Are You a Christian? OR Are You Religious?

I know that some folks will see those two questions that I used in the title of this post and ask, "Aren't they the same thing?" The short answer, of course, is "NO, they are not the same!" Moreover, clearly differentiating between the two is critical in determining which one you are!

According to Britannica, religion involves "human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death. In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitude toward gods or spirits; in more humanistic or naturalistic forms of religion, they are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitudes toward the broader human community or the natural world. In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural status, and people are esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral authority. Believers and worshippers participate in and are often enjoined to perform devotional or contemplative practices such as prayer, meditation, or particular rituals. Worship, moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are among the constituent elements of the religious life.

Likewise, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, It is common today to take the concept religion as a taxon for sets of social practices, a category-concept whose paradigmatic examples are the so-called “world” religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Perhaps equally paradigmatic, though somewhat trickier to label, are forms of life that have not been given a name, either by practitioners or by observers, but are common to a geographical area or a group of people—for example, the religion of China or that of ancient Rome, the religion of the Yoruba or that of the Cherokee. In short, the concept is today used for a genus of social formations that includes several members, a type of which there are many tokens. The concept religion did not originally refer to a social genus, however. Its earliest references were not to social kinds and, over time, the extension of the concept has evolved in different directions, to the point that it threatens incoherence. As Paul Griffiths notes, listening to the discussions about the concept religion "rapidly suggests the conclusion that hardly anyone has any idea what they are talking about—or, perhaps more accurately, that there are so many different ideas in play about what religion is that conversations in which the term figures significantly make the difficulties in communication at the Tower of Babel seem minor and easily dealt with. These difficulties are apparent, too, in the academic study of religion, and they go far toward an explanation of why the discipline has no coherent or widely shared understanding of its central topic."

Thus, we can see that a religious person would be seen as someone who was a member of a group who engaged in the kinds of behaviors described above - someone who is part of such a human social construct. OR, As Christian Ministries International describes them, "Religions are about human attempts to make our lives right with God, through our good works, sacrifices, rituals, and money." In other words, our human notions about religion are extremely inferior and highly inconsistent with the Divine view of that topic (as expressed in Scripture).

A Christian, on the other hand, is a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth and his teachings. A Christian is someone who has placed his/her faith in Jesus Christ and has accepted what he has done for him/her (the saving of his/her soul, the complete eradication and forgiveness of his/her sins, reconciliation to Almighty God, and an example of love for, and service to, others). In the epistle of James, we read: "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:27, NLT) In other words, true Christianity is manifested in how the believer treats others. Jesus said: "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35)

Hence, a person can scrupulously follow the formula of the Christian religion and fail to be a Christian! He/She can be baptized, attend Church worship services regularly, partake of the Eucharist, genuflect, pray, fast, and obey all of the commandments of Torah and still fail to be a Christian! Now, such a person could definitely be described as religious, but the question of whether or not he/she is a Christian is NOT answered by his/her participation in any of those rituals or behaviors! Indeed, the Apostle Paul made very clear to the saints of Galatia that Christianity was NOT just another human social construct. He wrote: "You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." (Galatians 2:15-16, NLT)

What about you? Are you a Christian? OR Are you religious?

What's Behind the Christian Aversion to Abortion, Transgenderism, and Homosexuality?

Ask that question to most conservative/traditional Christians and they will tell you: "It's because God's word (aka the Bible) condemns it!" Even so, please excuse some of us for wondering if such an abiding and vocal disgust for (and condemnation of) these behaviors might be motivated by something more than the Divine will. Most frequently, these phenomena are characterized by these folks as being anti-family, wicked, against nature, and the epitome of societal immorality.

From our perspective, it is of particular interest to note that all three of these phenomena are related to human sexuality. Why is this of any interest in this regard? Because there has always been an aversion to all things related to human sexuality in the Judeo-Christian tradition!

In the book of Genesis, we are informed that everything (including the first humans) which God created was very good. Likewise, we are informed that "the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." Indeed, the narrative of the first humans went on to reveal that the act of eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil caused the humans to become aware of their nakedness and to feel shame about their bodies. Hence, it is not unreasonable to conclude that the Judeo-Christian notions about the human body and its functions were rooted in SIN. In other words, this feeling of prudery, shame, and dirtiness were NOT part of God's design or intent relative to human sexuality - They are clearly a consequence of the fall/alienation of humankind in the Garden of Eden!

