The Hidden Meaning of
Ascension Day

And Why Your Government Wants to Keep it Hidden

This year Ascension Day is May 9, 2024.

Easter is considered the most important date on the church calendar, but Ascension Day might arguably be more important. Christmas prepared the way for Easter, and Easter prepared the way for Ascension.

Wikipedia correctly notes that nations with a Christian heritage, like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Vanuatu still have Ascension Day as a public holiday. Government offices, schools, banks and many businesses are usually closed in countries where Ascension Day is a public holiday. But the United States -- once a Christian nation -- is now an atheistic nation, so most Americans don't think about Easter and Ascension Day the way Christians did a few generations ago. Tragically, we are all victims of educational malpractice. We don't know the real meaning of Ascension Day.

If you don't know what Ascension Day commemorates, click here.
If you don't know that the prophet Daniel predicted the Ascension (Daniel 7), click here.
If you don't know how the Apostle Peter described the meaning of Christ's ascension to the throne at the right hand of God, click here.
If you know that Ascension Day commemorates the Ascension of Jesus into the clouds 40 days after He rose from the dead, then the next question is,

What is the significance, or meaning, of that historical event?

I asked a similar question on a related website, TheRealMeaningofEaster.com: Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ from the dead after three days. But what is the meaning of that event? What does that event signify? An atheist could say the resurrection of Jesus signifies a meaningless universe: freak things like resurrections just happen every now and then. Or an atheist might say the resurrection of Christ from the dead marks Jesus as an "evolutionary pioneer," and after many generations of "natural selection," human beings will increasingly evolve into beings that resurrect. Jesus was only the first.

So what is the real meaning of Ascension Day?

As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe the answer to that question must come from the pages of the Bible. And after reviewing the 30,000 verses in the Bible, here's my answer in a nutshell:  

Anarchy!

Christians should work to abolish all governments.

You're thinking "That's nuts."

"That's the real meaning of Ascension Day??" You would say to me, "You're joking, right?"

Nope. I'm as serious as a heart attack.

On a scale of 1-10, with "10" being "a really good and true idea," and "1" being "a false and dangerous idea," you would say that the idea of abolishing all governments is a "1." And the claim that the Bible says we should abolish all governments is a "-10 below zero."

I guarantee that if you read this entire presentation, you will rate the claim at "5" or more, where "5" = "Oh dear, this just might be true; I need to study this issue more."

In fact, if you read my entire presentation of the case for abolishing all governments, including the U.S. of A., -- the Real Meaning of Ascension Day -- and you don't raise your rating to "5" or more, I'll pay you $1,000.00. Make an audio recording of your reading of all the Bible verses I'll be citing. Add your own comments if you wish. Start a podcast. Details here.

Ascension Day 101

Let's start with Luke's account of Christ's ascension, and then consider Daniel's prophecy of the event.

The Event

Acts 1:2 says Jesus "was taken up" 40 days after His resurrection from the dead (Acts 1:3).

In his gospel, Luke says,

⁵⁰ And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50-51 )

Then in his book on the Acts of the Apostles, Luke gives more detail:

⁹ Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Acts 1: 9-11 (New King James Version)

Forty days after Jesus was raised from the dead, He was raised up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. His "ascension" was His enthronement as the Messiah.

When the Apostle Peter spoke to thousands of "devout" Jews (Acts 2:5), he summed up the meaning of Easter and Ascension Day:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

So the REAL meaning of Ascension Day starts with this:

“Jesus is the Christ”

This is clearly what Peter taught in his sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2). If you don't believe me, read the sermon for yourself. Especially verse 36:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

This is the most controversial proposition on the planet. Nobody believes this.

NOBODY.

If I can persuade you to believe this, you and I may be the only two people on the planet who believe it.

Is there a single church in America that teaches this? Not just as an empty feel-good slogan on a bumper-sticker, but in the same way Peter's audience understood it:

• Jesus  is  the Christ now, today.

and the same way Roman Government understood it.

• Jesus is  the  Christ, the only legitimate Savior, King, and Messiah. Caesar is not lord.

I've been told that I exaggerate when I say "Nobody believes this."

Maybe.

But two things are clear:

• Jews don't believe this, and
• the vast, overwhelming majority of people who were sitting in a pew on Easter Sunday a few weeks before Ascension Day don't believe this.

Let me prove this clearly. Nobody believes that Jesus is the Christ.

Jews do not believe this.

Nobody will disagree with this claim: The Greek word "Christ" is the equivalent of the Hebrew word "Messiah."

Jews do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah foretold by David and the Prophets in the Old Testament.

So Jews do not believe that "Jesus is the Christ."

That was easy. You should have no problem assenting to that. (No, I'm not "anti-semitic." Simply talking about what Jews believe is not "anti-semitism.")

But here's what's surprising. The vast, overwhelming majority of churches, theologians, and average Joes who were in a pew on Easter morning 40 days before Ascension Day and call themselves

Christians do not believe this.

Christians agree with Jews: Jesus of Nazareth is not reigning as the Messiah right now, today, .

Let's look more closely at what the Jews think about Jesus, and we'll find that most Christians agree with the Jews.

First, let's go to a Jewish website and find an article called "Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus." This article has been republished on the internet hundreds of times. It says,

I hope you're willing to agree that Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Christ.

There's a lot of Bible verses cited in that paragraph. You might be thinking, "Hey, those guys are Jews; they know the Old Testament; those verses must prove what they're saying." Are you willing to be like the Bereans and "search the Scriptures" to find out (Acts 17:11)? It would take as much time to read all those verses as it would to watch a football game on TV. I'm assuming you're one of those people who believe the Bible is the Word of God, and you want to make sure that you are correctly interpreting the Bible. You are willing to look up all the citations and see what the Bible really says. Most others will be bored reading lots of long passages from the Bible. [If you don't believe the Bible is the Word of God, you might just be persuaded after you hear an interpretation of that book that isn't goofy -- like so many books published by Christians which go out of date every six months when the previous prediction about who the latest "antichrist" is fails to materialize. Please keep reading; this is nothing like contemporary "prophecy books."]

The vast, overwhelming majority of church-goers do not believe that Jesus fulfilled all those prophecies. Or is bringing about their fulfillment in our day as He reigns as Messiah. They sympathize totally with the Jews. Jews are not thankful that the carpenter's son, Jesus of Nazareth. brought about "universal peace."

Neither are Christians.

They believe "peace on earth" (Luke 2:14) has been postponed until the Second Coming.

Let me state the second unbelievable proposition about Ascension Day. It follows from "Jesus is the Christ":

Ascension Day means that the “Vine & Fig Tree” society is possible

My favorite prophecy in the list above is, obviously, Micah 4:1-4. That's the “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy. Micah (seven centuries before Jesus) looked forward to the day we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under his own “Vine & Fig Tree.” Most people who call themselves "Christians" today believe that Micah's prophecy (and Isaiah's prophecy, and all those other prophecies) will not begin to see fulfillment until Jesus returns to earth a second time. Christians claim Jesus was the Messiah, yet He did not fulfill all those glorious Messianic prophecies. Christians reply to the obvious objection, "Oh, but He will . . . someday."

I'd love to convince you that the fulfillment of this prophecy does not await a future second coming of the Christ (like most Christians believe).

The Jewish website understands that most Christians have this mentality. Christians admit that the Jews are correct to say that Jesus didn't fulfill all those glorious "messianic prophecies," and on that basis might be disqualified as a candidate for Messiah. But Christians have an "out." The Jewish website understands this Christian "escape clause." That Jewish article goes on to say:

Make a mental note of the word "outright." This might be the most important word in the history of Western Civilization.

Go back to Acts chapter 2. Peter tells all those "devout Jews" that Jesus "whom ye crucified" is the fulfillment of David's prophecies about the Messiah.

What did those Jews think Peter had just said? Did they think Peter had just said that Jesus must come again after about 21 centuries in order to become the Christ?

Nope. They all trembled in their sandals because they had assassinated the Messiah.

Killing the Messiah is not a good thing.

Peter says their act of murder did not stop the Messiah. He rose from the dead. But He was not just raised from the dead, but raised up to the Throne of David at the Right Hand of Almighty God in heaven. Peter's audience understood that they needed to be saved from the vengeful anger of the Messiah.

And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Acts 2:40

The American Bible Society translates Acts 2:40 this way:

Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them, saying, “Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!” 

Christ is "coming," Peter says, and to use a crude vulgarity, He is pissed.

Jesus did not pass out syrupy, positive-thinking Hallmark cards to those who tortured Him to death. During His years of public teaching, He constantly threatened "this wicked generation" with fiery judgment.

It is a widely-held belief among Christians that Jesus offered to be the Messiah of Israel, but the Jews rejected Jesus as their King, and so Jesus could only be their "savior," a substitutionary atonement that would secure them a ticket to heaven when they died if they trusted in Jesus as their sacrificial lamb. Even if they rejected Him as their King/Messiah.

The unbelieving Jews not only rejected Jesus as their King, but rejected the offer to be "savior," because who wants to spend eternity hanging out with a deluded con-man who falsely claimed to be the Messiah? Besides, Jews did not believe Jesus could forgive anyone's sins (Mark 2:7).

By declaring Jesus to be the Christ, Peter destroyed one of the great myths of our day, a myth that is almost universally held by all Christians: that because the Jews rejected Jesus' offer to be their Messiah (King), Jesus could still (but only) be their "savior."

This is a central belief of the view called "Dispensational Premillennialism."

"Savior," but not King. King only when He comes a second time -- more than 21 centuries away.

The Jews who heard Peter's words did not get that impression. Peter gave no reason to believe such an idea. Jesus is the Christ, not just a potential savior.

There is no Biblical support for the idea that the Messiah can only reign over those who give Him their permission.

The Old Testament prophets spoke of a Messiah who would take vengeance on His enemies:

• The Lord said to my Lord,
  “Sit at My right hand,
  Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
  The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
  Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (Psalm 110:1-2)
• with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
  And decide with equity for the meek of the earth
  He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth
  And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:4)
• "break in pieces the oppressor" (Psalm 72:4)
• "shall judge among the nations,
  He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
  He shall execute the heads of many countries." (Psalm 110:6)
• He shall judge between many peoples,
  And rebuke strong nations afar off; (Micah 4:3)
• "Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;
  All nations shall serve Him." (Psalm 72:11)
• "I will beat down his foes before his face,
  And plague those who hate him." (Psalm 89:23)
• There I will make the horn of David grow;
  I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.
  His enemies I will clothe with shame,
  But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.” (Psalm 132:17-18)

In fact, Jesus destroyed His enemies in A.D. 70, laying waste the city of Jerusalem, while saving the remnant who believed Him. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded the horrifying judgment on unbelieving Jews in his writings on the Jewish wars and destruction of Jerusalem, in which the Jews, under relentless protracted siege by the Roman armies, resorted to cannibalizing their own children before Jerusalem was burned to the ground (Deuteronomy 28:52-57). The Jews thought the Messiah would destroy the enemies of the Jews -- the unclean pagan conquering Roman gentiles. It turned out that the Messiah's enemies were the Jews themselves.

(No, I'm still not being "anti-semitic." Possibly most Jews accepted Jesus as their Messiah [Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 12:24; 19:20; 21:20; Matthew 13:31-33; John 12:24,42; 3:2; 11:45; 19:38; Colossians 1:6]. It was only the richest and most powerful of the Jews [the "one percent"] who rejected Jesus. That's because they preferred Caesar over Christ (John 19:15). Maybe instead of calling me "anti-semitic," you should just call me "anti-rich.")

Even if Jesus was never described as "Messiah," but only as a "savior," the word "savior" in the Scriptures is virtually synonymous with "messiah."

• The Biblical word for "savior" is also translated "deliverer," and the "judges" are called "deliverers" and "saviors" (example: Nehemiah 9:27).
• In the Bible, a "savior" brings "salvation," and in the Bible "salvation" includes such concepts as "victory," "safety," "security," "welfare," "health," and "liberty." "Salvation" in the Bible is "political," and Jesus is a political Savior.
• The prophet Obadiah (verse 21) said, "Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion, To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the LORD’s." 
• But the "judges" were also "rulers," who "judged" (governed) Israel very much like "kings," and the word "messiah" means "anointed," as in "king."
• So there really is no Biblical difference between a "savior" and a "messiah-king." A "savior" is also a "governor." Jesus was made messiah and king at His first coming 21 centuries ago, not just "savior" in the neutered sense of that word.
• More details?

One of the first acts of His reign as Messiah was destroying Jerusalem. And Jesus the Christ has been reigning as Messiah ever since.

Obviously, unbelieving Jews do not agree with that last sentence -- and with the thousands of Jews in Acts 2 who did.

The vast, overwhelming majority of people who are found in a church building on Easter Sunday agree with the unbelieving Jews.
    Most church-goers do not believe that Jesus is the Christ today.

• They believe Satan is in control; "Alive and Well on Planet Earth" (according to a book that sold millions of copies).
  • Maybe they believe that Jesus has the "right" to be the Christ
  • Maybe they believe that Jesus offered to be the Messiah, but the Jews rejected His offer, so He had to settle for offering them a ticket to heaven when they die. (An offer they also reject, because who wants to spend eternity hanging out with a deluded con-man who falsely claimed to be the Messiah and rejected the Law and the Prophets [held dear by the Jews]?)
    He could only be the "Savior" of the Jews, but not their "King."
  • Most likely the Easter Sunday crowd believes that Jesus will someday ("soon") become the Messiah, when He comes again, a second time. In the future.
• But they all agree that Jesus is not -- today -- reigning as Messiah (exercising His rightful powers at full level, high-octane, on "the throne of David," and bringing all those verses above to fulfillment). The Messianic reign is for tomorrow, not today.
  • (Why do they call themselves CHRISTians instead of JESUSians? Why do they celebrate CHRISTmas instead of JESUSmas?)

I would like to suggest that Jesus is in fact fulfilling those Messianic Prophecies, and understanding why this is true can revolutionize your faith. If you have five minutes more, consider the contrasts:

Most Christians are pessimistic about the future. Up ahead: "The Great Tribulation," "Armageddon," and "One World Government" under "The Antichrist."

Ascension Day is actually a message of tremendous optimism about the future: "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end" (Isaiah 9:7).

Most Christians are pessimistic about the ability of human beings to live in peace.

Ascension Day is the message that Jesus is "the Savior of all men, especially those that believe" (1 Timothy 4:10). A "savior" is one who brings "salvation," which (in the Bible) is the peaceful “Vine & Fig Tree” society. When we work and pray for peace (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Matthew 6:10; Micah 4:3), Jesus changes the hearts of politicians and generals (Proverbs 21:1; Proverbs 16:7).

Most Christians believe that Jesus must sit on a throne in Jerusalem in order to bring about "millennial" conditions.

Ascension Day is the "good news" that Christ has been creating "millennial" conditions for 2,000 years. Prophets like Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah would be astounded at what the Messiah has accomplished thus far. The crucified Jesus was made "Lord and Christ [Messiah]" when He was raised up to the right hand of our heavenly Father (Acts 2:36). Israel was sinfully mistaken when they said they needed a king on an earthly throne like the gentile nations (1 Samuel 8).

"OK, but what about peace? Wasn't the Messiah supposed to bring about "peace on earth" (Luke 2:14)?"

A Harvard Professor recently wrote a controversial article entitled "Why is there Peace?" The controversy is not over his answer ("Why") but over his claim ("There is Peace").

If you have five minutes more, you can begin to see the profound contrast between human life in Old Testament times versus human life in today's New Testament age. The world before Jesus the Christ was a world of savage violence caused by insane rebellion. You have to be insane to be God's Chosen People and still go whoring after golden calves and dumb idols, sacrificing your own children to the political saviors these idols represent. Idols were the political equivalent of a red hat that says "Make Assyria Great Again."

