The Religion That Started in a Hat

The Oath of Office made Before God and Treason 2013 by Jack Kettler

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

Oaths made before God using His name involve His divine honor. To swear falsely, is to misuse God’s name and in essence, call God a liar.

An oath of office is an affirmation or covenant that a person takes before assuming the duties of office. Ordinarily, this is a position in government for legislators and civil servants or a church office holder. An oath that is made by calling God as a witness is clearly a religious oath. The only effective way to warrant that a candidate’s affirmation is truthful was to put his words before God by way of an oath with his hand upon God’s Word, the Bible.

Because of calling God as a witness, an oath is a solemn promise made in God’s presence. Significantly when making an oath, the candidate elect places his left hand on the Bible and raises his right hand toward heaven, and promises to uphold and carry out the duties required in the Constitution of the United States. It should be clear, God is the witness in this covenant! If a man does not believe in God or has no intention of keeping the oath, then he is committing blasphemy.

There are oaths, that call for God’s intervention, such as; “I swear to tell the truth, so help me God.” It should be noted, to swear to tell the truth with God as a witness is a religious oath even if made in a civil setting. To perjure oneself, or go against God, and willingly lie would place the violator of the oath before God, awaiting His judgment.

In particular and of interest to our study, an oath of office is a statement of loyalty to the Constitution of the U.S. Under the laws of a state it may be considered treason or a high crime to betray a sworn oath of office.

The oath to be taken by the President on first entering office is specified in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

By established pattern, the incoming Presidents raise their right hand and place the left on a Bible while taking the oath of office. In reference to the phrase: “So Help Me God,” according to Wikipedia, “Although the phrase is mandatory in these oaths, the said Act also allows for the option that the phrase be omitted by the officer, in which case it would be called an affirmation instead of an oath: ‘Which words, so help me God, shall be omitted in all cases where an affirmation is admitted instead of an oath.'” In essence, even if omitted, the oath is understood to imply this.

Employees of the United States Government including all members of Congress are required to take the following oath before assuming elected or appointed office. 5 U.S.C. 3331:

“An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services shall take the following oath: ‘I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.’”

Again, it should be noted that this oath references the God revealed in the Bible as a witness!

Treason is defined in Article III, Section III of the Constitution:

“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”

Giving “Aid and Comfort” to an avowed enemy of the United States is clearly treasonous even if the violator claims to be fulfilling dictates of the United Nations or it’s Security Council. There is nothing in the oath of office binding the elected United States Representative or President to a foreign deliberative body. The claim to be carrying out the dictates of a foreign body is nothing more that a sophisticated way of justifying a violation of the elected oath.

Now to the relevance of oaths of loyalty to our Constitution made by Representatives of the people of the United States.

Consider the assessment of a former United States, Congressman in response to recent war propaganda coming out of the White House in regards to a current situation in Syria:

Bombing Syria would make US pilots ‘Al-Qaeda’s air force’ – Dennis Kucinich

And potentially even more serious, where was Congress when?

“President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said.” And “Mr. Obama’s order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence “finding,”broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.” – Mark Hosenball, Washington, Reuters (underlining emphasis mine)

It should be presumed without clear evidence, that Bashar al-Assad is not a national security threat to the United States. In addition, his government protects and allows freedom for Christians and Jews, something the Al-Qaeda rebels in Syria have no intention of doing. Instead, they have killed Christians, even beheading a priest.

Is Al-Qaeda an enemy of the United States?

Al-Qaeda is the sworn enemy of the United States and have murdered many hundreds of Americans, both civilians and military personnel. Moreover, many of the Syrian “rebels” have openly identified themselves with Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda rebels in Syria have said: “When we finish with Assad, we will fight the U.S.” And, it was not long ago that Al-Qaeda members flew planes into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City.

Therefore it is an inescapable conclusion, any private person or official of the U.S. Government either elected or non-elected giving any type of aid, including military aid to Al-Qaeda in Syria or elsewhere would be engaging in treasonous activity in every sense of the word.

Unfortunately, it appears that there is wholesale violations of the civil oath of office made by elected Representatives and President. The comfort lies in the fact that God is the witness and the judgment for the violators of these oath swill surely be brought under God’s judgment. Remind your elected representatives, if they agree to support America’s enemies in violation of the oath of office, God will surely bring them into judgment.

Some Wisdom from the Past and Present:

“From the day of the Declaration . . . they (the American people) were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct.” – John Quincy Adams (July 4, 1821)

“If the judge does not represent God’s Law order, he is ultimately a political hack and hatchet man whose job it is to keep the people in line, protect the establishment, and, in the process, to feather his own nest. Ungodly judges are to be feared and hated: they represent a particularly fearful and ugly form of evil, and their abuse of office is a deadly cancer to any society.”- Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 613.

“The more a power departs from God’s Law, the more impotent it becomes in coping with real offenses, and the more severe it becomes with trifling offenses or with meaningless infractions of empty statutes which seek to govern without moral authority and with reason.- Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 620.

“While man has never seen, heard, touched, smelled, nor tasted God’s invisible laws, he has observed their effects through the blessings resulting from man’s obedience and the curses from disobedience. At the heart of the common law was a Biblical definition of law. One of its great expositors, Sir William Blackstone, noted that God, as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, created the rules of action that all creation was bound to obey.” – Herbert W. Titus, from Biblical Principles of Law

For More Helpful Information, Consult:

So Help Me God: A Biblical View of Oaths by David G. Hagopian

Becoming very concerned as all Americans should, of being arrested and detained by Barry Soetoro’s Jihadist friendly, emerging police state,

Jack Kettler

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Top Twenty Business Builder Award Winner! Curious, for an automatic e-mail reply go to: Jack@KettlerWellness.com

Non-Compliance (Nullification), has the Time Come? 2013 by Jack Kettler

America is Surrendering its God given Rights with Barely a Whimper!

How do we define God Given rights?

The concept of Man’s rights being unalienable is based solely upon the belief in their Divine origin. Lacking this belief, there is no moral basis for any claim that they are unalienable or for any claim to the great benefits flowing from this concept. God-given rights are sometimes called Natural Rights–those possessed by Man under the Laws of Nature, meaning under the laws of God’s creation and therefore by gift of God. Man has no power to alienate–to dispose of, by surrender, barter or gift–his God-given rights, according to the American philosophy. This is the meaning of “unalienable.”

One underlying consideration is that for every such right there is a correlative, inseparable duty–for every aspect of freedom there is a corresponding responsibility; so that it is always Right-Duty and Freedom-Responsibility, or Liberty-Responsibility. There is a duty, or responsibility, to God as the giver of these unalienable rights: a moral duty–to keep secure and use soundly these gifts, with due respect for the equal rights of others and for the right of Posterity to their just heritage of liberty. Since this moral duty cannot be surrendered, bartered, given away, abandoned, delegated or otherwise alienated, so is the inseparable right likewise unalienable. This concept of rights being unalienable is thus dependent upon belief in God as the giver. This indicates the basis and the soundness of Jefferson’s statement (1796 letter to John Adams): “If ever the morals of a people could be made the basis of their own government it is our case . . .” Learn more at: Lexrex

Current pending tyrannical so-called law:

The Republicans are not planning on stopping Obamacare. Instead, they are offering a false alternative, namely, we have to have an alternative to Obamacare in order to stop it. This is a fallacy! Do not grant their premise! We don’t need to offer a socialist system light version of Obamacare. All we have to do is say NO! Our alternative is the Constitution! This means: NO government involvement in health care, education, energy and so on…! Why have many Republicans forgotten this? It is because many are nothing more than “Con”servatives or Republic”Cons.”

Politicians as a general rule do not see the light until they feel the heat. Since it is becoming obvious that the Republican leadership and NEOCON leaders and talk show hosts are trying to stop the effort to de-fund Obamacare, there is another viable option. Massive non-compliance! The middle class and common people cannot afford this government take over of health care. If congressional staffers get a 75% subsidy, how much more does every one else need one? It should be noted that on average, the congressional staffer makes $70,000 per year including benefits.

Today for the most part, our elected representatives are spineless creatures, terrified by the progressives in the media who masquerade as journalists. Because of their fear and lack of principles, it does not look like they are going to stop the implementation of Obamacare. Once 30 million people who vote for a living get on the government take, there will be virtually no possibility to repeal this oppressive legislation that includes death panels, medical rationing, and most insidious, the built in forced transferring of wealth from one group to another. This is a blatant criminal usurpation of our God given Constitutional Rights! Can the government force you to buy health care, how about a car, a dog, or cat?

What if a government mandate takes so much money away from your budget that you can no longer put food on the table for your family. Husbands, we are commanded by God provide for our families. Will you choose government health insurance, or food? If the government can get away with so many mandates, your family my starve. At this point, you should obey God, and provide for your family.

Constitutional Scholar, St. George Tucker writes about this tyranny:

“But no people can ever be free, whose government is founded upon the usurpation of their sovereign rights; for by the act of usurpation, the sovereignty is transferred from the people, in whom alone it can legitimately reside, to those who by that act have manifested a determination to oppress them.” – St. George Tucker

Is the Supreme Court, really the final abrogator on God given Rights spelled out in the Declaration? It does not matter what Obamacare Savior, Judicial Activist, and Liberal Attention Seeker John Roberts thinks. Consider this:

“…No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.” – Federalist Paper #78 Alexander Hamilton

Obamacare savior, John Roberts actually rewrote a section of the of the mis-named DeomoRAT “Affordable Care Act” legislation, calling the penalty in the bill a tax instead of a penalty. Moreover, as activist Roberts should know, the Constitution requires tax bills to originate in the House, not in the Senate. Sadly, most of the sheeple in the country did not catch this trashing of the Constitution by Roberts. Roberts probably missed this himself. He may have been to busy looking at himself in the mirror, a habit he may have picked up from Barry Soetoro, or Barack Obama, or whatever his name is.

