Romans 11:25 talks about the “fullness of the Gentiles”. I believe that we are seeing this happening in our world today. The “fullness of the Gentiles” equates to the fullness of iniquity.
No, that is incorrect. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, unto the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Romans 11:25. "The conversion of the Gentiles is called a mystery." Matthew Henry. Read Ephesians chapter 3, When the last Gentile accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior through the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), then this will be the 'fulness of the Gentiles.' Jesus even spoke of this.."And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one-fold, and one shepherd." John 10:16. "The fulness of the Gentiles began with the calling out of the church. "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14). It will continue until the Rapture (Harpazo: Greek "shall be caught up" (1 Thessalonians 4:17) of the church (believing Jew & Gentile) Blindness and hardening of Israel will continue as long as the church is present in the world. The word mystery needs a word of explanation. In the ancient world of Paul's day there were mystery religions. Today it applied in a popular way to a story that has unrevealed plot or person. It is used in scripture in neither of these ways. In the NT the word is used to refer to that which had been concealed but NOW IS REVEALED The mystery here is the identification of the fulness of Gentiles, which was not a subject of revelation in the O.T. J. Vernon McGee. But...In the O.T. it did say, "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD (Jehovah) of hosts." Malachi 1:11. Jehovah is JESUS! Also, Romans 15:9-16.
I'm not at ease with the socialism/capitalism categories. Everything depends on what you mean by capitalism. Are you referring to Titan capitalism, as practiced in The Gilded Age? Because that gave us sweatshops, which brutalized human beings for the benefit of industrialists. Everything we have in the Bible which touches on economic organization of a society makes it clear that God despises exploiters, that they are his enemies, and that if they do not repent, He will judge them harshly.
There is nothing in the Bible which could possibly be used to justify that kind of "capitalism." Google what the Bible teaches about the way a society, especially the rich of a society, must treat the poor to meet with the approval of God.
Modern "capitalism" is an idol. The capitalism which the Bible approves might be called stakeholder capitalism. G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc understood this, and proposed what has come to be called Chestertonian distributism. In 20th century America, this work was taken up in regard to the American South in the landmark book, I'll Take My Stand, credited to The Twelve ( great thinkers and writers such as Robert Penn Warren and Andrew Little ), a classic which is still studied in classical Christian education, as is the work of a contemporary of The Twelve, Richard Weaver, and in our time, Wendell Barry.
Capitalism!!?? Do you mean as in Reagonomic capitalism, which destroyed the American middle class? I rather like Eisenhower capitalism. During his two terms in office the top marginal rate was 91%. The temperamentally conservative America of the 1950s didn't think that was socialistic, and if it had occurred to them that it was, rather, they certainly wouldn't have identified it with communism.
C.S. Lewis thought that a genuinely Christian society would be essentially a socialistic one.
The ruinous flaw in the author's argument is that he identifies a system which didn't really exist until The Industrial Revolution with Christianity. Over and over and over the Bible condemns the impulses of people who would view the world in such a barren way, utilitarian way.
Mamdani is a catastrophe, no doubt about it, and while I am grateful for arguments from the Bible which take on his Islam and his anti Semitism, there really isn't a Biblical argument which can be made against his lunatic socioeconomic ideas. That must be made by the invocation of logic, reason, and moral passion. If you try to make the argument against him there on Christian grounds you're missing the point as well as polluting your Scriptural interpretation with an American libertarianism which, if we are to evaluate spiritually, God despises.
Bobby, thank you for your comment. You've obviously given this topic some considerable thought.
This is an area where one could easily end up in the weeds, but let me try to simplify and clarify my position.
Initially, concerning economics per se, I believe biblically in the position expressed in Mark 8:36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" To that degree, our focus should be on sharing the gospel and discipling.
However, in the real world, there are two general economic concepts:
One, capitalism, which advocates earning a living, and even the biblical account of Genesis 3:17-19 states that the curse of the Fall includes the fact that man must work by the sweat of his brow. Proverbs 31:16 is another good example, saying: "She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard."
