And Some More on the Rapturous Worship of Rome
My latest home page piece uses William Hogeland's Founding Finance as its text, and you'll see who the major players are when you visit my webzine.
One of Hogeland's most prominent players who I didn't address was Herman Husband, a fascinating character who could be considered one of the United States' genuine founding fathers if he wasn't so eccentric. A rabblerousing Christian man bent on getting things done in the world the way they should be, he was as much devoted to gospel things as he was to getting civil government to behave.
He had extraordinarily prescient ideas about how society should arrange itself for the best interests of all, and his passion for biblical principles motivated him to persist in his industrious causes. His adventures through pre-revolutionary America and its founding are engaging reading -- I can't see how his story would not make a fine major motion picture feature.
For the most part his attempts to reform everything were met with profound defeat, but he labored on and was almost always holding some local civil position, if not representing his region in more august legislative bodies.
One thing that struck me was his recognition of the U.S. and its power to carry out legitimate value extraction policies using the greatest force to do that led him to call the newly minted federal government "The Beast."
True enough. His proven knowledge of biblical references demonstrates that this meant something very specific. In my own survey of biblical truths, I am convinced The Beast is Rome and all its subdivisions, from any temporal government assigned to ruthlessly enforce the law to all ecclesiastical branches assembled to put a smiley face on that task. These include the overarching institution the Roman Catholic Church, as well as any organization contracted with the System such as 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit corporations -- virtually every "Christian" church in the U.S. is one, dutifully doing Rome's work.
Wow. So many people devoted to The Beast. That woman who rides her, by the way, that's Jerusalem, God's beloved, prostituting herself to Cain's legacy embodied in Rome.
I'd imagine there are a few out there who do trust in and believe on and love by Jesus Christ. I think there are quite a few, by the way, I'm not so dismissively provincial. In our lunch Bible study we were reading in the seventh chapter of Revelation, where it says a huge multitude worshipped Christ, one consisting of people from all nations and tongues and which couldn't be counted .
But it is so hard to see them when listening to what comes out of the World's blowhole.
For you see, the media are spending gobs of time covering the new Pope's selection. What other religious leader gets this much attention? That should say a lot. I've heard countless supposedly Protestant evangelical pastors and leaders glowingly say that the Catholic church is Christian and the Pope is all Christian and everything is great.
Wow wow. It breaks my heart. Where are those who see Rome for what it is? Herman Husband saw it, but sadly he was the forebearer for a whole slough of other folks who see it but just jump right in and rant and rail and remonstrate against it.
So yeah. There're your "Rome is bad" folks who still work within the realm of the System to try to change it -- there're about a bazillion of them, bitter, cantankerous, sad people. There're your "Rome is okay" folks who shrug a goofy shrug or even work out some warm fuzzy about it -- there're another bazillion of them, misled, lost, and also very sad people. (All will screech back at this assessment with the greatest vitriol about how happy they really are. Hmm.)
Where are those with the most accurate perspective on Rome?
The one that humbly suggests that it is indeed very bad as the proper authoritative very bad-ass law enforcer necessary to keep rotten people from allowing their rottenness to kill too many others? The one that also puts forth that it is indeed very okay in that it is supposed to be there doing its summarily condemnatory work?
And where is the view that there is an alternative to the body of death? It is one that holds that those in the embrace of Christ have absolutely nothing to do with it at all. It is the one that responds to the question "What of Rome?" with the answer, "It is doing what it is doing, managing the sin of all who ask it to do so, and left to its own it will do that very proficiently, and quite frighteningly actually. It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, however, Who will return for His bride and will give her one of the coolest wedding gifts ever, a New Jerusalem. You want to talk about the Pope, about Rome, about its practices? You want to talk about Obama, about Washington, about its duties? You want to talk about any World institution and the evil it does to constrain evil? I'm not the guy to ask, because that's not my domain.
"Sorry, but my interest is reconciliation. Graciously sharing Truth with hurting, wounded, desperate people longing for true forgiveness and salvation."
