Tag: Christianity

The black art of theology

Dalrock observes the evolution of Christian complementarianism:

From the beginning complementarianism has been an effort to split the
difference with Christian feminists (egalitarians).  This comes
naturally from their belief that feminism isn’t a manifestation of the
same discontent that caused Eve to want to be like God in the garden of
Eden.  Instead, complementarians see feminism as a misguided (but
entirely understandable) rebellion caused by the provocation of cruel
men.

Complementarians believe if they are nice enough to women, feminist
rebellion will go away as the reason for the rebellion is thereby
withdrawn (examples here and here).  This requires compromise when Scripture offends feminists, and this has lead complementarians to invent novel interpretations of Scripture. 
But this compromise is by no means a one time deal.  The compromises of
yesterday become the starting position for bargaining today, and
today’s new compromise will become the starting point for bargaining
tomorrow.

We can see this with the complementarian position on spiritual
headship.  Complementarians had to find an interpretation for Ephesians
5:26-27** that formally set them apart from egalitarians but caused
minimal offense to feminists.  But no amount of compromise with
feminists will actually avoid offending feminists, and this has lead to
multiple complementarian stances on the topic of spiritual headship.

In the latest CBMW quarterly journal David Croteau describes the two predominant complementarian compromises on spiritual headship, and then proposes rejecting the concept of spiritual headship altogether.

Theology: the art of convincing Christians that the Bible doesn’t mean what it says and God doesn’t want them to do what the Bible tells them to do.

And any woman who identifies herself as a “feminist” – or man, for that matter – should be expelled from the Church, no hesitation, no debate, no questions asked. Feminism is observably less compatible with Christianity than Satanism or Islam.

Mailvox: how to eject the Cult of Nice

JB asks how to go about restoring the worship of Jesus Christ to the nominally Christian church where the Cult of Nice has taken root:

My own church is not infested by SJWs, but it is solidly in the Church of Nice camp.  There have never been any horror story sermons such as those described by Dalrock on his blog, but the big ministry push is to send as many people to Mexico on “mission trips” as possible… and sometimes they bring natives back with them.  Also, the pastor expressly avoids “politics” in his teachings but routinely uses examples such as Jackie Robinson and Holocaustianity in his sermons.  I’ve never heard anything outrageous from the pulpit, but neither have I heard anything truly inspiring.  The best word I can think to describe my church and its leadership is “lukewarm.”

I used to think my congregation was fully Churchian, but in a weekly class on Christian Ethics I decided to stop being “Nice” myself.  We talked about standard political issues like economics, abortion, environmentalism, etc.  The leader was a well-meaning man but in his research prior to our discussion on immigration he apparently could find little Biblical support for immigration restrictionism.  At the beginning of the immigration class, he explained to everyone that he was originally anti-immigration but his research forced him to conclude that the Bible mandated open borders.  Fortunately, I reread Cuckservative the night before and (thanks in large part to you and John Red Eagle) systematically demolished his argument and built a Christian case in favor of immigration restrictionism.  My case was not “Nice” by any stretch.

However, rather than being excommunicated from the class because I dared say that Christians can morally support borders (a heresy in the Churchian mindset), I was invited to explain my position in more depth the next class and many people congratulated me and wished to learn more after the class was over.  Even the class leader seemed relieved to hear that a Christian case for immigration restrictionism was possible.  If there had been an SJW in the class, I would have been ejected.  Instead, I became a thought leader for the rest of the course and the class as a whole became less “Nice” and more “Christian” in the true sense.

This event led me to conclude that my congregation wants to be Christian but is Churchian out of ignorance and timidity.  This ignorance is shared at the top of our leadership.  No one appears to be fully SJW, but many do seem to believe that Churchianity is Christianity whether they like its repercussions or not.

I’ve been asked to help teach a discussion course next semester on why children raised in the church tend to leave it as they get older.  Of course, I believe the “Christian alt-right” explanation that modern Churchianity is poison and that a true Christian church would draw everyone back into the pews.  But I’m not sure using pure red meat such as Cuckservative immediately as a main text is as solid a strategy as using some softer stuff to build the students’ tolerance for alt-right theology.

How would you bring an ignorant, but apparently receptive, congregation back into the Christian fold from a surface-level Churchianity?