Are you waiting for the Messiah to come, so that He can rule from the Throne of David, so that you can live in a world of amazing beauty and calming peace, with prosperity so unimaginable that you fall to your knees every morning in gratitude to God? Are you unable to see the evidence that Jesus is the Christ today?

How do you see the world?

Is Jesus the Christ? Is He already reigning? Are we now living in "the millennium?" It all depends on the glasses through which you view history and the world around you.

Homosexual activists see a world in which Christians are on "the wrong side of history." By this they mean that homosexuality and transgenderism and atheism are growing in popularity and acceptance, and Christianity is dying in numbers and influence.

But if you look at the world in a different way, through a different pair of glasses, you see that around the world, Christianity is expanding, and homosexuals and transgenders are committing suicide because their lives are totally out of alignment with God's creation purposes. So are the soldiers who did not beat their "swords into plowshares," and allowed themselves to be pawns for the secular imperialism of an atheistic U.S. Empire. Rebelling against the Messiah is tragic.

"History" is "His Story," the story of the Messiah reigning and transforming the world.

That Harvard Professor makes the point that the mainstream media loves reporting on war and violence. The government praises the media for doing this, because public support for war is very profitable for the government.

The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah and the Apostle Peter all lived in the years "B.C." -- "Before Christ." We live in the years "A.D." -- anno domini, "the year of our Lord." The years "B.C." were centuries of savage violence and paganism. The years A.D. are the centuries of the advance of Civilization.

If I had five minutes more, I could begin to show you that what we call "Civilization" is nothing less than the reign of Jesus the Messiah.

The prophets would see the fulfillment of their own prophecies, where we do not. The prophets did not predict that civilization would be created all-at-once with the snap of the Messiah's fingers. That's a Jewish delusion (that most Christians have bought into). The Jewish article above says the prophecies will be fulfilled "outright," that is, all at once.

Most Christians do not really understand what the Prophets predicted, nor do they see how (the way in which) the Messiah has been civilizing the world.

We are all victims of educational malpractice in atheistic schools. We are all victims of propaganda from government and the mainstream media. They have destroyed an accurate view of history, of the present world, and the direction of the future.

Your world will change dramatically when you look at it through the glasses of Scripture rather than through the fun-house mirrors of the mainstream media. The world is not what you are hearing from politicians. History is not what you were taught in atheistic schools. Prophecy is not what the best-selling books on Armageddon are saying it is.

Wikipedia says that some nations (many formerly Christian nations) still have Ascension Day as a public holiday. Government offices, schools, banks and many businesses are usually closed in countries where Ascension Day is a public holiday. But the United States is now an atheistic nation, so most Americans don't think about Easter and Ascension Day the way Christians did a few generations ago. Tragically, we are all victims of educational malpractice. We don't know the 2,000 year history of the Reign of the Messiah. We don't understand how Jesus the Ascended Christ is reigning in our world today. Jesus ascended to the Throne of David, according to Acts 2. He began reigning as the Messiah two thousand years ago. There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus is reigning as the Messiah, and the prophets who predicted His coming would see the fulfillment of their prophecies in the world around us.

The evidence of the reign Jesus as Messiah is called "Western Civilization." We have been blinded by our atheistic culture, socialist schools, and violence-loving media, and don't see what the prophets would see. If Isaiah or any other prophet were to travel through time to our day, he would fall on his knees in profound gratitude for the transformation of the world which Jesus has wrought as Messiah. The contrast between the condition of the human race before Christ and the human condition after Christ could not be more stark.

One reason we don't believe THAT He has been reigning and fulfilling Biblical prophecies is because we do not understand HOW He does this. We believe Jesus has to be on a literal, physical throne in Jerusalem before He can exercise His full rights and powers as Messiah. That's because we no longer understand how "the Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" works in our everyday lives, through the miracle of "capitalism."

The Bible says Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed, our King and Priest.
The Bible also says we are all kings and priests (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).
If we as kings and priests obey the commands of Christ, then He exercises His reign as Messiah through us.
This means we do not need a visible, physical king or priest on planet earth.
This means no mortal man on earth is legitimately a king or a priest.

The implications of these claims are staggering. It is the purpose of this website to explore those implications.

The Daniel 7 Prophecy: Ascension and Kingship

The New King James Version (NKJV) of Acts 1 has the Cloud passively receiving Jesus, but the English Standard Version (ESV) more accurately has the Cloud actively taking Jesus. What's the difference?

In Scripture, the Cloud is not simply inanimate water droplets in the sky. In his book Paradise Restored, David Chilton writes:

God revealed His presence to His people in the Cloud of Glory. The Cloud functioned as a sort of "mobile home" for God—His fiery chariot by which He made His presence known to His people. The Cloud served as a guide for Israel, giving light in the darkness and shade from the heat (Exodus 13:21-22; Psalm 105:39), but bringing judgment to the wicked (Exodus 14:19-25). On Sinai, the Cloud was accompanied by thunder, light, fire, smoke and an earthquake (Exodus 19:16-20), and was filled with innumerable angels (Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17). The Cloud is nothing less than a revelation of the invisible Heaven, where God is seated on His throne of glory, surrounded by His heavenly court and council (Exodus 24:9-15; Isaiah 6:1-4), and from which He spoke to Moses (Exodus 33:9; Psalm 99:7).

The prophet Daniel foresaw Christ's Ascension and enthronement as the promised King:

Again, Chilton writes:

It is commonly assumed today that this text describes the Second Coming, and thus that Christ's Kingdom (often called the Millennium) begins only after His Return. Of course, this ignores the fact that Daniel had already prophesied the Kingdom beginning in the days of the Roman Empire [Daniel 2]. But notice exactly what Daniel says: Christ is seen going up, not down! The Son of man is going to the Ancient of Days, not coming from Him! He is not descending in clouds to the earth, but ascending in clouds to His Father! Daniel was not predicting the Second Coming of Christ, but rather the climax of the First Advent, in which, after atoning for sins and defeating death and Satan, the Lord ascended on the clouds of heaven to be seated on His glorious throne at His Father's right hand. It is noteworthy too that Daniel used the term Son of Man, the expression Jesus later adopted to describe Himself. Clearly, we should understand Son of Man to mean simply Son of Adam—in other words, the Second Adam. Christ came as the Son of Man, the Second Man (1 Corinthians 15:47), to accomplish the task assigned to the First Man. He came to be the King.

About the Author

I am a Bible-Believing six-day creationist. I am a boomer and geezer, born in the year of sputnik, the Russian satellite that launched "the Space Race" which was part of "the Cold War." I grew up believing that capitalism was good and communism/socialism was bad. Today I accept the label "anarcho-capitalist." I grew up believing that the USA was great and the USSR was evil. I believe today the US is an evil atheistic woke neoconservative empire, and Russia (and China) are moving in the direction of capitalism and Christianity.

Who is the REAL "Bad Guy?"

You've been trained to believe an "anarchist" is a bad guy. A bomb-throwing assassin.

Those who oppose "anarchists" are the good guys.

The word "anarchist" comes from two Greek words meaning "not" an "archist." Those who oppose "an-archists" are "archists."

The obvious question should be: "What is an 'archist?'"

An "archist" is someone who believes he has a right to impose his own will on other people by force or threats of violence.

• When was the last time you read an article or heard a podcast about an "anarchist" imposing his will on others by force or threats of violence?
• When was the last time you read an article or heard a podcast about an "archist" imposing his will on others by force or threats of violence?
• Which one imposed his will on more people? Which one committed more acts of violence? The "anarchist," or the "archist?"

During my lifetime, "my" "government" -- "my" "archists" -- imposed its will on hundreds of millions of human beings around the world. "My" government (the woke/neoconservative regime in Washington D.C.)

• murdered
• maimed
• made homeless

tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant non-white civilians around the world.
Iran, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Guatemala . . . the list is long and bloody.
Forty-some years ago, China abandoned many aspects of Maoist communism and embraced some features of "capitalism," and since then, the United States has become the most evil and most dangerous government on planet earth. You might think North Korea is more evil than the U.S., and that's not entirely false, but "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" is not more dangerous to more people than the U.S. The U.S. has caused more harm than any other government, terrorist group, drug cartel, or organized crime syndicate.
Statistically speaking, the average human being on planet earth is more likely to be deprived of the rights with which they were "endowed by our creator" -- life, liberty, property, etc. -- by someone on the payroll of the United States than by soldiers or agents of any other government in the world. And U.S. politicians, bureaucrats, soldiers, and police, who have taken an oath to "support the Constitution . . . so help me, God," have taken the Lord's name in vain, and know on some level that the U.S. was intended to be a Christian nation. These people are more evil than their North Korean counterparts, who have  lived all their lives in an atheist nation.

The United States is the enemy of "America" -- once a land of "Liberty Under God." The U.S. is the most dangerous group of "archists" on the planet.

As we will see below, Jesus prohibits His followers from being "archists." We are to serve people, not "govern" them by the sword.

The first premise of my argument for abolishing all governments is almost as controversial as "abolish all governments." It is another way of stating "The Real Meaning of Ascension Day." Are you ready? Here it is:

Jesus is the Christ

That sounds a lot more normal than "abolish all governments." But almost nobody in 2024 believes this if you really think about it for a few minutes.

The Apostle Peter proclaimed the real meaning of Ascension Day to a multitude of "devout Jews" (Acts 2:5) who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead. Here's what Peter said:

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Jews certainly don't believe this. But neither do the vast majority of church-goers on Easter Sunday. Most of them believe that Jesus will not actually begin reigning as the Christ until after the "Second Coming." But if the Apostle Peter were with us, he would surely agree that this is the real meaning of Ascension Day.

I asked an Artificial Intelligence bot about this verse: How would those Jews have understood the meaning of the word "Christ" as Peter used it? The AI answer:

The Jews in Peter's audience would have understood the meaning of the word "Christ" as referring to the long-awaited Messiah or Anointed One promised in the Old Testament. The term "Christ" is derived from the Greek word "Christos," which translates the Hebrew word "Messiah." In Jewish tradition, the Messiah was expected to be a divine figure who would deliver the people of Israel, establish God's kingdom, and bring salvation. Therefore, when Peter proclaimed that Jesus was both Lord and Christ, he was declaring that Jesus was the fulfillment of these Messianic prophecies and the promised Savior of Israel

What is "Salvation" in the Bible?

I wondered about the phrase "bring salvation." I wanted to see if I could get the AI bot to tell me the real meaning of "salvation."

Not "What is 'salvation' in the minds of most professing Christians?"

What does the Bible say?

I started out by asking the AI bot, "How many times do the words "save," "savior" and "salvation" (in their various grammatical forms) occur in the Bible?" AI was not helpful:

In summary, the search results do not provide a definitive answer on the exact number of times the words "save", "savior" and "salvation" appear in the Bible. The articles focus more on the theological meaning and interpretation of these concepts rather than providing comprehensive usage data. To get a precise count, further research would be needed.

It's easy to find the answer to this question. The AI bot just wants to summarize the meaning of "salvation" in the pages of documents on the internet, instead of doing real original research in the Bible. Here is a page with the numbers:

Strong's Number 3467 Hebrew Dictionary of the Old Testament Online Bible - Lexiconcordance.com

The AI bot said "further research' was needed. Here are the results of my "further research." Here it is in a nutshell: "Save" = "deliver." A "savior" is a "deliverer." A savior delivers his people from bad things. Therefore "salvation" is good things. The meaning of "save," "savior," and "salvation" in the Bible is "peace," "deliverance," "wholeness," "prosperity," "safety," "victory" and, in short, freedom from pagan emperors.

One of the earliest occurrences of the word "save" in the Bible is Exodus 14:30

³⁰ So the Lord saved[a] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
[a] delivered

God "saved" Israel from Pharaoh and his army.

Pagan emperors actually had a very Biblical definition of "salvation" but not a Biblical definition of "savior." Pagan emperors claimed to be gods who saved their people and brought salvation. Pagans were imitating the Bible. Pagan gods were putting themselves in the place of the true God.

The Hebrew word for "save" or "bring salvation" is "yasha." In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.")

What did pagan gods promise? What does today's government promise? It the United States, we have a Department of Health, a Welfare Department, a Department of Homeland Security -- all components of the Biblical concept of "salvation."

"The Government" (a.k.a. "civil government") is always a substitute for God. God is our Government, and He brings salvation (Isaiah 33:22).

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation."

Here is how a very mainstream scholar defines that Hebrew word:

Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.

I admit that I say many controversial things. That definition is not one of them. It is thoroughly Biblical. That's a very conservative, mainstream reference work. Let's look at it in more detail.

Consider first the phrase "safety and security necessary to maintain life." This is also the "safety and security necessary to maintain a prosperous and humane society." In order to go to WalMart and buy a shopping cart full of food and household accessories, there has to be a global network of businesses who create and transport millions of products by making billions of economic calculations and transactions. Millions of human beings have to get to work on time, run the trucks on schedule, choose to work instead of stealing and robbing, and work the graveyard shift so that when you get to the store, all the items you want are neatly arranged on the shelf in an order which makes it possible for you to quickly find what you need and get on with life.

Who should we trust for "safety" and "security?" What does the Bible say?

Most of us, who were educated in State-approved schools, believe that the "safety and security necessary to maintain life" is the product of a strong State. "Anarchism" in their mind is the complete absence of safety and security.

The Bible repeatedly says that if we obey God the Lawgiver by loving our neighbor through productive service, God our Judge and King will "bless" us with peace and prosperity (Deuteronomy 28; Leviticus 26). "Peace" means "safety" and "security." These are all components of the Biblical picture of holistic "salvation."

But there are those who want to supplant God the King by promising to give us salvation if we will vote for them.

• "safety" is part of holistic Biblical "salvation"
  • the government has a "National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."
  • it also has an Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • there's the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  • don't forget the Consumer Product Safety Commission
  • I'm sure you check the government's FoodSafety website every day, just like Betsy Ross, Dolley Madison, and Abigail Adams used to do.
• "security" is part of "salvation"
  • we've been trained to think the government provides "National Security."
  • or " Homeland Security
  • or Social Security (not)

"Safety" and "security" are blessings from God, not government. We enjoy "safety" and "security" when our nation is Christian and observes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," that is, the Bible. Nobody enjoys "safety" and "security" when the government becomes a tyranny which bans the Bible and people behave like pagans.

• The Bible promises that as Christianity pervades a society, even pagans will start acting like Christians.
• Then we will all enjoy "salvation."
•  Jesus is "the savior of all men, especially those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:10 (see below)

Leviticus 26

³ ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,

⁴ then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

⁵ Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;

you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

⁶ I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;

I will rid the land of evil beasts,

and the sword will not go through your land.

"Archists" will not go through your land. If we obey God's commandments, He will not send archists to judge us.

In the days of Christ, the Roman Emperor claimed to be a "savior," and a bringer of "salvation." The empire sent "preachers" with a "gospel." Here's how the AI bot expressed this:

Based on the search results provided, the Caesars of Rome, particularly Augustus Caesar, claimed to bring "salvation" to the Roman Empire and the world:

1. The inscription found in Priene, dated to 6 BC, refers to Augustus Caesar as being "sent to us and our descendants as Savior" and declares that he "has put an end to war and has set all things in order". This portrays Augustus as a savior figure who has brought peace and order.
2. The inscription also states that Augustus' "birthday... has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangelion) concerning him". The term "gospel" was used in the Roman world to refer to proclamations of political or military victories. So this inscription presents Augustus' rule as a kind of "gospel" or good news for the world.
3. The search results indicate that the Caesars, especially Augustus, were portrayed as divine figures and even "sons of god" who had brought salvation and peace through the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). This was a direct challenge to the Christian message of Jesus Christ as the true divine Savior.
4. The Christian Gospels were written in this context, presenting Jesus as the true "Son of God" and bringer of salvation, in contrast to the claims made about the Caesars.

