by Jerry Huerta
copyright 2022
The
previous work, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Revealed in the True
Structuring of the Revelation,[1] continued to confirm that
the Revelation pertains to the intercession or mediation of Christ. Such
evidence confirms that the narration or symbolism pertains to the Church,
inhibiting the preterist and futurist views. Since the Church is formed from
all nations and is not a nation among nations, the Revelation does not fit the
interpretations of futurism or preterism as they view the book concerning a
nation of people among nations. What is clear from a scriptural perspective is
that Christ mediates in the heavenly sanctuary over a temple not built by
hands.
We heard him say, I will destroy
this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another
made without hands. (Mark 14:58)
The
consequence that the Revelation represents Christ’s mediation is that the symbolism
and narration of the Revelation pertain to the Church age in its entirety.
There is no support that these elements represent just the beginning or end of this
age, as in preterism and futurism. Such extreme views stem from the notion that
the book concerns a nation of people among nations. Christ’s mediation is not
restricted in this way, as it concerns the Church, a people of all nations.
Another consequence that Christ’s
mediation pertains to the entirety of the Church age is that it supports the
symbolic and prophetic nature of the seven churches. This support is implicit
rather than explicit, maintaining the principle of vigilance in prophecy.
Temporal indicators of imminence are commonly used in prophecy to promote
vigilance and discourage apathy when long intervals of time are the intent.
Nevertheless, time is one of the expositors of prophecy, as “prophecies are
best interpreted after they are fulfilled.”[2]
An early expositor of the nineteenth-century, Rev. T. Milner, had
difficulty accepting the prophetic interpretation,
Another opinion, equally as
unsupported, though not so wild, is, that the description of
the Asian churches, prophetically
delineate the character of the universal church, divided into seven succeeding
periods, extending from the age of the apostles to the final consummation of
all things. This notion, broached by the monkish writers of the middle ages,
has been largely asserted and vindicated by Vitringa and many respectable
writers of a more recent date, have appeared in its behalf. The interpreter adopting
this hypothesis involves himself in inextricable difficulties.[3]
Milner contested the idea that the churches were prophetic while acknowledging that the monks in the Middle Ages had broached the idea and that a contemporary Dutch theologian Campegius Vitringa advocated it. Milner’s contention lies in his assessment that the monks lacked evidence to support the prophetic delineation since they lived in the dark ages, which had sparce evidence to support the view. Furthermore, Milner’s postmillennialism[4] dominated the times and kept him from perceiving any future described to the Laodiceans,
for no type appears in any of these
communications, of that time of mental darkness, priestcraft, and religious
foolery, which preceded the reformation; and it is at once repugnant to all the
disclosures of revealed truth, to suppose that the last period of the
church’s history will synchronize
with the description given of the ancient Laodiceans.[5]
In
1832, the year Milner published his book, the market-driven society that we
have today was still in its nascent form, promulgated by the spirit of
Protestantism in the first attempt at globalism. Nevertheless, theologian and
author Udo W. Middelmann, who has written a contemporary book about the
consequences of a market-driven society in our time, corroborates that we live
in the Laodicean era,
In the course of a very few decades, much of the church has embraced the way of mass culture in its drive to reduce everything to play and attractive entertainment. It has bowed to the demands of a consumer society and offers a message that more and often distracts for the moment that comforts for the long run… Marketing priorities preside… Instead, the church has adapted its soul and life teaching to appeal to modern man, whose whole perception has been altered by a culture that allows him to expect entertainment, fun, and easy success. The believer-to-be expects to be confirmed in views already held, whether they are of his assumed greatness or his experienced inferiority… To the host of other experiences he now adds also his conversion and repentance as experiences without much content or without much awareness of the consequences.[6]
It
repeatedly appears that one must look back to discern the fulfillment of
prophecy.
Centuries of developing the proper guidelines and the
passage of time have led expositors to recognize the themes of the seven churches
in tracing the history of the Church. Each church has a pronounced theme, such
as the ability to discern apostles in the first church of Ephesus, which is
certainly indicative of the early rise of the church. The theme of the second
church, Smyrna, is their persecution and martyrdom, which soon followed up
until the time of the emperor Constantine, the most severe lasting during the
reign of Diocletian. The theme of the following church, Pergamos, is that they
dwelt in the seat of Satan and how many were seduced by this fraternization,
this being acknowledged also by the preponderance of even secular historians
concerning the conversion of the Roman empire to Christianity; the empire
continued in many respects with pagan idolatry. And the illustrations of
Thyatira have led contemporary historicists, such as Uriah Smith, to interpret
Jezebel as the papacy.[7] The fifth church era,
Sardis, conveys a major falling away brought on by the denunciation: “thou hast
a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1). Christ warn Sardis of
an impending judgment unless it repents.
Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee. (Revelation 3:3)
The
impending judgment in which all the world is involved is repeated in the
admonitions to the sixth church, Philadelphia.
And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write… behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not
denied my name… Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will
keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to
try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:7, 8, 10)
Contemporary historicists Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D., of
Historicism.org, comments on the connection between the open door in Revelation
3:8 and 4:1 and judgment,
The last of the churches is
Laodicea, which means “a people judged.” The idea of judging is meaningless
without a corresponding judgment. For more than 150 years we have taught (a)
that we are the church of Laodicea and (b) that the judgment is taking place
now. What I propose here is bringing the two claims together and supporting
them from Rev 4-5. There is no new doctrine here, but only a new way of
defending two established doctrines in a unified manner.
