Twisting the Scriptures, Undermining Biblical Principles, and the Supposed Stewardship of Voting (II)

Woods' appeals to New Testament limits on state power are also guilty of non sequitur. He confuses a Christian ethic and call to bear witness with enumerated powers. Likewise in his state of deception and delusion (32:00) he seems to find the Second Amendment in the Scripture - even when numerous passages in the New Testament repudiate the ethic of vengeance, self-defense, let alone the taking of life in self interest. His interpretations of Luke 22 and Christ's words regarding the two swords being enough are telling as he falls into the very same misguided interpretive traps as did the Pharisees who argued with him and the apostles in some of their worst moments of ignorance. The sword in Luke 22 has nothing to do with walking around with a gun strapped to you - or strategically placed under you car seat. And Christ made very clear in the garden that he was not calling them to take up swords and warned them against doing so. They were either an object lesson or a case of his exasperation due to their lack of understanding - which He knew would be clarified in short order. Woods completely misinterprets these passages as indeed he has demonstrated a repeated failure to grasp basic New Testament teachings and ethics.

The False Exegesis and Idolatry of House Speaker Mike Johnson

https://reformedpolitics.substack.com/p/a-christian-case-for-borders

Apparently PCA pastor David Hall was so moved by Speaker Mike Johnson's apologia for border defense that he chose to re-post it on his website.

John Adams and Dominionism's Inescapable March Toward Authoritarianism

In an oft quoted 1798 letter to the Massachusetts Militia, John Adams stated:

“Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Adams was a Unitarian who thoroughly embraced the Enlightenment and would over the course of his life grow more and more hostile to institutional Christianity. Like so many at that time he attended church services but (it could be argued) this was more a sense of social duty and moral principal than any notion of actual worship, communion, or submitting to revelation.

As such, it could be said that Adams typified the very kind of civic religion that continues to bedevil American society and has functioned to confuse and water down genuine Biblical faith.

Regardless this quote is often cited by the Evangelical Right as a justification for political action and a means of assessing contemporary American society.

The Death of Evil Men

In April of 2025, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage died. Given that his was not a household name his death didn't receive a lot of coverage though most major outlets picked up the story. He had played an important role in the Bush administration serving as Colin Powell's #2. Previously he had held other second tier positions within Republican politics. He was probably best known for his connections to the Vietnam War. Armitage played a prominent role in the 2014 PBS film Last Days in Vietnam, as well as the 2025 Netflix Turning Point series on the war.

Christian Nationalism, the Wilson Ethos, and the Venture Capital Backing American Reformer

Christian Nationalism is nothing new but it has been re-cast and reinvigorated in recent years. Preferential Pluralism once dominated the Evangelical scene. The absolute nature and universal claims of Reconstructionism were considered fringe and even revolutionary and yet now are mainstream. Basically, Reconstructionism lives on in a slightly modified form. It lives on under the aegis of the more recently named Christian Nationalism.

On the Death of James Dobson (1936-2025)

A friend recently wrote to me asking if I had heard about the death of James Dobson. I told him I heard it break over the news while I was at work, and I trembled. I was reminded of the same thing happening to me back in 2007 when Jerry Falwell died. Once again, I thought of Matthew 7 and 2 Timothy 3 - and the theme of deceiving and being deceived.

The Usury Dilemma Revisited (III)

Should I dispense with bank accounts? I wouldn't mind doing so but it's increasingly becoming impossible. I tried at one point years ago - operating on a cash basis, paying all my bills with money orders and the like. It's very difficult and frankly pretty miserable. It's not really possible anymore in a lot of urban locations. I live in the boondocks, where there are miles of endless forest, no traffic lights, and more deer than cars.

Ashurbanipal, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Leaders of Other Evil Empires

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reagan-evil-empire/

During the Cold War there were three years that stand out - periods in which tension was high and the world stood on the brink of nuclear conflagration. 1962 easily ranks first with the Cuban Missile Crisis. 1973 usually ranks second in connection to the Yom Kippur War and the US raising of the DefCon alert to an elevated '3' - signalling preparations for potential war. The DefCon was not raised by the Americans in 1983, but Moscow was on high alert and many consider it to be one of the most tense periods of the Cold War.

A Rather Foolish Argument for Creedalism

https://www.smalltowntheologian.org/for-those-who-argue-against-creeds/

Those who reject Confessionalism are fools we're told by this Small Town Theologian. I'm afraid his arguments were less than convincing. In fact I would throw the 'fool' label right back at him.