This attitude toward the human body and its sexual functions are clearly reflected in what we see in Torah. For example, a woman who had recently given birth to a male or female baby was considered "unclean" (Leviticus 12:2-5). Moreover, while the birth of a male child made her unclean for one week, the birth of a female child made her unclean for two weeks! Likewise, anything that was touched by male semen was considered unclean, including anything which came in contact with semen during the act of sexual intercourse! (Leviticus 15:16-18) On the female side, anything or anyone who came in contact with a woman on her monthly menstrual cycle was considered to be unclean (Leviticus 15:19-33).

In addition to these provisions relative to the human body and its reproductive functions, Torah also clearly sets up a dichotomy in the way male and female Israelites were treated. Throughout those writings, the woman is plainly portrayed as being inferior to the man. In fact, the woman is often portrayed as the property of her father, and then her husband throughout her life. Indeed, the very language of the tenth commandment implies it: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17) Prior to marriage, the father was clearly in the drivers' seat when it came to his daughters (Exodus 22:17, Leviticus 21:9, Numbers 30:4-5, etc.) And, we must not forget, that God had declared that the woman would be ruled over by her husband (Genesis 3:16). This phenomenon is also apparent in the Torah's provision for divorce (Deuteronomy 25).

It is also very apparent that these attitudes carried over into the Christian Era. We see it most clearly in the epistles of Paul. He wrote to the saints at Corinth that the man was the head of the woman (I Corinthians 11:3). He also declared to them that women should be silent in Church and should ask their husbands to explain anything that they didn't understand (I Corinthians 14:24-25). He also instructed the Christian women at Ephesus to submit themselves to their husbands and again declared that "the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church" (Ephesians 5:22-24). Likewise, he wrote to Timothy that women should NOT be allowed to teach or be in any position of authority over a man, and that women would eventually be saved through childbearing (I Timothy 2:11-15).

In similar fashion, we see a clear delineation between the genders in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. In Torah, only the men's genitals were to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites (Genesis 17:10-14, Exodus 12:44-48, Leviticus 12:3). In those same Hebrew scriptures, we read: "A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 22:5)

In similar fashion, the Apostle Paul distinguished between the appropriateness of head coverings for males and females (I Corinthians 11:2-10). He went on to write: "Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering." (I Corinthians 11:14-15) It should also be noted that ALL of these provisions (in both the Old and New Testaments) reflected cultural/societal norms and were NEVER intended to be universally applicable principles of morality!

These attitudes toward human sexuality have even twisted the way that many Christians understand Christ's own teachings on the subject. In reference to the commandment against adultery (marital infidelity), Jesus asserted that "everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) Clearly, his remarks were made within the context of marriage. Yet, we have too many Christians who read into this passage a prohibition against ALL sexual desire. Sorry, folks, we are hardwired to be sexually attracted to each other - it's biological - hormonal. Indeed, no one would ever get married without it. Thus, we see that Christ was saying that it was tantamount to adultery for a husband or wife to desire someone other than his/her spouse. Indeed, many Christians completely disregard/ignore what Christ had to say about divorce in the following passage (Matthew 5:31-32). Why is that? Do you suppose it has anything to do with the fact that divorce and remarriage is so common among heterosexual Christians?

So, how do these things apply to the Christian aversion to abortion, transgenderism, and homosexuality? It is my contention that these things constitute the PRIMARY motivation for this aversion! In other words, male superiority, ownership, and authority over the female is what motivates Christian hatred of abortion, transgenderism, and homosexuality. Abortion is seen as a woman asserting a right over her own body which is NOT recognized by this tradition. The woman was made to bear children, and she shouldn't be doing anything to thwart that "God-given" task. Likewise, as women are considered inferior to men, it is shameful for a man to take on the characteristics of a woman - especially related to clothing, hair, and the submissive or receiving role in sexual intercourse! Indeed, the Torah commandment against male-on-male intercourse had much more to do with men taking on the role of a woman and serving as a temple prostitute than it ever did with homosexuality per se!