If the throne scene occurs in the
timeframe to which the letters have brought us, then even though the material
is presented in successive chapters, the throne scene does not follow the
message to Laodicea in time but occurs simultaneously with it. Laodicea is
judged during the time of the judgment. The judgment occurs during the time of
Laodicea. These things are happening now…
Notice that the church of
Philadelphia does not go through the door but that it stands “before” them.
Going through it represents the transition from Philadelphia to Laodicea, when
so many were disappointed and turned away. “I have placed before you an open
door” (Rev 3:8). “After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven”
(Rev 4:1). We must learn to see the connection between these two passages. The
door that John sees “standing open” at the beginning of chap. 4 is the same one
mentioned in the letter to Philadelphia during the time leading up to 1844.
What John sees in Rev 4-5 would occur not in the timeframe of Philadelphia, but
later, in the timeframe of Laodicea – the church associated with judgment.[8]
Hardy’s
work agrees with the timing of Sardis and its association with the Reformation
and the rise of Protestantism. The impact of the Enlightenment on Protestantism
is hardly deniable. Protestantism devolved into denominationalism and its
corrupt influence of secularism upon the kings and princes in Christendom
(circa 16th to 17th century). This impact led to the Second Great Awakening,
circa the nineteenth century, which agrees with Hardy’s era for the church of
Philadelphia. No doubt, that revival was brief in the broader sense as liberal
Protestantism ultimately accommodated the enlightenment and secularism,
becoming the Laodicean church in the twentieth century.
Historicism is not the only school
of prophecy that has grasped the correspondence between the themes in the seven
churches and the history of the Church; futurists have also acknowledged it.
Futurist and theological scholar James L. Boyer wrote an article in a
theological journal supporting the prophetic interpretation. In that article,
he addresses one of the major objections to the prophetic view,
But it is at this point that
opponents of this view voice one of their major objections. They claim that
there is no such correspondence in fact between the letters and church history.
They add that the view is highly subjective with wide difference of opinion
between proponents.11 They label the view as simply another “continuous
historical” interpretation–an approach to Revelation which views the book as a
whole to be “a symbolic presentation of the entire course of the history of the
church from the close of the first century to the end of time.”12
First, to label
the prophetic view as another continuous-historical interpretation demonstrates
a serious misunderstanding of the prophetic view. The continuous-historical
method of interpreting the book of Revelation attempts to see fulfillment of
specific passages in Revelation in specific events of history, such as the
conversion of the Roman Empire, the invasion of the Turks, or the First World
War. The prophetic view propounded here does absolutely none of this. It is in
no sense a prediction of events or persons or organizations of which it could
be said, “This is the fulfillment of that.” Rather it is a recognition that the
Lord foreknew and foretold the trends and movements throughout the church age.
These are not immediately and definitely discernible but may be discerned by
hindsight.[9]
Boyer
attempted to make a distinction without a difference between the historicist’s
method of interpreting the Revelation and the method used to explain the seven
churches. In truth, prophecy foresees the “trends and movements” of nations
that are instrumental in God’s Providential order throughout history.
Undoubtedly, futurists view phenomena in history as “this is a fulfillment of
that” in Daniel, as do the preterists. However, Daniel’s focus was the past age
under the Aaronic mediation. Even so, the Revelation is Christ’s mediation;
consequently, the same method applies to the Revelation in this age. Immanence
in Revelation does not preclude this method, as it is used in prophecy to
inhibit apathy or lethargy. Boyer cannot help but convey that “this is a
fulfillment of that” phenomena in history concerning the seven churches,
The apostolic age, which began with
the zeal of “first love,” showed a diminishing of that ardor (as in the letter
to the church in Ephesus). The second clearly discernible period was one of
persecution and martyrdom, when the Roman Empire tried to destroy the Christian
faith (as in the letter to the church in Smyrna). The “open door” of the letter
to the church in Philadelphia corresponds closely with the evangelistic and missionary movements of the nineteenth
century. And the lukewarmness and materialistic self-sufficiency of the
church in Laodicea describes well the present situation. It should be
remembered that all types of churches are present in all periods, but one type
is predominant and characterizes each period.[10]
Boyer’s attempt to promote futurism over historicism
is frustrated by maintaining that the last historical era between the advents represents
the theme of the Laodiceans. Such an acknowledgment discredits futurists’
assertions that the body of the Church is exempt from judgment and conflating
God’s judgment strictly with wrath. Futurist Michael J. Vlach asserts the
judgments in the Revelation strictly as the wrath of God by citing another futurist,
“The judgments of these four seals
include the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts, frequently used in
Scripture as the expressions of divine wrath. Indeed, they are all included and
named when God calls His ‘four severe judgments upon Jerusalem: sword, famine,
wild beasts and plague’ (Ezek. 14:21).” (Gerald B. Stanton, “A Review of the
Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church,” Bibliotecha Sacra, vol. 148 #589,
January 1991) Plus, plagues such as pestilence and wild beasts can hardly be
caused by man.[11]
Nevertheless,
judgment upon the Church is ongoing under Christ’s mediation and cannot be
conflated strictly with wrath. The corporate judgments of the seven churches
establish the contrast between the Church’s judgment and God’s wrath.