More from St. George Tucker on the Constitutional Limits of government:

“If in a limited government, the public functionaries exceed the limits which the constitution prescribes to their powers, every such act is an act of usurpation in the government, and, as such, treason against the sovereignty of the people, which is thus endeavored to be subverted and transferred to the usurpers.” – St. George Tucker

The Declaration of Independence sets forth the Principles which are in the Constitution and can remedy the Obamacare Constitutional crisis that is brewing:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”

Unalienable Rights are from God, as we read:

“. . . endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . .”

Can Governments Abridge these Rights?

No government possesses any real legal power to violate an individual’s God given, unalienable rights! Why? Because they are from God. Corrupt governments can and do unconstitutionally try to impede the use of man’s unalienable God given rights. It is of the utmost importance to know, that our rights are not given to us by government. The purpose of civil government is to secure these rights from God. If government gives the rights, then they can take them away. In this sense, rights given by government is a misnomer. All a government can give are privileges or exemptions to their friends and organizations who are being bought off.

In light of the fact that the original Constitutional compact gives the citizens the right to resist government tyranny, non-Compliance is a Christian Duty in which to Remedy the Unjust Usurpation of Freedom by the fed gov., when the spineless potted plant like Congress fails to protect our God Given Liberties! The people, the body politic are the last resort to stop tyranny. We are the final jury. Historically in the Christian Common Law, the jury could find a defendant innocent, even if violating a law, that the jury determined was unjust.

We need some courageous members of the magistrate to lead the charge and call for massive non-compliance. In light of the fact that most people do have the money to comply, do not pay the fines, and do not purchase insurance through the insurance exchanges. Are they going to put millions of people in jail? Non-compliance can stop usurpation of our medical and constitutional rights. Public opinion is strongly against Obamacare, so it is possible to win with this strategy. We have the right under our Constitutional Compact to resist tyrannical government. This is why the Second Amendment is in the Bill of Rights. It is not there for duck hunting. It is the final safe guard of liberty.

Some timely advice from the Christian theologian and philosopher Francis A. Schaeffer:

“If there is no final place for civil disobedience, then the government has been made autonomous, and as such, it has been put in the place of the living God.” – Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto

“True spirituality covers all of reality. There are things the Bible tells us to do as absolutes which are sinful- which do not conform to the character of God. But aside from these things the Lordship of Christ covers all of life and all of life equally. It is not only that true spirituality covers all of life, but it covers all parts of the spectrum of life equally. In this sense there is nothing concerning reality that is not spiritual.” – Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto

Schaeffer’s book A Christian Manifesto presents the Christian perspective of life, particularly in the areas of law, government and ethics, and contrasts it with the humanistic perspective, which is the dominant one today. It shows how the Christian world view ought to affect every area of life, even to the point of civil disobedience and the use of force in self-defense, where necessary.

Francis Schaeffer: A Christian Manifesto; Chapter Seven: The Limits of Civil Obedience

Thinking to the bottom line:

1. What is the final relationship to the state on the part of anyone whose base is the existence of God? Those in our present material-energy, chance oriented generation have no reason to obey the state except that the state has the guns and has the patronage.

2. Has God set up an authority in the state that is autonomous from Himself?

God has ordained the state as a delegated authority; it is not autonomous. Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13-17 [Comment: Sovereignty (ultimate authority) is an inescapable concept. Autonomy is the view that man is either above the law or lives apart from it.]

Historical examples of civil disobedience by Christians:

1. William Tyndale, the English translator of the Bible, was condemned as a heretic, tried and executed in 1536.

2. John Bunyan, a Nonconformist clergyman who was arrested for preaching without a license and failing to attend the Church of England, wrote Pilgrim’s Progress in his jail cell.

In almost every place where the Reformation had success there was some form of civil disobedience or armed rebellion:

1. Spanish Netherlands: Battle of Leyden, 1574 [The Dutch led by William the Silent won their independence as the United States of the Netherlands].

2. Sweden: Gustavus Vasa broke Sweden off from Denmark and established the Lutheran church in 1527.

3. Denmark: The Protestant party of the nobility overthrew the Catholic dynasty in 1536.

4. Germany: Martin Luther was protected by the Duke of Saxony against the political and military power of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 established the ruler’s religion in the German states. The Counter-Reformation led to the Thirty Years War. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ratified the Peace of Augsburg.

5. Switzerland: Cantons established Protestantism by vote of the community.

6. Scotland: John Knox openly defied the authorities by holding services on weekdays to refute what the priests preached on Sundays. His Admonition to England (1554) developed a theology of resistance to tyranny. He upheld the right and duty of the common people to resist if state officials ruled contrary to the Bible. [“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God”]

Elsewhere, Protestantism was stamped out by force:

Hungary, Bohemia (the site of Jan Hus’s pre-Reformation revolt), France (the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572), and Spain.

Samuel Rutherford’s Lex Rex: The civil magistrate is a fiduciary figure. The office is distinguished from the man. [Medieval counterpart: The King’s Two Bodies]

End of chapter seven.

A Classic three part lecture by Francis Schaeffer at Liberty University:

Francis Schaeffer – A Christian Manifesto (Part 1 of 3)   

 Francis Schaeffer – A Christian Manifesto (Part 2 of 3)   

 Francis Schaeffer – A Christian Manifesto (Part 3 of 3)   

 Learn more at The Rutherford Institute on the extent of government tyranny and how to fight it.

 Also, order John Whitehead’s, The Rutherford Institutes founder,   A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Islam and its Conflict with the Bill of Rights  by Jack Kettler

In Islam, and for most Muslims, the mosque and state have always been the same. Why is this? Muhammad started an all-inclusive group of followers, in which he was final arbiter, judge, military commander, and political leader. In light of this, it should not surprise anyone, that there is no separation of church and state in Islam. Because of this, Islam and the Bill of Rights are fundamentally irreconcilable and incompatible.

Today in American, Christian Churches are routinely threatened with the loss of tax exempt privileges for even small amounts of political activity. Islamic mosques on the other hand have complete freedom to operate as outposts of a radical subversive political ideology. Spineless elected representatives’ denials of this does not make it any less so. In this article we will see how Mohammadism is the complete antithesis of freedom of speech, assembly and religion.

Consider Islam’s political authorization which prohibits the religious freedom of Christianity and Judaism:

“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them.” – Koran 5:51

“Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)” – Koran 9:5

How can any Muslim who takes these Koranic directives seriously be trusted to secure freedom for Christians and Jews? It cannot be stressed enough that the Koran is a political document which forbids the separation of church and state. It should also be noted that most Islamic nations are theocracies, ruled by the Koran and Sharia law. Those Muslim countries that are not full fledge theocracies are under constant threats to have their governments toppled and an Islamic theocracy imposed. Syria is one such case where you see Jihadist rebels trying to overthrow a secular Muslim government.

One of the original Muslim Brotherhood’s most revered theologians has said:

“There is only one law which ought to be followed, and that is the Sharia.” – Syed Qutb

Can a Muslim be a good citizen and respect the American Bill of Rights?

“A Muslim has no nationality except his belief.” – Syed Qutb

Qutb’s political views always centered on Islam as a complete system of morality, justice and governance, whose Sharia laws and principles should be the sole basis of governance and everything else in life

Consider another Islamic theologian who concurs with Qutb:

“Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and program of Islam regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a State on the basis of its own ideology and program.” – Syed Abul A’ala Maududi

Maududi (1903-1979) was a writer, journalist, theologian, scholar, political philosopher and Muslim leader in India and Pakistan.

How is Sharia law implemented and what are the consequences?

Sharia law is to be handled or administered by Islamic leaders. Sharia law prescribes an unjust set of laws. One set of laws for Muslims and another set for infidels (Christians and Jews). Sharia law institutes a discriminatory tax, called jizya, on non-Islamic religions and nations.

This clearly spelled out in Mohammad’s Koran:

“Fight those who believe not in Allah…until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” – Koran 9:29

Non-Muslims have discriminatory taxation with no representation under Sharia law.

How can the Christian West respond to and counter this Islamic subversive political threat?

The Declaration of Rights found in the Maryland Constitution provides an answer:

Declaration of Rights, Maryland Constitution

Text of Article 36:

“That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come.

Nothing shall prohibit or require the making reference to belief in, reliance upon, or invoking the aid of God or a Supreme Being in any governmental or public document, proceeding, activity, ceremony, school, institution, or place. Nothing in this article shall constitute an establishment of religion.” (emphasis mine)

The reader should note the qualification that would allow the state to ban Islamic Sharia law and any political subversive agenda of Islamic supremacy: “unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights…”

The Maryland Constitution’s Declaration of Rights is one example how the political agenda of Islam can be curtailed. This because the political agenda of Islam most certainly does “disturb the good order…infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights…”

How does Islam injure others in their enjoyment of natural, civil or religious rights? In the Christian West we understand that “Natural rights,” articulated in our Bill of Rights come from God.

