Born Again Christian; Biblical Fundamentalist, Received Text-KJV, Dispensational

Born Again Christian; Biblical Fundamentalist, Received Text-KJV, Dispensational

Friday, September 30, 2022

Tyranny Cloaked in Benevolence, with Viva Frei

Jeff Deist - The Zeitgeist Libertarians (PFS 2018)

The Imposers and the Imposed Upon | Jeff Deist

Left-Libertarians and Their Endless Moral Outrage

The Fact-Free COVID Dystopia | Thomas E. Woods. Jr.

Dave Smith on the End of Political Pretense

Propaganda and the 2020 Foreign Policy Debate | Scott Horton

How "Meaningless Words" Create the Narrative | Jeff Deist

Abandoning The Identifier 'Libertarian' w/ Jeff Deist

Hans-Hermann Hoppe - Realistic Libertarianism as Right-Libertarianism

2022 Kept Pure In All Ages Conference

Ann Coulter on Political Insider

Open Borders: A Libertarian Reappraisal | Lew Rockwell

"Cult of the Lamb" - The World's Most Evil Video Game?

Guess Who's #1 On The Christian Gospel Music Charts...

"The Devil's Tool of Distraction!" - Spencer Smith

What If Jesus Was Coming Again In Three Days...And You Knew It?!

"Enemies of the Cross" - Spencer Smith

Dante Bowe KICKED OUT of Maverick City Music!

Joseph Prince’s Teaching About “Peace” DEBUNKED!

The More Sure Word | Scott Aniol

Are Sand Injectites Evidence for a Young Earth? | The Coconino Sandstone...

Hymns Beautiful , Relaxing

THIS Is Why I Hate Prosperity Preaching.

Christian Best Hymns

Dr. Carl Trueman: How is Just Preaching Theology Wrong?

Bigoted Christian holds to the outrageous notion that babies are humans.

CREATIONIST ANARCHO-SOCIALISM

CREATIONISM

Until the post-Reformation revival of Greco-Roman paganism, the Christian world believed in the creation of the world by a transcendent, infinite-personal God. His revelation to us in the Bible records this creation occurring in six days, not more than a few thousand years ago, culminating in the placement of Man -- God's image-bearer -- in a Garden paradise in Eden. Although Man soon decided it was better to rule over others in a wilderness than to serve God and Man in the Garden, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is going to convince Man to return to the Garden, and that the same Spirit will regenerate the entire globe, restoring Edenic conditions. Philosophers and politicians --

• preferring transitory sexual exploitation to Marriage

• and corporate fascism to decentralized productivity

-- masterminded a shift in perspective from Creationism to Evolutionism using State-schools and elite "scientific" spokesmen from the "Military-Industrial Complex." "Creationism" was self-consciously rejected not because it was "unscientific" (all scientists and naturalists were creationists before the modern revival of paganism) but because of the moral demands the Creationist Bible made upon Man. As "creationists" we are "Bible-believers."

ANARCHISM

Jesus said that Gentile kings love to be "archists" -- they love to rule over men, living off them politically rather than serving them economically. But Jesus said His disciples are to be servants, not "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). The origin of the idea to "be as god" and exercise man-centered predestination and dominion over others came from the mouth of Satan (Genesis 3:5). Although the founders of pagan nations quickly rebelled against family-centered economies to form political machines (Genesis 10), it took several centuries for God's chosen people to work up the nerve to openly call for "archist" systems (I Samuel 8) which we now generally call "the State." Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is going to disarm and disable the empires (I Corinthians 15:24-25), either by turning dictators and politicians into disciples and producers or by allowing the empires to self-destruct (Isaiah 10, 13). "Men must choose to be governed by God or they condemn themselves to be ruled by tyrants" (William Penn).

SOCIALISM

When we think of "anarchism" we think of bomb-throwing assassins. When we think of "socialism" we think of dictatorship and the loss of private property. Curiously, "anarcho-socialism" is the complete antithesis of both of these phenomena. Politically speaking, "anarcho-socialists" defend private property, the Family, and a market economy. Bombs, bullets, and ballots are all repudiated. The "anarcho-socialist" is a spontaneous, productive, self-governing servant. But unlike SOME "anarcho-capitalists," who hold that the individual is primary and extol the "virtue of selfishness," "anarcho-socialists" are not unmindful of Man's need for community. The creationist anarcho-socialist is dedicated to obeying Biblical Law, which perfectly balances the protection of the individual and the holistic development and harmony of human community, reflecting the character of the God Who authored it -- in Whom Oneness (monotheism; unity) is equally ultimate with Manyness (trinitarianism; diversity).

For more click this link.

A Calvinist Defense of Anarcho-Capitalism

 

A Calvinist Defense of
Anarcho-Capitalism




What Is The Abomination of Desolation? - Ask Pastor Tim

When Is It Appropriate for Christians to Resist Those in Authority? — St...

Thursday, September 29, 2022

A DEFENSE OF (REFORMED) AMILLENNIALISM

In a series of editorials in the Standard Bearer from April 1, 1995 through December 15, 1996, Prof. David J. Engelsma presents a defense of Amillennialism against Postmillennialism.

Confessions of an Island Anarcho-Theonomist/Theocrat

The word "Theonomy" comes from two Greek words: Theos, "God," and nomos, "law."
"Theonomy" = "God's Law" 

The word "anarchism" comes from two Greek words:
     • "A" is the "alpha privative," meaning "not" or "the absence of."
     • Archein is the Greek word "to rule over."
     • The two vowels are separated by the letter "n" -- A(n)archism.
     • The opposite of an "anarchist" is an "archist."
     • Christians are prohibited from being "archists." (See Mark 10:42-45)

"Theonomy" sometimes has the connotation of "legalism," "Pharisaism," "Puritanism," "Theocracy," "mean-spirited," "executions all day long," and other ideas which suggest that
     • God's Law is a grievous burden, or
     • Theonomists distort and abuse The Bible.
Under a Theonomic State, we are led to believe, there would be no Freedom, only a totalitarian "church-state" where clergymen order the executions of adulterers, really cool homosexuals, and innocent little 5-year olds who expressed some displeasure about their parents. 

"Anarchism" sometimes has the connotation of "lawless," which is clearly contrary to "Theonomy." The word has this connotation because "archists" (those who "rule over") want you to think that they are the source of law. They want us to believe that without "archists" (the State), there would be no law, only disorder. Theonomic Anarchists deny that "archists" are the source of law.

The Biggest Lie in the history of political science is that "anarchists" are bad for society, the implication being that "archists" are good for society.

What separates "Theonomists" from other Bible-believing Christians are the views that
     • the Old Testament Scriptures are authoritative in our day
     • "Law" is not in conflict with "Gospel"

Our brand of "Anarchism" is also known as "anarcho-capitalism." 

It is the position of this website that God's Law is good for mankind and human society -- even the laws in the Old Testament. 

It is the position of this website that the entity called "the State" or "the government" is in violation of God's Law -- even the laws in the Old Testament.

The goal of this website is to persuade Christians to become Theonomists. 
The goal of this website is to persuade Theonomists to become anarchists.

Revelation to Israel. The true history of mankind was known to all mankind. God's supernatural activity in Israel was known to the Gentiles. For example, when the Israeli spies entered the Promised Land, a Canaanite prostitute said to them:
I know that YHWH has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for YHWH your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

Rahab used the name "YHWH" or "Jehovah," the specific name of the God of Abraham and Israel, not just a generic god. There is abundant evidence in the pages of the Bible that the Gentiles had heard (or read) the specifics of the Law God revealed to Israel. "Special Revelation," not just "General Revelation."