Unto the angel of the church of
Ephesus write… Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and
do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:1, 5)
And to the angel of the church in
Pergamos write… Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight
against them with the sword of my mouth. (Revelation 2:12, 16)
And unto the angel of the church in
Thyatira write… Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
(Revelation 2:18, 22)
And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write… Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold
fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a
thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (Revelation
3:1, 3)
And unto the angel of the church of
the Laodiceans write… So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth… As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent. (Revelation 3:15, 16, 19)
In
each era Christ pronounces a corporate judgment upon the church, assessing its “predominate”
spirit in the words of Boyer. This was first delt within The Influence of
Hengstenberg on the True Structuring of the Revelation in which it was
confirmed that the object of 1 Peter 4:17 is to relate that the judgments of
God are continually active in this age, commencing with the Church and reaching
their consummate climax on the Day of the Lord. Professor at Wheaton College,
Karen H. Jobes, also affirms the same nature of God’s active judgment in this
age in her book 1 Peter,
Peter is saying that eschatological
judgment, understood as the sorting out of humanity, begins with God’s house,
defined in 2:4–5 as those who come to Christ and are built as living stones
into a spiritual house. The contrast in 4:17b is between “those who reject the
gospel of God” and “us,” a group in which Peter probably includes himself and
all whom he considers to be genuine Christians. Those who profess Christ are
the first ones to be tested in God’s judging action, and it occurs during their
lives and throughout history. The Great Tribulation of the final days
immediately preceding the return of Christ is the most severe form of this
testing. The testing that persecution because of Christ presents, wherever it
occurs, is of one piece with the final eschatological judgment, because persecution
sorts out those who are truly Christ’s from those who are not.[12]
As conveyed in the previous work,[13] the fifth seal signifies
a significant judgment upon the Church in the final days, the time God
commences to distinguish those who are indeed Christ’s from those who are not. The
fifth seal establishes the phenomena of the four-horse riders as the ordeal that
causes the saints to cry for God’s vengeance upon their tormentors.
And when he had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every
one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little
season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be
killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9-10)
The
fifth seal is indicative of Christ’s mediation since it is he who advocates for
those who are slain for the word of God after the cross. Its association with
the impending judgment upon those who obey not the gospel also confirms its
last days’ connection (1 Peter 4:17). By reason, the little season cannot be
determined as the entire time between the two advents but must represent the
final and most severe test upon the house of God. As conveyed above, both the
churches of Sardis and Philadelphia anticipate this same judgment that prepares
the reader for what follows in the throne scene of chapters 4-5, the era of
Laodicea, and the seven seals, which is the object of part of Hardy’s thesis
above,
The door that John sees “standing
open” at the beginning of chap. 4 is the same one mentioned in the letter to
Philadelphia during the time leading up to 1844. What John sees in Rev 4-5
would occur not in the timeframe of Philadelphia, but later, in the timeframe
of Laodicea – the church associated with judgment.[14]
Yet,
Hardy continues to hold the traditional historicists’ perception that the seals
represent historical phenomena starting with the first advent of Christ,
I submit that the seven letters, in
bringing us down through time to our own day, place the setting for the throne
scene in and after October 22, 1844. While this scene looks forward
thematically to what would follow in chap. 6, historically it looks back to chaps.
2-3.[15]
In
essence, Hardy maintains that the churches of Sardis and Philadelphia prepare
the reader for the following development of the throne scene in chapters 4-5.
He then contends that the linear narration ends to return to the time of the
first church. How can the throne scene look forward to what will follow and
look backward to the past historical phenomena simultaneously, especially regarding
the judgment anticipated by the churches of Sardis and Philadelphia? Hardy is
attempting to argue a fallacy in this respect.
Hardy breaks with the traditional historicists’
interpretation of chapters 4-5, which they see as a first-century phenomenon,
but then he reverts to their view that the seven seals represent phenomena
commencing with the first century. He continually breaks the linear narration
with each set of septets: the seven seals, seven trumpets, and even the seven
vials. In order to break with the traditionalists’ view of the throne scene in
chapters 4-5 Hardy follows the developmental guideline in chapter 4:1,
In the same way, when Christ says, “Come
up here, and I will show you what must take place after this” (Rev 4:1), He is
not taking us back to an earlier age – to the first century for example. “Come
up here” is a transition not from one time to another, but from one place to another.
The events John sees in heaven are just beginning. It is the start of a long
process.[16]
Hardy
deems Christ’s trumpet-like voice relating the “things which must be hereafter”
as a developmental guideline that pertains strictly to the throne scene
but not to the phenomena of the seven seals, trumpets, or vials.
After this I looked, and, behold, a
door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of
a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee
things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)
Nevertheless, there is
more extraordinary evidence to maintain that the developmental guideline
does not pertain strictly to the throne scene but to what follows up to the
last trumpet in chapter 11, Christ’s return. Only then, in chapter 12, is there
a break in the linear narration to affirm recapitulation. The symbolism and
narration of the judgment in Revelation 6-11 correspond to the last and highest
manifestation of God’s judgment. As stated in the previous work, the four horse
riders and the fifth seal led to the phenomenon of the last trumpet, which parallels the pattern of God’s judgments upon His people
by their enemies, their obtaining mercy, and the punishment of their enemies in
the Old Testament. Theologian Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg
noted the same convergence concerning the book of Joel and Amos, and
specifically God’s locust army,
The whole announcement of punishment and judgment upon the
heathen nations has sense and meaning, only when, in the preceding context,
there has been mention made of the crime which they committed against the Lord
and His people. In that case, we have before us the three main subjects of
prophecy,—God's judgments upon His people by heathen enemies, their obtaining
mercy, and the punishment of the enemies. At the very beginning of chap. iv.
