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The Dovetailing of Biblical Eschatology and United States Foreign Policy
Religious Influence on Government
Virginia Baptists under the leadership of John Leland influenced James Madison and his writing of the Bill of Rights. They wouldn’t vote for ratification of the Constitution in Virginia without freedom of religion in a first amendment. This was a quid pro quo situation for the Baptists and Madison. After the consequences of the Great Awakening, Virginia had so many Baptists that they needed their support to pass legislation.
Religious folk still influence both domestic and foreign policy in the United States. In particular, the eschatology of American evangelicals affects politicians and lawmakers. Overall, Jews are no friend of evangelicals. A large majority of Jews treat evangelicals like trash. They hate and disdain them. Jews most often vote just the opposite as evangelicals and even try to ruin most of what they like. They direct caustic verbiage toward evangelicals, insulting them in a hateful manner. Nevertheless, a large number of evangelicals eagerly continue supporting Israel. Why?
Premillennialism
Many genuine, born-again Christians take the Bible literally. They approach the prophetic portions of scripture grammatically and historically. Even though prophecies contain figurative language, they interpret them according to their plain meaning. They believed like this from the first century until today. In more recent historical times, Christians established a literal method of interpretation of scripture, called dispensationalism. Dispensationalism systematized a belief already held by Christians, titled premillennialism.
Premillennialism is a theological perspective within Christian eschatology that asserts that Jesus Christ will physically return to Earth (the Second Coming) before the establishment of a literal thousand-year reign known as the Millennium. This belief corresponds to a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1–6, which describes a period during which Christ reigns on earth following His return. The premillennial view emphasizes a literal reading of biblical texts, particularly those concerning end-time events. This approach maintains that prophecies regarding Christ’s second coming and the ensuing kingdom should be understood in their plain meaning unless context suggests otherwise.
A critical aspect of premillennialism is the belief that Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church are distinct entities with separate roles in God’s plan. Promises made to Israel, especially regarding land and kingdom, are viewed as not fulfilled by and in the church. Like Paul confirmed in Romans 11:26, “Israel shall be saved.”
A Voting Bloc of Premillennialists
Sixty-five percent of evangelical leaders identify as premillennial. According to various surveys, a substantial number of evangelicals hold premillennial beliefs, particularly in conservative circles. This aligns with the findings from an evangelical leaders survey, suggesting that premillennialism is indeed the dominant perspective within evangelicalism. Even among non-believers in non-evangelical churches and even non-church goers believe premillennialism.
Many evangelicals don’t identify as Baptist and many truly saved Baptists don’t identify as evangelicals. Many Charismatics do not consider themselves as evangelicals and evangelicals don’t consider themselves Charismatic. Without overlap, all evangelicals, Baptists, and Charismatics come to about 35% of the population of the United States. A higher percentage of Charismatics are premillennial than even evangelicals and Baptists.
65% of 35% is 23%. That would make twenty-three percent of Americans as premillennial. Twenty-tree percent of the 340 million Americans is 78 million premillennialists. That’s a very large and influential voting bloc and their eschatology affects their foreign policy.
Support of Israel and Opposition to Globalism
Premillennialists will support Israel. They also oppose globalism because they think this world will end with a one world government. This affects their position on borders and foreign wars. Part of the support of an American first agenda relates to opposition to the globalist perspective that involves the United States in unending foreign entanglements and wars.
I can see why a 35% voting bloc at least wants the United States to give Israel a free reign to defeat their enemies in the Middle East. Also, I understand why these same voters do not support the war in the Ukraine. This isn’t hatred of the Ukraine, but it is a distrust in an administrative state within the United States that wants globalism. These same characters villainize Russia to undermine the candidate that most champions their causes.
Opposition of the Biblical Views
A particular United States foreign policy dovetails with biblical premillennialism. The premillennial voters have an agenda which they see as within the will of God. That makes the left crazy. It wants to censor and even imprison these people as political enemies. The left sees them as complete kooks. The leftists don’t think anyone should depend on the Bible for any political decisions. I think we would find a fairly large percentage that would prefer the death of premillennialists, whom they see as a scourge of the earth.
