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Should Christians be Idiotes?
== Are Christians Idiots? ==


When Christ spoke of the Kingdom there was a revolution going on in Judea and the [[world]]. The policies and practices of politicians and people had the [[world]] on a one way road to social and economic destruction. [[John the Baptist]] and Jesus were turning the [[world]] upside down. They were shaming the hypocrites who claimed to be following [[Moses]] but did not know him nor the God who sent him to free the people.
First appeared on NewsWithViews.com


:    [[Acts 4]]:13 "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
{{idiotes}}


The word translated ''ignorant'' is not the normal Greek word ''agnoeo'' meaning ''ignorant'' or ''unlearned''<Ref>agnoew agnoeo meaning to be ignorant, not to know {Ac 13:27 17:23 Ro 10:3 2Pe 2:12;1Co 14:38; Mr 9:32 Lu 9:45; Heb 5:2}</Ref> but is the Greek word ''idiōtēs'' [ἰδιώτης].<Ref>from idios meaning as 'pertaining to one's self, one's own, belonging to one's self'. "Etymology. Idiot as a word derived from the Greek idiotes, idiotes (''person lacking professional skill', 'a private citizen', 'individual'), from idios, idios ('private', 'one's own')."<Br>https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Idiot#Etymology</Ref>The English word “idiot” comes from the Latin the idiōta which came to mean an ignorant person. But in the Greek idiōtēs as used here in Acts meant a private "person not involved in public affairs".
Even the word translated unlearned in this text is not the Greek agnoeo nor amathes which can mean ignorant but it is the word ''agrammatoi'' which only appears once in the Bible and “should not be rendered ‘unlearned'”<Ref>“The words agrammatoi and idiotai should not be rendered ‘unlearned and ignorant’, as in the King James Version (and ASV).” The Cambridge Companion to Jesus by Markus Bockmuehl, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. Author of Revelation and mystery in ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity (1990), This Jesus: martyr, Lord, Messiah (1994), The Epistle to the Philippians (1997), and Jewish law in Gentile churches: halakhah and the beginning of Christian public ethics (2000).</Ref> This word ''agrammatoi'' is rare in Greek text. Its meaning may depend on the period of time it is written and its use in context. I have found it describing the ''muster rolls of a battalion'' or a ''registry of members'' kept by scribes.
Christians provided for one another in charity and did not participate in the free bread welfare of Rome as we see the Pharisees doing.<Ref>Departed vs Deported, Chapter 12. of the book The Covenants of the gods<Br>http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog12devde.php
<Br>Audio http://keysofthekingdom.info/COG-12.mp3</Ref> The Pharisees had chosen Caesar's ways and government as their benefactor. The Christians were not involved in the public affairs of the Pharisees. Christians were involved in public affairs of Christ working daily in the temple.<Ref> 5Matthew 26:55 "In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me."
: Mark 14:49 "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled."
: Luke 19:47 "And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,"
: Luke 22:53 "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
: Acts 2:46 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"
: Acts 5:42 "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."</Ref>
The temple in Jerusalem, the same as those of [[Rome]], was the center of their social [[welfare]]. With the baptism of John, Christ's followers, who were eventually called Christians, had opted out of a social welfare system that had snared the people under the authority of Herod's welfare state.<Ref>John 9:19-34 Water Baptism http://www.hisholychurch.org/declarations/baptism/waterbaptism.php</Ref> Christians had another king, one Jesus, and were standing fast in the liberty of Christ. The persecution of Christians by public magistrates was often based on their refusal to participate in the temple welfare systems of [[Rome]].
The word translated ''marvelled'' in Acts is “thaumazo” which is also translated in the Bible as "have in admiration" and "admire" . They were impressed and yet they did not like what they were hearing. Many modern Christians would not want to hear the truth of what the early church was doing either.
The [[Pharisees]] had been teaching things that were contrary to God, [[Moses]] and now Jesus. They professed God with their lips in vain. The people were going back into the [[bondage]] of [[Egypt]] under the imperial powers of Rome<Ref>Employ vs Enslave Chapter 4. of the book [[COG|The Covenants of the gods]]<Br>
http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog4eve.php<Br>
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuz-hFKM_Ts<Br>
Audio http://keysofthekingdom.info/COG-04.mp3</Ref> contrary to the command of God.<Ref>[[Deuteronomy 17]]:16 , [[Ezekiel 29]]:14, [[1 Samuel 8]]:7-8</Ref> They had been running their government and leading the people in a way that violated the Spirit of the Law established by God and His precepts upon precepts. They were making the word of God to none effect with their social welfare programs.
Many will decry this interpretation of ''agrammatoi eisin kai idiōtai''.<Ref>ἀγράμματοι εἰσιν καὶ ἰδιῶται</Ref> Christians need to be willing to know the whole truth and look at all things anew. If you will not learn the context in history when the Bible was written you will fail to understand the meaning of the authors. Simple misinterpretations by private souls can take the people a long ways off course in their quest for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Early Rome, like the Americans of the 17th century, had learned to govern themselves according to the ideals of the earliest republics. But maintaining that form of government requires great diligence and virtue.<Ref>A Pure [[Republic]], [[THL|The Higher Liberty]], Sec. 13 http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/purrepublic.php</Ref> The Roman people had begun to look to their elected officials and then the office of Caesar for every social benefit. The more they neglected individual responsibility the more their liberty, their right to choose, declined.
