Can a Soldier Disobey Illegal Orders?

Only a Dictatorship dares to insist that soldiers must obey every order without question regardless of morality or legality. For over a century, the world has had a category of military action that we call a "War Crime." While every soldier swears to obey all legal orders given by his superiors, it is explicitly stated that those orders must be LEGAL. If our American Senators want to go on record saying publicly that our soldiers have the right to refuse to obey illegal orders, that is their right, and they are absolutely correct. The POTUS has no business to castigate or threaten them for publicizing the Truth. 

It has been a cornerstone of our military ever since Vietnam to give our troops the right to refuse illegal orders. Why? That is because we hold them accountable for their actions in carrying out those orders. Any soldier who performs an illegal act, whether in combat or not, can be prosecuted in a court martial. 

Since saying, "I was only following orders" is not a valid excuse, it follows that any soldier must have the right to discern what constitutes an illegal order and decide whether he will obey. If he does not know the law, but his informed conscience rejects his orders, he can choose to run the risk of being court-martialed and defending his actions. But if he loses, he must accept punishment, and take solace from knowing he did not abandon his conscience. He cannot use religious faith as an excuse for pacifism, however, because that would have excluded him from accepting military service from the start.

Does no one remember Lt. Callie and the massacre of the village of My Lai? Come on, people! It has only been 60 years since we got a conscience. Back then, we had to look to the history of WWI and WWII to show why mindless obedience to any order, regardless of morality or legality, is wrong. The World outlawed offensive gas weapons and intentionally harming non-combatant civilians, as well as attacking wounded or surrendering enemy soldiers, as part of the Geneva Convention. Merely giving such an order is a war crime subject to disciplinary action or court martial. Certainly, no action can be taken against a subordinate who dares to adhere to his conscience and refuse. 

The question has recently arisen in the kangaroo court of public opinion as to whether the Senators who have dared to support disobedience to illegal orders in the military should be shamed or disbarred or prosecuted for treason. The suggestion implies that the US President, as Commander-in-Chief, can give any order without exception, and demand that it be obeyed without question. That is the position taken by an authority that claims absolute power. Have you voted for a dictator?

I Did Not! And I vote Republican! Nonetheless, I support allowing our soldiers to decide what they believe is right or wrong. If you ever dare to prosecute them for disobeying an illegal order, you also deserve the firing squad. They not only have the right; they have an obligation to refuse when the order is illegal. Justice is Universal, and Morality is Absolute. He took an oath to obey. Yes, but he also has a conscience. Of course, he must follow orders, but you can't give an order to murder civilians, or any other war crime.

If you are looking for political scapegoats to blame for our present problems, we can discuss how the Democrat predecessors left open the floodgates to admit a million or more illegal migrants without vetting whether they were enemies of the State. We know for certain that drug smugglers and ideological terrorists used that opportunity to enter without being challenged. Do you dare to suggest that a Senator could be tried for treason? That failure to uphold essential Law and the Constitutional duty to protect the country could easily be construed as treason, ... by the Democrats' chosen President and his advisors, from the VP to the Cabinet and on down the line. That dereliction of duty was ordered and condoned by the entire Party leadership.

But that is not my topic. Military Justice is the point in question. I have brought this up, as a reminder of the laws of our Democratic Republic. The soldiers who have volunteered to defend our country have the inalienable human right to take counsel with their conscience and their knowledge of the Law to discern whether every order given them is proper and legal. They have the right to refuse any illegal order. They may have an obligation to try to thwart obedience to orders that would place the United States under the interdict of an International War Crimes Tribunal. But above all, they have the right to obey their conscience, and to defend their actions before a court martial if they are subjected to discipline. They can not be summarily prosecuted without full legal procedures being followed. That would be a Crime Against Humanity. We do not live under a dictatorship. Let's not be foolish enough to allow this great nation to become one.

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Catholics have Grown Too Close to Mary?