In addition to these scriptural references, our own modern society provides ample evidence to support this thesis. For example, in spiritual terms, we should all be able to acknowledge that any behavior which violates the Great Commandment to Love your neighbor as yourself makes a person guilty of sin. Thus, we are forced to ask ourselves: Why do you suppose that many Christians view homosexuality and transgenderism as being more egregious sins and posing greater threats to marriages and families than heterosexual adultery, divorce, or promiscuity? Why are second, third, and fourth marriages and child custody battles regarded with less alarm than homosexuals marching in the streets for the same rights which their heterosexual counterparts enjoy? The answers to questions like that point to the irrational and inconsistent position of the traditional Christian on these matters.

In conclusion, I find traditional Christian attitudes regarding human sexuality to be highly hypocritical and illogical. For me, the Christian aversion to abortion, transgenderism, and homosexuality has much more to do with an outdated set of cultural/societal expectations than it does with true morality. Instead of looking at their own destructive and sinful behaviors (the beam in their own eyes), they are infinitely more concerned with the speck of sawdust in their neighbor's eyes!

The Death of An Important Elder of the Ekklesia

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to the post of Bishop of Rome in 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He chose the name of Francis for his own tenure as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Francis was the first pontiff from the Western hemisphere, Latin America, and the Jesuits. He was fluent in a number of different languages. From my perspective, he also displayed all of the Scriptural hallmarks of a leader within the ekklesia: faith in Christ, the fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, kindness, patience, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, etc.), a moral personal life, and a devotion to serving others. He eschewed most of the trappings of his position as the earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The AP reported today:

He made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday — a day before his death — to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, drawing wild cheers and applause. Beforehand, he met U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Francis performed the blessing from the same loggia where he was introduced on March 13, 2013, as the 266th pope.

From his first greeting that night — a remarkably normal “Buonasera” (“Good evening”) — to his embrace of refugees and the downtrodden, Francis signaled a very different tone for the papacy, stressing humility over hubris for a Catholic Church beset by scandal and accusations of indifference.

The Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio brought a breath of fresh air into a 2,000-year-old institution that had seen its influence wane during the troubled tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, whose surprise resignation led to Francis’ election.

From his encyclical letter on FAITH (29 June 2013):

Absorbed and deepened in the family, faith becomes a light capable of illumining all our relationships in society. As an experience of the mercy of God the Father, it sets us on the path of brotherhood. Modernity sought to build a universal brotherhood based on equality, yet we gradually came to realize that this brotherhood, lacking a reference to a common Father as its ultimate foundation, cannot endure. We need to return to the true basis of brotherhood. The history of faith has been from the beginning a history of brotherhood, albeit not without conflict. God calls Abraham to go forth from his land and promises to make of him a great nation, a great people on whom the divine blessing rests (cf. Gen 12:1-3). As salvation history progresses, it becomes evident that God wants to make everyone share as brothers and sisters in that one blessing, which attains its fullness in Jesus, so that all may be one. The boundless love of our Father also comes to us, in Jesus, through our brothers and sisters. Faith teaches us to see that every man and woman represents a blessing for me, that the light of God’s face shines on me through the faces of my brothers and sisters.

How many benefits has the gaze of Christian faith brought to the city of men for their common life! Thanks to faith we have come to understand the unique dignity of each person, something which was not clearly seen in antiquity. In the second century the pagan Celsus reproached Christians for an idea that he considered foolishness and delusion: namely, that God created the world for man, setting human beings at the pinnacle of the entire cosmos. "Why claim that [grass] grows for the benefit of man, rather than for that of the most savage of the brute beasts?" "If we look down to Earth from the heights of heaven, would there really be any difference between our activities and those of the ants and bees?" At the heart of biblical faith is God’s love, his concrete concern for every person, and his plan of salvation which embraces all of humanity and all creation, culminating in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without insight into these realities, there is no criterion for discerning what makes human life precious and unique. Man loses his place in the universe, he is cast adrift in nature, either renouncing his proper moral responsibility or else presuming to be a sort of absolute judge, endowed with an unlimited power to manipulate the world around him.

Francis' last will and testament:

Feeling that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching and with lively hope in Eternal Life, I wish to express my testamentary will only with regard to the place of my burial. I have always entrusted my life and my priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest awaiting the day of resurrection in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

I wish that my last earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary where I went for prayer at the beginning and end of each Apostolic Journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and thank Her for her docile and maternal care.

