Deception Or Doctrine
DECEPTION OR DOCTRINE
(1-20-04)
I. Introduction:
1. What we believe matters, and the accuracy of the information that we receive depends on the source of that information. Most people formulate their beliefs on popular notions that seem plausible on the surface but are often flawed underneath.
2. There was a time when the majority of people believed the popular notion that the world was flat and that “bleeding” a person would cure his illness.
3. Most of the information people receive today is from media sources and has been run through the filter of liberal spin artists. The words used are carefully chosen in order to influence listeners and readers to adopt their liberal agenda.
4. The only source of information that is always completely accurate and that never changes, of course, is God Himself. Not only is His Word accurate and immutable, it is also alive, powerful, and is superior to all other information. God’s Word changes us, we don’t change it!
5. Most people have flawed thinking because they depend on sources other than God for their instruction.
a. Almost from the beginning of time, man developed belief systems apart from God.
b. Stars were given specific names by God and grouped together in constellations. Later elaborate stories were developed identifying stars with mythological characters who were
worshiped as gods.
c. Pagans then and people today base their lives on myths. Definition: Myth – (a) A traditional story of an ostensibly historical event that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon; (b) A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence; (c) An ill-founded belief held uncritically by a group.
d. The Greeks and Romans were famous for their pantheon of gods, created from fabricated stories and fables which were usually connected with various constellations.
e. The modern-day practice of this is called astrology. Many people believe that the stars influence earthly affairs and that the zodiac influences their personal lives.
f. Some consider old wives’ tales to be mild versions of belief systems such as astrology. Most people follow wives tales without ever thinking about them. For instance:
Ø All wishes on shooting stars come true.
Ø It's good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
Ø If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you’ll get your wish.
Ø A rabbit's foot will bring luck and protect the owner from evil.
Ø Cross your fingers for good luck.
Ø Knock on wood to maintain a favorable status quo.
g. All of these varied belief systems worship and trust something or someone other than God.
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6. The Bible has something to say to believers about this:
1 Tim. 1:3-4 - As I urged [Parakaleo - parakaleo] you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command [PARANGELLO] certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths [MUTHOS - muqos] and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work-- which is by [the object of] faith [doctrine] .
1 Tim. 4:7 - Have nothing to do with profane [BEBELOS - bebhlos] myths and old wives' tales [GRAODES - grawdes]; rather, train yourself [pres. act. Imp. GUMNAZO – gumnazw] to be godly.
2 Tim. 4:3-4 - For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn
their ears away from the truth [sound doctrine] and turn aside to myths.
Titus 1:14 - . . . and pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of
men [human viewpoint] who reject the truth [doctrine].
7. Below are a few popular modern-day notions that the majority of people embrace that are
actually based on myths:
a) The Jews are occupying the homeland of the Palestinians.
b) The Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery.
c) Any view contrary to evolution is not scientific or accurate.
d) Homosexuality is a bona fide, alternative lifestyle.
e) The United Nations is an international organization committed to world peace.
f) The Democratic or Republican party will give us smaller gov. and solve our problems.
g) There is a real possibility for peace between the Jews and the Arabs.
h) Our country was founded on the principle of separation of church and state.
8. The consequences of living a life based on such lies can be devastating, but the worst lie of all
is that we must work our way to heaven.
9. We will look closer at a few of these myths and dispel them with both secular and biblical facts.
This can be a bumpy road to go down because most people are comfortable with what they
believe and do not want anyone rocking the boat. However, the important thing to remember is
what our Lord said, John 8:32 - “you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
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II. EXPOSING MYTHS ABOUT SLAVERY - 139 years after the South’s War for Independence, Americans still struggle with racial issues, and tensions still exist because ignorance yet prevails about the issue of slavery. “No subject [slavery] has been more generally misunder-
stood or more persistently misrepresented” - Jefferson Davis
A. A litany of contemporary ills:
1. Segregation, integration, forced bussing, civil rights movement, race riots of the 60’s,
the Rodney King incident, and the O.J. Simpson trial.