 The new Pope, Leo XIV, has just declared in his encyclical, "Mater Populi Fidelis," that we must no longer say "Co-Redemptrix" when speaking of Mother Mary. He says, Mary does not have a role as dispensor of divine grace effective for salvation alongside Jesus. This has caused a great stir among Catholics, but it's about time that they heard this Truth. There can be no Co-Redeemer. Jesus is our only Saviour. Mary can be our most favorite patron, always able to help in prayer, but she must not be regarded as more holy or majestic than other saints, even if she is the first among equals. With this correction, we are nearing the place where the narrow gate exits from the broad highway to perdition. For centuries, most Protestants have been warning that Marian devotion has gone too far. She was happy in her proper place, for behold, she stands right next to the narrow gate, pointing us toward her God, Jesus.

But let us not demote her below what she deserves. We can, and should remember that the earliest Councils agreed that she could wear the title "Theotokos," God-bearer. Plus, our creeds state that we believe in the Communion of Saints. If they can speak to us and pray for us, then so can the Mother of God. No, she isn't in any way divine, but who is the mother wearing the crown of 12 stars in the book of Revelation, if it isn't the Queen of Heaven? Every King has a Queen, and in the Hebrew tradition, she is the King's mother. Still, there is a difference between veneration and worship. Mary is fully and only human, like us, and we should know where we must draw the line in our devotions.

Part 2.

While we want to agree that Jesus was conceived without original sin, it was not due to Mary's being miraculously conceived without sex. Excessive piety does not lend itself to good theology. It makes nonsense of the Virgin Birth of Jesus to push the virtue of conception by the Holy Spirit back a generation. The non-canonical "Proto-evangelion of James" was written under an assumed pseudonym in the late 2nd century. It was not authored by any of Jesus' disciples, and is not to be trusted as the basis of tradition.

Mary was born like every other Jewish girl of her time. What was different about her was her obedience, her piety, and her exceptional purity. She was exceptionally chaste in her morality and personal dedication to God. Her heart was "in the right place" and she was ready to respond without reserve to God's request. She had true faith in God, as uncompromising allegiance and total, complete trust in his word and promises.

Rather, in the moment that Mary agreed to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, God retroactively removed the stain of original sin to make her pure so that Jesus would not receive the curse. "Let it be done to me according to thy Word" was all of the faith needed for God to count her as righteous, and she was cleansed. The curse was not part of the original template of Humanity, the first Adam, so that could be removed to allow the Holy Spirit to be involved in the conception. Thus, without original sin, Jesus was 100% human - and by his conception according to God's plan - also 100% Divine. 

As a paragon of virtue, Mary was, and is, an impeccable role model, but she was as human as anyone else. We do not even have the least suggestion that she committed any sin after Jesus was born, but we don't have to assert that she was forever perfectly without fault. Like all parents, she did the best that she could, and it was good enough. Jesus was happy enough to honor her wishes when she asked Him for a favor.

Part 3.

If you believe in the "Communion of Saints," Mary is a perfectly valid saint to whom we may address our petitions for prayer and aid, so long as we always acknowledge that all aid and blessings come from God alone. She may be the titular "Queen of Heaven," but she is an ordinary human, not an alternative Mediator between us and God. That is Jesus' job, and He needs no assistance. Her prayers are the same as if we asked a particularly holy friend to pray for us. The benefit of the communion of saints is that we have a whole host of people already in Heaven who can pray for us, and if He chooses, Jesus can send one of them, like an angel, to speak to us. 

Do you ask your family and friends to pray for you? If so, then you DO believe in the Communion of Saints. The Saints are as alive in Heaven as you hope to be. So, since they have all the time of eternity, they are happy to pray for us if we ask. It's not as if they are too busy. They don't have to possess divine attributes to have this ability, they only need a compassionate heart. Denying the Communion of Saints is like denying that children have guardian angels who "always behold the face of the Father." Angels don't pray for us, as that isn't their job (usually), but our friends and patron saints do... and so does Mother Mary, if you ask. It's a privilege to be able to ask the Queen of Heaven for favors.

Part 4.

But those are not the only superfluous issues brought in by the "magisterial tradition." We do not need to assert Mary's "perpetual virginity" after Jesus was born. The Bible stories are unclear as to whether his "brothers" were Joseph's sons from a previous family, a few close cousins, or possibly younger siblings. There are no Scriptures upon which to base a firm conclusion. However, private faith may be allowed to presume in favor of Mary's extended piety, so long as it does not become a "traditional" article of faith that the Church demands for universal assent. 

