Pastor Scott Lively Corrects Andrew Torba re: "Christian Nationalism"

 

Scott Lively's Mission Dispatch, September 22, 2022, Observations and Action on Current Events, History and Theology. Photo above is at Tel Gezer archaeological site looking west toward Jaffa, Israel. Subscribe HERE. Contact/Comment HERE.  DONATE HERE.

Open Letter to Andrew Torba re “Christian Nationalism” Dear Brother Andrew. I am a Hebraic-oriented Evangelical Christian attorney, pastor and historian who has devoted my entire adult life in Christ to Christian social, cultural and political activism. I bought your book “Christian Nationalism” to support the mission of Gab Social, and want to offer you some constructive criticism.  At the outset, I want to commend you for your courage and vision in taking on the powers and principalities of the present age by working to break the chains of censorship and suppression of free speech, particularly of the biblically-informed views that so powerfully contradict the secular humanist dogma of our Marxist would-be masters. They are the true enemies of “Judeo-Christian” civilization, and of course I choose that phrase intentionally to respectfully contradict your well-intentioned but misguided representation of its meaning and purpose relative to our national identity and heritage.  I will also add that I am both a member of Gab and a vehement defender of your right to address the distinctions between Judaism and Christianity. I do not consider you an anti-Semite, and in fact believe that the secularized ethnic Jews working to destroy your work are actually far more anti-Semitic than they claim you are in that they deny and/or defy the Torah, whereas you worship and revere its Author.  What defines a “Semite” (Shemite) if not Yahweh-worship? It certainly can’t be an ethnic connection to Shem (or Abraham or even Jacob) which virtually all humanity now shares because of genetic diffusion over millennia. No, it must be the practice of true Judaism, whose terms are defined by the Torah and Tanach (Old Testament Scripture), NOT the Talmud (commentaries on the Scripture by various Hebrew scholars with widely divergent views, values and validity).  Indeed, Judaism itself is as factional as Christianity but on a smaller scale, only because it’s so much smaller in numbers. Jews are not just doctrinally divided, but notoriously so! As the famous old joke goes “Ask two Jews, get three opinions.” Thus, to cite the view of any Talmudic “sage” as representative of all Jews or Judaism itself (as you did on page 56) is as intellectually dishonest as an anti-Christian Jew or Secular Humanist cherry-picking from the collective works of Christian scholars to define all Christianity.   You begin Chapter 4 “This is Not a ‘Judeo-Christian’ Movement” asserting that “Christianity and Judaism are totally distinct, incompatible, and irreconcilable religions.” In one essential sense that is true because, as you emphasize, Judaism denies that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. BUT, unlike all the other people groups of the world that also deny Christ (including all the secular factions in our diverse MAGA and populist/conservative movements whom you rightfully seem very comfortable collaborating with), true Torah-faithful Jews believe in A Messiah who will do all the things that Christians anticipate Jesus Christ will do on His second coming. Most Jews simply “missed the bus” on Jesus/Yeshua during His first advent (by God’s own plan), but remain standing in line for the next one, which Romans 11 tells us they WILL catch, when (as God adds in Zechariah 12:10) “I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced [and] mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”  You and I presumably share all or most of that would be considered the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, and many non-essential doctrines too. But we differ strongly on “supersessionism” (replacement theology) which you defend as the justification for your personal theology. Importantly, what you have laid out in “Christian Nationalism” is your personal theology, which does not represent Christianity as a whole, but only one slate of views among the constellation of denominations. That’s not a problem insofar as you admit it, and don’t attempt to impose your interpretations on non-essentials as dogma on the rest of Christendom. The flaw in your analysis of supersessionism (page 57) is the appeal to tradition (one of the classic fallacies of formal logic)  Whenever we justify ourselves by church tradition instead of the Bible itself, we depart from sound Holy Spirit guidance to tenuous worldly humanism – the common error behind Roman Catholicism’s self-authorizing “Magisterium” theory and Talmudic Judaism’s self-authorizing “Revered Sages” club. Correcting that error in Christendom was the implicit premise of the Reformation, but unfortunately, the reformers failed to reform numerous extra-biblical human-created doctrines in Protestantism, including the RCC’s dramatic changes to the God’s holiday calendar, the presumed right of the church to enforce dogma through murder (i.e. Calvin’s execution of Michael Servetus), and a severe Greco-Roman cultural bias in interpreting Scripture that differs markedly from the Hebraic cultural perspective of the Apostles and the Prophets. Many of those human-created doctrines were quickly jettisoned as Protestantism splintered into numerous factions, such as Presbyterianism that made the world-changing quantum shift from the top-down ecclesiastical power-pyramid exemplified by the papacy (and Anglicanism) to bottom-up self governance authorized by the “priesthood of all believers” and organized like the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. THAT is the deepest foundation-stone of America and of the modern movement for constitutionalism (foreshadowed by the Magna Carta in 1215, also heavily influenced by Jews).  The process of getting from Scottish Presbyterianism to the Pilgrim Separatism of the Plymouth Colony was heavily influenced by Christian-Jewish cross-pollination. Indeed, I know from my studies of this, that there would never have been a US Constitution or the populist overthrow of the western monarchies if not for the 16th and 17th Century Hebraic Movement in Holland and Great Britain. And that is why America is and has always been “Judeo-Christian.” It has nothing to do with how many Jews were active in the physical founding of America, or how Christian-centric the first state constitutions were, it is simply an honest acknowledgment of the Jews’ role in nudging Christians back to their First Century heritage that made America possible: a shared intellectual property right, if you will, like co-authors of a book or a scientific theory.  Lastly, you asserted on page 61 “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the historic cataclysm that was the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.” Sorry, but it not only IS possible, you have done it. If that post-millennial doctrine were true, the real proof would have been unmistakable over the next thousand years, especially the end, but of course, it didn’t look at all like the Millennial Kingdom of prophecy – because Christ’s earthly kingdom, while very near, has not yet begun. You would know that if you studied the Bible from the literal Hebraic perspective, but you don’t and I respect that as your right within the bounds of Christian liberty.  My point with the prior paragraph is to illustrate that factionalism will be the death-knell to any attempt to build unity on a theological foundation, which is why the Founders and subsequent Christian generations chose the broadest possible platform – Bible-based Yahweh-honoring monotheism (exemplified in our national motto, “In God we trust”) – and not any flavor of Christian sectarianism (which led to many serious conflicts among the denominations in our early days as a nation and thus the ban on establishing state “religions” – meaning “denominations” -- in the “Establishment Clause” of our constitution.)   I don’t expect you to change your theology based on one letter from me, but I do hope you will reconsider your gratuitous exclusionary rhetoric regarding our spiritual cousins in the House of Judah, treating at least the many who share our cultural values (and the all-important Creationist paradigm) with the same basic respect and comradery you show to Atheists in the MAGA and conservative movements. And I offer my assistance in making this necessary course-correction if you care to accept it.  Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.