Conspiracies versus Conspiracy as a Worldview: The Epistemological and Ethical Rot of Libertarianism (III)

Due to the necessity of expansion and sheer avarice, Capitalism will inevitably turn to the international sphere and with that comes intrigue and war – and that in turn leads to secrecy and propaganda. As the public begins to grasp this, there is an erosion of trust. And if the forces of finance capital have also purchased the news media – the end result is at first mass conformity, but later this will turn to mass cynicism. For those who only see one small piece of the puzzle their already skewed viewpoint will be subject to easy manipulation. There are those who profit from fear and anger and if allowed to fester these emotional responses can take on a life of their own. And it's not just the Right that plays this game.

Evangelicalism's Outsourced Worldview

Some time ago I heard someone discussing the 'outsourcing' of a great deal of Evangelical thinking and it has stayed with me. It's another interesting way of framing what has happened.

A Libertarian Perspective on Food Freedom (II)

Listening to Mogel's arguments, there are almost too many ironies to enumerate. On the one hand these folks vigorously push for endless exponential population growth and decry any caution or concern to that end and yet seem oblivious to the fact that growth in population means that farming will have to be pursued on a massive scale which is not conducive to small farmers or local food and economically is bound to destroy it.

A Libertarian Perspective on Food Freedom (I)

https://www.ironsharpensironradio.com/podcast/august-25-2023-show-with-jim-mogel-on-food-freedom-agriculture-from-a-biblical-perspective/

This episode of Iron Sharpens Iron caught my eye as it touches on a larger topic of attitudes about food and what is 'natural' that have emerged in more extreme Right-wing Christian circles. I have notes and a partially completed piece on this topic that's been on the back-burner for a couple of years. God willing I'll get to it before the end of this year. It's important and discussions like this remind me of this fact and the need to counter these assumptions.

Confessional Presbyterianism: A System of Syncretism, Tradition, and Bureaucracy

https://theaquilareport.com/second-thoughts-about-the-proposed-witness-overtures/

We've just passed General Assembly season in the Presbyterian world and thus there's a lot of talk about polity, discipline, and procedure and yet as this article demonstrates, most of it is off-base and has little if anything to do with actual New Testament polity, but is instead rooted in tradition and what amounts to a functional rejection of Scriptural Sufficiency.

Feeling Better About America

Visiting a church last Sunday I wasn't terribly surprised when there was mention of the Dobbs v. Jackson case and the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Evangelicals are celebrating this ruling and several others that have come down at the conclusion of the Supreme Court's recent 2021-2022 term.

The Dissemination of Vigano's Warning – A Warning to all New Testament Christians (II)

As stated before, there are plenty of reasons to doubt the government and the Covid episode is no exception. Over many years the government and media have destroyed their own credibility and so in some respects they have brought this on themselves. And yet as also stated, conspiracies (to be judged as viable) have to make some kind of sense and they have to operate within the framework of reality. Many of the conspiracies floated by today's Right are divorced from reality and in other cases indicate a pervasive unfamiliarity with basic concepts, how institutions work, history and the like.

A Recent Visit to an Evangelical Congregation

As our congregation has succumbed to Trumpism we are currently looking at other options and let's say the scene is not encouraging. Sunday after Sunday, I find myself driving the better part of an hour or more to sit in on meetings that disappoint and sometimes are an occasion for righteous anger. It's one of those moments that living in a rural area becomes a burden. There are relatively few churches and the distances can sometimes be great.

The Lausanne Harvest (1974-2019)

http://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/4136/julia_doxat_purser_brussels_Christians_are_now_better_at_thinking_biblically_about_politics_than_25_years_ago

Ah yes, the Lausanne Movement. This is the face of Evangelicalism in Europe and it has its parallels in Latin America and elsewhere. Lausanne refers to the 1974 congress organised by John Stott and Billy Graham on the shores of Lake Geneva.

MacArthur's Grave Error

In another recent sermon entitled 'Who is God's Candidate', John MacArthur exposes deep flaws in his thinking, his own internal contradictions and a commitment to Judaized theology that overarches all of this thought.

Biblicism, Transgenderism and Epistemological Chaos

While many conservative and Christian cultural commentators will speak of the dominance of postmodernism I would argue that particular category and the relativism that goes with it is really limited to sociological questions, hermeneutics and ethics. When it comes to most interpretations of reality, Scientific Realism and Modernism still reign. The postmodern thinker will most certainly subjectivise the interpretation of that reality but the scepticism rooted in postmodernism is largely shared with Scientific Realism (Materialism) and its commitment to inductive epistemology.