2. Government housing projects, affirmative action, NAACP, the Black Caucus, and reparations.
3. H.R. 891 is a bill before congress right now that would establish a commission to study the
issue of reparations.
4. In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention passed the infamous Racial Reconciliation
Resolution which desecrated the good name and honor of deceased Southern Christians
for their supposed “sins” of slavery and racism.
5. The popular trend today is to lay the ills of black people on “the legacy of slavery.” These ills include a) the fact that there are more black males in prison than in college, b) 68% – 80% of black babies are born out of wedlock c) the leading cause of death among black males is murder by other black males.
6. Because ignorance concerning slavery still abides, a distorted view of the South has developed which demands that everything Southern, flags, heroes, monuments, plantations, and holidays, are subject to condemnation.
7. No longer are Southern armies characterized as fighting to defend home and family from an invader. Now they are depicted as fighting to promote slavery.
8. The incessant drum beat proclaiming that slavery was a vicious evil and a damnable sin has caused many if not most blacks to acquire a sense of entitlement, thinking of themselves as victims deserving special treatment.
9. If anyone dare question the radical abolitionists’ politically correct view that slavery is an evil and a vicious sin, he would immediately be branded as a racist bigot and receive the wrath of the media, academia, and churches throughout America.
. 10. Americans have received such a steady diet of fiction concerning slavery that these lies are now considered truth. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “Roots” are fiction. What we need are facts if we are to be on the right side of this issue.
B. Facts:
1. Enslaving innocent people against their will is a result of the fall of man and has existed in the world since that time.
a) “The idea of slavery was so deeply ingrained in man that no one questioned its
propriety. All nations either endured or enjoyed it.” - A.O. Sherrard Freedom From Fear
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b) Historically, whenever one society conquered another society, the captives were considered
trophies of war and disposed of as slaves.
2. Slavery carried little or no moral revulsion in the ancient world. Slavery was never confined to one race. Vikings enslaved Europeans, Romans enslaved Germans and Greeks, the English enslaved the Scots and Irish, Moslems enslaved Christians, and Christians enslaved Moslems.
3. Arabs enslaved Negroes, white men enslaved Indians, Indians enslaved white men, Indians enslaved Indians, Negroes enslaved Negroes, and on and on it went, ad infinitum. Africans in Africa sold fellow blacks to Europeans, and thousands of blacks owned slaves during the entire course of slavery in America.
4. Slavery also was practiced by people who held divergent religious beliefs including the Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, and Christians.
5. According to the Oxford World Dictionary, the English word “slave” is derived from the word
“Slav”, a Caucasian ethnic group. These people were so often taken into slavery by conquering armies of the Ottoman Empire that from the name “Slav” grew the word “slave”.
6. Slavery existed in New York 117 years before slaves were sold in the South. Slavery was not an invention of the South, in fact, the first attempt to bring about the abolition of slavery was instituted in 1817 with the founding of the American Colonization Society which was organized by slaveholders in the South.
7. The majority of people from both the North and the South believed that emancipation of slaves could not be accomplished without deporting the Africans after they were set free.
The prevalent view of society at large was that the blacks were racially inferior.
8. The driving force behind slavery was an economic imperative, not racial bias. There
was a great demand for manpower to carve nations out of the wilderness of the Western Hemisphere.
9. From 1640 to 1820, more than four times as many Africans as Europeans were brought to the Western Hemisphere and of this total, only 6% were brought to the United States. 94% were taken to Cuba, Brazil, and islands of the Caribbean.
10. Slavery existed in America for a period of 244 years (1641 –1865 ). 135 years of that period were under the rule of Great Britain (1641 – 1776 ), and 89 years were under the rule of the United States ( 1776-1885 ).
11. There are three separate areas in the Constitution of the united states which recognized slavery and allowed it to continue to flourish.