Another doctrine which has recently been given magisterial status is the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. There is zero evidence of this teaching in the history of the Church before the late 4th century. In fact, the earliest mentions seem to have come from heretical gnostic gospels, and the story became more and more elaborate and beautiful to satisfy the emotional devotions of pagan converts. There is no mention of this anywhere in the canonical Scriptures, and it serves no purpose in the Gospel. Believing this does not aid in salvation, but it does promote idolatry toward Mary. Just because we don't know where her mortal remains lie, making the very earth sacred around her, that doesn't mean her body is already risen. We all must be patient until Jesus returns. 

I am not raising these criticisms of Catholic doctrine in order to cast aspersions on Catholics or the Church. Rather, I am pointing out a few impediments that keep the various factions of Christianity from coming back together. We are indeed the Body of Christ on this Earth, and we should not be mired in controversy. If there is a way to meet in communion and piety without tripping and arguing about nonessential points of doctrine, we should do that. The trouble is that the veneration of Mary has become, for Catholics, almost a second gospel. But, as St Paul asserted in his letter to the Corinthians, there can be no other gospel alongside the true Gospel of Jesus Christ taught by himself and the Apostles. Even the Church is not allowed to change what was originally given for us to believe and be saved. 

The Catholic Church needs to rethink what they regard as essential points of doctrine and faith, and Pope Leo XIV has begun this long overdue process. We must remember that later ideas and developments should be carried lightly, especially those points of tradition that have accumulated over the centuries to become added doctrines long after the Apostolic Fathers have achieved Heaven. If those teachings had been necessary, Christ's Apostles would have given them to us in the beginning. And surely, the Scriptures must contain all that is needed for our salvation, or the canon would never have closed. The Church Fathers knew that they had enough. They were not praying for more revelations. They were only waiting for Jesus to return. In their time, there were various heresies to combat and theological ideas to clarify, but once the Church itself split, in 1054, the required consensus became moot.

Part 5.

We must also be wary today of the shifting sands of our modern times creeping in over the threshold of the Church. In their attempt to reflect the unconditional love of Christ's Mother, many of our leaders have left the door wide open to welcome unrepentant sinners and embrace them without calling out their sins. While the Church has always welcomed sinners, it is our task to bring them to realize that our God demands holiness. He wants our obedience to his standards of good and evil, right and wrong. When we disregard the Way that He wants us to live, and make up our own rules, we should not be surprised that our Holy God is offended. His Commandments are meant to guide us for our own good. If we deny them, we deny Him. 

Yes, we are all sinners, and yes, we are supposed to welcome sinners into the Church, but the Message of God's Kingdom is that we must Repent, and seek his righteousness. If we welcome those who have no intention to seek to please God with obedience, then we leave the Gospel open to mockery and trampling by pigs. And worse, if we care so little for sanctification that we go out and associate with them in the world, we ourselves will find that our washed garments are getting soiled by their mud. 

The message of the Gospel is that Jesus died to save us from our bondage to sin and the wrath of God due to that sin. We respond by picking up the freedom He offers and changing our lives to follow what He shows us will please God. If we do not seek to become holy, to receive the righteousness that Jesus offers, we have rejected his good news. If we deny the Truth of God's Law, and reject his love and mercy, we are thus refusing to enter his Kingdom, and we do not deserve a seat in his Church. 

What the Holy Spirit teaches us today is how the teachings of Scripture can be applied to our daily lives. That is what we need to hear for the edification of our minds and the sanctification of our souls. The Holy Spirit grants us the power to make daily repentance and to grow in holiness. Then, when we must appear before the Judgment seat, King Jesus will greet us as friends. And later, when we look around in Heaven we will find his Mother seated near his Throne. 

The Foundation of Sola Scriptura

 What is the bottom-most foundation of the Scriptures? From the earliest times, even within the lifetimes of Christ's first Apostles, there have been certain basic criteria for preserving writings and using them as primary sources for the guidance of the Church.