The Bible is true. God expects us to know what it means, called the perspicuity of scripture. He wants us to believe it and live according to it. This includes all the prophetic passages. What He says will occur in the future will in fact occur in the future.
My Take on the Complicated World Scene That Includes Ukraine, Russia, and Israel (part four)
What Is the Greatest Danger?
A good question to ask when evaluating United States domestic and foreign policy is “what is the greatest danger to the country?” When I grew up during the Cold War, the Soviet Union was a monumental threat to the security of the United States. If you are close to my age, maybe you remember the power of the Soviet military.
I remember hearing the idea that the Soviets would fly the hammer and sickle over the U. S. capital in 1976. At that time, almost half of the world’s land mass was communist. It was an amazing time when the government changed in Eastern bloc countries and they opened up in the late 1980s. With the fall of the iron curtain, suddenly the United States became the sole superpower. Communist dictators were everywhere all over the world from the moment of my birth in 1962 to the tearing down of the Berlin wall on November 9, 1989. Putin and Xi are barely dictators today compared to those in the Cold War.
Terrorism
A transition began in the 1980s from international communism to Islamic terrorism. Terrorists would not defeat and take over the United States, but they would cause terror and chaos to free countries. My earliest inkling was the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979, the bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983,then the bomb under the World Trade center in 1993, and finally the culmination with terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
Terrorist attacks are still a threat, especially as long as someone could deliver a nuclear device into a major U. S. city. Conventional deterrence will not stop nuclear attack motivated by jihad, like the stalemate of mutually assured destruction. One of these random nuclear attacks still poses great danger, especially crossing the Southern border. From a sheer military risk, I still see this as the single greatest, immediate peril to national security.
China
Besides another major terrorist attack, I don’t see any great danger to the United States from a foreign country. China is the biggest threat, but in my opinion China shows no short term aspirations to invade our shores. The biggest danger by far isn’t foreign, but domestic. Every failing foreign policy relates to the internal corruption of the United States. I’m not saying Putin is better than the Democrat Party, but the latter is far worse for the United States than him.
In my childhood, Democrats supported Communists in Latin America. Bernie Sanders took his honeymoon in Cuba. They still lean socialist, even as seen in their support of the Palestinians and leftists in Israel.
The Left, the Democrat Party, and “Democracy”
In 2008 California passed Proposition 8, changing the California constitution on marriage, defining it between a man and a woman. Immediately upon it becoming law, San Francisco mayor (now governor) Gavin Newsome ramped up same sex marriage in city hall. No one said anything about democracy. No Democrat says anything about democracy with violations of immigration law and sanctuary cities. When they challenge elections, they say nothing about threats to democracy. Much more could be said about who really opposes democracy and freedom in the United States.
I don’t support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I believe, however, that Russia saw the expansion of NATO as an existential threat. This was part of its agreement at the end of the Cold War. Will funding Ukraine end the war against Russia and will it turn Russia into a kind of long term partner, no longer a threat to American security? American meddling all over the world looks like it does more to hurt than help. The present government opposes truly democratic movements, such as what we have seen in Argentina, the Netherlands, and Italy most recently. Meanwhile, the United States is spread so thin that it hurts the American economy and security at home.
Changes are occurring elsewhere, difficult to interpret. They are framed by the establishment, mainstream media in the United States as anti-democratic. This is in the same spirit that antifa is anti-fascist, and antiracism is anti-racism. These are propaganda tools, it seems. Changes have occurred in Poland and Hungary that are called anti-democratic. California would call Florida, “anti-democratic,” because of decreasing abortion and banning pornography in the schools. The present administration pressures African countries to legalize same sex marriage.
Our Own House In Order
A stronger, more cohesive alliance with Russia, China, and Iran also supports an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian coalition in the Middle East. This hearkens to possible future events in fulfillment of prophecy unlike what I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Many Americans do not trust the Democrat apparatchiks at work in Ukraine or in Israel. These are the same characters who supported billions of dollars to Iran. The Biden family also received millions of dollars for peddling influence in Ukraine. The United States needs to get its own house in order. Then it will be better prepared to exert itself elsewhere.