So in summary, the evidence shows that the Roman Caesars, particularly Augustus, did actively claim to be saviors and bringers of a new age of peace and prosperity, which the early Christians saw as a direct challenge to their message about Jesus Christ. This theological and political rivalry is reflected in the language and framing of the biblical Gospels.

This is all very accurate.

I highlighted the word "challenge." When I think of a "challenger," I think of an upstart rookie who challenges the established, reigning champion. Caesar Augustus was born 63 years before Jesus was born. When Jesus was born, Rome had invaded and conquered Israel. Rome was the reigning champion. Caesar was the lord and savior, and Pax Romana was its gospel. The imperial herald who brought "the good news" of Caesar's salvation was called a "preacher," ( κῆρυξ [Kerux] ) who made official imperial announcements about the empire ( κηρύσσω. [kerusso] ). While Latin was used extensively in the Roman Empire, so was Greek. The Greek name for the Roman Empire is often "Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων (Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn)," or the "Kingdom/Reign of the Romans." Caesar -- "lord" and "savior" -- promised "salvation" throughout his "kingdom."

Then, 63 years after Augustus Caesar was born, Jesus of Nazareth is born, proclaims Himself "Lord" and "Savior," and sends (apostello) imperial heralds proclaiming a new "Gospel of the Kingdom [βασιλεία (basileia)]." Christians start using the same vocabulary that Rome was using. Christians are the "challengers."

• Matthew 4:23 - "And Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the gospel of the kingdom (βασιλείας)."
• Matthew 9:35 - "And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the gospel of the kingdom (βασιλείας)."
• Matthew 24:14 - "And this gospel of the kingdom (βασιλείας) will be proclaimed (κηρυχθήσεται) throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations."
• Mark 1:14-15 - "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the gospel (εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion) of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom (βασιλεία) of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (εὐαγγελίῳ).""
• Luke 8:1 - "Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming (κηρύσσων) and bringing the good news of the kingdom (βασιλείαν) of God."
• Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached ( εὐαγγελίζεται ), and everyone takes vigorous steps to enter it.
• Luke 9:2 - "And he sent them out to proclaim (κηρύσσειν) the kingdom (βασιλείαν) of God and to heal."
• Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he announced the good news ( εὐαγγελιζομένῳ ) about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
• Acts 20:25 - "And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the kingdom (βασιλείαν) will see my face again."
• Acts 28:31 - "Proclaiming (κηρύσσων) the kingdom (βασιλείαν) of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."
• 1 Peter 2:9 - Peter refers to believers as "a royal priesthood" (βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα), using the adjective form related to βασιλεία (kingdom) to describe their status in relation to God's kingdom.
• Acts 1:6 - The disciples, including Peter, asked Jesus "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom (βασιλείαν) to Israel?" Presumably this envisions a time when Israel's national sovereignty is not compromised by Roman invasion and occupation.

So contrary to the wording of the AI bot, Christianity challenged Rome. Christ challenged Caesar. It is not so much that Christians saw Caesar-as-Savior as a "challenge" to their message about Jesus the Savior-Christ, as that Christians were a direct challenge/threat to Rome.

R.J. Rushdoony writes about the German historian, Ethelbert Stauffer, who wrote about a direct challenge by Peter to the religious principle of the Roman Empire, from the days of Augustus on: salvation by Caesar. Before Jesus was born, the "preachers" of Rome heralded this "gospel":

“Salvation is to be found in none other save Augustus, and there is no other name given to men in which they can be saved.”

St. Peter was very bold to proclaim a new Gospel when he said of Jesus Christ,

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Rushdoony says:

War between Christ and Caesar, the Christians and Rome, was thus inevitable. The state and its emperors claimed to offer salvation. The church declared only Christ does.

We are again in the age of Caesars, of political saviors. All over the world, politicians proclaim their plans of salvation....

Trusting the empire for salvation is a cult. See these comments by David Chilton, who speaks of the cult of Caesar worship, and these comments by N.T. Wright.

Not just the Roman Caesars, but all ancient rulers claimed to be divine saviors. For more on the claims to divinity made by ancient empires like Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, -- the empires of Daniel's statue (Daniel 2) -- see chapters 3-6 in the important work by R.J. Rushdoony,  The One and The Many: Studies in the Philosophy of Order and Ultimacy.

Phrases like "Salvation" or "The Kingdom of God" do not point to heaven or some non-material dimension. In most cases where the words "save," "savior," and "salvation" occur in the Bible, Israel is "delivered" from pagan empires, and everyone dwells peacefully "under his vine and under his fig tree," "with no one to make them afraid" (Micah 4:1-7). This is the Bible passage that contains the "real meaning of Ascension Day," and forms the basis for this website. This website is basically just a huge sermon on this passage:

Here is the real meaning of "salvation":

“Vine & Fig Tree”

The real meaning of Ascension Day is: Jesus is the King who makes a “Vine & Fig Tree” society possible. In fact, Jesus the Messiah makes it mandatory. Christians have a moral obligation to bring a “Vine & Fig Tree” world into existence.

Most Christians, however, deny that this is possible. So of course they deny that we have any moral obligation to make it happen. I'll explain all this below.

America was built on the Bible as the Word of God, but today the Bible has been banned. All governments eventually ban the Bible, because they see the Bible as an "anarchist manifesto." I agree with these atheistic dictatorships: the Bible is their biggest enemy. I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in the violent armed overthrow of governments. Jesus said "Resist not evil" (Matthew 5:39), giving as examples not resisting the evil of government enslavement (Matthew 5:41) and not resisting the evil of government robbery (Matthew 22:21: Romans 13:6-7). As a pacifist, I am not a threat to governments because I believe in the Second Amendment (I don't); I am a threat to governments because I believe what the Bible says about Jesus as the Christ. This cannot be tolerated by any government.

One of my favorite writers, R. J. Rushdoony, wrote the following:

Liberal churches do not believe the Bible should be used as a "law book." Certainly atheists don't want civil laws based on the Bible. But America became the most prosperous and admired nation in history because it was based on the Bible. When the Bible was banned, the United States transformed its prosperity into bankruptcy, and its admiration into loathing and ridicule.  In principle, Adams is advocating "Theocracy."

After the Ascension took place, Peter addressed a multitude of "devout Jews" (Acts 2:5), and said this:

Jews understood what this meant, and they wanted Jesus put to death.

Caesar understood what this meant, and he wanted Christians put to death.

Americans don't know what this means. They have stickers on their lapels that say "I voted." They voted for Little Caesars that legalize abortion and homosexuality, and steal billions from American paychecks to fund mass murder in Russia and Gaza.

American Christians just don't get it.

What does it mean that Jesus, by ascending into heaven, was seated at God's right hand (Acts 2:34) and made Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36)?

Most Christians think it means they get to go to heaven when they die.

And that's about all they think.

They don't think it means they get to go to heaven when they are tortured to death by the government they voted for.

But if they're not tortured to death by the government, did they really believe that Jesus is Lord and Christ? If they didn't really believe that Jesus had been made Lord and Christ, will they go to heaven? Will they even want to spend eternity with Someone who was tortured to death by the government?

Most "gentiles" in 2024 probably could not explain what Peter the Jew meant, or what those devout Jews understood Peter to be saying, though everyone in church on Easter Sunday morning would nod their heads and say they agreed with Peter's words. It's a simple proposition:

Jesus of Nazareth was murdered but rose from the dead to the throne and became the Christ.

"Christ" means "Messiah." "Christ" means "King." It is primarily a political term, not a "religious" term.

What is the real meaning of Ascension Day?

Governments should "go out of business." They should stop trying to do what only Jesus can do. Economist Murray Rothbard spoke of this vision as "anarcho-capitalism." 100% pure laissez-faire capitalism with 0% socialism. That's the Biblical meaning of Ascension Day.

You may not think that, but every government in history eventually concludes that.

Jesus is "the King of kings," "Lord of lords" and "God of gods."

Jesus is the only legitimate God. All others are false gods.

Jesus is the only legitimate Lord. All others are false lords.

Jesus is the only legitimate King. All others are false kings.

Throughout history, kings, Pharaohs, and Caesars all claimed to be gods, but they were false gods and false kings.

I asked the AI bot, Would the Roman Empire perceive a "messiah" or "King of Israel" (John 1:49) as a threat to Roman authority? The bot answered:

Yes, the Roman Empire would likely perceive a "messiah" or "King of Israel," as mentioned in John 1:49, as a threat to Roman authority. The title "King of Israel" implies a claim to kingship over the Jewish people, which could be seen as a challenge to Roman rule in the region. The Romans were known for their strict control and intolerance of any potential rivals to their power, especially those who could incite rebellion or disrupt the established order. Therefore, the proclamation of a messianic figure like the "King of Israel" could have been viewed by the Roman authorities as a political threat and potentially lead to conflict or unrest in the region.

Jesus completely undermined the legitimacy of Pharaohs, Caesars, and Presidents.

Here's the third controversial proposition concerning the "Real Meaning of Ascension Day." (Just to re-cap, the first proposition is that "Jesus is the Christ [today]." The second proposition is that the Messiah makes possible the “Vine & Fig Tree” society . . . today. The third controversial proposition is that Jesus is THE Christ. The only legitimate Christ. When I unpack that phrase, you'll see that nobody agrees with it. And I will counter with this:

The greatest obstacle to creating "heaven on earth" is the belief that eliminating all false christs will result in "hell on earth."

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the coming Kingdom of God.

They didn't understand that Jesus' Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.

The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist."

"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."

Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants."

The person who says "I am not an archist" is an an-archist.

You may have heard the saying, "Power corrupts." The man who wrote this, Lord Acton, was a Christian anarchist. (Or pretty close.) (We think he would be if he were here today.) Most people who have heard that "power corrupts" have not heard the rest of the paragraph. Compare what Lord Acton said with what Jesus said:

Experts who oppose anarcho-capitalism think that people are selfish, greedy, short-sighted, and depraved, and archists are needed to keep the masses in line. But where do archists come from? Well, selfish ignorant voters cast votes and elect one of those selfish, greedy, short-sighted, and depraved people to become an archist and hold a political "office." Lord Acton says holding a position of "ruler" or "leader" does not sanctify the holder of that office.

Why does power corrupt? Because "power" is the "right" to hurt other people and take their stuff. "Power" is the "right" to violate the commandments of God.

"Power -- being a legal "archist" -- is a license to do harm to others without doing any time for the crime. With no consequences, there is no reason not to be an archist. From being an archist over one's neighbor (whom you personally know), it becomes easier to become an archist over millions (whom you don't know."

“A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic”
— Joseph Stalin

"Great" men want this power.

To repeat:

The archist:

1. initiates force against others
2. engages in punitive retaliatory vengeance
3. does not respect others' rights to private property
4. creates disorder, chaos, instability -- violent overthrow of competing archists;
5. promotes monarchy, oligarchy, socialism, fascism, "the dictatorship of the proletariat," "crony capitalism," democracy, republicanism, etc.

The Biggest Government Lie of All Time is that "anarchists" are bad, while those who oppose "anarchists" are good.

Logically, those who oppose "anarchists" must be "archists."

The mind-boggling reality is, "archists" are the bad guys, and Jesus commanded His followers not to be archists.

The True Christian is not an "archist."

I repeat this in many ways. Repetition is a good teacher, I'm told.

We must face the essential nature of "government." George Washington is reported to have said,

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. . . .

He believed (wrongly) that "government" could be a "servant." As Lord Acton suggested, "Government" has corrupted every person who has held it. Including Washington himself.

There is a difference between "serving" one's neighbor and "ruling" one's neighbor, or exercising "authority" over one's neighbor, or being an "archist." If I want Jones to help me, I must use reason and eloquence to persuade Jones to enter into a voluntary , consensual contract with me to work within "the private sector." If I cannot persuade Jones, I must leave Jones alone. Jesus the Christ does not allow me to act like a gentile king and "rule" over Jones, "exercise authority" over Jones, or be a "leader" over Jones. These are acts in "the public sector," and they are contrary to the commands of Christ.

Every professor of political science in every university on planet earth will tell you that Government is a monopoly of violence. The State claims the right to hurt people and take their stuff, and denies others the right to compete against the State using the violent tools of the State.

You are not a consistent, faithful Christian if you are an archist.

The meaning of Ascension Day, like the meaning of Easter, must be determined by the Bible, because the Bible is God's communication to us.

That's my opinion. What is the opinion of the AI bot? I asked, When Jesus used the Greek word "archein" in Mark 10:42-45, was He prohibiting His followers from being "archists?" The AI bot answered:

Based on the search results provided, when Jesus used the Greek word "archein" in Mark 10:42-45, he was not prohibiting his followers from being "archists" or rulers/authorities. The key points are:

1. The word "archein" means "to rule" or "to have authority over" others. It is the root of words like "monarchy" and "hierarchy" 1 2 3 4     

2. In the passage, Jesus is contrasting the way "rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them" with the servant leadership he expects from his followers 3 4 5  
3. Jesus is not condemning all forms of authority or rulership, but rather the abusive, domineering exercise of power. He is teaching his disciples to lead through humble service, not through coercive control 3 4      
4. There is no indication in the text that Jesus is prohibiting his followers from participating in or holding positions of authority and leadership. Rather, he is instructing them on the proper, servant-hearted way to wield that authority 1 2 3

In summary, the use of "archein" in this passage does not suggest that Jesus was against all forms of rulership or authority for his followers. He was addressing the corrupted, self-serving exercise of power, not the legitimate use of authority itself. The search results do not support the idea that Jesus was prohibiting his followers from being "archists" or rulers. 1 2 3 4 5 

The "sources" are fascinating. Source #1 is an article I wrote. Source #2 is a blog post I participated in. I strongly argued in both sources against the AI bot's position. In point #2, what is "servant leadership?" This is a trendy phrase among "Christian nationalists," "dominionists," and "Christian Reconstructionists," as well as others who oppose "anarchism" and support "political involvement" by Christians. Is there such a thing as "servant archism?" Is that like "servant Pharaohism" or "servant Caesarism?" What is the "humble" way to engage in extortion? The "servant archist" says "Give me your money, or I will "humbly" wield the fasces, "humbly" beat you, shoot your dog, taze you, cuff you, frog march you out to the paddy wagon in a "perp walk" that will leave your neighbors thinking you're a violent, evil person, and in a "proper, servant-hearted way," lock you in my basement with a psychopath to be sodomized. If you resist, I will humbly kill you." Leadership," "rule" and "authority" are the antithesis -- the opposite -- of "service." Contract vs. Authority is the great human struggle.

Two recent books prove this conclusively:

• The Problem of Political Authority by Prof. Michael Huemer (Wikipedia)
• The Most Dangerous Superstition - Book Summary and Analysis (LibertarianInstitute.org)

You cannot have "government," "rule" or "authority" without violating God's commandments against stealing and hurting people -- even if you claim that by hurting and stealing from some, you "serve" or "help" others. If you can't serve or help others by yourself, you must rely on reason and eloquence to persuade others to help you voluntarily and by consent. You must not "rule" over them, or hire a Mafia hit-man to coerce them into helping you, or vote for Politician Pete to force people to achieve your goals.

The real meaning of Ascension Day is

Jesus is the Christ

The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

Most church-going Christians believe that Jesus will become the Messiah at a future Christmas, a future advent, a future "Second Coming." But the word "IS" -- present tense -- is the wrong word to use about Jesus being the Messiah.

To say that Jesus IS the Christ TODAY is to say that He is already fulfilling ALL Messianic prophecies. It is to say that EVERY prophecy will be fulfilled in this present age. It is to say that the prophets themselves would say that their prophecies have already been fulfilled beyond their wildest dreams. We need not wait for a "Second Coming" to see the fulfillment of ANY Messianic prophecy.

This claim completely violates a core belief of "Dispensational Premillennialism," which has been the dominant view of prophecy in America for a century. That view holds that NO Messianic Prophecies are being fulfilled in this "parenthesis" age. The clock of prophecy has "stopped ticking." It won't start ticking again until the Messiah really comes and is seated in Jerusalem, or until something happens to Israel, or something else that hasn't happened yet.

