfully we have to think of the Baptist, the Anabaptist and the Quakers as those who truly planted freedom of religion in first our hearts and then our laws. For instance Rhode Island, acquired by a Baptist, and Pennsylvania, procured by a Quaker were the first truly religiously free states among the colonist. This does not deny the faithfulness of Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics and others; eventually all began to understand faith, in particular the Christian faith, would prosper further under the stewardship of religious freedom. But it is a lesson we have had to visit over and over.

But this is not my only problem with President Trump’s proclamation. While this statement is basically right,

As Americans, we were first united by our belief that “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” and that defending liberty is more important than life itself. If we are to continue to be the land of the free, no government official, no governor, no bureaucrat, no judge, and no legislator must be allowed to decree what is orthodox in matters of religion or to require religious believers to violate their consciences. No right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, and virtuous society than the right to follow one’s religious convictions.

This final part of the proclamation contradicts it,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 29, 2020, as the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. I invite the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches and customary places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies in commemoration of the life and legacy of Thomas Becket.”

This is the state telling not only churches but also schools and other gatherings to commemorate a religious holiday. By decreeing Becket’s martyrdom a special anniversary, the state and in particular a president, is in a real sense “decree[ing] what is orthodox in matters of religion.” This has undoubtedly happened because the author of the proclamation has imagined religious liberty to be a doctrine of Christianity. It is not of course but is instead a protector of all religions. That is the same as equating the story of God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt with a general call to proclaim liberty to the world. Freedom is a blessed gift of God, and God was freeing the slaves, but he was doing so much more. His purposes were far deeper and pointing to eternity. God was calling a people to himself, redeeming them from not only hard taskmasters but purifying them for Himself. Preparing them as a people who would fulfill His purpose.

A document such as this one should be tied to the principles of our Democracy not to the celebration of the anniversary of the death of a saint. Freedom, a gift, is surprisingly less a gift to the Church, then the gift of Christ’s saints, in their death. Thomas Becket should not become a symbol for our freedom, he does not belong to the American dream, but to the Church of Jesus Christ.

Flirting with a Soiled and Ragged Crowd: A new religious movement

 

During the seventies and eighties the name “cults” was changed by many in ministry and secular scholars who abhorred the use of the word cult.  The new religious groups are generally now referred to as New Religions. That is a better way of addressing such groups as Jehovah Witnesses or Christian Science—I was and am happy for the new way of seeing the many new developing groups. However there are still groups I refer to as cults. Scientology is one. Jim Jones group, seduced by Jones to reject all family and friends as well as God’s word, but to accept suicide, was a cult. A once local Sacramento group, Aggressive Christianity, was a small group whose members have dwindled since moving to another state where several of them, in the last few years, were arrested for child molestation. And that is a clue of why I would still call them cults, because their leaders attempt to absolutely control them and too often that controlling leads to bodily harm.

There is of course spiritual harm to members who belong to any false religious group. But generally there is no intent of absolute control.

There is, however, another description of religious groups, they can become movements rather than institutional entities. I think you could rightfully call the Fascists of the thirties a political/cultic movement. Each leader of the various countries, Italy, Germany and Spain were charismatic figures who became dictators. They were adored by many who felt they had returned their various countries to morality and prosperity. And, of course, there were those who detested and feared them, rightfully praying for their defeat.

I have been both reading and posting articles on Facebook whose authors believe that a new religious movement is growing among some Christians which they call a cultic movement. That is Trumpism. This Thursday I discovered on messenger a Facebook friend had left me a video—“The Plot to Steal America,” a video filled with conspiracy theories about the presidential election which supposedly led all the way to China. I did some searching and found that this person, Seth Holehouse, is a seemingly well to do man who loves fancy watches and motorcycles. And he was asking for donations.

Holehouse is on most of social media including the new Parler. And yes, he goes by the name Man In America. I wondered who he was attracting besides my Facebook friend. I did a lot of exploring, clicking on comments to what he posts and following up on the commenter’s site. It is troubling.

First, a day ago, he placed a link to “We The People Site,” which begins with this statement: We The People of the United States Request President Trump Invoke Insurrection Act to Take Back Our Republic w/Military. And there was a place to sign. Another posting or reposting was from “NO.1Dad☕🇺🇲·. He describes himself as, “American Nationalist, Fascist, Christian, White Lives Matter. On his site I found this remark about the recent Russian Hackers, “I wonder if every time Russia is blamed it's actually Israel.” And there is the far right’s use of Pepe the frog.

Another commenter calls himself Q tip and has all of the signs of QAnon plus also Pepe the frog. Another has posted a picture of soldiers saluting Hitler with this caption, “Adolf Hitler The Greatest Story Never Told (Full) PLEASE BE ADVISED: International Jewry has declared war on truth! This documentary like many others that are exposing the greatest lies of the 20th...”

There is more but that is enough. Is Trumpism a Christian cult attempting to mix religion with nationalism and using the fringe right to build a wide and greater movement? Well I’m sure my Facebook friend doesn’t think so. But it is simply a fact that cannot be denied. Some Christians are being seduced and within that seduction they are tearing the Church apart. Sadly they are hurting their own spirituality, their relationship with Christ. Any Christian who is flirting with that soiled and ragged crowd needs, as Jude, says to be pulled away from the fire. “Save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 23)

Truthfully, biblically, we are called to that soiled and ragged crowd but not in cahoots with them, not in helping them in their delusions, anti-Semitism, and hate for other people but to proclaim the freedom of Christ to them.

