Tags: Christian Persecution, Rome, Spanish
Inquisition, Salem Witch Trials, American Indian, Western Culture, Saint Augustine, The
City of God, Retractions, Cain, Abel, New Jerusalem, Babylon, Babel, Sea
Quest, Charles Darwin, Constantine, Milivian Bridge, Edict of Milan, Reformation,
Institutionalized Church, WWII, American Protestants, church growth, C Peter Wagner,
Church Growth Movement, John Dewey, theological liberalism
The City of God
To appease the bewildered and
panic-stricken populace, the Roman emperors occasionally ordered a round of Christian
persecutions. The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to
exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to
slander His name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power
to make war against the saints and to conquer them. He was given authority over every
tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast --
all those whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that
was slain from the creation of the world.
He who has an ear, let him hear. If
anyone is to go into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with
the sword he will be killed.
This calls for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the saints. (Rev 13:5-10 niv)
Contemporary Romans blamed their woes on
the fact that Romans had deserted their ancient deities for the Christian God. They felt
that Christianity watered down the Roman will to conquer and rule in this world. Instead,
Christianity had "misguided" Rome into seeking another kingdom.
This attitude towards blaming Christians
for the downfall of society is one that is shared by the liberal humanist in our country
today. It is in the name of trouncing on the person of Jesus Christ that the
multiculturalist of today has turned his heart away from Western Civilization. He has
sought to exalt the more "noble" pagan cultures of the world that have not been
"defiled" with the Christian dogma. These societies are seen as being more
"pure" and devoid of the "atrocious behavior" that has marked the
Christian heritage. These people love to cite such instances as the Spanish Inquisition,
the Salem Witch Trials, slavery, and the poor treatment of the American Indian as proof of
their claim that Western Culture is inferior because of its Christian base.
* * *
In the Outland comic strip, Opus and his
white Anglo-Saxon companion are met by the waitress who announces, "Hi! Welcome to
Pizza Whoopie! Are you smoking or non-smoking?"
The Penguin tries to say,
"Non-smmmph. . ." but his beak is held tightly shut.
"Smoking," the man assures.
"And you were born male?" the
ecstatic waitress continues to inquire.
"Correct."
"Euro-Caucasian?"
"Correct."
"Mortified by Rap?"
"Correct."
"Ancestors kicked butt?"
"Correct!"
These responses have lead our two heroes
to be gathered in tightly, spaced, roped off section with the sign affixed, " BORN
INCORRECT."
Politely the confused penguin turns to
his back to inquire of a black lady, "Could you pass the parmesan cheese,
please?"
"Apologize."
* * *
My niece asserted, as she attended the California
State University at Bakersfield, that she would be required to take minority literature in
her pursuit to fulfill her educational requisites. So what ever happened to the study of
English literature? Where do Shakespeare, Herman Melville, and Mark Twain fit into all of
this? The fact is, in the multiculturalists mind, they don't. These writers to them typify
the despised Western spirit that was disgraced by Christian heritage. However, by ignoring
the truth of our Western past, the humanists are turning their backs on the answers to the
modern American dilemma that lie so obviously in the recesses of her own Western past.
Saint Augustine was the most astute mind
that Rome ever produced. His book the City of God was written to dispel the notion
that Christianity was the cause of the Roman woes. In his Retractions, he wrote,
"When Rome was devastated as a result of the invasion of the Goths under the
leadership of Alaric, the worshippers of the many false gods, whom we are accustomed to
call pagan, began, in their attempt to blame this devastation on the Christian religion,
to blaspheme the true God with more bitterness and sharpness that usual. Wherefore, fired
with a zeal for God's house, I determined to write my book, The City of God,
against their blasphemies and errors."
So profound were the arguments proposed
in this work that the Roman critics of Christianity were absolutely silenced. Augustine
proposed that it was not the Christianity of the latter Roman Emperors that caused the
demise of the Empire, but rather the vices within the empire itself. Augustine contended
that the greatness of the empire was due to its past virtues, those which its citizens had
not the courage to put into practice. This behavior of good living could no longer be
accomplished according to their love for their country.
