The Vine & Fig Tree Worldview
Vine & Fig Tree is a
501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
Our mission is to help bring about the fulfillment of Micah's "Vine
& Fig Tree" prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).
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
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| Self-Evident Truths | Theocracy
| The Bible | God's Sovereignty | Theonomy
| Eschatology |
| America | Capitalism | Christian
Reconstruction | Education | Coaching
| Church | Politics |
| Creationism | Prayer | Extremism!
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Under My Own Vine and Fig Tree, 1798
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
c. 1910
Oil on canvas
Virginia Historical Society
Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art
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George Washington's Diaries are available
online at the Library of Congress. That website introduces those writings with these
words:
No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love
for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters he
referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting
contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had
returned to Mount Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784:
"At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of
the Potomac, & under the shadow of my own Vine
& my own Fig-tree." This phrase occurs at least 11
times in Washington's letters. "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely,
every man under his vine and under his fig tree"
(2 Kings 18:31). |
- Many other American
Founders wrote of this ideal. 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 you read the word "salvation" in the Bible, you should be thinking
about dwelling safely under your Vine & Fig Tree.
The best place to see the Vine & Fig Tree ideal
is in the book of Micah. Here is Micah's prophecy and a few notes about the Biblical
worldview Micah presents:
Micah 4:1-7
Now it shall come to pass in the last days |
That the mountain |
of the LORD’s house |
Shall be established on the top of the mountains, |
And shall be exalted above the hills; |
And peoples shall flow to it. |
Many nations shall come
and say, |
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
, |
To the house of the God of Jacob; |
He will teach us His ways, |
And we shall walk in His paths.” |
For out of Zion the law shall go forth, |
And the word of the LORD from
Jerusalem. |
He shall judge between
many peoples, |
And rebuke strong nations afar off; |
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, |
And their spears into pruning hooks; |
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, |
Neither shall they learn war anymore. |
But everyone shall sit
under his vine and under his fig
tree, |
And no one shall make them afraid; |
For the mouth of the LORD of
hosts has spoken. |
For all people walk
each in the name of his god, |
But we will walk in the name of the LORD
our God |
Forever and ever. |
“In that day,” says the LORD , |
“I will assemble the lame, |
I will gather the outcast |
And those whom I have afflicted; |
I will make the lame a
remnant, |
And the outcast a strong nation; |
So the LORD will reign over them
in Mount Zion |
From now on, even forever. |
Micah 4:1-7
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Notes
—The last days of the Old Covenant |
Four rivers flowed out of the elevated Garden
of Eden |
We as Christians are this house |
All religions are not equal |
Christ is King over all |
All nations and races are invited to this House |
The invitation will continue to be accepted |
The world will be Christianized |
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All people will learn
God's Word |
and
obey His Commandments. |
It takes more than mere mental assent |
to
become a Christian |
Christ the King will be recognized as the true
King; |
nations will conform to His authority |
We will build, not bomb: |
grow, and not destroy |
International conflict will end when all
nations |
follow the Prince of Peace. |
Private property will be respected |
Families will prosper. |
"It
shall come to pass" because God is Sovereign |
He is
in control |
We will not worry about what others say |
or
seek their approval. |
The way we treat the weakest in society |
is
the way we treat Christ Himself. |
God uses those on the margins |
and
those who have been humbled by |
His
chastising judgments. |
He strengthens them |
And reigns through them. |
All this began on the first Christmas
Day. |
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Believing this prophecy and working for its fulfillment is what it means to be human.
Walking in God's paths and converting aggression and hatred
into healing and love is why God put us here.
This is a survey of The Vine & Fig Tree
Worldview, as seen through a number of different V&FT
websites. Different websites allow us to target different audiences, and traffic to
similar-sounding domains can be tracked by the Marketing Department. Vine
& Fig Tree has registered over 100 domains.
The Vine & Fig Tree Homepage
- www.VFTonline.org, .com
- This is the master domain that presently holds the majority of all of Vine
& Fig Tree's webpages, exploring the various implications of
Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy and
suggestions on how to create a society where we beat our swords into plowshares and
dwell safely under our own Vine & Fig Tree.
Worldview
What is a "worldview?" It's becoming a popular
word in some circles. A Worldview is a pair of glasses through which you view the
world. It is the foundation upon which you build the structure of your life. It is the
grid which filters and sorts billions of facts and makes sense out of life. A worldview
can be active or passive, Christian or secular:
- Active: "It is my destiny to rule over others."
- Passive: "I'll never amount to much. I just take what comes my
way."
- Christian: "God created me to enrich the lives of those in my family
and my fellowman."
- Secular: "The universe is an accident. Mankind just evolved. I just do
what I'm told. Maybe I'll win the lottery."
Most Christians look forward to Micah's age of peace. Vine
and Fig Tree differs from most
other Christian organizations in our commitment to bring Micah's "Vine
and Fig Tree" prophecy to
fulfillment before the Second Coming of Christ. This idea strikes many
Christians as heretical -- and many atheists as a delusion. Before they will be ready to
be shown how to do so, they need to go through a program to convince them that it
is legitimate to try. Accordingly, we have divided this list of V&FT
websites into two parts:
- The Legitimacy of Working to Fulfill Micah's "Vine
and Fig Tree" Vision
- The Tools to Help Fulfill Micah's "Vine
and Fig Tree" Vision
Once you accept the goal of working to fulfill Micah's "Vine
and Fig Tree" Prophecy,
you'll hunger for the tools. But Part 1 is the hardest part. It requires
rethinking many old, cherished ideas. Once those ideas have been turned inside out, it
is possible to begin developing the skills needed to build on Micah's blueprint.
Part 1 - The Legitimacy of Working to
Fulfill Micah's "Vine and Fig
Tree" Vision |
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Vine and Fig
Tree will be considered by most Americans to be a "radical" or
"extremist" organization. Sam Adams' call for America
to declare independence from Britain was considered by some to be radical and extremist,
and many
Americans did not actively support it.
Many people who are criticized as "extremists" are justly criticized for
supporting a bad idea or cause (e.g., racism, jihad), and doing so in an obnoxious or
violent manner. We believe there is no higher, more noble, or more ethical cause than
working to bring about Micah's "Vine and
Fig Tree" vision, and we are committed
to doing so in a logical, winsome, and peaceful manner.
Psalm 19 To
the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the
firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto
day utters speech,
And
night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There
is no speech nor language
Where
their voice is not heard.
4 Their line
has gone out through all the earth,
And
their words to the end of the
world.
In them
He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is
like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And
rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising
is from one end of heaven,
And its
circuit to the other end;
And
there is nothing hidden from its
heat.
7
The law of the LORD
is perfect, converting the soul;
The
testimony of the LORD
is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The
statutes of the LORD
are right, rejoicing the heart;
The
commandment of the LORD
is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The
fear of the LORD
is clean, enduring forever;
The
judgments of the LORD
are true and righteous altogether.
10
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea,
than much fine gold;
Sweeter
also than honey and the honeycomb.
11
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And
in keeping them there is great reward. |
12
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse
me from secret faults.
13 Keep back
Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them
not have dominion over me.
Then I
shall be blameless,
And I
shall be innocent of great
transgression.
14 Let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be
acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD,
my strength and my Redeemer.
Romans 1:18-32
For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
has shown it to them. 20
For from the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse, 21
because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him
as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22
Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23
and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals
and creeping things.
24
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts
of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen.
26
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even
their women exchanged the natural use for what is against
nature. 27
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing
what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of
their error which was due.
28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those
things which are not fitting; 29
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors
of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,
unmerciful; 32
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who
practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the
same but also approve of those who practice them. |
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But those who feel that Vine and Fig
Tree is "extremist" are correct, as we'll see below.
Let's begin with America's Declaration
of Independence. That document declares that there are certain "self
evident" truths. Anyone who begins with these self-evident truths and pursues them
with any consistency ends up with Micah's "Vine and
Fig Tree" vision, as America's
Founding Fathers did:
- There is a Creator.
- We know that The Creator is loving and personal, not the distant god of "deism,"
because the Creator is not silent, but has communicated His will to us: "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."
- We were created by this Creator in His Image, not accidentally evolved in an
eternally random, meaningless universe.
- We have a duty to obey
God's Law and thereby to secure the "rights"
of our fellow man.
There is nothing more important for any human being than to line up under these
self-evident truths. Our conscience tells us about these truths. Atheists are
self-contradictory and self-destructive. Tyrants and dictators are dangerous because
they seek to suppress these self-evident truths so that they may "be as gods"
(Genesis 3:5).
And everyone who rejects the grace of God and His atonement through Christ seeks to gain
atonement by various degrees of a masochistic self-flagellation or a sadistic
scapegoating of others. You can see this in members of your family or church, co-workers
at the office, and genocidal
extermination by the governments of the earth.
That is why there is a fifth element of the "self-evident
truths" articulated by America's Founders:
- When we infringe on the rights of others, we are playing God, and we sin against
our neighbor, but primarily against God. We must have our sins forgiven through
Jesus Christ.
On TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1781, "The
United States in Congress assembled, agreed to the following proclamation":
The United States in Congress assembled, therefore do earnestly recommend, that
Thursday the third day of May next, may be observed as a day of humiliation, fasting
and prayer, that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and
transgressions, and by sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous
displeasure, and through the merits of our blessed Saviour, obtain pardon and
forgiveness
On MARCH 6, 1799, President
John Adams proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer, that Americans would
- call to mind our numerous offenses against the Most High God,
confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence,
- implore His pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer,
for our past transgressions,
- and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit we may be disposed
and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to His righteous requisitions in time
to come;
President Adams proclaimed a day of prayer to this Trinitarian God
because "God's invisible attributes," "even His eternal power and
Godhead," are "clearly understood through the things that are made," so
that atheists "are without excuse." (Romans
1:20) Every human being ever created -- even those in so-called
"pagan" lands -- need only take the next step to get back to
God. We may not know exactly where that step will eventually lead us, but every human
being, created in the Image of God, has a conscience that knows what the next step
should be (Romans
2:14-15). This knowledge is often suppressed in favor of selfish and evil lifestyles
(Romans
1:18-19). But this knowledge of the Triune God of the Bible is still "self-evident"
to every human being.
America was clearly created as a Christian Theocracy.
"Theocracy" is a "self-evident" truth, though the word is
passionately hated by many.
