Is a Hegelian dichotomy developing in Protestant America?

“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Prov. 30:5,6).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4).

“[We] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Cor. 4:2-4).

“In general, a single proposition cannot be treated in a vacuum. It must be contrasted (opposed with) another element to achieve meaning. However, thinking of things in terms of dichotomies (black and white thinking) is very limiting. To escape the constraints of analyzing everything through the lens of binary opposition, one must take a step back and respond to both simultaneously (synthesize).

As the Hegelian dialectic is an aesthetic fundamentally bent on usurping binaries in favor of trichotomies, it is a numerology based upon the number 3. Which isn’t to say it isn’t useful or that it’s somehow impoverished. Indeed, quite the opposite.” http://wiki.c2.com/?HegelianDialectic

The Hegelian dialectic can be summed up by the following formula: thesis + anti-thesis = synthesis. In this post I’m addressing the Hegelian dialectic thesis-antithesis approach to faith in order to see where today’s development may take us concerning the issues of faith in the Bible and in the God of the Bible.

There is no way to find truth, God, and the Lord Jesus through the aesthetic of Hegelian dialectic. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Cor. 1:19-25).

Satan is the mastermind of the dialectic form of argument. “The angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon [destroying angel], but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [destroyer]” (Rev. 9:11) uses dialectics to destroy the whole world. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:9). And he has a lot of help from the other angels who excel in intellectual strength, for where there is a multitude of counselors there is wisdom—and in this case, wisdom to deceive.

Satan chooses an error that is partially true. For example, let’s compare pure truth to 12 o’clock, and Satan’s falsehood then to be 3 o’clock. (His goal is a full 6 o’clock perdition, but he never starts there. He finds a half-truth comfortable to the “Bible believers”, and works his way to their total faith in falsehood.) Then in order to double his catch of souls, he creates another falsehood that is equally far from the pure truth (but not diametrically opposed to pure truth, as the 3 o’clock error also was). But that new error is diametrically opposed to the old 3 o’clock error, and is at 9 o’clock. The devil moves almost half of the world to join him at the old righteous, conservative 3 o’clock departure from the truth, and the other almost half of the world to join him at the new heathen, liberal 9 o’clock departure from pure truth.

Then the mastermind of evil re-educates each camp in their particular new truth so that they are completely convinced that they have the latest, greatest path to life. As they are re-educated they increasingly view the other camp as falling off the edge of the world into perdition, and in great need of evangelizing, conversion, and rehabilitation. The right camp will destroy the world with legalistic, fundamental religious traditions, and the left camp will destroy the world with lawlessness, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The right camp will destroy the world in causing a gulf between the super-rich and the super-poor, and foment wars against the enemies of religion; and the left camp will destroy the world by enabling the “lazy four- and five-generation welfare recipients”, and encourage the godless enemies of fundamentalist religion.

Soon enough, both camps are involved in legislating their particular path to life and enforcing the laws that they have designed, each forcing the other camp to bow to “the truth” as they see it. Each camp is very angry at the other camp for being in apostasy from the “original truth”, as each camp views the truth at the founding of the group be it the original Constitution, original religion, societal roots, organization, etc. Eventually, their nation is divided on each issue, and at each others’ throat. The people are not united and society is ready to cave in as civil strife ends with a nation in ruins.

“When our nation, in its legislative councils, shall enact laws to bind the consciences of men in regard to their religious privileges, enforcing Sunday observance, and bringing oppressive power to bear against those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath, the law of God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land, and national apostasy will be followed by national ruin.--7BC 977 (1888).  {LDE 133.5} 

     It is at the time of the national apostasy when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin. It is then the measure of guilt is full. The national apostasy is the signal for national ruin.--2SM 373 (1891).  {LDE 134.1} 

     Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the state.  This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin.--RH June 15, 1897.  {LDE 134.2} 

     When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state.  There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.--Ev 235 (1899).  {LDE 134.3} 

     When the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church--then will Protestant America have formed an image to the papacy, and there will be a national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.--7BC 976 (1910).” Last Day Events, p. 134.

A formerly strong nation is ruined. And they all went down satisfied that to be martyrs for their truth.

Yet, Jesus is the truth and the way to life. “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1Cor. 1:30).