The Jericho March and the Holy Name of Jesus

 

A march was held in Washington D.C. called a Jericho March with the intention of assuring a part of the American church that Donald trump who lost the 2020 election for president would be able to overturn the results. The name of Jesus was constantly used to undergird the wishes and dispel the fears of many.

Alex Jones used the name of Jesus loudly. He’s the fellow that insisted that the shooting of the elementary school children at Sandy Hook school never happened.* In the face of parents who could think of nothing but the terror, pain and great need of their dying children, Alex Jones said it never happened. Too many listened to Jones praise Donald Trump while insisting that many American citizens voted illegally in the election. Many applauded him.

Eric Metaxas, the author of a bestselling book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was the emcee. He also, both at the march, and on his radio and YouTube show, uses the name of Jesus, slanders others and lifts up Trump and Trump’s claim of a fraudulent election. In a recent video, in a parody of “Mary, Did You Know?” he accuses the Democrats, among other things, of being in league with the “Soros Folks” and Venezuela.[1] Many applaud his use of Christianity as he calls people to stand against the recent election?  

Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, a pacifist, who because of the horror of Hitler joined the German military helping a secret group of military officers as they helped Jewish people escape into Switzerland and plotted to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer went to prison for helping Jewish people escape, he was killed when it was discovered that he was part of the plot to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer struggled with his decision to join the military and to kill. He was devout and dignified, an intelligent and caring individual who wrote letters, poems and theology from his cell.  

Bonhoeffer wrote in his book Ethics of how those in the Church during the Nazi years must lead the German nation in confessing sins. One of those confessions was because the Church had allowed the nation to misuse the name of Christ. They tried to make Jesus Christ into a German nationalist. Bonhoeffer writes:

The Church confesses that she has taken in vain the name of Jesus Christ, for she has been ashamed of this name before the world and she has not striven forcefully enough against the misuse of this name for an evil purpose. She has stood by while violence and wrong were being committed under cover of this name. And indeed she left uncontradicted, and thereby abetted, even open mockery of the most holy name. She knows that God will not leave unpunished one who takes His name in vain as she does.[2]

Bonhoeffer’s call to confession was for the church, for himself and down to this day for me and you. Many men and women stood up during the Jericho march claiming Christ and his blessing but making it a political call to Christian nationalism and for the sake of one man, Donald Trump. But Christ is uniquely and only Lord of the Church—someday He will be Lord of not only this nation but all nations—but in the Parousia. The Church can claim Jesus but not the world, and it is the Church’s duty to hold His name Holy, to not use it as a political tool.

I am thinking now of how I fail to hold His name Holy. I am praying that both I and the Church in the United States find only praise for that name the name of Jesus.

*Here is where you can find a picture of one of the children who died that day. Jake Tapper just placed it on Twitter. He does this with the children every year .Home / Twitter

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[1] "Biden Did You Know?" A Parody - YouTube

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics, 1949, reprint (New York: Simon & Schuster 1995), 113-14

We did not envision that among us there could be myths that would be honored more than the gospel of Jesus Christ

 

When I started writing for Voices of Orthodox Women, it seems years ago, I found myself in a denomination focused on everything but the word of God, the Lordship of Christ and faithfulness in our walk. Those years are gone as is my and many other’s membership in that denomination. (I realize there are still many faithful Christians in the PCUSA.)  But walking away from an often faithless denomination carries no assurance of somehow advancing the kingdom of God nor even of staying within the safe borders of orthodoxy. 

One can hold on to the dogma with the intellect but throw the whole being into a strange political ideology that strangles the faith. Religion mixed with extreme right or extreme left politics kills our first love which must be Jesus.

Twitter often carries the signs of the times. Several days ago I read and listened to an ongoing confrontation between Eric Metaxas, the author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, and Rod Dreher, the author of The Benedict Option and Live Not by Lies, who are supposedly friends. 

Dreher was appalled that Metaxas had on his show John Zmirak who had just published an article condemning Christians who were not backing Trump, calling them and Dreher servile Christians.  In the article, Zmirak wrote: “Servility is what I want to talk about today. Over the past few years, especially among the type of Christians who joined the NeverTrump camp, I’ve seen that deadly neurosis repackaged as a virtue. It pops up in repugnant essays like “Christianity Is for Cucks,” and in redundant books like The Benedict Option [One of the books authored by Dreher]."

Metaxas praised Zmirak’s article calling it brilliant. And on the video of Metaxas’ show there is total disregard for the genuine reasons and real concerns of those Christians who believe Trump’s worldview is not truly prolife, nor possessing moral principles. Instead both Metaxas and Zmirak see such Christians as cowards refusing to fight the “enemy.”  They see such Christians as those who seek virtue and martyrdom (from the Democrats) rather than joining in a fight to recover the election of Trump. They see America and Trump as the only force standing between Syria and its Christians, North Korea and its Christians, China and its Christians, etc.