(iii.) the sufferings of Israel, described in chap. i. and ii., and the judgment
upon the heathen, are brought into the closest connection. According to chap.
iv.1, 2, the gathering of the Gentiles is to take place at a time when the Lord
will return to the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, i.e., according to the
constant usus loquendi (compare my Commentary on Psalm 14:7), when He
will grant them, mercy, and deliver them from their misery.[1] But that this
misery can be none other than that described in chap. i. and ii. appears simply
from the fact, that this has been declared to be the close of all the judgments
of God.[17]
The
narrative and symbolism in Revelation 6-11 parallel the pattern of God’s
judgments upon his people by their enemies, their obtaining mercy, and the
punishment of their enemies prophesied in the Old Testament. In this precedent,
the trial or judgment upon God’s covenant people is illustrated as an army of
locusts. Hengstenberg comments further on this trial by the locust in his
thesis on Joel,
Chap. ii.2 is to be considered as
indicating the reason which induced Joel to choose this figurative
representation. The words, "There hath not been anything the like from
eternity, neither may there be any more after it, even to the years of all
generations," are borrowed, almost verbally, from Exodus 10:14. The
prophet thereby indicates that he transfers the past, in its individual
definiteness, to the future, which bears a substantial resemblance to it. What
was then said of the plague of locusts especially, is here applied to the
calamity thereby prefigured. From among all the judgments upon the
Covenant-people (for these alone are spoken of), this judgment is the highest
and the last; and such the prophet could say, only if the whole sum of divine
judgments, up to their consummation, represented itself to his inner vision
under the image of the devastation by locusts.[18]
The
trial by the locust is God’s highest and last judgment upon his people and
represents the Day of the Lord conveyed in all the symbolism that we see in
Revelation 6-11.
In support of this trial, God does nothing before he
reveals it to the prophets (Amos 2:7), which we see in the commendation to the
church of Philadelphia and warning to the rest of the world.
Because thou hast kept the word of
my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Revelation
3:10)
The
symbolism of the seals commences with the four horse-riders that represent
God’s locust army on the Day of the Lord according to Joel 2:4.
And I saw, and behold a white
horse: and he that sat on him had a bow… And there went out another horse that
was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the
earth… And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of
balances in his hand… And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. (Revelation 6:2, 4, 5, 8)
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and
sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land
tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of
darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the
morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of
many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame
burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a
desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them
is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel
2:1-4)
The
fire that devourers before the locusts is indicative of the Day of the Lord.
But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)
The
trial by “fire” on the Day of the Lord is of the same nature that Peter
conveys: the fire is indicative of suffering adversity and not a literal
conflagration.
Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's
sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
The Day of the Lord also comes unexpected, as a thief
in the night, as 1 Peter 4:310 states, above. Again, God does nothing before he
reveals it to the prophets (Amos 2:7), which we seen in the warning to the
church of Sardis.
And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write… Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold
fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a
thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (Revelation
3:1, 3)
The
locust army is also illustrated to come as a thief in the night.
They shall run to and fro in the
city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they
shall enter in at the windows like a thief. Joel 2:9
There
is tremendous evidence that the developmental
guideline in Revelation 4:1 does not pertain strictly to the
throne scene but to what follows up to the last trumpet in chapter 11, Christ’s
return. The narrative and symbolism in Revelation 6-11 parallel the pattern of
God’s judgments upon his people by their enemies, their obtaining mercy, and
the punishment of their enemies prophesied in the Old Testament. A great deal
of the evidence is delt with in the publication, Thy Kingdom Come: Re-evaluation the Historicist’s
Interpretation of the Revelation.[19] However, it is not within
the scope of this paper to convey all of the evidence. This paper aims to
reveal the Protestant place in the church’s history and the ramifications on
the structuring of the Revelation.