Article I, Section 2 – Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
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Article I, Section 9 – The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
Article IV, Section 2 – No person held to service or labour in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour is due.
C. Slavery and the Bible
1. God desires all men and nations to be free but allows slavery to exist as an expression of man’s negative volition toward His revealed Word. When God gave the law to Moses, slavery was already a part of the human experience, so the Mosaic Law addressed the issue. But this does not mean that slavery was God’s original intention.
2. God’s Word deals with issues such as freedom and slavery, marriage and divorce, so that
man will have divine instruction to handle such issues. Slavery is no more a sin than
divorce is, as long as those involved follow God’s laws.
3. Four types of slavery:
1) Personal Slavery - The ownership of one person over another. * Biblically allowed:
a. *Temporary voluntary servitude, indentured servants - a way to aid the poor and
give them an opportunity to get back on their feet, Ex. 21:2-4, Lev. 25:35-43,
Deut. 15:12-18.
b. * Permanent Voluntary servitude - for those who choose security rather than
freedom, Ex. 21:3-6, Deut. 15:16-18
c. * Temporary involuntary slavery - a thief that could not make restitution was sold
into slavery until he worked off the amount required for his freedom, Ex. 22:1-4.
d. * Enslaving foreigners - Israelites could acquire slaves from pagan countries
and from foreigners residing in Israel, Lev. 25:44-46.
e. Involuntary slavery - enslaving innocent people against their will for profit
is against God’s will and is unbiblical.
Ex. 21:16 - Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.
Deut. 24:7 - If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and deals with him violently, or sells him, the kidnapper must die.
Deut .23:15-16 - If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. 16 Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.
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Lev. 19:33-34 - When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as a native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
2) Civil Slavery - the reduction of an individual’s liberty by an abusive government.
3) Political slavery - the denial by one nation of another nation’s right of self-government.
4) Addiction slavery - a condition that exists when a person’s will is subordinated to his addiction.
4. Slaves were protected under the Mosaic Law as seen through the specific rights listed below:
a. Hebrew slaves had to be set free on Sabbatical years, meaning every seventh year, without
any demand for payment, Ex. 21:2, Deut. 15:12.
b. When a Hebrew slave was set free, he was not to leave empty-handed, Deut. 15:13,14 & 18.
c. Slaves could be punished by striking with a rod, but not excessively. If a slave lost an eye or a tooth because of excessive punishment, he could go free, Ex. 21:26-27.
d. If a slave died from excessive punishment were avenged, the one who was responsible for the death would be liable to the avenger of blood, Ex. 21:20-21.
e. Slaves had the right to be circumcised and then eat of the Passover meal, Gen. 17:12-13, Ex. 12:43-44.
f. One who was not of the priestly tribe, sojourners, nor hired hands, could eat of the sacrifices, but the slave of a priest could, Lev. 22:11.
g. Slaves had some rights and position in the home and could share in the inheritance, Gen. 24:2, Prov. 17:2.
h. Slaves were to rest on the Sabbath like everyone else as the 4th Commandment applied
to everyone, Ex. 20:8-11.
i. Ex. 21:7-11 covers laws designed to protect Hebrew females who were sold into slavery by their family because they were unable to provide for them.
j. Runaway slaves could not be forced to return to their masters, Deut. 23:15-16.
5. The New Testament also gave instructions regarding slaves:
a. Commands are given to both slaves and masters in Col. 2-3:22 – 4:1.
b. Proper conduct for salves is found in I Tim. 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10.
c. Believers in the Church Age are slaves to Christ, Eph. 6:5-9, I Cor. 7:20-24, Rom.1:1.
d. All of these verses use the Greek word DOULOS (doulos) which refers to a slave and not merely a hired hand or servant.
e. Paul was not endorsing the involuntary slavery of the Roman slave system but was
addressing the attitudes, actions, and matters of the heart for Christians who found themselves slave owners or in slavery themselves.