1. The Words of Jesus. 

2. The teachings of the Apostles. 

3. The story of Jesus' life, as told by those who knew Him, or as faithfully researched from primary sources. 

4. Pastoral works written by the Apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

5. The history of the first century Church, as recorded by the participants.

The writings that we have designated as "Scriptures" are those which the early Church believed to fit those categories. They are meant to preserve the true "deposit of faith." Thus, the Canon was selected on the consensus that the works chosen were proper and true representatives of the teachings of Christ and his Apostles. 

So, while it can be argued that the concept of "sola scriptura" did not exist in the first century of the Church, we must all concede that the principle did indeed exist from the beginning. While yet there were no "Scriptures" to uphold, the Church treasured and followed the teachings and writings that purported to disseminate the teaching of Christ and explain the "Way" that He taught. They preserved those writings and regarded them as highly authoritative, using them to guide the teachings of the presbyters after the first generation of Apostles had passed. Even the first Apostolic Fathers would have kept them as their highest authority, not wanting to distort what their teachers passed down to them in any way. 

By remembering the chain of custody of the Scriptures they held, and discerning the clear inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Church reached a consensus regarding which books and epistles were to be regarded as true and canonical.

With the continuing spread of the Church, and the occasional doctrinal disagreements that emerge, we need to rely on the Canon because it has been established as the consensus of the Church's teachings from its earliest days. The idea that Church authorities might add their own interpretations to the deposit of faith was regarded as spurious at best, or at worst, heretical. Only by the consensus of Ecumenical Councils could authoritative teaching or clarifications of the faith be made incumbent upon all believers. And, further, any such agreements had to be based directly on the Scriptures, as standing upon the authority of the Apostles themselves. Now, in the absence of the Apostles, outside the Canon of Scripture there is no certainty of unquestionable authority.

Later development is not immune to human frailty. The Church can and does bring up ideas inconsistent with true teachings, and these are condemned as heretical. Less obnoxious ideas can still emerge, and the Church can tolerate them for centuries until they appear to be part of tradition. These are clearly accretions. As such, if they have no basis in Scripture, they must not be accredited as established doctrine required for all believers' assent.

The Scriptures are the only certain foundation from which we can, without doubt, discern what Christ and his Apostles intended to teach from generation to generation. 

We may regard the authorized doctrine of the Church as true, even with a high degree of certainty, but it is not to be regarded as infallible beyond any possible doubt, especially when it purports to establish its own authority to divide the Church. 

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On Free Will and Election

 Freedom is one of the Four Ideals that we are given as primary interests in the Bible. In our quest to follow God, He promises to teach us about Truth, Freedom, Wisdom, and Love. These are the values that we want because they show us how to live authentic and meaningful lives, and because it pleases God to give them.

But there is some debate over an apparent contradiction between our freedom and God choosing particular people to save, especially because He is both eternal and omniscient. If He loves us all, how can He create some whom He knows will eventually be rejected? Is his work faulty, or is something else going on here?

God created us "very good." We are meant to be his agents in this world, created in his image and likeness. Thus, we have free will to follow the desires of our hearts, but God gives us those desires of our hearts. 

However, the lesser "elohim" are also supernatural beings, whom we know as "angels." They serve in Heaven and sometimes carry messages to Earth. Their messages can influence how we think, since they often bear revelations about God. 

The trouble began because Lucifer, a Seraph who looks like a winged snake, decided he was dissatisfied with his position in Heaven. When he rebelled against God's order, he lost his name, and now we call him Satan, or the Devil. But as an elohim, he is still able to influence how humans think. The Rebel influenced Eve to think that God might be keeping secrets, so she decided to test Him. Now, the desire to know God is good, and Adam was created to lean his desires toward his wife, so he listened to her suggestion. Satan used our natural desires to corrupt God's wholly good creation. God didn't create evil. Satan sabotaged creation.

Why the first people misused their free will is not a "mystery." It's in the Bible. 

So, where is your contradiction between free will and sin, and the command to Choose Life? God does not predestine some of us for Hell, but He knows which of the people He created will choose to make their own rules. He does, however, select those who don't like to hurt others and want rather to do what is right, even though it calls for obedience. We have the free will and desire to Choose Life, even after all of creation was warped by the rebellious influences of the fallen angels.