 Alt-right theology, now there is a simply terrifying term! Anyhow, I would start with a private meeting with the pastor first, and if he is supportive, with the elders next. It’s important to determine if you have an amenable authority or a hostile one before taking action, as that will significantly effect the way in which your campaign proceeds.

The next step would be to develop a program called “Back to the Biblical Basics” which the pastor could draw upon for his sermons and the Sunday School teachers and Bible Study leaders could utilize for their weekly activities. These subjects should be selected for undermining the various Churchian and Cult of Nice concepts that have gradually crept in over the years. Each topic should be based around a single Bible verse that contradicts or otherwise destroys the Churchian narrative, such as the way Matthew 15:25-28 destroys both the equalitarian and the immigrationist aspects of that narrative.

The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
 
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

I would welcome similar suggestions in the comments; I expect 10-12 would be the minimum to provide a foundation for the “Back to the Biblical Basics” program.

And JB’s instincts are correct. Christians steeped in the Cult of Nice should not be encouraged to read SJWAL or Cuckservative, much less the relevant Alt-Right sites. They are not ready for it. Instead, they should be asked, relentlessly, if the narrative position they are upholding is one of which the world approves or not, and if worldly approval of its positions is the primary objective of a Christian Church. For every argument they make, from “we must be welcoming” to “everyone is equal”, have a verse to hand that demonstrates it to be the extra-Biblical, non-Christian nonsense that it is.

The third step is to embrace the consequences. Some church members will acknowledge Scriptural authority. Help them grow in understanding, conviction, and courage. Other members will reject Scriptural authority, cling to the Cult of Nice, and will probably threaten to leave the church. Don’t try to talk them out of it, but rather, help them go, as per the example of Gideon. If church members are more of the world than of the Church, then they belong in the former, and not the latter. The Church has no need of numbers; just 12 Apostles were all that was required to shake the world.

Book review: Cuckservative

The Essential Malady reviews Cuckservative: How “Conservatives” Betrayed America:

One of the most ferociously written (and critical) broadsides hits
what Day often calls “Churchianity”. It is well known by those who care
to find out that church groups have a huge hand in assisting mass
immigration – often absurdly of non-Christians that have no intention of
converting. This is facilitated by the state and as I understand it,
quite lucrative for all involved except the native population. This
chapter deals more with the perversion of Christianity towards earthly
ends than with this fraud though and the generally touchy, feely and
ultimately suicidal niceness of committed Christians especially of the
Evangelical persuasion. This has hopefully reached peak insanity with this couple but I’m not so sure. Christ wants us to bring other nations to him not other nations to us.

On a personal level, I can relate to the term and I would say that
for a long time I was myself a “cuckservative”. I knew deep down in my
gut that what I wanted to preserve as a conservative was white Christian
society but knew that openly stating such would get me called a racist
and worse. Part of the reason for this is I was cultured to think so and
the only mainstream voices available tripped over themselves often
embarrassingly to avoid being called racist. Yet, if they’re honest with
themselves, that’s where the conservative instinct should lead.

The racial equalitarians, particularly in the Christian churches, need to be called out and held accountable for their treason. If you’re going to claim “there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither American nor Chinese, in Jesus Christ” means that no one has any more right to live in the magic dirt of the United States than anyone else, that’s fine from a free speech perspective, but you should probably also be considered an open and avowed enemy of America and of the Christian church.

You’re also a liar. The Churchians who sell that line are perfectly happy to welcome the immigration of animists, Muslims, demon worshippers, Hindus, and every other form of religion under the guise of Christian equality. Like all deceivers, they rely on bait-and-switches, they hide behind rhetorical fogs, and they deny the obvious consequences of their actions.

If you are an elder in a Christian church, you must expel the churchians and cuckservatives from your midst whenever they reveal themselves. They are deceivers and destroyers, and they do not serve that which they claim to serve.

He is risen

While Christmas is the expression of Christian hope, Easter is the expression of Christian certainty. It is of particular import at this time, when the once-Christian West, having fallen away from its faith, reels before five decades of invasion from the pagan East and South.

But it is always darkest before the dawn and this present darkness is far from the most dangerous that Christianity or Western civilization have endured.

The solution to the decline of the West is not to be found in politics, in tribalism, in violence, or even in the courage of its defenders. The solution is the hope that can only come from the faith in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ and obedience to the Word of God.

Without that faith, Western Man lacks purpose. Without that obedience, the nations of Europe miss the societal discipline that made them historically great. As C.R. Hallpike has shown, neither science nor secular humanism are credible replacements for Christianity and the cultural confidence that is a consequence of Christian hope and Christian faith.