As we witnessed in Boyer’s futurist interpretation of
the seven churches, he agrees with Hardy that the Second Great Awakening in the
nineteenth century is represented as the Philadelphia era, and this era,
starting with the twentieth century, is represented by the church of the
Laodiceans,
The “open door” of the letter to
the church in Philadelphia corresponds closely with the evangelistic and
missionary movements of the nineteenth century. And the lukewarmness and
materialistic self-sufficiency of the church in Laodicea describes well the present
situation. It should be remembered that all types of churches are present in
all periods, but one type is predominant and characterizes each period.[20]
As
to the reasons or motivations for the evangelical and missionary movements of
the nineteenth century, termed the Second Great Awakening, professor at the
University of Chicago Geoffrey R. Stone wrote,
Many factors contributed to the
Second Great Awakening. In part, it was a response to the secularization of the
late eighteenth century, the violence of the French Revolution, and the often
bitter social and political divisions that emerged in the United States in the
1790s.[21]
Stone’s
topmost motivations for the Second Great Awakening were the secularization in
the late eighteenth century and the social upheavals in France and the United
States. Of course, England cannot be omitted in such an analysis. These social
upheavals were ramifications of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment’s emphasis
on skeptical inquiry diminished the role of the Church in society that caused
tremendous social upheavals, especially in commerce, as industrialization
occurred. Stone elaborates further,
Whereas the Framers believed that
the principles of public morality could be discovered through the exercise of
reason, the evangelicals insisted that it must be grounded in Christian
revelation; and whereas the Framers maintained that public morality must be founded
on the civic obligation to “do good to one’s fellow man,” the evangelicals
declared that true public morality must be premised on obedience to God.12
Indeed, the nineteenth-century evangelicals preached that only obedience to the
Bible, not only in private life but in public law, could save America from sin
and desolation.[22]
While
the Church informed public laws at the commencement of the Reformation, liberal
Protestantism embraced society's secularization and diminished the Church's
role in this capacity to enrich themselves. In support, scholar and historian
Bernard Bailyn wrote on the penchants of the merchants
of colonial New England and concurs. Bailyn introduces his work with the
dangers of dissident Protestant merchants upon the pre-capitalistic Puritan
communitarian principles,
Despite such differences all of the
first-generation Puritan merchants agreed that
religious considerations were
highly relevant to the conduct of trade, that commerce, being one of the many
forms of human intercourse, required control by moral laws. But some of the
newly arrived merchants, as they assumed power over the exchange of goods, felt
the restrictive effect of these ideas when acted upon by a determined ministry
and magistracy. In their confused reaction to ethical control as well as in the
progress of their business enterprises lay seeds of social change…
Of all private occupations trade
was morally the most dangerous. The soul of the
merchant was constantly exposed to sin by virtue of his control of goods
necessary to other people. Since proof of the diligence he applied in his calling
was in the profits he made from precisely such exchanges, could a line be drawn
between industry and avarice? The Puritans answered, as had Catholics for
half a millennium, that it could, and they designated this line the “just price”
…
Equally treacherous to the soul of
the businessman and the good of the public was the fact that the merchants came
into control of the available supply of money and charged interest on debts.
One who controlled supplies of cash or credit held a knife over a vital vein in
the social body.[23]
German
sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and political economist Max Weber testifies
that the corrupting influence of wealth upon the Protestant merchants was
already having its way in his time as they embraced the Enlightenment,
To be sure, these Puritanical
ideals tended to give way under excessive pressure from the temptations of
wealth, as the Puritans themselves knew very well. With great regularity we
find the most genuine adherents of Puritanism among the classes which were
rising from a lowly status, the small bourgeois and farmers, while the beati
possidentes, even among Quakers, are often found tending to repudiate the
old ideals. It was the same fate which again and again befell the predecessor
of this worldly asceticism, the monastic asceticism of the Middle Ages. In the
latter case, when rational economic activity had worked out its full effects by
strict regulation of conduct and limitation of consumption, the wealth
accumulated either succumbed directly to the nobility, as in the time before
the Reformation, or monastic discipline threatened to break down, and one of
the numerous reformations became necessary.
In fact the whole history of
monasticism is in a certain sense the history of a continual struggle with the
problem of the secularizing influence of wealth. The same is true on a grand
scale of the worldly asceticism of Puritanism. The great revival of Methodism,
which preceded the expansion of English industry toward the end of the
eighteenth century, may well be compared with such a monastic reform. We may
hence quote here a passage from John Wesley himself which might well serve as a
motto for everything which has been said above. For it shows that the leaders
of these ascetic movements understood the seemingly paradoxical relationships
which we have here analysed perfectly well, and in the same sense that we have
given them. He wrote:
“I fear, wherever riches have
increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion.
Therefore I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any
revival of true religion to continue long. For religion
must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but
produce riches. But as riches increase, so will
pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. How then is it
possible that Methodism, that is, a religion of the heart, though it flourishes
now as a green bay tree, should continue in this state? For the Methodists in
every place grow diligent and frugal; consequently they increase in goods.
Hence they proportionately increase in pride, in anger, in the desire of the
flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, although the form of
religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to
prevent this – this continual decay of pure religion? We ought not to prevent
people from being diligent and frugal; we must exhort all Christians to gain
all they can, and to save all they can; that is, in effect, to grow rich.”
Wesley here expresses, even in
detail, just what we have been trying to point out. As Wesley here says, the
full economic effect of those great religious movements, whose significance for
economic development lay above all in their ascetic educative influence,
generally came only after the peak of the purely religious enthusiasm was past.
Then the intensity of the search for the Kingdom of God commenced gradually to
pass over into sober economic virtue; the religious roots died out slowly,
giving way to utilitarian worldliness. Then, as Dowden puts it, as in Robinson
Crusoe, the isolated economic man who carries on missionary activities on the
side takes the place of the lonely spiritual search for the Kingdom of Heaven
of Bunyan’s pilgrim, hurrying through the market-place of Vanity. When later
the principle “to make the most of both worlds” became dominant in the end, as
Dowden has remarked, a good conscience simply became one of the means of
enjoying a comfortable bourgeois life, as is well expressed in the German
proverb about the soft pillow. What the great religious epoch of the
seventeenth century bequeathed to its utilitarian successor was, however, above
all an amazingly good, we may even say a pharisaically good, conscience in the
acquisition of money, so long as it took place legally. Every trace of the deplacere vix potest has disappeared.[24]
The
Latin idiom deplacere vix potest stems
from a quotation from the fourth-century Christian Jerome: “A man who is a
merchant can scarcely or never please God.” Weber supports what was advanced in
the previous work, The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Revealed in the True Structuring of the
Revelation. The accumulated wealth by the Protestant merchants
led to their consorting with the kings of the earth to favor secular projects
instead of religious ones. In essence, they had intercourse with the kings of
the earth to take away the church’s influence in society. By any reasonable
account, this fulfills what John states about mystery Babylon,
Come hither; I will shew unto thee
the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the
kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Revelation 17:1-2)
Weber
and Bailyn’s accounts uphold Babylon’s connection
with the merchants of the earth and how they trafficked in slaves and the souls
of men in the Revelation.