While I have some very negative thoughts about Trump’s views and policies in regards to such authoritarian governments as North Korea and Syria that isn’t my focus in this essay but rather the great division that is now happening among Evangelical Christians in the United States. 

I have over the last 6 months read several books that are shaping my views; The Benedict Option for the second time as well as Dreher’s Live Not by Lies, also David French’s new book, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation in which French first looks at our divisions, then writes of two dystopia like secessions and their outcome on the global scene, and then he focuses on federalism and courage as helpful in overcoming our divisions. Rounding out these books is a new commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians by a Catholic scholar Douglas Farrow.

While Dreher’s two books are aimed at Christians and how they can live as Christians while experiencing massive dislocation in a society that is increasingly anti-Christian, French’s book is aimed at divisions between secular and religious society and how we as Americans can live together in community without splitting apart. Farrow’s commentary, setting aside some of his more Catholic views, (he wouldn’t of course like that) speaks to the growing anti-Christian views of the West and how that relates to the Church and the coming of ultimate evil. It is a commentary on 1&2 Thessalonians after all!

Those of us who were or are a part of a progressive denomination thought of conflict in terms of progressive against traditionalist, of the deniers of Christian orthodoxy against those who were orthodox in faith. And truly that was the basic conflict and still is, but we did not envision standing between a rock and a hard place. 

We did not envision there could be opposition from those brothers and sisters who became so deeply entrenched in extreme rightwing politics that their loyalty to a man would cause them to mark us out as those who offend the faith.  We did not envision that among us there could be myths that would be honored more than the gospel of Jesus Christ—the idea that a man—and a nation could almost exist on the same level as our Savior, Jesus, the one, really the only one, who actually stands between the world and His Church. The One who gathers the saints of North Korea, of Syria, of China and all other hard places into His comforting arms.

Farrow in his book writes, of course, of the anti-Christ, “the man of lawlessness.” (2 Thessalonians 2: 3) And also of the great apostasy. He ties the anti-Christ very closely to the Church, because since he is anti-Christ he must in his opposition attempt to rule the Church, to control the Church. And here is where my deep concern is. We are all too often tainted by the world from one side or the other. Whether it is a disregard for the biblical view of the person of Christ, the Incarnation, which too many progressives deny or the biblical view of Christ as the only Lord of the Church which many on the right are undoubtedly, unintentionally turning their backs on; the Church, like a hungry needy cat, is too easily rubbing up against the world.

I am afraid that those demeaning those who care little for Trump fail to see that it is not only the secular culture that persecutes, but also the political/religious zealots who trouble the sheep.  

Are my hands covered in blood? Yes, yes they are!

 

I went to church reflective and sad this morning. I had been reading different friends postings on Facebook and someone had written that those who did not vote for Trump in this election had blood on their hands because of abortion. This friend knows I did not vote for Trump, although I did vote for a pro-life candidate and not Biden; some in the Evangelical movement believe that doesn’t matter; accordingly all Christians should have voted for Trump. The idea is that more babies will be aborted under a Democrat but not under Trump who is supposedly pro-life.

But as I settled into church this morning and we started singing songs about the cross it dawned on me that yes, my hands are covered in blood. Covered because I am a sinner and Jesus died for me, covered for the sake of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. And that is extremely humbling that the King of Glory, Jesus the unique Son of the Father, took on flesh and bled for my salvation.

Still, I’ve been reading, rereading, some of a book about one of the martyrs of the Nazi years. No not Bonhoeffer, but pastor Paul Schneider. He was actually the first Confessing Church Martyr, constantly beaten and eventually poisoned. His testimony reveals something about the Nazis that many do not know. They encouraged fornication in order to produce many more Aryan babies. Not Jewish babies, not Roma babies or black babies but Aryan babies. So while they encouraged sin in order to produce more Aryans they also persecuted and harmed both born and unborn children of other races and ethnic groups. They tore them away from their parents and placed them in separate institutions.  

Schneider complained about the national leaders who encouraged the young people to sin. He had many complaints but one was about the immorality of leaders. It is important.

In a blog posting written in 2013 about Schneider and a book written about him, Paul Schneider Witness of Buchenwald, I wrote,

Schneider attacked an essay written by Nazi Propagandist Goebbels, “More Morality, but less Moral Hypocrisy.” As author Wentorf points out the essay came as Nazi leadership not only pushed young Jewish and Polish women into brothels, killed those people who they considered unworthy to live because of disabilities and “so-called hereditary diseases,” and also encouraged sex outside of marriage in order to produce more, supposedly, Aryan children. That was a campaign called, “Give the Führer a Child!” (128).”

 My point here is that there are many evils that leaders can be guilty of, abortion is one of them, a horrible, horrible evil, but there are others which also diminish life and destroy goodness inside of and outside of the Church. A ruler’s character, guidance and example can destroy even the good she does. But we are all sinners and all one way or another have blood on our hands.