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6. Politically correct spin meisters have done their job well because most Americans today have bought the lie that our forbears, especially those in the south, are not worthy of honor and should be condemned because they either tolerated or participated in slavery. Southerners are depicted as being sadistic maniacs who ruled over their slaves with chains, whips, and brutality. No doubt, there are some deserving of condemnation just as there are husbands today who deserve condemnation because they abuse their wives and children. The following facts are presented to reveal truths that are seldom, if ever, heard. They are not brought out to defend the institution of slavery nor to minimize the suffering that the slaves endured.
a. It was King George III of England that suppressed every legislative attempt by both
Northern and Southern colonies to prohibit or restrain the slave trade.
Quote from Benjamin Franklin 1773 - “A disposition to abolish slavery prevails in North America, that many of Pennsylvanians have set their slaves at liberty, and that even the Virginia Assembly have petitioned the King for permission to make a law for preventing the importation of more into that colony. This request, however, will probably not be granted as their former laws of that kind have always been rejected.”
b. Slavery was part of the social, political, and economical landscape. Most people had the same attitude as Patrick Henry who said, ”As much as I deplore slavery, I see that prudence forbids its abolition.” Slavery could not be eradicated by mandate without calamity falling on everyone, free and slave alike. Gradually, over a period of time, it would be eliminated since it became economically unfeasible.
c. By the early 1860s, slaves were found mostly in the South, and even there, only about
10% of the population owned slaves. Is it fair to condemn the other 90% who did not
own slaves?
d. People today have been led to believe that slavery is a racial issue, but as was noted earlier, all races were involved in slave trade and ownership. This means that it is not fair to single out one race and hold it accountable for the institution of slavery.
e. The treatment of slaves is revealed by letters, tombstones, and interviews with former slaves. Many former slaves voluntarily stayed with their masters even after the war. Example, Ezra Adams said the following after the war:
“De slaves on our plantation didn’t stop workin’ for old mastah, even when dey was told dat dey was free. Us didn’t want no more freedom than us was gittin’ on our plantation already. Us knowed too well dat us was well took care of, wid plenty of vittles to eat and tight log and board houses to live in. De slave, where I lived, knowed after de war dat they had abundance of dat somethin’ called freedom, what they could not eat, wear, and sleep in. Yes, sir, they soon found out dat freedom ain’t nothin’ less you is got somethin’ to live on and a place to call home. Dis livin’ on liberty is lak young folks livin’ on love after they gits married. It just don’t work.”
Former slave Simon Phillips of Alabama -
“People has the wrong idea of slave days. We was treated good. My Massa never laid a hand
on me the whole time I was wid him . . . Sometime we loaned the massa money when he was
hard pushed.”
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Epitaph on the tombstone of an old faithful slave reads:
John – A Faithful Servant and True Friend; Kindly, and considerate; Loyal, and Affectionate; The Family He Served Honors Him In Death; But in Life, They Gave Him Love; For He Was One of Them.
f. Rather than condemning our honorable ancestors who lived in the South for alleged crimes and brutality against slaves, there should be an outcry against the slavery that does exit today in the form of chattel slavery in Africa, child labor slaves in the sweat shops of India and China, and female sex slaves of Southeast Asia.
7. The slavery issue was addressed in 1700 when an anti-slavery tract was circulated
in Massachusetts by Judge Samuel Sewell entitled, The Selling of Joseph, a Memorial.
In 1701 Judge John Saffin, who was a slave holder in Massachusetts and a member
of the same court as Judge Sewell, wrote a reply. Both used the Bible to support
their position as to whether slavery is a sin. That question was a hot topic of debate
then as it still is today. Below is a summery of their published tracts.
1. Judge Sewell assertion - If it was wrong for Jacob’s brothers to sell him into slavery, then it is wrong for Americans to sell Negroes into slavery.