Covenant Theology

Here's where the "controversy" might start. Some Christians (like Dispensationalists) view the Old Testament as irrelevant, unless repeated by the New Testament. I'll add the text of some of the verses cited by Bahnsen.
The law revealed by Moses and subsequent Old Testament authors was given within a covenantal administration of God's grace which included not only moral instruction, but gloriously and mercifully "promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come" (Westminster Confession of Faith VII.5). God's revelation itself teaches us that New Covenant believers, who have the law powerfully written on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Hebrews 8:8-12), no longer follow the foreshadows and administrative details of the old covenant. They are obsolete (Hebrews 8:13), having been imposed only until the time when the Messiah would come (Hebrews 9:10; Colossians 2:17). 
Jeremiah 31:33

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This passage is quoted by the writer to the Hebrews:

Hebrews 8:8-12
8 For finding fault with them, He says,

“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I will effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”

When Jeremiah prophesied these words, he said God would write His TORAH on the hearts of Christians. Not just so that we would have them memorized, but that we would obey them. How do you think the Hebrews of Jeremiah's day understood this prophecy? Theonomic? How do you think the Hebrews of Jesus' day understood this letter quoting Jeremiah? A repudiation of Jeremiah's Theonomy, or a strengthening of it? Jeremiah's thought is also seen in the prophet Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 11:19-20
19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep Mine ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
 
Ezekiel 36:27
27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them.
The Prophets of the New Covenant were Theonomic.

But lets' emphasize the last line in Bahnsen's paragraph:

God's revelation itself teaches us that New Covenant believers, who have the law powerfully written on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Hebrews 8:8-12), no longer follow the foreshadows and administrative details of the old covenant. They are obsolete (Hebrews 8:13), having been imposed only until the time when the Messiah would come (Hebrews 9:10; Colossians 2:17). "Theonomists" are often painted as simplistically or "legalistically" advocating the imposition of Mosaic (or Abrahamic) ceremonies, rituals, and liturgies. True, some Theonomists are "high-church," favoring a liturgical worship service, others are not. But both sides agree that we need to do our homework in the pages of the Bible and put our practices under the authority of God's Commandments, properly exegeted and interpreted.
As Bahnsen puts it in his summary:

  
6. In regard to the Old Testament law, the New Covenant surpasses the Old Covenant in glory, power, and finality (thus reinforcing former duties). The New Covenant also supersedes the Old Covenant shadows, thereby changing the application of sacrificial, purity, and "separation" principles, redefining the people of God, and altering the significance of the promised land.

Thus, for example, on the basis of God's own instruction, we no longer resort to animal sacrifices at the temple and a Levitical priest (Hebrews 7-10); the cultic dietary laws have been set aside, for God has cleansed the unclean meats (representing the Gentiles) from which Israel was to be separate or holy (Acts 10).


Theonomy teaches, then, that in regard to the Old Testament law, the New Covenant surpasses the Old Covenant in glory, power, and finality. The New Covenant also supersedes the Old Covenant shadows, thereby changing the application of sacrificial, purity, and "separation" principles, redefining the people of God (e.g., Matthew 21:43), and also altering the significance of the promised land (e.g., Romans 4:13; 1 Peter 1:4). Who could disagree with this?
What is crucial to notice here is that theonomic ethics comes to these conclusions on the basis of Biblical instruction. Men have no right to alter or spurn Old Testament laws on their own say-so, social traditions, or preconceived ideas about what is morally appropriate or inappropriate in the Mosaic law. They have no right to include more in the discontinuity between old and new covenants than can be warranted from divine revelation. Who could disagree with this?
Theonomy thus teaches that we should presume that Old Testament laws continue to be morally binding in the New Testament unless they are rescinded or modified by further revelation. Theonomy's methodology stands squarely against that of dispensational theology which maintains that all of the Old Testament commandments should be deemed -- in advance of exegesis -- to be abrogated, unless they are repeated in the New Testament. Obviously Dispensationalists disagree with this.
On this issue the words of our Lord are definitive and clear in Matthew 5:17-19. Jesus declared that he did not come [to] abrogate the Old Testament Law and Prophets, but to give them their full measure. John Murray wrote that Jesus' "fulfillment" of the law "refers to the function of validating and confirming the law and the prophets" (Principles of Conduct, p. 150). With respect to the Old Testament's moral standards, Jesus went on to insist that until the end of the physical cosmos, not the slightest stroke of the law will pass away. "Therefore whoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus confirmed the validity of the law, even down to its least commandment, and censures anyone who dares to teach otherwise (without authorization from the Lawgiver Himself). New Testament Christians must operate on the presumption of continuity with the Old Testament moral code. 
Matthew 5:17-20 (KJV)
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to πληρῶσαι.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be γένηται.
There's a lot of heated debate about the meaning of those two Greek words. What do they mean? You don't have to know Greek to figure it out. What Jesus is saying is that He came to create conditions in which the follower of Christ is committed to obeying the law and the prophets, and teaching others to obey them as well. Some anti-theonomists claim that Jesus "fulfilled" God's Law for us, therefore we don't have to keep it (compare Hodge above). Sounds like the Pharisees, who said it was enough to keep their own man-made traditions instead of God's Law. The next verse makes clear what the Greek words mean:

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

"Doing" and "teaching" are not things Jesus came to destroy or to abrogate. He came to fulfill the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, of making a people for Himself who would be heartfelt Theonomists.

I've heard J.D. Hall on more than one video describe Bahnsen's exposition of Matthew 5:17-19 in Theonomy in Christian Ethics as taking up "half the book." If you have your copy of Bahnsen's book, place one finger at page 39, where Bahnsen begins his exposition of Matthew 5:17-19, and another finger at page 86, where he finishes looking at that passage. Hold all those pages between your thumb and index finger. Does it look like "half the book?" Maybe it seems like "half the book" to anti-theonomists because Bahnsen put "lotsa Greek stuff" in that chapter. (And they probably didn't read the other "half" either.)

Many people think that Theonomists are "Pharisees" and "legalists." But Jesus says His disciples are more righteous (Law-abiding) than those who use God's Word for their own selfish purposes:

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven

It is one of the biggest anti-Theonomic myths that the Pharisees were pro-nomian. To the contrary, the religious leaders of Jesus' day were "hypocrites," as Jesus repeatedly said. Outwardly they postured as Theonomists, but they were actually committed to evading God's Law, not putting it into practice. The legalistic religious leaders were the enemies of God and the enemies of Theonomy:

Mark 7
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
         ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
         But their heart is far from Me.
         7 And in vain they worship Me,
         Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Theonomists are not Pharisees. Theonomists are "Bibliolators." They are the New Covenant believers Jeremiah and Ezekiel described.

King of Kings
In what sense is Jesus a "King" or "political" figure? Isn't that breaching wall of separation between religion and politics? Jesus is a political figure because he is the Christ, the Messiah, the King of kings. By His Word,
He shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off;
Micah 4:3

His Word "rebukes" kings now. Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Dictators only wish that this rebuking did not begin until after His Second Coming.

  Here is more from Bahnsen's summary. His article on the left continues below.
 
 
We should presume that Old Testament standing laws[note26] continue to be morally binding in the New Testament, unless they are rescinded or modified by further revelation.[note27]
26. Standing law" is used here for policy directives applicable over time to classes of individuals (e.g., do not kill; children, obey your parents; merchants, have equal measures; magistrates, execute rapists), in contrast to particular directions for an individual (e.g., the order for Samuel to anoint David at a particular time and place) or positive commands for distinct incidents (e.g., God's order for Israel to exterminate certain Canaanite tribes at a certain point in history).