As Christians we undoubtedly should not rejoice over Trump or Biden but pray for them, care about them and live under the shadow of the cross because that is the only safe place to be.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful we are but dust. … (Psalm 103: 11-14)

Hunter Biden, Guo Wengui and the persecution of Chinese Christians

 

A lot of Christian conservatives are using the accusations made against Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as a way to say how unsuitable Biden is as a candidate for president. As many of my friends know I am not voting for either President Trump or Biden, but nevertheless there is something grossly wrong with Christians using this accusation. I will explain.

So first of all The New York Times reporter, Katie Robertson, writing about the  the New York Post story stated, “Coming late in a heated presidential campaign, the article suggested that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had used his position to enrich his son Hunter when he was vice president. The Post based the story on photos and documents the paper said it had taken from the hard drive of a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.” Robertson in her article, “New York Post Published Hunter Biden Report Amid Newsroom Doubts,” goes on to explain that Hunter Biden supposedly left a computer at a shop with documents on it suggesting “that the elder Mr. Biden, as vice president, had directed American foreign policy in Ukraine to benefit his son, a former board member of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company.”

Continuing Robertson writes, “The article named two sources: Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Trump now facing federal fraud charges, who was said to have made the paper aware of the hard drive last month; and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, who was said to have given the paper “a copy” of the hard drive on Oct. 11.”

Now there are all kinds of reasons to be concerned about this story. But for those Christians using the story there is a far greater reason not to affirm it and it has to do with how we perceive those who applaud and love those who persecute Christians.

Recently World Magazine published an article about a man who is persecuting some Chinese Christians in the United States.  The article, “Pressure campaign targets Chinese pastor in Texas: A Chinese tycoon’s media blitz has forced leading Chinese Christian dissident Bob Fu into hiding”, was written by Mindy Belz. She begins her article:

Protesters remained outside the Midland, Texas, home of Bob Fu 10 days after law enforcement placed Fu and his family in protective custody due to threats. The protesters carry signs claiming the founder of ChinaAid and pastor who once was forced out of China by its Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government is “a CCP spy.” They have refused to tell local media where they are from or whether they are being paid.

As Belz continues she explains that Guo Wengui, a Chinese business man is the one targeting Bob Fu and others.

On Bob Fu’s web site China Aid is a statement by China aid about this persecution. Part of the document states:   

On Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, multiple of his followers instructed by Guo showed up outside Fu’s home in Texas while he was out of town. His family however was inside and are now fortunately under protection by local law enforcement. In response, Guo issued another video where he threatened, “We will send another 100 to 200 comrades to your house tomorrow. We will see how much power you have in the U.S…. We will not start another campaign until we are On. Guo’s followers have surrounded Jianmin’s house in Los Angeles for five days. His wife and two children are too frightened to leave. Also targeted is Pastor Zhang Boli, a Tiananmen leader still on the CCP’s “Most Wanted” list.

Bob Fu and the others mentioned in Guo Wengui’s video are under direct threat by the actions this man. He has mobilized his followers and encouraged violence against those he loosely and deceitfully deems a “CCP spy.

Now enter the two men who are the source for the supposed damaging information on Hunter Biden. They both have ties to Guo Wengui the man persecuting Chinese Christians in the United States. . Bannon was arrested for fraud while on his business partner Wengui’s 35, million dollar yacht. And Giuliani is also connected. In a Daily Beast article, “Chinese Billionaire’s Network Hyped Hunter Biden Dirt Weeks Before Rudy Giuliani” there are tweeted pictures of Wengui and Giuliani hugging and smoking cigars together.

Why would Christians, those who belong to Jesus the very truth, want to use the words of people like Bannon, Giuliani and their companion Wengui who within the confines of the United States would persecute Christians? The Church is becoming too involved with the world via politics.

I believe the word of God is calling for more than ‘thinking about’ when it states:

… whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things (Phil. 4:8).

The words are calling for a life lived within the confines of what is honorable, right, pure, of good repute, excellence and what is worthy of praise. Ralph P. Martin in the Tyndale commentary on Philippians writes, “The present verse is governed by the verb think, logizesthe, which means more than ‘keep in mind’ (Moffatt). It is rather ‘take into account (logos), reflect upon and then allow these things to shape your conduct’.”

Believers cannot uphold the words of worldly and immoral men and at the same time walk within the confines of a life attuned to a lowly, truthful and pure Savior.  

Trembling before the man who uses Christianity for his advantage

 

In a radio address in 1933, Adolf Hitler in his first address to the German people, stated this, “The national government will support and defend the foundations on which the strength of our nation is built. It will seek firmly to protect Christianity as the basis of our whole morality and the family as the nucleus of the life of our people and our community.”[1]

Even Niemӧller, who would later become Hitler’s personal prisoner, was at first infatuated with Hitler believing he would bring morality to Germany as well as be a defense for Christianity. And the Church in Germany failed to see that this man who hated the Jewish people also hated Christianity. He hated the ones who held to a suffering Savior rather than proclaiming a noble Jesus who would supposedly reinforce a positive Christianity. Hitler wanted a militant Christianity that promoted strength and prosperity. Jesus in his eyes was to be a hero, not divine but powerful, conquering the enemies of Germany.

If Hitler had continued as head of a German State he would not only have destroyed all of the Jewish people, he would have also destroyed all orthodox Christians.