My Take on the Complicated World Scene That Includes Ukraine, Russia, and Israel (part two)
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
From a biblical viewpoint, the Israel-Palestinian conflict started when Abraham sinned with Hagar, who bore Ishmael. Ishmael fathers the Arab people and Isaac the Jewish. Complicating this further, 93% of Arabs are Muslim of some kind. Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook in “Kill a Jew – Go to Heaven: The Perception of the Jew in Palestinian Society,” published in Jewish Political Studies Review 17:3-4 (Fall 2005), write:
The Palestinian religious, academic, and political elites teach an ideology of virulent hatred of Jews. The killing of Jews is presented both as a religious obligation and as necessary self-defense for all humankind.
This assessment of the Jews among Arabs or Muslims goes back centuries before the Zionist movement ever began.
No Jews live in Gaza. Two sides dispute Jewish settlement in the West Bank. There are 144 Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Neither a majority of Palestinians or Jews back a two state solution with the addition of the creation of a separate Palestinian state. Half of Jews desire complete expelling of Palestinians from Israel — that doesn’t include Gaza or the West Bank. 75% of Palestinians want the annihilation of Israel. A large majority of all Palestinians support Hamas.
Having traveled to Israel and in the Jewish and Palestinian territories, it’s very tense there. It cannot work like it is. The Jews need a place of their own. A two state solution will never succeed for obvious reasons. Very good arguments say that Israel should have all the land and the Palestinians find someplace else to live with Arab people. Jews should have their own, safe country.
Israel and the Land
Americans would never tolerate what the Jews do in Israel. A certain psychology for the Jews not only allows them to concede to their conditions, but also causes many Jews to advocate for the Palestinians. Many Jews lay a lot of blame on their own people for their problems. I do feel for Israel because of the deep hatred from so many across the world for the Jews.
God still has a plan for Israel. Even if Israel does not own the whole Holy Land, they continue possessing a right to it, based upon scripture. God gave Israel the land, which is why it is called, “the Promised Land.” This supports Israel’s statehood, its formal establishment, and perpetuation. Palestine never had statehood. It didn’t announce it’s own statehood until 1988. The Palestinian territories are not recognized by the US, France, or the UK as a state. At least four Palestinian organizations are designated as terrorist on the United States list, including Hamas.
My assessment of Israel is not some carte blanch acceptance of the policies of Israel. I still pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States with its rampant ungodliness. Support for Israel acknowledges God and the truth of scripture.
Two Wars
Because of world politics, the war in Israel associates with the one in Ukraine. Some of the same characters appear in different roles in both conflicts. I attribute both wars to the Biden administration in the United States. Neither would have occurred with Trump as president of the United States. Many would agree with that, less that would say it in public, but I also want to explain why I think it’s true.
More to Come
Israel & Hamas: Just War vs. Pure Evil & the United States
As blog readers surely know, on October 7 thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and butchered and tortured many helpless Israeli citizens. On the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, they did things like the following:
A young boy and girl, 6 and 8 years old, and their parents were around the breakfast table. The father’s eye was gouged out in front of his kids. The mother’s breast was cut off, the girl’s foot amputated, and the boy’s fingers cut off before they were executed. And then their executioners sat down and had a meal.
In total, around 1,400 Israelis have been murdered by Hamas, and more than 4,500 injured. It was Israel’s 9-11.
In response, Israel invaded Gaza, intending to overthrow Hamas. Israel told civilians to leave the northern area ahead of time–but Hamas told them not to leave, and was turning people back into the war zone. (Did Hamas give early warning to Jewish civilians before launching their unprovoked attack? Hmm.) Hamas deliberately puts people in Gaza in harms way so that they can be killed, and then Israel can be blamed. Hamas’ main headquarters is underneath Gaza’s main hospital because Hamas knows that Israel respects human life, while they do not.
What are some things we can learn from this war?
1.) It is a just war for Israel. Anyone who recognizes that God blesses those who bless Israel (Genesis 12:3) should automatically be biased in Israel’s favor in a situation like this one, but even if one very foolishly rejects God’s Word, anyone with half a brain can see which side is right in this war.
2.) Hamas is acting like faithful Muslims should act. They are obeying the god of Islam, who told them: “slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush” (Quran 9:5). The Quran is full of open-ended commands to violently kill people, and Muhammad was a bloodthirsty murderer, as one can clearly see if one reads his biography.