Conversely, there is socialism, which generally uses centralized power to redistribute wealth according to some preconceived notion of fairness. Even as a baseline, this violates Exodus 20:15: "You shall not steal." Another illustrations include Proverbs 6:6-11 - "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest."
The wise ant works without external coercion—this is capitalism's voluntary exchange versus socialism's state control.
Has man, historically, yielded a perfect implementation of capitalism? Of course not; man is never perfect. However, capitalism has certainly advanced man's respect and concern for others more than socialism ever has.
My concern is simple: I would rather live in a non-perfect capitalistic society than any socialist society.
So, yes, I do believe the bible supports capitalism over socialism.
I don't disagree with this. What bothers me is the ease with which so many Christians have adopted essentially a libertarian economics. We know that a planned economy is a stultified economy. I just want Christians to make our argument with some nuance. Isn't the Proverbs 31 woman something like an ideal of not just what a wife should be but of what a worker should be? She's a cottage worker, in a society in which almost every home was its own little company.
The whole idea of Chestertonian distributism is that the workers should control the means of production: family farms, tradesmen, family businesses, living and working in close cooperation with their neighbors. Of course, it's impossible that we could have such a system now, with the possible exception that some worldwide cataclysm might happen which would force the people of the world back into pre - industrial circumstances.
Dave, thank you for your well-thought-out response to this substack.
Let me begin by responding to each of your premises (which are in italics). If I misstate your position, feel free to let me know.
I respectfully disagree. God is not “in control;” Man is. I believe this is your primary tenant, and thus, the question is, “Who is in control of what happens on earth?”
He gave us authority over the earth. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” Psalms 115:16 NKJV
Psalms 115:16 states in NKJV, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” This essentially speaks to the fact that God occupies the heavens, and man occupies the earth.
Your statement addresses Christ: “Then that authority rested on the “Son of Man,” Jesus Christ. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.’” Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
The truth of the incarnation is that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man. This verse, stated in Matthew and Mark, is known as the Great Commission and is Christ’s command that believers are to share the gospel of salvation with all people. The “authority” given to Christ is the authority of God, which is stated in verses such as John 17:2: “...as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him,” and also Ephesians 1:20-22 “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.”
Granted, the Bible speaks to faith in prayer, which you refer to in Mark 11:23-24 and John 16:24. Here, as I’ve addressed in my post on the persistent widow, persistent and faithful prayer opens possibilities that most men can’t even fathom.
However, the main issue is who is in charge and whose purposes are ultimately fulfilled.
In Genesis 1:26-28, God gives man “dominion” over the earth and its creatures. The Hebrew word used in these verses is “רָדָה” (radar), which generally means to rule with stewardship.
Rule and stewardship certainly influence outcomes, but the main question remains: who has ultimate control? Indeed, man can screw things up; we see that everywhere we look. Additionally, man is responsible for their bad choices. But do we have a God who is powerless and cleans up man’s messes? Or do we have a God who uses man’s efforts and mistakes to achieve precisely what He wants to achieve?
I believe the Bible is clear that God is in control, and He achieves precisely what He wants to achieve, even with the misguided and often sinful efforts of mankind. I believe the following supports this supposition: Proverbs 16:4: “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’” and Ephesians 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
I do believe man thinks he is in control, but the truth is God is totally in control.
We do not have the right to choose to move mountains….that is nonsense and places too much value on oneself….maybe even a bit of pride. Mountains will only be moved if it’s Gods will. Throughout the Bible we find stories where God humbled His people with unjust rulers….who are we that we should not be humbled?
People need to wake up to your statement, "Realize that God is punishing the world and is undoubtedly dealing with the U.S." Just shared to Notes.
Romans 11:25 talks about the “fullness of the Gentiles”. I believe that we are seeing this happening in our world today. The “fullness of the Gentiles” equates to the fullness of iniquity.