And this is the point, when a leader uses Christianity to his advantage, the Church should both tremble and pray for discernment. The temptation to align with the worldly ruler is a greater hazard for the Church then outright persecution. The Church is tainted, eventually becoming a faithless Church. And sorrowfully those Christians who align with such a leader will eventually turn on brothers and sisters besmirching them and insisting they are neither patriotic enough nor true Christians. I am thinking of such faithful leaders as Timothy Keller and some members of the Gospel Coalition. There are others who are slandered.

Daniel and his three friends are examples of faithful believers who although captives and subjects of a narcissistic ruler were never committed to him but rather were committed to the God of Israel. They served God not Nebuchadnezzar. And here is the interesting part. Every time Nebuchadnezzar experienced the power of God he would proclaim how great Daniel’s God was.

“The King answered Daniel and said ‘Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (Daniel 2:47)

Yet he was using these faithful Hebrew men for his own purposes and not until the end of his story did he truly commit to God. In much of his insincerity he was a danger to believers proclaiming what he did not believe. His morality was unaffected. After losing his sanity because of his boasting and then regaining it he was able to proclaim, “… I Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘what have you done?’

…Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are true and His ways are just and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”

Daniel and his three friends possessed several marks of faithfulness as they served the king. They worked secretly to make sure they didn’t make use of the king’s bounty of food and drink. They told the king his faults when it was necessary, even telling him that he might escape judgement by breaking away from his sins by doing righteousness and “from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” They refused to obey any command that consisted of idolatry even when it angered him and placed their lives in danger. In fact, they stood against a nation of people who were willing to indulge the King to the point of worshiping him.  

They were never on the side of Nebuchadnezzar, but rather on the side of the Lord. And in that place of honesty and faithfulness Nebuchadnezzar, the Jewish people and eventually the Church was blessed. The Church belongs to Christ and His people are called to faithfulness, discernment and courage. Take pleasure in the purity of Jesus’ commitment to His Church and to us the individual members of His Church. We are home in Him no matter the growing darkness nor the insistence that there exists others besides Christ who can bring us out of the darkness.

 

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[1] J.S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, 1933-45, (New York: Basic Books, 1968), p. 15, found in Exile in the Father-Land: Martin Niemӧller’s Letters From Moabit Prison, Edited by Hubert G. Locke, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans 1986) Intro 4.

The Truth of History, the Truth of Jesus

Picture by Penny Juncker

Listening this morning to Arlo Guthrie and Jim Wilson’s new version of “Hard Times Come Again No More.” I began to understand some of the vitriol, conspiracy mania, and slander heaped upon many public officials and the medical professions. And here I am thinking of people I know, people I am close to, who are not usually inclined to vent so ardently against others. I know there are those who purposely and with evil intent invent outlandish tales of conspiracy against others, but these are not the people that have initiated my concern. I am Reformed after all and “What is the matter with you people” is my byword as long as it includes myself.

But watching the depression photographs in the video I realized so many have no memory of those hard times or of the devastating losses of World War II. And if they are not particularly interested in history they will not have absorbed the pain and sorrow of that time or any other time for that matter. It seems to me, we Americans, at least in the last few decades, insist on everything turning out rosy. We build our hopes on Shangri-La and reach for idealistic dreams. Added to this sense of optimism is a belief that it is possible to know the exact reason why something has happened and the way it has happened and thus to swiftly end any intruding evil.

For instance, some insist that covid-19 occurred because a person or a group or an organization manufactured it as a means of destroying enemy’s lives. Or, so many people have died because politicians, or/and medical groups or/and a particular political party are lying about the cure. Or, it’s a lie that so many people have died, with multiple explanations for the lie.

The real truth gets lost in our rejection of truth—we are suffering—more suffering is ahead of us—we must gather strength and hope from somewhere beyond answers that are materialistic, conspiratorial and slanderous. The truthful answer will not be to dissuade or dispose of enemies who are supposedly seeking our harm. The truthful answer will not be to ignore the mandates of safety for this particular moment in our history. The truthful answer is—we are suffering—God help us!

Recently a friend suggested I watch a movie about Lilias Trotter a 19^th century artist and missionary to Algeria. In the movie, “Many Beautiful Things” Trotter’s potential to become a famous artist is sacrificed for the sake of following Christ to North Africa. One of her beautiful statements is:

 Measure thy life by loss not by gain, not by the wine drunk but by the wine poured forth for love’s strength standeth in love’s sacrifices.

The life God calls us to, in the midst of pandemic, brutal riots and police brutality, aims us straight into His love. His intention is to pour, through us, His love out upon the worlds we inhabit. Our time, this day, this year, the years to come, are times to draw near to Jesus, to think on His cross, to rest in his love, to walk in his love.

If we have lost, in these hard times, faith in humanity—good—now we will have a deeper faith in Jesus. We will cling to the brother and sister who in their weakness and humility still holds to Jesus. We will find in Jesus the government, the kingdom, the joy, that this time, this place cannot give.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been destressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1: 3-9)

Q and the cross of Jesus

There are circumstances when I feel a great need to bury myself in God’s word and let Christian hymns and praise sweep over me. I feel a need to have truth and goodness wash my mind and soul. Often the reading I do for research has that effect. Sometimes just circumstances, ugly circumstances, place me in that position. For several days I have been listening to some extremely horrible videos. My concern for a few friends on Facebook who seem to be affirming conspiracy theories, even placing information by people who are involved in the Q or QAnon movement on their Facebook pages, initiated my need to understand the religious/social side of this movement; to hopefully emphasize the evil of this strange ideology which in some cases is mixed with a rather heterodox Christianity.