Consider the following small sampling of Sharia laws and and ask yourself if they can reconciled with the First Amendment (Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression), Fifth (Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings), Sixth (Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses), Seventh (Trial by Jury in Civil Cases), Eight (Cruel and Unusual Punishment), Ninth (Construction of Constitution), and Tenth Amendments (Powers of the States and People):

1. Jihad, or “to war against all non-Muslims to establish the religion” and is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (the Caliph). Violation of the First Amendment

2. A Muslim who leaves Islam (apostasy) must be killed. Violation of the Eighth Amendment

3. Honor killing for offenses against Islam are permitted. Violation of the First Amendment

4. A Muslim will not get the death penalty if he kills a non-Muslim. Violation of the Fifth Amendment

5. Sharia law does not abolish slavery. In reality it furthers it. Violation of the First Amendment

6. Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims and must comply with Sharia poll tax requirements if they are to remain protected in Islamic societies. Specifically, they are forbidden to marry Muslim women, publicly display wine or pork, even reciting their own religious scriptures, or openly celebrating their religious holidays and funerals. Violation of the First Amendment

7. Non-Muslims are forbidden from building new churches or building them higher than mosques. A non-Muslim can be killed if he proselytizes a Muslim away from Islam. Violation of the First Amendment

8. It is a crime to say anything derogatory about Allah and his Prophet, or expose the contradictory points of Islam. Violation of the First Amendment

9. Defiance on the part of the wife invalidates the husband’s responsibility to support her. It is also gives him permission to beat her, and keep her from leaving the home. Violation of the Eighth Amendment

10. Divorce is only in the hands of the husband and be initiated by simply saying: “I divorce you.” Violation of the Seventh Amendment

11. The testimony of a woman in court is half the value of a man. Violation of the Seventh Amendment

12. A woman looses custody of children if she remarries. Violation of the Seventh Amendment

14. To prove rape, a woman must have four male witnesses. Violation of the Sixth Amendment

15. Female circumcision or genitalia mutilation is widespread in Islamic countries. Violation of the Eighth Amendment

The following fine article demonstrates in further detail how does Sharia law violates our Bill of Rights:

Sharia Law and our Bill of Rights
October 9, 2012
By Mike Ebert

Sharia Law is Islamic religious law; the law of Allah. It is a body of commands that, if followed, “will provide a path to salvation”. Sharia means the “path to water”, or from Arabic History “the straight path to an oasis”. Sharia laws were created in the 8th Century and remain the holy law of Islam.

Our Bill of Rights was first submitted to Congress on September 25th, 1789. There were twelve original proposed amendments submitted to the state legislatures and ten were ratified and became effective on December 15, 1791.

The first most glaring contradiction with American law is the First Amendment; Sharia Law is the antithesis of our law i.e. “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibit the exercise thereof… .” We have communities in America whom have been allowed to practice Sharia Law which tramples our rights and liberties as Americans and enforces its own legal system upon Americans.

Fifth, Sixth, Seventh & Eight Amendments regarding juries, prosecutions, speedy trials, excessive fines and cruel punishment: Sharia Law has its own set of major and minor offenses and punishments. Some of these crimes are published in our local media. One outstanding one this year was where a Muslim ran over his daughter for dressing and behaving like a westerner. Also killing one’s wife for adultery or setting a friend’s flat afire for blaspheme are acceptable behaviors. All are justified under Sharia Law. Sharia Law is derived from four main sources, the Qur’an, the Hadith (the record of actions and sayings of Muhammad), the Ijima (consensus of Islamic Scholars and Qiyas (reasoning that uses modern analogies to apply precedence). Why has Nidal Hasan, the army officer (“suspected”) who killed 13 at Fort Hood in 2009 not seen a jury trial yet? Most probably, because we have a Muslim in our White House, and Hasan was just practicing his rights as a Jihadist as instructed in the Qur’an. Allah’s laws overrule our rule of law. We shall not see a trial while we have a Muslim POTUS.

Ninth & Tenth Amendment, the enumeration of the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people (10th re: States): This Administration is disparaging the laws of the people left and right in many states including several laws here in Arizona. Sharia Law dictates dietary standards, marriage, disallows freedom of speech, mandates a dress code, fasting, zakat, slavery, enterprise limits and standards.

Our Bill of Rights protects us from all that Sharia Law wishes to impose upon American citizens. How is it possible, in the name of a religion, is this allowed to occur in our country?

End or of Mike Ebert’s Article

Sharia law is a man made system of law with its roots in hell! We must demand our political leaders stop vomiting out political correctness when they talk about Islam!

People that tell you Islam is a religion of peace are only announcing their ignorance… Brigitte Gabriel

Getting back to a strategy to defeat this tyranny, not only does the section of the text in Article 36 of the Maryland Constitution quoted give us a strategy, so does Congresswoman Sue Myrick in her proposal of Anti-Terrorism Agenda For America.

North Carolina Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R) has shown incredible personal courage in her effort to fight Islamic extremism, Myrick has created a 10-point action program that she calls the “Wake Up America” plan.

This 10-point plan includes the following proposals:

1. Will call for a government investigation of all US military chaplains who were approved by Abdurahman Alamoudi, (convicted criminal and Islamic supremacist who successfully passed himself off as a moderate to in leaders in the U.S. government).

2. Will call for a government investigation of all US prison chaplains who were approved by Abdurahman Alamoudi.

3. Will call for the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the selection process of Arabic translators in the FBI and DoD.

4. Will call for the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) 501(c)(3) non-profit status which restricts “lobbying on behalf of a foreign government”.

5. Introduce a bill to make the preaching, publication, or distribution of materials that call for the death of American citizens, attacks on the United States Government or Armed Forces, or the financing of the means and/or operations to accomplish these acts, acts of sedition and/or solicitation of treason.

6. Will call on the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit to verify the total sovereign wealth fund investment in the United States.

7. Will attempt to cancel scholarship student visa program with Saudi Arabia until they reform their textbooks.

8. Will introduce a bill to restrict R-1/R-2 religious visas for imams who come from countries that do not allow reciprocal visits by non-Muslim clergy.

9. Will introduce a bill to cancel contracts to train Saudi police and other security forces in US Counter terrorism tactics until the Saudi’s certify the prosecution of Al Qaeda financiers, like Yasin al-Kadi, and the detention of repatriated Guantanamo terrorists that keep being released into the general population after being “rehabilitated”.

10. Will introduce or sponsor a bill to block the sale of sensitive military munitions, especially Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), to Saudi Arabia.

If you are still in any doubt about stopping this religiously held subversive political ideology, consider the following quote:

“We don’t make a distinction between civilians and non-civilians, innocents and non-innocents. Only between Muslims and unbelievers. And the life of an unbeliever has no value. It has no sanctity.” – Imam Omar Bakri

The following demonstrates how Muslims treat unbelieving women and violate their civil rights:

Muslim men are taught to be ravenous, violent rapists. Even animals do not do this. Pat Condell is correct…this is cultural jihad. Listen to what he says: at http://actjonesboroar.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/islam-encourages-savage-rapes-of-non-muslim-women/

Are you angry and sick yet?

We know that rape is very common in the Islamic world, because the only people who suffer are the rape victims themselves being sentenced often to death, for being raped. The Muslims have brought their rapist ways to the west, where their God says that all women are fair game for raping except for married covered Muslims. Not, only are women targeted for rape because they are not covered but because Muslims believe they are in a constant battle against the enemy, the free world to spread Islamic law, so all women of that country are considered “war booty”…

This quote comes from Bare Naked Islam! http://www.barenakedislam.com/2009/04/16/rape-by-muslims-epidemic-in-europe-and-headed-this-way-thanks-to-ever-increasing-muslim-immigration-to-the-u-s/

Can we ban Islam in America? Consider the following articles:

Has the time come to ban Islam in America? http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/2011/07/has-time-come-to-ban-islam-in-america.html

Banning Islam http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2009/05/can-we-ban-islam-legal-guidelines-for.html

Can We Ban Islam? – Legal Guidelines for the Criminalization of Islam in the United States http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/10830

In conclusion, we must educate our fellow citizens about the dangers facing our nation from Islamic Supremacy. We can do this by supporting those who have come out of Islam and promoting their web sites and article. Keep the pressure on Congress to wake up and reverse what appears to be a suicide death wish they have help initiate.

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Top Twenty Business Builder Award Winner!

Curious, for an automatic e-mail reply go to: Jack@KettlerWellness.com

A Tale of Two False Prophets By Jack Kettler 2013

The American Muhammad: Joseph Smith, Founder of Mormonism

Concordia Publishing House, 2013

by Alvin J. Schmidt, MDiv, PhD

A Review by Jack Kettler

The author, Alvin J. Schmidt, MDiv, PhD, is professor of sociology emeritus at Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL, and a fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is the author of numerous books, including the award-winning Fraternal Organizations (1980); The Menace of Multiculturalism (1997); and How Christianity Changed the World (2004). Dr. Schmidt is professionally well prepared, in addition to being a Christian gentleman to write this thought-provoking book on seventy parallels between Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith and Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

Because those within the world of Mormonism cannot ever accept any criticism of their founder that would call into question his claims to be a prophet, it would helpful to see what other objective individuals are saying about Dr. Schmidt’s book:

Dr. Alvin Schmidt is one of the foremost living specialists on the world’s religions. …No one is in a better position to identify the parallels between Islam and Mormonism and their radical differences as compared with creedal Christianity.” – John Warwick Montgomery, PhD, DTheol, LLD; Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought, Patrick Henry College

“At a time when Christianity is under assault worldwide, this painstakingly researched and superbly written account of seventy parallels between the founders of two thriving socio-political faiths, Islam and Mormonism, should be compulsory reading for all.” – Uwe Siemon-Netto, PhD, DLitt Director, Center for Lutheran Theology & Public Life

“A must-read for everyone who wants to understand Joseph Smith and Muhammad. It is extremely well researhed and yet very readable. Schmidt reveals the dark side of both men in a logical, compelling way that will enlighten and equip the reader.” -Ted Baehr, JD, LHD Founder and Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment

“The American Muhammad is a well-written and scholarly book – fascinating, well-researched, and eye-opening!” – Bill Federer, Author of What Every American Needs to Know about the Qur’an and a Frequent guest on radio and TV programs.