No, that is incorrect. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, unto the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Romans 11:25. "The conversion of the Gentiles is called a mystery." Matthew Henry. Read Ephesians chapter 3, When the last Gentile accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior through the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), then this will be the 'fulness of the Gentiles.' Jesus even spoke of this.."And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one-fold, and one shepherd." John 10:16. "The fulness of the Gentiles began with the calling out of the church. "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14). It will continue until the Rapture (Harpazo: Greek "shall be caught up" (1 Thessalonians 4:17) of the church (believing Jew & Gentile) Blindness and hardening of Israel will continue as long as the church is present in the world. The word mystery needs a word of explanation. In the ancient world of Paul's day there were mystery religions. Today it applied in a popular way to a story that has unrevealed plot or person. It is used in scripture in neither of these ways. In the NT the word is used to refer to that which had been concealed but NOW IS REVEALED The mystery here is the identification of the fulness of Gentiles, which was not a subject of revelation in the O.T. J. Vernon McGee. But...In the O.T. it did say, "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD (Jehovah) of hosts." Malachi 1:11. Jehovah is JESUS! Also, Romans 15:9-16.
https://www.jewishawareness.org/the-fullness-of-the-gentiles/
I found this article to be interesting and I hope that you will too.
Excellent article, thanks for sharing.
All good scriptures for understanding our world. Also look to the book of Daniel for how to act in troubling times.
Great essay.
Antother breath of fresh air.
Good morning Chad. That is a timely, well-written message. Well done, and God bless!
I'm not at ease with the socialism/capitalism categories. Everything depends on what you mean by capitalism. Are you referring to Titan capitalism, as practiced in The Gilded Age? Because that gave us sweatshops, which brutalized human beings for the benefit of industrialists. Everything we have in the Bible which touches on economic organization of a society makes it clear that God despises exploiters, that they are his enemies, and that if they do not repent, He will judge them harshly.
There is nothing in the Bible which could possibly be used to justify that kind of "capitalism." Google what the Bible teaches about the way a society, especially the rich of a society, must treat the poor to meet with the approval of God.
Modern "capitalism" is an idol. The capitalism which the Bible approves might be called stakeholder capitalism. G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc understood this, and proposed what has come to be called Chestertonian distributism. In 20th century America, this work was taken up in regard to the American South in the landmark book, I'll Take My Stand, credited to The Twelve ( great thinkers and writers such as Robert Penn Warren and Andrew Little ), a classic which is still studied in classical Christian education, as is the work of a contemporary of The Twelve, Richard Weaver, and in our time, Wendell Barry.
Capitalism!!?? Do you mean as in Reagonomic capitalism, which destroyed the American middle class? I rather like Eisenhower capitalism. During his two terms in office the top marginal rate was 91%. The temperamentally conservative America of the 1950s didn't think that was socialistic, and if it had occurred to them that it was, rather, they certainly wouldn't have identified it with communism.
C.S. Lewis thought that a genuinely Christian society would be essentially a socialistic one.
The ruinous flaw in the author's argument is that he identifies a system which didn't really exist until The Industrial Revolution with Christianity. Over and over and over the Bible condemns the impulses of people who would view the world in such a barren way, utilitarian way.
Mamdani is a catastrophe, no doubt about it, and while I am grateful for arguments from the Bible which take on his Islam and his anti Semitism, there really isn't a Biblical argument which can be made against his lunatic socioeconomic ideas. That must be made by the invocation of logic, reason, and moral passion. If you try to make the argument against him there on Christian grounds you're missing the point as well as polluting your Scriptural interpretation with an American libertarianism which, if we are to evaluate spiritually, God despises.
Bobby, thank you for your comment. You've obviously given this topic some considerable thought.
This is an area where one could easily end up in the weeds, but let me try to simplify and clarify my position.
Initially, concerning economics per se, I believe biblically in the position expressed in Mark 8:36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" To that degree, our focus should be on sharing the gospel and discipling.