When "the church" is "raptured" off of earth, the "prophecy clock" will start ticking again, because the prophecy clock is not about "the church," it's about Israel. (Although some have claimed it started ticking again with the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, but that view is rapidly dying in the 21st century, because those writers claimed the rapture would certainly occur within 40 years (one "generation") of this event, and it obviously did not. See Gary North's comments here. The fastest-growing view of prophecy today is "preterism," from the Latin word for "past," focusing primarily on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in AD 70 -- the "Great Tribulation."

What are your favorite Messianic prophecies? What do you imagine to be the most glorious features of the "millennium?" What wonderful things will be experienced in the "New Heavens and New Earth?" Do you believe Christians should be working to make those prophecies a reality today, ? Should we be praying and working with justified expectation that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), today? Before the "second coming?" I know of only a handful who would say "yes." The vast majority of Christians believe that the most glorious features of the Messianic Age must wait for the Second Coming of the Christ, when Jesus will truly begin reigning as the Christ.

But Jesus  IS  the Christ, the Messiah, the King, today. Right now.

That means we have a moral obligation to beat "swords into plowshares." American church-goers could end nearly all wars in the world today. Another way of saying that is that church-goers have sat silent as the woke/neo-conservative regime in Washington D.C. has instigated or funded most of the wars taking place today, and has armed dictators and terrorists around the globe.

To say that Jesus "is" the Messiah is to say that He already became the Messiah and began ruling in the past. The word "preterit" is from the Latin word for "past," and the idea that Jesus began ruling as Messiah in the past is called "the heresy of preterism." 

All you have to do is read 101 verses to realize that nobody in the New Testament was thinking about events that would take place 21 centuries in the future. Read more.
 

The word "THE" is also very controversial. Almost nobody believes that Jesus is the ONLY savior we need -- in a political and social sense. They say we must have Caesars and Pharaohs and kings "like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8). The word "Christ" has many meanings. The basic meaning is "anointed," as in "king" (Matthew 21:5 ), e.g., "King of Israel" (John 1:49). Jesus is also called a "Ruler" (Micah 5:2), a "Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15 ), a "Governor" (Matthew 2:6 ), a "Captain" (Hebrews 2:10 ), a "Prince" (Isaiah 9:6 ), and many other words (some of which we aren't familiar with in our day, like "Horn" [Luke 1:69 ]) which are political in nature.

Many political terms can be inferred:

• Jesus is a "servant," which is another word for "minister," and Jesus is surely the "Prime Minister."
• In his inaugural address, George Washington spoke of "that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations." The one who "presides" is the "president."
• Jesus is our King, our Lawgiver, and our Judge (Isaiah 33:22). Some see in this verse all three branches of government under the U.S. Constitution.

Our point is that Jesus is the -- THE -- the ONLY -- legitimate king, prince, ruler, president, prime minister, governor, legislator, judge, and potentate. If we simply practice what we preach -- by obeying His commandments -- we will have a peaceful, orderly, and prosperous society. All other earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates are illegitimate usurpers and anti-Christ.

1 Timothy 6:15

Which in His times He shall shew, who is the blessed and only [monos, μονος] Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

1 Timothy 6:16

Who only [monos, μονος] hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen , nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Matthew 4:10

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only [monos, μονος] shalt thou serve.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7), and He commands us to beat our "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:1-5). He forbids us to take vengeance against those who wrong us (Romans 12), and forbids us to resist military occupation by foreigners (Matthew 5:41). This means Christians should not "support the trooops" or police (except in the same ways we love other enemies, like jihadists).

I know what you're thinking. "I should stop reading this. I shouldn't be reading anything by an ANARCHIST!"

That's the kind of thing we were all taught in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught. That would be "unconstitutional," according to atheistic courts.

Jesus taught "pacifism," and pacifism logically leads to a state-less society, a global “Vine & Fig Tree” society.

Some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- ruling from the right hand of God in heaven rather than from Jerusalem -- will lead to "anarchy." "Anarchy" (the absence of "archists") is scary because it means we will have to trust God.
1 Samuel 8 teaches us that the desire for a visible, physical king on an earthly throne is a rejection of God.
God is all the government we need (Isaiah 33:22).
Global obedience to Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Führers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ).

In the Bible, "the sword" is a symbol for "the State." To advocate beating "swords into plowshares" is to advocate what some call "anarcho-capitalism" -- a "Free Market" society in which all economic activity conducted by families, businesses, charities, churches, and other voluntary associations and is truly "free" from government interference. They are not free, however, from "interference" by Jesus the Christ. We obey His commandments in every area of life (not just in church, and not just in our "personal" or "private" lives).

The vast majority of Christians today do not understand "capitalism." They do not understand why socialism is unBiblical. They do not understand how order can be maintained in society by Jesus reigning as the Christ from the right hand of God, without visible, physical kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates, and their bureaucrats and fasces-wielding SWAT Teams. They do not understand how "the Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" works in a practical, day-to-day fashion. Most Christians are actually afraid of beating human swords into plowshares and trusting in Jesus to reign as the Christ and bring in "millennial" conditions on earth. In fact, they strongly oppose the idea.

Jesus is  THE  Christ, the only legitimate political Ruler, today.

Taken together, the two words  IS  and  THE  are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism."

This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the real meaning of Ascension Day."

This website goes further, and maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel." This is the "good news" which was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). This is the central message of the whole Bible. Building the New Jerusalem is the meaning of our lives. It's why we're here.

I don't have to tell you that Jews in 2024 don't believe that. Down below I'll quote a popular Jewish article that explains why modern-day Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Christ. What I do need to point out here is that most people in church on Easter Sunday don't believe it either. Most church-goers are Jesus-ians, but not Christ-ians. For Peter to say "Jesus is the Christ" 2000 years ago is to say something that virtually every church-going Christian today disagrees with. Obviously Jews in 2024 do not believe that the executed Jesus is or was the Christ, that is, the Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets. But as we will see below, most people in church on Easter Sunday don't believe "Jesus is the Christ" either. Click here for an overview of that preposterous-sounding claim, or keep reading and I'll tell you about the Real Meaning of Ascension Day -- the meaning of  “Vine & Fig Tree.”

This website is sponsored by a non-profit organization called “Vine & Fig Tree.” That's "the Real Meaning of Ascension Day." But what does “Vine & Fig Tree” mean? It's a phrase found many times in the Bible, and refers to a time of peace and prosperity. Micah describes it as a time when The Messiah has been seated on His throne and all nations are learning His commandments. beating our "swords into plowshares," and soon everyone dwells peacefully under his own “Vine & Fig Tree.” "The Messianic Age" is sometimes called "The Millennium." When Peter says Jesus is the Christ, he's saying that everyone needs to repent and become a citizen of the Messianic Kingdom.

The Patriarch Abraham was his own “Vine & Fig Tree” society. He was not under the rule of any State or Empire. The New Testament describes Christians as "sons of Abraham" the Patriarch.

The desire to have a creaturely king has always been a rejection of God the Creator as King (1 Samuel 8; Romans 1:25). The real meaning of Ascension Day is that Jesus is now -- in 2024 -- the only legitimate King. Every king on planet earth should immediately abdicate, convert into plowshares the swords he uses to rule others, and get a real job in "the Private Sector." This is one reason why every government in the last 2000 years has eventually banned the Bible. Even the United States, where The Supreme Court has ruled that public school teachers cannot tell students that Jesus the King says "Thou shalt not steal" (Matthew 19:18; Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:17-20; Romans 13:9). Creaturely kings are "false gods" in the Bible, and these false kings correctly view the Bible as a threat to their idolatrous reign: to them, the Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto." According to the Bible, creaturely government is "The Most Dangerous Idolatry." It will take me a while to convince you that the Real Meaning of Ascension Day is  “Vine & Fig Tree.” I'll have to persuade you to read a lot of Bible verses through new eyes. 

If you ask most people on their way out of a church after services on Easter Sunday morning, they'll tell you the "Real Meaning of Easter" is "Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and I get to go to heaven when I die."

The Bible has 30,000 verses, and "I get to go to heaven when I die" is all that most church-goers get out of all those verses.

For a Jew to say "The executed Jesus is now the Christ" was a profound and radical thing to say. It says "The whole Bible has been leading up to this." But what is "this?" Here's what I believe "this" is:

The “Vine & Fig Tree” world now begins.

So what does that mean?

The words “Vine & Fig Tree” occur in many passages in the Bible. It's like the word "democracy" for Americans. It sums up everything we stand for, everything we're looking for. The “Vine & Fig Tree” verses used to be the most popular verses in America 300 years ago (and Americans then knew their Bibles better than we do today). See more here.

• Biblical References to “Vine & Fig Tree”
• American References to “Vine & Fig Tree”

What Peter and the Apostles preached was shocking, scandalous, treasonous, offensive, and preposterous -- then and now. Many ordinary Jews believed, but the ruling class was offended:

Acts 5:33
When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

Acts 7:54
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Acts 22:22-24
22 And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” ²³ Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

Just as Jews were offended when the first Christians claimed that the executed Jesus was the Messiah, so today's church-goers are outraged to hear the claim that Jesus returned and put an end to the Old Covenant, and we are now in "the millennium" and we should beat our "swords into plowshares" and enjoy "Peace on Earth" in a “Vine & Fig Tree” world.

The New Testament Scriptures are filled with this post-Ascension Day message: Jesus is the Christ, and the first big act of His reign will be to return ("Second Coming") and take vengeance against those who murdered Him at His First Coming. The end of the Old Covenant overlapped the beginning of the New Covenant. The end of the Mosaic Age overlapped the beginning of the "New Heavens and New Earth."

That's an eye-popping, jaw-dropping claim, if you think about it. Most church-goers don't want to think about it. If I offered to pay you $1,000 to think about it, and to read hundreds of Bible verses over the next few weeks, would you think about it?

This website attempts to prove that Christians should be working for anarchy -- abolishing all governments. Repeal the Constitution. Repeal the U.S. Code. Repeal the Code of Federal Regulations. Repeal all Executive Decrees. Let Jesus be the world's only Lord and Christ.

But wouldn't the abolition of all governments lead to chaos and lawlessness?

If John Adams and other Founding Fathers could travel through time, they would remind us that they abolished their government. The Declaration of Independence says we have a duty to abolish any government that becomes a tyranny. And they would see that the United States is far more tyrannical than the government they abolished in order to create the United States.

The only way to avoid chaos and lawlessness and riots and assassinations and war is to take the Bible as our only law book. Abolish all the other law books.

We don't know the 2,000 year history of the Reign of the Messiah. We don't understand how Jesus the Ascended Christ is reigning in our world today. Jesus ascended to the Throne of David, according to Acts 2. He began reigning as the Messiah two thousand years ago.

Wikipedia says,

Ascension Day ... commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.
Feast of the Ascension - Wikipedia

Actually, no, "Ascension Day" does not commemorate a "belief." Nobody is being lauded for believing anything. "Ascension Day" commemorates the historical event of the physical body of the virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth leaving planet earth and ascending into heaven.

By speaking of "belief," Wikipedia seeks to reduce a public historical event to a private delusion.

There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus is reigning as the Messiah, and the prophets who predicted His coming would see the fulfillment of their prophecies in the world around us.

Even though I truly believe you will love learning about "The REAL Meaning of Ascension Day" -- especially if you embrace the idea and make it the cornerstone of your life -- I must confess that there is a significant down-side to your going any further.

Vine & Fig Tree is known by church leaders (if it is known at all) as a "dangerous" "heretical" "cult." They say we're propagating "another gospel."

Vine & Fig Tree is known by political authorities (if it is known at all) as a "seditious," "treasonous," "un-American" "hate group."

Happily, Vine & Fig Tree is still known by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donations are tax deductible.

But if you come to agree with the worldview and ambition of the Vine & Fig Tree cult, and you make a tax-deductible donation of even one dollar to it, your church pastor will excommunicate you, and all your friends at church will shun you.

I was excommunicated from the last church of which I was a member. No church anywhere will allow me to be a member.

You might also lose your job.

Especially if you work for an arm of the government and were required to take an oath to "support the Constitution" as a prerequisite for employment.

I studied law and passed the California Bar Exam, but when the California State Bar learned that I believe Jesus is the Christ, they said I could not be permitted to take the oath to "support the Constitution," and must be denied a license to practice law. Details. If you believe Jesus is the Christ, you cannot become a naturalized citizen of the United States. There are dozens of federal cases that reach this conclusion, going all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Details. This really should come as no surprise to any intelligent person, since Jesus Himself was a victim of judicial assassination by the religious and imperial forces of His day. Clearly, your loyalty to Caesar is suspect if you claim a competing allegiance to some guy who calls Himself "the King of kings."

Caesar was obviously a "king," but he also claimed to be a "lord" and a "god." Jesus claimed to be the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the God of gods.

     According to the German historian, Ethelbert Stauffer, the religious principle of the Roman Empire, from the days of Augustus on, was salvation by Caesar: “Salvation is to be found in none other save Augustus, and there is no other name given to men in which they can be saved.”
     This helps us to understand the boldness of St. Peter, and the total power he declared rested in Christ, when he said of Jesus Christ, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
     War between Christ and Caesar, the Christians and Rome, was thus inevitable. The state and its emperors claimed to offer salvation. The church declared only Christ does.
     We are again in the age of Caesars, of political saviors. All over the world, politicians proclaim their plans of salvation, and the cornerstone of their building is man. Look unto me, these false saviors declare to the peoples, vote for me and be saved.
-- R.J. Rushdoony

The Old Testament prophets unmistakably declared that the coming Messiah would bring social and economic salvation. Another word for the holistic Biblical concept of "salvation" is "Western Civilization." That links shows that salvation comes from Christ, not the Greeks and Romans. Salvation/Civilization comes from the True King, not the false kings and lords and gods at the United Nations. All of these kings and lords should repent -- abdicate -- and declare their allegiance to the Christ. The "Vine & Fig Tree" ideal is that of a global Theocracy, or Christocracy. Caesars throughout history -- and the churches that support them -- see this as "Anarcho-Theocracy" -- both "treason" and "heresy."

Do you want the approval of the institutions of church or state, or do you want the approval of Jesus the Christ?

Is Vine & Fig Tree a heretical cult?
Is Vine & Fig Tree a subversive anarchist cabal?

Jesus is the Christ.

 The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

Most church-going Christians believe that Jesus will become the Messiah at a future Christmas, a future advent, a future "Second Coming." But the word "IS" -- present tense -- is the wrong word to use about Jesus being the Messiah. To say that Jesus "is" the Messiah is to say that He already became the Messiah and began ruling in the past. The word "preterit" is from the Latin word for "past," and the idea that Jesus began ruling as Messiah in the past is called "the heresy of preterism." 

All you have to do is read 101 verses to realize that nobody in the New Testament was thinking about events that would take place 21 centuries in the future. The imminent destruction of His enemies was foremost on the mind of the Messiah's followers in the years A.D. 30-70.  There isn't a single verse in the New Testament that was intended by its author to address an event 2,000 years or more in the future. Read more.

To say that Jesus IS the Christ TODAY is to say that He is already fulfilling ALL Messianic prophecies. It is to say that EVERY prophecy will be fulfilled in this present age. We need not wait for a "Second Coming" to see the fulfillment of ANY Messianic prophecy.

This claim completely violates a core belief of "Dispensational Premillennialism," which has been the dominant view of prophecy in America for a century. That view holds that NO Messianic Prophecies are being fulfilled in this "parenthesis" age. The clock of prophecy has "stopped ticking." It won't start ticking again until the Messiah really comes and is seated in Jerusalem. Or until something happens to Israel. Or something else.