“Alvin Schmidt in The American Muhammad did what no other Christian historian has ever done by gathering seventy valuable parallels between Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism and Muhammad, the founder of Islam….What history overlooked, Schmidt provided the missing links, proving that the two flowed out of the same dark fountain.” – Walid Shoebat, Author of Why I Left Jihad (2005), nationally known speaker.

To start, we should consider the following quotes to see that Dr. Schmidt is not alone in seeing similarities between the founders of the religions in question:

“The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that Smith’s prophecies are superior to the laws of the land. I have heard the Prophet say that he would yet tread down his enemies, and walk over their dead bodies; and if he was not let alone, he would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and that he would make it one gore of blood from the Rocky mountains to the Atlantic ocean; that like Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was, ‘the Alcoran or the Sword.’ So should it be eventually with us, ‘Joseph Smith or the Sword.’ These last statements were made during the last summer. The number of armed men at Adam-ondi-Ahman was between three and four hundred.”1

“Modern Mohammedanism has its Mecca at Salt Lake… Clearly the Koran was Joseph Smith’s model, so closely followed as to exclude even the poor pretension of originality in his foul ‘revelations.’ “2

“The student of Mormonism will be struck with the similarity of experience and claims of Joseph Smith and Mohammed.”3

Schmidt’s book in a scholarly fashion, presents, discusses and analyzes seventy-some parallels between Muhammad and Joseph Smith. Schmidt used as his source material for this book, the Koran, the authoritative Hadiths, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pear of Great Price.

The following list is a brief overview of Schmidt’s extensive analysis:

Both Muhammad and Smith claimed to be visited by angels.

Both claimed to have received visions.

Both were illiterate or uneducated.

Both were told in visions that no true religion existed on the earth anymore.

Both claimed the Bible was lost, altered, corrupted and unreliable.

Both had no knowledge of the original languages of the Bible.

Both set out to restore the lost faith as the one true religion.

Both wrote a book they claimed to have been inspired by God.

Both claimed their holy books were the most correct and perfect books on earth, even though both religions had revelations that needed to be corrected.

Both claimed the source of their revelations, a perfect copy of the Koran and Smith’s gold plates are now stored in heaven.

Both claimed to be a final prophet of God.

Both seemed unaware or unconcerned with Jesus’ warning of the coming of false prophets who would lead people astray.

Both were narcissists and both had an individual who functioned as an alter-ego.

Both were polygamists.

Both committed adultery by violating the seventh commandment: “Do not commit adultery” with other men’s wives and both showed no concern or knowledge that had God established the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman in Genesis 2:24, and repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19:5.

Both borrowed from paganism and polytheism.

Both were considered military generals.

Both had to flee for their safety.

Both were theocrats.

Both named no successor.

In conclusion, Schmidt writes: “…it is important to note that Smith’s and Muhammad’s many parallel activities have left an enduring legacy. That legacy has affected and continues to affect not only their followers but in different ways also non-followers. Only several, some of the more salient ones, are discussed below: (1) false revelations and false prophecies, (2) anti-biblical and anti-Christian teachings, (3) polygamy, (4) aggressive proselytizing, (5) theocracy, and (6) condemning the Christian church and rejecting the cross.”4

And finally, all that needs to be said, is best stated by the Apostle Paul:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8-9

Notes:
1.
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 3, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1978), p. 167.

2.
The Women of Mormonism, Frances E. Willard, 1882, Introduction, p. xvi.

3.
The Rocky Mountain Saints, T. B. H. Stenhouse 1873, p 2.

4.
Alvin Schmidt, The American Muhammad: Joseph Smith, Founder of Mormonism, (Saint Louis,Concordia Publishing House, 2013), p. 248.

End of review

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Top Twenty Business Builder Award Winner!

Curious, for an automatic e-mail reply go to: Jack@KettlerWellness.com

Going  Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

by Lawrence Wright

Publisher: Knopf, 2013

A review by Jack Kettler

Lawrence Wright, a Pulitzer price winning journalist gives L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology an extraordinarily fair hearing in this work, crediting him for being genuinely brilliant while at the same time riddled with self contradictions and shocking personal arrogance.

Wright exposes Hubbard for fabricating numerous false stories about himself which serve to give his followers an unrealistic view of who he really was. Hubbard had relentless energy, churning out countless pulp fiction adventure stories and many science fiction works such as “Battlefield Earth.”

In Wright’s book, we learn how Hubbard published his book Dianetics in 1950, which sets forth ideas and practices about the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body. Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology in Hollywood in 1954. Some of Hubbard’s more advanced Scientology levels reveal that his understanding of cosmology is definitely science fiction-esk.

Scientology has attracted numerous celebrities who gravitated to this new faith, which promises success, wealth and fame if committing to Scientology’s auditing process where one can obtain successive levels of moving up “The Bridge” to higher levels of going “Clear,” or freeing oneself from “the reactive mind,” (refers to that portion of the human mind that works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under a person’s volitional control). These auditing courses can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Once an individual has reached  the “Clear” status, they claim to be more confident, cheerful, and successful in their career path and in personal relationships. Beyond the state of  “Clear,” Scientologists move through several advanced auditing steps progressing to an Operating Thetan (OT) status. An OT is supposedly immortal and is in a state of special spiritual awareness in which one can control themselves, and the surrounding environment.

There is a strong network of professional celebrities in Scientology who help one another much like how members of the Masonic Lodge gives preferential business treatment and deals to its adherents. The celebrities for the most part have no idea how the full time rank and file members of Scientology live. Wright provides the reader with this important information.

Wright interviewed hundreds of members and ex members of Scientology and provides a truly tour de force analysis of this modern day anti-Christian religious phenomena. What is especially shocking, is how Scientology’s clergy (Sea Org) members are treated. The average prison inmate in California has a better diet than Sea Org members have when incarcerated under church discipline.

Many members of Sea Org, were brought into the religion as children or born within the church. Most, if not all of their friends and family are Scientologists. This makes it very difficult to leave the religion. If they leave, they run the risk of never talking to their friends or family again because of Scientology’s doctrine of “disconnection,” similar to shunning but worse.

David Miscavige, the current head of Scientology, has the traits of a narcissist and rules through terror and physical force. Former top leaders have given eye witness accounts of how Miscavige has choked by the neck and viciously hit members with his fists. Current Scientology leaders deny that Miscavige has ever hit anyone. The problem for Scientology is that Wright thoroughly documents these instances in his book with sufficient footnotes to make Scientology’s denials ring hollow.

For Scientology’s clergy who get in trouble with Miscavige, there are Stalinist like re-education camps. One one of them, Gold Base, is in Hemet, California. At Gold Base, there is a place called “the hole” comprised of two double-wide trailers hooked together where members who have transgressed the church are sent. No one is immune from being sent there for discipline, even on the slightest whim of Miscavige. Even Miscavige’s wife Shelly has not been seen in public since 2007 after she offended him. Her whereabouts are still unknown. If she is alive, she is defiantly not free. She was last seen in 2007 at her father’s funeral and accompanied and guarded by church security personnel.

Miscavige has personally attached himself to Hollywood Star, Tom Cruise. They have developed a close relationship and are considered very close friends. Miscavige was even best man at Cruise’s last wedding. Cruise’s relationship to Scientology has become rather significant. He is viewed as important spokesperson for the church. Cruise’s close relationship with Miscavige may very well make him culpable in the abuse of individuals in Scientology.

Mike Rinder, official spokesman for the church for twenty years and Marty Rathbun who was known as the fixer for the church’s most serious public relation disasters are two high profile defectors. Both Rinder and Rathbun have documented the physical abuse of church members at Gold Base. Rinder himself was even imprisoned there. Links to both of these ex-member’s web sites are provided in case the reader wants to contact them personally.

Wright has shown that Scientology is vulnerable due to famous defectors who come forward to tell of corruption and abuse within the church. One such person is Paul Haggis, a successful Hollywood screen writer, and a key figure interviewed in Wright’s book. Haggis was deeply offended when he learned the church used confidential confessions made in auditing sessions as blackmail against members thinking of leaving or questioning Scientology. This is what is known as a breach in confidentiality and is completely unethical. As a result of Haggis’ testimony, along with other ex-leaders, there seems to be some indication that Scientology may be beginning to crumble.

After reading this book, it is fair to say that Scientology is a rich, ruthlessly authoritarian and extremely vengeful religious cult, with similarities to the “Mafia.” Wright’s stature as an award winning journalist makes it more difficult for Scientology to attack him like they have to many others. This is truly an eye opening book and should be read widely.

End of review

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Can Good Come from Evil? What says the Scripture? 2013 by Jack Kettler

Does God permit and even ordain what we would call evil events?

As shocking as this may sound, yes, God permits evil and even ordains it, and yet even in wicked events, He turns it for the good. We see examples of this when we read in Scripture about Joseph in Egypt. As we will see, this turning evil for good, is most evident in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the case of our Lord, evil is seen in its most horrifying magnitude, and yet, from this most wicked act on the part of sinful men comes forth the salvation of God’s elect.