However, in the real world, there are two general economic concepts:
One, capitalism, which advocates earning a living, and even the biblical account of Genesis 3:17-19 states that the curse of the Fall includes the fact that man must work by the sweat of his brow. Proverbs 31:16 is another good example, saying: "She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard."
Conversely, there is socialism, which generally uses centralized power to redistribute wealth according to some preconceived notion of fairness. Even as a baseline, this violates Exodus 20:15: "You shall not steal." Another illustrations include Proverbs 6:6-11 - "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest."
The wise ant works without external coercion—this is capitalism's voluntary exchange versus socialism's state control.
Has man, historically, yielded a perfect implementation of capitalism? Of course not; man is never perfect. However, capitalism has certainly advanced man's respect and concern for others more than socialism ever has.
My concern is simple: I would rather live in a non-perfect capitalistic society than any socialist society.
So, yes, I do believe the bible supports capitalism over socialism.
Thanks for your comments.
I don't disagree with this. What bothers me is the ease with which so many Christians have adopted essentially a libertarian economics. We know that a planned economy is a stultified economy. I just want Christians to make our argument with some nuance. Isn't the Proverbs 31 woman something like an ideal of not just what a wife should be but of what a worker should be? She's a cottage worker, in a society in which almost every home was its own little company.
The whole idea of Chestertonian distributism is that the workers should control the means of production: family farms, tradesmen, family businesses, living and working in close cooperation with their neighbors. Of course, it's impossible that we could have such a system now, with the possible exception that some worldwide cataclysm might happen which would force the people of the world back into pre - industrial circumstances.
https://substack.com/@andrewjamesword/note/c-66924243?r=3687cx&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Dave, thank you for your well-thought-out response to this substack.
Let me begin by responding to each of your premises (which are in italics). If I misstate your position, feel free to let me know.
I respectfully disagree. God is not “in control;” Man is. I believe this is your primary tenant, and thus, the question is, “Who is in control of what happens on earth?”
He gave us authority over the earth. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” Psalms 115:16 NKJV
Psalms 115:16 states in NKJV, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” This essentially speaks to the fact that God occupies the heavens, and man occupies the earth.
Your statement addresses Christ: “Then that authority rested on the “Son of Man,” Jesus Christ. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.’” Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
The truth of the incarnation is that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man. This verse, stated in Matthew and Mark, is known as the Great Commission and is Christ’s command that believers are to share the gospel of salvation with all people. The “authority” given to Christ is the authority of God, which is stated in verses such as John 17:2: “...as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him,” and also Ephesians 1:20-22 “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.”
Granted, the Bible speaks to faith in prayer, which you refer to in Mark 11:23-24 and John 16:24. Here, as I’ve addressed in my post on the persistent widow, persistent and faithful prayer opens possibilities that most men can’t even fathom.
However, the main issue is who is in charge and whose purposes are ultimately fulfilled.
In Genesis 1:26-28, God gives man “dominion” over the earth and its creatures. The Hebrew word used in these verses is “רָדָה” (radar), which generally means to rule with stewardship.
Rule and stewardship certainly influence outcomes, but the main question remains: who has ultimate control? Indeed, man can screw things up; we see that everywhere we look. Additionally, man is responsible for their bad choices. But do we have a God who is powerless and cleans up man’s messes? Or do we have a God who uses man’s efforts and mistakes to achieve precisely what He wants to achieve?
I believe the Bible is clear that God is in control, and He achieves precisely what He wants to achieve, even with the misguided and often sinful efforts of mankind. I believe the following supports this supposition: Proverbs 16:4: “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” Isaiah 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’” and Ephesians 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
I do believe man thinks he is in control, but the truth is God is totally in control.
Thank you for your comment.
Understand. Here's the paradox - man is responsible but God is still in control.
We do not have the right to choose to move mountains….that is nonsense and places too much value on oneself….maybe even a bit of pride. Mountains will only be moved if it’s Gods will. Throughout the Bible we find stories where God humbled His people with unjust rulers….who are we that we should not be humbled?