Judge Saffin’s reply - It was against the Mosaic Law (which came later) for any Israelite to sell their brethren. Furthermore, it was not unlawful for Abram to have both bond men and bond women who were either bought with money or born in his house :
Gen. 14:14 – Abram took 318 of his bond men to rescue lot who had been kidnapped
Gen. 21:10, Gal. 4:22 – Hagar was one of Abraham’s bond women
Ex. 21:16 – Cited to prove that Abraham bought his slaves legitimately (no kidnapping)
Lev. 25:44-46 – Cited to prove that it was lawful to acquire slaves from other nations
Josh. 9:23 – Joshua made salves of the Gibeonites for their deception
2. Judge Sewell assertion - All men are sons of Adam and have an equal right to liberty.
Judge Saffin’s reply - 1 Cor. 12:13 - For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. He then refers to the next 13 verses to demonstrate that there are different offices and statuses of believers, and that all were of use but not all equal.
3. Judge Sewell assertion - Since it is a sin to buy and keep Negro salves, owners should set them free without any compensation or reimbursement.
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Judge Saffin’s reply - If a law could be passed that would require slaveholders to free their slaves and they would be fully compensated from the public treasury, which would take nothing less than a miracle, then the Negroes would have to be sent out of the country or else the remedy would be worse than the disease. If there is not some strict course taken with them by authority, they will be a plague to this country.
4. Judge Sewell assertion – Ex. 21:16 - "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death. Judge Sewell’s implication was that anyone who bought or sold slaves should be put to death.
Judge Saffin’s reply - He pointed out that God gave rules for owning slaves in that same
chapter. The implication is that if it is wrong to buy and sell slaves, God would not be giving
rules governing the ownership of slaves.
NOTE: Ex. 21:16 is referring to involuntary forcible servitude whereas Ex. 21:1-11 refers to
indentured servitude which is temporary and voluntary.
| !!!!!! Judge Sewell then proposed some possible objections that might be raised
and then answered them. Judge Saffin replied to these assertions as well.
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| Objection 1 |
! - Blacks are the posterity of Ham and therefore, are under the curse of slavery,
Gen. 9:25-27.
Judge Sewell’s Answer - There is no commission from God authorizing others to execute
the wrath of God on the descendents of Ham. Even if there were, how would anyone know if it would still be in effect today? Furthermore, the curse was on Canaan and Negroes are the descendents of Cush, not Canaan.
Judge Saffin’s reply – Whether Negroes are descendents of Ham or not does not
change the fact that any captives of heathen nations could be acquired lawfully.
| Objection 2 |
- Negroes are brought out of pagan countries into places where the gospel is preached.
Judge Sewell’s Answer - We must not do evil so that good can come of it.
Judge Saffin’s reply - That is no evil thing to bring them out of their own heathen country
so that they may have the knowledge of the true God, be converted, and eternally saved.
| Objection 3 |
- Africans have wars one with another, and slave ships bring lawful captives
that were taken in those wars.
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Judge Sewell’s Answer - He compares the African wars with the enmity between Joseph and
his brothers (a domestic dispute). He also stated that slaves could be taken by unjust victors in
war, but to buy those slaves would make one a party to wrongdoing. An unlawful war cannot
make lawful captives.
Judge Saffin’s reply - It is impossible to know the circumstance and the rightness behind
taking spoils of war, including slaves, in distant lands.
| Objection 4 |
- Abraham acquired slaves without contracting any guilt.
Judge Sewell’s Answer - Until the circumstances of Abraham’s purchase be recorded, no
argument can be drawn from it. Lev. 25:46 is quoted to demonstrate that it was strictly
forbidden for Israelites to buy and sell one another for slaves. Furthermore, we are to love our
neighbors and apply the golden rule of Matt. 7:12.
Judge Saffin’s reply - If we knew the circumstances of Abraham’s purchase to be lawful and
good, then we must conclude from your argument that it would be legal and right to buy and own
slaves. Lev. 25:46 has no bearing on the buying and selling of infidels from a heathen country.