Recently, The Dispatch published an article “The GOP’s Conspiracy Theorist Problem,” which high-lighted several Republican candidates who are involved in conspiracy theories and the QAnon movement. In the article the author, Audrey Fahlberg, devotes a paragraph to the religious side of the QAnon movement writing, “QAnon’s doomsday flair has even captured the attention of fringe churches, including Omega Kingdom Ministry which regularly interprets Q drops through a biblical lens.” Fahlberg also refers to “Home Congregations,” a site Omega Kingdom Ministry is connected to. I explored these two sites and their strange videos.

And yes, there is a faith statement that sounds like orthodox Christianity with a twist. There is this part of their faith statement, “We believe that Christ never intended to start a religion, but that men have built the church as we know it today. We believe that Christ never intended that His Body become a business or an institution, but a family. We believe that Christ has called us out of the crowd to be His Ekklesia, a governmental body, a ruling congregation of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” This statement eliminates most connections between QAnon believers and orthodox Christianity since the meaning is that only those house churches abiding by the teachings of “Home Congregations” and the predictions of Q are performing God’s 

will.

The differences between the house churches connected to QAnon and orthodox Christianity, including Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox, are vast. It is the eschatology of the QAnon churches that shapes their theological differences with true Christianity. Always they are informed by the conspiracy theories of QAnon. Yes, they believe in the return of Christ but their focus is on political events deeply colored by the unknown person or persons they call Q.

In one particular video a leader, Russ Wagner, explains what he believes is the difference between “Church,” and “ekklesia”. He states, “ekklesia was a governmental word ‘called out assembly.’ Tracing what he sees as the history of the words, Wagner adds, “The body of Christ on earth today is his [Christ’s] governmental ruling council. Wagner goes on to emphasize that, “We have been given authority to rule what is lawful and what is unlawful in our city and in our region.”  Additionally he opines, “We have been given the authority to take legal and militant action against the destructive forces of hell in our city.”

Since Wagner is a charismatic most of his view of taking authority is demands made to demonic spirits, however his concepts belittle the cross of Jesus. In a different video he quotes Jesus’ words, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 NKJV),” then Wagner says, “You see, the Kingdom of Heaven coming down to earth destroys all the work of the enemy if the ekklesia of Christ is functioning in any given city.” In other words it is Jesus’ manifestation plus the ekklesia functioning that destroys the works of the devil. There are two big problems here:

First because Wagner has made a difference between the Church and what he calls the ekklesia he places the Church outside of the purposes and the work of Christ. But the bigger problem is Wagner’s lack of acknowledgement of the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The beautiful hymn in the first chapter of Colossians details this:

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first born from the dead, so He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1: 13-20)

Adding to Wagner’s views about the Church and the authority of what he calls the ekklesia is the problem of placing the conspiracies of QAnon alongside his and other’s teaching. Their web sites are full of videos and the messages in the videos are not only extreme conspiracies, they are theologically unbiblical. There is also the potential for anti-Semitism in several of their wild tales. The basic conspiracies are the usual; there is a group of families, the Rothschild’s are considered first, who are controlling the world, own all the banks and the Federal Reserve and most businesses and institutions. They intend to destroy all that is good. But in the QAnon tales there is an additional concern. What is called, the deep state, a group consisting of most presidents, many celebrities and wealthy individuals like Bill Gates and of course Soros are involved in a worldwide ring of pedophiles.

This is where President Trump supposedly comes into the story. There is a plan, the Q plan, in which Trump is involved with some military leaders to arrest all of the offenders of sex trafficking and move the world toward a golden age. This plan involves the arrest and imprisonment of such people as the Bushes, the Clintons, Bill Gates and Soros.  And supposedly peace will come to earth because the conspirators had been controlling such people as North Korea’s Kim Jung-un and China’s Xi Jinping who will now make peace. As an aside, one video suggests that Trump in the end won’t be the leader but instead John Kennedy Jr. who didn’t really die in a plane crash!  

All of that weirdness is itself unbiblical, because it is untruthful and horribly slanderous, but here are the theological problems. One particular video insists that all of the conflicts and hatred happening in the world aren’t caused by common humanity because it isn’t the nature of humanity to commit crimes or cause conflict. We are good and those committing such atrocities are the enemy. But what does Scripture say about the goodness of humanity? “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” And Psalms 53 is very clear:

The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’ they are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; there is no one who does good. God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (1-3)

If even a part of humanity were good, born without sin, there would be no reason for the Incarnation and the death of Jesus on the cross so once again the cross is belittled. Instead some of humanity is lifted up as those who in their goodness will help to bring about utopia. And although there is here and there a commitment to Jesus and his salvation, in many of the videos Trump is seen as the ultimate liberator, the one who will deliver the world from the cabal of pedophiles, the deep state. Jesus’ uniqueness, sacrifice and triumph is simply treated as nothing when one commentator states that Q’s plan will, “be regarded as the greatest story ever told.” Another speaker, a professor, Douglas Belmore, who professes to be a Christian, insists that his listeners should not worry because “Q owns the most powerful military intelligence the world has ever known.