3.) Not just Hamas, but Muslims in general have an anti-Jew problem, because of their religion. Is every Muslim anti-Jewish? No–many Muslims do not care about their religion, just like many Roman Catholics don’t care what the Bible says or the Pope decrees. But the Muslims that do care about their religion are anti-Israel. Why is Rashida Tliab advocating and defending genocide of the Jews? Her district is full of Muslim immigrants. Islam in America–like Islam everywhere that it is true Islam–is violent and bloodthirsty, which is why the most dangerous evangelistic endeavour I ever had, where I was closest to being killed, was not at various Gay Pride parades, but in the American heartland politely and respectfully passing out the evangelistic work The Testimony of the Quran to Muslims. A majority of American Muslims are at least partially in favor of the brutal murders that Hamas committed on October 7, and around 40% of them approve the terrorist leader of Hamas. Imagine if 40% of any other demographic were in favor of terrorism. The people in Gaza voted in Hamas. Now since that vote there have been no other elections, since Islam is against democracy and in favor of dictatorship. There are no free and fair elections under Sharia law. But when the Muslims in Gaza had a chance to vote, Hamas won.
4.) Because the left is anti-Bible, and because Joe Biden needs Muslim votes in swing states like Michigan to win reelection, the Democrat party is becoming more and more anti-Jewish. Calling on Israel for a ceasefire is absolutely bonkers. More Jews were killed in a single day than at any time since the Holocaust, but Biden calling on $100 million in aid to the Muslims in Gaza and the West Bank for “humanitarian” purposes is about what the Babylon Bee described it as, and the money is certain to be diverted to support terrorism. Would we have been fine with calling for a ceasefire after 9-11 and then giving “humanitarian” aid to the Taliban and Al Qaeda? Biden should be calling on Israel to utterly obliterate Hamas. Hamas should immediately release all American hostages and all other hostages. Anyone who actually cares about the people in Gaza not getting killed should want Hamas overthrown as soon as possible.
5.) Because the mainstream media is dominated by the left, all kinds of false equivalencies are made between Israel’s just war and Hamas’s unjust murders. Inflated numbers of casualties in Gaza are repeated by major press organizations from figures spoon-fed to them by Hamas itself. Of course, Islam allows Muslims to lie. Reporters in Gaza can either repeat what Hamas tells them to report or they can get tortured and killed themselves, or at the very least get kicked out of the territory. How many Jewish reporters do you think are on the ground in Gaza getting information? Oh yes, the same number as the number of Jews who live in Gaza–zero–while in Israel Muslims are around 20% of the population and have equal rights (yes, the freest place for Muslims in the Middle East is in Israel). And even though Israel is the freest place in the Middle East for Muslim Arabs, usually only around 33% of Arab Israeli citizens oppose Hamas, and the large majority oppose Israel’s defending itself; immediately after this butchery of Israelis–including Arab Muslim ones–23% of Arab Israelis still do not oppose Hamas, while 33% oppose Israel defending itself even while the blood of their murdered and tortured fellow citizens is barely dry. Israel is pressured to stop fighting because its terrorist, true Muslim opponents in Hamas want as many of their own civilians killed as possible. (If you want information about Israel that is free from anti-Jewish bias, please check out FLAME: Facts and Logic about the Middle East, and consider their newsletter. They are a Jewish, not a Christian organization.) The mainstream media are very, very worried about the the three Nazis that are left joining with the 17 KKK members in the country holding a demonstration somewhere that has thousands of counter-protesters, but a blind eye is turned to the vast multitude of American Muslims who are actually in favor of killing the Jews.