However, the Christian God demands the
very virtues necessary for greatness in society out of the love for Him. Thus, in the
general breakdown of morality and of civic virtues that made the Empire great, divine
authority would produce the frugal living, continence, friendship, justice and concord
amongst citizens necessary for cultural success. Therefore, whoever truly loves God would
be doing his best for his country through the exercise of Christian virtue, Augustine
argued. Do we not hear that same contention in our society today?
If ancient Rome, Augustine debated,
found greatness through virtues that were not born of God, how much more would she find
greatness through that which was delivered by God? "For in the most opulent and
illustrious empire of Rome," he contested, "God has shown how great is the
influence of even civil virtues without true religion, in order that it might be
understood that, when this is added to such virtues, men are made citizens of another
commonwealth, of which the King is truth, the law is Love, and the duration is
eternity."
Now, Augustine concluded that when Rome
had lost all justice, it ceased to exist at all. What he was advancing was his concept of
a "City of God" that in its essence would advance the justice of God among all
men. True justice exists only in that republic whose founder and ruler is Christ. This
city, he argued, would be the one that would stand.
Now Augustine stated that since all
mankind has a common origin with Adam, they are brothers. This is regardless of race,
color or appearance. Hence, we see it was in the Gospel of Christ that the concept of
equality was born. However, Augustine noted a determining factor that separated men into
camps and eroded what it meant to be equal. He noticed that Cain and Abel had the same
father. They were two both equally men, but of two radically different wills. One loved
good, the other loved evil.
All men fall into these two categories
and therefore the two distinct societies that build themselves upon these two opposing
dispositions. As men follow the example of Cain or Abel, they determine which city they
belong to; the corrupt kingdom of the world or the "City of God."
"These are two loves," he
wrote, "the one of which is holy, the other, unholy; one social, the other
individualistic (humanism); one takes heed of the common utility because of the heavenly
society, the other reduces even the commonweal to its own ends because of a proud lust of
domination; the one is subject to God, the other sets itself up as a rival to God; the one
is serene, the other tempestuous; the one peaceful, the other quarrelsome; the one prefers
truthfulness to deceitful praises, the other is utterly void of praise; the one is
friendly, the other jealous; the one desires for its neighbor what it would for itself,
the other is desirous of lording it over his neighbor; the one directs its effort to the
neighbor's good, the other to its own. . . Tell me what a people loves and I shall tell
you what it is."
So, it is that the two societies are
divided into those of the family of men who live by faith and the family of men who don't
live by faith; the body of the faithful and the body of the unfaithful; the society of
religious men and the society of the irreligious; those whom the love of God unites and
those who are united through love of self; the city of New Jerusalem and that of Babylon,
that is, Babel or confusion. One is the city of Christ. The other is the city of the
devil. There was no middle ground in Augustine's eyes. Those who belong to the "City
of God" are those who will build societies that will last.
The distinction Augustine was making is
what divides the godly from the humanist. It is the narcissistic message of self that
makes up the city of the devil -- the one that will bring a society to its ruin.
One night I was sitting with my kids
watching an episode of the TV series Sea Quest. In this particular chapter of this
underwater story, a particular scientist had won the scorn of his peers, and as a result
turned to a life of thievery. He had embraced the concept that the universe had a distinct
center, a concept that had earned the ridicule of the world's scientists. After faking a
suicide, he pursued a career in obscurity under the high seas, stealing and then selling
used parts. It was made evident that his life of crime was not a result of any particular
choice of his will, but rather the low self-esteem that had developed out of his rejection
by society.
While in the act of selling pirated
materials to the captain of the Sea Quest he was able to gain entry to a classified area
where scientists were busy teaching a dolphin named Darwin to talk. He was so intrigued by
the animal that he stole it for the purpose of extracting information out of it concerning
where the center of the universe was. You see, he believed that at one time dolphins ruled
the land to the extent that they learned far more than humans. But in the evolutionary
process, the dolphins, for unexplained reasons returned to the sea. Possibly life on land
was too stressful, so they returned to the ocean where they could play.
At any rate, it was the professor's hope
that the dolphins had remembered what they had learned when they lived on the land, and
could now communicate the truth of the nature of the universe to him. Well, the dolphin
would not talk to him. Apparently, the fish god who was to divulge all truth was a bit
tongue-tied.