The possibility of anti-Semitism comes in a series of videos that attempt to explain communism by linking it to the occult and what is called the Illuminati. Two men, Benjamin Chasteen and Rob Counts, are the producers of this series. In their video, “The Illuminati End Game: The Secret Societies behind Communism,” they use Nesta Webster, the author of World Revolution the plot against civilization as their main reference. They explain that in the academic world she is known as a Nazi sympathizer but they attempt to explain that away. They state that in her “findings Nesta made a grave oversight; she found that people who called themselves Jews were behind several subversive movements because of that she confused these people who called themselves Jews as actual Jews.” And “she ended up joining societies who considered themselves Fascist before those societies are considered what they are today

But Bob and Rob show their own anti-Semitism when they attempt to excuse Webster’s. Because her information is mostly made up and partly based on the fake Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion it is Webster who named them Jews. She was not confused; she not only joined several British Fascist societies but also wrote for an anti-Semitic journal, The Jewish Peril.[1] In a third video, “Deep State Funded Lenin,” Bob and Rob state that a Rothschild and several other Jewish bankers funded the early communist revolution, adding that J.P. Morgan also funded them. The creators of these videos keep bringing up Jewish bankers without admitting to their own anti-Semitism. They suggest that Hitler was a Rothschild and was raised by Ashkenazi Jews and then make fun of the four letters at the end of the word.

The leaders and members of these two religious organizations and the many other Q followers insist that there is a personal great evil above the deep state which will be brought to an end by political, martial and judicial ends. There is a personal great evil, but one that has already been defeated on a bloody cross. We live in the already/not yet of that defeat. And if we are Christians we live beneath the cross, not under the manipulative hands of slanderous mythical tales. Our times are in the hands of Jesus, our fellowship is with the Church, His body. Do not forsake the one who bought you.

When I began this blog posting I was letting the word of God and this Christian song sweep over me:

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesta_Helen_Webster

Not Plato’s Forms but the Unchanging, Personal God

For a daily devotional I use The St. James Daily Devotional Guide. This morning I was pleased with some commentary about the difference between truth (the eternal forms) which are true by necessity and the truth which is Jesus Christ whose truth is displayed in freedom.

I believe it was in my junior year of college at the University of California, Sacramento, when I won the philosophy contest for that year. In my essay, “Plato’s Four Concepts of Soul in the Phaedo,” I attempted to prove “a great deal of the confusion of the concepts with one another is caused by Plato’s idea of personal souls and their likeness to impersonal forms.” I have thought about this often, we Christians cling to a personal God, unchanging yes, but that unchanging includes compassion, mercy and forgiveness. And in that unchanging merciful God is freedom.

The author of the commentary, Patrick Henry Reardon, is relating this to Mark 4:35-41, the story of Jesus calming the winds and the waves. Reardon writes:

…in today’s Gospel story, the truth he revealed to those disciples threatened by the storm on the lake—fearful for their lives—was utterly free, backed up by no explanatory or metaphysical necessity. He overwhelmed the apostles—along with the waves and the wind—by the redemptive assertion of his presence. Christ’s debarim—the things he did and said—formed an absolutely free gift, conveyed in the experience of grace and election.

…Always, the truth revealed in Christ is pure grace—truth freely and generously given, truth freely and humbly received.

Here I think it can be pointed out that not only was this grace and truth freely given it was so very personal. The Hebrew Bible clearly tells us that God controls the seas and storms, “He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed (Psalm 107: 29).” But in Jesus the disciples see the personal, the face of God as the storm is stilled. And there is more.

In Mark’s account of this story there are other boats. Mark writes, “Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as he was; and other boats were with him (4:36).” R. Alan Cole in the Tyndale Commentary suggests that this may be like the closing words of Jonah, “and also much cattle (Joh. 4:11), with its undertone of the infinite mercy of God.” This personal God, very God of very God, as the creed states, was not just training Apostles he was caring for the crowds of people as he did when feeding the five thousand and the four thousand.

Here we are living in the midst of a pandemic, living in the midst of unholy racism, living in the midst of unholy riots, perhaps fearful of what is coming in the future—and yet here stands our Redeemer who created the universe and controls the universe. This personal God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, knows us personally and has us in his tight grip. Fear not.

A Great divide Among the Orthodox

Years ago, working as a researcher for Apologetics Resource Center, I was examining the actions and theology of a group known as Aggressive Christianity, a group that was preying on the youth of evangelical churches. They were persuading them to enter their commune, leaving behind their church, families and friends. The leaders knew I was in the midst of my research and writing an article about them. One day we received their little newsletter. In its pages was a caricature of Walter Martin, evangelicals will know him as The Bible Answer Man, he was holding a dog by its leash. The dog had a name, Viola Larson, Heretic Hound.

All of us in the ARC laughed at this and even suggested we produce a button to wear with the name heretic hound.