What are your favorite Messianic prophecies? What do you imagine to be the most glorious features of the "millennium?" What wonderful things will be experienced in the "New Heavens and New Earth?" Do you believe Christians should be working to make those prophecies a reality today, ? I know of only a handful who would say "yes." The vast majority of Christians believe that the most glorious features of the Messianic Age must wait for the Second Coming of the Christ, when Jesus will truly begin reigning as the Christ.

But Jesus  IS  the Christ, the Messiah, the King, today.
 

The word "THE" is also very controversial. Almost nobody believes that Jesus is the ONLY savior we need -- in a political and social sense. The word "Christ" has many meanings. The basic meaning is "anointed," as in "king" (Matthew 21:5 ), e.g., "King of Israel" (John 1:49). Jesus is also called a "Ruler" (Micah 5:2), a "Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15 ), a "Governor" (Matthew 2:6 ), a "Captain" (Hebrews 2:10 ), a "Prince" (Isaiah 9:6 ), and many other words (some of which we aren't familiar with in our day, like "Horn" [Luke 1:69 ]) which are political in nature.

Many political terms can be inferred:

• Jesus is a "servant," which is another word for "minister," and Jesus is surely the "Prime Minister."
• In his inaugural address, George Washington spoke of "that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations." The one who "presides" in a government council is "the President."
• Jesus is our King, our Lawgiver, and our Judge (Isaiah 33:22) -- all three branches of government under the U.S. Constitution.

Our point is that Jesus is the -- THE -- the ONLY -- legitimate king, prince, ruler, president, prime minister, governor, legislator, judge, and potentate. If we simply practice what we preach -- by obeying His commandments -- without trying to be God ourselves (Mark 10:42-45), we will have a peaceful, orderly, and prosperous society. All other earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates are illegitimate usurpers and anti-Christ.

1 Timothy 6:15

Which in His times He shall shew, Who is the blessed and only [monos, μονος] Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
 

1 Timothy 6:16

Who only [monos, μονος] hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen , nor can see: to Whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Matthew 4:8-10

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only [monos, μονος] shalt thou serve.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7), and He commands us to beat our "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:1-5). He forbids us to take vengeance against those who wrong us (Romans 12), and forbids us to resist military occupation by foreigners (Matthew 5:41). This means Christians should not support the armed forces or police (except in the same ways we love other enemies, like jihadists). (And just a few days after Ascension Day, everyone supports the soldiers: "Memorial Day.")

I know what you're thinking. "What are you, some kind of ANARCHIST?" We were all taught to be very suspicious of "anarchists" in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught. Jesus taught His disciples to not be "archists" (Mark 10:42-45).

Jesus taught "pacifism," and pacifism logically leads to a state-less society, a global “Vine & Fig Tree” society.

Jesus said the kings of the gentiles love to impose their will on other people by political and military force, but Christ's followers are not to do these things (Mark 10:42-45). Mark uses the Greek word from which we get our English word "anarchist." He says the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." But Christians are NOT to be "archists."
So some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- ruling from the right hand of God in heaven rather than from Jerusalem -- will lead to "anarchy." "Anarchy" (the absence of "archists") is scary because it means we will have to trust God.
1 Samuel 8 teaches us that the desire for a visible, physical king on an earthly throne is a rejection of God.
God is all the government we need (Isaiah 33:22).
Global obedience to Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Fuhrers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ).

In the Bible, "the sword" is a symbol for "the State." To advocate beating "swords into plowshares" is to advocate what some call "anarcho-capitalism" -- a "Free Market" society in which all economic activity conducted by families, businesses, charities, churches, and other voluntary associations is truly "free" from government interference. They are not free, however, from "interference" by Jesus the Christ. We obey His commandments in every area of life (not just in church, and not just in our "personal" or "private" lives).

The vast majority of Christians today do not understand "capitalism." Government schools teach the virtue and necessity of centralized government planning, and denounce decentralized voluntary planning. They do not understand why socialism is unBiblical. They do not understand how order can be maintained in society by Jesus reigning as the Christ from the right hand of God, without visible, physical kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. They do not understand how "the Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" works in a practical, day-to-day fashion. Most Christians are actually afraid of beating human swords into plowshares and trusting in Jesus to reign as the Christ and bring in "millennial" conditions on earth. In fact, they strongly oppose the idea.

Jesus is  THE  Christ, the only legitimate political Ruler, today.

Taken together, the two words  IS  and  THE  are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism."

This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the real meaning of Ascension Day."

This website goes further, and maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel." This is the "good news" which was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). This is the central message of the whole Bible. Building the New Jerusalem is the meaning of our lives. It's why we're here.

The more you study the reign of Jesus the Messiah, to see what He has done (history) and how He continues to do it (economics), and the more you reflect on your own purpose in the building of the Kingdom of God, the happier you'll be. I guarantee that if you are diligent in this study, you will experience

the most profound, beneficial, 
massive, and lasting
personal transformation
of your entire life

Christmas would not be complete without Easter, and Easter would not be complete without Ascension Day. Get the Big Picture on this website:

www.JesusistheChrist.today

The Jews Peter addressed were expecting a Messiah. The Old Testament prophets predicted a Messiah. Peter said Jesus was the guy they were expecting. Peter said God made the executed Jesus the Christ. Pilate ordered a sign to be placed on the cross above Jesus' head which said "King of the Jews." It could have said "Christ of the Jews." Or "Messiah of the Jews."

But the Jewish ruling class murdered their own Messiah and asked Pilate for a robber named Barrabbas instead. Oops.

So Peter warned the Jews that God was going to punish them for killing His Son. That would be the first and most notable act of Jesus as Messiah. (The apostate Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, but the Messiah doesn't need anyone's permission to be their Messiah.)

The American Bible Society translates Acts 2:40 this way:

Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them, saying, “Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!” 

During His life, Jesus foretold His death and resurrection. He also foretold His return in vengeance to punish His murderers. The New Testament has a great deal to say about this Day of Vengeance. It is a major theme. Yet most church-goers have never heard of it, and certainly haven't heard about it as often as it is talked about in the pages of the New Testament. Most of them transfer predictions of this event from that generation to a generation in our future.

You should read every verse in the Bible that talks about Christ's coming in vengeance. Verses like these:

Matthew 24:1-3: Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” 

Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. ²³ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Matthew 21:40-41,43,45: When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? '....He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.' ....Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.' ....When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

Matthew 22:7: But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Jesus predicted that His Coming in judgment would occur before that generation died out:

Matthew 16:27-28  The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (cf. Mark. 8:38 - 9:1; Luke 9:26-27)

Matthew 24:34: This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

There are more than 100 verses in the New Testament which say that this Coming of Christ would occur within 40 years (one generation).

These verses are very clear.

This punishment was imposed in AD 70 when Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed by Roman armies. It is one of the most important events in human history.

WARNING!

Every pastor of every organization calling itself a "church," and every professor at every Christian seminary on planet earth -- whether Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox -- will agree that the view being pitched on this website is a "heresy."

How did the multitude of devout Jews receive Peter's message about Jesus being the promised Messiah? While the apostate Jewish ruling class rejected Jesus as their Messiah, most of the man-in-the-street Jews accepted Jesus and His authority:

⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

It appears from the testimony of the Jews who wrote the documents which make up the "New Testament" that a majority of Jews became Christians. This infuriated the Jewish Establishment. The minority who followed in the steps of the Jewish establishment did not acknowledge Jesus to be the promised Messiah, of course, and those Jews today who follow the Jewish establishment do not believe Jesus is the promised Messiah. (In fact, possibly a majority of Jews who reject Jesus today are atheists.)

Astonishingly, the vast majority of Christians in churches around the world on Easter Sunday do not have the faith of the first believing Jews. Today's Christians don't believe that Jesus is the Christ, and is now reigning as the Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies. They believe Jesus was prevented from becoming the Christ because the Jewish ruling class rejected Him as their Messiah, so Jesus could only be a "savior." These Christians do not believe that the promised vengeance that Peter spoke about was actually meted out in AD 70 upon the apostate generation that murdered Jesus, believing instead that the prophesied punishment will be meted out to a future generation of Jews during a "Great Tribulation" that will take place after the "Rapture" of Christians. Then, after a "Second Coming" of Christ, Jesus will then begin to reign as the promised Messiah. But only for 1,000 years. Then it's all over. They say that we are now living in a "parenthesis age," and there's no point to beating our "swords into plowshares" and building the City of God. This view of the Real Meaning of Ascension Day is responsible for Christians becoming culturally useless.

After Peter told the multitude of Jews that Jesus was the Messiah they were looking for (Acts 2), Peter learned that Jesus was the Messiah over all the Gentile nations (Acts 10-11). Jesus is the Christ for the whole world.

This website is sponsored by a non-profit organization called “Vine & Fig Tree.” The mission of this organization is to accelerate the continued fulfillment of the "messianic prophecies" of the Old Testament, especially the prophecy in Micah 4:1-7, which speaks of a day when we beat "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under his own  “Vine & Fig Tree.”

• Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” vision was the most popular Bible passage in America during her first 200 years (roughly 1620-1820), although the Bible has been progressively banned from the public square in the last two centuries (roughly 1820-2020).
• This was the original "American Dream" -- owning your own “Vine & Fig Tree” -- not paying interest on a 30-year mortgage.
• Public schools were created to promote the “Vine & Fig Tree” vision, along with the rest of the Bible.
• America's laws were based on Biblical Law.
• The U.S. Supreme Court proudly boasted that America was a "Christian nation," but warned in 1892 that America was losing her Christian heritage; looking back, we can now see the transition from a Christian republic to an atheistic empire at that time.
• Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” vision -- and the Bible as a whole -- made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history.
  Repudiation of the Bible transformed America's prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into loathing and ridicule.

This website contends that the real meaning of Ascension Day puts the entire human race under a duty to obey Jesus the Messiah and beat our "swords into plowshares" so everyone can live peacefully under his own “Vine & Fig Tree.”  

Here is the real meaning of Ascension Day being promoted on this website:

• Jesus was murdered
• He rose from the dead
• He ascended to heaven to sit at God's right hand and reign as the promised Messiah
• One of His first notable acts as Messiah was to return to take vengeance on His murderers, destroying the temple in AD 70 and inaugurating a "New Heavens and New Earth."
• Jesus is THE Christ. All other politicians are false messiahs, false christs, false lords, false kings, false gods.
• As a "Savior," Jesus promises to deliver us from these false gods.

A fairly complete presentation of this vision is below. Lots of links to individual pages on our website.

WARNING!

Every pastor of every organization calling itself a "church," and every professor at every Christian seminary on planet earth -- whether Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox -- will agree that this “Vine & Fig Tree” vision is technically a "heresy." Some will say the organization sponsoring this website is a "dangerous" "heretical" "cult."

We repeat our warning:

• your church will consider these ideas to be "heretical."
• Your government will consider these ideas "treasonous" or "insurrectionist." You may be labeled a "domestic terrorist."
• You may lose your job.

The Founder of Vine & Fig Tree studied law and passed the California Bar Exam, but was denied a license to practice law because he believes Jesus is the Christ. While working in a hospital, his website was blocked:

.

Is Easter a Pagan Holiday?

Some people say Easter is "a pagan holiday" which was hijacked by "the Church." If that's true, it's a great thing. The last ten billion human beings who celebrated "Easter" during the last 1,000 years weren't even thinking about any pagan religion. They weren't thinking that a tree was a god and they weren't sacrificing their babies to appease the nymphs. The world before the first Easter was a world of dehumanizing violence, irrational occultism and demonism, and the complete absence of any concept of individual liberty. Here's the "Real Meaning of Easter" in one word: CIVILIZATION. Secularism makes us less civilized.

It has been said that the average person uses less than 10% of the human brain's vast potential. Though we should be grateful that we live in a civilized (Christianized) society rather than a paganized (uncivilized) society, it is likely that human beings have implemented less than 1% of the civilizing power of Jesus' teachings.

Many people say Jesus was "a great teacher." But these same people say that what Jesus taught was only "spiritual" truth, and should not be adopted in "real life" situations. It would be "impractical," "unrealistic," or "utopian," for governments and soldiers to "love your enemy" and "turn the other cheek."

OK, so what is the Real Meaning of Ascension Day?

We would like to state "The Real Meaning of Ascension Day" in three propositions. Nobody agrees with these propositions. Here is the first part of "The Real Meaning of Ascension Day."

Jesus is the Christ.

Many people say Jesus was a "great teacher." But these same people, as well as many others, say the teachings of Jesus are applicable only in a "spiritual" sense. It would be very "impractical," "unrealistic," or even "utopian" to try to apply the teachings of "the Great Teacher" to the day-to-day realities of our workaday world. After all, Jesus taught His followers to be pacifists, and if the government followed Jesus, criminals would "take over" the world.

What would the world look like if criminals "took over?"

• Hundreds of millions of people would be murdered
• Billions of people would be enslaved by large corporate organized crime syndicates
• Trillions of dollars of private property would be confiscated or destroyed.

But this is actually the track record of "governments" in the 20th century.

• hundreds of millions -- nearly half a billion -- human beings have been deliberately murdered by "governments" in famines, pogroms, concentration camps, and wars.
  • This figure does not include "legalized" child-killing (abortion)
• billions of people have lost their most fundamental rights under systems of communism, socialism, and fascism.
• Theft of private property by governments through "nationalization," "taxation," and war amounts to trillions of dollars.

How could it be worse if bumbling crack-headed "criminals" took over? The politicians have already "taken over." They run a global racket.

The most intelligent (Harvard-educated), disciplined, and fanatically motivated cut-throat criminals of the human race are living high on the hog in the lavish palaces of "government." Other criminals are incompetent amateurs by comparison.

And political criminals thrive because Christians say these organized crime syndicates are a "divine institution," "ordained by God." (See our website, Romans13.com.)

In 1994 “criminals” committed 7,885 bank robberies, taking $28 million. That same year, “government agencies” seized $2.1 Billion in “asset forfeiture proceedings,” often without “probable cause,” and often not returned even when innocence was proven. And it has only gotten worse.

• Police Civil Asset Forfeitures Exceed The Value Of All Burglaries In 2014
  "This means that the police are now taking more assets than the criminals."
  The Feds Just Expanded Civil Asset Forfeiture 'Laws' Nationwide

If all Christians, Jews, and like-minded people were to follow the moral implications of Micah 4 ("swords into plowshares"), 1 Samuel 8 (the desire for a king is a rejection of God) and Isaiah 33:22 (God is our Government) and abolish the false god called "the State," and do so not because they didn't want any one to "tell me what to do," but because they are "Theonomists" and God's Law prohibits "archism," we would live in a moral climate in which the initiation of force and threats of violence are frowned upon rather than applauded with flags waving. We would systematically teach this to the next generation, reminding them of the grim history of archism in the Bible, and its decline since the birth of Christ. We would have far less crime and a much higher standard of living.

Sure, there would still be criminals, but they would be marginalized, and the Bible says there would be fewer of them to the degree we obey God's Commandments.

The social costs of crime are much less under the pacifism and anarchism commanded by Jesus than under political "governments" which ostensibly "protect" us from crime.

That's our thesis. Let's explore it.

Theocracy, Patriarchy, and Anarchy

"Theocracy" comes from two Greek words meaning "God Rules."

Theocracy is an inescapable concept. It is not a question of whether a society will be a "theocracy," but which god will rule.

Patriarchy vs. Politics

The God of the Bible created human beings in families ("patriarchy"), with no institutions of "church" or "state." The Family was given the "dominion mandate" (Genesis 1:26-28) to develop the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15) into the "New Jerusalem" (Revelation 22:2).

Lazy patriarchs do not want to do this work. They want someone else to do it for them. They create "the State."
Ambitious, power-hungry patriarchs want "to be as god," dominating other people. They reject a family-centered free market and run for political office.
The lazy and the power-hungry thus form a symbiosis.
This is "The City of Man" in opposition to "The City of God."

"Statism" is the belief that "the State" can bring social "salvation." It is a rival religion that competes with the God of the Bible, who is our King, our Lawgiver, and our Judge (Isaiah 33:22), who alone will bring social salvation.