So, what is wrong with our world? The problem is three-fold. The Bible hints at these issues, without telling the whole stories, as they were already familiar to the original audience from the ancient tales of Mesopotamia. It's only in the inter-testamental period that we get some popular Jewish versions.

Genesis 3 - Eden: the entry of sin and rebellion against obedience, so that God allows us to pull away from Him.

Genesis 6 - Mount Hermon: the rise of demigods teaching uses of technology for violence and selfishness. 

Genesis 11- Babel: the turning of the nations to other gods and the despair of false worship.

So, what was the plan that God devised to fix all of these problems? He decided to raise up his own people, a new nation that would, in time, demonstrate to everyone his goodness and power, so that they would freely choose to come back to Him. We see this plan developing throughout the rest of the Bible. It begins with Abraham, then the people of Israel, and comes finally to Jesus. And all He ever asks of us is to be faithful and obey his commands. 

Even while we are still living in the world, among the nations, we can choose Life and see that the world is corrupt. We still have that power. Then, if we will repent, we have been given the desire to follow God's plan to save us. We will be given the opportunity to hear about his Son, Jesus. God chooses whom He wants to save. He calls us, and it is up to us to pick up our crosses and follow.

So, you see? There is no contradiction between Free will and Election. God is giving us the choice to use our freedom in positive ways, so that we don't abuse it to our own destruction. But what are the wrong ways that use it, as against the the right ways we should follow? What are the traps that God will free us from, and the promises He offers us instead?

Freedom from: 

     1. false gods & idols.

     2. slavery & compulsion. 

     3. ignorance. 

     4. deception. 

     5. worry about needs. 

     6. sin & guilt. 

     7. fear. 

     8. selfishness. 

Freedom to: 

     1. Know the Creator. 

     2. Follow the Way of Kindness.

     3. Seek Truth. 

     4. Be honest. 

     5. Trust in providence. 

     6. Obey good & wise laws. 

     7. Embrace adventure. 

     8. Give Love. 

And yet today, we still have to struggle against "the World, the Flesh, and the Devil" because the rebellion caused our Paradise to pull away from Heaven. We failed to trust God, so now we have to prove that we can be faithful. We don't have to be perfect, but we have to want to keep trying. 

Jesus is our standard. He reveals God's love for us and his plan to save us. 

Choose Life and follow Him. 

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Can the Church still be catholic?

The Catholic Church, and its shaky claim to "apostolic succession" is based on a power grab supported by Constantine after the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Once the Emperor moved the capital, the See at Rome felt left behind while the balance of power shifted. Thus, they began insisting on their claim to be "first among equals," with privileges based on the contrived idea that Peter is the "Rock" who owns the "keys of the kingdom." 

If you look again with fresh eyes at Matthew 16:15-20, you can see that the Rock upon which Jesus is building his Church is the plain, clear declaration that Simon Peter just spoke. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Peter got a nickname for being the first to say it right. Simply change the usual punctuation, which is not in the original Greek manuscripts, and read: "And I also say to you that you are Peter. And on this rock I will build My church, and the Gates of Hell shall not withstand it." Peter is not the only one here. Jesus is speaking to all of his disciples. 

They are at the foot of Mt. Hermon, above Caesareae-Philippi, standing within sight of a huge cave dedicated to the worship of Pan, one of the gods of the Graeco-Roman pantheon. It is a place full of false gods and demons. In this immediate context, the Keys of the Kingdom are related to the binding of demons and loosing of oppressed souls who have been subject to the old gods up until Jesus' arrival. They are given to all of the disciples collectively, just like when He sent out the seventy to proclaim the arrival of the Kingdom, and they returned praising God that they had been able to cast out demons in Jesus' name. This is a declaration of spiritual warfare, meant to go throughout the Roman Empire. 

Thus, the claim to the Primacy of the Roman See is a spurious (dare I say "deliberate"?) misinterpretation of the Gospel intended to legitimize a power grab and establish an unwarranted authority over the other leading strands of the Church.

None of the other primary cities ever accepted the "Chair of Peter" as having a claim to superiority. The "Rock" is the declaration of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the keys were given to all of the disciples as a group. They are all alike commissioned to carry the Gospel to the world, and without the keys, none of them would have been authorized to start new assemblies of believers. 

