Christians Above Politics, the Georgia Guidestones, and ‘The Fall of JD Hall’

What do Elon Musk backing away from Twitter, the Georgia Guidestones being blown up, the question of whether Christians should get into politics, and an F4F YouTube video upload about JD Hall have in common? Why, we’re going to talk about all of them in this episode. That’s what.

First of all, Elon Musk is backing out of buying Twitter. In an official statement released to the public, Musk claims Twitter has refused to produce all of the documentation requested despite having months to do so. Twitter is threatening to sue to force Musk to follow through at the originally agreed price-point. A lot of conservatives are mourning, but I’m not so sure this is the end. Maybe Musk can negotiate a lower price for the social media giant, for instance.

Speaking of the New World Order, someone blew up the Georgia Guidestones. The bomber is now being labeled a domestic terrorist, and authorities are seeking him out accordingly. But really now, who is the actual terrorist when you read the first of these 10 Commandments of the New World Order and consider its implications?

Maintaining Earth’s population at 500,000,000 implies something has to be done about several billions of the rest of us, since one can hardly maintain that number without first getting down to it somehow. Yet the answer to the mystery of 42-years – that of who actually commissioned these stone tablets to be put there in the first place – is really rather secondary to the larger point that the past few years of government and media response to COVID have made a lot more of the public willing to entertain the most disturbing of theories. And I think that’s why someone finally just worked up the gumption to set off some charges there.

In other news, as reported by Not the Bee, Shane Morris took to Twitter yesterday to explain how Christians have a long, rich history of engagement in politics, despite what Progressives and neutrality proponents allege. See here Augustine of Hippo and The City of God. The brother had a lot to say about the claim from pagans that Christianity had weakened Rome and that this was the reason of her fall to the barbarians.

Yet Augustine thought nothing of getting into history, mythology, poetry, and even the subject of sex to make his arguments about two cities – the city of man on the one hand, and the city of God on the other. And we love Augustine for this – at least those of us who’ve read his work and understand his legacy. Yet there is an intellectually malnourished quality to the calls from many Christians in our day to so narrowly define “sticking to the gospel” that one can hardly talk about anything except for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ without provoking them to shushing and the wagging of fingers. And I believe strongly that this needs to change to the glory of God.

Along these lines, a certain commenter has been active on my recent review of ‘The Everlasting Man’ by G.K. Chesterton. Certain claims are being bandied about by them rather carelessly, I might add. Christianity and Christians are morally bankrupt and know nothing, they say. But I feel a responsibility to answer and refute directly rather than turning off the comment section. Since the gauntlet has been thrown down on my property, I intend to pick it up and answer the charges by God’s grace. But even in saying that, and anticipating the challenges and objections of those who only know winsomeness when it comes to having a good testimony, I feel confident that in answering these accusations against Christians I stand in a long, rich tradition in Church History – including that very one that dates back to at least the 4th century AD with Augustine of Hippo.

Lastly, and on another related note, I’d like to respond to a YouTube video posted Thursday by ‘Fighting for the Faith’ in which Chris Rosebrough, Phil Johnson, and Justin Peters weigh in on, as the title of the video puts it, ‘The Fall of JD Hall.’ Predictably, comments on that video are turned off. Yet thankfully I have a podcast and website of my own, and so I’m going to comment here. And what I will say is that a number of facts and claims made herein by these three men strike me as hypocritical and self-incriminating, not to mention self-serving, though I think they intended to absolve themselves instead of admit so much culpability. By their own admission, though, I would say that either there is more information which they neglected to mention, or else these men showed partiality toward JD Hall and one another, and thereby neglected their duty to have not spoken up publicly sooner than they are.

Having formerly aligned themselves with Hall, these three men had a duty to warn at least their followers and the people of their own churches just as publicly as they had encouraged the same to check out and follow Hall, at least as soon as they say now they realized privately years ago that he was a loose canon, and started rebuking and admonishing him privately accordingly. The fact that they only warned him privately, however, yet routinely make a habit of going after other ministers they disagree with theologically, just goes to show that orthopraxy has not been valued so highly by these men as what passes in their book for orthodoxy. And this will not do, and neither will their having said only so much as they have.

The Lord’s servant needs to contend for the faith, yes. But just as much obedience is required in not being contentious, and in showing no partiality as we hold to the faith. So also, we are commanded against doing anything from vain and selfish ambition, and we are told to put away all malice and slander. Yet these men forgot this in the case of JD Hall, seemingly right up until the moment when it seemed both safe enough to come out against him publicly and necessary enough to say something to protect their own reputations and so-called discernment ministries. Yet here too, I am sorry to say, we find another example of what is so badly broken in the expression of Christian life and thought in our day. And here too, I believe this needs to change to the glory of God.

—

This episode is sponsored by

· Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

—

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/message

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/garrett-ashley-mullet/support