The word "theocracy" comes from two Greek words:
theos + kratein
God governs
If God is over a nation as Ruler or "Supreme
Judge," then that nation is "under God." Until very recently, America
has always been considered as a nation "under
God," which is to say God "rules" over America, which is to say
America is a Theo-cracy. Obviously, given the statements of America's Founding Fathers above,
America is a Christian Theocracy. More evidence of this is here:
www.LibertyUnderGod.org
Every nation is a "theocracy," because every nation has laws, and
all laws are based on morality, and all
morality is based on a religion or "worldview," and the ultimate principle
that determines law, morals, and ethics is that system's god. The
religion of "Secular Humanism" worships Man. In a "secular"
nation, "Man" is god (which usually means "The State" is god or
savior).
Secularists want Christians to believe that
- Secularism is "neutral," while Christianity is "religious."
- The Constitution prohibits the government from endorsing
anything "religious."
- Therefore we must have a secular theocracy rather than a Christian
Theocracy.
Of course, Secular Humanists never ever use the word
"theocracy" to describe their own position, only that of the group they want
to demonize as the boogey-man or the bad guy. But Secular Humanists want their god (Man)
to be the ruler of our nation, rather than the
God of the Christian Bible.
Secularists say that those who support "Theocracy" are
"extremists." Secularists are against Christian Theocracy, and extremely
so. The only people who accomplish anything in this world are
"extremists."
As we said above, your worldview is either Christian or non-Christian, active or
passive.
- Active Christians believe that every human institution -- from the family, school,
business, to the government --
has a duty to worship God.
- Activist atheists hate being reminded of this, and so seek to have all public
mention of God and His Commandments prohibited by "the sword" (the State).
- Passive atheists don't believe in God, but don't do anything about copies of the
Ten Commandments in public.
- Lukewarm Christians say they believe in God, but don't take action to see that
God's Commandments are honored.
So the character and destiny of America is determined by the battle between activist
Christian extremists and activist atheist extremists. Lukewarm Christians and atheists
will have their lives shaped by the activists.
America was founded by activist Christians. The "self-evident truths" they
declare in the Declaration of Independence strike at the heart of the atheist theocracy
dreamed of by Secular Humanists. Our defense of these self-evident truths should be
whole-hearted, not apathetic. Jesus says those who are not "extremists" -- passionate
about these self-evident truths -- are nauseating to Him (Revelation
3:16). Micah's Vine and Fig
Tree vision is one of world peace and health, a product of the global
worship of Jesus Christ. There's something dysfunctional about a human being who is not
fanatically in favor of the end of war and the conditions Micah describes: world salvation.
Atheists don't react with alarm at lukewarm Christians who are easily controlled by
secularists, but don't like the idea of Christians bringing about the global worship of
God. So for the most part, Micah's Vine and Fig
Tree vision is either loved or hated. Only the less-than-human are
lukewarm.
Vine and Fig
Tree is an attempt to secure and pursue these self-evident truths with
passion. So that makes us
ChristianExtremists.org,
.info
The idea of building a social, political, and intellectual philosophy on The
Bible strikes Modern Man as foolish. You probably had a college professor who
said, "The Bible is just an archaic collection of contradictions written by
primitive peasants who believed in myths and passed these fairy tales down with
additional contradictions and mistakes." You may have read some of the recent
best-sellers or seen some of the many websites on the Internet which claim that the
Bible not only contains examples of violence, but that it defends slavery,
oppression, domination, and mass murder. Religion makes the world worse, they say,
because it is a defense of non-rational delusions, clerical hypocrisy and the Spanish
Inquisition (according to these websites), and only atheistic secularism can create a
rational society.
Vine & Fig Tree disagrees with the
modern view. Christianity has civilized the barbarians, freed the slaves, opened
hospitals, and defended the weak and the poor. Christianity
built Western Civilization. Atheism has built gulags, concentration camps,
bureaucracies, and other monuments to self-ism and power. As Christians mature and
become more like Christ, they become more humane; as atheism becomes more consistent
with its own premises, it becomes more tyrannical, destructive, genocidal,
even suicidal.
We believe every word in the Bible is the Word of God. We believe God had complete
control over the prophets and the authors of the books and letters in the Bible, and
they wrote the exact words God wanted to be written. The words communicate absolute
truth which mends the torn fabric of life when put into practice. The starting point in
every one of the Vine & Fig Tree websites
is the Bible.
The Bible is the most significant book in all of human history. Even if you're an
atheist you can admit this, if only for the same reason TIME Magazine selected Adolph
Hitler as "Man of the Year" in its January
2, 1939 issue, an award given not to the best, but only to the most
"significant." The Bible has had more influence on more people, creating more
powerful and lasting institutions, than any other book in human history. The Bible is
the history and blueprints of Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and thousands of
missionaries that have altered governments and shaped the lives of billions of people.
More books have been influenced by the Bible than any other book. If you're an atheist,
you may not like that influence, but the Bible is more "significant" than any
other book.
Imagine that a UFO landed in front of the
White House and a representative of an extraterrestrial race gave the President a
book that described in detail the plans this superior race had for the planet
earth, and asked the President to decide whether or not we would cooperate. What a
hubbub there would be! CNN and FOX News and all the Networks would have nearly
uninterrupted coverage of this event, with 24-7 live remote cams showing the UFO
on the White House lawn, continuous reporting on the deliberations in Washington
D.C., unending speculation by the pundits on what the book says, what the
President will say in response, what planet the UFO was from, etc., etc., etc.
Relentless coverage. All the world would be watching the reports, many people
would stay home from work to watch the wall-to-wall coverage; marriages and
vacations would be cancelled to wait for word on the future of the planet -- life
on earth would come to a virtual standstill.
And yet the mainstream media does not give
this kind of attention to a Book that is even more significant than a book from a
UFO: a revelation from the Creator Himself, the Lord of all the extraterrestrial
planets and galaxies in the Universe. And most Christians give less attention to
the Bible than they do to FOX News' coverage of intoxicated Hollywood celebrities.
They devote more time each day to reading the sports section of the newspaper than
they do the Bible. |
If you profess that the Bible is actually a revelation from God, then the Bible is
more than "significant," it is awe-inspiring evidence of the grace of God.
Imagine the Creator of the entire universe sitting down next to you on the front porch,
explaining how the world came into being, how it works, and how you can "glorify
God and enjoy Him forever."
The average church-goer has not read the Bible from cover-to-cover. This is not
consistent with the claim that the Bible is a revelation from the Creator of the
universe. How should a Christian treat the Bible? What place should it have in your
life? What if today's televangelists have not been accurate in their presentation of the
message of the Bible? Shouldn't you find out for
yourself what the Bible says? What if kings, popes, inquisitors, and authors have
not been consistent with Biblical principles?
Suppose a nation in some distant region
should take the Bible for their only law book and every
member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there
exhibited.... What a Eutopia,
what a Paradise would this region be
-- John Adams |
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On the other hand, what if they were from now on? What if businesses, schools,
governments, and the media were to give to the Bible the place it deserves? The primary
purpose of Vine & Fig Tree is to bring
about a Bible-believing world. That means a Bible-literate world, and a Bible-practicing
world.
Most people who say they don't believe the Bible have never read the Bible from cover
to cover. Some who love to debate about the Bible have searched through the Bible solely
with an eye to discovering "contradictions" and other excuses for not putting
themselves under the authority of "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Morality is the motive. When it comes to
the Bible, there is no neutrality.
Even most people who claim to be "bible-believing" Christians have never
read the Bible from cover to cover. For both Christians and atheists, we recommend
starting here:
- 95Theses.info
New95Theses.com .org
- Following Martin Luther, The New 95 Theses cover the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation, summing up the message of the Bible and the arguments in these Vine
& Fig Tree websites. Reading these Theses and the Scripture
prooftexts will introduce the reader to a whole-Bible view of Christianity which
most "New Testament Christians" have never heard.
- BereanBootcamp.com, .org
- If you want to read the Bible, take the project seriously.
- Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character
than the Thessalonians, in that they received the Word with all readiness, and searched
the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
Go to Bible Tools
- Theonomy.net
- The word "theonomy" comes from two Greek words, theos
+ nomos, meaning "God's Law." The practical meaning of the
concept is that all of God's Word obligates us. We have a duty to take all of God's
Word seriously, and obey its commands.
The Bible says, "By this we know that we love the children
of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever
is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world—our faith" (1
John 5:2-4). If you want to love God and your neighbor, the Bible shows you
how: obey God's commandments. They are the blueprint for a Vine
& Fig Tree society, a world free of violence and poverty, and
God's Law is designed to show you how to gain victory over evil in your own life, so
that you can play a vital role in seeing that God's Will is done "on
earth as it is in heaven."
- "This Book of the Law shall not
depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may
observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make
your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua
1:8
- Too many Christians today only read the New Testament, and
when they read the New Testament stripped of its Old Testament background, they
give the New Testament a "neo-platonic" interpretation, based on pagan
Greek ideas rather than Biblical Hebrew ideas. (See "Christian
Reconstruction" below.)
- WorshiptheWord.org
- How much attention should we give to the Bible? Believe it or not, the Bible says
we should worship the Bible. This website proves it, and shows how to
Worship God's Word.
- DominionCoaching.org
- The concept of "Coaching" is discussed below.
"Dominion" is discussed here because it is central to man's
existence and a proper understanding of God's will for our lives. We were created to
"exercise
dominion over the earth" under God. This is the first commandment in
history. Jesus said the first commandment in
priority is to love God; the second is to love our neighbor. "The
Law and the Prophets" is the "job description" for the human
race: to love God, to help our neighbor love God, and to love our neighbor in
tangible and material ways, such as illustrated by the "Good
Samaritan." But we're not just individuals who give an
individual cup of water to an individual thirsty person. We are also a Body
and our corporate mission is a dominion
covenant -- a God-given assignment to human beings to govern the planet in His
name (Gen 1:26-28; 9:1-7). This means, as an example, thousands of people working
together to invent steel, create huge pipes which can pump millions of
gallons of drinkable water to millions of thirsty people.* Different members
of a Body, each specializing in different
functions, working in harmony. When we systematically and socially (corporately)
love our neighbor, we are "exercising dominion." Comparing the first three
chapters of Genesis with the Edenic
imagery of the last chapters of Revelation reveals that man's purpose is to
build "the New Jerusalem," giving all the glory for our success on the
project to God. Adam was given the job of understanding all of nature (Genesis
2:19-20), and then building "the
City of God."