Again, I invite you to visit my webzine for more. Even more importantly, this place.
One of Hogeland's most prominent players who I didn't address was Herman Husband, a fascinating character who could be considered one of the United States' genuine founding fathers if he wasn't so eccentric. A rabblerousing Christian man bent on getting things done in the world the way they should be, he was as much devoted to gospel things as he was to getting civil government to behave.
He had extraordinarily prescient ideas about how society should arrange itself for the best interests of all, and his passion for biblical principles motivated him to persist in his industrious causes. His adventures through pre-revolutionary America and its founding are engaging reading -- I can't see how his story would not make a fine major motion picture feature.
For the most part his attempts to reform everything were met with profound defeat, but he labored on and was almost always holding some local civil position, if not representing his region in more august legislative bodies.
One thing that struck me was his recognition of the U.S. and its power to carry out legitimate value extraction policies using the greatest force to do that led him to call the newly minted federal government "The Beast."
True enough. His proven knowledge of biblical references demonstrates that this meant something very specific. In my own survey of biblical truths, I am convinced The Beast is Rome and all its subdivisions, from any temporal government assigned to ruthlessly enforce the law to all ecclesiastical branches assembled to put a smiley face on that task. These include the overarching institution the Roman Catholic Church, as well as any organization contracted with the System such as 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit corporations -- virtually every "Christian" church in the U.S. is one, dutifully doing Rome's work.
Wow. So many people devoted to The Beast. That woman who rides her, by the way, that's Jerusalem, God's beloved, prostituting herself to Cain's legacy embodied in Rome.
I'd imagine there are a few out there who do trust in and believe on and love by Jesus Christ. I think there are quite a few, by the way, I'm not so dismissively provincial. In our lunch Bible study we were reading in the seventh chapter of Revelation, where it says a huge multitude worshipped Christ, one consisting of people from all nations and tongues and which couldn't be counted .
But it is so hard to see them when listening to what comes out of the World's blowhole.
For you see, the media are spending gobs of time covering the new Pope's selection. What other religious leader gets this much attention? That should say a lot. I've heard countless supposedly Protestant evangelical pastors and leaders glowingly say that the Catholic church is Christian and the Pope is all Christian and everything is great.
Wow wow. It breaks my heart. Where are those who see Rome for what it is? Herman Husband saw it, but sadly he was the forebearer for a whole slough of other folks who see it but just jump right in and rant and rail and remonstrate against it.
So yeah. There're your "Rome is bad" folks who still work within the realm of the System to try to change it -- there're about a bazillion of them, bitter, cantankerous, sad people. There're your "Rome is okay" folks who shrug a goofy shrug or even work out some warm fuzzy about it -- there're another bazillion of them, misled, lost, and also very sad people. (All will screech back at this assessment with the greatest vitriol about how happy they really are. Hmm.)
Where are those with the most accurate perspective on Rome?
The one that humbly suggests that it is indeed very bad as the proper authoritative very bad-ass law enforcer necessary to keep rotten people from allowing their rottenness to kill too many others? The one that also puts forth that it is indeed very okay in that it is supposed to be there doing its summarily condemnatory work?
And where is the view that there is an alternative to the body of death? It is one that holds that those in the embrace of Christ have absolutely nothing to do with it at all. It is the one that responds to the question "What of Rome?" with the answer, "It is doing what it is doing, managing the sin of all who ask it to do so, and left to its own it will do that very proficiently, and quite frighteningly actually. It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, however, Who will return for His bride and will give her one of the coolest wedding gifts ever, a New Jerusalem. You want to talk about the Pope, about Rome, about its practices? You want to talk about Obama, about Washington, about its duties? You want to talk about any World institution and the evil it does to constrain evil? I'm not the guy to ask, because that's not my domain.
"Sorry, but my interest is reconciliation. Graciously sharing Truth with hurting, wounded, desperate people longing for true forgiveness and salvation."
Again, I invite you to visit my webzine for more. Even more importantly, this place.
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