In human history as chronicled in the Bible, "the State" was formed by rebels like Nimrod. God nowhere commanded the formation of "the State." Obedient men like Abraham did not do so. Disobedience is seen in 1 Samuel 8, where Israel demanded an earthly king like Nimrod's gentile descendants. God said the formation of "the State" is a rejection of God as Lord, King, Lawgiver, Judge, and Savior. Jesus told His followers that the kings of the gentiles love to be "archists." An "archist" is someone who believes he has the right to initiate force or threaten violence to compel others to do his own will. Mark 10:42-45 has the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist." Jesus said His followers are not to be archists.

www.How To Become A Christian Anarchist.com

Jesus prohibited His followers from using violence to overcome statism. If lazy statists vote for ambitious statists to confiscate your wealth, Jesus says "Render unto Caesar" and "give to him who demands" (Luke 6:30; Romans 13:7). If statists want to confiscate your labor, give them twice what they ask (Matthew 5:41).

But -- and this is essential -- although Christians are commanded to pay taxes and be subject to enslavement, nobody is authorized by God to levy taxes or conscript laborers. Taxation is theft. Conscription is kidnapping. The fundamental nature of "the State" is immoral. "The State" is legalized crime.

Jesus commands His followers to seek the restoration of those who trespass against them (Matthew 18:15ff), not to seek vengeance (Romans 12.17-21). This patriarchal system of dispute resolution relies on persuasion and conversion by the Holy Spirit rather than vengeance and threats of political violence. Jesus said we are to love our enemy, the criminal (Matthew 5:44) and "resist not evil" (Matthew 5:39), but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Even the most evil entity on the planet: "The State" (Romans 13).

"The State" is a false god and a false savior. "The State" is the most frequently cited form of idolatry in the pages of the Bible. Christians should work to abolish the false god of "the State."

An objection will be raised:

Without the "thin blue line" of institutionalized vengeance and violence, society will collapse into chaos. Without "the State," criminals will "take over."

It is true, and must be conceded, that under both systems -- Patriarchal Theocracy ("Liberty Under God") and Political Theocracy (tyranny under man), there will be criminals. Even the Garden of Eden had Cain. There will always be a thief or a bully in every human society.

But if we abolish "the State," there will be fewer thieves and fewer bullies.

Providence

God promises less crime in a society which obeys God's Law. In one sense, that's a tautology. But there is an active, providential sense in which God increases the costs of crime as a curse upon those who do not trust Him. If we seek to be like the gentiles, and we build a vengeance-taking machine funded by theft, God will send more "archists" our way -- in addition to the ones we voted for. If we follow Christ and love our enemies, God will send fewer of them. In a Christian society, dominated by a moral ethos which eschews "archism," even the unregenerate will pretend to be moral, upstanding Christians.  If we are willing to be enslaved (if that's the price of following Christ), we will not be.

The social costs of crime are lower under Patriarchy than they are under Politics.

In a stateless Christian patriarchal society, criminals will impose costs. There will be burglaries. But the cost of Christ's prescribed system of non-violent dispute resolution is lower than the cost of "the State" and its violent prison industry. The costs of maintaining "the State" (legalized professional criminals in the "public sector") are greater than the costs of amateur criminals in a stateless "private sector." If you pay one dime of federal income tax (more than 40% of Americans do not pay any federal income tax at all), "the State" is confiscating two-thirds of everything you earn. If we abolished that humanistic system in a self-consciously Christian manner, criminals would never take that much. You would triple your income, spend half of that increase on education and roads and charity (and other projects that we've been brainwashed to believe only "the government" can provide), and be left with double your income in a more peaceful society with a higher standard of living.

And a society which is Christianized and has a self-conscious commitment to follow the Prince of Peace produces fewer criminals than a society dominated by corrupt politicians and warmongers. The education systems are radically different under the two competing theocracies (Family vs. State). There is an inherent tendency in polis-based societies to censor and repress the teachings of Christ. The politician, with his institutionalized theft and violence, sets a model for criminals. "Might makes right." The man of the polis experiences "cognitive dissonance" if he claims to be a Christian but ignores Christ's commands by acting like a Gentile king, conscripting and taxing others (Mark 10:42-45). Government schools inevitably become more secular, purging the curriculum of Christ and His influence. It is now "unconstitutional" in this once-Christian nation for a government-employed teacher to teach students that God says "Thou shalt not steal." As a result, theft increases under political theocracy. There is more crime with "the State" than without it. And "the State" itself is the greatest and most-costly criminal on the planet.

In the history of the human race, no political theocracy, with its rejection of Christ's pacifism in favor of institutionalized vengeance, has ever remained "Christian" (if it ever claimed to be so). Those who teach Romans 12 and Matthew 5 must be suppressed under political theocracy.

The social costs of crime are lower even in an ungodly "Free Market:" than they are in the godliest state-dominated society.

Patriagora: A Family-Centered Free Market

Even though I truly believe you will love learning about "The REAL Meaning of Ascension Day" -- especially if you embrace the idea and make it the cornerstone of your life -- I must confess that there is a significant down-side to your going any further.

Vine & Fig Tree is known by church leaders (if it is known at all) as a dangerous heretical cult.

Vine & Fig Tree is known by political authorities (if it is known at all) as a seditious, treasonous, un-American "hate group."

Happily, Vine & Fig Tree is still known by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donations are tax deductible.

But if you come to agree with the worldview and ambition of the Vine & Fig Tree cult, and you make a tax-deductible donation of even one dollar to it, your church pastor will excommunicate you, and all your friends at church will shun you.

You might also lose your job.

Especially if you work for an arm of the government and were required to take an oath to "support the Constitution" as a prerequisite for employment.

I studied law and passed the California Bar Exam, but when the California State Bar learned that I believe in "The REAL Meaning of Ascension Day," they said I could not be permitted to take the oath to "support the Constitution," and must be denied a license to practice law. There are dozens of federal cases that reach this conclusion, going all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Details. This really should come as no surprise to any intelligent person, since Jesus Himself was a victim of judicial assassination by the religious and imperial forces of His day. Clearly, your loyalty to Caesar is suspect if you claim a competing allegiance to some guy who calls Himself "the King of kings."

Do you want the approval of the institutions of church or state, or do you want the approval of Jesus the Christ?

The Real Meaning of Easter.com

Vine & Fig Tree

Our Goal for the Planet: The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas: And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And peace on earth among men in whom He is well pleased. Our Goal for You: To be one in whom God is well pleased: His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21 Our programs are designed to transform you into: An Extraordinary American An Extraordinary Christian An Extraordinary Human Being These were the three goals of Harvard graduate Samuel Adams, "The Father of the American Revolution."

  “Vine & Fig Tree”  in American History

Two centuries ago, the “Vine & Fig Tree” vision transformed America into the most prosperous and admired nation in human history. Tragically, we then experienced The Paradox of Deuteronomy 8: God blessed us, but we forgot God and said, "My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17), and then God judged our pride by turning our prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into ridicule and hate. The United States is now despised around the world as a self-centered post-Christian bully.

George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. At one time, the LOC.GOV website introduced Washington's writings with these words:

Under My Own Vine and Fig Tree, 1798 Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Virginia Historical Society Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art

      Peter Lillback, author of a 1,000-page study of Washington's life and thought, has found more than 40 references to the  “Vine and Fig Tree” vision in Washington's Papers. Other scholars keep finding more, it seems.
      Many other American Founders wrote of this ideal.
      "Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream."
      The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means

• peace,

• wholeness,

• health,

• welfare, and

• private property free from pirates and princes.

When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife.

Page Smith was a historian, winner of the Bancroft Prize, earning his M.A. degree in 1948, and Ph.D. degree in 1951 from Harvard. In his book Religious Origins of the American Revolution (Scholars Press, 1976), Smith writes about graduates from the older Harvard, like Samuel Adams (class of 1740), John Hancock (class of 1754), and John Adams (class of 1755). He says the passage in the book of Micah about “every man…under his vine and under his fig tree” was

the most potent expression of the colonist’s determination to be independent whatever the cost,…having substantial control over his own affairs. No theme was more constantly reiterated by writers and speakers in the era of the Revolution.

Here's a few examples, including some post-Revolution writers looking back.

In 1892, the Supreme Court of the United States proudly boasted that America was legally, technically, officially, Constitutionally, and organically a "Christian nation." Looking at the "organic utterances" the Court referred to, we see that America was not just generically Christian, but a Protestant nation. Smith says,

The American Revolution might thus be said to have started, in a sense, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg. It received a substantial part of its theological and philosophical underpinnings from John Calvin’s Institutes Of The Christian Religion and much of its social history from the Puritan Revolution of 1640-1660, and, perhaps, less obviously, from the Glorious Revolution of 1689.

Indeed, Smith adds, in early America, the Reformation

left its mark on every aspect of the personal and social life of the faithful. In the family, in education, in business activity, in work, in community and, ultimately, in politics, the consequences of the Reformation were determinative for American history.

Put another way, the American Revolution is inconceivable in the absence of that context of ideas which have constituted radical Christianity. The leaders of the Revolution in every colony were imbued with the precepts of the Reformed faith.

By "radical" Christianity, Smith refers to the Bible. "Radical" comes from the Latin word for "root," and the Bible was the root and foundation of protestant Christianity in colonial America.
By "Reformed faith," Smith draws a distinction between Calvinism and Lutheranism. America was not just a Protestant nation, but a Calvinist nation.

The Westminster Standards are the highest expression of "the Reformed Faith."

Christian Philosopher Cornelius Van Til said "There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy." The Law of God and the law of man. When society is governed by the Law of God in the Bible, it is free from the tyrannical rule of Autonomous Man. As remote or repugnant as Puritanism may be to some, Smith says “it is essential that we understand that the Reformation in its full power was one of the great emancipations of history.”

It is unfortunate that Calvin and his progeny were not consistent Christian Theocrats. As we will see, they tried to combine "Jerusalem and Athens." Instead of a pure "Theocracy," which literally means "God governs," they wanted clergymen -- or clergy-approved men -- to govern. This is not pure "Theocracy." Rule by clergy is "Ecclesiocracy."

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Warning!
You Are About to be Offended

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America became the most prosperous and admired nation in history because it was a Calvinist Theocracy.

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You were trained by your government-approved teachers to be offended and appalled at that claim. Yesterday's secular clergymen stripped public schools of Calvinism and the Bible. Today's clergymen are the CEO's of the Military-Industrial Complex and Wall St., who oscillate between corporate boardrooms and "smoke-filled rooms" in Washington D.C. A secular ecclesiocracy is just an "oligarchy." The United States -- the woke/neo-conservative regime in Washington D.C. -- is an oligarchy. It is still a "theocracy," with every man his own god, and the State as the apotheosis of Autonomous Man. "The Government," as Hegel put it, is "god walking on the earth."

"Theocracy" is an inescapable concept. Even "democracy" is a theocracy: "vox populi, vox dei" -- “The voice of the people is the voice of god.”

Pity the nation whose gods are Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

As we noted above, Calvinism made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history. Removing Calvinism transformed America's prosperity into bankruptcy and admiration into ridicule and hate.

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Vine & Fig Tree University

I'm working to create an online "university" which can be put on a hand-held electronic device for billions of Muslims and billions of "Christians" around the world. It will give the student the Bible-based education that America's Founding Fathers received when they were children.

At Vine & Fig Tree University we're trying to duplicate the now-extinct Harvard University -- a Bible-based Christian university founded by the New England Puritans to promote the Christianity of the Protestant Reformation in the New World -- which is now an atheistic university at war with the original goals of Harvard.

The Founders of Harvard University (the church-state of Massachusetts) also created the first public school system. It was based on the Bible, and created Bible-literate students qualified to enter Harvard University.

Graduates of today's government-run "public" schools have been brainwashed into believing that Harvard's original Christian worldview is not as good as today's secular worldview. Nobody wants an education approved by the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans. Nobody is searching in Google to find a university that teaches what Harvard's Founders wanted students to learn in 1636 -- and nobody knows as much about the Bible and social virtues as Harvard expected high school applicants to know before their first college class.

But at Vine & Fig Tree University we believe that Harvard's Founders were not perfectly consistent with the teachings of the Bible. So we seek to reform the reformers. We want to be more pure than the Puritans. But our reforms are viewed as heretical, and we only incur additional wrath from those who already oppose the original Founders of Harvard.

Vine & Fig Tree University takes its name from the Bible verse which historians claim was the most popular Bible verse in America from 1600 to the American Revolution. (That's saying something significant, because America's public school system was designed primarily to teach everyone the Bible. If you were to ask today's Americans who their favorite opera singer is, they would draw a blank, because they can't name a single opera singer. Likewise if you asked today's Americans what their favorite Bible verse is. Some may have heard of "John 3:16," but otherwise know as much about the Bible as they do about opera singers. This was not the case in early America.)

Here is the foundational text for Vine & Fig Tree University:

This is the foundational Bible passage for America, a land of "Liberty Under God." This is the original "American Dream."

But Americans from 1600-1800 only scratched the surface of this passage. And from 1800 to today, this passage has been flushed down the Orwellian "Memory Hole." Out of 300,000 churches in America, the number of churches that take this passage seriously (and agree with the perspective advanced here) can be counted on your right hand. This passage does not fit into the popular "prophecy charts" of most churches.

Let's look at some details in Micah 4:1-7.

Micah says

Q.: How does Micah know what will come to pass?

A.: God told him. This is seen in verse 4:

Q.: How does God know what will come to pass?

A.: God is in control.

Q.: When will this come to pass?

A.:

Perhaps Micah meant "in the distant future." But the writers of the New Testament consistently affirmed that they were living in "the last days," and the best interpretation of this phrase is that they were living in the last days of the Old Covenant.

The original "mountain" was the Garden of Eden, from which flowed four rivers (downhill). The temple on Mt. Zion was a model of the Garden.

The temple of the LORD: Where is it today? It was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans. The New Testament writers say that the new temple is made up of God's People.

This has already happened. The new temple (God's People) was being built even before the old temple had been destroyed. The virgin-born Jesus of Nazareth was seated in His new temple as the Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:36).

The nations around Israel built their own "high places" in an attempt to imitate God's Garden. The neo-conservative woke regime in Washington D.C., as well as the "former" USSR, UK, UN, NWO, WEF, etc. are all rival "mountains." Christ has a superior jurisdiction over them all.

This began happening in Acts 2, and has continued since, with ups and downs through history.

Too many Christians today think there is a conflict between "Law" and "Gospel." Micah didn't think so.

Who is "He?" It is clearly Jesus the Messiah. The first nation He judged was the nation of Israel, who murdered their King. This took place in "the last days" of the Old Covenant. Perhaps Jesus is about to judge the U.S.A., a once-Christian nation.

Many (if not most) Christians today claim that wars must increase until the "Second Coming" of Christ, sometime in our future. This is based on an erroneous interpretation of Matthew 24:6. There are fewer wars today than there were in Micah's day. Christians have enough financial and electoral power to end all the wars currently taking place in the world today.

Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised "Peace through Strength," that is, "peace" through killing millions of innocent people?
Q.: What would happen if Christians never voted for any politician who promised to use the power of the sword (the State) to engage in extortion ("taxation") to fund mass murder by the military?
Q.: What would happen if "the Law shall go forth" out of the New Temple of God's People, and they never voted for any politician who promised to violate the commands against murder and theft?

A.: All of today's politicians would have to resign from "the public sector" and get jobs in "the private sector."
The "Public Sector" ("the sword") would be abolished.
"Public Schools" exist to brainwash you into believing that would be a terrible thing.

This was the original "American Dream."

The early church father Tertullian (c. 155 AD – c. 220 AD) asked:

Perhaps in his day Christians were being told to "Listen to the Academy!" just as Christians in our day are told "Listen to the Science!" But Micah says the temple of the living God will not be corrupted by the temple of man the would-be god.