"The goal is the developed Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem, a world
order under God's law."
R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (Nutley, NJ:
Craig Press, 1973), p. 357.
* There are some
Christians who believe that massive industrialization
cannot take place without violating God's
commandments, such as laws concerning currency
debasement, debt,
and usury.
They believe that if we develop Christian character
in our families, neighborhoods and local businesses, that God
will send rain and take care of the thirsty, without
the need for steel
mills, which some
have argued cannot be shut down on the sabbath. These
are very interesting and important questions. Those who
subscribe to Vine & Fig
Tree programs are able to participate in LIVE
webcasts and online discussion forums to hammer out these
issues. |
|
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To "exercise dominion" in a fallen world is to bring every area of life
--with its autonomous
violence and hatred -- under the dominion of Christ, and the influence of Theonomic
love.
- JustificationByAllegiance.com,
.org
- Martin Luther championed the doctrine of "Justification by Faith Alone."
If you say to someone who follows Luther, "I am justified by my works,"
the Lutheran will be horrified. But what you said is straight out of the Bible.
"Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only" (James
2:24). Because of that verse, Luther believed the book of James should not be in the
Bible. Anyone who says a book of the Bible shouldn't be in the Bible should himself
be viewed with caution, and rigorous consistency with that man's opinions should not
be our goal. How do we reconcile James and Luther (who quoted Paul)? This is a
critical question, because millions of Christians believe they have no obligation to
convert the world and reconstruct civilization; they are going to heaven because
Jesus is their Savior, even if He is not their Lord. "Justification by Faith
Alone" has become an obstacle to the Christianization of the world, along with
its sister slogan, "we are not under law, but under grace," which means we
don't have any duty or obligation to "exercise dominion over the earth" or
obey any other command of God. The Bible says we're "justified by
works." If you're disturbed by that idea, this website will force you to
become a Berean and study the Scriptures
more carefully.
- TheTenCommandmentsOnline.com
- Our laws are based on Biblical Law in general and the Ten Commandments in
particular. All ten. This website shows the legal history in America. America was
once the most admired nation on earth. Her greatness came from her honoring "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," summarized in the Ten Commandments.
Biblical law was honored and enforced by the government. When you see how courts and
legislators used the Ten Commandments (and the rest of God's Law, even from the Old
Testament), you begin to see why there was less crime and more respect for others
than there is today, when God's Law has been banned from schools and
government-controlled institutions. Just as national greatness depends on obedience
to God's Law, so does personal greatness.
Go to Theonomy Tools
How can the world ever be transformed into a Vine
& Fig Tree world? Most people can't imagine this, because their God
is a small god who lives only "down in my heart," or else their God is big,
but lives very far away and never gets involved in our lives here on earth. Many other
believe that man's will is "totally depraved," but -- ironically -- God can't
violate man's "free will," so the world can only get worse and worse.
Micah's prophecy begins with these words: "It
shall come to pass." How does Micah know what will come to pass? How can
he be so sure? There are only two possibilities.
- Micah is a good guesser, a clairvoyant,
a psychic,
or a medium, operating in a random,
meaningless or demonic-controlled universe.
- God told Micah what would happen, and God knows because God predestinated the
entire history of the universe from beginning to end.
This is a subject that sharply divides many who
call themselves Christians.
There have always been many Christians who
believe that when the history of this planet and this universe and every individual
reaches its conclusion, "every knee shall bow, and every
tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"
(Romans
14:11-12; Philippians 2:9-11). If God is Sovereign then this prophecy is absolutely
true, absolutely guaranteed, and God knows how every molecule in the universe will work
toward this goal. If God is not Sovereign, then this prophecy is just a guess, or a
wish, and maybe every knee will bow to Satan instead. "Who knows?"
God knows.
Understanding God's Sovereignty is the key to
understanding the Bible and growing in obedience to the Bible as God's very Word. It is
the key to having faith and being able to persevere in our assignment
until we're victorious.
God is the Creator. He created everything that
exists. Creation implies predestination. The entire universe, from beginning to end, was
predestined; that is, before it was created, it was a plan in the mind of God, who
determined that it would come into existence.
Nobody was around when God created the universe.
Nobody forced God to create the universe a certain way. God created the universe exactly
the way He wanted it, ex nihilo - out of nothing. There was no guess-work
involved because God is omniscient (omni-, all; science,
knowledge). God created every single molecule in the universe, and there was no other
being, force, or "natural law" in the universe to prevent God from creating
everything exactly the way He wanted it. A decent computer programmer can tell you what
his program will do if you turn on the computer and press a certain button. A bad
programmer can only guess what the computer will do. God is more knowledgeable than the
best computer programmer. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah
46:10) because He created the universe to move to that end. God has
told us what history will do, because God created history. God created time,
space, and matter, exactly the way He wanted it, knowing exactly what would happen
because He created it to happen His way. History is His-story.
Nobody can be a prophet unless God tells that
prophet what is going to happen (Isaiah
41:22,23; 44:7; 45:21; Daniel 4:35; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 43:13). God can tell us
what the future holds because God created the past exactly the way He wanted it, so that
it would produce exactly the future that God wants (a human way of speaking, since the
"past" does not "create" the future, God creates the future). God
does what He wants because He created all things and owns all things. God had complete,
exhaustive knowledge of everything He created, because everything which can be known was
created by God. There are no surprises for God. All of these ideas are summed up in the
word "predestination."
- PredestinationOnline.com
- This is perhaps the Internet's most radical website on
predestination, showing that God predestines every action in history, every molecule
in the universe.
Many people who believe in "free will" think it
is necessary to deny the Sovereignty of God in order to protect our "free
will." They say that if God has predestined the movement of every molecule in
the universe, that would include the very molecules of our brains, our thoughts and
emotions, which are electrical currents passing through the synapses in our brain.
If God predestined what human beings think, feel and do, them human beings are just
robots, and are not "free."
Yet the Bible says human beings are created in the Image of
God; we are not impersonal computers like a human computer programmer would create.
We are not like the animals, trees, or rocks. When most people say "I have free
will" what they really mean is "I am created in the Image of God."
Because we really are created in the Image of a loving and personal God, we really
do have the capacity to reason, to reflect, to pray, to understand the revelation of
God's will, and to choose to obey it. We will (appropriately) be held accountable
for all our actions in this life. Our being true persons -- not impersonal
randomly-mutated conglomerations of chemicals, but personal beings created in the
Image of God -- is not contradicted by being predestinated by God. Our
being truly personal beings depends on being predestinated by a truly
personal and loving God. Throughout history, those who have affirmed the
"free will" of man by denying predestination by God have eventually
become evolutionists, because only in an impersonal random evolving universe can
there be complete "freedom" from God.
The universe is not impersonal. It was not created by
a random, meaningless evolutionary process. It reflects the loving personality of
God, because every molecule was created by God, has a place in the plan of God, and
is upheld by God (Colossians
1:17). Theologians speak of "providence." We speak of
- AstonishingProvidence.com
- On August 1, 1776, Samuel Adams delivered a speech at the State House in
Philadelphia "to a very numerous audience." He said:
There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing
providence in our favor; our success has staggered our
enemies, and almost given faith to infidels; so we may truly say it is not our own
arm which has saved us. The hand of Heaven appears to have led us
on to be, perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great providential
dispensation which is completing. We have fled from the political Sodom;
let us not look back lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and derision
to the world.
- As we will see below, not a single person who signed the U.S.
Constitution could be called a "deist." All the Signers believed that God
intervened in American history in a supernatural way in direct response to the
prayers of the colonists. God moves entire empires to free the godly and enslave the
wicked. When we obey God's Commandments, God moves all of nature to bless us. When
we disobey God's Commandments, God sends us to "political Sodom" for
judgment. "Liberty Under God" is the theme of Sam
Adams' vision of Providence. It is also Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision. See "Capitalism"
and "America, 1776." The opposite of this vision is
state-socialism. Man's law (the welfare state/the warfare state) is designed to
foster man's predestination over his fellow men. God's Law promotes a Vine
& Fig Tree society in God's Providence. According to the Bible,
nature and human society are both under the providential care of God. Both are
healthy and prosperous when human beings repudiate the selfish violence of
humanistic (man-centered) autonomy
and embrace the theonomic (God-centered) dominion and loving service of others
prescribed by God's Law (Theonomy).
We love because He first loved us.
Go to Predestination Tools
If the Prophet Micah or the Apostle Paul could sit down with you right now as you're
looking at your computer monitor, and you were to explain how the words you're reading
began on my keyboard and came to your home, and how interconnected we all are, with
computer builders, software designers, phone companies, satellites, cable companies,
supplied by trucks, trains, and planes, linking us together, and how America now
consists of 300 million people, the majority of whom claim the name of Christ, and how
for 200 years Americans are generally able to walk the streets or travel across the
country without carrying a sword, and how even the people we call "poor" own
television sets, cars, and many own homes which are more luxurious than those owned by
kings in Paul's day, and if Micah and Paul could walk down the aisles of your local
grocery store, and hear the stories of how all those products got from field and factory
to the store, both Micah and Paul would say that Christ has brought about the
fulfillment of Micah's prophecy. They would be astounded. They would break down in tears
and profusely praise God. We live in truly amazing, wonderful times.
Yet you and I complain a lot. We have so many problems. Millions of
people think the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy is hopeless until Christ comes again.
Millions of people believe the world is getting worse and worse and Jesus is soon going
to "rapture" all the Christians away and let the planet go the remaining short
distance to hell. It is, after all "The
Late Great Planet Earth,"
where "Satan
is Alive and Well."
There are clearly two very different ways of looking at the world, at life, at
progress, and at the future. One view seeks to create heaven on earth (and has done
quite well, at least in the eyes of Biblical writers), while the other is content to
permit hell on earth, expecting Jesus to give us a new heaven and new earth on a silver
platter. This is why it is important to study the Biblical doctrine of dominion and
eschatology
- "Eschatology" is the study of "last things." John
wrote,
- "Little children, it is the last time:
and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last
time." (1 John 2:18)
- The word last is the Greek word eásxatov,
eschatos. The Apostles understood they were living in "the last
days" of the Old Covenant (Hebrews
1:2; 1 Peter 1:20), when the Messiah came to establish His Kingdom. This is when
the Gospel began to be preached and the nations began streaming to the House of God
in Micah's prophecy. Christians who settled the New World in the 1600's believed we
should and could Christianize the world before the Second Coming.