27. By contrast, it is characteristic of dispensational theology to hold that Old Covenant commandments should be a priori deemed as abrogated - unless repeated in the New Testament (e.g., Charles Ryrie, "The End of the Law," Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 124 [1967], pp. 239-242).

God's revealed standing laws are a reflection of His immutable moral character and, as such, are absolute in the sense of being non-arbitrary, objective, universal, and established in advance of particular circumstances (thus applicable to general types of moral situations).
Christian involvement in politics calls for recognition of God's transcendent, absolute, revealed law as a standard by which to judge all social codes.
Civil magistrates in all ages and places are obligated to conduct their offices as ministers of God, avenging divine wrath against criminals and giving an account on the Final Day of their service before the King of kings, their Creator and Judge.
The general continuity which we presume with respect to the moral standards of the Old Testament applies just as legitimately to matters of socio-political ethics as it does to personal, family, or ecclesiastical ethics.
The civil precepts of the Old Testament (standing 'judicial" laws) are a model of perfect social justice for all cultures, even in the punishment of criminals. Outside of those areas where God's law prescribes their intervention and application of penal redress, civil rulers are not authorized to legislate or use coercion (e.g., the economic marketplace).
The morally proper way for Christians to correct social evils which are not under the lawful jurisdiction of the state is by means of voluntary and charitable enterprises or the censures of the home, church, and marketplace - even as the appropriate method for changing the political order of civil law is not violent revolution, but dependence upon regeneration, re-education, and gradual legal reform.
"Theonomic" ethics likewise rejects legal positivism and maintains that there is a "law above the (civil) law" to which appeal can be made against the tyranny of rulers and the anarchy of overzealous reformers alike (#9). Since Jesus Christ is Lord over all (cf. #3), civil magistrates are His servants and owe obedience to His revealed standards for them (#9). There is no Biblically based justification (cf. #5) for exempting civil authorities from responsibility to the universal standards of justice (cf. #7) found in God's Old Testament revelation (#10). Therefore, in the absence of Biblically grounded argumentation which releases the civil magistrate from Old Testament social norms (cf. #5, #6), it follows from our previous premises that in the exercise of their offices rulers are morally responsible to obey the revealed standards of social justice in the Old Testament law (#11). This does not mean, however, that civil rulers have unlimited authority to intrude just anywhere into the affairs of men and societies (# 11 #12); their legitimate sphere is restricted to what God's word has authorized them to do -- thus calling for a limited role for civil government. Finally, Christians are urged to use persuasive and "democratic" means of social reform - nothing like the strong-arm tactics slanderously attributed to the theonomic program (#12).[note28]

28. For example, the main thrust of a widely read article on theonomic ethics by Rodney Clapp in Christianity Today, vol. 31, no. 3 (Feb. 20, 1987), was captured in its title: "Democracy as Heresy." He recklessly accuses theonomists of seeking "the abolition of democracy" (p. 17), when surely Clapp is aware that the word 'democracy' is susceptible to an incredibly wide range of definitions and connotations (e.g., from an institution of direct rule by every citizen without mediating representatives to a governmental procedure where representatives are voted in and out of office by the people, to the simple concepts of majority vote or social equality, etc.). Theonomists are opposed to some of those ideas, but surely not to what is commonly understood by the word: namely, democratic procedures for choosing representatives to rule. Indeed, in reply to Mr. Clapp's inflammatory rhetoric, Dr. Gary North very appropriately pointed out as a historian the irony that it was precisely our Puritan (and theonomic) forefathers who fought for and established this kind of "democracy" in the Western world!

That general continuity which we presume with respect to the moral standards of the Old Testament applies to political ethics. John Murray called it a fatal error "if it is thought that the Christian revelation, the Bible, does not come to the civil authority with a demand for obedience to its direction and precept as stringent and inescapable as it does to the individual, to the family, and to the church" All political entities are required to be "Theonomic." Any doctrine of "separation of church and state" which says otherwise is a lie.
  OK, we've surveyed the first controversial issue regarding "Theonomy" -- the presumption that the Old Testament Scriptures are authoritative in the New Covenant age.
Now here's where we diverge from Bahnsenian or Rushdoonian Theonomy.

Our claim is that God's Law prohibits the formation and maintenance of "the State."
We also believe that God's Law prohibits the violent overthrow of the State.
I guess that makes us "anarcho-pacifists."

  
Anarcho-Theonomy
Bahnsen says entities calling themselves "the State" or "the government" or "the civil magistrate" are obligated to follow God's Commandments in the Scriptures (including commandments in "The Law and the Prophets"). I agree. I also believe entities calling themselves
     • "La Cosa Nostra" ("Our Thing"),
     • "Yakuza,"
     • "Solntsevskaya Bratva" ("Russian Mafia"),
     • "Sinaloa Cartel," or
     • any of dozens of other similar criminal entities,
are also morally obligated to follow God's Commandments in the Old Testament.

In addition to being the Head of the church, Christ has been made King over all other earthly kings (1 Timothy 6:15), the "ruler of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5); to Him by right they owe allegiance and obedience. He has been invested with all authority in heaven as well as on earth (Matthew 28:18), and it is to be our prayer that God's will be done on earth just as perfectly as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jehovah has established His Son as King upon His holy hill, and thus the kings and judges of the earth are now required to submit reverently to Him and serve the Lord (Psalm 2:6-12). What happens if entities calling themselves "civil governments" take seriously the Law of God, submit to Christ the King and serve Him as Lord? What happens if "governments" repent of theft, murder and vengeance? I would say they would "go out of business." Nowhere in Scripture does God command human beings to conquer other people groups, or form "the State." By definition, "The State" violates God's Law by stealing, murdering, and taking vengeance. Most of the Bible is filled with criticisms of empires. Entire books are dedicated to chronicling kings and judges. In spite of this, most Christians believe the Body of Christ should not be involved in politics -- that is, should not oppose the most concentrated, well-funded machinery of evil on the planet.
Christians in general -- even non-Theonomists -- have a generally positive view of "the State." Our contention is that the Bible has a generally negative view of the State.

Of course, God works all things -- even evil things -- together for good.

So theonomy teaches that civil rulers are morally obligated to enforce those laws of Christ, found throughout the Scriptures, which are addressed to magistrates (as well as to refrain from coercion in areas where God has not prescribed their intervention). As Paul wrote in Romans 13:1-10, magistrates -- even the secular rulers of Rome -- are obligated to conduct their offices as "ministers of God," avenging God's wrath (compare 13:4 with 12:19) against criminal evil-doers. They will give an account on the Final Day of their service before the King of kings, their Creator and Judge. Christian involvement in politics calls for recognition of God's transcendent, absolute, revealed law as a standard by which to judge all social codes and political policies. The Scottish theologian, William Symington, well said:
"It is the duty of nations, as subjects of Christ, to take His law as their rule. They are apt to think enough that they take, as their standard of legislation and administration, human reason, natural conscience, public opinion or political expediency. None of these, however, nor indeed all of them together, can supply a sufficient guide in affairs of state"
(Messiah the Prince, p. 234).

I believe a strict Theonomic application would not only shrink the size of government -- by cutting welfare, education, and other activities which are carried out more humanely, effectively and beneficially by families, charities, and churches -- but would abolish civil governments entirely.