6.) The fact that this is a just war for Israel does not mean that Israel is a righteous country. The vast majority of Jews reject and hate their Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Jews from all over the world are allowed to immigrate to Israel, but Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah are not allowed in. Tel Aviv is considered one of the most gay friendly cities in the world, despite the clear statements in the Old Testament about the abomination of sodomy. Moses in Deuteronomy 28 describes exactly what Israel has faced for the last 2,000 years since “all the people … said, His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25):
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. (Deuteronomy 28:66-67)
Israel is not going to have peace, not only because the nation is surrounded by Muslims who hate Jews like the Quran tells them to do, but because the curses of Deuteronomy are upon them, and will continue on them until they repent and believe on their Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
7.) As individual Christians and churches, the best thing we can do is preach the gospel to every creature. Love and preach the gospel to the Jews and send evangelists to them. Love and preach the gospel to the Muslims and send evangelists to them. How well equipped are you to evangelize Jews? How about Muslims? Do you have tracts for these two specific false religions? Love your neighbor as yourself. How well would you want a Christian to be equipped to speak to you if you were lost in one of these false beliefs?
8.) From a public policy perspective, the United States should support Israel because God has sworn in the Abrahamic Covenant that He would bless those that bless Israel, something repeated throughout the Old Testament. God used Babylon to punish His rebellious people centuries ago, and He uses Islam to punish them today, but woe to the Babylonians and to the Muslims who attacked the Jews! If someone says we give Israel too much foreign aid and we can’t afford it, he is consistent if he is also aware that foreign aid to all countries is less than 1% of the federal budget and is also in favor of the kind of drastic entitlement reform that could actually save us from defaulting on our national debt. If he doesn’t want to either abolish or drastically reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but is very indignant about foreign aid to Israel (most of which, for weapons, goes to American companies), his position is not very consistent. Once someone is a citizen here, he has freedom of religion and speech. He is free to be a fool and put on a white hoodie and burn crosses. He is free to be a fool and chant “From the river to the sea” and so call for genocide of Jews. But we should let as few of these people immigrate here as possible. Muslims who actually believe in Islam should not be let into the country, and those non-citizens who believe in Islam’s teachings about jihad should be deported. Furthermore, we need to recognize that, like Muhammad, modern faithful Muslims respect power, not truth. When Muhammad was powerful, he killed the non-Muslims; when he was weak, he advocated religious tolerance. If we want to deter terrorism and want there to be more peace, and less war, then Israel should be allowed to enact a ferocious response on Hamas that will discourage the Muslims who surround Israel from acting upon their religion’s murderous and anti-Jewish teachings.
By the way, Russia is also guilty of awful war crimes in Ukraine. (Did you know Ukraine has the second largest number of Baptists of any European country–only less than the UK?) Deterring Russia means letting the Ukrainians defend themselves. Ronald Reagan, in God’s good providence, won the Cold War by helping to arm those who fought the Russians when they were invading. We should balance the budget and pay off our national debt by fixing entitlements, and that can be done while, without putting any Americans on the front lines to fight, we send weapons to an imperfect but pro-Western nation with freedom of religion that the Russians decided to butcher the citizens of in their cruel, unjustified, barbaric, and wicked invasion.
What’s Wrong with the Russian Army?
Before the recent war between Russia and Ukraine, I heard a general assessment of the Russian army, it was dominant. Military experts feared that the Russian army could steamroll through Europe. I heard this from connected people, reporting what leaders told them.
Vladimir Putin projected high confidence. He talked big. He gave a fearsome impression of what his military could do. Russia seemed a weak economy and shrinking, depressed population with a still very competitive military capacity.
The war with Ukraine tells a different story about the Russian military. It has inflicted damage on Ukraine, but it looks like it’s losing to what most everyone calls an inferior power.
What is wrong with the Russian army? The ineffectiveness relates to the Russian culture. Atheistic communism devastated Russia. Before that and after, Russian Orthodoxy is an empty false religion that does not preach a true gospel. God’s Word is not the authority for the Russian Orthodox and it rejects salvation through Christ alone by grace alone.
Russian beliefs undermine Russian character. The personal traits needed for military strength come from the internal, spiritual fortitude of the soldiers. Russia does not fight out of true conviction, substantiated by transcendent values. Soldiers need a basis for laying everything on the line. Without an inward confidence that someone possesses through righteous motivation, he will lack the necessary components to succeed in such conflict.
As I describe to you what’s wrong with the Russian army, the same undermining attributes characterize nations of the West, including the United States. People in the UK lack confidence in the overall quality of their men to stand and fight. These nations lack the masculinity and moral authority to maintain their military strength as well. Internal corruption portends the decline and fall of any nation more than external reasons. They rot from the inside out. Without God, no nation can sustain itself.