He is “the Word of life” (1Jn. 1:1). He is “wisdom” and “prudence” (Prov. 8:12). He “find[s] out knowledge of witty inventions” (Prov. 8:12). For any nation founded upon to His wisdom of self-sacrificing love and to depart from that eternal foundation is to end in national ruin. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34). It matters not if the nation is not yet diametrically opposed to self-sacrificing love, and is not yet completely lawless and sunken in perdition and hedonism, or completely tyrannical in extreme fundamentalist morality. If they depart only one degree from Christ’s example and Law, over time they separate more and more from His Law and eventually they will be murders and involved in every kind of extortion, corruption, and vice.

The kings of northern kingdom of Israel were perfect examples of this. When each, indignant in his own righteousness, destroyed the previous dynasty that had corrupted the people, the new dynasty brought the people to a new low in corruption. The religion was never touched. Basic Baal worship always remained in place and intact. The true religion of Jehovah was never mentioned for deliberation over and repentance toward; a reformation to self-sacrificing love was never made an option for the nation. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jer. 5:31). The sin-loving people and leaders alike could never consider self-sacrifice or self-denial. Rather, self-exaltation, self-indulgence, self-salvation remained the national, official sacred cows. Therefore, in His providence, the Lord had to destroy them.

So today, what are we seeing in this Protestant nation? A small departure from the Reformation biblical foundation that, over the years, has magnified its departure from truth, little by little deviating more and more from the Christ’s call to self-sacrificing love. And the results are movements to legislate for a religious state in order to forestall the painful judgments of God that are obviously soon to break upon the whole nation. Prophetic pollsters are popping up to foment such a bold movement.

“The famous pollster, Gallup, released a poll in which it said that more Americans now believe that the Bible is a book of fables and history than those who believe it’s the literal Word of God and even fewer than a third of Christians say it’s to be taken literally. The poll follows another posted by Gallup that says that Christians are accepting of immorality more than ever.

‘Over the past three decades, Americans’ view of the Bible as the literal Word of God has been declining, while their view that the Bible is a collection of fables, myths and history recorded by man has been increasing,’ Gallup said.

Only 24 percent in total, said the Bible is ‘the actual Word of God, and is to be taken literally, word for word.’ A slightly higher 26 percent said that the Bible is ‘a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.’

Another 47 percent said they believe the Bible is ‘inspired by God, [but] not all to be taken literally.’ Gallup said it was the first time in its four-decade observations that biblical literalism has not surpassed biblical skepticism.

Belief in the Bible as the literal Word of God was lowest among young adults aged 18- to 29-year-olds, with 12 percent supporting such a view, and highest among the 50- to 64-year-olds, at 31 percent. College graduate students were also less likely than those with some college and those with no college to take the Bible literally.
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When it comes to Christians, Gallup recorded that 30 percent in total agree that the Bible is the literal Word of God, 54 percent said that it was inspired by God, and 14 percent offered that it was a book of fables.

 ‘Americans in all age groups still largely accept the Bible as a Holy document, but most of these downplay God’s direct role in it. That could mean people are more willing than in the past to believe it is open to interpretation — if man, not God, wrote the Bible, more can be questioned,’ Gallup said.

The poll showed that 10 percent of respondents had read none of the Bible at all; 13 percent only a few sentences; 30 percent several passages or stories; 15 percent at least half the Bible; 12 percent almost all of it, and only 20 percent said that they had read the entire Bible… ‘Even among worship attendees less than half read the Bible daily. The only time most Americans hear from the Bible is when someone else is reading it.’

‘It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book of good moral instruction, to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit of the times and our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as it really is—the word of the living God, the word that is our life, the word that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God’s word as anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and infidelity in the youth.’ Education, page 260.”

But, the hedonistic, secular left are bolstering themselves and digging in for a long battle against the conservative, Republican religious right. The secular half are already advancing their revolution of atheistic hedonism in order to keep off balance the religious half of the nation so that they remain unable to raise enough public awareness for the political power to overthrow those evil, secular, Democratic heathens. The “of-the-devil” liberals feel snug as a smug bug in a rug in their political majority, but they don’t know the Daniel 11 prophecy regarding the moral, religious King of the North, who builds up a force that comes against the arrogant, agnostic, and anti-faith King of the South, and bowls right over him. And the heretical King of the South is never seen again.