And after these things I saw
another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was
lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird…
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously
with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke
of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy
judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her;
for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and
silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and
silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and
all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And
cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and
fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and
slaves, and souls of men.. (Revelation 18:1-2, 9-13)
Babylon’s
fornication with the kings of the earth and the merchants in chapter 18 in the
Revelation illustrates said historical phenomena. The Protestant merchants’
intercourse with the kings of the earth to secularize the society fostered a
great falling away of the Church and the social upheavals and injustices that
followed. These phenomena were the reason for the First and Second Great
Awakening of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Historicist and evangelist Austin P. Cook also detailed
the times leading to the era of Philadelphia. In reference to the era of Sardis
he wrote,
Deism had an appalling impact,
particularly upon English society. We can confidently hold that it was this Age
of Reason and deism that crystallized the Sardis condition of the church, and
which prophesied that it had a reputation for being alive while, in fact, being
spiritually dead.
Notice the following remarks from
Dr. W. H. Fitchett concerning the eighteenth century— the period in which deism
swept Christendom: “In some respects the eighteenth century is the most
ill-used period in English history. It is the Cinderella of the centuries.
Nobody has a good word to say about it. Carlyle sums it up in a bitter phrase:
‘Soul extinct: stomach well alive’… The real scandal of England in the
eighteenth century … is the general decay of religion which marked its first
fifty years … Only by an effort of the historic imagination can we realize the
condition of England in 1703… Christianity came near its death-swoon in that
sad age.”[25]
Cooke
adds that it was the work of the remnant Church in men like John Wesley that
led revival that resulted in social reforms,
The masses of England at that time
were in such a sordid, poverty-stricken, and wretched condition that it was
only a matter of time before they would have burst out in awful vengeance upon
the privileged class and destroyed them, mirroring what had occurred during the
terrifying French Revolution. But Wesley and his companions saved England from
such a dreadful experience. The revival produced a bloodless revolution through
the gospel of Christ. Dr. J. Bready states, “The Evangelical Revival was in
fact a revolution: but it was a revolution which had at its heart love of
humanity, not hatred of class.” 16 The number of social reforms that were
inspired by the Evangelical Revival and the impact they had staggers the mind.
Today it is difficult to comprehend the condition of society in England in
those times.
The revival evangelists attacked
the legal, political, and religious corruption of the day. They exposed the
appalling maladministration of justice as it applied to the poor. They effected
the improvement of the prison system, which had perpetrated, among other
barbarous atrocities, deliberate torture. They ameliorated the savage penal
code, which included the death penalty for 160 different offences. They
abolished child slavery, the cruel system of child labour, along with the
appalling crimes permitted against infants of the impoverished. (At birth it
was permitted to strangle or starve them to death). Lord Shaftesbury, a product
of the revival, was especially instrumental in eliminating child slavery. The
evangelists engaged in a remarkable ministry to the poverty-stricken. They led
the poor to Christ in whom suffering humanity found forgiveness, acceptance,
and peace. They taught the impoverished masses to respect themselves as
befitting children of God. They taught the untutored to sing, and they started
schools. They encouraged the habit of reading, and Wesley even wrote special
books to meet the particular needs of the poor. The practice of bribery and
illicit acts like smuggling, which were the curse of the English social
structure, were attacked. The evangelists reformed the working conditions of
the labourers, resulting in reasonable work hours, improved rates of pay, and
other advances. While teaching the poor the dignity of labour as well as the
skills by which they could support themselves, they went to the extent of
lending money to the poor to enable them to start self-supporting businesses.
These reforms even extended to include impoverished women. The endeavours of
the Methodists inculcated the spirit of initiative and independence in the underprivileged.
They inspired the formation of labour unions, and in fact, the original labour
unions were led by Methodist lay preachers. Wesley founded the first free
medical dispensary in England and commenced a natural health and temperance
program. The drop in the death rate and the concomitant rise in public health
was the most marked in British history. These men established the voluntary
hospital system that, through to the mid twentieth century was such a blessing
to the whole population. Florence Nightingale and all she achieved and
represented was fruitage of the great Evangelical Revival.[26]
Cooke
held that the Church acted upon the conscience of society; it “re-shaped the
conscience of England.”[27] By acting upon the
conscience of society, the true Church that had not defiled itself served as
the light of the world, as a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, which is
the substance of Matthew 5:14.