Christian Anarchism in a Nutshell

God created human beings in a social form we would call "Patriarchy." When Noah got off the ark with his family, all human beings existed in a state of "Patriarchy." Abraham the Patriarch had perhaps thousands of people in his family as a result of evangelism, domestic apprenticeship, job-creation, charity, and home-church. Romans 13, a much-misunderstood passage, prohibits Christians from violently resisting demonic empires, but does not condone imperial conquest and plunder of the weak by the strong.

Romans 13: A Christian Anarchist Perspective
Jesus prohibits His followers from being "archists" (Mark 10:42-45), which logically means Christians, while orderly and peaceful at all times, are technically "an-archists."

Theonomic Oligarchy?
I agree that everyone -- civil magistrates, mafia hit-men, prostitutes -- are obligated to submit to Christ by obeying His inscriptured Word. I worry that many Theonomists envision little more than a "Theonomic Oligarchy" in which a small plurality of Theonomic voter-activists elect a slate of "Theonomic candidates" to political office to execute the unrepentant demographic.  (I also consider myself a "Theocrat.")

The Apostle Paul affirmed that one of the uses of the Old Testament law which we know to be good is the restraint of criminal behavior (1 Timothy 1:8-10). Jesus endorsed the penal sanctions of the Old Testament law, condemning those who would make them void by their own human traditions (Matthew 15:3-4). For Matthew 15, see Mark 7, above.
Paul likewise upheld the penal standards of the Mosaic judicial law (Acts 25:11). Here we have the first use of the phrase "Mosaic judicial law." This raises many questions.
First, with regard to Paul in Acts 25. An argument can be made that Paul did not "uphold the standards of the Mosaic judicial law," but rather appealed to Roman law under Caesar. This assumes that his Jewish opponents were defenders of the "Mosaic judicial law" (which they were not, as we have seen). The "Mosaic judicial law" is not an issue in Acts 25. Paul isn't approving his own execution any more than Jeremiah did:

Acts 25:11
11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.

Jeremiah 26:11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying,
14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

Bahnsen makes an assumption in Acts 25 based on another text, Romans 13. Bahnsen believes that in Romans 13, God authorizes, or even mandates, the existence of an entity we call "the State." As we said above, all human beings, and all bodies, corporations, organizations, networks, syndicates, leagues, etc., in which human beings may associate themselves, are obligated to obey all of God's Law in the Bible. This includes entities we might call "the State" or "the Mafia."

But Romans 13 is addressed to Christians in their capacity as "private" citizens. It is not a mandate for "the State." In Romans 13, Paul calls "the State" "the powers," a term which everywhere in the New Testament (and in the Greco-Roman world at the time) signified a demonic nexus of tyranny. Paul is continuing his theme in Romans 12, which is to submit to evil in a "pacifist" manner, rather than respond to evil with more evil (violent revolution, in the case of the State). Romans 13 has arguably been the most disastrously misinterpreted passage in the Bible.

Hundreds of millions of people murdered.
Billions of people enslaved.
Trillions of dollars of property confiscated or destroyed.
In the 20th century alone.

We have undertaken an analysis of Romans 13 from an anarcho-theonomic perspective here:

 www.Romans13.com

Second, is there such a thing as ""Mosaic judicial law?" Did God give Israel laws through Moses which were intended to be carried out by an entity we today call "the State?" No.

The author of Hebrews leaves us no doubt about the inspired New Testament perspective on the Mosaic penalties, saying "every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward" (2:2). God requires that judges not punish too harshly or too leniently, but assign a penalty proportionate to the crime (cf. "an eye for an eye..."). To uphold genuine justice in their punishments, magistrates need the direction of God's law. In observing the law which God revealed to Israel, all nations should respond "what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law?" (Deuteronomy 4:8). Nearly all scholars are agreed that the lex talionis ("eye for an eye") was intended by God to temper the quest for vengeance which those in power often sought. Lamech wanted seven eyes for one of his own. (See R.J. Rushdoony, "The Song of Lamech," Revolt Against Maturity, 97-101.) God's Law is clearly a limit on tyrannical State power.
But is there in God's Law a requirement or mandate for the existence of "the State?"

  I think it is an error to speak of "the judicial law." Here's why.
Bahnsen speaks of "penalties," "punishments," and the "penal law." These phrases carry with them assumptions about the legitimacy of political institutions. (The word "political" comes from the Greek word polis.)

Even if you agree with these assumptions, anarcho-capitalists have shown how "judicial law" or "penal codes" can be more equitably, efficiently, and humanely administered by competing judicial agencies in a freed market, rather than a centralized judicial monopoly called "the State."

  But I think we have completely mis-read the "judicial law." I think part of what Bahnsen calls "judicial law" is actually part of the category of law which Theonomists call "the ceremonial law."
For the most orthodox of Theonomic reasons, I believe "capital punishment" -- a liturgical shedding of blood -- was a "ceremonial" law, and is therefore abolished. For all crimes. That might surprise many opponents of Theonomy, who assume that "Theonomy" means nothing if not the execution of homosexuals and adulterers.

This is obviously a controversial position, and requires something of a "paradigm shift."

Imagine someone who says that the abolition of animal sacrifices commanded in the Mosaic law would lead to social chaos. "Those daily sacrifices were a powerful reminder of the odiousness of sin and God's holy and righteous standards," they might say. "Abolish the daily sacrifices and society will plunge into depravity and lawlessness." Sounds like a compelling argument. But shedding animal blood is a blasphemous affront to the work of Christ on the cross.

Shedding human blood is too.

The case for "capital punishment" as a "ceremonial law" can be made in three passages:

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 prescribes the shedding of blood in cases of unsolved homicide. All Christians -- Theonomist and non-Theonomist alike -- agree that the shedding of blood required in cases of unsolved homicide is a "ceremonial" requirement.
But when the homicide suspect is found, tried, and convicted, all of the sudden that ceremonial shedding of blood is called an "execution," part of the "judicial law."
The first recorded command for the shedding of blood is in Genesis 9:4-6. The subject is blood, not State power.
What we call "capital punishment" has as its central purpose atonement. Blood must be shed to make atonement, according to Numbers 35:33.
These three passages establish the "theology of capital punishment," and show it to be a ritual shedding of blood to make atonement. In our modern minds, these passages are filed under "capital punishment" and given a civil/judicial interpretation. But that's not a Biblical "theology of capital punishment." That's a secular/Roman law handling of the texts.

Other crimes which we call "capital crimes" are spoken of in the Bible in the same way as murder. For example, in Leviticus 20, it is repeatedly said of those who commit capital crimes, "their blood shall be upon them," and not upon a scapegoat or sacrificial lamb.

We are not allowed to shed blood after Calvary. Literally implementing Deuteronomy 21:1-9 would be an insult to the blood of Christ, everyone agrees. But the same holds true with Numbers 35:33. Same with Genesis 9:4-6 (and Genesis 8:20f.) We have to come up with other responses to "capital crimes" consistent with the rest of God's Law. This is, admittedly, a big assignment.

In any case, "capital punishment" -- the ultimate power -- was given to "Noah and his sons" (Genesis 9) as a family, not as "the State" Even if blood still needs to be shed, it can be done on a patriarchal level without the monopolistic institution we call "the State."
Rather than shedding blood, Theonomists should work for Christian Reconstruction in families, schools, businesses, and all other areas of life, and then blanket society with voluntary dispute resolution organizations. There is a tendency among some Theonomists to focus on executions and ignore the much larger task of social reconstruction which will ultimately diminish the number of murders and other "capital crimes." As Christians gain social influence, even the unconverted will feign Theonomic obedience and come under the market institutions and social order of a global Christocracy.