Many Christians have struggled with issues like these that involve man’s responsibility over against God’s predetermination and sometimes postulate theories that try and make the doctrine of God’s sovereignty more palatable to human reason. Doing this is not a solution, but rather adds more confusion to a clear and God glorying interpretation of events seen in Scripture.

To prove the assertion about God’s predetermined events that are turned for good, the prophet Isaiah says:

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Isaiah 53:10

This passage in Isaiah is a prophesy about the crucifixion  and death of God’s Son. It was a wicked act on the part of the Jews to turn Christ over to the Romans to be killed. Yet, when considering the New Testament Scriptures, they testify in no uncertain language, that God ordained evil men to crucify the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:23).

How can this be? How can turning an evil event into something that fulfills the Divine will and is good be accomplished? From a human perspective, this seems impossible. When we understand the outworking of God’s Sovereign will in Scripture, we stand in awe at His Majestic Sovereignty. Only God can turn the wicked events of man into God glorifying events.

In Genesis, the first book of Scripture, we see God turning evil purposes for good:

But as for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it to good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Genesis 50:20

Calvin’s exposition of this passage is most edifying:

20. Ye thought evil against me. Joseph well considers (as we have said) the providence of God; so that he imposes it on himself as a compulsory law, not only to grant pardon, but also to exercise beneficence. And although we have treated at large on this subject, in Genesis 45:1, yet it will be useful also to repeat something on it now. In the first place, we must notice this difference in his language: for whereas, in the former passage, Joseph, desiring to soothe the grief, and to alleviate the fear of his brethren, would cover their wickedness by every means which ingenuity could suggest; he now corrects them a little more openly and freely; perhaps because he is offended with their disingenousness. Yet he holds to the same principle as before. Seeing that, by the secret counsel of God, he was led into Egypt, for the purpose of preserving the life of his brethren, he must devote himself to this object, lest he should resist God. He says, in fact, by his action, “Since God has deposited your life with me, I should be engaged in war against him, if I were not to be the faithful dispenser of the grace which he had committed to my hands.” Meanwhile, he skillfully distinguishes between the wicked counsels of men, and the admirable justice of God, by so ascribing the government of all things to God, as to preserve the divine administration free from contracting any stain from the vices of men. The selling of Joseph was a crime detestable for its cruelty and perfidy; yet he was not sold except by the decree of heaven. For neither did God merely remain at rest, and by conniving for a time, let loose the reins of human malice, in order that afterwards he might make use of this occasion; but, at his own will, he appointed the order of acting which he intended to be fixed and certain. Thus we may say with truth and propriety, that Joseph was sold by the wicked consent of his brethren, and by the secret providence of God. Yet it was not a work common to both, in such a sense that God sanctioned anything connected with or relating to their wicked cupidity: because while they are contriving the destruction of their brother, God is effecting their deliverance from on high. Whence also we conclude, that there are various methods of governing the world. This truly must be generally agreed, that nothing is done without his will; because he both governs the counsels of men, and sways their wills and turns their efforts at his pleasure, and regulates all events: but if men undertake anything right and just, he so actuates and moves them inwardly by his Spirit, that whatever is good in them, may justly be said to be received from him: but if Satan and ungodly men rage, he acts by their hands in such an inexpressible manner, that the wickedness of the deed belongs to them, and the blame of it is imputed to them. For they are not induced to sin, as the faithful are to act aright, by the impulse of the Spirit, but they are the authors of their own evil, and follow Satan as their leader. Thus we see that the justice of God shines brightly in the midst of the darkness of our iniquity. For as God is never without a just cause for his actions, so men are held in the chains of guilt by their own perverse will. When we hear that God frustrates the wicked expectations, and the injurious desires of men, we derive hence no common consolation. Let the impious busy themselves as they please, let them rage, let them mingle heaven and earth; yet they shall gain nothing by their ardor; and not only shall their impetuosity prove ineffectual, but shall be turned to an issue the reverse of that which they intended, so that they shall promote our salvation, though they do it reluctantly. So that whatever poison Satan produces, God turns it into medicine for his elect. And although in this place God is said to have “meant it unto good,” because contrary to expectation, he had educed a joyful issue out of beginnings fraught with death: yet, with perfect rectitude and justice, he turns the food of reprobates into poison, their light into darkness, their table into a snare, and, in short, their life into death. If human minds cannot reach these depths, let them rather suppliantly adore the mysteries they do not comprehend, than, as vessels of clay, proudly exalt themselves against their Maker.

To save much people alive. Joseph renders his office subservient to the design of God’s providence; and this sobriety is always to be cultivated, that every one may behold, by faith, God from on high holding the helm of the government of the world, and may keep himself within the bounds of his vocation; and even, being admonished by the secret judgments of God, may descend into himself, and exhort himself to the discharge of his duty: and if the reason of this does not immediately appear, we must still take care that we do not fly in confused and erratic circuits, as fanatical men are wont to do. What Joseph says respecting his being divinely chosen “to save much people alive,” some extend to the Egyptians. Without condemning such an extension, I would rather restrict the application of the words to the family of Jacob; for Joseph amplifies the goodness of God by this circumstance, that the seed of the Church would be rescued from destruction by his labor. And truly, from these few men, whose seed would otherwise have been extinct before their descendants had been multiplied, that vast multitude sprang into being, which God soon afterwards raised up.1

From John Gill’s commentary we read more about this divine ordaining of events, which God controlled and turned for good:

But as for you, ye thought evil against me,…. That must be said and owned, that their intentions were bad; they thought to have contradicted his dreams, and made them of none effect, to have token away his life, or however to have made him a slave all his days:

but God meant it unto good; he designed good should come by it, and he brought good out of it: this shows that this action, which was sinful in itself, fell under the decree of God, or was the object of it, and that there was a concourse of providence in it; not that God was the author of sin, which neither his decree about it, nor the concourse of providence with the action as such supposes; he leaving the sinner wholly to his own will in it, and having no concern in the ataxy or disorder of it, but in the issue, through his infinite wisdom, causes it to work for good, as follows:

to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive; the nation of the Egyptians and the neighbouring nations, as the Canaanites and others, and particularly his father’s family: thus the sin of the Jews in crucifying Christ, which, notwithstanding the determinate counsel of God, they most freely performed, was what wrought about the greatest good, the salvation of men.2

We see this same truth in New Covenant Scripture where God ordains and turns and frustrates the evil purposes of man, and uses them for good:

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Acts 2:23

From the classic commentary by Jamieson-Fausset-Brown we get a concise summery:

23. determinate counsel and foreknowledge—God’s fixed plan and perfect foresight of all the steps involved in it.

ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain—How strikingly is the criminality of Christ’s murderers here presented in harmony with the eternal purpose to surrender Him into their hands!3

From the multi-volume Pulpit Commentary we learn more about this monumental event:

Verse 23. – Delivered up for delivered, A.V.; by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay for have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, A.V. and T.R. The determinate counsel. God’s counsel, that Christ should suffer for sins, was not a vague, indistinct purpose, leaving much to accident and the fluctuating will of man; it was determinate and defined in respect of time and manner and the instruments used for carrying it out. Foreknowledge is coupled with counsel or will, perhaps in order to show us that the counsel or will of God, as far as it comprehends the action of free agents, is indissolubly connected with his foreknowledge, and does not involve any force put upon the will of man. (Compare, with Chrysostom, the saying of Joseph to his brethren, “Be not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5); also Judges 14:4; 1 Kings 12:15, etc. Delivered up (ἔκδοτον, only found here) is by many understood of the action of Judas in betraying Jesus into the hands of his enemies (John 19:11) – ἔκδοτον being taken as equivalent to what πρόδοτον would mean if it were in use. But it may with equal propriety be applied to the action of the chief priests and elders in delivering Jesus to Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:2) to be crucified (Matthew 27:26). Our Lord himself alludes to Pilate’s power as circumscribed by the will of God (John 19:11, ὁ παραδιδούς μέ σοι: comp. Matthew 26:45). By the hand of lawless men. “By the hand of” is the common Hebrew phrase בְיַר, by means of, through the agency cf. The Jewish nation (ἄνδρες Ἰουδαῖοι) had crucified the Lord of glory by the hand of the heathen Romans. Lawless, equivalent to the sinners of Matthew 26:45 (comp., for the special application of the term to the heathen, Galatians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 9:21).4

Just so the reader is clear on what is being said about God’s sovereignty and the responsibility of man for evil deeds:

The Westminster Confession of Faith (Ch. III) teaches that God’s absolute sovereignty established the freedom of second causes and that it does not do any violence to the human will, nor does it make God the author of sin:

GOD from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass;a yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, b nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. c

a Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:33; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18.

b James 1:13, 17; I John 1:5.

c Acts 2:23; Matthew 17:12; Acts 4:27-28; John 19:11; Proverbs 16:33.

Consider another text from Acts which continues this same theme of God controlling human events:

The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. Acts 3:13-15

The Words of our Lord provide a powerful commentary of this divine truth:

Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me, except it were given you from above: therefore he that delivered me to you has the greater sin. John 19:11

In Romans chapter eight there is what is referred to as the “golden” chain of salvation. It is said that this chain is golden because the links cannot be broken. The links in this chain are: those whom He foreknew, He predestined. Those He predestined, He called. Those He called, He justified. Those He justified, He glorified. There is nothing lost along this golden chain. All he chose from before the world began will be fully glorified.

Because this Golden Chain of Scriptural truth, the Apostle Paul concludes his argument with:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Other difficult passages of Scripture:

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech (Judges 9:23).

And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee (I Kings 22:20-23).

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things Isaiah (45:7).

Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it (Amos 3:6)?