Many Christians do not accept this view of eschatology. They believe the world is
getting worse and worse, with the real king, Satan, calling the plays. This
demonic quarterback is kicking our team's butt, and our only hope is for Jesus to come
soon, to pick up His planetary football and go home. "This was the blessed hope of
the early church," they say. A cult called "The
Plymouth Brethren" made this view popular only about 200 years ago, and it came
to dominate evangelicalism by the 1970's, but after so many followers falsely
predicted the Rapture in 1981 (40 years after the formation of the State of Israel
in 1948, minus 7 years of Tribulation) and then again in 1988,
the view is rapidly losing its most passionate supporters.
This once-popular pessimistic view has been called "pessimillennialism."
The fastest growing view of the future, however, might be called
"optimillennialism."
- Optimillennialism.com,
.org
- This is the view that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus
prayed: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God did not make a
mistake when He created Earth and placed human beings on it to "exercise
dominion." This is a huge theme of the whole Bible, but it is negated by a
handful of passages taken out of context and used to create a popular but
destructive vision of the future. To counter that vision, we offer:
- NotComingSoon.net, .org
- One of the most dangerous beliefs in the history of post-apostolic
Christianity is the belief that "Jesus is coming soon." Nearly every
page of the New Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was
"near," and "at hand." Jesus said it would happen before
that 1st-century generation died out:
For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 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.”
Matthew
16:27-28
Either this happened when Jesus said it would happen, or Jesus was a false
prophet.
Jesus foretold very specifically when this would happen: at the Fall of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when Israel was judged according to her works:
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its
desolation is near. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things
which are written may be fulfilled. For there will be great distress in the
land and wrath upon this people. 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. Then
they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke 21:20-27
This is a serious issue. If you have never grappled with this question,
sooner or later you will have to. Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a
book entitled, Why I Am Not A Christian, and he used this issue as an
argument against the reliability of the Bible:
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.
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian (New York: A
Touchtone Book by Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16.
- The answer is simple. The phrase found in the King James Version, "the
end of the world," is more accurately translated "end
of the age," that is, the Old Covenant Age, and the
"coming" of Jesus spoken of so frequently in the New Testament was
His coming in vengeance in A.D. 70 against those who resisted the change from
the Old Covenant to the New, executed the Messiah, and persecuted His
disciples (Matthew 23:34-36). The fact that Jesus is not "coming
soon" opens up the future and changes everything.
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Part of the belief that "Jesus is coming soon" is the prediction that evil
is getting stronger and stronger, and things are getting "worse and worse" --
a self-fulfilling prophecy, if Christians stop working and start waiting
for the Second Coming. Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being
surrendered to Satan rather than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God
losing out to Satan and being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in
frustration. If you wish to believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself
supported by the Bible -- the whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to
begin:
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- "Conspiracy theories" abound in our day. This website is calculated to
attract people looking for conspiracies. Four thousand years after the First Adam
appeared on earth, the Last Adam appeared (1
Corinthians 15:45,22), during the days of the Roman Empire (Galatians
4:4). When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the
prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the
Romans in A.D. 70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we
are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. One of these prophecies included
the destruction of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45). How is it a tiny Babe
born in a feeding trough was able to topple the mighty Roman Empire? TheChristmasConspiracy
advances the idea that the Messiah came to earth to topple all empires
-- including our own, an empire that has taken the place of a once
Christian nation, The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the
first Adam, and as priests and kings under Christ, our job is to pull off the
greatest conspiracy in history, overthrowing the empire begun by the first Adam and
building the New Jerusalem in its place.
- Pessimillennialism began in 4004 BC, and consists of 6,000 years of failure,
capped off by a "millennium" that also ends
in failure.
Go to Eschatology Tools
- LibertyUnderGod.com
- America's Founding Fathers were Christian libertarians. They abolished the British
government and began an "experiment
in liberty,"
where no act of government was legitimate without the "consent
of the governed." This was a radical break from the days of the
"divine right of kings" in Europe, in which every act of the king was
presumed to be ordained (approved) by God. In America, Social order was to be
maintained by self government (morality)
under God (religion).
- "Liberty" means freedom from the initiation of force or violence by
others, especially by the greatest initiator of force, "the government."
Liberty exists when all people are committed to obeying "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "government" is the
greatest threat to "Liberty Under God." What would America be like if she
were consistent with these principles?
- LibertyUnderGod.org
- The LibertyUnderGod.com domain emphasizes the "Liberty" aspect of
"Liberty Under God," while the LibertyUnderGod.org domain emphasizes the
"Under God" aspect. America's Founding Fathers believed that Christianity,
not the
Constitution, held America together. America was a theocracy both before and
after the ratification of the Constitution. See also:
- IsAmericaAChristianNation.com,
.org
- The answer is YES. Nobody denies that the Puritans established theocracies in
Massachusetts and early colonial America. Did the Constitution of 1789 change
America into a secular nation? The U.S. Supreme Court now says yes, but during the
19th century (especially in notable cases in 1844 and 1892) the United States
Supreme Court emphatically declared that America was a Christian nation. This fact
has been lost on a generation educated in atheistic government-run schools. This is
the largest website on the internet with comprehensive resources on America's
Christian heritage and why the ACLU is wrong about the "separation of church
and state."
- July4th1776.org
- But America's Founding Fathers were not entirely consistent with the vision of
"Liberty Under God." After abolishing the British government, they
established another, which has devolved into the imperialist Reich
we have today. The root failure may have been the willingness to take up arms and
resort to violence against the British, a government incomparably more libertarian
and Christian than the one we have today. Violence against governments, that is,
decentralized violence against centralized violence, only perpetuates violence. This
website explains why the American Revolution was a violation of Romans 13 and other
Biblical principles on peace, non-resistance and non-violence.
- Romans13.com, .org, .info
- This is perhaps the most abused passage of Scripture in history. In Romans 12 Paul
commands us to reject vengeance and violence, and do good to our enemies, and
without chapter divisions in the original Greek, he goes on to say, in effect,
"even the State." He refers to the State as "the
powers," a reference throughout the ancient world to the demonic nexus
between evil and empire (Ephesians
6:12; Colossians 2:15, etc.). But Romans 13 has been used throughout the modern
history of the church to buttress the legitimacy and power of the State. We are to
submit to the State not because it is good, but because we are to submit to all
evil.
Go to "Second American Revolution" Tools
If you think of words like "robber barron" and "exploitation"
when you hear the word "capitalism," you're a victim of educational
malpractice. You've learned about capitalism from socialists.
Just a few generations ago, the vast majority of human beings lived in poverty. The
exceptions were kings and emperors. Today, ordinary people like you and me enjoy wealth
which those who lived a couple of centuries ago could not even dream about. It is capitalism
which has brought hundreds of millions of human beings out of poverty. The rest of the
world -- the world of poverty and disease -- still lives under emperors and despots.
The essence of "capitalism" is private property free from violence. This is
also Micah's Vine & Fig Tree ideal:
everyone dwelling safely under his vine and fig tree; a vision of private property in a
world which has repudiated violence by beating "swords into plowshares."
If you ask most university professors for their feelings about
"capitalism," you will get negative reactions. Most Americans sort of
grudgingly support capitalism rather than socialism, but very few people consider
themselves fanatic supporters of "capitalism," and almost no one supports pure
laissez-faire capitalism, with no socialism whatsoever. Nearly everyone believes that
capitalists rip off the poor unless bridled by wise and compassionate government
politicians (who -- don't reveal the secret! -- are nearly always businessmen or friends
of businessmen who do favors for their colleagues and will return to business after
their stint in "public service). Many vigorous critics of "capitalism"
define capitalism as an exploitative collusion between business and the State. All of
these definitions of capitalism come from people who are against freedom and in favor of
government planning and regulation.
Every scholar who describes himself as a vigorous defender of capitalism rejects
those definitions, and contends that
True capitalism is a social system based on the
rejection of the initiation of force or violence against others.
That definition will come as a surprise to most people. Most people are as ignorant
about the real meaning of capitalism as they are about the real meaning of the Bible.
The Bible is about loving your neighbor, including the poor; it is not about
perpetuating clerical hierarchy or "religion." Capitalism is about loving your
neighbor (and the poor are the greatest beneficiaries of capitalism); it is not about
buttressing the power of corporations or the State.
Many people equate "capitalism" with "competition," which has
violent connotations of big business crushing the mom 'n' pop store, management crushing
labor, monopolists crushing consumers, the rich crushing the poor,
"dog-eat-dog" "law of the jungle." Those who defend capitalism will
explain that "competition" really means freedom. If a monopolist
is crushing consumers, freedom of competition means I can set up a business to compete
with the monopolist, offering consumers a better choice -- without government officials
(elected by the monopolist) telling me I can't. "Competition" means the
freedom to serve the consumer in more effective ways than the competition. In a world
without force or fraud, service is the only way to profit.
"The Invisible Hand" In 1776 Adam Smith wrote Wealth
of Nations in which he explained how capitalism creates the wealth of nations. If
you're reading these words on a computer monitor or printed out from a personal computer
you are wealthy beyond the imagination of every single human being alive in 1776. Yet
most people are ignorant of how this extraordinary wealth came into being. They are
unable to defend the system that created it. That system is capitalism.
Not the visible hand of a dictator or bureaucracy, but the invisible hand of voluntary
associations of millions of human beings. Smith
said:
Every individual neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much
he is promoting it. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the
baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We
address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to
them of our necessities but of their advantages. He is led by an invisible hand to
promote an end which was no part of his intention.
In God's Providence, voluntary associations and exchanges make the world a better
place. When I give you 50 cents for the newspaper you sell, you are not "ripping me
off," because I value your newspaper more than I value my 50 cents. Nor am I
"ripping you off." You value my 50 cents more than you value your newspaper.
Every business deal is a transaction of mutual benefit, and trillions of mutually
beneficial transactions take place every day, bettering the world -- as long as the
transactions are voluntary and the participants observe "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." A world under God's Law has no need for
dictators, czars, bureaucrats, and prime ministers.