  I don't consider "restitution" a civil "punishment." When one repents, one has a duty to undo the damage done by his sin. The duty of restitution stands even in the absence of socialism, fascism, or any other form of "the State." It is a duty of restoration, and Biblical commands regarding restitution are the path to justice as righteousness, not "justice" as state inflicted vengeance ("punishment").
Replacing "the State" is a big job, but a necessary one.

Although Israel as a political body has expired -- and along with it its judicial law as a constitution -- the general equity of those judicial laws is still required (Westminster Confession XIX.4). Similarly, when a public library goes out of business (and your library card thus expires), the truth of what was written in its books is not abolished or changed. Political codes today ought to incorporate the moral requirements which were culturally illustrated in the God-given, judicial laws of Old Testament Israel. George Gillespie, widely regarded as the most authoritative theologian at the Westminster Assembly, wrote: "the will of God concerning civil justice and punishments is no where so fully and clearly revealed as in the judicial law of Moses.... He who was punishable by death under the judicial law is punishable by death still" ("Wholesome Severity Reconciled...," 1645). I agree with Rushdoony that the Westminster Confession at this point is corrupted by "natural law" thinking inherited from statist Greco-Roman philosophy. The Reformers and Puritans were not as consistently Biblical in their thinking about Biblical Law as Rushdoony was centuries later. As someone ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which is confessionally tied to the Westminster Standards, Bahnsen was unable to break free from those standards where they were not consistently Biblical. More here: The Theonomy Debate
The concept of "judicial law" in the Bible is a hold-over from Greco-Roman thinking. "Judicial law" is a concept imposed on the Bible rather than exegeted (from the text of the Bible). God did not give laws to "the State" in a way that approves of the perpetual existence of the State. (Deuteronomy 17 should not be separated from 1 Samuel 8.)

Those who do not favor taking God's law as the ultimate standard for civil morality and public justice will be forced to substitute some other criterion. The civil magistrate cannot function without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not the revealed law of God, then in some form or expression it will have to be a law of men -- the standard of self-law or autonomy. Men must choose in their civil affairs to be governed by God's law (theonomy), to be ruled by tyrants, or acquiesce to increasing social degeneracy. 
It may seem like "Theonomy" is all about politics. This should not be the case. The bulk of Bahnsen's lengthy treatise on Theonomy does not discuss politics, but only the basic concept of the abiding validity of the Old Testament generally. More specifically, the book deals with the basic objections to God's commanding us at all, which are often the "Law vs. Grace" or "Law vs. Gospel" objections. This is really the heart of most objections to Theonomy. That and executing adulterers.

Bahnsen's particular application of Theonomy to the State is not the Theonomic thesis itself, but only an "application of the thesis." Ditto for applications made by R.J. Rushdoony and Gary North. Indeed, the section in Bahnsen's book which does address politics is called "Application of the Thesis to the State" (p. 315).

Bahnsen writes in his summary volume, By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today,

[T]hose who agree with the foundational conclusion of [Theonomy] -- that God's Law is binding today unless Scripture reveals otherwise -- may very well disagree among themselves over particular matters in interpreting what God's law demands at this or that point, or ... may disagree over how these demands should be followed today (p. 9).

Leaders of the "Christian Reconstruction" movement have had their disagreements on the application of the Theonomic thesis. Rushdoony and North disagreed to such an extent that they weren't even talking to each other! Bahnsen disagreed with Rushdoony on several issues, as we've noted.

"Theonomy" means God has the right to command man. It does not mean "the State" does.

Summary
God created human beings in a Family. The institution of a priesthood was temporary. The creation of "the State" was an act of rebellion against God's Law. That means society should be a patriarchal (family-centered) Christocracy.

Where in God's Law are human beings commanded to create an entity which has the right to compel other people, and the right to fund this compulsion by the forcible extraction of wealth ("taxation")?

Note: verses which command people to "submit" to such compulsion are not mandates for such compulsion. Jesus says (Matthew 5:41) that we are not to resist conscription by a foreign military occupation army, but Jesus was not saying it was morally mandatory for Italy (Rome) to invade Israel.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Evolution on Trial DEBATE; Dr. Kent Hovind vs Dr. Jay Bundy - Special E...

The Importance of Spreading the Full Gospel Message

Sometimes it is misunderstood that since God unconditionally elects the Saved and choses to not elect the reprobate that we as Christians have no place in the process of redemption. This stance which is really Sub Calvinist and unbiblical is often called Hyper Calvinist. 

This is a horrible name as it is not Reformed or Calvinistic in anyway. The truth is that we are to spread the gospel as that is how the elect not yet in space and time regenerated find out about The Gospel. Yet, we do not do the saving only God can regenerate a depraved heart. 

However, the news is good because of what happened on the Cross. It happened because of our depravity and only God himself could atone for what we deserved. He took everything on the Cross we deserved of God's Wrath because he desired to save some from that said wrath. 

None of us deserve salvation as Adam was God's Head in covenant with us. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God when tempted by The Evil One. Thus depraving through original sin all of us. The remedy to come under the heads-up of New Adam or Second Adam Christ Jesus whom did pass the test. 

His righteousness is imputed to us and our guiltiness was imputed to Him. Making those saved have both a continuing sinner nature and also now Saint. We will live a Godly Life to the best of our ability. Never perfect, but, we continue to strive to live holy lives. For by nature God is Holy and we are not. 

That is the Gospel in short and I plead with you to repent and confess. To submit to Christ's Reign and live accordingly. Your eternal destiny very well may hang on this very post. 

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Remembering Humility in a time of stopped distract

As I lay me down to sleep tonight the need for Humility rang through my head. I have been making a lot of pronouncement about the ideal this and that lately. We need to all remember that we are not in charge, but, God is.

I might have my ideas about what would be the best whatever it may be. However, if God did not decree it from Eternity Past it will not come to be. We all need to continue to rest in God's Providence knowing He reigns over all things from His Throne in Heaven.

He is sovereign over His Creation and as His Creatures we are not sovereign over anything. We can come up with all kinds of lofty ideas. Yet, God will not let our lofty ideas come to life unless He too decreed that said idea would come to pass. God's Providence is the ultimate cause of all things and I mean ALL things. There is not a maverick quark, or quantum unit, or higs boson, atom or molecule. ALL THINGS are part of God's pre-creation Eternal Decree.

No matter what it turns out the secondary cauee of a situation is. The primary cause which used the secondary cause for His Purposes is God. This is especially true to remember in a situation like this hurricane. God Decreed this to be to the own glorious praise of His Glorious Grace and His own purposes.

We need to understand how small we are in the Big Picture and how Holy, Holy, Holy other God is from his Creation. This storm should also remind us of the Wrath we all deserved from our conception. Of our Totally Depraved nature as the offspring of Adam and Eve. We sin because we are conceived as sinners. Human nature is to be born a son of Wrath and a slave of Satan.

We literally come into this world, if not regenerated in the womb, as a son or daughter of the Devil and on their team. Due to what happened in The Garden of Eden. We are born traitors and rebels to God though original sin. We all deserve; death, hell, and eternal damnation. It is by God's Sovereign Free Grace and His choice alone that he Saves some to be His Children.

We need to be humble and accept that God knows what He is doing and He is in charge. We are not in charge and have no right to demand Him not to or to do something. He will answer our prayers His way and on His terms not ours. 

