… [John] Knox not only polarized his enemies but created schism with his own Protestant brotherhood. Yet alienating Catholic enemies and Protestant friends alike was not problematic to Knox; although discouraging to the Reformer, he expected nothing less since God called him to be a prophet…
On again, off again I am reading Lex Rex from Samuel Rutherford who lived a generation after Knox. Be sure the vitriolic debate in Scotland and England over Catholic vs Protestant hadn't cooled off. Rutherford writes to argue that Christians don't have to go along with whatever government commands them to do, and that governments don't have a right to imprison or kill Christians who don't obey. He does a good job of explaining OT passages that deal with how kings come to power and how citizens can revoke their consent if the government becomes a tyranny, defined loosely.
I think political theology is very much affected by the political context a person finds themselves in, and is used to either justify opposing the current order or to support adherence to it. Either way it is to protect Christians in the age. I think Christians today need to embark on the same journey. I put together my first thoughts on the subject.
I was once a Protestant (with an MDiv!) and am now Roman Catholic by baptism and confirmation. I’m drawn to the eastern fathers and the Divine Liturgy, yet off-put by the suggestion that I’m a damnable heretic because of the filioque controversy.
With that diverse background, when I read about the “religious” wars that have taken place within Christendom, I’m grieved beyond measure. Is the body of Christ to be divided?
But to the political aspect—I find it difficult to identify with “opposing the current order or to support adherence to it.”
I feel that I live in exile on Earth, awaiting the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Political chicanery riles me, but then I step back and consider my identity as a now-but-not-yet member of God’s Divine Council.
Perhaps it’s my longstanding libertarian bent combined with my end-of-life residence in Mexico? (Few Americans have lived outside of the USA.) Or is it my understanding that the regathering of the nations on the Last Day undoes the division of nations that occurred at the Ziggurat at Babel?
In any case, to which “nation” do I belong? What language do I speak? Who are my people? The only constant identity that I have is CHRISTIAN.
The question of what nation you belong to can become complicated, but I think it is clear in my article above that God does not eradicate nations but heals them.
I’m rather persuaded by Heiser’s “Reversing Hermon” that in the Last Day, the division of humanity into nations will reversed. At Babel, the nations were given to the gods with Israel being Yahweh’s portion. Under the New Covenant, the Church—the Body and Bride of Christ—is spiritual Israel, undoing that division in part at Pentecost, and in full when the fullness of the gentiles is incorporated.
But the core point is that, once again, I am not voting. My kingdom is not of this world.
On again, off again I am reading Lex Rex from Samuel Rutherford who lived a generation after Knox. Be sure the vitriolic debate in Scotland and England over Catholic vs Protestant hadn't cooled off. Rutherford writes to argue that Christians don't have to go along with whatever government commands them to do, and that governments don't have a right to imprison or kill Christians who don't obey. He does a good job of explaining OT passages that deal with how kings come to power and how citizens can revoke their consent if the government becomes a tyranny, defined loosely.
I think political theology is very much affected by the political context a person finds themselves in, and is used to either justify opposing the current order or to support adherence to it. Either way it is to protect Christians in the age. I think Christians today need to embark on the same journey. I put together my first thoughts on the subject.
https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/2024/09/christians-nations-and-their-relations.html
I was once a Protestant (with an MDiv!) and am now Roman Catholic by baptism and confirmation. I’m drawn to the eastern fathers and the Divine Liturgy, yet off-put by the suggestion that I’m a damnable heretic because of the filioque controversy.
With that diverse background, when I read about the “religious” wars that have taken place within Christendom, I’m grieved beyond measure. Is the body of Christ to be divided?
But to the political aspect—I find it difficult to identify with “opposing the current order or to support adherence to it.”
I feel that I live in exile on Earth, awaiting the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Political chicanery riles me, but then I step back and consider my identity as a now-but-not-yet member of God’s Divine Council.
Perhaps it’s my longstanding libertarian bent combined with my end-of-life residence in Mexico? (Few Americans have lived outside of the USA.) Or is it my understanding that the regathering of the nations on the Last Day undoes the division of nations that occurred at the Ziggurat at Babel?
In any case, to which “nation” do I belong? What language do I speak? Who are my people? The only constant identity that I have is CHRISTIAN.
The question of what nation you belong to can become complicated, but I think it is clear in my article above that God does not eradicate nations but heals them.
I’m rather persuaded by Heiser’s “Reversing Hermon” that in the Last Day, the division of humanity into nations will reversed. At Babel, the nations were given to the gods with Israel being Yahweh’s portion. Under the New Covenant, the Church—the Body and Bride of Christ—is spiritual Israel, undoing that division in part at Pentecost, and in full when the fullness of the gentiles is incorporated.
But the core point is that, once again, I am not voting. My kingdom is not of this world.
Read my article. Nations will exist on the New Earth.