The whole world knows that capitalism works and socialism is a failure. The fall of
the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union shout
this truth across the globe:
- Capitalist countries are free and prosperous; life is cherished. Everyone is
wealthy.
- Socialist countries are enslaved and impoverished; life is disposable. Everyone is
poor (except the government).
And yet, virtually everyone in the United States has been trained in government
schools and by a government-dominated media to believe that
- socialism would be better than capitalism -- somehow
- government regulation is better than the "invisible hand" of the Free
Market
- no economy can succeed without some socialism.
This is the same as saying that we must not eliminate all threats of
violence and the initiation of force against others. This is a denial of Micah's command
to beat swords into plowshares.
Both the Bible and Capitalism are about peace.
Most people believe something nearly opposite.
- Laissez-FaireCapitalism.com,
.org
-
- "Laissez-faire"
comes from a French phrase meaning "let us do," or "let us
work" -- let us do what we do best.
- Let Henry Ford make cars so efficiently and at such a low price that even the
poor can own one, whereas once only the rich could.
- Let Bill Gates make software that enables even the most machine-shy to operate
a computer.
- And let Sam Walton establish a chain of stores to sell the products of
capitalists in every American town.
Socialism could never have done these things, so we say to socialists,
"Laissez-faire!" Pure laissez-faire capitalism is commerce and society
without any regulation, intervention, interference, or any initiation of force by
"the State."
- The core issue is not "the laws of economics," mathematical formulas or
supply-demand curves. The core issue is character: "piety
and virtue," to use a phrase common to America's Founding Fathers. We have
come to accept a profound defect in character: the desire to rule rather than to
serve; the desire to exercise power as a socialist central planner where profit is
coercively extorted from farmers, manufacturers and merchants, rather than serve
consumers in a market where risks are taken and personal responsibility assumed, and
where rewards are voluntarily bestowed. What one generation tolerates in
"moderation," the next generation will practice in excess.
Go to Capitalism Tools
Very few have heard of this idea, but it was an influential movement that created
"the Religious Right" and helped elect
Ronald Reagan, even though Christian Reconstructionism is highly critical of the
Religious Right and Reagan's secular conservatism. Christian Reconstructionists proclaim
"The Crown Rights of Christ the King." They argue that it is the moral obligation of
Christians to recapture or destroy every institution for Jesus Christ.
- To be recaptured: businesses, schools, universities, the media (Internet,
the printing press, cinema, music, radio, TV, etc.) the arts and the sciences; etc.
- To be destroyed: organized crime, totalitarian dictatorships, etc.
The means by which this task will be accomplished is Biblical Law.
These are the "tools of
dominion." The Christian Reconstruction movement believes that these four
doctrines represent consistent Calvinism and the mature thinking of the Protestant
Reformation:
- The Sovereignty of God
- Theonomy: Biblical Law
- Optimistic Eschatology
- Presuppositional
Apologetics (no neutrality)
- ChristianReconstruction.org,
.info, .net, .biz
- The far-left is much more familiar -- and alarmed -- at Christian Reconstruction
than most moderate conservatives. Ironically, the left is just now catching on to a
movement that has seen its founder (R.
J. Rushdoony) die, and has already seen its peak influence. Will this movement
ever regain its influence?
- Optimillennialism.com, .org
- Described above; this website explains why the Bible instructs us to have
long-term optimism about the future.
- ChristianizeTheWorld.com, .org
- Conservative columnist Ann
Coulter declared after 9/11:
We should invade their countries, kill their
leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't
punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his
top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed
civilians. That's war. And this is war. |
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* Some will dispute
this claim, arguing that the Reformation could not have
succeeded without support from European princes, and virtue
in America could not have been sustained without
government-imposed Christianity in the common schools.
These are very interesting and important questions. Those
who subscribe to Vine & Fig
Tree programs are able to participate in LIVE
webcasts and online discussion forums to hammer out these
issues.
The genius of Western Civilization is not the political or
military imposition of Christianity, but freedom from
government strangulation of self-government and personal
responsibility. |
|
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- Coulter is right to shock secular humanists by upholding the goal of
Christianizing the world. But hers is not a Christ-like strategy. This is not
how the Roman Empire was overthrown and Europe was Christianized.* We believe in
converting everybody, and killing no one. Together with optimillennialism.com and ChristianGlobalism.com
this website seeks to provide Biblical evidence that Christianizing the world is the
Church's goal. The next website focuses on the means to this end.
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies
about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D.
70, all theses prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the
Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the
fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean
up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem.
Go to Christian Reconstruction Tools
Part 2 - The Tools to Fulfill Micah's
"Vine and Fig
Tree" Vision |
|
The first tool for the fulfillment of Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision is prayer.
Vine & Fig Tree's prayer
page is a daily program of prayer for global Christianization. It follows Q.98 of
the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
- Prayer is
- • an offering up of our desires unto God
• for things agreeable to His will,
• in the name of Christ,
• with confession of our sins,
• and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.
This program dramatically re-orients our focus and opens the channels of God's
blessings.
The second tool for the fulfillment of Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision is our own disciplined character.
"Voting" for the "right" candidate is not the
answer. These candidates would have to have developed the character traits required to
pursue and fulfill Micah's vision before a Christian could vote for them. But nearly all
politicians have been moving in the opposite direction for years, beating plowshares
into swords and seducing people away from Micah's
"Jerusalem."
If you want to be rewarded by Christ for being a trusty tool for the
building of His Kingdom and the fulfillment of Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision, you have to be sharp and solid. This means
developing the character of Christ. All of our daily programs feature a process of
character development taken from the Psalms, in which David vows to be useful to
God. Christians who are working to fulfill Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision are working to become:
Benjamin Franklin observed, "[O]nly a virtuous people are capable
of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
A world in which property is safe from princes and pirates, with every one dwelling
safely under his own Vine & Fig Tree, is
a world in which the vast majority have been trained from infancy to live out these
character traits. A world in which a majority believe they are not qualitatively
different from pigs is a
world in which the life and
property of human beings is up for grabs, and the grabbers and the grabbees will
both cry out for powerful political messiahs to bring them their version of "salvation."
Suppose a nation in some distant region
should take the Bible for their only law book
and every member should regulate his conduct
by the precepts there exhibited.... What a Eutopia,
what a Paradise would this region be.
I have examined all [religions] ... and the result is that
the Bible is the best Book in the world.
It contains more of my little philosophy
than all the libraries I have seen.
JOHN ADAMS
[The Bible] is a book worth more than
all the other books that were ever printed
PATRICK HENRY
|
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Since the Bible is foundational, we must learn the Bible.
Capitalism and the Bible: A Parallel. As we have seen, many
people think of "capitalism" as a rationalization for the exploitation of the
poor by the rich. Most of these people have never read a book about capitalism by
someone who defends capitalism (most economics textbooks are written by critics
of capitalism, defenders of government planning). Capitalism, as we have seen, means
freedom from violence, emphasizing the harmony of interests that exist between people,
and pointing to the possibility of peace and prosperity, where the poor are the greatest
beneficiaries of the benevolent nature of capitalism. In the same way, people who
suspect that capitalism hurts the poor have vague suspicions about the Bible, but have
never read the Bible from cover to cover or a defense of the Bible as a blueprint for a
non-violent, non-hierarchical society. Most Americans -- even most church-goers -- have
gotten their ideas about the Bible from university professors, Hollywood thespians, and
the wealthy adult handlers of adolescent rock-stars, all of whom deep-down hate
the Bible and capitalism. In V&FT
programs you'll find an intelligent, well-documented defense of a libertarian Vine
& Fig Tree society.
Most church-goers have never read the Bible from cover to cover. They're acquainted
with a few verses, but most of the Bible's pages collect dust. If the Bible is the Word
of God, then all of the Bible is important. Most of the Bible is about the conflict
between socialism and Vine & Fig Tree-style
capitalism. There are whole books in the Bible about governments (Judges, Kings) and
most of the Prophets preach against governments. This is certainly an important, if not
the dominant theme of the Bible, yet most people assume the Bible is mostly about going
to heaven when you die. Vine & Fig Tree
offers programs that teach the Bible in a way no one else does, combining a reading of
the Bible with a practical, real-world application of its principles, including examples
of application by America's Founding Fathers, the Puritans, the Reformers, and
Christians during the so-called "Dark Ages" (which weren't "dark" at
all). These programs offer insight into the Bible unlike anything you'll get from either
end of the spectrum. These programs encourage and empower you to help create a Vine
& Fig Tree society.
Here's how we do it:
- BereanBootcamp.com, .org
- The Bereans are described in Acts 17:11:
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so. |
- Being a "Berean" is something every Christian should strive for. This
website offers a program to learn the Bible by reading through the Bible
and the Westminster
Catechisms and Confession of Faith, written around 1647, and very influential in
the founding of America.
- BibleBootcampOnline.com, .org
- This website is for those who don't know what a "Berean" is. It is the
same program offered at "BereanBootcamp.com"
Most Christians are out of shape and need spiritual exercises. That's the purpose of
a Bible Boot Camp.
-
- Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No
one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s
aim is to please the enlisting officer. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 (NRSV)
- You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone
runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for
a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold
eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish
line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm
staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping,
telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. 1
Corinthians 9:24-26 ("The Message")
- And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing
according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:5 (NRSV)
- Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrews
12:1
|
- This boot camp is like doing 1,000 push-ups a day. Doing so equips you to handle
the heaviest problems in life, and to exercise dominion under God.
- ExtraordinaryChristianCoaching.com
- To become an extraordinary Christian, you need an extraordinary Christian coach.
Actually, an ordinary Christian coach will do, because merely having a coach to help
you become an extraordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing. How many Christians
do you know who are taking classes on how to become an extraordinary Christian? How
many Christians do you know who are spending more time during the day to become an
extraordinary Christian than they spend watching TV or the mainstream media? This is
what separates the men from the boys. Having a coach is what separates the also-ran
from the Gold Medal Winner.
- YourBibleCoach.com, .org
- This is also the same program, but with additional personal support offered. See
"Coaching" below.
- TheTenCommandmentsOnline.com
- America's laws were based on Biblical Law in general and the Ten Commandments in
particular. All ten. This website shows the legal history in America. Then the Ten
Commandments are broken down following the model in the Westminster Larger
Catechism. The Westminster Catechism was universally taught to children of colonial
America. It was found in schools for the first 300 years of American history. It was
the foundation of America's greatness. Based on the catechism, this website features
a program for a "searching and fearless moral inventory" requiring
rigorous honesty, which paves the way for the application of God's Law in our
personal lives, spreading out to family, school, business, welfare, and ChristianGlobalism.