Moreover, being good and respectful to others does not mean that we are to love and respect all
men alike. I may love my servant well but my son better. I may see a neighbor in need, but that
does not mean that I must also give him much of my estate in order to make him equal with me.
[A slave owner obeyed Matt. 7:12 by treating his slaves in a fair and respectful manner. ]
8. In Cincinnati, Ohio in 1845, two Presbyterian pastors had a debate which is very informative to us today. They debated over the issue, “Is Slave-Holding In Itself Sinful, And the Relation Between Master And Slave a Sinful Relation?” Rev. J. Blanchard took the position that it was, and Dr. N. L. Rice took the position that it was not. It should be noted that this debate took place 145 years after the two judges in 1700 addressed these issues in the tracts we just studied.
It must be remembered that the theme of the debate was not about sinful acts that took
place within the system of slavery. It was about whether slavery in itself and the relationship
between slave and master is a sin.
Dr. Rice maintained that American slavery ought never to have existed, but the slave-
holding States did inherit that evil, and the important and difficult question was, “how shall the evil be removed?” How far were individuals required to go to restore slaves to freedom under the circumstances that existed then? Should people be bound to enrich a man who was reduced to poverty by others?
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Rev. Blanchard began the debate with a 40 minute diatribe about the cruelties and unjust treatment of slaves from the Roman Empire era to the present. Then, Dr. Rice made two important distinctions:
1) There is a vast difference between owning slaves and the abduction of innocent people
into forced servitude by slave traders. One is sinful and one is not.
2) One should not condemn an institution or a relationship as being sinful because there
are those who abuse it. The question is not how much men can sin in a relationship, but
whether the relationship is in itself sinful and whether a man is to be denounced as a
heinous sinner simply because he is a master
“Magnifying the sins committed in this institution does not change the fact that this relation may exist, and does, in multitudes of instances where cruelty and oppression do not exist. Consequently, the sin is not in the relation itself. . . . In denying that slave-holding is in itself sinful, I do not defend slavery as an institution that ought to be perpetuated.”
Dr Rice also pointed out that rehashing accounts of slave abuse will no more prove that slavery is a sin than rehashing accounts of wife abuse proves that marriage is slavery. There are many good Biblical reasons for Christians to be opposed to slavery, but that is not what the debate was about. Dr. Rice freely said that he was opposed to slavery. The question being debated: “Is slavery itself a sin?”
We, like Dr. Rice, must always go to the Bible for answers. The Bible cannot be legitimately used to defend slavery or to prove that slavery is a sin. It regulates, and therefore ameliorates the evils associated with it. God cannot associate with sin. Therefore, His regulations for slavery proves that it is not a sin. Defending the truth about slavery is not the same as defending slavery. The problem is that man-made philosophies have become the standard of morality rather than the Word of God. “He who discards this criterion [the Bible], makes man a reasonless brute and the world an atheistic chaos.” Rev. Danby 1879
The father of President Woodrow Wilson, Rev. Joseph K Hopkins, and many others recognized that those who denounce slavery as a sin and vilify slave-holders do what the apostles never did.
Being a legalistic self-righteous person who takes on a superior attitude and emotionally calls something a sin, which the Bible does not, can cause great harm. The politically correct liberals of today are the modern-day radical abolitionists of the past. The ones who are hurt the most are the ones that they claim to help. The supposed “legacy of slavery” is presented as a legitimate reason to receive preferential treatment or to receive something for nothing. This is a lie resulting in enmity between the races and leaving those who believe it in perpetual poverty.
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9. The Southern War For Independence was fought over “states’ rights,” not slavery.
1. One of the numerous controversies centering around the states' rights issue was caused by the enactment of federal tariff laws of 1828 and 1832. During 1860, the imports of the South were valued at $331 million; those of the North were $31 million. The federal laws caused the South to carry a tax burden that was10 times heavier than the North’s.