I ask that my tomb be prepared in the niche of the side nave between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica as indicated in the enclosed attachment.

The tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus.

The expenses for the preparation of my burial will be covered by the sum of the benefactor that I have arranged, to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and of which I have provided appropriate instructions to Mons. Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Chapter.

May the Lord give the deserved reward to those who have loved me and will continue to pray for me. The suffering that has become present in the last part of my life I have offered to the Lord for peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples. 

Happy Easter Christians!

In his booklet The Plain Truth About Easter, Herbert Armstrong proclaimed that "True Christians kept Passover." For him, Easter was a Pagan holiday which had nothing to do with Christianity. For Armstrong and his followers, Christ commanded his disciples to remember his death, and these "false" Christians have turned this day into a celebration of his resurrection from death! Was Herbie right? What do more traditional Christians have to say about Easter and its observance?

In their article on Easter, the Catholic Encyclopedia informs us that: "Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast ( festum festorum ), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year. The order of Sundays from Septuagesima to the last Sunday after Pentecost, the feast of the Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and all other movable feasts, from that of the Prayer of Jesus in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima ) to the feast of the Sacred Heart (Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi ), depend upon the Easter date. Commemorating the slaying of the true Lamb of God and the Resurrection of Christ, the corner-stone upon which faith is built, it is also the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity, the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments. That the Apostolic Fathers do not mention it and that we first hear of it principally through the controversy of the Quartodecimans are purely accidental. The connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian feast of Easter is real and ideal. Real, since Christ died on the first Jewish Easter Day; ideal, like the relation between type and reality, because Christ's death and Resurrection had its figures and types in the Old Law, particularly in the paschal lamb, which was eaten towards evening of the 14th of Nisan."

Likewise, in their article on The Meaning of Easter in Christianity, ChristianPure proclaims that "Easter stands as the cornerstone of our faith, the most sacred celebration in the Christian calendar. Without the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christianity would be merely a collection of wise teachings rather than the living faith that has transformed billions of lives across two millennia. Easter celebrations in Christian faith serve as a profound reminder of the hope and renewal that spring from the Resurrection. As believers gather to commemorate this pivotal event, they reaffirm their commitment to the principles of love, grace, and redemption embodied by Christ. In doing so, they not only honor the incredible sacrifice made for humanity but also embrace the promise of eternal life that it symbolizes, inspiring countless acts of compassion and kindness in the world." The article continues: "The Apostle Paul articulates this truth with powerful clarity in his first letter to the Corinthians: 'If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile' (1 Corinthians 15:17). This statement reveals the absolute centrality of Easter to our faith. Unlike other religious holidays that commemorate important events, Easter celebrates the very foundation upon which all Christian hope rests. Easter’s preeminence emerges from its unique position as the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. In the Resurrection, we witness the divine validation of Christ’s sacrifice...The empty tomb proclaims that death—humanity’s final enemy—has been conquered. This victory transforms our understanding of human existence, infusing our mortal journey with eternal significance."

In their article on What Is the True Meaning of Easter? Christianity.com defines Easter as "one of the central holidays, or Holy Days, of Christianity. It honors the Resurrection of Jesus three days after His death by crucifixion. For many Christian churches, Easter is the joyful conclusion to the Lenten season of devoted prayer, fasting, and penitence." Moreover, even though the article acknowledges the pagan foundations of the name itself, it goes on to proclaim that "Easter is celebrated by Christians to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, as described in the New Testament of the Bible. According to Christian beliefs, Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, and three days later, on Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead, symbolizing victory over sin and death." Now, at this point, most Armstrongists will throw up their hands and launch into a lengthy discourse about the absurdity of a Friday crucifixion and three days and three nights. In hindsight, what once seemed to me to be an important point of logic now looks like straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. After all, from a Scriptural, theological, and spiritual perspective, the traditional Christian's reasoning about the importance of Christ's resurrection is SOUND!

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read:

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he[a] lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” -ESV

In the Gospel of Mark, we read:

16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. -ESV

In the Gospel of Luke, we read:

24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  -ESV

In the Gospel of John, we read:

20:1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home. -NLT

In Paul's first letter to the saints at Corinth, we read:

15:12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. -NLT

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. -NLT

Hmmmm, seems like the resurrection is pretty important and worthy of celebration! Happy Easter!