But this is not a social treatise like Rushdoony's Institutes of Biblical Law.
It builds on that foundation, but the emphasis is on "recovery" --
eliminating defects of character, killing
the "old man," and putting on Christ. It is practical and personal.
The benefits are extraordinary.
- Following God's Commandments will make you an
extraordinary person. God's Commandments create the character of Christ in you.
- Those who seek to bring about the fulfillment of Micah's Vine
& Fig Tree vision don't just proclaim a message, they become
the message. Our message is Christ. We are willing to live the message and
incarnate the character of Christ:
Our goal is to be approved by Christ, but as we develop the
character of Christ by obeying God's Commandments, we find we have the approval and
admiration of other admirable people.
God's Sovereignty
There are no additional "tools" or websites under this category. The
websites described above contain all the information about
God's Sovereignty that is needed to understand Micah's "Vine
& Fig Tree" prophecy, and the rest of our websites contain the
action steps to put this belief into practice. [back]
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,
in a state of civilization,
it expects what never was and never will be."
THOMAS JEFFERSON |
|
- TheLifelongLearner.com, .org
- Our efforts to create a "Vine & Fig Tree"
society depend on persuading adults that they cannot stop formal education with high
school or college, but should be learning and growing throughout their entire lives.
Not accidentally learning, but intentionally learning, or even formally learning. It
is a mistake to think of childhood as a time of education alone and no work, and
equally a mistake to think of adulthood as a time of work alone and no education.
- Deuteronomy
5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel,
the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn
them and be careful to observe them.
- Proverbs
9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
- Isaiah
1:17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the
oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
- Micah
4:3 He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong
nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears
into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall
they learn war anymore.
- In the modern age, ironically, childhood is being stripped of education, and
adults only work to be able to purchase "adult toys." In the Bible, both
age groups, which were commanded to work and learn God's Word, were commanded to
periodically engage in resting and feasting, times of re-creation, worship, and
celebration, which in the modern world has been reduced to "play."
Lifelong learning increases the benefits of both work and rest.
- HomeschoolingForAdults.com,
.org
- Adults who homeschool their kids and kids who have been homeschooled should be
committed to lifelong learning.
The key to understanding eschatology is actually the past. There are
two radically different views of the future, and they are the result of differing views
of the past. Most Christians never give serious attention to the choice between these
two views.
"Pessimillennialism":
"In fact, dominion – taking dominion and setting up
the kingdom of Christ – is an impossibility,
even for God.
The millennial reign of Christ, far from being the kingdom, is
actually the final proof of the incorrigible nature of the
human heart, because Christ Himself
can’t do it."
Dave Hunt,
"Dominion and the Cross" - Tape 2 of Dominion:
The Word and New World Order (Ontario, Canada:
Omega-Letter, 1987). See also Dave Hunt, Beyond Seduction:
A Return to Biblical Christianity (Eugene, OR Harvest
House, 1987), p. 250. |
|
|
One view says sin reigned for 4,000 years, then Christ came at the first Christmas
and inaugurated what Dispensationalists call a "parenthesis" age. After this
"parenthesis age" is the "millennium," where Christ comes again and
reigns for 1,000 years, at which time Satan musters an army against the King of kings in
a global rebellion which Satan is just about to win, but Christ ends the game by taking
His cosmic football and going home. In other words, the entire historic purpose of the
human race -- to exercise dominion over the earth under God --
the reason why God created the human race and put us on this planet -- is never
fulfilled. The past (God's purpose for creating human beings as stated in
Genesis 1:26-28) has no bearing on the future. Even Christ cannot fulfill
God's divine purpose. Satan and evil have ultimate dominion in history (time).
History = 6,000 years of sin + an aborted 1,000 year Kingdom = 7,000 years of satanic
dominion. This is why we call it "pessimillennialism."
There is another view, one in which God's Dominion Mandate
sees fulfillment in history. When the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower, a majority of
all Christians sang the "Gloria
Patri":
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
That last line is completely unintelligible to most modern Christians, as are these
verses from the King James Version (1611):
Isaiah 45:17
But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting
salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world
without end.
Ephesians 3:21
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.
Does God have bigger plans for planet earth than a mere 6,000 years of rebellion,
failure and evil and 1,000 years of an almost-but-not-quite Millennial Kingdom? Does
Christ's Kingdom last a shorter period of time than the Byzantine
Empire (c. 300-1453
A.D.)?
Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no
end
Is human life on earth predestined to be
- sinful, unjust, impoverished, and short -- or is life progressively
- holy, righteous, prosperous, and vast
- If the Apostles and Prophets could travel through time to our day, they would fall
on their knees in gratitude to God for the progress the Gospel has made over the
centuries since the first Christmas.
- 4,000 years of human history before the coming of Christ were dismal and mainly
downward. 2,000 years since Christ's Advent have been mainly upward and have already
seen more promised blessings than in the entire history
of man before Christ: ten times the blessings in half the time. When Christ was
executed, His 12 followers abandoned Him. Today, after His resurrection and
enthronement at the right hand of God, there are over 900 million people who claim
to be Christian, and enjoy a standard of living higher than any apostle could have
even imagined. There are six billion human beings on the planet. Greek
philosophers in the days of Christ would have emphatically denied that the earth
could ever sustain six billion people (just as Malthusian
evolutionists did in the 19th century). Most of them live in comparative peace.
Human beings in the Old Covenant age were statistically far more likely to die in a
war than any
human being on earth today.
We hear of "wars and rumors of wars" every night on the Evening News. Did
you really expect them to talk about the progress of Christ's Kingdom?
The Bible is a very large book, yet most people are only familiar with a few verses.
There are untapped reservoirs of Biblical truth which open up a new way of looking at
life and your purpose in it. God placed human beings on earth to enjoy optimillennial
dominion. Are you working to create heaven
on earth for future generations, world
without end?
Christian Dominion begins with an understanding that Jesus is not "coming
soon."
- NotComingSoon.org, .net
- One of the most dangerous beliefs in the history of post-apostolic Christianity is
the belief that "Jesus is coming soon." Nearly every page of the New
Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was "near," and "at
hand." Jesus said it would happen before that 1st-century generation died out.
Either it happened, or Jesus was a false prophet.
For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and
then He will reward each according to his works. 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.
Matthew 16:27-28
Once again, the past is the key to understanding our future, and the nature of
this first-century "coming." Israel was given tremendous privilege, and with
it, special duties and tremendous responsibility (Luke
12:47). The Old Testament is a long history of Israel's rebellion against God,
repudiation of her duties, consummating in her murder of God's own Son. Just like the
book of Jonah concerned Nineveh, the New Testament concerns Israel in her last days (Luke
11:29-31). With Israel's judgment behind us, our future is glorious.
Part of the belief that "Jesus is coming soon" is the prediction that evil
is getting stronger and stronger, and things are getting "worse and worse" --
a self-fulfilling prophecy, if Christians stop working and start waiting.
- Optimillennialism.com,
.org
- The pessimistic view dominated Christianity in the 20th century. We call it
"pessimillennialism." The fastest growing view of the future in the 21st
century, however, might be called "optimillennialism." This is the view
that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus prayed: "Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It is a long-term view, and
recognizes that the value of "the Church" (the Body of Christ) is greater
than the sum of its individual members.
Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being surrendered to Satan rather
than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God losing out to Satan and
being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in frustration. If you wish to
believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself supported by the Bible. The
whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to begin:
- Preterism
- "Preterism" comes from the Latin word for "past." It is the
fastest-growing view of Biblical Prophecy in America. It holds that all Biblical
prophecies were inaugurated or fulfilled in the past at Christ's First Coming. An
example of "fulfilled": Matthew 24. An example of "inaugurated":
the "New Heavens/New Earth" of Isaiah 65:17ff + 2 Peter 3: the
"planting" and "building houses" in Isaiah 65 continues today.
More to follow.
- DominionPreterism.com, .org
- One of the greatest obstacles to Christian dominion and the Christianization of
the world is "futurism," which holds that no real lasting success in
Christianizing the world can take place until Jesus comes back again. Dominion
Preterism is the view that we should be taking dominion now, because Jesus already
came. Because of the Last Adam, we have the same task today that the First Adam had:
building the City of God.
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies
about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D.
70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the
Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the
fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean
up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem: a conspiracy to
overthrow the City of Man and build the City of God.
- HeavenNow.org
- This website continues where DominionPreterism.com leaves off. The Old Covenant
has been replaced by the New Covenant. The Old Age has ended and the New Age in
Christ has begun. The Old Heavens and Earth was destroyed by fire in the destruction
in A.D. 70. We are now in the New Heavens and New Earth described in 2 Peter 3 and
Isaiah 65. Our job is to create heaven on earth. [This website actually belongs
under Part One (The Case for Working for V&FT) instead of here under
"Tools" (Part Two), but it's too controversial to be presented that
early.]
- LivingInHeaven.org
- Is “The New Heavens and the New Earth” the final state? Is the New
Heavens and the New Earth perfect in the sense of “completely
developed?” Does this mean there is no growth? Will
there be any concept of progress in the New Heavens/New Earth? Will
there be work to do in the New Heavens and the New Earth? If you had a
choice, would you choose to be alive in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve before
the Fall, or would you choose to be alive right now? What advantages do you have
today that the first Adam did not have? What material or physical advantages did the
first Adam have that you don’t have? What kind of spiritual fellowship did the
first Adam have with God that the Last Adam has not restored? The New Testament
claims that we enjoy the extraordinary benefits and blessings of restored fellowship
with God. [Again, this more properly belongs in Part One above, but we find that it
is not necessary to present a lengthy case, and once a reader makes the leap from
pessimillennialism to optimillennialism, there is an instant hunger for the
implications, and a desire to hammer out practical patterns of living in terms of
these implications.]
- Like the Evolution-Creation issue, eschatology is often determined more by wishes,
hopes and choices than "just the facts."
We define "capitalism" as: "The social system based on the rejection of
the initiation of force or violence against others." You probably have never heard
"capitalism" defined like that. Those who oppose capitalism speak of "the
rich exploiting the poor." But there is almost universal
agreement among those who call themselves "capitalists" or are defenders
of "capitalism" (not liberals or socialists who criticize
capitalism) that non-violence is the essence or core of "capitalism."