The Gospel of Christ's life, death and resurrection, teaching the Way to live as a Christian, familiarity with Jesus and the Eucharist, and obedience in accord with the Holy Spirit in one's heart, these are the essential keys to open the doors for sinners to repent and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

It was only after the Apostolic Fathers passed away that Imperial politics allowed Roman Catholicism to gain credence, and then only because no one who knew the apostles still lived to refute it. Later, it came as no surprise when Rome's arrogance unilaterally added to the creed and tried to impose consensus that the dispute ended in schism. Regardless of the plain fact that the filioque is clearly a straight deductive conclusion drawn directly and solely from Scripture, the other Sees should have been consulted and had the problem of Arianism pointed out as the necessity of the addition. It was a matter of due respect, which was high-handedly disregarded. Today, the Orthodox Church allows it, but they don't say it in their liturgical creed.

Simply put, no one See can claim to have the only correct hermeneutic for interpreting the Bible. We have to have freedom to understand doctrines according to the light given us by the Holy Spirit as supported by Scripture. The completion of the Canon is the universal basis of the Christian Church, along with the consensus agreements documented by the various "full" ecumenical councils. Without the attendance of the Orthodox, Coptics, Armenians, and all who attended Nicaea, and now including Protestant representatives, no council can be truly ecumenical. 

(We can't count the bullying sessions in 1225, which resulted from a cry for help against the Saracens. Rome dictated those terms as the conditions for their assistance, and then failed to send help. Thus, the other Churches quickly repudiated their submission to such Catholic doctrines as Purgatory, the Filioque, the Treasury of Merit, etc.) 

We can continue to bewail the rifts in today's Church, or we can try to heal the differences that separate us. Neither is likely to do much good. Rather, we need to recognize that the Church has many functions, some of which are meant to reach the lost in ways that appeal to their individuality. The Body of Christ has many members, each with their own proper use. The Body is not all eyes, nor hands, nor so many feet, but there is a full variety and complement of organs. The truth is, we need to stop dividing over non-essential issues of doctrine and start recognizing each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to "love one another" as Jesus commanded.

What we seem to lack is any means for intentional coordination, but that may not be the prerogative of any single institution of leadership. The only true head of the whole, united, catholic Church is Jesus Christ Himself, and He directs its activities by the influence of the Holy Spirit. Our opponents are the plans and institutions that work to prevent the fullness of the Kingdom of God, and seek to deceive humanity into following the broad highway of the World that leads to Hell. Let us not be distracted by our own differences, so we can focus on casting out the Enemy and his minions.

Does Eternal Hell Last Forever?

 I believe the knowledge that you are eternally separated from God will be terrible enough. It isn't necessary for those who shall be judged and rejected to suffer forever, an infinite number of discrete days, weeks, months, years, jubilees, centuries, millennia, ages, eons, etc. Eternity is enough, even if your existence is extinguished without a long experience of suffering. The final answer of knowing you failed is shame in ultimate reality. Who would really be defiant forever? Only one who stands on pride, pretending it to be dignity. 

Even Satan knows the Lake of Fire is ultimately permanent. Is he going to sulk in eternal hate and bitterness forever without end, literally UN-ABLE even to accuse his own conscience and wish he could repent? Perhaps. He is a different kind of creature.

A loving, merciful, and compassionate God could eventually relent and allow us, humans, to be finally extinguished. After all, why would he forever sustain our contingent being just to watch us suffer? Couldn't He at least offer one last final mercy for those who have had enough? Forever torture is just spiteful and cruel, something I would expect from Allah, not YHWH.

Look at the difference between eternity and forever. As I see it, Eternity and Forever are like two distinct dimensions of time. Eternity is when you try to observe how many fractions can be made between two whole numbers. It's Depth. Forever is counting a sequence to infinity one whole number at a time. It's Distance. If you put them together, you get Everlasting, time as God sees it. 

"Eli, Eli! Lema sabachtani!" My God, my God! Why have you abandoned me?! Yes. Jesus took our punishment on the cross. He experienced the curse of being separated from God in the infinite depth of time, and then He descended into Sheol to call those who would believe, who honored God. At last, when the third day was darkest, God raised Him from the dead so that He could save us, too, from that terrible fate. Repent, and believe the Gospel! 