The Seriousness of Religious Authority As Illustrated by Russia and Ukraine
Some reading may have heard that the Russia invasion of Ukraine relates to the religion in these two countries. They might consider it a religious war. I will go back to give perspective on this issue and then dovetail with something from the last few days.
No one has more authority than God. In fact, God possesses all authority and any group has authority only because of God. To say that you have authority means that you function for God and even speak for God. People who want to stay in good standing with God will do what God’s authority says. It’s like God telling them. Disobeying this authority, since it is from God, is disobeying God. This could also relate to someone’s eternal destiny, this often going along with the authority claim.
The true church authorized by Jesus Christ, the only church, is local only. Jesus started it in Jerusalem in the first century during His earthly life as seen in Matthew 16:18 and 18:15-17. The New Testament book of Acts records that first church reproduced other assemblies with scripture as their sole authority. The Lord Jesus Christ gave the true church authority, autonomy, with Him as the Head of each true church (Eph 1:22, 5:23, Col 1:18).
A true church has authority. It is serious enough that Jesus says the church looses and binds (Matthew 16:9, 18:18). It makes authoritative declarations as to whether someone is in the church or out. If someone is loosed, the true church regards him as unsaved. When the church sends someone out of the church, 1 Corinthians 5 says the church delivers this person unto Satan (5:5). These are true or real occurrences. They aren’t games being played. It’s very serious.
HISTORY
In the fourth century AD a counterfeit church arose in Rome. It claimed Christ’s authority through a bogus declaration of Petrine successionism (Petrine Theory). This spurious organization with the influence of Roman Emperor Constantine turned the church into a state church, the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic meaning universal. One could place the date at 313AD with the Edict of Milan, 325 with the Council of Nicea, 337 with the baptism of Constantine, or 380 with the Edict of Thessalonica. This institution, which preached a false gospel, claimed an authority it did not possess.
Nevertheless, for purposes of rule, Constantine split the empire into East and West in 330AD and the empire divided after the death of Theodosius I in 395AD. Roman Catholicism was still unified until it split into two in 1054, the Great Schism. The Orthodox Church (called Eastern Orthodox) formed from the division. The schism much related to authority, as the Eastern Church rejected the infallibility and unique authority of the Pope.
The authority of Eastern Orthodoxy describes itself a fellowship of self-headed churches, the term “autocephalous.” Orthodox churches recognize the preeminence of Constantinople, called the primacy of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople. This means Constantinople is a first among equals. The Orthodox hold that God’s authority passes down directly to Orthodox bishops and clergy through the laying on of hands. They consider this apostolic succession and each Orthodox. Each bishop has a territory, called a “see,” that he governs.
Roman Catholicism invented its own authority by procuring a non-existent apostleship. Eastern Orthodox then appropriated it as its own. It’s difficult to estimate, but stats say 1.3 billion Roman Catholics and 220 million Orthodox in the world, top two of Christendom in numbers. Neither of them possess authority. When they talk about authority, it’s not true. They say they have it. They don’t. Yet, if a religious organization says it is from God, we shouldn’t be surprised when it acts like it has authority.
Of all the autocephalous churches of the Orthodox by far the largest is the Russian Orthodox with over 100 million. It is known as the Moscow Patriarchate. This Orthodox church started when the early, original Russian prince, Vladimir I, was baptized by the Patriarchy of Constantinople in 988. The center of Russian Orthodoxy was Kyiv. It remained under Constantinople authority until 1488, when it moved to Kyiv as an autocephalous church. The Russian Orthodox Church relocated then to Moscow in 1686 when the region of Kyiv came under authority of the Tsars there.
I zoom forward to the period after the Soviet Union. The atheistic Soviet Empire swallowed religions. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church emerged again. Alexy Ridiger first became Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990. This continued under Patriarch Kirill in 2009, who remains in that position.
CONSIDERING AMILLENNIALISM
Not only did and does the Roman Catholic Church not have authority, but it operates with a corrupt system of interpretation of scripture. The Eastern Orthodox and its autocephalous churches continued that system of allegorization or spiritualization of the Bible. These denominations within Christendom rationalized themselves with an eschatological and ecclesiological program called amillennialism.
