"The sense of the holiness of life" is not compatible with an exploitive economy. You
cannot know that life is holy if you are content to live from economic practices that daily destroy life and diminish its possibility. And many if not most Christian organizations
now appear to be perfectly at peace with the military-industrial economy and its
"scientific" destruction of life. Surely, if we are to remain free, and if we are to remain
true to our religious inheritances, we must maintain a separation between church and
state. But if we are to maintain any sense or coherence or meaning in our lives, we
cannot tolerate the present utter disconnection between religion and economy. By
"economy" I do not mean "economics," which is the study of money-making, but rather
the ways of human housekeeping, the ways by which the human household is situated
and maintained within the household of Nature. To be uninterested in economy is to be
uninterested in the practice of religion; it is to be uninterested in culture and in character.
Probably the most urgent question now faced by people who would adhere to the Bible is
this: What sort of economy would be responsible to the holiness of life? What, for
Christians, would be the economy, the practices and the restraints, of "right livelihood"? I
do not believe that organized Christianity now has any idea. I think its idea of a Christian
economy is no more or less than the industrial economy--which is an economy firmly
founded upon the seven deadly sins and the breaking of all ten of the Ten
Commandments. Obviously, if Christianity is going to survive as more than a respecter
and comforter of profitable iniquities, then Christians, regardless of their organizations,
are going to have to interest themselves in economy--which is to say, in nature and in
work. They are going to have to give workable answers to those who say we cannot live
without this economy that is destroying us and our world, who see the murder of
What do you make of the notion that we are living post-millenium; Jesus has reigned and we are now in the little season of world deception before the final armageddon and judgement day?
There are too many holes for me, but many believe this is where we are in the timeline..
Thank you for the vital work you do with the alternative (real) media! Your pioneering work in the UK was exactly the kind of resistance that led to the collapse of the covid tyranny.
I am familiar with this idea of us living post-millennium. I honestly have no idea.
But considering the state of our world today and the crazy people controlling Washington DC, we do seem closer to a nuclear armageddon than every before!
Our Lord and Saviour told us to be "watchful and vigilant." And I try not to ignore the "signs of the times."
But the best formula for living our daily lives I believe is our Lord's advice that "it is not for you to know the times or the seasons." And "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things." And: "when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Personally speaking, and for the entirety of my 72 years on this stationary and flat earth, I have neither ever heard, nor indeed read, of a single person exclaiming that we live in a "heaven on earth" purely as a result of seeing a sunset.
However, purple prose will never die.
As to the concept of the malign effect of centralized power, this is of course what will come when Christ reigns on earth in due course.
Shall "every man do according to that which is right in his own eyes" then?
Indeed not.
There has to be a supra-personal standard of behaviour which is universally adhered to, and this standard of course, is God's Will.
In our own era, a benign centralized power is the only thing that can provide effective resistance against a malign centralized power; and thus German National Socialism was the only thing which could possibly have stood against bolshevism, and degraded and destroyed it to the extent that its final rape was limited to eastern Europe, rather than across the whole of Europe, which is what Stalin intended in early 1941, when he instructed the politburo to move from a defensive position to an offensive one.
Those who never read "The Chief Culprit" by Suvorov, or "Germany's War" by John Wear, will of course be entirely oblivious to this truth, and will continue to promote the standard lying narrative.
However, the centralized power which did such damage to the bolshevik cause, and which ensured our survival in the present era, will in a time to come be somewhat different in kind; ie as scripture prophesies, every man will have the Law of God written in his heart, and thus the centralized power will never need to oppress him in his local community, where he can do as he pleases, for the glory of God, and His eternal praise.
Good subtle observations. Nuance is necessary! We live in an evil world on the personal and the cultural level. This means there must be ultimate authority as reference to determine proper conduct (which means the Gospel, our Creator, reaching down to teach us how to interact and be restored to right relationship with him and each other). Due to the reality of sin there must be a restraining force. Sadly this governmental imposition will always go toward centralized despotic power as mankind rejects God's will and ways. So, I agree we cannot experience "heaven on earth" until Jesus returns (and establishes 1,000 year reign to "rule with a rod of iron and the lion will lie down with the lamb". In the meantime (and I do non-ironically state "mean") there must be rules to guide behavior and enforcement else wise... what we see all around today controlled/manipulated anarchy meant to bringin greater power into the hands of a few.
Might I suggest this essay, which seems to me complementary to your own (though from a somewhat different "direction")?