After all, Jesus warned us that God could destroy us, body and soul, in Hell. Three days is very long in eternity's "deep time." We who made it to Heaven will not be saddened to remember that our erstwhile companions are still justly suffering punishment, whether in the outer darkness or the fires of Hell. If we ever recall them, we can know, they are gone for good. 

Those who were wronged here can be satisfied that Justice has been served in proportion to the severity of the crime. Or, if we ourselves deserve punishment for pursuing selfish desires, we should fear the ending of our souls, feeling how ephemeral we are, as we pass away without any true meaning. 

As a Christian, I do believe in final annihilation for those not saved. So long as they're not among those who deliberately deceived others to follow evil and falsehood, they can avoid everlasting torment. The Antichrist and the False Prophet, however, will keep Satan company in the Lake of Fire. 

Our existence has always been dependent on God to sustain us because we are contingent beings. If God ceases to support us, we die. If He ceases to keep us in being, we shall cease to exist. The final mercy He can give us shall be to let us exit his plan and have an ending.

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What is the "Image of God"?

Humanity is God's vessel to be filled with his Spirit. We were made from clay and animated by God filling us with his breath. In ancient times, an idol was supposed to be a residence for a god and a contact point for divine communication. But they didn't imagine that the crude material the idol was made from was divine. Neither is any characteristic of humanity a part of what God is like. It is the infilling of God's Spirit that creates the image.

Thus, we were created to be given a sacred status, as God's representatives in the Garden of Eden, to demonstrate His character and do His will. He walked with us, so that we could learn how to hear and obey his Voice, and become His trusted agents to carry out His plans for the Earth. We were made to be His hands and feet, working to tend and expand the Garden, and populate it with our children. Soon, He would reveal to us more of his plans, to develop our own character and our world for inclusion into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

That makes the definition of "faith" as allegiance, trust, loyalty, and service make sense. If we listen to any other power or interest and allow that to supersede God's will for us, we have broken faith with Him. We made that mistake early, even before we were civilized. We were tempted by a rebel to question our faith in God. From our perspective, everything was broken, but God already had a larger plan. He's not going to let the rebels win.

So then, how shall we live? The Bible contains His standing instructions on morality. If we don't follow those basic rules, that's sin. He can and does forgive, but we have to confess and repent, and agree to obey as we ought. The Bible also contains God's promises to fix the damages and confusion caused by the rebels. He promised to come down as Himself to be our King and lead us through the chaos and out of the darkness. He would give us his personal guidance. But we would have to trust Him to do it his way.

That's why, when Jesus rephrased the rules, He apparently made them harder. He was giving us the main principles those rules come from. The point was simple. We can't do it the hard way. We have to decide to turn away from the world's darkness, and follow Him, declaring a new allegiance through baptism. Then, we have to listen closely if we're going to know what He wants us to do. Indeed, we need to be listening all of the time.

Now, when He gives us the Holy Spirit, we are truly the vessels of God, and can be His representatives, with the status of ambassadors and stewards for the Kingdom on this Earth. Later, we shall be citizens of God's cities and stewards of the renewed Earth spreading the Garden of Eden across the globe. Then, we shall owe our allegiance to King Jesus and go up to the New Jerusalem every year to praise and worship.

Whatever God plans for us and our world in the eternal forever, He has yet to reveal in detail, but it apparently includes us ascending to live in the Heavenly Jerusalem and participating in the divine council to replace the rebels who caused our troubles on Earth. 

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From Judgement to Mercy

From the very beginning, God has wanted to save humanity from our fallen nature. But Lucifer and his rebel angels have consistently inflamed our pride, lusts, and arrogance to lead us away from the Divine plan for glory. 

Lucifer thought that his rebellion could diminish God's glory, but he didn't understand that God can raise up sons and daughters from the beasts of the fields. He can create human beings even better than angels to not only serve Him, but to love Him, too. Just as Jesus said to the Jews who claimed to be descendants of Abraham, He could raise up more from the stones on the ground. So we are meant to replace the angels who fell away to follow Lucifer, now called Satan, the Accuser. 