According to amillennialism, the kingdom of God exists on earth in the present age in a universal church, a kind of spiritualized nation Israel. In the Old Testament passages about Israel, someone can read in the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church. With amillennialism a nation can function like one that authoritatively enforces the precepts of the Bible as seen through the lens of church authority. This explains a Christian holy war fought on behalf of the church.
Amillennialism says there is no literal millennium where Christ comes to rule for a thousands years on the earth. The “a” of amillennialism means “no,” as in “no millennium.” This view allowed for a state church that functioned like a kingdom.
An inquisition that tortures or puts to death heretics also comes from authority allowed by an amillennial eschatology. The church does the work of God by punishing sinners and implementing what God said.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In 2018 the Patriarch of Constantinople, the foremost of the autocephalous churches, gave autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox. This formed a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, taking the jurisdiction of the Ukraine, the region of original Russia and the initial Russian Orthodox Church from the Patriarch of Moscow. Not all of the Orthodox Churches operate under the authority of the Ukrainian Patriarch but under the Moscow Patriarch, who now is Patriarch Kirill.
The Associated Press reported that just this week Kirill came out in support of the invasion of Ukraine by saying the following:
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, leader of Russia’s dominant religious group, has sent his strongest signal yet justifying his country’s invasion of Ukraine — describing the conflict as part of a struggle against sin and pressure from liberal foreigners to hold “gay parades” as the price of admission to their ranks.
Kirill, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had already refrained from criticizing the Russian invasion – alienating many in the Ukrainian Orthodox churches who had previously stayed loyal to the Moscow patriarch during a schism in their country. Several of these former loyalists are now snubbing Kirill in their public prayers, with some demanding independence from the Moscow church even as their country’s political independence is imperiled.
Kirill, in a sermon delivered Sunday before the start of Orthodox Lent, echoed Putin’s unfounded claims that Ukraine was engaged in the “extermination” of Russian loyalists in Donbas, the breakaway eastern region of Ukraine held since 2014 by two Russian-backed separatist groups. [He] focused virtually all of his talk about the war on Donbas — with no mention of Russia’s widespread invasion and its bombardment of civilian targets.
Kirill on Sunday depicted the war in spiritual terms.
“We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance,” he said.
He contended that some of the Donbas separatists were suffering for their “fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power.”
He claimed that this unnamed world power is posing a “test for the loyalty” of countries by demanding they hold gay pride parades to join a global club of nations with its own ideas of freedom and “excess consumption.”
God holds all authority. When He looked down on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, he saw the corrupt lifestyles. This included homosexual or same sex activity. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Within the nation Israel, God expected punishment of death upon such behavior in Leviticus 18 and 20.
The fall of communism in Russia left a vacuum of authority the Russian Orthodox Church filled. Putin had become antagonistic to communism. The Russian Orthodox Church filled that void in harmony with his nationalistic thinking. This mirrors such a historical figure as Henry VIII in England in his role in the Anglican Church. He put many opponents to death. This arose from a belief held called “the divine right of Kings.” Henry was also the head of the state church in England, which like the Russian Orthodox, borrowed from the amillennialism of Roman Catholicism.
Putin may rationalize his acts according to an Eastern worldview. He sees the corruption, decline, and decay of the West. The West in hypocritic fashion commits its own barbaric acts by murdering its own children through abortion. Putin sees a Ukraine following in the trajectory of the West with its gay parades and then its separation from the state religion of Russia. Kirill expresses this. Many Russians still dwell in the Ukraine both ethnically but also religiously. They still submit to the Moscow Patriarchy.
I’m not saying I support Putin’s position, just that this is a matter of authority. God is still on the throne. He’s not ruling through the Russian Orthodox, but its strong adherents at least admit that God rules in some manner. They follow a historical position without a biblical basis. This is not inferior to those who do not give acquiescence in any way to God’s authority, even if they see themselves as having superior values.
RECOGNITION OF AUTHORITY
God reigns. Authority exists. The United States and Western nations reject Divine authority. They face consequences for their rebellion.