With each new benefit the government became more and more powerful and the people became more self indulgent, apathetic and weak. Rome had become the peace keepers of the world and soon offered themselves as benefactors to other nations, but not without a heavy price. They would exercise authority over the people who were slothful in the practices of honor and virtue taught by the prophets of God. Rome like the United States<Ref>[[Rome]] vs US Does history repeat itself because man does not repent?<Br>
http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/romeus.php</Ref> began exacting [[tribute]]<Ref> [[Proverbs 12]]:24 “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.”</Ref> from its subjects to obtain the funds needed to supply those suggested benefits.<Ref>“He who receives the benefit should also bear the disadvantage.” “Cujus est commodum ejus debet esse incommodum.”</Ref> The more power the people granted by vote or negligence the more the government became corrupt and self-serving.
The practice of expanding government power through offering to care for the people and shower them with [[benefits]]<Ref>“The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and [[benefits]].” [[Plutarch]], 2000 years ago.</Ref> is as old as [[Cain]] and [[Nimrod]]<Ref>Nimrod, The Hunter http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/hunter.php<Br>
Nimrod, NN Video Series:1-10 5:32 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ums_7aYcv0c</Ref>. From the beginning we were not to covet our neighbor's goods nor were we to make covenants with the people round about us to take from our neighbor. If you choose to eat with a ruler you were to put a knife to your throat for your own protection.<Ref>[[Proverbs 23]]:1 “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.”
: Daniel 1:8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."</Ref> You were not to consent with people to obtain [[benefits]] where there is one purse.<Ref>[[Proverbs 1]]: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.... Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:....Surely in vain the net is spread...for those greedy for gain...”</Ref> If people failed to listen to these warnings then what should have been for their welfare would become that snare.<Ref>[[Psalms 69]]:22 “Let their table become a [[snare]] before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.”
: Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a [[snare]], and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:”</Ref>
Many of the people were entangled in [[bondage]] under the elements of the world because of these false teachings that had crept into their eschatology. Lawyers, Senates and [[Sanhedrin]] bound the people through the establishment of a social welfare scheme they labeled Qorban and [[Corban]]. In 78 BC<Ref>The ''Corban of the Pharisees'' http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/corban.php</Ref> the Pharisees and eventually [[Herod]] would expanded that social [[welfare]] system.
Jesus said through those ordinances they made the word of God to none effect.<Ref>[[Mark 7]]:11 “But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, [It is] [[Corban]], that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; [he shall be free]. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”</Ref> The original [[Corban]], a form of social assurance, under Moses was based on free will offerings or sacrifice given through a living network of ministers who sought to serve the people. Herod's system included baptism, contributions, a temple treasury to store them, scribes to keep track of the mandatory contribution of members [the temple tax], and a [[network]] of ministers and synagogues to distribute the [[benefits]] according to statutory limitations.
The sacred texts should have been clear enough, but the Pharisees were able to twist the meaning of the words to justify themselves. The pride of the scholar strangles the hope of repentance. What part of free will offering and charity do they not understand? History of the pharisees has repeated itself in the modern religions and they have all betrayed their founders.<Ref>See Thy Kingdom Comes, Chapter 2. Abraham Uncivilized http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/TKC/</Ref>
'''[[John the Baptist]]''' offered an alternative system. It also included a Baptism ritual but it operated much differently. His network of congregations and ministers provided for their needy in pure religion<Ref>[[Pure Religion]] http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/religion.php</Ref> through free will contributions – charity.<Ref>[[Luke 3]]:11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.</Ref> They did not have entitlements but lived in hope. They did not give allegiance but lived by faith. They did not force their neighbor to contribute but lived by charity. There is no more revolutionary gospel than Christ's.
Modern Christians are ignorant of the full “Gospel of Kingdom” preached by Christ and the early Church. Some have even claimed that Jesus was a socialist. Modern socialism requires a social contract and the point of a sword to force the contributions of the people. Those who covet their neighbor's goods through the agency of these so-called state [[benefactors]] have become nothing more than human resources according to prophecy of Peter.<Ref>[[2 Peter 2]]:3 “And through [[covet]]ousness shall they with feigned words make [[merchandise]] of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”</Ref> They have more in common with the Pharisees than they do John or Jesus. That and their lack of knowledge is why they are back in bondage of the [[world]].<Ref>This World, Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUQlOGyf7to
: Not of the World? http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/world.php</Ref>
Christ preached a [[welfare]] system based on faith, hope and charity which required virtue and love for one another. The ministers of their society were servants of the people in an alternative system that set men free. Jesus told many parables on how His government of righteousness must operate. He talked about forgiving debt rather than arresting people and forcing them to pay. He talked about the poor widow giving more value than that of the rich man. He fired the money changers and instructed the ministers in the royal treasury.<Ref>[[Mark 12]]:41-43. The Greek ''gazophulakion'' means the royal or public treasure</Ref> He refused to appoint captains and princes to rule over the people. He taught his minister that they were there to serve.
This was called the perfect law of liberty.<Ref>James 1:25 "But whoso looketh into the [[perfect law of liberty]], and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."</Ref> It was a system of individual responsibility and honor. It had congregations and ministers. It was organized from the bottom of the hearts of men who loved the way of Christ according to the precepts of God. It divided the [[Goats and Sheep|goats and sheep]].
Some of the people of Judea and the world went the way of Herod, Caesar, and Pharaoh and some went the way of [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[John the Baptist]] and [[Jesus]]. The former denounced David and embraced the ways of Caesar and the latter embraced the highest son of David, the rightful king of Judea according to [[Rome]].<Ref>[[Matthew 2]]:2, 27:11-37, [[Mark 15]]:26, [[Luke 23]]:38, [[John 19]]:19-22</Ref>
The Pharisees were socialist. Christians simply would not participate in socialist schemes that compelled the contributions of their neighbor because Jesus said “But it shall not be so among you.”<Ref>Matthew 20:26 "But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;"
: Mark 10:43 "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:"
: Luke 22:26 "But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve."</Ref>
People are under a [[strong delusion]] set forward by the Modern Pharisees of today posing as the Church established by Christ. They profess God and Jesus with their mouths, but they fall short of following His “Way”.
You cannot be a follower of Christ and seek to [[force]] your neighbor to contribute to your [[welfare]] at the point of a sword or gun. You cannot be a modern [[socialist]] and a Christian. Those who think they can may be idiotes. They are certainly non-participators in the [[Gospel of the Kingdom]] preached by Christ.
We should all be striving to participate in the ways of Christ by serving one another in love and not coveting our neighbor's goods. If we are to be free we must set our neighbor free. If we are to be forgiven we must [[forgive]] our neighbor's debt.
There is no reason to opt out of the [[world]] or its systems until you are ready to opt into the [[Kingdom of God]] and His righteousness.
The [[priests]] and preachers who say it is okay to covet your neighbor's goods through the agency of governments are not preaching the Gospel of Christ. It is time to repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by striving to do the will of the [[Father]].
Audio file answering the question "Are Christians Idiotes" from Blog Talk Radio
http://hisholychurch.net/audio/2011btr-christianidiots2241435.mp3
== Follow up note: ==
Christians were [[idiotes]], unregistered and not involved in public affairs of the Roman government or the Pharisees. When it came to participating in the welfare of governments who forced the contributions of the people they would not do it. This is why they were commonly persecuted.
The Modern Christian thinks it is okay to do so even though it is clearly coveting their neighbor's goods through the power and the agency of government that are often called benefactors but force the contributions of the people.
This is a “damnable heresies... and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
* 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
The word destruction<Ref>{{684}}</Ref> can mean the destruction of money or even the whole economy.
Peter goes on to say, in 2 Peter 2:2 “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”
Unfortunately, it is often the modern Churches that are leading the people in these pernicious ways.
What are those destructive ways?
Peter tells you in the very next verse.
:    “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” 2 Peter 2:3
It is a great delusion to think you are following Christ when you are doing like those who rule over the other nations.<Ref>Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them."
: Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them."
: Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors."</Ref> What part of it shall not be so with you don't they understand.
We offer volumes of research and resources to take the scales off your eyes.<Ref>http://www.hisholychurch.org/outline.php</Ref> We have put it all together over many decades. If your heart does not show you the truth of [[charity]] and [[love]] vs. [[force]] in forming a viable society no fact, no research, no expert opinion will undue your [[bondage]].
:    “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)”
:    “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” 2 Peter 2:4...
The word translated government is kuriotes<Ref>{{2963}}</Ref> meaning “dominion”. God gave men Dominion. When men give that dominion to other men they are neglecting the personal obligation to exercise that God given responsibility... Why dopes the modern Church speak evil of dignities...
:    "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. "Patrick Henry


      
      
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== Footnotes: ==
== Footnotes: ==
<Ref>342963 ~kuriothv~ kuriotes AV-dominion 3, government 1; 41) dominion...</Ref>

Revision as of 15:40, 6 May 2022

Are Christians Idiots?

First appeared on NewsWithViews.com

There are several words in the New Testament that are translated "world" and most of them do not mean the planet. Knowing what words meant at the time they were used in the writing of scriptures can be important to understanding the true meaning of the message intended in the text.
In John 17:5 There is a request by Jesus that the Father glorify[1] Him as it was before the world. In the next verse Jesus talks about the men which thou (God) gavest me out of the world: (ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, ek tou kosmou)? Could this have to do with the apostles being idiotes?

Are Christians Idiots

When Christ spoke of the Kingdom there was a revolution going on in Judea and the world. Rome was dead as a Republic and the Caesars as emperors had seized power from the masses. Those who refused to participate in the welfare schemes of the temple of Jupiter were seen as idiotes.

Herod had followed some of the same political patterns that we saw in the day of a Julius Caesar and his free bread, festivals, and feasts. With these new systems of social welfare provided by the rulers of the governments of Rome introduced new elements to society and culture.

When the people developed an appetite for benefits of free bread at the expence of their neighbor they forfeted the own rights. They, the masses, were wooed to sell their allegiance, their inheritance, and their liberty by their appetite for the reward of unrighteousness provided at the tables of public religion which was idolatry.[2]

The policies and practices of these politicians and the appetite of the people had the world on a one-way road to social and economic destruction. John the Baptist and Jesus were going to be turning the world upside down with an alternative to a dependance upon their tables of social welfare which had in the past been a snare. They were clearly shaming[3] the hypocrites who claimed to be following Moses but did not know him nor the God who sent him to set the captive free.

A private person

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

The word translated ignorant is not the normal Greek word agnoeo meaning ignorant or unlearned[4] but it is the Greek word idiōtēs (ἰδιώτης) from idios meaning as 'pertaining to one's self, one's own, belonging to one's self'.[5]

This Greek noun ἰδιώτης idiōtēs is said to mean 'a private person, individual' (as opposed to the state), 'a private citizen' (as opposed to someone with a political office). Hence is said to be 'a common man'. A "common man" could be "natural man" before his natural rights were compromised by contracts, oaths, and the gifts, gratuities, and benefits.

It was only later it began to suggested to be the 'unskilled', 'ignorant', derived from the adjective ἴδιος idios 'personal' (not public, not shared).

One of the reason this evolution of the meaning of this word and many others has taken place is because of the dependence of the citizens of a civil society upon the welfare provided by rulers at civic tables which David and Paul called a snare and a trap.

During the growth of this dependence of the citizens" upon those social welfare tables as a civil society a corresponding degenerative phenomena takes place within the hearts and minds of the masses spoken of by all the prophets.

If the Word of God is the Logos of Christ which includes the doctrine of Jesus then understanding all that in accordance with the Will of God which is the Law of Nature then how do we reach an understanding of all these different sources we may wish to believe. As an example, the bible states that is not given to private interpretation.[6] It requires the inspiration of the source of Life which is God which evidently comes by way of the Holy Spirit which is called the Comforter.

We know that the Corban of the Pharisees and Herod makes the Word of God and therefore the Logos of Christ is also made to none effect and the Comforter will not come to us if we do nor repent and seek the Corban of Christ which provides the daily ministration of the kingdom of God. So, those who are engaged in the covetous practices of the civil welfare of the unrighteous mammon will have their hearts and minds of the masses degenerated into darkness so that they will not be able to truly interpret nor understand the scriptures.

The new woke crowd who lives in this darkness will imagine those who don't to be idiots.

The English word “idiot” comes from the Latin idiōta which was used to refer to an ignorant person. Romans in their arrogance at that time in their own civil history evolved, the Republic long being dead, and believed that everyone should submit to their rule. That rule had expanded under the free bread of the emperators as predicted by Polybius with the people's ever increasing appetite for benefits.

But in the Greek idiōtēs as used in Acts may have meant simply a private "person not involved in public affairs" of the Roman State which was degenerating away the liberty from what it once was in the Libera res publica. This descent into a darkness also made the people little more than merchandise because it allows the people to bite one another through the teeth of civil authority.

An unregistered person

Even the word translated unlearned in this text is not the Greek agnoeo nor amathes which can mean ignorant but it is the word agrammatoi[7] which only appears once in the Bible and according to Professor Markus Nikolaus Andreas Bockmuehl, a biblical scholar specializing in Early Christianity, “should not be rendered ‘unlearned'”[8] He goes on to say "To be an idiotes is to be outside of the guild, or outside of the group..."[8]

Of course, all the apostles as a part of the called out of Christ were not to be a part of the world which is detailed in John 17.[9]

Timothy writes[10] that we should not be unlearned using a term () which can mean ignorant.

This word agrammatoi'[7]' is rare in any Greek text. Its meaning may depend on the period and use in context. I have found it describing the muster rolls of a battalion or a registry of members kept by scribes.

A point of Seperation

Christians provided for one another in charity and did not participate in the free bread and welfare of Rome as we see the Pharisees doing.[11]

The Pharisees had chosen Caesar's ways and form of government as their benefactor. The Christians were not involved in the public affairs of the Pharisees and Herod with their civil law system of social welfare run through their temples.

Christians were involved in public affairs of Christ working daily in the temple.[12]

The temple in Jerusalem, the same as those of Rome, was the center of their social welfare. With the baptism of John and Christ's followers, who were eventually called Christians, had opted out of a social welfare system that had snared the people under the authority of Herod's welfare state.[13]

Christians had another king, one Jesus, and were standing fast in the liberty of Christ. The persecution of Christians by public magistrates was often based on their refusal to participate in the temple welfare systems of Rome where the Fathers of the earth exercise authority one over the other to provide the benefits of their civil welfare.

The word translated marvelled in Acts is “thaumazo” which is also translated in the Bible as "have in admiration" and "admire" . They were impressed and yet they did not like what they were hearing. Many modern Christians would not want to hear the truth of what the early Church was doing either.

The Pharisees had been teaching things that were contrary to God, Moses and now Jesus. They professed God with their lips in vain. The people were going back into the bondage of Egypt under the imperial powers of Rome[14] contrary to the command of God.[15]

They had been running their government and leading the people in a way that violated the Spirit of the Law established by God and His precepts upon precepts. They were making the word of God to none effect with their social welfare programs.

Many will decry this interpretation of agrammatoi eisin kai idiōtai[16].[17] Christians need to be willing to know the whole truth and look at all things anew. If you will not learn the context in history when the Bible was written you will fail to understand the meaning of the authors. Simple misinterpretations by private souls can take the people a long way off course in their quest for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Early Rome and America

Early Rome, like the Americans of the 17th century, had learned to govern themselves according to the ideals of the earliest republics. But maintaining that form of government requires great diligence and virtue.[18]

The Roman people had begun to look to their elected officials and then the office of Caesar for every social benefit which was called legal charity in early America but free bread in Rome. The more they neglected individual responsibility the more their liberty, their right to choose, declined.[19]

With each new benefit, the government became more and more powerful and the people became more self-indulgent, apathetic and weak. Rome had become the peacekeepers of the world and soon offered themselves as benefactors to other nations, but not without a heavy price.

They would exercise authority over the people who were slothful in the practices of honor and virtue taught by the prophets of God. The masses of people did not heed the prophetic warnings of their own prophets like Polybius.

"The masses continue with an appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them by way of a rule of force and violence. The people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others... institute the rule of violence; [20] and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder,[21] until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch." [22] [23]

Polybius saw the downfall of the republic by way of their free bread and welfare a 150 years before the first Emperor of Rome and 175 years before the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ who opposed these same systems of free bread at your neighbor's expense.
The authoritarian State often uses force and violence to become the Benefactors of the people if the covet what is their neighbors'. They make a social contract where one class of citizen is forced to provide for another class through "legal charity" which is not true charity. The writings of the Apostles warned along with countless passages of ancient writings of the prophets including Proverbs 23 which warned them about what Christ forbid which was the covetous practices of socialist forms of government.

Rome like the United States[24] began exacting tribute[25] from its subjects citizens to obtain the funds needed to supply those new benefits.[26]

The more power the people granted by vote, appetite, or negligence and sloth the more the government became empowered, corrupt, and self-serving.

The practice of expanding government power through offering to care for the people and shower them with benefits[27] the more the people and the social bonds of a free society would degenerate. It is a pattern repeated in history and is as old as Cain and Nimrod Sodom and the bondage of Egypt.[28]

The move from a [Republic]] to a Democracy is often a move from liberty to slavery when the heart of the people are greedy for gain.

The way of covetousness

From the beginning we were not to covet our neighbor's goods nor were we to make covenants with the people round about us to take from our neighbor. If you choose to eat with a ruler you were to put a knife to your throat for your own protection.[29]

You were not to consent with people to obtain benefits where there is one purse.[30] If people failed to listen to these warnings then what should have been for their welfare would become that snare.[31]

Many of the people were entangled in the yoke of bondage and were snare under the elements of the world both legally and emotionally because of these false teachings that had crept into their eschatology.

Lawyers, Senates, and Sanhedrin bound the people through the establishment of a social welfare scheme they labeled Qorban and Corban. In 78 BC[32] the Pharisees and eventually Herod would expanded that social welfare system.

Jesus said through those ordinances they made the word of God to none effect.[33]

The original Corban, a form of social assurance, under Moses was based on free will offerings or sacrifice given through a living network of ministers who sought to serve the people. Herod's system included Rabbinical Baptism, contributions, a temple treasury to store them, scribes to keep track of the mandatory contribution of members [the temple tax], and a network of ministers and synagogues to distribute the benefits according to statutory limitations.

The Words and the way

The sacred texts should have been clear enough, but the Pharisees were able to twist the meaning of the words to justify themselves. The pride of the scholar strangles the hope of repentance. What part of freewill offering and charity do they not understand?

History of the Pharisees has repeated itself in the modern religions and they have all betrayed their founders.[34]

John the Baptist offered an alternative system. It also included a Baptism ritual but it operated much differently. His network of congregations and ministers provided for their needy in pure religion[35] through free will contributions – charity.[36] They did not have entitlements but lived by hope. They did not give allegiance but lived by faith. They did not force their neighbor to contribute but lived by charity. There is no more revolutionary gospel than Christ's.

Modern Christians are ignorant of the full “Gospel of the Kingdom” preached by Christ and the early Church. Some have even claimed that Jesus was a socialist. Modern socialism requires a social contract and the point of a sword to force the contributions of the people. Those who covet their neighbor's goods through the agency of these so-called state benefactors have become nothing more than human resources according to prophecy of Peter.[37]

They have more in common with the Pharisees than they do John or Jesus. That and their lack of knowledge is why they are back in bondage of the world.[38]

Christ preached a welfare system based on faith, hope, and charity which required social virtues and love for one another. The religious practice establishes the social bonds of righteousness through the Corban of Christ.

The ministers of their society were servants of the people in an alternative system that set men free who would practice Pure Religion. Jesus told many parables on how His government of righteousness must operate.

He talked about forgiving debt rather than arresting people and forcing them to pay for their desires.

He talked about the offering of a poor widow being of more value than that of the rich man. He fired the moneychangers and instructed the ministers in the royal treasury.[39]

He refused to appoint captains and princes to rule over the people but commanded the organize in free assemblies of tens.

He taught his minister that they were there to serve only.

This New Way was called the perfect law of liberty.[40] It was a system of individual responsibility and honor. It had congregations and ministers. It was organized from the bottom of the hearts of men who loved the way of Christ according to the precepts of God. It divided the goats and sheep.

Some of the people of Judea and the world went the way of Herod, Caesar, and Pharaoh and some went the way of Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus. The former denounced David and embraced the ways of Caesar and the latter embraced the highest son of David, the rightful king of Judea according to Rome.[41]

The Pharisees at the time of Christ were socialist. Christians simply would not participate in socialist schemes that compelled the contributions of their neighbor because Jesus said “But it shall not be so among you.”[42]

The strong delusion

People are under a strong delusion set forward by the Modern Pharisees of today posing as the Church established by Christ. They profess God and Jesus with their mouths, but they fall short of following His “Way”.

You cannot be a follower of Christ and seek to force your neighbor to contribute to your welfare at the point of a sword or gun. You cannot be a modern socialist and a Christian. Those who think they can may be considered idiots. They are certainly non-participators in the Gospel of the Kingdom preached by Christ.

We should all be striving to participate in the ways of Christ by serving one another in love and not coveting our neighbor's goods. If we are to be free we must set our neighbor free. If we are to be [forgive]n we must forgive our neighbor's debt.

There is no reason to opt-out of the world or its systems until you are ready to opt into the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. This would include sitting down in the Tens as Christ commanded and earnestly setting up a daily ministration of faith, hope, and Charity through the perfect law of liberty rather than by force, fear, and fealty and the covetous practices of the world which are a snare, makes you merchandise and curse children.

The priests and preachers who say it is okay to covet your neighbor's goods through the agency of governments are not preaching the Gospel of Christ. To say it is okay to bite one another will get the people devoured and is the gospel of the "brutish pastor". It is time to repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by striving to do the will of the Father.



Audio file answering the question "Are Christians Idiotes" from Blog Talk Radio

http://hisholychurch.net/audio/2011btr-christianidiots2241435.mp3



Follow up note:


Christians were idiotes[16], unregistered and not involved in public affairs of welfare of the Roman government nor the Pharisees. The welfare of those governments who forced the contributions of the people were off limits by the directives of Christ. This refusal to register for those benefits is why they were commonly persecuted.

Early Christians were persecuted by Marcus Aurelius because they did not register the birth of their children with the government temples of Caesar to get the benefits of his world. Christians were involved in public affairs of Christ working daily in the temple which we explain in detail.

The Modern Christian thinks it is okay to do so even though it is clearly coveting their neighbor's goods through the power and the agency of government that are often called benefactors but force the contributions of the people. This is a “damnable heresies... and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”[43] The word destruction[44] can mean the destruction of money or even the whole economy.

Peter goes on to say, in 2 Peter 2:2 “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

Unfortunately, it is often the modern Churches that are leading the people in these pernicious ways.

What are those destructive ways?

Peter tells you in the very next verse.

  • “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” 2 Peter 2:3

It is a great delusion to think you are following Christ when you are doing like those who rule over the other nations.[45]

Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them."

Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors."</Ref>

What part of it shall not be so with you don't they understand.

We offer volumes of research and resources to take the scales off your eyes.[46] We have put it all together over many decades. If your heart does not show you the truth of charity and love vs. force in forming a viable society no fact, no research, no expert opinion will undue your bondage.

“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)”
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” 2 Peter 2:4...

The word translated government is kuriotes[47] meaning “dominion”.

God gave men Dominion. When men give that dominion to other men they are neglecting the personal obligation to exercise that God given responsibility... Why does the modern Church speak evil of dignities...


  • "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it." Patrick Henry



Footnotes:

  1. 1392 δοξάζω doxazo [dox-ad’-zo] from 1391 {opinion, judgment, view); v; TDNT-2:253,178; [{See TDNT 197 }] AV-glorify 54, honour 3, have glory 2, magnify 1, make glorious 1, full of glory 1; 62
    1) to think, suppose, be of opinion
    2) to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
    3) to honour, do honour to, hold in honour
    4) to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with splendour
    4a) to impart glory to something, render it excellent
    4b) to make renowned, render illustrious
    4b1) to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged
  2. Covetousness is idolatry
    Colossians 3:5 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:"
    Ephesians 5:5 "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
    1 Corinthians 5:10 "Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."
  3. Shamed
    Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
    Matthew 12:34 "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
    Matthew 23:33 "[Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
    Luke 3:7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
    Luke 10:13 "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes."
    Luke 11:42 "But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over [them] are not aware [of them].45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest <5195> us also. 46 And he said, Woe unto you also, [ye] lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them."
    Luke 11:52 "Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."
    Luke 13:17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed <2617>: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
    Matthew 11:21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
    Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
    Matthew 23:13 "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, [ye] blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 [Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 [Ye] fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men’s] bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,"
  4. ἀγράμματος agnoeo meaning to be ignorant, not to know {Acts 13:27, Acts 17:23 Romans 10:3 2 Peter 2:12; 1 Corinthians 14:38; Mark 9:32 Luke 9:45; Hebrews 5:2}
  5. "Etymology. Idiot as a word derived from the Greek idiotes, person lacking professional skill', 'a private citizen', 'individual', from idios, private, one's own." https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Idiot#Etymology
  6. Interpretation of Scriptures
    2 Peter 1:20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation<1955>. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
    2 Timothy 3:15 "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
    Acts 1:16 "Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus."
    John 14:26 "But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
    John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:"
    John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
    John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
  7. 7.0 7.1 62 ~ἀγράμματος~ agrammatos \@ag-ram-mat-os\@ from 1 (as negative particle) and 1121; ; adj AV-unlearned 1; 1
    1) illiterate, unlearned, without learning, unlettered {#Ac 4:13}
  8. 8.0 8.1 “The words agrammatoi and idiotai should not be rendered ‘unlearned and ignorant’, as in the King James Version (and ASV).” "The Cambridge Companion to Jesus" by Markus Bockmuehl, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. Author of Revelation and mystery in ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity (1990), This Jesus: martyr, Lord, Messiah (1994), The Epistle to the Philippians (1997), and Jewish law in Gentile churches: halakhah and the beginning of Christian public ethics (2000).
  9. Not of this world
    John 17:6-18“‭6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: ... ‭9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, ... ‭11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, ... ‭12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. ‭13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ‭14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ‭15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ‭16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ‭17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ‭18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”
    John 18:33 "Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?... 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
    John 19:19 "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS."
  10. “‭21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. ‭22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ‭23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.” 2 Timothy 2:21-23
  11. Departed vs Deported, Chapter 12. of the book The Covenants of the gods
    http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog12devde.php
    Audio http://keysofthekingdom.info/COG-12.mp3
  12. Matthew 26:55 "In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me."
    Mark 14:49 "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled."
    Luke 19:47 "And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,"
    Luke 22:53 "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
    Acts 2:46 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"
    Acts 5:42 "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."
  13. John 9:19-34 Water Baptism http://www.hisholychurch.org/declarations/baptism/waterbaptism.php
  14. Employ vs Enslave Chapter 4. of the book The Covenants of the gods http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog4eve.php
    Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuz-hFKM_Ts
    Audio http://keysofthekingdom.info/COG-04.mp3
  15. Deuteronomy 17:16 , Ezekiel 29:14, 1 Samuel 8:7-8
  16. 16.0 16.1 2399 ~ἰδιώτης~ idiotes \@id-ee-o’-tace\@ from 2398; TDNT-3:215,348; {See TDNT 322} n m AV-unlearned 3, ignorant 1, rude 1; 5
    1) a private person as opposed to a magistrate, ruler, king
    2) a common soldier, as opposed to a military officer
    3) a writer of prose as opposed to a poet
    4) in the NT, an unlearned, illiterate, man as opposed to the learned and educated: one who is unskilled in any art
  17. ἀγράμματοι εἰσιν καὶ ἰδιῶται
  18. A Pure Republic, The Higher Liberty, Sec. 13 http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/purrepublic.php
  19. Destroyers of liberty
    "That the man who first ruined the Roman people twas he who first gave them treats and gratuities. But this mischief crept secretly and gradually in, and did not openly make it's appearance in Rome for a considerable time." Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus (c. 100 AD.) This would include Julius Caesar and eventually Augustus Caesar which is why Plutarch also reported, “The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” This was a major theme of the Bible:
    There were tables of welfare which were both snares and a traps as David and Paul stated and Peter warned would make us merchandise and curse children. Proverbs 23 told us not to not eat the "dainties" offered at those tables of Rulers and Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 we cannot eat of those tables and the table of the Lord. We are not to consent to their covetous systems of One purse or Corban which makes the word of God to none effect.
    We know when the masses become accustomed to those benefits of legal charity which are the rewards of unrighteousness provided by benefactors who exercise authority and the Fathers of the earth through the covetous practices that makes men merchandise and curse children as a surety for debt.
  20. Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
  21. Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
  22. "But when a new generation arises and the democracy falls into the hands of the grandchildren of its founders, they have become so accustomed to freedom and equality that they no longer value them, and begin to aim at pre-eminence; and it is chiefly those of ample fortune who fall into this error. 6 So when they begin to lust for power and cannot attain it through themselves or their own good qualities, they ruin their estates, tempting and corrupting the people in every possible way. 7 And hence when by their foolish thirst for reputation they have created among the masses an appetite for gifts and the habit of receiving them, democracy in its turn is abolished and changes into a rule of force and violence. 8 For the people, having grown accustomed to feed at the expense of others and to depend for their livelihood on the property of others, as soon as they find a leader who is enterprising but is excluded from the houses of office by his penury, institute the rule of violence; 9 and now uniting their forces massacre, banish, and plunder, until they degenerate again into perfect savages and find once more a master and monarch." Polybius: The Histories (composed at Rome around 130 BC)Fragments of Book VI, p289 See also Loeb Classical Library edition, 1922 thru 1927
  23. An alternate translation in context, "9. For no sooner had the knowledge of the jealousy and hatred existing in the citizens against them which is replaced by democracy, emboldened some one to oppose the government by word or deed, than he was sure to find the whole people ready and prepared to take his side. Having then got rid of these rulers by assassination or exile, they do not venture to set up a king again, being still in terror of the injustice to which this led before; nor dare they intrust the common interests again to more than one, considering the recent example of their misconduct: and therefore, as the only sound hope left them is that which depends upon themselves, they are driven to take refuge in that; and so changed the constitution from an oligarchy to a democracy, and took upon themselves the superintendence and charge of the state. And as long as any survive who have had experience of oligarchical supremacy and domination, they regard their present constitution as a blessing, and hold equality and freedom as of the utmost value. But as soon as a new generation has arisen, and the democracy has descended to their children’s children, long association weakens their value for equality and freedom, and some seek to become more powerful than the ordinary citizens; and the most liable to this temptation are the rich. (which degenerates into rule of corruption and violence, only to be stopped by a return to despotism.) So when they begin to be fond of office, and find themselves unable to obtain it by their own unassisted efforts and their own merits, they ruin their estates, while enticing and corrupting the common people in every possible way. By which means when, in their senseless mania for reputation, they have made the populace ready and greedy to receive bribes, the virtue of democracy is destroyed, and it is transformed into a government of violence and the strong hand. For the mob, habituated to feed at the expense of others, and to have its hopes of a livelihood in the property of its neighbours, as soon as it has got a leader sufficiently ambitious and daring, being excluded by poverty from the sweets of civil honours, produces a reign of mere violence. Then come tumultuous assemblies, massacres, banishments, redivisions of land; until, after losing all trace of civilisation, it has once more found a master and a despot." Translator: Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh, Release Date: November 8, 2013 [EBook #44126]
  24. Rome vs US. Does history repeat itself because man does not repent? http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/romeus.php
  25. Proverbs 12:24 “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.”
  26. “He who receives the benefit should also bear the disadvantage.” “Cujus est commodum ejus debet esse incommodum.”
  27. “The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” Plutarch, 2000 years ago.
  28. Nimrod, The Hunter http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/hunter.php
    Nimrod, NN Video Series:1-10 5:32 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ums_7aYcv0c
  29. Proverbs 23:1 “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.”
    Daniel 1:8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."
  30. Proverbs 1: “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not... Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:... Surely in vain the net is spread... for those greedy for gain...”
  31. Psalms 69:22 “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.”
    Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:”
  32. The Corban of the Pharisees http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/corban.php
  33. Mark 7:11 “But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, [It is] Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; [he shall be free]. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
  34. See Thy Kingdom Comes, Chapter 2. Abraham Uncivilized http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/TKC/
  35. Pure Religion http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/religion.php
  36. Luke 3:11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
  37. 2 Peter 2:3 “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
  38. This World, Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUQlOGyf7to Not of the World? http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/world.php
  39. Mark 12:41-43. The Greek gazophulakion means the royal or public treasure
  40. James 1:25 "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth [therein], he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
  41. Matthew 2:2, 27:11-37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19-22
  42. Matthew 20:26 "But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;"
    Mark 10:43 "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:"
    "But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." Luke 22:26
  43. 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
  44. 684 ~ἀπώλεια~ apoleia \@ap-o’-li-a\@ from a presumed derivative of 622; n f AV-perdition 8, destruction 5, waste 2, damnable 1, to die + 1519 1, perish + 1498 + 1519 1, pernicious 1; 20
    1) destroying, utter destruction
    1a) of vessels
    2) a perishing, ruin, destruction
    2a) of money
    2b) the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell
  45. Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them."
  46. See outline on the Church website: http://www.hisholychurch.org/outline.php
  47. 2963 ~κυριότης~ kuriotes \@koo-ree-ot’-ace\@ from 2962; TDNT-3:1096,486; {See TDNT 418} n f AV-dominion 3, government 1; 4
    1) dominion, power, lordship
    2) in the NT: one who possesses dominion