A Christian Parallel Society?

What do you think? Is it time for a Christian parallel society?

Is that the way to go? 

Let's us never forget what Jesus said to His disciples in His High Priestly Prayer the night He was betrayed:

"11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are." (John 17:11)

and

"17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." (John 17:17-18)

Here's Torba's take:

How can we use technology to build and preserve a parallel Christian society on the internet for generations to come?

This is the question that keeps me up at night.

I’ve been writing extensively about what I call a Parallel Society. This led one of my close friends to point out a book to me by Rod Dreher called The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. It’s a fantastic read and brilliantly captures the spirit of what I have been trying to do with Gab for over five years now.

Rod Dreher argues that the way forward is actu­ally the way back—all the way to St. Benedict of Nur­sia. This sixth-century monk, horrified by the moral chaos following Rome’s fall, retreated to the forest and created a new way of life for Christians. He built enduring communities based on principles of order, hospitality, stability, and prayer. His spiritual centers of hope were strongholds of light throughout the Dark Ages, and saved not just Christianity but Western civilization.

Many of you don’t know that I lived and worked in Silicon Valley as a Christian entrepreneur before starting Gab in 2016. Few Christians can truly understand what it means to live in the nihilistic hellhole of a post-truth, post-morality, and post-Christian world until they have lived in San Francisco among the most narcissistic, empty, and sociopathic people in Silicon Valley.

Like St. Benedict of Nursia I was horrified by the moral chaos of America’s fall as demonstrated by the city of San Francisco. So I too retreated to the forest in Pennsylvania to create a new way of life for Christians on the internet. Together and by the Grace of God we built an enduring online community grounded in the uniquely Christian value of freedom of speech.

My greatest fear after witnessing the erosion of free speech and Christian values by this group of wicked people in Silicon Valley was that eventually there wouldn’t be a place for people to discuss and learn about the Gospel on the internet. They would label it “hate speech,” and indeed many already have.

I couldn’t stand by and watch that happen.

Laying the groundwork of infrastructure for a parallel society.

This week we installed a giant 600 terabyte storage machine in one of Gab’s data centers. Few people realize all of the work and time that goes into making Gab possible behind the scenes. We do not have the luxury of being hosted in the cloud by Amazon, Microsoft, or Google web services. We had no choice but to build our own and invest millions of dollars in time and hardware to maintain and grow our servers.

It’s all worth the extra money and effort though because on Gab Christians are thriving and the Gospel is being shared. Gabbers are starting businesses, holding virtual Bible studies, starting groups to connect and fellowship with one another, praying for one another, and many are even embracing the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives.

Gabbers are discovering and supporting Christian business owners, Christian writers, Christian news organizations, and Christian entertainment. It’s really amazing to see. A parallel Christian society is forming–and it’s growing quickly.

One such Christian entertainment production company that has been having phenomenal success with Gab Ads is Revelation Media. Their mission is to “produce and license culturally relevant and engaging media that leads people into a relationship with our Creator.”

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the folks at Revelation Media behind the scenes over the past few weeks and I can’t tell you how impressed I am with their work.

Their upcoming movie The 7 Churches of Revelation: Times of Fire, is going to be in theaters nationwide on October 11th and October 12th, as well as online beginning October 26th. You can click here for an exclusive 22 minute early look at the film before it hits theaters.

For full disclosure: yes they are advertising on Gab, but I am genuinely excited for this film. My pastor is currently working through a series in Church on the book of Revelation so this movie instantly caught my attention. What impressed me even more was the high quality production value and fascinating story.

Many Christians know and will openly admit that the production value on Christian content can often be lackluster and dare I say it–cringe. That isn’t the case with this movie and the other work that Revelation Media is producing. If you don’t believe me go watch the early preview for yourself. It’s a very encouraging thing to see.

They are building a viable, high quality entertainment and education alternative for Christian families that will be essential for a parallel Christian society.

It’s easy to say that we should all cancel Netflix and stop watching the media outlets and entertainment produced by the Enemy, but what fills that void? I believe Revelation Media is one of the many Christian alternatives working to do so and we are glad to have them as part of the Gab community.

This is why Gab’s infrastructure must be preserved and expanded at all costs. Not only is it powering the real time flow of information, but it’s also powering the creation of a parallel Christian economy where Christians can discover parallel goods, services, and entertainment being provided or sold by other Christians.

One day our great grandchildren will learn what really happened during the greatest Spiritual war of our time and how we laid the foundations for a new parallel Christian society.

It is my intention that they do so on Gab.

To God Be The Glory,

Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com

Only Jesus Saves