Cooke commented on the First Great Awakening and the
social reforms of the eighteenth century in England. Senior Pastor of Mount
Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Aaron Menikoff,
comments upon the Second Great Awakening,
First and foremost, a spiritual
church nurtured pious individuals and these individuals changed society like
leaven working through a loaf of bread. Individual Christians sought to edify
the moral and social conscience of the nation and, for many Baptists, this was
social reform. But Baptists did more than labor for souls with hope those souls
would change the world. Baptists often engaged in more direct avenues of social
reform. This included the political lobbying of Congress, the establishment of
welfare committees within the church, and letters to the editor for and against
participation in the Mexican War. Such examples may not be widespread but they
were prominent and, albeit to my surprise, proved to be an important part of
this narrative. Baptists rarely agreed on how to reform society, and these
disagreements are another aspect of the story that follows. Some preached that
personal piety was the only biblical route to social change. Others pressed
more vigorously for political solutions. But all accepted that, one way or
another, society had to change; the American experiment was too important for
the nation to drown in a sea of vice and immorality. The gospel demanded more
of the new world’s city on a hill…
Baptists hesitated to separate
moral from social reform. They feared that without changed hearts and renovated
lives reformers would make a mockery of Christianity and a wreck of
civilization. William Crowell, writing for the Christian Watchman,
maintained that to change society Baptists had to follow in the footsteps of
Christ who also prioritized individual regeneration and moral transformation:
“The Saviour, therefore, though the greatest of all philanthropists and
reformers, said very little about the existing relations of men, and forms of
society; fruitful in evil though they were. He did not attack institutions, nor
laws, nor masses of men. He adopted a more excellent way. He laid the axe at
the root of the tree. He reproved individual sins to individual faces.” 136 As
the benevolent empire grew and social reform became a staple of the Second
Great Awakening, Baptists did not call for an end to the reform though they saw
the danger in what appeared to be the establishment of a civil religion.
Instead, they advocated for genuine social reform that began with the heart,
demanded piety, and only then would secure a social benefit. The Baptist focus
on individual spirituality was not a means of shirking public duty.
Spirituality produced order. The gospel “is the seminal principle in reform. It
changes the face of society, spans the foundation of unjust laws and
institutions, brings down kings from their thrones, and exalts the meek to the
high places of power.”[28]
Menikoff
could not avoid verifying the opposition against freeing the slaves by the Southern
Baptists. In the North the Baptists against slavery were more numerous. (The industrial
North required less labor than the agrarian South was influential in this
matter.) In truth Menikoff’s work supports what was advanced in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Revealed in the True
Structuring of the Revelation, under Christ’s mediation, the enemies or foes of the Church are of their own household,
comprised of the tares: “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matthew
13:30).
Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a
man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they
of his own household. (Matthew 10:34-36)
The
Southern Baptists supposed that the Bible upheld slavery, based on Paul’s
epistles in which he held that enslaved people should obey their masters
without endorsing the institution. Such an interpretation appealed to their
merchant inclinations that enriched them by diminishing scripture in which God affirms
he abhors slavery, such as in Jeremiah,
This is the word that came unto
Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with
all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; That
every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an
Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit,
of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had
entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and
every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them
any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But afterward they turned, and
caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return,
and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. Therefore the
word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD,
the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen,
saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew,
which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou
shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me,
neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my
sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a
covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: But ye turned and
polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid,
whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into
subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith
the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to
his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for
you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I
will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah
34:8-17)
The
New Testament also indicates a repugnance in slavery. In Christ, we are endowed
with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness—granting that Jefferson’s phrasing stems from Galatians 3:28 when
taken to its logical conclusion.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
The
opposition to social reform by the Southern Baptist merchants exemplified that the
enemies or foes of the Church are of their own household under Christ’s
mediation. Consequently, God’s locust army, depicted as the four horse riders of
the seven seals, is not to be interpreted as a heathen army but as members
within the Church that are fallen into the temptation of riches, inevitably to
become the Laodicean Church, at the end of the Second Great Awakening.
But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)
And unto the angel of the church of
the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God… Because thou sayest, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou
art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy
of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and
anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Revelation 3:14, 17-18)
The
Philadelphia era ended with the era of the Great Awakening and the Church
became predominately of the Laodicean state. The Protestant accommodation of
the Enlightenment’s secularization has enervated the Church to the extent than
those who oppose it are the remnant today. One typical example of such accommodation
for the secularizing effect of the Enlightenment is in an article by the bishop
of an Episcopalian Church in Boise, Joseph Farnes, in which he states: “I
wouldn’t want the nation to be conflated with Christianity.”[29] Farnes touts secular
globalists’ worn rhetoric in advancing social reforms in denouncing Christian
Nationalism. (Christian Nationalism is a radical response to globalism, but the
true foe is globalism.) Farnes fails to account for the reason that nationalism
is rising around the world. There are numerous evils foisted upon the nations
by globalism. Dr. Steve Turley writes about the destructive ramifications of
secular globalism,
The chief export of this Western
triumphalism has been what is commonly referred to as globalization.
Globalization involves the interaction between capitalism, urbanization,
technology, and telecommunications within a mass transnational economic system…
However, there is a significant
cost that comes with this standardized political, economic, and cultural
system: Globalization entails processes that negate borders, localized economies,
and traditions. It negates borders with its transnational flow of goods and
international standardized regulations; it negates local industry with a global
division of labor that relocates manufacturing to the global south; and it
negates traditions through what is called disembedding, which dislodges culture
away from localized control. This disembedding has replaced traditional moral
norms with highly secular, consumer-based lifestyle values, at the center of
which is the autonomous individual who exercises sovereign control over his or
her own life circumstances. Such secularized sovereignty includes the right to
determine one’s own religion, culture, and even gender.[30]
What
is being disembedded is Christianity as a moral force in society. What else can
be concluded when Farnes makes such comments as “I wouldn’t want the nation to
be conflated with Christianity” and that,
This revival of Christian nationalism trots out the same tired passages around sexuality in the Bible while ignoring the greater number of passages about mercy, love and justice.[31]
Tired
as they may be to some, that is the object of moral precepts; they are as
continuing as God because they stem from God himself. As to mercy, love, and
justice, there is mercy only upon the penitent, those who confess their sins
and do not try and cover them.
