The Heretic King of Bohemia

I recently finished Frederick Heymann's George of Bohemia: King of Heretics (1965, Princeton University Press). It's a weighty and laborious read but necessary for anyone seeking to understand the history of Hussitism.

Comenius and the Swedish Occupation of Lissa

As reported in a previous piece the Bohemian Brethren who would later become the Moravians were involved in the 1618 Protestant plot to install Frederick V of the Palatinate on the throne of Bohemia. The Habsburgs responded, defeated the Utraquist-led Protestant forces and launched a vicious Counter-Reformation that would almost eradicate Protestantism in Bohemia. Though minor players and a minority within Bohemian Protestantism, the Brethren would suffer severe persecution. The war soon expanded and would become the Thirty Years War enveloping much of Central Europe. After the Habsburgs had scored tremendous victories and seemed poised to win the war - and roll back Magisterial Protestant gains from the previous century, the Swedes invaded under Gustavus Adolphus in 1630 - landing in Pomerania. The tide would quickly turn.

Lying Missionaries and Brutalised Victims of Their Times: A Revisionist Historian Spins the Gnadenhutten Massacre

When sections of the American public were forced to admit that it was American soldiers that committed the horrific massacre at My Lai in 1968, some attempted to justify their actions on account of their brutalisation. In other words, the sheer brutality and normalised violence that characterized their setting dehumanized the soldiers and thus, their culpability was at least in part lessened. They too became victims as it were and instead of being punished and answering to justice they were to be pitied and forgiven.

Glorying in their Shame: Celebrating the Magisterial Reformation's Sacral Heritage (II)

Kennedy then takes a strange turn by invoking the memory of Reinhold Niebuhr who was not a Christian by any kind of New Testament measure. His faith was not in keeping with the message delivered by the apostles and so I continue to be somewhat baffled as to why his flawed paradigms and bogus 'realist' dilemmas are granted any standing.

The Gnadenhutten Massacre

When one thinks of religious conflict and persecution in the Americas, the slaughter of Huguenots at the hands of the Spanish necessarily comes to mind. Hundreds were killed in northern Florida during the sixteenth century as Spain took exception to the notion of a French Protestant colony proximate to their vast Caribbean empire.

Melia and The Waldenses (II)

Many of the doctrinal points Melia wishes to make (which he does by means of collating numerous quotations and references) are troublesome to the type of Protestant history one encounters with someone like JA Wylie. Melia wants to show how Catholic the Waldenses were and thus drive a wedge betwixt the group as they appeared in history and the romanticised narratives of later historians.

And yet for someone like myself who argues the First Reformation was essentially different on many key points than the Magisterial Reformation, these claims made by Melia are not troubling in the least.

Melia and The Waldenses (I)

The Origin, Persecutions, and Doctrines of The Waldenses by Pius Melia. The original was published in 1870. The copy I read was a 1978 AMS re-print of James Toovey's 1870 edition published in London.

It's a short book but packed with useful information. The Jesuit theologian pulls no punches. It is his intention to dismantle and deconstruct many of the popular narratives surrounding The Waldenses. The book despite its significant flaws is not without value.

The Dark Side of Covid – The Establishment's Reordering of Society (III)

Are these concepts surrounding social credit, access, and economics harbingers of the Mark of the Beast?

A Misreading of Paul in Acts 16 and the Larger Question of Legal Rights

https://agradio.org/paul-and-his-roman-constitutional-rights

This reading of Paul is common in Evangelical circles but a more careful reading of the passage reveals that it has been misunderstood.

The Christian Response to Cancel Culture

Evangelicals are outraged at the prospect of being kicked of Twitter, Facebook, or some other form of social media.

Some Notes and Comments on: The History of the Protestant Church in Hungary

The History of the Protestant Church in Hungary from the beginning of the Reformation to 1850 is a commendable historical work. It value is both inherent as a historical text and in what can be extrapolated from it – which in some cases may result in observations and applications beyond the intention of the anonymous author. The work first appeared about 1854 and was translated into English by one Dr. Craig.