The Armstrong Churches of God Need Physical Reminders to Keep Them on Track

The United Church of God (UCG) featured an article on their website titled The Feast of Unleavened Bread: Replacing Sin With the Bread of Life. According to the UCG, "The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with God's help we must remove and avoid all sin—symbolized by leaven—and live genuinely by God's commandments in all areas of our life." The article continues: "Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and God's help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is thus a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes and conduct and ask God to help us recognize and overcome our shortcomings." They went on to justify this logic: "We learn by doing. We learn spiritual lessons by doing physical things. Performing the task of deleavening our homes and avoiding leavening for a week reminds us to vigilantly watch for sinful thoughts and actions so we can avoid them."

Unfortunately, the above excerpts from the article are NOT scriptural! Reading through those quotations again one passage of Scripture came immediately to mind. In the book of James, we read: "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:19-27, NLT)

The Bible (Old and New Testaments) teaches us that Jesus Christ has removed our sins (think Atonement). In the book of Psalms, we read "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west." (Psalm 103:12, NLT) In the Gospel of John, we read: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29, NLT) In the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read that it was impossible "for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Verse 4) Only Jesus Christ can truly take away our sins! Continuing the thought, we read: "First, Christ said, 'You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them' (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, 'Look, I have come to do your will.' He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand." (Hebrews 10:8-12, NLT)

In that same passage, we are given yet another witness to the same truth (that only Christ can remove our leaven). We read: "And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, 'This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day,' says the Lord: 'I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.' Then he says, 'I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.' And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices." (Hebrews 10:15-18, NLT) In other words, we DON'T need to be reminded of sins every year! Christ has removed our leavening - PERIOD!

God does NOT expect Christians to scrupulously remove all of the leaven from their homes - Christ has removed the leavening from our tabernacles, and HE did it one time for ALL sins (past, present, and future)! As Paul wrote to the saints at Philippi, "I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:13-14, NLT)

A TRUE Christian, one who has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, will have internalized the Two Commandments which motivate every iteration of God's Law: To LOVE God and each other! A real Christian does NOT need to return to the Torah and scrupulously try to follow all of the dos and don'ts listed there! The real Christian needs to be living the Law of LOVE and continuously repenting when he/she becomes aware of sin. A real Christian knows that he/she is a sinner saved by what Christ has done for him/her. A real Christian knows that Jesus Christ FULFILLED everything in the Law, Prophets, and Writings of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Nevertheless, there is a glimmer of the Christian reality in the UCG article we have been discussing. They flirt with the reality of the symbolism of the true unleavened bread, Jesus Christ. They quote Christ's own commentary on this statement in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John:

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you . . . Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world . . .I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst . . . I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world . . . This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:27-58).

In other words, Jesus Christ is the TRUE unleavened bread - without sin - meant for us to partake of both in our daily lives and in the Eucharist. If we have truly accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will be celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the rest of our lives! In short, Christians do NOT need to observe the festival outlined in Torah for the children of Israel. Christ is the epitome of what that festival portrayed. This should be burned into our consciousness. We should NOT need the same physical reminders given to a people who did NOT have access to the Holy Spirit or the Father!

Why Didn't God Personally Write the Bible and Simply Give the Completed Text to Humans?

"Wouldn't the Bible be so much easier to understand if God had written it all himself?" "Why did God choose to use such a messy process to provide us with Scripture?" "Were the human authors of Scripture merely acting in the capacity of amanuenses - taking Divine dictation?" "As Scripture clearly contains a number of errors and contradictions, doesn't that prove that humans wrote it, and that God didn't have anything to do with writing it?" "Is Scripture really inerrant - perfect and without flaws?" "What did Paul mean when he wrote that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"?

I think that we can all agree that the answers to those questions are important. In other words, are the fundamentalists right about Scripture? Should all "true" Christians accept their narrative about the Bible and stop asking questions which only serve to undermine Scripture? Should we just ignore all of the evidence which those "nasty" Atheists insist makes the Bible irrelevant? For me, many of these questions represent a two-dimensional way of thinking. Everything is either - or! Unfortunately, for many of these folks there isn't any nuance - there is no middle ground!