Men have struggled through out history trying to grasp the divine truths of God’s absolute sovereignty and human responsibility. These issues are weighty and difficult. It is import to recall the Westminster Confession when is summarizes the totality of Scripture on this topic by saying that God’s absolute sovereignty established the freedom of second causes and that it does not do any violence to the human will, nor does it make God the author of sin.

In conclusion:

In light of all of the Scriptures we looked at in this brief study, it can be asserted that God is Sovereign, and because of this, He can overrule the sinful designs of man and turn them for His glory. And furthermore, what-ever He does is right, simply because He does it! Holding God to the standard of human reason, is unacceptable. Human reason must always be subservient to God’s revelation in Scripture. This really is the core issue with which some believers wrestle against, namely, submitting human reason to the authority of Scripture and the rejection of all forms of human autonomy.

In addition, it is right to maintain, that there is no law structure or standard above God that he is held accountable to. If there was a law structure over God, then the law structure would be God and one could also ask, where did this law structure came from. A law structure independent and above God would create many additional uncertainties. Therefore, we can conclude, it is a sin to elevate human reason as a standard above God and hold him to an outrageous humanistic un-Scriptural standard. We should rejoice in God’s sovereign will will enables Him to to foil the plans of man and work glorious good, overruling the evil intent and plans of man.

In his Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Calvin explains these difficulties best:

“…we allow that man has choice and that it is self-determined, so that if he does anything evil, it should be imputed to him and to his own voluntary choosing. We do away with coercion and force, because this contradicts the nature of the will and cannot coexist with it. We deny that choice is free, because through man’s innate wickedness it is of necessity driven to what is evil and cannot seek anything but evil. And from this it is possible to deduce what a great difference there is between necessity and coercion. For we do not say that man is dragged unwillingly into sinning, but that because his will is corrupt he is held captive under the yoke of sin and therefore of necessity will in an evil way. For where there is bondage, there is necessity. But it makes a great difference whether the bondage is voluntary or coerced. We locate the necessity to sin precisely in corruption of the will, from which follows that it is self-determined.”5

For further study, the serious student of Scripture should read:

Gordon H. Clark’s God and Evil: The Problem Solved, Reviewed by Dr. W. Gary Crampton

The Problem of Evil (Part 1 and 2) By Dr. Greg Bahnsen

Notes:
1.
John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries Volume 1, Genesis, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, Reprinted 1979), pp. 486-489.

2.
John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments 9 Volumes, Genesis, (Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs), 2011, pp. 846,847 .

3.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 1977) p. 1083.

4.
The Pulpit Commentary, H.D.M. Spence & Joseph S. Exell, Acts, (Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs), 2011, pp. 236-238.

5.
John Calvin, edited by A. N. S. Lane, Bondage and Liberation of the Will, The: A Defence of the Orthodox Doctrine of Human Choice against Pighius, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic Books, 2002) pp. 69-70.

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Jack KettlerTop
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GIMEL Psalm 119:17-24

17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

Like many parts of this Psalm, the Psalmist starts off with a prayer, “that I may live, and keep thy word. “ The Psalmist wants God to preserve the spiritual life in his soul.

Spurgeon in the Treasury of David brilliantly comments on this prayer:

“Deal bountifully with thy servant.” He takes pleasure in owning his duty to God, and counts it the joy of his heart to be in the service of his God. Out of his condition he makes a plea, for a servant has some hold upon a master; but in this case the wording of the plea shuts out the idea of legal claim, since he seeks bounty rather than reward. Let my wages be according to thy goodness, and not according to my merit. Reward me according to the largeness of thy liberality, and not according to the scantiness of my service. The hired servants of our Father have all of them bread enough and to Spare, and he will not leave one of his household to perish with hunger. If the Lord will only treat us as he treats the least of his servants we may be well content, for all his true servants are sons, princes of the blood, heirs of life eternal. David felt that his great needs required a bountiful provision, and that his little desert would never earn such a supply; hence he must throw himself upon God’s grace, and look for the great things he needed from the great goodness of the Lord. He begs for a liberality of grace, after the fashion of one who prayed. “O Lord, thou must give me great mercy or no mercy, for little mercy will not serve my turn.”

“That I may live.” Without abundant mercy he could not live. It takes great grace to keep a saint alive. Even life is a gift of divine bounty to such undeserving ones as we are. Only the Lord can keep us in being, and it is mighty grace which preserves to us the life which we have forfeited by our sin. It is right to desire to live, it is meet to pray to live, it is just to ascribe prolonged life to the favour of God. Spiritual life, without which this natural life is mere existence, is also to be sought of the Lord’s bounty, for it is the noblest work of divine grace, and in it the bounty of God is gloriously displayed. The Lord’s servants cannot serve him in their own strength, for they cannot even live unless his grace abounds towards them.”

“And keep thy word.” This should be the rule, the object, and the joy of our life. We may not wish to live and sin; but we may pray to live and keep God’s word. Being is a poor thing if it be not well-being. Life is only worth keeping while we can keep God’s word; indeed, there is no life in the highest sense apart from holiness: life while we break the law is but a name to live.

The prayer of this verse shows that it is only through divine bounty or grace that we can live as faithful servants of God, and manifest obedience to his commands. If we give God service it must be because he gives us grace. We work for him because he works in us. Thus we may make a chain out of the opening verses of the three first octaves of this Psalm: Psalm 119:1 blesses the holy man, Psalm 119:9 asks how we can attain to such holiness, and Psalm 119:17 traces such holiness to its secret source, and shows us how to seek the blessing. There more a man prizes holiness and the more earnestly he strives after it, the more will he be driven towards God for help therein, for he will plainly perceive that his own strength is insufficient, and that he cannot even so much as live without the bounteous assistance of the Lord his God.”19

18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

We need our eyes to opened because of our spiritual blindness, which is the result of sin. When God opens our eyes, we see God’s wondrous grace that His law reveals.

The Puritan John Gill makes great observations on this passage:

“Open thou mine eyes,…. The eyes of my heart or understanding, as Kimchi; or, “reveal mine eyes” (t); take off the veil from them: there is a veil of darkness and ignorance on the hearts of all men, with respect to divine and spiritual things; their understandings are darkened, yea, darkness itself. This veil must be removed; the scales must drop from their eyes; their eyes must be opened and enlightened, before they can discern spiritual things contained in the word of God; and even good men need to have the eyes of their understandings more and more enlightened into these things, as the psalmist here petitions, and the apostle prays for his Ephesians, Ephesians 1:17;

that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law; the law strictly taken, which had great and excellent things in it; and was wonderful for the compendiousness of it; for the justice, holiness, and equity of its precepts; especially for its spirituality, and above all for Christ, being the end of it; the two last more particularly could only be discerned by a spiritual man: or rather the five books of Moses, the almost only Scriptures extant in David’s time, in which there were many wonderful things concerning Christ; some delivered by way of promise and prophecy of him, under the characters of the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the Shiloh, and the great Prophet; and many others in dark figures, types, and shadows, which required a spiritual sight to look into; of which the rock and manna, the brasen serpent, passover, &c. are instances: but rather, as the word “law” signifies “doctrine”, the doctrine of the Gospel may be meant; which contains mysteries in it, respecting the trinity of Persons in the Godhead, the person of Christ, his incarnation, sufferings and death; the blessings of grace through him; the doctrines of peace, pardon, righteousness, eternal life, and the resurrection of the dead; with many others.”20

19 I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

The believer understands that this world is not our home. That fact that we are just passing through, does not mean we are unconcerned and passive when faced with corruption in the church and public sphere. We stay grounded and encouraged by keeping our eyes on our heavenly home.

Albert Barnes gets the sense of the Psalmist’s prayer exactly:

“I am a stranger in the earth – A wayfaring man; a pilgrim; a so-journer; a man whose permanent home is not in this world. The word is applicable to one who belongs to another country, and who is now merely passing through a foreign land, or sojourning there for a time. Compare the notes at Hebrews 11:13. The home of the child of God is heaven. Here he is in a strange – a foreign – land. He is to abide here but for a little time, and then to pass on to his eternal habitation.

Hide not thy commandments from me – Make me to know them; keep them continually before me. In this strange land, away from my home, let me have the comfort of feeling that thy commands are ever with me to guide me; thy promises to comfort me. The feeling is that of one in a strange land who would desire, if possible, to keep up constant communications with his home – his family, his friends, his kindred there. On earth, the place of our sojourning – of our pilgrimage – the friend of God desires to have constant contact with heaven, his final home; not to be left to the desolate feeling that he is cut off from all contact with that world where he is forever to dwell.”21

20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

The believer is never detached and uninvolved when seeing unrighteousness flaunted by unbelievers. We desire and long for God’s righteous judgement to rule.

Matthew Henry make some pertinent observations on this verse:

“David had prayed that God would open his eyes (Psalm 119:18) and open the law (Psalm 119:19); now here he pleads the earnestness of his desire for knowledge and grace, for it is the fervent prayer that avails much. 1. His desire was importunate: My soul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy judgments, or (as some read it) “It is taken up, and wholly employed, in longing for thy judgments; the whole stream of its desires runs in this channel. I shall think myself quite broken and undone if I want the word of God, the direction, converse, and comfort of it.” 2. It was constant – at all times. It was not now and then, in a good humour, that he was so fond of the word of God; but it is the habitual temper of every sanctified soul to hunger after the word of God as its necessary food, which there is no living without.”22

21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

All of God’s judgments are righteous and true.