Augustine wrote about the conflict between "The City of God" and the city of man. Where is your "citizenship?"

God rebukes unbelieving nations, but then restores them and gives them faithful obedience.

God's People are part of that process, by extending mercy to those God has rebuked (Matthew 25:31-46).

 The Kingdom that Christ inaugurated in "the last days" of the Old Covenant lasts forever.

Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end
Isaiah 9:6-7

Most people find something controversial or objectionable in these verses. Perhaps the most controversial claim we are making about this passage can be stated in four words:

Jesus is the Christ

Your local church probably does not believe that. The phrase sounds unobjectionable, but only because nobody thinks very deeply about it.

Jews have thought about it. They deny that the virgin-born Jew from Nazareth is Israel's Christ (a Greek word which is equivalent to the Hebrew word "Messiah"). Jesus is not their King.

But surprisingly, most people who call themselves "Christians" don't really believe these four words. They don't believe Jesus is -- in our day, right now -- fulfilling all the "Messianic Prophecies" of the Bible, prophecies which are relegated to a time often called "The Millennium."

The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

Here are some more controversial terms that can be found in Micah's prophecy. We have found 20 "core values" in the passage, and each one can set off a firestorm of controversy. But when fully understood, each one is a source of great comfort, optimism, and "good news" ("gospel").

Vine & Fig Tree
Daily Life

During the typical 15-week semester, we will always come back to 20 Core Values found in Micah's the “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy.

Reduced to Single-Word Concepts
(Linked to VFTU Home Page)

After 1647, students wishing to enroll in Harvard were required to give their assent to the Westminster Standards in order to be admitted as a student. Probably nobody who will be starting as a Freshman at Harvard this Fall has studied the Westminster Standards, much less agrees with them. Applicants to Harvard in the early 1600's had a much higher level of academic attainment than graduates of atheistic public schools -- victims of educational malpractice -- in the early 2000's. And high school students in the 1600's already had a Biblical worldview before their first day of college. 

The Westminster Standards

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were written in the 1640's. They reflect the growth of Protestant theology that began in 1517 with Luther's "95 Theses" and continued under men like John Calvin.

John Frame says

The assembly’s Confession of Faith, completed in December, 1646, is the last of the classic Reformed confessions and by far the most influential in the English-speaking world. Though it governed the Church of England only briefly, it has been widely adopted (sometimes with amendments) by British and American Presbyterian bodies as well as by many Congregational and Baptist churches.

B.B. Warfield, professor at Princeton in the late 1800's, wrote of the Westminster Standards,

[T]hey are the final crystallization of the elements of evangelical religion, after the conflicts of sixteen hundred years. . . . [T]hey are the richest and most precise and best guarded statement ever penned of all that enters into evangelical religion . . . .

Richard Gardiner, in his impressive collection of "Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History," lists many sources which introduce the average Secular Humanist to the now-unknown religious foundations of American Revolution and Government. Among these sources are the Westminster Standards. Gardiner says of them:

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) In addition to being the decree of Parliament as the standard for Christian doctrine in the British Kingdom, it was adopted as the official statement of belief for the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although slightly altered and called by different names, it was the creed of Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches throughout the English speaking world. Assent to the Westminster Confession was officially required at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Princeton scholar, Benjamin Warfield wrote: "It was impossible for any body of Christians in the [English] Kingdoms to avoid attending to it." The Westminster Catechism (1646) Second only to the Bible, the "Shorter Catechism" of the Westminster Confession was the most widely published piece of literature in the pre-revolutionary era in America. It is estimated that some five million copies were available in the colonies. With a total population of only four million people in America at the time of the Revolution, the number is staggering. The Westminster Catechism was not only a central part of the colonial educational curriculum, learning it was required by law. Each town employed an officer whose duty was to visit homes to hear the children recite the Catechism. The primary schoolbook for children, the New England Primer, included the Catechism.  Daily recitations of it were required at these schools. Their curriculum included memorization of the Westminster Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism. There was not a person at Independence Hall in 1776 who had not been exposed to it, and most of them had it spoon fed to them before they could walk.

The Shorter Catechism begins with this notice:

"Weaker capacity." Like 5-year olds.

The "Larger Catechism" is described as "a Directory for catechising such as have made some proficiency in the knowledge of the grounds of religion." Like 12-year olds. A Protestant Bar-Mitzvah.

90% of the "Pastors" of today's churches do not know as much about theology as the average 8th-grade American in 1776.

Many people are rightly disturbed by the idea of a government official entering a home and dictating what children should learn when it comes to religion.
But they are also offended by the idea of God Himself entering a home and dictating what children should learn when it comes to religion . . . or any other subject.

The word "Theocracy" is a frightening boogeyman in our day. Harvard University and the Westminster Standards were both designed to promote a Christian Theocracy. Neither one embraced the modern concept of "separation of church and state," which more accurately means "separation of God (religion, Christianity) and Government." Harvard/Westminster stood for the proposition that both Church and State must be "under God." Vine & Fig Tree University questions whether "the State" -- which is a Monopoly of Violence -- can ever truly be "under God," that is, obedient to God's Commandments. Similarly concerning the institution called "the church." The Westminster Assembly, predominantly Presbyterian, was strongly opposed to Roman Catholicism, yet in many ways is still very similar to Roman Catholicism in structure and power-dynamics. John Milton said "New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large."

The Bible says all believers are priests and kings:

Revelation 1:6 
Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:9-10
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.

Roman Catholics claimed to have priests; Harvard and Westminster denied this.
Harvard's most notable graduates in its first 200 years -- Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, etc. -- denied the claim of "the divine right of kings."
Vine & Fig Tree University contends that we are all priests and kings, and nobody is a priest or a king.
Vine & Fig Tree University denies the modern concept of "separation of church and state." We believe in "the abolition of church and state," that is, abolition of monopoly priesthoods and political oligarchy. We believe in an orderly self-governing society, and a truly religious (James 1:27) society, without the institutions of "church" and "state."

Both Harvard and Westminster believed in the institutions of "church" and "state" because "the church fathers" did. Not everything "the church fathers" believed came from the Bible. "The church fathers" believed many things because Aristotle and Greco-Roman humanism taught them to believe these things. One of the primary purposes of Vine & Fig Tree University is to strip away Greco-Roman humanism and go back to the Scriptures. At many points the Protestant Reformers and the New England Puritans wanted to "reform" and "purify" in this way, but they were products of their time.

Vine & Fig Tree University and "The Great Commission" is not about promoting any particular church or denomination, nor any particular nation. The only legitimate "church" is the Body of Christ, and the only legitimate nation is "the holy nation" spoken of in 1 Peter 2:9.

Here are the chapters of the Westminster Confession, with links to the section below where we compare the Westminster Standards with the core values of Vine & Fig Tree University:

The typical graduate from Vine & Fig Tree University can assent to the following doctrines:

1. I believe in God.
2. I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
3. I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
4. I enthusiastically agree with the first 22 chapters of the Westminster Confession of faith. The Larger Catechism asks, 
        Q. 5. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
        A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
   What the Scriptures require as the duty of man is found in the exposition of the Ten Commandments in questions 91ff. I enthusiastically agree with most of this section of the Catechism, as the links in the next two points will attest:
5. I believe God says "Thou shalt not kill."
6. I believe God says "Thou shalt not steal"
7. I believe God says that if someone hurts you or takes your stuff, you should leave vengeance to God
8. I believe what the New Testament authors believed about the Second Coming of Christ.
9. I support Capitalism, not Socialism.
10. I believe "the Gospel"

These propositions might seem at first glance to be perfectly reasonable and perfectly acceptable to any church.

But Vine & Fig Tree University pursues these doctrines with relentless logical and Biblical consistency.

If you think about these doctrines, and practice or meditate on them with logical consistency, they are astonishing, and then they are offensive. Most pastors don't want their congregations thinking about these things too much. They want their congregations to feel good.

If you take these doctrines seriously, you will be considered a "heretic." I've been told by many people that I'm not even a Christian because I believe these things.

The Puritan Church-State of Massachusetts created Harvard in 1636, and in 1647 created "public schools." The purpose of both was to promote widespread understanding of the Bible. Bible-educated citizens would then help create and maintain a Christian Theocracy. The Founders of Harvard believed that it was necessary to create a "civil government" to promote religion and civic order. They did not understand how religion and social order could be promoted by a Market Freed from threats of government force. Vine & Fig Tree University exists to promote this "paradigm shift." It will not take thick textbooks and long classroom lectures to do this. It simply requires taking the most basic precepts of the Bible seriously and consistently. This is not complicated or "tricky." It doesn't require high levels of intelligence. It takes high levels of ethics. Just be a consistently moral person, and ignore the "experts" who say the Bible is outdated or "utopian."

Let's think about these simple propositions like Bereans (Acts 17:11). You'll see why no pastor wants a Vine & Fig Tree University graduate anywhere near his church.

 Issue 0. Bibliolatry
Issue 1. Calvinism/Predestination
Issue 2. Preterism
Issue 3. Creationism
Issue 4. Optimillennialism
Issue 5. Theonomy
Issue 6. Pacifism
Issue 7. Capitalism
Issue 8. Theocracy
| Issue 9. Sin, Fall of Man
| Issue 10. Justification by Allegiance
| Issue 11. Church (House of the Lord) - false justification
| Issue 12. Salvation? Offer from God
| Issue 13. Jerusalem v. Athens: James 1:27; 4:4 world
How to create salvation:
Issue 14. Patriarchy: Patria v. Polis/EconomicManPolitical
Issue 15. Education: Theonomic/Jerusalem
Issue 16. Character
Issue 17. Agrarianism
Issue 18. Property/Community
Issue 19. Socialism
Issue 20. Eternity

---

Here are the key concepts in Micah's prophecy:

A Vision for Humanity

Micah 4:1-7 is a representative of many “Vine & Fig Tree” verses in the Bible (left column), with some observations on how this passage is expressed in the VFTU curriculum (right column).

Galantry, gallantry, as used by John Adams in this context, is defined by Websters Dictionary, 1828 edition as

GAL'LANTRY, noun

1. Splendor of appearance; show; magnificence; ostentatious finery. [Obsolete or obsolescent.]

. . .

5. Vicious love or pretensions to love; civilities paid to females for the purpose of winning favors; hence, lewdness; debauchery.

Clergy-Approved Men

The Reformed tradition in early America was not "radical" in the sense of being totally consistent with the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures. The Reformers, Puritans, and Framers of the Constitution of 1787 brought in ideas from "classical" Greece and Rome. This was a terrible mistake, and an unBiblical mistake.

What Were the "Classical" ideas?

1. Autonomy: Rebellion Against God

The measure of all things was either individual man or collective man (the Empire). This resulted in Debauchery, Superstition, and Corruption.

1. Pederasty. This is the homosexual union of an older married man with a teenage boy. The men often met the boys on their way to the gymnasium, the building in which the boys danced and played sports naked. The men then became the boys' lovers and teachers.

2. Demonism. The Greeks were polytheistic. Greek family life rested on a system of sacrifice to demons that masqueraded as the spirits of dead male relatives. So did clan life, which became political life. These demons also presented themselves as underground gods and spirits, who demanded sacrifices and special rituals to keep from destroying people. On this point, see the works of the early 20th century archaeologist-historian, Jane Ellen Harrison. This never gets into the textbooks, although specialists are well aware of it. (See on Socrates, below.)

3. Warfare. At the center of the literature of classical Greece was Homer's poem, The Iliad. It is the story of how Achilles' resentment against King Agamemnon raged because the king took his kidnapped concubine for himself. All the other men had concubines for the ten years they were at war. But no children are mentioned by Homer. Now that's real Greek mythology! Their wives stayed home and kept the ritual home fires burning -- to placate the family's departed male spirits. Athens destroyed itself in Pericles' needless imperial war against Sparta. Then the Macedonians conquered war-ravaged Greece. But the textbooks praise Pericles as a pillar of wisdom, reprinting Thucydides' posthumous version of Pericles' suicidal imperial oration.

4. Slavery. At least one-third of Athens was enslaved. The figure was as high in Sparta. Every household owned a slave. This provided leisure for their owners, who despised physical labor as beneath them -- servile. Slavery was a universal institution in Greece.

5. Autonomy. Greek philosophy was based on the ideal of man's mind as completely sovereign -- no personal God allowed. Well, not quite. Socrates claimed he was given guidance in his thinking by a demon (daimon). But rationalistic scholars, beginning with Plato, have always downplayed this. They have sometimes said this was just hyperbolic literary language. Socrates could not really have believed in a demon. After all, they don't.

6. Welfare State. At least one-third of all male Athenians were on the government's payroll in the time of Pericles.

7. Human Sacrifice. This was a basic theme in Greek literature. It was part of Athenian religious liturgy. There was no widespread movement to decry the earlier practice. The great expert here was Lord Acton, who wrote a long-ignored essay, "Human Sacrifice," in 1864. It is online here. It is included in Volume 3 of Selected Writings of Lord Acton, published by the Liberty Fund. From the day he published it in order to refute the great historian Macaulay, historians have refused to incorporate it in their narratives. It is way too embarrassing.

8. Cyclical View of Time. The Greeks did not believe in long-term progress or a final judgment -- just endless cycles forever: rise and fall, rise and fall. According to the historian of science, Stanley Jaki, this was why the Greeks never developed science, only technologies.

9. Female Inferiority. Wives were only for procreation. They could not be citizens. They had no legal rights. A man needed a male heir to perform the ritual sacrifices to feed him after he died. Women had no political influence except as prophetesses and mistresses.

You would not want to live in ancient Greece or Rome. See also this and this. You would say they were "uncivilized." Bishop Augustine was saddened by the fall of Rome, but Salvian the Presbyter understood that real civilization is based on Christian morality: Salvian rejoiced at the fall of the Roman Empire.

2.  Government by Men rather than by God

There were in fact wise old men in Greece and Rome who could see that their "civilization" was debauched and corrupt. America's Founders often quoted these dissidents. But what standard did the dissidents use to measure Greece and Rome? Ultimately, the dissidents had no solid place to stand in order to critique their crumbling empire. They had no objective standard outside themselves and their own society. They basically had the same world-and-life-view as the most corrupt and debauched members of society.

So an important category of "classical" ideas is the idea of "government" -- the Philosopher-Kings, or the wise old men who would guide society to prosperity.

Harvard's Founders wanted America to be a Christian Republic. It has turned out to be an atheistic empire. I will say this more than once on this page: During my lifetime, "my" government has killed, crippled, or made homeless TENS OF MILLIONS of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world. The "old men" in the House and Senate voted for this. And Americans --  victims of educational malpractice -- voted for these "old men," year after year, election after election. And the Empire of Lies and Death lumbers on. For a few years more.

If citizens are corrupt, depraved, selfish, and short-sighted, they should not be trusted to vote for "old men" to rule them. These old men are in fact no different from the rest of us: corrupt, depraved, greedy, and present-oriented.

As these words are being written, the Old Man of the U.S., Joe Biden (age 80), wants to put the Old Man of Russia, Vladimir Putin (age 70) out of office. To get Putin out of office, the old men of the U.S. have spent $113 billion. This is more than needed to prevent the starvation of 40 million people around the world. The old men are willing to use nuclear weapons, even at the cost of tens of millions of innocent lives. Even at the risk of human life on planet earth. There is nothing "wise" about these old men -- and the citizens who allow them to stay in power. The "senex" men are insane. They too are victims of educational malpractice.

But modern Secular Man has no objective and absolute moral standard by which to judge those who are destroying Christian Civilization.

“Suppose we think of a man made of water in an infinitely extended ocean of water. No surface above, no bottom below. Infinite water. Desiring to get out of water, the water-man makes a ladder out of water. He sets this ladder upon the water and against the water and then attempts to climb out of the water.
So hopeless and senseless a picture must be drawn of the non-Christian man’s methodology based as it is upon the assumption that time or chance is ultimate. On his assumption his own rationality is a product of chance. On his assumption even the laws of logic which he employs are products of chance. The rationality and purpose that he may be searching for are still bound to be products of chance.”