Christianity and The Survival of Creation
By Wendell Berry
https://www.ecofaithrecovery.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/BerryWendell_ChristianitySurvivalCreation.pdf
An excerpt:
"The sense of the holiness of life" is not compatible with an exploitive economy. You
cannot know that life is holy if you are content to live from economic practices that daily destroy life and diminish its possibility. And many if not most Christian organizations
now appear to be perfectly at peace with the military-industrial economy and its
"scientific" destruction of life. Surely, if we are to remain free, and if we are to remain
true to our religious inheritances, we must maintain a separation between church and
state. But if we are to maintain any sense or coherence or meaning in our lives, we
cannot tolerate the present utter disconnection between religion and economy. By
"economy" I do not mean "economics," which is the study of money-making, but rather
the ways of human housekeeping, the ways by which the human household is situated
and maintained within the household of Nature. To be uninterested in economy is to be
uninterested in the practice of religion; it is to be uninterested in culture and in character.
Probably the most urgent question now faced by people who would adhere to the Bible is
this: What sort of economy would be responsible to the holiness of life? What, for
Christians, would be the economy, the practices and the restraints, of "right livelihood"? I
do not believe that organized Christianity now has any idea. I think its idea of a Christian
economy is no more or less than the industrial economy--which is an economy firmly
founded upon the seven deadly sins and the breaking of all ten of the Ten
Commandments. Obviously, if Christianity is going to survive as more than a respecter
and comforter of profitable iniquities, then Christians, regardless of their organizations,
are going to have to interest themselves in economy--which is to say, in nature and in
work. They are going to have to give workable answers to those who say we cannot live
without this economy that is destroying us and our world, who see the murder of
Creation as the only way of life.
And speaking of murder...
And now the wheels of heaven stop
You feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future:
It is murder
Leonard Cohen ~ The Future, 1992
Excellent stuff as ever Francis, thank you!
What do you make of the notion that we are living post-millenium; Jesus has reigned and we are now in the little season of world deception before the final armageddon and judgement day?
There are too many holes for me, but many believe this is where we are in the timeline..
Peace :-)
Thanks so much. All God's Grace and Mercy.
Thank you for the vital work you do with the alternative (real) media! Your pioneering work in the UK was exactly the kind of resistance that led to the collapse of the covid tyranny.
https://thelightpaper.co.uk
I am familiar with this idea of us living post-millennium. I honestly have no idea.
But considering the state of our world today and the crazy people controlling Washington DC, we do seem closer to a nuclear armageddon than every before!
Our Lord and Saviour told us to be "watchful and vigilant." And I try not to ignore the "signs of the times."
But the best formula for living our daily lives I believe is our Lord's advice that "it is not for you to know the times or the seasons." And "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things." And: "when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Perilous times. But we are safe always, in Jesus.
What a beautiful message Dr. Christian, thank you for those words of encouragement and to all those in Christ our Saviour.
Personally speaking, and for the entirety of my 72 years on this stationary and flat earth, I have neither ever heard, nor indeed read, of a single person exclaiming that we live in a "heaven on earth" purely as a result of seeing a sunset.
However, purple prose will never die.
As to the concept of the malign effect of centralized power, this is of course what will come when Christ reigns on earth in due course.
Shall "every man do according to that which is right in his own eyes" then?
Indeed not.
There has to be a supra-personal standard of behaviour which is universally adhered to, and this standard of course, is God's Will.
In our own era, a benign centralized power is the only thing that can provide effective resistance against a malign centralized power; and thus German National Socialism was the only thing which could possibly have stood against bolshevism, and degraded and destroyed it to the extent that its final rape was limited to eastern Europe, rather than across the whole of Europe, which is what Stalin intended in early 1941, when he instructed the politburo to move from a defensive position to an offensive one.
Those who never read "The Chief Culprit" by Suvorov, or "Germany's War" by John Wear, will of course be entirely oblivious to this truth, and will continue to promote the standard lying narrative.
However, the centralized power which did such damage to the bolshevik cause, and which ensured our survival in the present era, will in a time to come be somewhat different in kind; ie as scripture prophesies, every man will have the Law of God written in his heart, and thus the centralized power will never need to oppress him in his local community, where he can do as he pleases, for the glory of God, and His eternal praise.
Good subtle observations. Nuance is necessary! We live in an evil world on the personal and the cultural level. This means there must be ultimate authority as reference to determine proper conduct (which means the Gospel, our Creator, reaching down to teach us how to interact and be restored to right relationship with him and each other). Due to the reality of sin there must be a restraining force. Sadly this governmental imposition will always go toward centralized despotic power as mankind rejects God's will and ways. So, I agree we cannot experience "heaven on earth" until Jesus returns (and establishes 1,000 year reign to "rule with a rod of iron and the lion will lie down with the lamb". In the meantime (and I do non-ironically state "mean") there must be rules to guide behavior and enforcement else wise... what we see all around today controlled/manipulated anarchy meant to bringin greater power into the hands of a few.
Thank you so much for this report Dr. CHRISTIAN. I think it’s going to be part of a God-given strategy going forward.