So, don’t despair that the soldiers of Islam are on the march again. Don’t despair that the weak-in-faith have succumbed to temptation and doubt and have fallen away. Don’t despair that the numbers of the faithful have dwindled. Don’t despair that the pews of the unfaithful churches are empty. Don’t despair that those who call themselves Christian leaders throw the children’s bread to the dogs.

And don’t be surprised that the worship of the world and acceptance of its Narrative has enervated the converged institutions. All of this should fill you with confidence, with certainty, because all of it is exactly as we were told it would be.

Remember, Jesus Christ of Nazareth required a mere 12 apostles to change the course of human history and shake the world. It doesn’t matter if there are one billion believers or only one dozen, the Gates of Hell will not prevail.

So stand firm in your faith. Stand fast. Speak fearlessly. When you feel fear, when you feel doubt, think about the empty tomb. For he is risen and he has not given you a spirit of fear, but of victory. The victory that we celebrate today.

Happy Easter.

A Churchian sermon on politics

A Churchian cuckservative, appropriately named Peter Wehner, preaches a sermon against Donald Trump in the New York Times:

Among the most inexplicable developments in this bizarre political year is that Donald Trump is the candidate of choice of many evangelical Christians.

Mr. Trump won a plurality of evangelical votes in each of the last three Republican contests, in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. He won the glowing endorsement of Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, who has called him “one of the greatest visionaries of our time.” Last week, Pat Robertson, the founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, told Mr. Trump during an interview, “You inspire us all.”

If this embrace strikes you as discordant, it should. This visionary and inspiring man humiliated his first wife by conducting a very public affair, chronically bullies and demeans people, and says he has never asked God for forgiveness. His name is emblazoned on a casino that features a strip club; he has discussed anal sex on the air with Howard Stern and, after complimenting his daughter Ivanka’s figure, pointed out that if she “weren’t my daughter, perhaps I would be dating her.” He once supported partial-birth abortion and to this day praises Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. He is a narcissist appealing to people whose faith declares that pride goes before a fall.

Mr. Trump’s character is antithetical to many of the qualities evangelicals should prize in a political leader: integrity, compassion and reasoned convictions, wisdom and prudence, trustworthiness, a commitment to the moral good…. At its core, Christianity teaches that everyone, no matter at what
station or in what season in life, has inherent dignity and worth.
“Follow justice and justice alone,” Deuteronomy says, “so that you may
live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.” The attitude
of Thrasymachus is foreign to biblical Christianity. So is Trumpism. In
embracing it, evangelical Christians are doing incalculable damage to
their witness.

There are few Churchian phrases I hold in more contempt than “damage to their witness”. It’s passive-aggressive manipulative nonsense. In combination with their actions, use of the phrase shows what forked-tongued liars the Churchians are. The Churchian “witness” is pure poison. They preen and posture and virtue-signal and criticize and condemn, driving genuine believers from the pews while simultaneously welcoming women and sexual deviants and atheists to the pulpits.

Any decent, honest, self-respecting man would rather pledge his life to Satan, Cthulhu, or the Nameless Spirit of the Abyss than live life the way these mealy-mouthed, nominal Christians do. They don’t follow Jesus Christ and worship God, they follow public opinion and worship at the altar of social approval.

The punchline: Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, served in the last three Republican administrations.

I don’t know if Jesus would vote for Donald Trump or not, but I know that he wouldn’t constantly lie like the Churchians do. And frankly, I think he’d drive an awful lot of Churchian sermonizers out of the Church with bullwhips, just as he drove the moneylenders out of the Temple.

Put a cassock in it, Your Holiness

Not being Catholic, I don’t pay much attention to Pope Francis, but I’m beginning to see why so many Catholics are not at all happy with him.

‘A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,’ Francis said in answer to a specific question about Trump’s views. ‘This is not in the gospel.’

Asked if American Catholics should vote for someone with Trump’s views, Francis said: ‘I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.

‘We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.’

As you can imagine, Donald Trump’s response was appropriately withering:

‘If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened.

ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.

The Mexican government and its leadership has made many disparaging remarks about me to the Pope, because they want to continue to rip off the United States, both on trade and at the border, and they understand I am totally wise to them.