He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs
28:13)
Those
who confess their sins codified in those tired passages about sexuality in the
Bible find mercy and those who don’t find justice. Farnes embraces the
progressive and globalist’s agenda about bodily autonomy also,
And so legislatures and activist judges go imposing their worldview on others. The right to bodily autonomy and the freedom to make health care decisions with your doctor are superseded by the authority of judges to make that decision for you based on their personal beliefs.[32]
Bodily
autonomy means little to the progressive when it comes to mandates to take
experimental gene therapy but deems it acceptable to God to terminate another
living human being in the womb or even when it is being born. In the article,
Farnes advocates for all of the globalist’s agendas, such as the negation of
borders, localized economies, and traditions, specifically Christian
traditions, one of which is that social reforms should be based upon Christian
principles. The enemies or foes of the Church are of their own household and
represent Babylon in the Revelation. This is why we are called to come out of
Babylon so that we do not receive of her plagues and ruin.
And after these things I saw
another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was
lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For
her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
(Revelation 18:1-5)
[1] Jerry Huerta,
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Revealed in the True Structuring of the
Revelation, https://www.academia.edu/79617414/The_Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse_Revealed_in_the_True_Structuring_of_the_Revelation
[2] Sanford Calvin Yoder, He Gave Some
Prophets (Wipf & Stock Pub., October 1, 1998), 73.
[3] Rev. T. Milner, A.M., History
of the Seven Churches in Asia; Their Rise, Progress and Decline (London:
Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; 1842), 144.
[4] Postmillennialism promotes that
the preaching of the gospel will triumph and that the world will be converted
before Christ returns. Milner’s presupposition must deny that the last church
era destroys his doctrine.
[5] Milner, History of the Seven
Churches in Asia; Their Rise, Progress and Decline
[6] Odo W. Middelmann, The Market
Driven Church: The worldly Influence of Modern Culture on the Church in America
(Crossway, January 12, 2004), 124-125.
[7] Uriah Smith, “The judgments here
threatened against this woman are in harmony with the threatenings in other
parts of this book against the Roman Catholic Church…” The Prophecies of
Daniel and the Revelation, (Revision/Copyright 1944, 1972) Review and
Herald Publishing Association, 378.
[8] Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D., “Historicism and the Judgment A Study of Revelation 4-5
and 19a,” Historicism.org, (August 8, 2006, Modified April 15,
2010), 2, 3. http://www.historicism.org/Documents/Lecture1Rev4-5.pdf
[9] James L. Boyer,
Are the Seven Letters in the Revelation 2-3 Prophetic, Grace
Theological Journal 6.2 (1985) 267-273
[10] Ibid.
[11] Michael J. Vlach, Biblical
Evidences for a Pretribulational Rapture, https://biblebb.com/files/rapture.htm
[12] Karen H. Jobes, 1 Peter, (Baker
Academic, 2005), 293.
[13] Huerta, The Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse Revealed in the True Structuring of the Revelation
[14] Hardy, “Historicism and the
Judgment A Study of Revelation 4-5 and 19a,”
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg,
Christology of the Old Testament, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871)
320.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Marsue and Jerry Huerta, Thy
Kingdom Come: Re-evaluating the Historicist's Interpretation of the Revelation,
https://www.amazon.com/Thy-Kingdom-Come-Re-evaluating-Interpretation/dp/1637673981/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
[20] Boyer, Are the Seven Letters in
the Revelation 2-3 Prophetic.
[21] Geoffrey R. Stone, “The Second
Great Awakening: A Christian Nation?,” 26 Georgia State University Law
Review
1305 (2010).
[22] Ibid.
[23] Bernard Bailyn, The New England
Merchants In The Seventeenth Century (Porter Press, April 16, 2013), Kindle
location 329-428.
[24] Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism, Unwin Hyman, London & Boston, 1930, 59-60.
[25] Austin Cooke, An Enduring
Vision: Revelation Revealed, TEACH Services, Inc., Kindle Edition, (p.
145).
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid. 167.
[28] Aaron
Menikoff, Politics and Piety: Baptist Social Reform in America, 1770–1860
(Monographs in Baptist History Book 2) Pickwick Publications - An Imprint of
Wipf and Stock Publishers. (Kindle Locations 87-95).
[29] Joseph Farnes, “Christianity seeks
mercy, not power. A true Christian nation is not about nationalism,” The Idaho
Statesman’s religion column, May 28, 2022
[30] Stephen R. Turley, President
Trump and Our Post-Secular Future: How the 2016 Election Signals the Dawning of
a Conservative Nationalist Age, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
(December 16, 2017) 9-10.
[31] Farnes, “Christianity seeks mercy, not power. A true Christian nation is not about nationalism.” The Idaho Statesman's religion column, May 29, 2022