If we take an honest and objective look at Scripture, we are forced to conclude that God has always worked with and through humans. Even with the Israelites, God used fallible humans to accomplish his will. Clearly, God had the ability to hand them everything on a silver platter. He could have given them a Tabernacle, an Ark of the Covenant, linen garments for the priesthood, and all of the altars, tables, and furnishings that went with them. We notice, however, that God told them how to make those things with their own hands. Instead of handing them a perfectly constructed and furnished Tabernacle, HE chose to employ human artisans to fashion those things. Why? Surely God knew that there would be imperfections inherent with anything touched by human hands - right? Yet, God wanted his people, his children, to have a part in what he was doing with them. God wanted them to be INVOLVED! Now, as a former teacher, I can see all kinds of value in doing things that way. Can't you? Doesn't everything have a greater impact when there is purchase, ownership?

Recently, I found an article on beliefnet by Duncan Pile titled Why Did God Use Man to Write the Bible Instead of Writing It Himself? In fact, I found the article to be so insightful on this subject that I wanted to share a few excerpts from it with my readers (many of whom are Fundamentalists and think my perspective on Scripture is illogical).

Pile wrote: "The Bible is best understood as the unfolding story of humankind's relationship with and understanding of God. For example, Old Testament believers didn't differentiate between God and Satan, seeing Satan as God's left hand. In the New Testament, we see Christ overcoming temptation, destruction, and death. We are told to resist the Devil, and he will flee, to stand against his wiles and bad intentions. In fact, Jesus differentiated between God (himself) and the Devil in the clearest possible terms, declaring that the thief (the Devil) "comes to steal, kill, and destroy," but Jesus (the perfect expression of the Father) came "that we might have life, and have it to the full." He went on to conclude that "The Bible then reveals the unfolding of humankind's understanding of God, and as such, it is more powerful and instructive than a simple set of theological statements could ever be, even if dictated by God Himself. We get to see humankind's knowledge of God evolve, and the crux of that unfolding is Jesus Himself—His words, deeds, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus is the climax of the story, the answer to all questions, the clarity that blows away theological confusion."

According to Pile, God wants us to think - consider things. He wrote: "Another inference we can draw from the way in which Christian scripture was formed is that God wants us to use our brains when interpreting it. In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul encourages Timothy to be diligent in "rightly dividing the word of truth," which means to understand the context of what has been written and apply it in the light of other scriptural principles and covenants as well. Again, Jesus is our perfect example of this. In the Sermon on the Mount, He taught the crowd to disregard specific instructions of Hebrew Law. Matthew 5:38-45" Pile went on to observe that "Jesus diligently divided the word of truth, understanding that Old Testament teachings were to be overruled by grace. On another occasion, the Pharisees criticized Him for breaking the rules of the Sabbath, saying that what he was doing was "unlawful." Jesus responded by giving an Old Testament example of King David doing the same and concluded that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Jesus let the Holy Spirit be His guide and boiled the entire Hebrew Law down to loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. It would be foolish to see these examples as slight reinterpretations. We cannot study the Gospels honestly without accepting that Jesus reinterpreted and overrode the Law as part of his teaching and ministry, calling us instead to love."

According to Pile, the real fault lies in the way that many Christians regard Scripture. He wrote: "This might come as a shock, but it is entirely unbiblical to call the Bible the Word of God when the Bible itself only uses that title to refer to Jesus (John 1:1-5). Jesus is the Word of God, so why on Earth do we refer to the Bible that way? The truth is that the books of the Bible reflect the perspective and limitations of each writer, as well as their place in the unfolding of humankind's understanding of the nature of God. It is beautiful, full of inspiration and power for personal growth. It brims over with wisdom and calls us to love, but only when personally interpreted to us by the Holy Spirit. We have made the Bible God – unquestionable, perfect, immortal – rather than use it as a resource to draw near to God himself. It might even be true that we have flirted with idolatry, preferring to exalt the word of God over the living Word of God, who is Jesus Himself."