However, after an invasion by the crew
of the Sea Quest, the divine beast was returned home. The professor was invited to come to
the laboratory to communicate with his deity. When he asked where the center of the
universe was, the "wise" mammal replied, "In you." The reaction of the
professor assured all that this great secret would be the central fact that would
transform his life as a misfit into one of value and success.
This is the foundation stone of humanism
in the world today. It is a belief that each man is the center of his own universe.
According to the humanist, it is around man that the rest of the world spins. This
narcissistic doctrine is the cornerstone of our society today. It is the doctrine of
demons that Augustine unmasked as the central cause for the destruction of the Roman
Empire. No, it is not Christianity today that is the enemy of culture, as the liberal
humanists contends. The very nemesis to society is the humanist himself. As the
selfishness of humanism continues to erode everything that is respectable out of American
life, we can look at Rome and know our end is just around the corner.
The Pagan Assault
Blaming the Christians for their woes
did not help the Roman cause. By 235-285 the empire was in shambles. It was paganism that
overwhelmed the Romans, as the barbarians swooped in from the north to devour their
civilization. The truth of why Rome fell was that her armies were too busy fighting each
other in order to elevate a new emperor every few years.
The history of Rome flies in the face of
the modern humanistic ambition that wants us to believe that America's strength is in her
diversity. It was a unified Rome that conquered the known world. It was a divided Rome
that fell into the hands of the enemy.
The Barbarian force was very
insignificant in the face of Rome's military might. It was a threat that could have easily
been licked by a country that was united. Had the nation of Rome been really united on
Christian principle, she would have had the same strength within her that saw Western
domination of the whole world begin to rise as the leaders of the Reformation returned to
the writings of Paul during the Reformation in Sixteenth century Europe.
Now the student of ancient Rome had
heard the details of the Emperor Constantine's (306-337) conversion that ended 250 years
of Christian persecution. After the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD, it was said that
he ascribed his victory over his enemy Maxentius to the intervention of the Christian God.
He was attempting to wrestle the kingdom away from this other general who had an army
three times as large of an army as his own and had the services of the infamous Praetorian
Guard.
Apparently, in the evening before he was
to go to battle, Constantine saw a cross above the sun as it was setting in the western
sky. In letters of light the words shown through, "In this sign, conquer." He
witnessed a great victory the next day.
As a result he instituted the Edict of
Milan, which granted Christians the same rights as the followers of other religions had
enjoyed. Finally, the Christians were to enjoy the same religious freedoms that had always
existed in Rome for everyone else. Constantine had decreed complete religious toleration
and the restoration of church property.
But there was a price the Church had to
pay for their new religious freedom. Indeed, the Emperor donated large grants of money to
the cause. The clergy was relieved of certain unpleasant duties. Large church buildings
were constructed on sacred spots. Constantine forbade Sunday work. Being a Christian now
became a passport to political, military, and social promotion. War was now used to
advance the Christian cause as the traditional symbol of the Roman armies (the eagle) was
replaced with the cross.
It was during this time when the heathen
began to the join the church for its social advantages. The doctrine of salvation had
changed from salvation through Jesus to salvation through the church. As a result, this
influx of pagans created the first church attendees who were Christians in name only.
Indeed, its wealth, prestige and power were a very powerful source by which the message of
the Gospel in the Roman Church was undermined by paganism. It is no different today.
Big Churches Far
From God
As we look at the church in America
today, we see an organization that has been traditionally blessed with a favorable
standing with the state. We have a vast empire of complex church organizations that are
supported according to their tax-exempt status. This has created a situation where the
church receives the moneys of a vast amount of people who know nothing of salvation in
Christ, but will willingly hand their money into the plate in order to get that tax-break.
The tithing principle has created an
atmosphere in which the church-goer has compartmentalized his life into sacred and
secular. Pastors insist that their parishioners give their first 10 percent to the church
in the same manner that the Old Testament Jews gave their tithe to the Levitical Priest.
They have re-created temple worship as administered by priests as a result.