Since nature and revelation alike testify of God’s infinitely wise creative power and love, the atheistic secularists cannot see nature correctly. Science’s conclusions are off-base, skewed from disregarding all the evidences that point to a Creator. How can they have correct scientific truth if they are denying the geologic table’s evidence that the fossils must have settled in layers as receding world-wide waters would lay them down? They have dismissed whole trees vertically spanning many feet of geologic strata that must equate to the biblical Noaic flood. It is evidence that tears down the preposterous notion that trees could take billions of years to fossilize in a non-catastrophic settling of space dust upon Earth, which should have decomposed like every other tree does in the world today, and more so, even quicker in that moist, swampy, fertile world of the prehistoric past?

But, let not the religious creationist glory in his religiosity. The religious right want everyone to believe the Bible as it reads—that is, as they see the Bible reads. Yet, they are way off from the truth of the Bible. They don’t understand how the Bible communicates its pure truth. They are not at 12 o’clock, but at 3 o’clock.

They have made Christ’s metaphorical language literal, and His literal language metaphorical. Case in point, Job and Lazarus. Job says that when a man dies, he goes into the grave until resurrection. Until then his children mourn at his gravesite, but he does not know that they are.

“But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.” (Job 14:10-15).

“Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” (Job 14:20,21).

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27).

But, the Protestants today want to believe Rome’s lie that the righteous dead go straight to heaven, and the non-righteous dead go to purgatory for a century of burning and penance, or go immediately to hell when they die, there to burn forever. Countless souls have been driven to insanity at the tyrannical injustice of the so-called god of love to whom they felt indebted to serve. He died for them because of their 70 years of sin. And now they must serve this arbitrary god of inequity, (also spelled iniquity), even though they actually hate him. (And they should hate him, because he is the devil.)

So, in order to be in keeping with their Bible which they have twisted in order to keep in step with Rome, they must use a parable of Christ’s to prove that the dead go straight to their reward—the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:19-31).

Since Job contradicts this parable, (even though both speak of the grave as painful to the flesh and mournful to the soul, albeit with completely different meanings) and since the Protestants refuse to give up the Roman falsehoods, they cling to the Catholic doctrine that Job is an allegory, and not real at all. None of it was true, therefore, none of its words are truth. Job’s hope in the resurrection was all a lie. There is no biblical resurrection (see Daniel 12:1,2; Matthew 24:30; John 5:25,28,29; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), because everyone goes straight to heaven, if they were good enough. But, of course all the wicked people like Nero go straight to hell.

The Protestants have forgotten that the Son of God, who inspired the whole Bible, was a master riddler. A greater than Samson and Solomon was here. He always had a truth to communicate, but not always in a literal format. He told the Canaanite woman that she was a dog. He told Moses that He was going to destroy Israel and start a new nation with Moses. He sent the lying spirit of Satan to tell Ahab what he wanted to hear, convincing him that God would be with the king in battle, which caused his death. The Spirit of truth inspired men to write that God tempted David to number Israel, and the same Spirit also had it written that it was Satan who had tempted David.

Bible students need to be careful how they interpret the Bible. “Gallup recorded that 30 percent [were] in total agree[ment] that the Bible is the literal Word of God”. What does this mean, “literal”? Do they mean that we should read the Bible just as it is, without comparing scripture with scripture? The only way to know the truth about Jesus’ apparent insult to the Canaanite woman was not to take Him literally, but to truly know Jesus as a person. Otherwise, even to this day, we should call all Palestinians dogs and should ignore them (and even give the smug, self-righteous nod to slaughter them in this devilish war on terror). We should say that there is no salvation for the Palestinians, “for salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22). You have to know the Inspirer of the Bible to understand the Bible. But, the Protestant world cannot understand “the Spirit of Christ” (1Pet. 1:11), “even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.” (John 14:17).

“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40). The disciple did see the Spirit of truth in Jesus. “But ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:21-23).

The hard language by the Spirit of truth comes from the Law of God, which the Protestants aborted 170 years ago. Therefore, without strong conviction of sin, they have needed nothing from the Bible that would drive them to desperately study it. The fourth trumpet caused their enlightenment to be extinguished. When their light went out the Bible became a mystery to them. They never could uncover the falsehoods of Rome, and now they are completely set up for the fullness of the delusion that God has sent them since 1844—the secret rapture. The Protestant world is primed and ready for the impersonation of Christ by Satan. “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come….” Great Controversy, p. 624.

“Cursed be the man what trusteth in man.” (Jer. 17:5).