Let's be honest. Too many of us completely ignore the contributions of the humans who participated in this joint project with God. Too many of us regard the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as conferring infallibility on the men and women who actually wrote the collection of writings we call The Holy Bible. We do this, even though we know that the Holy Spirit leads, guides, and pushes - It NEVER controls. It is NOT the equivalent of demon possession - God simply does NOT work that way! Look at what Paul wrote to Timothy (probably through an amanuenses). Are we reading things into what he actually said?

In his article, Pile concentrated on the way that Christ used Scripture. He wrote: "His parents found Him at the temple in Jerusalem, debating the scriptures with His elders; He read from Isaiah 61 to announce the beginning of His ministry, and He used scripture to send Satan packing in the wilderness. Jesus saw the scriptures as essential to a life of faith, keeping them close to His heart, but He didn't see them as beyond question. By publicly reinterpreting them, He encouraged others (along with us) to think for themselves. We are to approach the Bible with our hearts tuned to His love and our ears turned to the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus did, we are called to meditate in the scriptures, know them, fill our hearts with them, and use them to turn aside evil." He went on to conclude: "This empowering, spiritual dynamic would not exist if God had delivered a single, downloaded scriptural document. We would not understand our place in the unfolding of humankind's understanding of God, as perfectly displayed in Jesus. God does not require that his children switch off their brains and unquestioningly accept the dogma given to us. He wants enlivened, intellectually engaged, empowered, Spirit-led believers who grow increasingly like Jesus."

Is Lonnie out on a limb with his condemnation of Christian Nationalism?

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have been writing extensively over the last few years about the dangers inherent to mixing the Gospel with politics - of combining the Christian religion with our civic one. Of course, this thesis has predictably received a great deal of pushback from many of those who have actively engaged in this behavior. Even so, I am not alone in my perspective on this issue. In short, there are many highly respected theological voices who share my views and believe that Christians who have mixed politics with religion have been drawn into some damnable heresies as a consequence of doing so!

Along those lines, I ran across an excellent article dealing with this very subject from the perspective of the United Kingdom by Dr Eddie Arthur (Wycliffe Bible Translators), Beware of Weaponizing Christianity Against Immigrants and Denying the Reality and Meaning of the Gospel. For the casual reader, I have lifted a couple of pertinent excerpts from that article and have included them here:

The Bible is strangely silent on the notion of “Christian countries”. But there are numerous warnings about trusting “earthly powers” rather than God, and Scripture makes it abundantly clear that it is God who is in control, not nations, presidents, kings, oligarchs, or technocrats.

With that in mind, let’s think about the nature of the church itself. The first miracle of the church age was on the day of Pentecost, where people from across the Middle East were able to hear the message of the Apostles in their own languages. This is a clear indication that God desires the church to be a multicultural, multilingual entity.

Naturally enough, there were plenty of Jewish believers who were not convinced by this; they believed that the Jesus was a Jewish messiah and that the only way to join his movement was effectively to become Jewish. The Apostle Paul, who was himself a Rabi—trained in the best schools—led the charge against these Judaizers (as they were termed).

The battle between those who insisted that new Christians had to follow Jewish laws and Paul is waged on the pages of the Acts of the Apostles and in Paul’s epistles. It is in Revelation chapter 7 that we see Paul’s vision finally worked out:

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb."

The church is composed of people from every nation, tribe, people and language. No one nation—not even the Jews—can claim special privilege. Salvation is through faith in Jesus, and this is independent of where you were born, or where your citizenship lies.

Pushing this on a bit further, a Christian’s primary allegiance lies with Christ, not with the nation they hail from. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20). The book of Revelation contains a narrative in which the Empires of the world—powerful nations—are shown to be at enmity with God and his kingdom.

The only Christian country is the heavenly one that God’s people are called to.

There is nothing to stop a Christian from being patriotic, from supporting their national football team or having a deep love of the landscape and culture of their homeland. However, we must always be realistic and realize that our first loyalty is to Jesus and the Kingdom of God and that all human systems are fallen. The only Christian country is the heavenly one that God’s people are called to.

To claim that Britain has (or had) some special status as a Christian nation and that we should therefore oppose people from other countries, cultures and faiths coming here is a denial of the very nature of the Christian faith. Be as anti-foreigner and anti-immigrant as you like, but don’t do it in the name of Jesus. And if you are a Christian, you’d better get used to the idea of being around people from other lands, because eternity is going to be full of them!