A universe of random chance is ultimately a meaningless universe.

This is the universe of the modern university.

That claim causes many people to do a double-take. Your Sunday School teacher never put it quite like that.

If you are eager to read the rest, leave a Facebook comment here.

Appendix A

But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
(Matthew 11:16-24)

(Matthew 3:7-12) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? {8} Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: {9} And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {10} And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {11} I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: {12} Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

(Matthew 11:16-24) But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, {17} And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. {18} For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. {19} The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. {20} Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: {21} Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. {22} But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. {23} And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. {24} But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

(Matthew 12:24-45) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. {25} And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: {26} And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? {27} And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. {28} But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. {29} Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. {30} He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. {31} Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. {32} And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. {33} Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. {34} O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. {35} A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. {36} But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. {37} For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. {38} Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. {39} But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: {40} For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. {41} The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. {42} The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. {43} When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. {44} Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. {45} Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

(Matthew 16:1-12) The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. {2} He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. {3} And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? {4} A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. {5} And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. {6} Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. {7} And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. {8} Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? {9} Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? {10} Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? {11} How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? {12} Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

(Matthew 17:12-23) But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. {13} Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. {14} And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, {15} Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. {16} And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. {17} Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. {18} And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. {19} Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? {20} And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. {21} Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. {22} And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: {23} And they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

(Matthew 23:27-39) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. {28} Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. {29} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, {30} And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. {31} Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. {32} Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. {33} Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? {34} Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: {35} That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. {36} Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. {37} O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! {38} Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. {39} For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

(Matthew 24:34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

(Mark 8:11-12) And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. {12} And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

(Mark 8:31-38) And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. {32} And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. {33} But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. {34} And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. {35} For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. {36} For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? {37} Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? {38} Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

(Mark 9:19) He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

(Mark 13:30) Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

(Luke 3:7-9) Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath about to come? {8} Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. {9} And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

(Luke 7:31-35) And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? {32} They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. {33} For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. {34} The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! {35} But wisdom is justified of all her children.

(Luke 9:41) And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

(Luke 11:29-32) And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. {30} For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. {31} The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. {32} The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

(Luke 11:39-54) And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. {40} Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? {41} But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. {42} But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. {43} Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. {44} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. {45} Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. {46} And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. {47} Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. {48} Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. {49} Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: {50} That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; {51} From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. {52} Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. {53} And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: {54} Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him. {12:1) In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

(Luke 17:25) But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

(Luke 21:32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

(Acts 2:40) And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Appendix B

The Preterist "Context"

The consistent preterist claims that there isn't a single verse of the New Testament which was intended by its author and understood by its original audience to be speaking of any discontinuous event thousands (or millions) of years in the future.

There are many verses which clearly speak of Christ coming in judgment against His enemies, and this coming is clearly timed as occurring before the generation that rejected Him dies out. This first-century coming is such a dominant theme in the New Testament Scriptures, that a sound application of the “grammatical-historical hermeneutic” would require any verse which is not clear about the timing of Christ's coming in judgment to be interpreted as fitting into that "default" pre-70AD time-frame. Some clear, explicit departure from that dominant context needs to appear in the text before one would conclude that that text breaks the mold and speaks not of an event in "that generation.," but of an event thousands or millions of years in the future.

Here are 101 verses speaking about "that generation."

1. “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)

2. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Matthew 3:7)

3. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees.” (Matthew 3:10)

4. “His winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Matthew 3:12)

5. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

6. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:7)

7. “You shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 10:23)

8. “....the age about to come.” (Matthew 12:32)

9. “The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26)

10. “Verily I say unto you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)

11. “‘When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ ‘....He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’ ‘....Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.’ ....When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” (Matthew 21:40-41,43,45)

12. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34)

13. “Hereafter, you [Caiaphas, the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the whole Sanhedrin] shall be seeing the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69)

14. “The kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mark 1:15)

15. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. ....They [the chief priests, scribes and elders] understood that He spoke the parable against them.” (Mark 12:9,12)

16. “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Mark 13:30)

17. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come?” (Luke 3:7)

18. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. “ (Luke 3:9)

19. “His winnowing fork is in His hand.” (Luke 3:17)

20. “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9)

21. “The kingdom of God has come near.” (Luke 10:11)

22. “What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” The scribes and the chief priests understood that He spoke this parable against them.” (Luke 20:15-16,19)

23. “These are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:22)

24. “This generation will not pass away until all things take place.” (Luke 21:32)

25. “Daughters of Jerusalem , stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23:28-30; Compare Revelation 6:14-17)

26. “We were hoping that He was the One who is about to redeem Israel .” (Luke 24:21)

27. “I will come to you. In that Day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.’ ‘Lord, what then has happened that You are about to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?’” (John 14:18,20,22)

28. “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:22)

29. “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days’” (Acts 2:16 -17)

30. “He has fixed a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31 )

31. “There is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts 24:15)

32. “As he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment about to come” (Acts 24:25)

33. “Not for [Abraham’s] sake only was it written, that [faith] was reckoned to him [as righteousness], but for our sake also, to whom it is about to be reckoned.” ( Rom. 4:23-24)

34. “If you are living according to the flesh, you are about to die.” (Romans 8:13 )

35. “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18 )

36. “It is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand.” ( Romans 13:11-12)

37. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20 )

38. “The time has been shortened.” (1 Corinthians 7:29)

39. “The form of this world is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:31)

40. “Now these things were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

Bonus Verse: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 10:26) [See below]

41. “We shall not all fall sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

42. “Maranatha!” [The Lord comes!] (1 Corinthians 16:22)

43. “...not only in this age, but also in the one about to come.” (Ephesians 1:21)

44. “The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:5)

45. “The gospel was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23; Compare Matthew 24:14; Romans 10:18 ; 16:26 ; Colossians 1:5-6; 2 Timothy 4:17 ; Revelation 14:6-7; cf. I Clement 5,7)

46. “things which are a shadow of what is about to come.” (Colossians 2:16-17)

47. “we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds You, brethren, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15,17; 5:4)

48. “May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

49. “It is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-7)

50. “Godliness holds promise for the present life and that which is about to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)

51. “I charge you that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 6:14)

52. “storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for that which is about to come, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” (1 Timothy 6:19)

53. “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self Avoid these men. For of these are those who enter into households and captivate weak women These also oppose the truth But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all” (2 Timothy 3:1-2,5-6,8-9)

54. “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1)

55. “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

56. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 )

57. “He did not subject to angels the world about to come.” (Hebrews 2:5)

58. “and have tasted the powers of the age about to come.” (Hebrews 6:5)

59. “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near a curse, and it’s end is for burning.” (Hebrews 6:7-8)

60. “When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13)

61. “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way of the [heavenly] Holy Places has not yet been revealed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.” (Hebrews 9:8-10; Compare Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 2:21-22; 3:17; 4:13)

62. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things about to come” (Hebrews 9:11 )

63. “Now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin.” (Hebrews 9:26)

64. “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things about to come” (Hebrews 10:1)

65. “as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25)

66. “the fury of a fire which is about to consume the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:27)

67. “For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” (Hebrews 10:37)

68. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one that is about to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

69. “Speak and so act, as those who are about to be judged by the law of liberty.” (James 2:12)

70. “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!” (James 5:1,3)

71. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.” (James 5:7)

72. “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:8)

73. “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)

74. “He has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” (1 Peter 1:20)

75. “They shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5)

76. “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” (1 Peter 4:7)

77. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.” (1 Peter 4:17)

78. “as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is about to be revealed.” (1 Peter 5:1)

79. “We have the prophetic word which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)

80. “Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:3)

81. “In the last days mockers will come. For this they willingly are ignorant of” (2 Peter 3:3,5)

82. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” (2 Peter 3:10-12)

83. “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” (1 John 2:8)

84. “The world is passing away, and its desires.” (1 John 2:17)

85. “It is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)

86. “Even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18; Compare Matthew 24:23-34)

87. “This is that of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” (1 John 4:3; Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:7)

88. “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. About these also Enoch prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly’” (Jude 1:4,14-15)

89. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions” (Jude 1:17-19)

90. “to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place.” (Revelation 1:1)

91. “The time is near.” (Revelation 1:3)

92. “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.” (Revelation 2:25)

93. “I also will keep you from the hour of testing which is about to come upon the whole land.” (Revelation 3:10; cf. Matthew 2:6,20,21)

94. “I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 3:11)

95. “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.” (Revelation 12:5)

96. “And in her [the Great City Babylon] was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.” (Revelation 18:24; Compare Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:50-51)

97. “to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place.” (Revelation 22:6)

98. “Behold, I am coming quickly. “ (Revelation 22:7)

99. “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (Revelation 22:10; Compare Daniel 8:26)

100. “Behold, I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:12)

101. “Yes, I am coming quickly.” (Revelation 22:20)

All of these verses concerned those who lived in the first century, not those who would live thousands of years later (though we can certainly learn some general principles from every verse of Scripture, even ones that weren't intended directly for us). The imminent destruction of the temple and judgment of those who rejected the Messiah is a dominant theme of the New Testament, and was a top priority in the minds of Christians in those days.

Thanks to David Green for putting together these verses.

He adds:

There are clearly many verses in the New Testament which inescapably point to an event or events that would occur in the first century. Another question which might be raised is this: is there a single verse in the Bible which inescapably predicts an event that would occur in the 21st century or later, and can be interpreted in no other way?

What's At Stake

There are two things at stake.

First is the trustworthiness of Scripture. Atheists have figured this out. Christian apologists need to deal with it. Here is the issue:

It is the pervasive teaching of the New Testament that Jesus was coming soon. On almost every page, we are told that Jesus would end the old age and begin the new before those who were His eye-witnesses were dead:

The Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. There are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:27-28; cf. Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27)

New Testament readers were anticipating the end of the old and the beginning of "the New Heavens and the New Earth" (2 Peter 3). Incredible, miraculous, unprecedented things

• were "about to" happen.
• To "this generation."
• The end was "at hand."

Either they happened, or the New Testament writers (and those who believed them)

• Were Wrong
• Were Mistaken
• Are Untrustworthy

This is a very serious issue, and many atheists have recognized what's at stake.

Atheist Bertrand Russell, in his book Why I Am Not A Christian, discredits the inspiration of the New Testament based on the failed prediction of Christ and the Apostles:

I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels . . . and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, He certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at the time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come." Then He says, "There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom"; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of his earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of his moral teaching. [1] 

Russell is correct when he says that much of the New Testament was based on the belief that the Kingdom and end of the age were "at hand." If Christ and the Apostles were teaching the imminent destruction of planet earth and the inauguration of the "eternal state," then they were clearly mistaken.

There have been various responses by Christians to this criticism of the Christian faith. Among these, one is particularly striking. We get a profound impression of just what a challenge this argument is to the integrity of the Christian faith when we realize that a great Christian thinker and apologist such as C.S. Lewis despaired at finding a solution to it. Lewis surrendered to the assertion of the skeptics that Jesus was wrong. He attributed this to the limited knowledge Jesus had in His incarnate human form. He correctly pointed out that Jesus himself said, in Matthew 24:36, that He did not know the exact time when He would return:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Lewis despairingly wrote,

“He said in so many words, 'this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. This is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible."[2]

To this, the skeptic may reply, “If Jesus incorrectly predicted His return within the contemporaneous generation, but actually did not know that He was going to return within that time frame, then why did He so confidently assert that all of the words He had just spoken would come to pass in Matthew 24:35? He said, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ ”

Recently, Christians like R.C. Sproul have suggested that most -- and maybe even all -- of these "any moment" verses were fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed and the age of the Old Covenant terminated. If this is true, then the Bible can be trusted. If not, then Christians need to come up with an answer for people like Bertrand Russell.

Read these verses. Read them in context in your own Bible if you think we're taking them out of context.

Get the big picture.

Take this issue seriously.

Admit that this is a question that needs to be answered.

Once this issue is dealt with, and we admit that the Scriptures were consistently preterist, then we need to ask how this fact changes the way we live out our lives. I suggest here that any claim that Jesus is not fully reigning and fulfilling "Messianic prophecies" in this age -- before any future "Second Coming" --  is "anti-Christ."  I suggest here that preterism means our duty in this life is to build the City of God, the "New Jerusalem."

Preterism and Sacraments

I don't believe in "sacraments." These Old Testament rituals were dug up and mimicked by what we call "The Roman Catholic Church." Most Protestant churches are only partially-reformed Roman churches.

1 Corinthians 5
⁶ Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Therefore  purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  ⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast,  not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Luke 22
¹³ And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁴ And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

1 Corinthians 10
²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Matthew 16
²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. ²⁸ Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

First-century Christians continued to observe Passover until Christ came in the power of His Kingdom, in the lifetime of those who witnessed His First Advent, to take vengeance against those Israelites who rejected Him as their Passover Lamb. Jesus the Death Angel did not pass over Israel in AD 70. The old Israel was destroyed as the new Egypt:

Revelation 11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Jesus came in the power of a new Kingdom. The old kingdom -- the new Egypt -- was destroyed so that the New Israel -- God's Kingdom -- could be built.

Why would this brand of Christianity -- believing that I get to go to heaven when I die -- get Christians thrown into the coliseum with the lions? Or crucified? (Crucifixion is a form of lethal torture.) Why would the Roman Empire object to this pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by belief, especially when Jesus commanded His followers to pay their taxes and be good citizens? Answer: there's more to "the Real Meaning of Easter" than a freak event (a resurrection) and going to heaven when you die.

[1] Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian (New York: A Touchtone Book by Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16.

[2]. Essay, "The World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385. Lewis' views were pointed out by Marshall "Rusty" Entrekin. http://www.thingstocome.org/whatgen.htm

Iron Sharpens Iron

Some people shy away from "controversy." Don't be like them. The Bible says "Iron Sharpens Iron" (Proverbs 27:17), and that's a good thing. You will become a better Christian if you face controversy head-on, and when you hear a claim that you think is unBiblical, expend a little energy to refute it Biblically. During the next 50 days of Eastertide, I'll be saying some controversial things. Engage these claims. Stretch your knowledge of the Bible. I'm not going to try to prove you're a bad Christian. I'm not your "opponent." I want to help you sift out unBiblical ideas and replace them with Biblical ideas. I'm just sharing the conclusions I've arrived at through years of Bible study. I'll tell you why I rejected the ideas that most Christians hold today. You decide. In this process together, we can both become sharp.

"Swords into Plowshares?"

On the traditional church calendar, the 50 days following Easter Sunday are known as "Eastertide." It will take us 50 days to explore "The Real Meaning of Easter." The first 21 days will be taken exploring one of the most famous “Vine & Fig Tree” passages: Micah 4:1-7.

We'll look at these concepts one a day during the first 2 weeks of "Eastertide."

Why is Micah's prophecy "The Real Meaning of Easter?"

Because “Vine & Fig Tree” is what the Christ was going to bring. And Peter says that by His Resurrection and Ascension, Jesus was made the Christ, or Messiah. The Messianic Age is the “Vine & Fig Tree” Age. If Micah could travel 700 years into the future -- from his day about 700 B.C. -- to hear Peter's sermon in Acts 2, and then travel another 2000 years to our day in 2024, Micah would be astonished at how his prophecy had been fulfilled. Our name for the "Messianic Age" is "Western Civilization." Our problem is that we're not as astonished and as grateful as Micah would be for what Jesus has done as the Christ for the last 2000 years. So we need to study the Bible more to see history with new eyes. Take a day to think about each of the Messianic prophecies cited by the Jewish article below. I recommend starting with Micah 4. I created a non-profit tax-exempt organization to promote the fulfillment of this prophecy in our day. America's Founding Fathers quoted this prophecy frequently as a model for America. Read about the original "American Dream" here.

Here's how our 50-day path continues: