Atheism
The more the early Christians reflected on the life and message of their rabbi-messiah, and the more they tried to live the way of the gospel, the harder they collided with the state and its hopes and dreams, militaries and markets. In fact, Christians in those first few hundred years were called atheists because they no longer believed in the Roman gospel; they no longer had any faith in the state as savior of the world. [1]
- MP3: Early Christians Where Atheists - 30 min
The first Christians were labelled atheists because they did not worship the visible gods of Rome, i.e., the emperors and judges. There are gods many...
So what we have today are false Christians and false atheists fighting with each other while both groups obliviously worship/serve/honor/obey/elect the "gods many" in their governments of coercion. True Christians and true atheists happily co-exist while striving for a government based on respecting each other's liberty. They are generally called Libertarians or Anarchists today. On the other hand, the "worship" of current false Christians and false atheists is based upon coveting their neighbor's goods. They elect "gods many" to force your neighbor to pay for their child's education [public school], to finance their retirement [social security], to keep records of birth, marriage, land ownership, etc. So if your neighbor refuses this form of worship and does not pay for your things, your "gods many" will take away their property and imprison them in your behalf.)
Those who are called Christians today would have been called Pharisees 2000 years ago and would crucify Jesus now just like they did then.
Those who label themselves atheists today would have enjoyed Jesus' teaching against state religion. Religion is simply the social welfare. It is mentioned five times in the bible and only once in a positive light when it indicates that pure religion is taking care of the needy without centralized government...
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27
"World" in this case simply meant a form of government. My kingdom is not of this world...
True Christians and true atheists are seen by their fruits...they have no need of centralized governments because they already have decentralized systems in place.
Both groups would do well to study the Essenes to understand what the term "Christian" really meant 2000 years ago.
Further reading: "The conflict between Christians and the people who persecuted them in the early days of the Church was mostly over their system of social welfare which was managed through their temples like Ephesus, Temple of Saturn and the Parthenon." Read more. and discover the iconoclastic answer to the question Are Christians Idiots?
Audio files Part 1: <mp3player width="300">http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/5thbatch/13-2-23archy-1-2.mp3</mp3player>
[1]
Audio files Part 2:<mp3player width="300">http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/5thbatch/13-2-23archy-3-4.mp3</mp3player>
[2]
Audio files Part 3:<mp3player width="300">http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/5thbatch/13-2-23archy-5.mp3</mp3player>
[3]
- ↑ Jesus for President Pack: Politics for Ordinary Radicals; Shane Claiborne; Section III: When the Empire Got Baptized; p141.
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