Micah speaks of a world which functions prosperously without "the sword."
Most Christians don't appreciate how this prophecy can be fulfilled because they don't
appreciate God's blessings, understand how providence operates
in the world today, and how -- without coercion or violence -- God brings about the
fulfillment of the promises of world-wide blessings.
- "Capitalism" is the answer. Capitalism is the
intersection of Providence, economics, and politics. We are not to steal. We are not
to succeed by killing our competitors or doing any violence. Even if our competitor
does violence to us, the Bible says to leave vengeance to God, and not to return
evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans
12:17-21). We succeed by being productive, not vindictive. We do not use force
against our competitors, but we succeed by serving the consumer better, and thereby
exercising dominion under God. This principle leads to "pacifism."
- DominionPacifism.com, .org
- We are to take dominion over the earth, but "dominion" doesn't mean
domination, coercion, compulsion, initiation of force or threats of violence. It
doesn't mean killing leaders and carpet-bombing civilians.
Jesus showed us that it is better to give our life than to take the life of another
(1
Peter 2:18-25). Businessmen are generally pacifists. They depend on creativity,
ingenuity, productivity, and hard work to succeed, not violence. Politicians are not
pacifists. They believe in using threats of force and violence to accomplish their
goals. Capitalists bring prosperity, politicians bring poverty. Immoral businessmen
seek the aid of politicians.
"Self-defense"
is not prohibited by pacifism. You can defend yourself by building a fence, locking
the door, erecting a high-tech security system, or, if you're Captain Kirk on the
U.S.S. Enterprise, setting your Phazer on "stun." But if your house is
broken into despite your best efforts at defense and security, you can't take
vengeance on the intruder and be a follower of Christ (though Christ commands
you to seek to "restore" your brother by pressuring him to repent and make
restitution).
Pacifism logically leads to:
- ChristianAnarchism.com, .org
- ChristianAnarchists.com, .org
- DominionAnarchism.com
- A rejection of violence, coercion, domination, and
theft, which we call "pacifism," leads to a rejection of all forms of
socialism. The rejection of all forms of socialism is called "anarchism."
Socialism in all its forms (such as democracy, republicanism, etc.) is ultimately
the greatest obstacle to Christian dominion and personal responsibility under God.
In Mark 10:42-45, Christ told His disciples that the kings of the Gentiles love to
be "archists," but it was not to be so among His disciples. We have been
taught in government schools that "anarchists" are bad, which logically
implies that "archists" must be good. This is the
biggest government lie in all of human history. In the Bible,
"archists" are bad; "anarchists" are Godly servants.
"Love your enemy" is a common summary of
the ethic Christ taught. It is this Christian ethic that is civilizing the entire
planet. "Love your enemy" creates a humane world. Vengeance and terrorism
are the marks of "archists." (When "the good guys" do vengeance
it's called "justice"; when "the bad guys" do it back, it's
called "terrorism," or as the CIA calls it, "blowback.")
Rejection of Christ's "love your enemy" ethic destroys capitalism and
progress.
While individuals committed to "love your
enemy" have tempered institutions of violence, those institutions have
not yet been disarmed. In an age of nuclear weapons, the future of human
civilization depends on prayerfully preaching Christ's gospel of the Kingdom to
"the powers that be" and anticipating the conversion and repentance of
millions who are now committed to violence and armed for terrorism and vengeance.
"Swords into plowshares" and "learn war no more" -- in short,
the repudiation of "archism" -- is the next step in human progress.
- GodandtheDeathPenalty.com
- One of the most fundamental errors that promote violence is the idea of
"capital punishment." This is the idea that someone in every
society is permitted to take vengeance on his enemies, and if someone can,
"surely I can too." Capital punishment in Western Civilization is based on
the Bible, a fact which most secular opponents of the death penalty won't admit. But
the Biblical basis for capital punishment is an erroneous interpretation of the
Bible. [summary]
- Despite the success of capitalism and the failure of socialism around the world,
virtually everyone in the United States has been trained in government schools and
by a government-dominated media to believe that socialism is better than capitalism
-- government regulation is better than the "invisible hand" of the Free
Market -- and that no economy can succeed without some socialism. This
is what makes this campaign so controversial: we are
working to eliminate all socialism and establish pure "laissez-faire"
capitalism. Pure "laissez-faire" capitalism is also called "anarcho-capitalism."
All forms of Anarchism or Capitalism which are not rooted and grounded in
Christianity tend to self-destruct. Hence our websites:
- BiblicalAnarchoCapitalism.com,
.org
- The Bible teaches what is today being called "anarcho-capitalism." This
is the message from cover-to-cover, as our survey of the Bible ("95
Theses") demonstrates.
- ChristianAnarchoCapitalism.com,
.org
- These websites defend anarcho-capitalism from the standpoint of Biblical
Christianity and explain why all non-Christian forms of economics and society
eventually collapse into chaos and tyranny, while Christian economics creates
prosperous economies and flourishing civilizations.
- ChristianGlobalism.com
- The only thing worse than "capitalism" in the minds of many of its
critics is "globalism." In Seattle, Nice, Genoa, and other cities, rioters
have destroyed millions of dollars worth of property and attacked police in
globally-orchestrated protests against global orchestration. Their goal is to
nationalize corporations into a "global democracy," that is, global
socialism.
Jesus came to be King over the earth, but Jesus did not
tell His followers to throw bricks through windows or dissenters in jail. ChristianGlobalism
is achieved by eliminating socialism, fascism, and other forms of
"archism" (the use of government violence to impede competition)
("competition" = freedom for consumers to do business with any business
they want) around the world. This is Micah's vision: every nation obeying God's Law,
beating swords into plowshares. "Global orchestration" is God's job, in
which He employs His "invisible hand."
There are many respectable commentators who oppose
globalism. Among them are Paul
Craig Roberts and Pat
Buchanan. But they are wrong if they oppose voluntary globalization. They are
putting a now-secular nation ahead of the Kingdom of Christ.
Christianity is presently dying out in secular Europe and
America, while growing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This secularization
doesn't have to happen -- we should work to prevent it -- but it's
happening now. Says Philip
Jenkins:
- • The scale of Christian growth is almost unimaginable. Back in 1900, there
were about 10 million Christians in Africa, representing about 10 percent of the
population. Today there are 360 million, representing just under half the
population. That is one of the most important changes in religious history, and
I think most of us didn't notice it.
• In the global South, he notes, huge
and growing Christian populations—360 million in Africa, 480 million in Latin
America and 313 million in Asia, compared with only 260 million in North
America, are already dominant in the Christian faith. In fact, the centers of
the Christian world have already moved “to Africa, to Latin America, and to
Asia … (the) balance will never shift back.” By 2025 most
Christians will be non-white.
• The Bible is alive in Africa and Asia and Latin America. Overwhelmingly, the
kind of Christianity is one which is very Bible-centered, which takes the Bible
very seriously, takes authority very seriously, both the Old and the New
Testament, in a way which I don't think western Christianity has done probably
since the Enlightenment.
- "Globalization" represents the growth of
capital and technology in the increasingly-Christian third world through "free
trade." It will raise their economic standard of living. Western Institutions,
such as the World Bank, the IMF, and other components of the Western State, hope to
extend their political control over the Christian South and East as
well, but the West is increasingly losing control over its own population, as
secular autonomy
becomes more self-conscious in its destruction of the family and morality.
If Micah's vision takes root in the underdeveloped world,
we will see the same shift we saw when Rome collapsed and Christian civilization
took root among the European barbarians. But there's no reason why the New Rome (the
US/UK/EU/UN "West") has to fall into poverty and chaos -- if Christianity
can be re-energized (probably outside the mainline churches). Even though
Globalization will mean a relative decline in U.S. GNP, the Bible promises
an increase in our standard of living if we obey God's Commands.
Globalism could potentially mean global Christianization and global capitalization,
and this would mean a radical increase in our own standard of living.
This website explores the staggering implications.
- CapitalismCoach.com, .org
- YourCapitalismCoach.com, .org
- These websites offer systematic training in understanding the principles of
economics and society which led to the unparalleled wealth we enjoy today. We train
you hard, requiring you to read what we believe to be the greatest text in history
on Capitalism and the fundamentals of a free and prosperous society, a text that
takes one year to read at 10 minutes a day. This will undo 4 years of college and
turn your thinking about business or career upside down.
The Christian Reconstruction Movement was the incubator for Vine
& Fig Tree. The movement had a significant though underreported
effect on politics and education (by initiating the Christian exodus out of public
schools into Christian schools and home schools) back in the 1970's and 1980's. With the
death of its leading figure, R.J. Rushdoony, it seems to have vanished. Is there a
future for "Christian Reconstruction?"
There are some who are called "Theonomists" who
applaud Singapore and Saudi Arabia for their strong anti-crime programs, holding that
the real power of "Christian Reconstruction" to make society better is the
power to execute various classes of criminals. Vine
& Fig Tree questions Capital
Punishment and promotes the more pacifist strategy of Micah.
The Christian Reconstruction movement, if it is to ever again be a formidable force for
social change, must understand this important truth:
The greatest obstacle to (or enemy of)
Christian Reconstruction is "the State."
The first generation of Reconstructionists strongly defended the existence of
"the State," though it spoke in libertarian terms of the need to
"reconstruct" or Christianize the State. A Christian State is as much a
contradiction in terms as a Christian Reich, a Holy Roman Empire or a Christian
mafia. Reconstruction requires elimination of the State, nationalism, imperialism, and
republicanism. This requires elimination of the myth of the legitimacy of violence. We
have described the steps under "capitalism" above.
In order to lead in the 21st century, the Christian Reconstruction movement must adopt
anarcho-capitalism. In addition to 'DominionPacifism" and
"DominionAnarchism," the Christian Reconstruction
movement must adopt:
- DominionPreterism.com, .org
- Described above; this website explains why the Messiah has already come, and we
should now be acting in terms of Christ's rightful dominion.
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies
about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D.
70, all theses prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the
Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the
fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean
up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem.
- AnarchistBibleBet.com, .org
- A wager that no Christian can read our anarchist website without becoming a
Christian anarchist.
- AnarchistBrainwashing.com
- LibertyUnderGod.com, .org
- America's Founding Fathers were Christian libertarians. They abolished the
government and began an "experiment
in liberty," where no act of government was legitimate without the "consent
of the governed." Social order was maintained by self government (morality)
under God (religion). "Liberty" means freedom from the initiation of force
or violence by others. Liberty exists when others are committed to obeying "the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "government" is the greatest
threat to "Liberty Under God." If this principle were consistently
followed, it would lead to:
- Anarcho-Theocracy.com, .org
- A lousy label for a great idea. This is an ordered, self-governing, peaceful
society without "the State" ("libertarian") and without the
"church" ("Theocracy" means "God
governs," not priests [ecclesiocracy]). The claim that "anarchists"
are bad is the biggest
government lie in all of human history. The claim that "theocracy" is
bad is a complete misunderstanding of reality. All human beings are essentially
religious beings. They either worship the Creator, or they worship the creature. The
laws of every society are based on the religion of society, which is the worship of
the True God, the worship of a false god, or every man his own god. See also:
- AnarchoTheocracy.com, .org
- LibertarianTheocracy.com, .biz,
.info, .net, .org
- July4th1776.org
- But America's Founding Fathers were not entirely consistent with this vision.
After abolishing the British government, they established another, which has
devolved into the Reich we have today. The root failure may have been the
willingness to take up arms and resort to violence against the British, a government
incomparably more libertarian and Christian than the one that has resulted. Violence
against governments, that is, decentralized violence against centralized violence,
only perpetuates violence. This website explains why the American Revolution was a
violation of Romans 13 and other Biblical principles.
- TheLastAmericanRevolution.com,
.org
- Many events, people, and products have been called "The Second American
Revolution." The LAST American Revolution will be the total repudiation of
violent revolution, violent regulation, and the systematic embrace of total
laissez-faire capitalism. (See "Capitalism" below.)
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- What did Jesus come to do on that first Christmas? Did He succeed? Christmas is
not a sentimental, syrupy children's holiday. It is a world-changing revolution.
- www.STOPtheSPP.us
- In March of 2005, President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to merge the three countries into a new nation modeled
after the European Union. Possibly called the "North American Union"
or the "United States of North America," the three branches of the U.S.
federal government, both delegated and usurped, will be transferred upward to the
new North American government. The correct option is to abolish
the US Federal Government and return those powers downward to the People, from
whence they originated.
- AbolishTheUSA.org
- The Constitution is already dead meat, and by 2010 will be all but abolished (See www.STOPtheSPP.us,
above). The choice confronting Americans and Christians is to face the reality that
the biggest threat to "Liberty Under God" is the federal government, the
"United States of America."
- ArchistsAnonymous.com
- A 12-Step program to overcome the addiction to dominate others and resort to
violence in the face of life's frustrations.
- All of the websites in this section are based on the Biblical analogy of
Christians to athletes who run a race and must be in training. Every successful
athlete trains every day, not just on Sundays. Every successful athlete has a coach
who pushes the athlete beyond what the athlete might think is possible. The coach
also encourages the athlete to persevere when the athlete feels like giving up, and
praises the athlete for accomplishments. [more]
- DominionCoaching.org
- We were created to "exercise dominion over the earth"
under God. This is the first commandment in history. The first commandment in
priority is to love God; the second is to love our neighbor. We love because He
first loved us. To "exercise dominion" in a fallen world is to bring every
area of life --with its autonomous
violence and hatred -- under the dominion of Christ, and theonomic love ("Theonomy"
= "God's Law"). Dominion coaching trains the individual to be a source of
dominion -- healing, theonomic service -- in the world, by putting God's Laws into
practice. See also "capitalism" above.
- SamAdamsCoaching.com
- Samuel Adams is known as "the Father of the American Revolution." What
would he think if he could travel through time into the 21st century? If you think
of yourself as a good American, what would Sam Adams think of your claim? He risked
his life, his fortune and his sacred honor to abolish a Christian government that
taxed the colonists at 3-5%. What have YOU risked to deal with a government that is
atheistic and taxes ten times more than Adams' government? Would you like the
boldness and courage of Sam Adams? If you want to become a Gold Medal American, you
need a coach.
- IronSharpensIron.info
- We are not to be isolated and alone. We need interaction.
"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17
- YourBibleCoach.com, .org
- If you believe the Bible is actually a revelation from God, then how should you
treat the Bible? What place should it have in your life? How can you better
understand and apply the Bible? See also "AnarchistBibleBet.com"
- YourChristianLifeCoach.com,
.org
- The "Life
Coach" is a growing industry, exploiting the modern phenomenon of broken
"nuclear families" and isolated individuals who lack a life purpose.
People looking for a "life coach" but not necessarily looking for
"Vine & Fig Tree" will find both here.
- YourCapitalismCoach.com, .org
- Capitalism is the opposite of socialism. Socialism is the use of force and threats
of violence to accomplish social objectives. Everyone engaged in the exercise of
dominion needs to understand how capitalism accomplishes our personal and social
goals without coercion. (see "Capitalism" above)
- Character
- Here is a partial list of
the character traits that are the foundation of Christian dominion and
capitalism.
- As important as a "coach" is to a Christian who is running the race and
competing for the prize, and as important as daily training is, millions of
Christians are deprived of these essentials because they have been brainwashed into
believing that a "worship service" on Sunday -- sacraments, liturgies,
pulpit lectures or televangelist entertainment -- is sufficient -- or more important
-- than daily work on Christian dominion.
- BeyondHomeChurches.com, .org
- The institutional church is generally a liability rather than an asset in the
lives of most Christians. There is a growing awareness of this, reflected in the
"Home Church" movement. But the "Home Church" often merely
shifts the entertainment or authoritarianism to a new venue. Community and "the
Body of Christ" are Biblical concepts; the entire concept of "church"
has to go.
- TheChristmasConspiracy.com
- The entire world must be Christianized. Christianity cannot be confined to the
four walls of a church. "Evangelism" is not just bringing people to church
or preparing them for death (or "rapture").
- These "political" websites are produced by a non-profit
tax-exempt organization called "Vine
& Fig Tree" (VFTonline.org).
Because we no longer have freedom of speech in America, we are
required by law to disclose that we do not endorse the candidacy of Kevin
Craig for U.S. Congress. Kevin Craig links to these websites in
his campaign materials because he agrees with the idea of "Vine
& Fig Tree" and "Liberty
Under God." But non-profit
organizations are not allowed to speak out on behalf of political
candidates, so even though he endorses us, we cannot endorse him
without the risk
of losing our tax-exempt status. If you came to this website
looking for information about Kevin Craig, you should click on one
of these websites:
- www.KevinCraig.US
www.Is It a SIN
to Vote for Roy Blunt.com
www.STOPtheSPP.US
- If you want information about his opponent, you should click here,
here or here.
- The American Revolution began
in churches. The Boston Tea Party was plotted in a church. The
ratifying conventions of several states were held in churches. What
would America's Founding Fathers think about a government that told
churches they could not say anything about Parliament or King George
III, and told courts of law they cannot
display copies of the Ten Commandments. The Pastors of early
America's churches would rise up and call for the abolition
of such a tyranny.
What will you do?
|
|
- IsAmericaAChristianNation.com,
.org
- The answer is YES. During the 19th century (especially in notable cases in 1844
and 1892) the United States Supreme Court declared that America was a Christian
nation. But this fact has been lost on a generation educated in atheistic
government-run schools. This is the largest website on the internet with
comprehensive resources on America's Christian heritage and why the ACLU is wrong
about the "separation of church and state."
- LibertyUnderGod.com, .org
- Not just an empty slogan, this is the core philosophy of America, and just as
radical today as it was in 1776.
- NobodyForCongress.com
- NOBODY knows how to run your family better than you do. Nobody can run your
business better than you can. Nobody knows how to educate your children better than
you do. Nobody should run your life. Vote for Nobody!
- CraigforCongress.com
- But you can't vote for nobody. Attempts to place "none of the above" on
ballots are always rejected for the obvious reason that "none of the
above" will win hands-down and call into question the legitimacy of government.
Kevin Craig is running for Congress to give you a chance to vote for "Liberty
Under God."
- VFTPeaceProject.org
- Brainstorming on how to spread Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision around the
world, beat swords into plowshares, and bring Peace on Earth. It is possible, if
people will reject the view that some socialism, some violence, some war is
necessary. It is possible, if people will trust in God's AstonishingProvidence.
- www.STOPtheSPP.us
- In March of 2005, President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to merge the three countries into a new nation
modeled after the European Union. Possibly called the "North American
Union" or the "United States of North America," the three branches of
the U.S. federal government, both delegated and usurped, will be transferred upward
to the new North American government. The correct option is to abolish the USA and
return those powers downward to the People, from whence they originated.
We began this survey of Vine & Fig Tree's
webpages with "self-evident truths," rooted in our
being creatures of a loving and personal Creator. The Bible says all human beings
display the work of the
Creator's Commandments written on their hearts. But many people harden their hearts,
and in order to deny God's Laws, they deny that the universe has a Creator. Aldous
Huxley, grandson of "Darwin's bulldog," Sir Thomas Huxley, has frankly
confessed that a meaningless, random universe suits him better than a world of service
and personal responsibility under God:
I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently assumed that
it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons
[justifications, rationalizations] for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no
meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics,
he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should
not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize
political power and govern in the way that they find most advantageous to
themselves. . . . For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an
instrument of liberation, sexual and political.
Many Christians have discovered that evolutionists have lied to them. The promotion
of the theory of evolution has been buttressed by frauds, hoaxes and icons.
Evolutionists say evolution is a scientific "fact," when it is no more
"scientific" than creationism. But many Christians have gone on to discover
that the reason evolutionists lie is not just an abstract academic
"scientific" dispute over "facts."
Evolutionists lie because they want to steal your property and
seduce your wife. Evolutionists call it "liberation," but it is the
seizing of political power for the seizing of your wealth, and the seizing of wealth to
fund hedonism, adultery and perversion.
The issue in the Evolution-Creation debate is not just "science" or
"facts," it is politics and morality. It is wealth and sex. It is pure
mystical, sexual, religious, political power.
- Anarcho-Creationism.com, .org
- AnarchoCreationism.com. org
Charities
- ColettesChildrensHome.org
- SoberSolutions.org
Personal
- KevinCraig.info
- KevinCraig.US