Force is required to have a stable society

The problem with our current States is not the use of force, but, illegitimate use of force. All stable society requires a law code and a justice system forces people to not do unjust things. It is wrong that the secular and atheistic Libertarian philosophy sees force itself as an evil. As opposed to comparing the justified use of force (including initiating it when nessecary) to when it is unjustified.

All law codes, even the most local and even a completely market based one requires force to enforce it. This includes initiating force against some people and groups. For example; one does not wait till there is casualties to stop someone who's product will kill someone from being able to introduce it to the marketplace. This is initiating force before the party or parties have initiated force from their end.

Working to eliminate the sexul slaveries of the commercial sex industries (pornography included) does not wait and cannot wait for them to entrap a person into it. Renewing the normality of Creation ordinance in sexuality and gender cannot wait until someone in said group threatens violence. Even local ordinances require force to back them up.

Force is anything which stops someone from doing something they want.
Which means all murderers, rapists, thieves, and so forth will always need to be forced to not get what they want. Or a society could not exist.  I would argue that civil governments should be using force to defend God's Abiding Moral Law and use force as much as needed to keep society and civilization stable.

Which means I agree that force should be used when someone aggresses against their neighbors. However, the Non Aggression Principle making only retaliatory force legitimate ignores the legitimate use of initiating force when that is the only option. We must initiate force for example to stop someone from harming others before they do if we have ample evidence they will.

This would need to happen even in an anarchic-Libertarian world. Every time you enforce the NAP on people you are using force and forcing a moral code on them. ALL laws legislate morality on a society. The question is, "is it God's Law or Man's Law?"

I would want to make adultery enforced against, but, I do not agree with being in everyone's bedroom to do it. However, it should be enforced in society. When someone makes accusations of adultery and there is ample evidence one does not wait for the guilty party to initiate physical force to force them into court. They will be brought to court and it dealt with there even if the Court was private and not State ran.

I think we need to do something about sexual immorality. At some point of enough of it force needs to be used. Sexual immorality can be enforced against at the extreme ends of the spectrum by the use of as much force as nessecary. Most of it would be done via courts and not a prison system. However, forms of it that contain sexual assaults and harassment or worse would call for police getting involved. Which equals the use of force.

Another example is drugs. Even if you disagree with the War on Drugs you would not want Harroin vending machines out in public spaces where Children can get at them. To support this being stopped is to support the initiating of force against anyone being able to do such things. I personally do not think the solution to any issues with the Drug War is to just have a free for all where there are no drug laws at all.

Coveting cannot be legislated against as that would be thought crime. However, acting on that desire by taking peoples stuff is a form of policing coveting as much as policing the stealing that comes from it. Similarly, blaspheming in speech cannot be policed, but, acting on it by resurrecting blasphemous statues or Publicly endorsing Satanism or False God's can be without enfringing on anyone's rights.

Again, I would prefer all of this to be as localized and decentralized as possible. However, I do support it being enforced by whatever civil magistrate exists where all other non governmental means are unable to deal with the issue. I am not against force. I am in favor of force used properly. That is the main difference between a Christian Libertarian with a Concice integrated Biblical Worldview of society and a standard Libertarian that would support say The Libertarian Party with its NAP foundations.

God is a God of Order not Chaos

One of the mistakes people make when looking at the world and its messed up ways is to assume there is too much order. That natural Heirarchies and/or meritocracy is not Godly and a creation of the World system. Quite the opposite is true God is a God of Order and not chaos. Natural hierarchies based on God's ordering of Creation and society are good and not evil.

Egalitarianism is as Murray Rothbard said, " a revolt against God's nature." Women and men are different and have been made to be compliments to each other not the same. Some peope are naturally better at certain things than others. Some people are better leaders in endeavors than others. Others are better at helping people with leadership roles than being a leader themselves. Some roles were divinely meant for some and not others. 

For example; God's Creation Order goes God The Father, God the Son Christ, then man, then Woman and children. Man is the glory of God and woman is the Glory of Man. This does not in anyway condone abuse or other mistreating of women. However, they are to be submissive to their own Husband's and men are to love women as Christ loves His Church.

Women are forbidden by nature of being women from leading roles in Churches. No pastors, elders, deacons and no teaching men in the Church only the other women. Or working in the Nursery.

Complementarianism is part of God's Order of Creation and Egalitarianism is a direct threat to the Creation Ordinance set by God in The Holy Bible. Anything other than Equality Under The Law is a revolt against God Himself and not compatible with His Authority set down in Scripture.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Luke 16:19-31 "Communion of the Saints"

Is Science Incompatible with Faith in God? — Stand to Reason Podcast

Hit The Bar (Downunder) - is Andy Stanley creating false followers of Je...

Children Targets of Evil - John MacArthur

Answering The Challenges – Mike Riddle

From the Reformation to Austrian Economics

You Should Know Herman Dooyeweerd - by Gregory Baus and Steve Bishop

OPC History

Toward a Libertarian Foreign Policy (Jim Antle)

How Government Solved the Health Care Crisis - Animation

Corporations versus The Market (by Roderick Long)

Interview with Herman Dooyeweerd

Roy Clouser on Herman Dooyeweerd / Reformational Philosophy

Reformed Biblical-theological Foundations for Christian Cultural Activity

Sphere Sovereignty by Gregory Baus

Why John Locke’s Conception Of “Natural Law” Is Horribly Unbiblical

Luke Sherman 12th grade thesis: The goal of political correctness is to ...

Luke Sherman 11th grade thesis: Theocratic libertarianism most biblical ...

What is Christian Libertarianism?

Libertarians and the Ukrainian War - Why do they oppose foreign interven...

A Libertarian Pandemic Policy

Jonathan McIntosh: Theonomy, Westminster, and Libertarianism

God's Law or Chaos


 

Theocratic Libertarianism / Douglas Wilson

How Conservative Churches Cave on Transgenderism | Doug Wilson

A Christian View of War - Douglas Wilson

What Does it Mean to Be a "Conservative?" | Doug Wilson

Coronavirus and Romans 13

Reformation and Resistance -- Dr. Glenn Sunshine -- Reformation Celebrat...

Conversations: Glenn Sunshine on Limited Government, Liberty, and Christ...

Authority, Submission, and the Limits of Civil Government / Doug Wilson ...

FULL SERMON - Directing Government to its Duty - Romans 13:1-4 (Feb 14, ...

TM22-8 The Pilgrim’s Guide to Standing Firm (Mike Riccardi) (Selected Sc...

The Wrath of God Revealed - Romans 1:18-32 (January 16, 2022)

Formerly Jailed Canadian Pastor James Coates Shares FULL Story, How His ...

The Tyranny of Totalitarianism - Romans 13:1-4 (January 2, 2022)

Romans 13 and Protestant Resistance Theory

Limited Government and Christian Resistance: Douglas Wilson and Glenn Su...

Resistance, Revolution, Reformation, and Romans (13, That Is) | Douglas ...

A Biblical Argument for Self Defense

Romans 13:1-4 "God and Government" - The Men's Bible Study with Steven J...

Bible Byte Romans 13:1-8

Romans 13 Explained: Submission to Government Authority and Civil Disobe...

Explaining Romans 13 & Christians Being Subject to Governing Authorities

John MacArthur Romans 13 - Should a Christian Submit to a Despotic Oppressive State

A Biblical View of the Separation of Church and State: Romans 13:1-7

I Remember Dolores Cannon: False Christ, Past Lives & Aliens

Kent Hovind Evolution Exposed Marathon !