Calvin comments are most edifying:

“Thou hast destroyed the proud. Others render it:, Thou hast rebuked the proud; a translation of which the Hebrew term גער, gaar, admits when the letter ב, beth, is joined with it in construction; but this being awaiting, it is better to render it destroy406 It makes, however, little difference to the main drift of the passage, there being no doubt that the intention of the prophet is, to inform us that God’s judgments instructed him to apply his mind to the study of the law; and certainly this is an exercise which we ought on no account to defer till God visit us with chastisement.. But when we behold him taking vengeance upon the wicked, and the despisers of his word, we must be stupid, indeed, if his rod do not teach us wisdom; and, doubtless, it is an instance of special kindness on God’s part, to spare us, and only to terrify us from afar, that he may bring us to himself without injuring or chastising us at all.

It is not without reason that he denominates all unbelievers proud, because it is true faith alone which humbles us, and all rebellion is the offspring of pride. From this we learn how profitable it is to consider carefully and attentively the judgments of God, by which he overthrows such haughtiness. When the weak in faith see the wicked rise in furious. opposition against God, arrogantly casting off all restraint, and holding all religion in derision with impunity, they begin to question whether there be a God who sits as judge in heaven. God may, for a time, wink at this: by-and-bye, we witness him setting forth some indication of his judgment, to convince us that he hath not in vain uttered threatening against the violators of his law; and we ought to bear in mind that all who depart from him are reprobate.

Let it be carefully observed that, by wandering from his commandments, is not meant all kinds of transgression indiscriminately, but that unbridled licentiousness which proceeds from impious contempt of God. It is, indeed, given as a general sentence, that “every one is cursed who continueth not in all things which are written,” Deuteronomy 27:26

But as God in his paternal kindness, bears with those who fail through infirmity of the flesh, so here we must understand these judgments to be expressly executed upon the wicked and reprobate; and their end, as Isaiah declares, is, “that the inhabitants of the earth may learn righteousness,” (Isaiah 26:9)”23

22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

Believers are often reproached by the unrighteous, so it is easy to identify with the Psalmist here.

Mathew Poole’s comments are to the point:

“Reproach, which I suffer unjustly and for thy sake, as he elsewhere complains.

I have kept thy testimonies, and therefore I am innocent from those crimes for which they censure and reproach me. Or, and therefore thou wilt maintain mine honour and interest according to thy promise made to such as keep thy testimonies, and I beg with some confidence that thou wilt do it.”24

23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

Even when reproached by men in high places, we still find hope in God’s commandments.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown in their commentary concur:

“God will rebuke those who despise His word and deliver His servants from their reproach, giving them boldness in and by His truth, even before the greatest men.”25

24 Thy testimonies also are my delight, and my counselors.

In closing this section on verses 17-24, Matthew Henry thoughts serve as a good conclusion:

“If God deals in strict justice with us, we all perish. We ought to spend our lives in his
service; we shall find true life in keeping his word. Those that would see the wondrous things of God’s law and gospel, must beg him to give them understanding, by the light of his Spirit. Believers feel themselves strangers on earth; they fear missing their way, and losing comfort by erring from God’s commandments. Every sanctified soul hungers after the word of God, as food which there is no living without. There is something of pride at the bottom of every wilful sin. God can silence lying lips; reproach and contempt may humble and do us good, and then they shall be removed. Do we find the weight of the cross is above that we are able to bear? He that bore it for us will enable us to bear it; upheld by him we cannot sink. It is sad when those who should protect the innocent, are their betrayers. The psalmist went on in duty, and he found comfort in the word of God. The comforts of the word of God are most pleasant to a gracious soul, when other comforts are made bitter; and those that would have God’s testimonies to be their delight, must be advised by them. May the Lord direct us in exercising repentance of sin, and faith in Christ.”26

Notes on GIMEL Psalm 119: 17-24:

19. C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. II, (Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson), pp. 171,172.
20. John Gill, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments 9 Volumes, Psalms, (Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs), 2011, p. 1378.
21. Albert Barnes, THE AGES DIGITAL LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible Volume 5 -Psalms, p. 1799.
22. Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, Fourth printing 1985) p. 915.
23. John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. VI: Psalms, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House Reprinted 1979), p.415, 416.
24. Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, Vol. 2 (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1985) p. 183.
25. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 1977) p. 450.
26. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, An abridgment of the 6 volume Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, reprinted 2003), p. 957.

Unification or Moonification? by Jack Kettler 2013

Sun Myung Moon, now deceased, was a self-appointed Reverend with murky credentials to say the least. He was born on February 25, 1920 in Korea. As a teenager, he claimed to have a vision of Jesus, begging him (Moon) to complete the mission, which he (Jesus) had failed. When you hear something like this, red flags should go up. If you believe Moon’s claims, then you would accept his credentials, which basically come down to this: He is “greater than Jesus” (Master Speaks 6/30/1973 p.4) Rev. Moon is “the Messiah, the Lord of the Second Advent” (120-Day Training Manual p.160, 222).

A little about Moon’s organization:

Moon had a front row seat to see the evils of communism in North Korea. We can be thankful that he ardently spoke out against the blight of communism. Unfortunately, Moon’s anti-communism has helped his organization make alliances with unsuspecting conservatives. His business empire is is impressive and substantial, with holdings in media and manufacturing. Moon was a master at forming alliances through his science conferences. Since Moon claimed to be the Lord of the Second Advent, he was the undisputed leader of the Unification Church. Subsequent to his death, on September 3, 2012, it has been reported that his wife Hak Ja Han and their sons Hyung Jin Moon and Kook Jin Moon would assume the leadership of the church.

Moon’s religion is known as “The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.” It certainly has not lived up to its name regarding the “Unification of World Christianity.” Individuals who believe and follow Moon’s teaching have experienced a process that I call Moonification. This is a process in which an individual surrenders their own beliefs and adopts Moon’s outlandish, grandiose beliefs about himself and his mission.

Moon’s writing, the “Divine Principle” is known by the Unification Church as the “Completed Testament.” Absolutely essential to Moon’s theology is the concept of dualism. All of existence is dualistic. You have the Father God and feminine Holy Spirit God, you have both male and female, light and darkness, Yin and Yang and spirit and flesh. All existence has dual properties according to Moon. Moon’s God has both dual male and female characteristics. In short, Moon’s belief system can be described as a combination of elements of Eastern Taoist philosophy, especially, its metaphysical dualism. This Eastern philosophy and other aberrational theological ideas are used as a grid to interpret the Bible, leading to interpretive nonsense.

Rather than use the Grammatico-Historical-Hermeneutical method of interpretation, which focuses attention on literary forms plus taking into consideration, the grammatical constructions and historical contexts from which the Scriptures were written, Moon smuggles Eastern philosophies and other interpretive errors into his radical twisting of Scripture.

In addition, Moon used a basic Christian theological structure for interpreting Scripture which can be described as creation-sin/evil-redemption model. This is what in particular makes Moon’s theology deceptive since it utilizes the Christian concepts of sin, the fall and redemption. Because of this, Moon’s theology can be considered a Christian heresy. Shockingly, spiritism was not a problem for Moon. In the book “Unknown But Known,” on page 121 the American father of Spiritualism’s Arthur Ford recounted two lengthy séances undertaken on behalf of Moon. These accounts were removed from later editions of Ford’s book.

And, significantly, you find a dispensationalism hermeneutic at work in Moon’s theology, which accounts for Moon’s shocking teaching that Jesus failed in His mission. Dispensationalists do not teach that Jesus failed, only that the Jews did not accept him, and therefore God had to move to plan B and begin working with the church. The church is the so called mystery parenthesis in the plan of God where Israel was set aside and God’s prophetic clock stopped. It is certainly understandable how Moon could get the idea from dispensationalism that Jesus failed. Many people have run wild with theories based upon dispensational aberrational theology. It should be noted that Moon used the term dispensational frequently. For example, Moon’s speech, “Today In the Light of Dispensational History” given on February 23, 1977 at the World Mission Center, translated by Bo Hi Pak.

A Sampling of Moonification Theological Heresies:

“With the fullness of time, God has sent His messenger to resolve the fundamental questions of life and the universe. His name is Sun Myung Moon. For many decades, he wandered in a vast spiritual world in search of the ultimate truth. On this path, he endured suffering unimagined by anyone in human history. God alone will remember it. Knowing that no one can find the ultimate truth to save mankind without going through the bitterest of trials, he fought alone against myriads of Satanic forces, both in the physical and spiritual worlds, and finally triumphed over them all. In this way he came in contact with many saints in Paradise and with Jesus, and thus brought into light all the heavenly secrets through his communion with God.”1

“In order to know the nature of God’s deity, let us examine the common factors which can be found throughout His creation. A creation, whatever it may be, cannot come into being unless a reciprocal relationship between positivity and negativity has been achieved, not only within itself but also in relation to other beings. For example, particles, which are the essential components of all matter, have either positivity or negativity, or a neutrality which is caused when the positive and negative elements neutralize each other. When the two characteristics enter into a reciprocal relationship, these particles form an atom.

Each atom assumes either positive or negative characteristics, and, as the dual characteristics within each atom enable that atom to have reciprocal relationships with other atoms, they proceed to form molecules of matter. Matter, which is formed in this way–according to the reciprocal relationship between these two characteristics–becomes nourishment for animals and plants when it is absorbed by them.

All plants exist and multiply through a relationship occurring between the stamen and pistil, while the same process occurs in the animal world through a relationship between male and female.