Our very core nature was corrupted by Satan's lies, introducing distrust and disobedience into the Garden of Eden, so that with each generation, it gets a little harder to reach for faith. That's why God put his grace, also, into the picture so that we could summon the will to respond; and why He decided that faith, despite all of the corruption and suffering, would be accounted to us as righteousness. Just because we have been chosen, and in turn, we choose to respond, God has promised to restore our human nature to its original pristine condition, and remake us into Heavenly beings. 

We do not see the entirety of his plan, but we can rest assured that his will is inevitable, and it will demonstrate his glory despite any resistance from the fallen rebels. In the course of time, with the development of history, we have seen several movements of God's plan for our salvation. At first, He may have appeared uncompromising and too judgemental, but always there would remain an undercurrent of restraint and the promise of mercy. God hoped that we could be led by example, or at least deterred by threats of justice. But when He was forced to punish sinners or lose credibility, He chose mercy. Even when He had to draw back from us, as his holiness was repulsed by sin, He still loved us enough to send his Son into the world, to show us the Way.

We can see the incremental changes of policy in how God has dealt with fallen humanity written in the Bible, especially in Genesis. Later, the story progresses through the people of Israel and then outward, to eventually embrace the whole world. It would appear that God occasionally rethinks his policy of responses to steer history in the direction He wants it to go, but it is more likely that his plan has clearly defined steps that we simply cannot anticipate. In a way, it's like a chess game that God is playing with Satan, and his moves are not revealing the plan until the final play brings checkmate and humiliation. 

Let us review these moves through history to see how God's plan develops:

I. Adam and Eve - Disgrace 

   Although we were created to live in innocence and walk beside God in the Garden of Eden, we fell from grace. All of humanity was cursed for their lack of trust in God. They disobeyed a single simple command. So, they were exiled from his Presence, and the Garden, to eventually suffer mortality, just like the other beasts.

II. Noah - Wrath 

   All people are judged to be wicked, willfully pursuing their own standards of good and evil, despite warnings. God sent the Flood to destroy their whole civilization. Only one man listened, and his family was saved.

III. Babel - Scattering 

   The Flood survivors chose to rebuild their rebellious civilization, bigger and stronger, building a huge temple to try and put God in a box. God scattered them across the Earth and divided them by splitting their languages.

IV. Abraham and Lot - Choosing 

   The tribes in the Middle East coalesce again into city states. In their pride, they prosper and debauch themselves with unrestrained lusts and sin. God calls out a few who will listen, then makes an example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

V. Moses and the Chosen - Discipline 

   After rescuing a group of slaves from oppression, God knits them together as his own nation, and gives them a law to follow. When they obey, He blesses them; when they defy Him, they're punished. When a king shows Him love, he receives a great promise. The Jews become an example before the world of God's justice and merciful discipline, and He always saves a remnant. 

VI. Jesus the Messiah - Mercy 

   Observing that including those with stiff-necks and hard hearts will always spoil the nation, God decides to select out the ones willing to repent and learn to follow. God chose to become a human being, to fully experience and overcome the human condition, so that those who would put their faith in Him could be saved. He sacrificed Himself to break the curse from Eden, so that sin could be forgiven, and reconciled those who would desire an intimate walk in discipleship with Him. Then He did the "impossible" and came back from the grave! When He departed, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit for the renewal of our hearts and minds, and to lead us to fullness of Truth.

VII. The Church - Renewal 

   Christians are a called-out community of believers. We have been given the Holy Spirit, and are expected to behave with exemplary morality. Failures are expected, but those who don't try to follow Jesus and love one another are "tares among the wheat." They are not truly his disciples, despite however "religious" they appear. We have been commissioned to take the Gospel to all nations, call new believers, and try to build a kingdom of those loyal to God shaped by faith in his Son and his Word. It hasn't been easy, and the results have been less than we hoped, but the fullness of God's timing may be rising like the dawn. 

VIII. The Kingdom - Reign 

   We are waiting for Jesus to return as our immortal Divine King. He will humble the rebellious nations and destroy their armies arrayed against Israel. Then He will inaugurate his perfect Kingdom, which will last for 1,000 years. It is prophesied in the Bible, and we know that God always fulfills his promises.

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