Hence, we can see that the notion that Christianity and politics should NOT mix is NOT outlandish or irregular. Moreover, just because a bunch of Evangelicals and Armstrongites have jumped into the political arena with enthusiasm, does NOT mean that they are right! Indeed, many of us believe that a rather large number of Christians are deceived on this front and have unwittingly abandoned and/or seriously compromised many of the basic tenets of their faith.

What other nation is like the United States? Who can stand against its military might?

The whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words...It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. --Revelation 13:3-8, ESV

Like the cities of Rome and Babylon before them, Washington D.C. and New York exert a wide-ranging influence on the other cities of the world. The United States thinks of itself as special - the greatest nation on earth! Western democracies (and most other nations) think of the U.S. as the "leader of the free world." The U.S. dollar remains the most important reserve currency for the majority of the other nations on this planet. In terms of the global economy, it is said that "when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold." Since the end of the Second World War, the U.S. has maintained its position as having the most powerful military among the nations of the earth. Indeed, most of the rest of the world stands in awe of (or resents) the economic and military power of the United States of America.

What about the haughty and blasphemous words? I seriously considered offering a few quotes from American statesman about the "greatness" of the United States and the unequaled might of its military; but the more I contemplated that and considered many of the available quotes, the more the exercise seemed unnecessary. After all, anyone reading this who has not heard such statements repeatedly over the course of his/her lifetime would have to have been living under a rock since birth! Moreover, the notion of America as the "Promised Land," "Shining City," "indispensable nation," "Blessed," or the preeminent "Christian Nation" on the face of the earth is both false and sacrilegious.

In past posts on this blog, we have looked at many of the sins which the United States has committed over the course of its long history as a nation (and continues to indulge in up to the present day). Although we will not recount that list here, the fact of those sins make statements like: "In God we trust," "God Bless America," "So help me God," "one nation under God," "God's country," "God shed his grace on thee," "May God thy gold refine," and "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" clearly blasphemous! Take just a moment to consider: Is it a small matter to associate the United States with the favor of Almighty God? Is it respectful and honest to associate a sinful nation, its government, and economic system with a Holy and Righteous God? Don't such statements clearly constitute blasphemy? What do you think?

What about making war on the saints? How has this "Christian" nation done that? Have you ever heard of Christian Nationalism? How many times have we heard the phrase "God and country"? Paul Miller, in an article for Christianity Today wrote: "Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way." Likewise, for the United Methodist Church, the Reverend Ryan Dunn observed that "'Christian nationalism identifies the nation with God's will and action in the world; conflates national and Christian identity; and identifies service of the nation with service of God,' writes Dr. David W. Scott, who is a Methodist historical researcher and the Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. 'Christian nationalism gives moral cover for actions, even unseemly ones, taken in pursuit of national or political goals.'" (What is Christian Nationalism?)

Another article on Christianity.com quotes a number of theologians on the subject, one of which defines the term in this way: "a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life. It contends that America has been and should always be distinctively Christian from top to bottom—in its self-identity, interpretations of its own history, sacred symbols, cherished values, and public policies—and it aims to keep it that way. But, the Christian in Christian Nationalism is more about identity than religion. It carries with it assumptions about nativism, white supremacy, authoritarianism, patriarchy, and militarism." In an attempt to answer the question, "Is Christian Nationalism Biblical?" - the same article informs us that "Jesus said to 'render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s' (Matthew 22:21). When people are so tied up in their ideal of nation-building, their focus moves away from kingdom-building (heavenly kingdom building), becoming a 'my way or the highway' mentality. The nation we serve here on earth is not the still-to-come kingdom of God. Christian Nationalism serves no purpose but to promote one’s misguided motives. This is not the action our Lord Christ commanded us to obey (Matthew 28:19-20; John 13:35, etc.)."

In other words, the Christian religion has been twisted and perverted to support allegiance to the United States of America! Jesus once said that "you cannot serve two masters" simultaneously (Matthew 6:24). What about you? Do you serve the beast? OR Do you serve God and his Kingdom?

Unlike many of the articles which deal with prophecy elsewhere, this article was NOT intended to suggest that the United States of America is THE BEAST of the "end times." It is meant to suggest that the U.S. fits the prophetic mold of the biblical symbols of human governance and its character.