When Government Rewards Evil and Punishes Good

Government in Biblical Perspective (Romans 13:1)

Why Christians Submit to the Government (Romans 13:2-5)

Theocracy, Theonomy, Autonomy & Christian Anarchy w Patrick Studabaker

Daniel 3 Ep. 1 - Christian Anarchism = Theonomy? No King But Christ vs T...

2021 Kept Pure in All Ages Conference

The Touch of Jesus | Luke 5:12-16 | Richard Zekveld | Chapel

Part 2 Against All Opposition Teaching Series

(Part 1): Against All Opposition (Teaching Series)

Is Evolution Viable? W/ Dr. Jason Lisle

Presupp vs. Classical Apologetics: Is There REALLY a Difference?

The Historical Adam

Every Believer Confident: Presup for the Everyday Believer

Is Young Earth Creationism Biblically Problematic?

Basic Training for defending the faith by Dr. Greg Bahnsen

What does it mean to work out salvation with fear and trembling (Philipp...

So Tauren Wells Preached At Elevation Church…

More and More! - Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon Sermon

Matthew 6:13 Pray for God's Guidance

Feike Asma: Psalm 97 vers 1

Oprah Winfrey, He Lied to You

God's Covenant with Adam - Pastor Patrick Hines Sermon

UNBOXING TBS's NEW Calfskin Textus Receptus Greek New Testament

L24 Four Keys to Contentment, Philippians 4:10-13

They Sold Their Soul to The WOKE "God" - Voddie Baucham VS Matt Chandler, Max Lucado


 

Fighting Your Battles: Every Christian's Playbook for Victory - Pt 2 wit...

Dear Christian: Is Confirmation Bias Making You Delusional?

Romans 13 must not be rebelled against in the name of getting a Christian Nation.

When people see my political worldview it would be easy to assume I support not obeying the Government we currently have at all. This would be a mistake as Roman's 13 clearly states we are to submit and obey to all governmental laws that do not instruct us to go against The Holy Bible and God's Word. I do not support some sort of violent revolution or rebellious overthrowing of the current regime.

I am for peaceful transformation from the bottom up and not rebellion or revolting. I agree that we need to abide by all laws that do not order us to go against God's word. Thus, I agree with the command to submit and obey all authorities outside of when they order you to go against something found in The Holy Bible. It does us no good to end up in prison or dead if we wish to gradually change towards the goal of a more Christian Nation. 

Besides it is a command and not a suggestion to obey and submit to all authorities whenever possible as all authorities are setup by God Himself or torn down by God Himself.

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation - Jonathan Edwards Sermon

The Monster Dragged to Light! - Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon Sermon

The Joy of Sabbath Rest - Pastor Patrick Hines Sermon

The Modern Church's Sissified Jesus | Voddie Baucham

Government: Christian Worldview with R.C. Sproul

But God (Part 1 of 2) - 09/23/22

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Free To Choose - Milton Friedman on The Welfare System (1978) | Thomas S...

Milton Friedman Speaks: Is Capitalism Humane? (B1227) - Full Video

Robert Higgs | Against Leviathan

Growth of the US Welfare State | Robert Higgs

Crisis and Leviathan: The Trick that Works Every Time | Robert Higgs

Robert Higgs: "Is Government the Problem?"

Warfare, Welfare, and the State | Robert Higgs

How America's Welfare System Hurts the People It's Supposed to Help

After the Welfare State - Tom Palmer

Dr Thomas DiLorenzo How America Became a Corporate Welfare State - Lesso...

Tom G Palmer - The Morality of Capitalism


 

Tom Palmer: the inevitable collapse of the welfare state

Ron Paul: The way income tax is collected is unconstitutional

Taxation is Theft: The Progressive Voice Debunked

Does Capitalism Exploit Workers? - Learn Liberty

Tax Reform: Simplification is a Good Policy, with Antony Davies

Taxation is theft: Judge Napolitano

The Most Dangerous Monopoly: When Caution Kills

Prof. Antony Davies: Unintended Consequences of Price Controls

Charity vs. Taxation – What is the Difference?

Brad Pitt No Longer Atheist—Delighted with Kanye!

From Trans to Christ: Sophia Galvin Interview - The Becket Cook Show

🤔Taxation Is STILL Theft

Yes, Hartmann, Taxation Is Theft

Trudeau faces Poilievre in QP for first time since he became Tory leader

Ron Paul: We don’t need the IRS

Taxation Isn't Theft Because It's Not Your Money

Why Taxation Is Theft

Why Taxation is Theft

Judge Napolitano: Why Taxation is Theft, Abortion is Murder, & Gov't is ...

Even Ronald Reagan Knew Taxation Was Theft!

What Romans 13 Says About Submission to Government Authority

Taxation is Theft. Here's Why:

Taxation is Theft by Steven Crowder

Debunking Eight Arguments Against 'Taxation Is Theft'

Prof. Brian Domitrovic: Why High Taxes Benefit The Rich, Explained

Ron Paul: Taxation Is Theft

The Great Commission

Christian hymns

F4F | Proof Rosh Hashanah is NOT Biblical

Pastor Hines -- Who Did Jesus Die on the Cross For?

Death of the King (Part Two)

Dr. Carl Trueman: How Have Evangelicals Given in to Expressive Individua...

Death of the King (Part One)

Any repeal or abolishment of coercive forms of taxation is the last step not the first.

The question of how to implement the principle of voluntary government financing—how to determine the best means of applying it in practice—is a very complex one and belongs to the field of the philosophy of law. The task of political philosophy is only to establish the nature of the principle and to demonstrate that it is practicable. The choice of a specific method of implementation is more than premature today—since the principle will be practicable only in a society whose government has been constitutionally reduced to its proper, basic functions.

Any program of voluntary government financing has to be regarded as a goal for a distant future.

What the advocates of a Godly and free society have to know, at present, is only the principle by which that goal can be achieved.

The principle of voluntary government financing rests on the following premises: that the government is not the owner of the citizens’ income and, therefore, cannot hold a blank check on that income—that the nature of the proper governmental services must be constitutionally defined and delimited, leaving the government no power to enlarge the scope of its services at its own arbitrary discretion. Consequently, the principle of voluntary government financing regards the government as the servant, not the ruler, of the citizens—as an agent who must be paid for his services, not as a benefactor whose services are gratuitous, who dispenses something for nothing.

The Craig Biddle Option for how to Fund a Free Society without Taxation.

Continuing on the topic from the last article I will present a summary of what Craig Biddle put forward as an alternative to our current State funding regime. Below I will present to you his view of how this funding would work. 

In addressing this question, it is important to emphasize that the elimination of taxation is not the first but the last step on the road to a fully divine law-respecting society. The first steps are to educate people about the moral propriety of God's Abiding Law Code. While doing this we need to cut government spending on illegitimate programs, and to begin the process of limiting government to the General Equity of God's Moral Law. But, here as everywhere, the moral is the practical, and we who advocate a Christ-respecting society would do well to understand—and to be able to articulate—how the government in such a society would be funded.

A government is an institution with a monopoly on the use of physical force in a given geographic area. The government can legally use force, and no one else can—unless the government permits it. A government makes laws, enforces its laws, and punishes those who break its laws. This is true of all governments, proper and improper. 

proper government is one that protects rights by banning physical force from social relationships, and by using force only in enforcing God's Abiding Moral Law. A proper government outlaws murder, rape, assault, fraud, extortion, and the rest of the Second Table of The Ten Commandments. It prosecutes those it has reason to believe have committed crimes; punishes those found guilty of committing crimes; protects citizens from foreign aggressors; and settles rights-oriented disputes among citizens. 