The Pope only heard one side of the story – he didn’t see the crime, the drug trafficking and the negative economic impact the current policies have on the United States. He doesn’t see how Mexican leadership is outsmarting President Obama and our leadership in every aspect of negotiation.

For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian and as President I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now, with our current President.

At this rate, Trump is going to end up being the first man being elected both President and Pope.

“Christianity under siege”

Donald Trump, of all people, is speaking out in defense of Christians around the world, when far too many Churchian leaders prefer to preach about tolerance and parodies of marriage:

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump touted his faith at Liberty University on Monday, telling the conservative college that Christians have to ban together because their religion “is under siege.”

“We’re going to protect Christianity,” he said. “If you look at what’s going on throughout the world…Christianity is under siege.”

Trump pointed to targeting of Christians by terrorist groups in Syria and urged Christians to work together to use their “power” within the United States to enact change.

He added that “I’m a Protestant. I’m very proud of it, Presbyterian to be exact. …[but] bad things are happening, very bad things are happening.”

To be precise, Christianity needs no more protection than reality does. It simply is. But Christendom does.

Trapping the wolves

The Anglican Community finally calls the false Christians of the Episcopal Church to account for their theological crimes:

For the first time, the global organizing body of Anglicans has punished the Episcopal Church, following years of heated debate with the American church over homosexuality, same-sex marriage and the role of women.

The Anglican Communion’s announcement Thursday that it would suspend its U.S. branch for three years from key voting positions was seen as a blow to the Episcopal Church, which allows its clergy to perform same-sex marriages and this summer voted to include the rite in its church laws.

It was also seen as a victory for conservative Anglicans, especially those in Africa, who for years have been pressing the Anglican Communion to discipline the U.S. body.

“The traditional doctrine of the church in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds marriage as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union,” the leaders of the Anglican Communion, which represents 44 national churches, said in a statement during a meeting in Canterbury. “The majority of those gathered reaffirm this teaching.”

The Episcopalians are not Christians. They follow the world, they do not follow Jesus Christ. It would be better if their evil “bishops” were all excommunicated, but we live in a softer, more secular world at the present. This suspension is a long overdue start.

Not just broken, but nonexistent

Rev. Franklin Graham declares that the USA is “broken”:

“Tonight the president is set to give his final State of the Union address,” said Rev. Graham in a Jan. 12 post on Facebook. “I can tell you the state of our union.”

“Our nation is broken — it’s broken morally; it’s broken spiritually; it’s broken politically; it’s broken racially,” he said.

“The state of our union cannot be fixed unless we repent of our sins individually and ask our nation to do the same,” Rev. Graham continued.

While I agree with Rev. Graham that the abandonment and rejection of God is the most significant problem, you cannot put an egg back together when you’ve not only got a cracked egg, but also bits and pieces of a sausage, a burrito, and won ton soup.

If you add tigers, goldfish, and iguanas to a herd of sheep, you may have something, but whatever it is, it is no longer a herd of sheep.

You cannot make a nation out of many nations. It has been tried, many times. We have a word for such a multinational entity and that word is “empire”.

The US empire is breaking down. It is breaking apart. And it cannot be fixed because it cannot become something that it is not.

Standing by the faith

Wheaton College is showing some spine in insisting that its Christian professors actually be Christian in a theologically meaningful sense:

Wheaton College can confirm reports that on January 4, 2016, per College policies and procedures, Provost Stanton Jones delivered to President Philip Ryken and to Dr. Larycia Hawkins a Notice of Recommendation to Initiate Termination-for-Cause Proceedings regarding Dr. Hawkins.

The Notice is not a termination; rather, it begins Wheaton College’s established process for employment actions pertaining to tenured faculty members.

This Notice follows the impasse reached by the parties. Following Dr. Hawkins’ written response on December 17 to questions regarding her theological convictions, the College requested further theological discussion and clarification. However, as posted previously, Dr. Hawkins declined to participate in further dialogue about the theological implications of her public statements and her December 17 response.

This is the woman who claimed that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, which appears “to be in conflict with the College’s Statement of Faith.”

And it is in conflict. Christians don’t worship the same God as Muslims, which should be obvious since Christians consider Jesus Christ to be divine and part of the Godhead, whereas Muslims consider Jesus Christ to have been nothing more than a mortal prophet and a lesser one at that.

Any time you hear that Jews, Muslims, and Christians all worship the same God, you know that you’re hearing little more than fatuous unitarianism.