This type of teaching, which separates
the Christian life into compartments, has lead many to believe that Christian living is
something that is done at church rather than in life. It has given us the Christian
chameleon who acts one way at church and another way on his job. It has caused ministers
to believe that serving God is to be equated to serving the institutionalized Church.
Church becomes everything to these
people, as their families and culture are ignored. If somebody doesn't give his life over
to the Institutionalized Church, he is distinguished as a "Sunday morning
Christian". But is the committed Christian the one who lives two contradictory lives?
Compromise seems to be the fruit of the wealthy church.
It is noteworthy that modernism entered
into the church at the very time when it had become rich. It was after WWI that the U.S.
economy burgeoned into the wealth of the roaring twenties. During the period after the
war, American Protestant churches began to build their immense sanctuaries. It was then
that the church became institutionalized and big businesses. It was then that they again
made the compromise with Constantine.
To run the machine, financial boards
became more-and-more commonplace. The church was run by the wealthy now, rather than the
Word of God. The life of worship departed from the church at that time, as formalism
entered into the scene. Ministers and choirs donned their robes as the worship life was
reduced to processionals, recessionals, and the like.
The life of God's message became lost on
the cloak of liberalism. In the name of humanism, the miracles of Jesus were denied, and
the knowledge of the supernatural was suspended. Because of this acceptance of the
humanistic materialist view, Jesus, who was surrounded by the miracles they denied was
taken out of history. No longer was He recognized as the historical Jesus, but a mythical
figure and an example. The Bible was considered to be riddled with mistakes, and reduced
as nothing more than a guideline. For all intensive purposes, God was dead in their minds.
Is it any wonder that by the end of the twenties that the Scopes trials paved the way for
the introduction of evolution into our schools? All of this occurred for the sake of money
and power.
Most churches will take the money
however it comes, just so it allows them to burgeon their lavish "ministries."
All the while, the unconverted faithfully warm their pews, secure in the fact that they
have given their ten percent; which is the central thing that the actions of their pastor
assures them God is compelling of them to do. If they are big tithers, they will be the
ones who will run the church.
Many a pastor has begun in a small
ministry with a pure gospel coming from his lips spoken with conviction. But as the church
grows, he makes compromises. He wants that big building, and he enlists the men in the
alligator shoes to get it for him. These charlatans, who disguise their intents under the
banner of "church growth", are no more than glorified Amway salesmen who promise
the moon for nothing. They bolster themselves with the testimonies of the so-called
successful in order to draw good men into their league. What they don't tell their
unsuspecting victims is the consequences of their manipulative money-raising tactics.
Any good ministry is built in trust.
With joy people come into a growing church because they hear a message of hope. But when
they figure out they have been sold a bill of goods by a pastor who has forgotten his
sheep to build the edifices of his own ambitions, they recognize it as betrayal. The
poundings from the pulpit for more-and-more money become an agonizing affair for all. The
pastor has become dependent upon the big spenders now that he has developed an overhead
that is incomprehensible. Now, people are ministered to in accordance to how valuable they
are as financial assets.
The word of God is the ultimate victim
as the pastor sacrifices his convictions lest he offend those who support his grandiose
schemes. In the name of God the pastor insists that this "seeker-friendly"
scheme has been accomplished to His glory. But his allegiance to the mighty dollar has
demonstrated where his devotion is. So, as he steps to that mighty pulpit to look towards
the throng in the stalwart establishment he has constructed big enough to match his
growing ego, he speaks the words of compromise and salutation. The church is never the
same from that moment onward.
The demise of many good men has come
through the solicitations of the invaders with the fancy alligator shoes. These assailants
of the unaware have read the book on how not to do it and distributed it throughout the
body of Christ. The title of the book is "Church Growth". This concept is thrown
at unsuspecting pastors of young and growing churches to lure them to their demise.
It is not a coincidence that the Church
Growth concept invaded the Evangelical and Charismatic churches through men such as C.
Peter Wagner of Fuller Theological Seminary. There is nothing to marvel at when one
notices that this college embraces liberal theological agendas. It is not a surprise that
one of the main instigators of Church Growth principles in the seventies was John Wimber.