The Orthodox do not possess genuine Divine authority, but many of them recognize it exists. Indications of belief in Divine authority appear all over historical monuments of the United States. It is seen in the founding documents. Statements like “In God we trust” evince these foundations. Even if a nation stops acknowledging the authority of God, it is still subject to His reign.
The Globalist and Leftist Institution and Media Use of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Many reading know President Trump’s expressing genius to Putin is his way of playing American leftists. He is also fond in calling those in power, “our stupid leaders.” Those on the left turn this into Trump and his supporters advocating for Putin and Russia. When the media calls Trump a Putin supporter, he doesn’t back away from his “genius” language, because he won’t submit to their lie. This works nicely with the Russia narrative invented by the left between 2016 even until today. They conform that narrative, which is a lie, to the Russian invasion. The globalist left supports the Ukraine, which makes the invasion difficult to sort.
The left didn’t support Ukraine. President Obama gave them blankets. Trump gave them javelins, perhaps the most effective weapon against Russian conventional warfare. Ukraine did not gain NATO membership under any president. The country became useful in the Obama years for Vice President Biden to benefit through its corruption. Ukraine did not gain membership because of a malfeasance utilized by Biden and his son, Hunter. Trump dug into the corruption by asking Zelensky for help with the investigation, attempting to tie U.S. aid to elimination of criminal crookedness. The left impeached Trump for that.
Russia took Crimea under Obama and Biden. Russia invades Ukraine under Biden. Putin does nothing against Trump. Trump hurts Putin, because he increased oil production until the United States became energy independent. The lowered prices hurt Putin more than anything. Look at the gas prices now. This helps Putin, and President Biden does not ban Russian oil exports. The United States then looks to Venezuelan oil production instead of increasing U. S. generation.
Putin in a religious manner sees the Ukraine as Russian. Russian history started with Kiev, the Rus emerging there in the 10th century AD. Vladimir I adopted a unique Russian Orthodoxy in 988. When a cynical Putin became mistrustful of a Communism and a secular state, he embraced his version of religious nationalism, somewhat like a leader of a Moslem nation. Like conservative Jews see Palestine as Israel, Putin sees Ukraine as Russian. His version of Russian Orthodoxy plays a role in his aggression, irrationality, and brutality, much like a grand inquisitor burns heretics at the stake.
Trump understood the nationalistic instinct of Putin. Yes, Putin wants to make Russia great again and with a religious fervor. I’m sure he saw men like Putin in business. He could respect his opposition in the business world and on the world scene without supporting them. He states recognition of their toughness, a trait missing in those who allow homeless to defecate in our streets.
If the media and the Democrat Party cared about Zelensky and Ukraine, why did they not urge Obama or Biden to do more before the invasion? They care now, because they see an opportunity to blame on inflation and the related high gas prices. If they care about border security in the Ukraine, why not in our own country?
The underdog Ukrainians stand against Putin. By nature, Americans reject imperialism. The United States fought an imperialistic power for its own freedom. Americans want a free Ukraine. The left commandeers Zelensky like they did during the impeachment.
The left doesn’t represent freedom. Their wokeness didn’t stand for Hong Kong against China. President Biden and his son Hunter took money from China. The left rejects freedom of speech. They’re for allowing perversion, a college male swimmer winning medals against women in the name of transgenderism. They elevate a transgender general wearing a dress in the United States military. The left doesn’t want the freedom of adversarial speech. They shut-down and cancel political opposition to vaccines, vaccine mandates, Covid origination, Covid restrictions, religious freedom, the Russian conspiracy, critical race theory, and voter fraud. They don’t allow creation in the school system.
First amendment freedom originates for political speech. The left shuts down speech. They control the public schools like Putin puts down his protestors. Theirs and Putins are a religious fervor each with their own totalitarian values.
The United States has its own religion that sacrifices babies to abortion, defunds the police, and stops energy production for their apocalyptic eschatology. When they pose to support the Ukraine, they calculate this for opposition to Trump. They see a political opportunity.
I support the Ukraine. Some doctrine consistent with true American values should guide our present and future involvement. I’m against Putin. However, everyone should understand the left’s intentions of using this war for furthering its own agenda. I don’t know if Putin is worse than the leftists who appropriate the Ukraine to further their insidious causes.
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