 But the true gift of the insult was the letters we received from others who had also received the newsletter. Their big question, “Okay, tell us what this group is really into”?

This particular group was not Christian although they professed to be. Their beliefs and their actions had moved them far beyond the right to that holy title. They destroyed families and constantly insulted the Church, pastors and other Christians.

That was, as I stated, years ago, today, I am not laughing but grieving because of some who profess the name Christian and yet are willing, in the same manner, to insult other Christians, even lying about them. These are such troubling times and it seems to me that a great divide is happening among us. Not between the progressive and the orthodox but among the orthodox.

 I believe an idol is lifting itself up, attempting to pull the Church in pieces. Of course Satan is the one who wishes to destroy the Church and he does push idols in our path. But what that often means, in our own time, for the last several centuries,  is we turn our attention to human idols—we look for salvation in the human—those who magnify themselves as saviors—and we believe the lie, and so we lie. Examples are endless.

Several weeks ago I was troubled to find a friend had posted a video produced by Jon Harris who insists he is reformed and orthodox while at the same time appearing to be racist. In his video, “Why are all my friends Marxists, he places a quote by Abraham Lincoln. It is actually from a debate with Stephen Douglas during Lincoln’s campaign to become Senator. Lincoln states:

 I am not nor ever have been in favor of bringing about the social and political equality of the white and black races that I am not nor ever have been of making voters or jurors of Negroes nor qualifying them to hold office, or intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality … I will add to this that I have never seen, to my knowledge, a man, woman or child who was in favor of producing a perfect equality, social and political, between negroes and white men.

Harris is attempting to prove that Lincoln did not fight the Civil War over slavery but for political power. Henry Louis Gates, the “Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University,” seeing the quote in a different context looks at the evolving views of Lincoln. He writes, “But the truth is that until very late in his presidency, Lincoln was deeply conflicted about whether to liberate the slaves, how to liberate the slaves and what to do with them once they had been liberated.” Gates concludes:

“Two things dramatically changed Lincoln’s attitudes toward black people. First, in the early years, the North was losing the Civil War, and Lincoln quickly realized that the margin of difference between a Southern victory and a Northern victory would be black men. So, despite severe reservations that he had expressed about the courage of black troops (“If we were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks the arms would be in the hands of the rebels…”), Lincoln included in the Emancipation Proclamation a provision authorizing black men to fight for the Union.

Three days before he was shot, Lincoln stood on the second floor of the White House and made a speech to a crowd assembled outside celebrating the recent Union victory over the Confederacy. With his troops and Frederick Douglass very much in mind, Lincoln told the cheering crowd, which had demanded that he come to the window to address them, that he had decided to recommend that his 200,000 black troops and “the very intelligent Negroes” be given the right to vote.”[1]

It was evidently this last speech that was the cause of his death at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.

With another video Harris attempts to prove that Ahmaud Arbery’s death was not murder. Additionally Harris attempts to attach both a secular and a progressive viewpoint onto those Evangelicals who are concerned about racism. Because they use some terms which are academic and secular, such as critical race theory, as tools in their ministry to overcome racism within the church Harris calls them “woke” Christians.

Harris, in many videos has disparaging words to say about almost all well-known Evangelicals. This includes Russell Moore, The Gospel Coalition, Beth Moore, Mark Dever, Timothy Keller, even Rosaria Butterfield, the lady who was a lesbian professor who became a Christian and married a conservative Reformed pastor.

The awful put downs of those whom God is using during this troubling time cannot be the work of the Holy Spirit. The disquieting divisive comment made by another friend is simply a lie. Concerned because David French, Senior Editor of The Dispatch was encouraging Christians to not be afraid of their witness the person uttered what I consider one of the most contemptible lies about a fellow Christian. He wrote, “French and his wife now seem to agree with the policies of the Democrat party straight down the line, including infanticide and persecution of Christians who dissent from LGBT.”

But rather David French wrote, in his article, “How then Should Christians Vote:”

Assuming Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I can’t vote for him. Even if I do like some of the things he’s done, he lacks the character to be president. But I cannot join some of my Never Trump friends in backing the Democratic nominee. Many of them may well pass the character test, but I cannot vote for a person who would put in place policies I believe are harmful and potentially destructive—especially to unborn life.

These words by French are part of his faith commitment. They are his commitment to Jesus Christ. How can any Christian in these times attempt to assassinate another’s character as Jon Harris and the Christians on my Facebook page are doing? Many are looking to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Confessing Church as examples of how the Church must act today. They see the division between the German Christians and the Confessing Church as a reflection between the orthodox and the progressives of today—and some of that is so—but the story and the reflection is far more complex than many imagine.  Yes, the German Christians as a whole were liberal, even progressive, in their theology. But they were also nationalist. Their vision of the greatness of their nation and their desire to be power players in that nation put them at odds with the Confessing Church.

I return to the insults, the lies—the gift in this case is the privilege of standing on the side of Christ, the crucified Christ.

Perhaps we have forgotten our true calling.

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[1] Henry Louis Gates Jr. “Was Lincoln a Racist?”  https://www.theroot.com/was-lincoln-a-racist-1790868802