Before running with the Church Growth
crowd, Wimber had adopted experimental theology in a manner that is very similar to the
pragmatism of the humanist philosopher and social Darwinist, John Dewey. So, in Wimber's
mind, theology is determined upon what you observe and what growth you see, just as the
pragmatist Dewey proposed. The authority of the Scripture is subserviant to existential
experiments. So truth is relative to experiences rather than the authority of the Bible.
This lead Wimber's congregation to adopt Charismatic fanaticism even to the point of
involving themselves in the New Age practice of visualization. Dewey promoted the
situational morality that dominates that very humanistic thinking in our world today. The
same dogma of non-absolutes is alive and well in the Church.
Is it any wonder that current Church
Growth teachings have emanated from those who have embraced new theologies? Should one be
stunned to discover that Church Growth principles originated with the promoters of
theological existentialism? As we have seen in the age of Constantine and American
theological liberalism in the early 20th Century, the accumulation of wealth has always
taken its theological toll. It is as true today as it ever has been.
You will be able to tell when your
pastor has pitched his tent towards the Church Growth Dream. His preaching will begin to
loose its authority. The challenge you once received while listening will be absent now.
He will begin to talk about what God can do for you, rather emphasizing your
responsibility to serve and obey Him.
Now, the pastor seeks to soothe you and
make you feel comfortable. So, he will begin to preach on matters that create little
contention within the spirit of man. He will talk less about sin and its consequences. He
will evade the subject of your accountability to God. In its place will be the message of
tolerance. An accepting God will be described for you Who is so placid in His character
that you forget what it feels to be uncomfortable and convinced of sin.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit in
regards to sin will not be first in the preacher's mind. Money will be foremost, and the
gathering of wealth into his coffers is not accomplished through messages that make people
ill at ease. He will seek to please and appease rather than convince. . . that is, unless
the subject is money.
When that subject comes up, every Old
Testament Scripture that is available will be utilized to pour guilt upon your head until
you realize that the only way you can please God is by giving your money to the preacher's
cause. You will be told how you have your financial priorities wrong if you don't give to
the church first. This will all be distinguished as giving to God, as if the aspirations
of the Institutionalized Church and God were one in the same. All the while, his coveting
and personal aspirations will hide under the veil of the very same rationalization.
"If the Church represents
God," he will reason, "then what the Church does must be right." . . no
matter how self-seeking is the motivation behind it.
About the Author
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About the Author
Don Wigton
is a graduate of the prestigious music department at CSULB where he studied under Frank
Pooler, lyricist of Merry Christmas Darling, and sang in Pooler’s world renown
University Choir alongside Karen and Richard Carpenter. During this time Don was also the
lead composer of the band, Clovis Putney, that won the celebrated Hollywood Battle of the
Bands. After giving his life to God, Don began attending Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa to
study under some of the most prominent early Maranatha! musicians. Subsequently he toured
the Western United States with Jedidiah in association with Myrrh Records.
Eventually
Don served as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Bakersfield to witness thousands of salvations
through that ministry. As the music/concert director, Don worked for seven years with most
major Christian artist of that time while producing evangelical concerts attended by
thousands of young people seeking after God. Don’s Calvary Chapel Praise Choir
released the album Let All Who Hath Breath Praise the Lord on the Maranatha! label.
The next
years of Don’s life were spent as the praise leader of First Baptist Church in Bakersfield
during a time of unprecedented church renewal. Don teamed with the leadership to
successfully meld the old with the new through a period of tremendous church growth.
During this exciting time, Don’s praise team, Selah, produced the CD Stop and
Think About It.
Today Don is
the leading force behind Wigtune Company. This
webbased project located at www.praisesong.net has provided several million downloads of
Don’s music and hymn arrangements to tens of thousands of Christian organizations
throughout the world. More music can be found at Don's Southern
Cross Band website at www.socrossband.com.
The book Holy
Wars represents Don’s most recent effort to bless the church with biblical
instruction and direction in praise and worship. This heartfelt volume is an offering not
only to God’s people, but also to God Himself.
Connect With Don Online
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Band
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was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free contemporary Christian praise
and worship music, contemporary Christian rock and hymn mp3 and chart material along with
a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday
schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training. In order to bridge the gap
between the old and the new the worship study book gives solid theological and
historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with
praise chorus singing. 
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