2. The Southern states seceded from the Union in the same manner that they had acceded to it which was by the action of a convention of the people of those states. The right to alter or abolish the form of government they lived under was never surrendered by the people of the states that acceded to the new Union.
3. The terms “Revolution,” “Rebellion,” and “Rebels” should not be associated with the Southern states that seceded from the union of sovereign states known as “these United States of America.” They had as much right to dissolve the political band that con-nected them to a tyrannical government as their ancestors did in 1776. The Declaration of Independence says, “it is their right, it their duty to throw off such government.” It also states, “that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government . . .”
4. Is it logical to praise the slaveholder and slave trader’s secession in 1776 and then to condemn the same action in 1861? There is one major difference between the secess-ionists of 1776 and 1861: The secessionists of 1861 formed a government that categori-cally denied any additional importation of African slaves into the new nation being formed.
5. As long as the people retain the right to alter or abolish their government, they remain free. When that right is withdrawn, they are no longer free. When Abraham Lincoln demanded the use of troops to enforce the “rights” of the Federal government, he, in effect, destroyed the very foundation of American civil liberties, government by the consent of the governed. Conquest has replaced consent as the foundation of American government. The U.S. Supreme Court, in 1869, in the case of Texas vs. White, declared secession unconstitutional.
6. Abraham Lincoln’s intention was to preserve the Union, not to free the salves. He said, “My paramount objet in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery.”
Quote from Andrew Lytle, The Virginia Quarterly Review, 1931, “If Lincoln loved the Union, he was responsible, more than any man, for its destruction, for he consciously violated the Constitu - tion. The war was not a war of slavery versus freedom; it was a war between those who preferred a federated nation to those who preferred a confederation of sovereign states. Slavery was the ink thrown into the pool to confuse the issue.”
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A Confederation, in political terminology, is a union of sovereign states, each of which is free to act independently. It is distinguished from a federation in which the individual states are subordinate to the central government. The New England Confederation, formed in 1643 and lasting for more than 40 years, is the earliest example of confederation in America. During the American War For Independence, the former colonies set up a confederation and stated its purposes in the Articles of Confederation.
7. President James Buchanan, in the last days of his administration, declared that the federal government would not forcibly prevent any secessions. Lincoln, in his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, rejected the right of secession.
8. Before Abraham Lincoln became president, he acknowledged that slavery within any state was legal and that the rights to property of the slaveholders would be respected. A clash developed over whether slavery would be allowed in the new states entering the Union. His position was that the Federal government had the authority to decide that issue, whereas the leaders of the South saw the people of the state as the ones who should make that decision.
10. To their shame the 150th assembly of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1995 passed the infamous Racial Reconciliation Resolution which defamed and slandered the good name of Southern Baptists for the past 150 years. The duped delegates regurgitated on cue the liberal, politically correct propaganda about the institution of African servitude and life in the Old South.
ERROR #1 - “Our relationship to African-Americans has been hindered from the beginning by the role that slavery played in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
TRUTH #1 - From the very beginning, Baptist churches in the South, both black and white Christians, have worked and worshiped together much closer than anywhere else in the world. According to historian Francis Butler Simkins, true Christian love was displayed more often during the times of slavery than in modern times of freedom.
ERROR #2 - The resolution charged that Southern slavery was “particularly inhumane.”
TRUTH #2 - Dr. Robert W. Fogel’s work on slavery in the Old South was so complete and impressive that it won him the Nobel Peace Prize of 1994. In his book, Time On The Cross, he demonstrated that nowhere in the Western Hemisphere were slaves better treated and cared for than in the South. What is more shocking is that he showed that slaves of the South were treated better than were the free blacks of the North.
ERROR #3 - “Racism has led to discrimination, oppression, injustice, and violence.”