Why do we need such an institution? Why can’t we do without government? The answer, in brief, is that we cannot live and prosper if we constantly have to worry about being assaulted by criminals, being attacked by foreign aggressors, or coming to blows or worse with fellow citizens. Let’s elaborate briefly on each point.

1. Some people don’t respect rights and will use force to get what they want.

Consider Ted Bundy, Bernie Madoff, Bill Ayers, the Mafia, the Ku Klux Klan, and company. If we want to live peaceful, productive, happy lives, warring with such goons is no way to do it. By delegating to a government the task of using retaliatory force against those who initiate force, we can go about living and loving our lives as we morally should. In the absence of a government, we would be constantly consumed with the problem of protecting ourselves from predators and nihilists, gangs of which would roam the cities and countryside seeking to rape, pillage, and plunder; and we would have to form militias or gangs ourselves in order to protect our lives, our property, our loved ones.

A divine law and rights-protecting government solves this problem by providing rights-protecting laws, police, courts, and prisons. 

2. Rights disputes can and do arise among rational, honest, rights-respecting people.

Good people can and sometimes do disagree over business dealings , marriage covenants, property lines, rights-of-way, water supplies, and other matters pertaining to their rights—and sometimes they are unable to settle such disputes on their own. In the absence of a government with objectively defined laws and impartial courts, such disputes could and sometimes would turn violent.

A rights-protecting government solves this problem by providing an objective means of adjudication.

In sum, a government dedicated to the protection of rights and defense of the Moral Law enables us to live in relative safety from criminals and foreign aggressors, and to peacefully settle disputes concerning rights.

What would be the scope of such a government? And what would it consist of?

A divine-law/rights-protecting government would comprise only the police, the courts, the military, and any corollary or auxiliary branches or departments necessary to their proper function—such as a legislature to establish rights-protecting laws, a budget department to determine how much money the government needs and to issue financial reports, and a treasury to receive and allocate funds. There would be no “entitlement” programs (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security), no Department of Education, no government-run schools, no Environmental Protection Agency, no Occupational Safety and Health Administration, no Food and Drug Administration, no Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, no Antitrust Division, no Internal Revenue Service, or the like. Accordingly, the scope of a rights-protecting government would be a small fraction of that of the government today.

Bearing in mind all of the foregoing, we can begin to answer the question: How would a properly limited government be funded?

Ample evidence indicates that individuals would voluntarily support a divine law- rights-protecting government simply on the grounds that they value their lives, liberties, property, and pursuit of happiness. To see the evidence, first consider some goods and services for which people are willing to pay.

People voluntarily purchase homeowners insurance, renters insurance, auto insurance, flood insurance, health insurance, life insurance, even pet insurance. People also purchase security systems and smoke detectors, hire bodyguards, pay for themselves and their children to take self-defense classes, purchase firearms, and so on. Similarly, businessmen and corporations purchase liability insurance, directors and officers insurance, key employee insurance, and the like. They also purchase extremely sophisticated security systems; hire security guards; employ legal counsels, law firms, and arbitrators; and pay for countless other precautions to enable them to remain in business, retain their property, and make more money.

Why are people and businesses willing to pay for such things? Because they value their lives, they value their homes, they value their properties, their health, their loved ones, their businesses, their employees, their profits, their happiness. Consequently, people also value the political condition on which their pursuit and protection of all such values depend—namely: a Godly and Free society.

The question, “Will people voluntarily pay to support a rights-protecting government?” is the question, “Do people value the protection of their rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness?” Given that people do voluntarily pay to augment their general security, rational people would voluntarily pay to establish and maintain their general security—if it were not already covered. If they were not being forced to pay for a government, people would pay to establish and maintain a rights-protecting government because such a government makes possible their unfettered pursuit and enjoyment of all their other values.

As to the so-called problem of free riders (i.e., those who wouldn’t financially support the government and thus would “ride for free”), this is not really a problem. To begin with, observe that there are two kinds of free riders: rational and irrational—or moral and immoral. We’ll consider them in turn.

A person who does not financially support the government is not necessarily immoral. The question is: Why does he not support the government? Is the person in question a student who is struggling to pay his way through college? If so, there is nothing wrong with him refraining from supporting the government until he graduates and starts earning enough money to contribute. Is the person in question someone whose capacities are such that even when he tries his hardest in life he can barely cover his own basic living expenses? If so, it would be morally wrong for him to send money to the government, because sending money would constitute a removal of his basic needs of living. Is the person in question starting a business that is still in the red? If so, and depending on his broader financial situation, it might be difficult for him to send money to the government at this time. And so on. People in such circumstances may “ride for free,” so to speak, but there is nothing wrong with such free riding. 

As to those who could afford non-sacrificially to support a rights-protecting government but chose not to on grounds such as, “I don’t need to contribute because all you suckers will contribute, and I’ll have my rights protected for free”—bear in mind two important facts.

First, as irrational as such a free rider is for ignoring obvious causal connections and the basic principle of justice that he could have learned from The Little Red Hen, his refusal to contribute does not violate anyone’s rights. As long as no one is forced to contribute to the government (and that’s the context we’re assuming here), no one’s rights are violated by someone else’s refusal to contribute.

Second, those who choose to support a rights-protecting government are not committing a sacrifice by indirectly protecting the rights of free riders, so long as the value the contributors receive—that is, the protection of their own rights plus all the benefits that flow from a rights-respecting society—is of equal or greater value to them than the funds they contribute.

In sum, in a free society, the existence of free riders is not a problem because (1) no one is forced to support them, and (2) everyone who non-sacrificially supports a rights-protecting government is acting in his own best interest.

Under a system of voluntary financing, the government’s budget department would periodically (perhaps annually) issue reports specifying how much money the government needs to fund its proper functions. Private individuals and watchdog agencies would scrutinize these numbers in great detail and offer their own related reports and analyses, as they do today when the government issues a budget.

Upon reading the reports and analyses, individuals and businesses would scrutinize the numbers, do the math, and determine, all things considered, how much money they reasonably think they should contribute. Socially acceptable standards would likely arise, but individuals and companies would be free to abide by or ignore them. Everyone would be free to act on his own judgment, with respect to his own values and his own context. For instance, an individual who barely uses the court system might decide that his contributions should reflect this fact. A large organization that uses the court system heavily and regularly might tailor its contributions accordingly. Everyone would decide for himself whether to contribute and, if so, how much.

When an individual, business, or other organization contributed funds to the government, the government would issue a receipt—call it a Government Support Receipt (GSR).8

GSRs would not likely come into play on small transactions, say, when someone purchases a cup of coffee. But they would certainly come into play on many major organizational transactions, and they might well come into play on lesser transactions, such as employment contracts, vacation rental agreements, and the like.

The amounts of money that individuals and organizations would need to contribute in order to support a proper, rights-protecting government would be small (especially compared to what they are forced to pay in taxes today).

It is a contradiction to hold that although people value their lives, their homes, their health, their safety, their children, and so on enough to pay to augment the security and protection of these things, they nevertheless wouldn’t choose to help fund the kind of government that makes possible the general security and protection of all such values. Although some people tenaciously embrace this contradiction, the contradiction remains a contradiction.

If people were not forced to support a government, people would voluntarily contribute to support a divine-law-rights-protecting government. Evidence in support of this fact—evidence in the form of the kinds of observations and integrations presented above—abounds.

In light of the foregoing, we can see that the last step toward a fully free, divine-law-rights-respecting society is an easy one. So let us redouble our efforts on the first and more difficult steps. Let us increase our efforts to educate people, to cut government spending, and to limit government to the protection of divine-law-rights.