The First Reformation and Magisterial Reformation Contrasted

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (IX)

Another way of reviewing and emphasizing the characteristics of the First Reformation and the various proto-Protestant movements is to juxtapose and contrast them with the Magisterial Reformation and the type of Protestantism that it produced. This is seen in two areas – doctrine and ethics. Questions of Biblical authority and general understandings of how doctrine functions were answered differently. And, there were profound differences in how the First and Second Reformations interacted with society, power, wealth and the state. In other words the two movements had radically different concepts of ethics in light of the Scriptures – at which point we will begin.

Coronavirus: Ecclesiastical Developments

I can say without qualification that I have been grieved by the mainstream Church's response to this outbreak. As I've talked about in other pieces, I believe the Church (broadly speaking) has been too quick to bow to the state and its dictates, its declaration that the assembly of the Church is something less than an 'essential service'.

I am grieved because Church leaders have handed over the authority of definition to the state but again this in some respects isn't all that surprising. It's the culmination of a long trajectory of compromise and capitulation.

Coronavirus Ecclesiology

updated 27 Mar 2020

As I continue to watch the developments and fallout from the Coronavirus episode I am coming to believe this is a watershed moment for the American Church.

The Dynamics and Ethics of Lawbreaking (Part 2)

Someday, will I operate my business 'under the table' because the laws have become impossible to comply with? I hope not but if it comes down to eating, then I might. If it's a matter of having enough money for my $100,000 house, my retirement account, or the ability to drive my SUV, then I won't. And no fear, since I don't have any of these things, such questions are moot and there's no temptation either.

The Dynamics and Ethics of Lawbreaking (Part 1)

In recent articles I have discussed questions of persecution and punishment, of those who suffer as a result of the gospel versus those who are answering for their lawbreaking which is all too often rooted in political activism.

Stonestreet's Hat Trick (Part 2)

On 9 January 2020, Stonestreet addressed the situation in China. Citing the imprisonment of Wang Yi, Stonestreet seems ignorant to the fact that Beijing would consider Wang a threat due to his open collaboration with the American Empire. Once again while I think Beijing's policies are deplorable and bestial, Wang is not suffering for the gospel but for his political activism.

Wang Yi Isn't Being Persecuted, He's Being Punished (Part 2)

Wang Yi could have refused the state and continued to function as a leader in the church. Resulting punishment would be persecution. But instead he chose to actively disobey the law and his activities ranged far beyond the mandate of the Church. He chose to ignore building and business laws in order to construct a sizable facility and to run a business outside the strictures of the law. He committed a crime and while tangentially related to Church activity it was in fact outside its purview. His malformed and imported ecclesiology and confusion regarding the Kingdom and Classical (Enlightenment) Liberalism led him to believe that what he was doing was somehow part of his Christian duty. He was fool but unfortunately not a fool for Christ and he's paying a price for it, something the Scriptures warned about.

Wang Yi Isn't Being Persecuted, He's Being Punished (Part 1)

Early Rain Covenant Church leader Wang Yi has been sentenced to nine years in prison, a harsh sentence by any measure, but these are hard times in China. The Church is suffering a state clampdown and the state itself is under great stress. Great power politics, domestic politics, the threat of external war and internal dissent have created a volatile situation, and Wang Yi has walked right into the middle of it.

Chinese Evangelicals and the NED

https://www.mintpressnews.com/hong-kong-protest-united-states-destabilize-china/261712/

The National Endowment for Democracy isn't just a US government backed NGO that promotes democratic institutions. In the case of Hong Kong it is actively involved in promoting the protests. That the NED often functions as an arm of US intelligence, interferes with democracy and promotes regime change is actually old news for those who have been watching for many years.

This is why (once again) it is tragic that Chinese and in this case Hong Kong based Evangelicals are getting involved with what amounts to a US intelligence operation. Are the protests wholly the creation of the United States? I doubt anyone would actually suggest that. There are plenty of social forces and tensions at work that are helping to fuel the protests and yet as they ebb and flow, the Americans are there to make sure people stay out on the street. Money can work wonders. It's much the same with striking workers. They can keep going, keep protesting as long as the money is there for them to feed their families and pay their bills.

This is where the NED (and sometimes USAID) and US intelligence (often operating through the embassy or consulate) is able to step in. This was the playbook in Iran in 1953 that led to the overthrow of Mosaddegh. It's been used many times.

These are the games empires play. We shouldn't be shocked or even surprised.