As for man, God created a man (male), Adam, in the beginning; then, seeing that it was not good that man should be alone (Gen. 2:18), He made a woman (female), Eve, as Adam’s object, and for the first time God saw that His creation was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Just as a positive or negative ion, even after dissociation, is found to be the combination of a proton (positive) and an electron (negative), the stamen or the pistil of the plant and a male or female member of the animal kingdom can also exist only through a reciprocal relationship between their dual essentialities of positivity and negativity. Also, there is a female characteristic dormant in every man, and a male essence in every woman. The aspects of each thing in the creation exist on a reciprocal basis, such as: inside and outside, internal and external, front and rear, right and left, up and down, high and low, strong and weak, long and short, wide and narrow, east and west, south and north. This is because all things are created to exist through a reciprocal relationship between their dual essentialities.

As we have seen, all things exist through a reciprocal relationship between the dual essentialities of positivity and negativity. We must also know the reciprocal relationship between another pair of dual essentialities, which is even more fundamental than that of positivity and negativity. Anything in existence has both an external form and an internal character. The external form is visible and reflects the internal character, which is invisible. Though the internal character cannot be seen, it assumes a certain form, so that the external form resembles the internal character as its visible form. “Internal character” and “external form” refer to the two characters which are the two relative aspects of the same existence. In this relationship, the external form may also be called a “second internal character”, so together we call them “dual characteristics”, or “dual essentialities”.

We can take man as an example. Man consists of body, or external form, and mind, or internal character. The visible body resembles the invisible mind. The body assumes a form resembling the form projected by the mind. This is the reason one can perceive things about a man’s invisible character and destiny by his outward appearance.

We call the mind “internal character” and the body “external form”. Here again, since our mind and body are the two relative aspects of the same man, the body may be called the “second mind”, or a duplication of the mind. We call these two together “the dual characteristics of man”. Now we can understand the fact that everything exists through a reciprocal relationship between the dual characteristics of internal character and external form.

What then is the relationship between internal character and external form? The invisible internal character is the cause and is in the subjective position, while the visible external form is the result of the former and stands in an objective position to it. Accordingly, the reciprocal relationship which exists between the two is one of internal and external, cause and result, subject and object, or vertical and horizontal.

Let us again use man as an example. Since mind and body correspond to character and form, the body is a copy of the mind and should be completely under its command. Thus man can direct his life according to his will and purpose. The mind and body also assume a reciprocal relationship of internal and external, cause and result, subject and object, or vertical and horizontal.

Likewise, all the things of creation, though they may vary in dimension, have an invisible internal character which corresponds to the mind; since this is the cause and subject, it manipulates the external form, which corresponds to the human body. This relationship between mind and body enables the individual creation to maintain its existence as a being with a certain purpose. Animals have an aspect which corresponds to the human mind; since this is the subject and cause which directs towards a certain purpose, the animal body is able to live according to the purpose of its individual being. A plant also has an internal character which enables it to maintain its organic function.”2

“Fundamentally, God’s essential character and His essential form assume a reciprocal relationship with His “essential positivity” and “essential negativity”. Therefore, God’s essential positivity and essential negativity are the attributes of His essential character and essential form. So, the relationship between positivity and negativity is similar to that which exists between character and form.

Accordingly, positivity and negativity also have a reciprocal relationship existing between internal and external, cause and result, subject and object, vertical and horizontal. This is the reason it is written in the Bible that God created the woman Eve as an object by taking the rib from the man Adam, who was the subject (Gen. 2:22). Here we call the positivity and negativity of God “masculinity” and “femininity”, respectively. The universe which was created with God as the center is similar to a man who has been created with his mind as the center. The universe is a perfect organic body created completely in accordance with God’s purpose of creation. For this reason, the universe as an organic body has its own internal character and external form, with God as its internal character, while the physical universe is its external form. This is why God said that man, who is the center of the universe, was made in His own image (Gen. 1:27).

Before creating the universe, God existed as the internal masculine subject, and He created the universe as His external feminine object. I Corinthians 11:7 says that man “is the image and glory of God”, which testifies to this theory. Since God is the masculine subject of internal character we call Him “Our Father”, emphasizing His masculine nature. “In brief, we know that God is the subject who consists of dual characteristics.”3

“Jesus did not say that His word was the truth but that he himself was the truth, way and the life (John 14:6). This is because His words were only a means of expressing himself as the truth… We can understand that the New Testament was given as a textbook for the teaching of truth to the people of 2,000 years ago… In consequence, today the truth must appear with a higher standard and with a scientific method of expression in order to enable intelligent modern men to understand it.”4

“We, therefore, must realize that Jesus did not come to die on the cross.”5

“Jesus could not accomplish the purpose of the providence of physical salvation because his body was invaded by Satan. However, he could establish the basis for spiritual salvation … through … the blood of the cross.”6

“Because the Jewish people disbelieved Jesus and delivered him up for crucifixion, his body was invaded by Satan, and he was killed. Therefore, even when Christians believe in and become one body with Jesus, whose body was invaded by Satan, their bodies still remain subject to Satan’s invasion.”7

“In fact, Jesus was then resolved to take the cross as the condition of indemnity to pay for the accomplishment of even the spiritual salvation of man when he found that he was unable to accomplish the providence of both spiritual and physical salvation (Luke 9:31).”8

“Any Christian who, in spiritual communication, can see John the Baptist directly in the spirit world will be able to understand the authenticity of all these things.”9

“The ultimate purpose of God’s providence of restoration is to save all mankind. Therefore, it is God’s intention to abolish Hell completely, after the lapse of the period necessary for the full payment of all indemnity.”10

“Though the times of their salvation may differ, all fallen men are predestined to be saved.”11

“In this way, a man who attains the purpose of creation would become the temple of God’s constant abode (1 Cor. 3:16) thus assuming deity (cf. Part I Ch. I Sec. III,2).” “Therefore, the man who has attained the purpose of creation would assume the divine value of God.”12

“The man who has attained the purposed of creation, whoever he may be, is an existence unique in the whole universe. Buddha’s statement, ‘I am my own Lord throughout heaven and earth,’ is reasonable in light of this principle.”13

“However, a father alone cannot give birth to children. There must be a True Mother with the True Father, in order to give rebirth to fallen children as children of goodness. She is the Holy Spirit.” “Thus, the Holy Spirit is a Female Spirit;” “She also cleanses the sins of the people in order to restore them, thus indemnifying the sin committed by Eve.” “Jesus, being male (positively), is working in heaven, while the Holy Spirit, being female (negativity), is working on earth.”14

“Accordingly, in order to fulfill the purpose of creation, Jesus and the Holy Spirit must establish the four position foundation centered on God, by becoming one body in unity through the action of give and take, each as the object of God, substantially divided from His dual essentialities. In this manner, Jesus and the Holy Spirit become one body centered on God; this is called ‘Trinity.’” However, due to the fall, Adam and Eve established the four position foundation centered on Satan, thus resulting in a trinity centered on Satan.”15

“Eve’s fall consisted of two kinds of illicit love affairs. The first one was the spiritual fall through love with the archangel. The second was the physical fall through love with Adam.”16

“After another seven days, Noah sent out the dove the third time. It is written that this time the dove did not come back to the ark because the water had dried up (Gen 8:12). The third dove symbolized the Lord of the Second Advent [Moon] who would come as the third Adam.”17

The “Lord of the Second Advent” [Moon] will be born in Korea.”18

“Likewise, the Korean nation as the third Israel.”19

“Therefore, countless men of religion are receiving very clear revelations concerning the Lord’s Second Coming in Korea in many different ways, by contacting many spirit men of various levels : from the realm of miscellaneous spirits to the realm of the paradise level spirits. Nevertheless, the leaders of the present Christian world, due to their spiritual ignorance, are still unresponsive, and have refused to pay heed to such things. This is similar to what happened in Jesus’ day, when the chief priests and rabbis, who should have been the first to know of the coming of the Messiah, were entirely unaware of the fact due to their spiritual ignorance, while, on the other hand, the astrologers and shepherds knew of the message through revelations.”20

A Brief Christian Response:

The Scripture teach that Jesus is one and only incarnate Son of God and he completed his mission successfully. Christ’s death and resurrection provided real saving atonement for sinners. Jesus secured salvation from the effects of sin and death, in both the spiritual and physical for His people.

“Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils” Mark 16:9.
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15: 3,4.
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled” Colossians 1:21.

Moreover, Moon’s claims of being the Messiah or Lord of the Second Advent are blasphemous. Only Jesus is the Messiah! There is simply no need for another Messiah.

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:” Hebrews 1:3.
“But to the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom” Hebrews 1:8.

Notes:

1. Sun Myung Moon, Divine Principle, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, English translation, (Hsa-Uwc Pubns, 1977), p. 16.
2. Moon, pp. 20-23.
3. Moon, p. 25.
4. Ibid., p. 131.
5. Ibid., p. 143.
6. Ibid., p. 148.
7. Ibid., pp. 147-148.
8. Ibid., p. 151.
9. Ibid., p. 163.
10. Ibid., p. 190.
11. Ibid., p. 200.
12. Ibid., p. 206.
13. Ibid., p. 207.
14. Ibid., pp. 215-216.
15. Ibid., p. 217.
16. Ibid., p. 241.
17. Ibid., p. 256.
18. Ibid., p. 520.
19. Ibid., p. 527.
20. Ibid., p. 529.

Mr. Kettler is an ordained Presbyterian Elder and the owner of http://www.Undergroundnotes.com where his theological, philosophical and political articles can be read. He has worked in corporate America for over 30 years and is now realizing his dreams as a successful home business entrepreneur. Permission is hereby granted to reprint this article as long as my web site is retained in the biographical information.

Jack Kettler
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