TRUTH #3 - Of course the above statement is true but not in the context it was presented which leveled racism only on those of fair complexion. The Southern Baptists’ “admission” to the guilt of racism and slavery did not promote good will, however it did promote the demand for more minority set-asides, affirmative action, and reparations by the likes of “Rev.” Jesse Jackson,
14 “Rev.” Al Sharpton, and “Rev.” Louis Farrakhan. The only result of kowtowing to black militants and other liberals is the further decline of any positive relationship between the two cultures.
ERROR #4 (a Biblical error) - According to the resolution, slavery denies the existence of the absolute equality of humankind, and therefore, slavery must be a sin. According to this logic it follows that no one should complain when he or she is ordered by the government to pay his fair share for the horrors of that most sinful of institutions.
TRUTH #4 - Only God in His Word defines what is a sin and what is not. If slavery is such a diabolical sin, it should be easy to find a clear-cut, “thus saith the Lord” repudiation of it in the Bible. No one in the Southern Baptist Convention or anywhere else is able to do that because there is none. What is easy to find in the Bible are numerous laws pertaining to the treatment of slaves for their protection. Rules of conduct for both master and slaves abound in scripture as well as in the Tenth Commandment where slaves are listed along with other property.
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III. EXPOSING THE UNITED NATIONS
A. The Bible condemns internationalism.
1. Gen. 10:5 & 20 divides Noah’s offspring into nations.
2. Gen. 10:32 - These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in
their nations. And of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
3. Gen. 11:4-8 - And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top
(may reach) unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth. 6) And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one
people, and they have all one language. And this is what they begin to do. And
now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 7) Come, let
us go down, and there confound their language that they may not understand one
another's speech. 8) So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face
of all the earth. And they left off building the city.
4. Gen. 17:4-6 - As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shall be a
father of many nations. 5) Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but
thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6)
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings
shall come out of thee.
5. Acts 17:26 - From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit
the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact boundaries
where they should live.
Rev. 13:7 - The beast will be given authority over all people
Rev 13:8 - All who dwell on the earth
Rev. 13:16 - All will be required to take the mark of the Beast
Rev. 17:1 - The Beast shall sit on many waters (all people)
Rev. 17:2 & 8 - Those who dwell on the earth
Note: All of these references speak of a future, globalistic, One World Order.
B. Origin and history of the United Nations
1. The League of Nations of 1918 was a precursor to the United Nations. The US congress was
wise enough then not to be a part of it. Edward Mandell House was the conniving adviser to
president Woodrow Wilson in 1921 who was influential in steering the country toward the
globalist ideology.
2. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president and Cordell Hull was appointed his
Secretary of State. He recommended the creation of a Presidential Advisory Committee
on Postwar Policy. The committee was the planning commission for the UN, and 10 of
the 14 members were members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
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3. In 1944, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came into being, and
this is when the UN Charter was drafted by a devout communist by the name of Alger Hiss
at a place called Dumbarton Oaks.
4. The draft was agreed on by the allies at the Conference of Yalta in February 1945 and
became official at a conference in San Francisco, June 26, 1945. Alger Hiss was a member
of the CFR and was the Secretary General of the conference. He was later convicted of perjury
for lying about having provided government documents to a communist espionage ring. The
Senate ratified the charter by a vote of 89 to 2 on July 28, 1945.
5. The ink on the UN Charter was not even dry when the charter for the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) was drafted. William Benton,
then assistant to U.S. Secretary of State, told a UNESCO meeting in 1946, “We are at the
beginning of a long process of breaking down the walls of national sovereignty. UNESCO
must be the pioneer.”
6. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea and the UN adopted Resolution 83 recommending assistance to South Korea. President Harry Truman answered the call and sent American troops into war. For the first time, the purpose was containment and not victory. It was called a “police action” to avoid complying with the Constitutional mandate of a congressional declaration of war.
7. In 1961, President John Kennedy’s administration produced a publication that entitled
“Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World”. It called for disarmament to a point where
no state would have the military power to challenge the progressively strengthened UN.
C. Information about the United Nations
1. Quote from Encarta Encyclopedia: “The UN today has the same basic purpose and structure as it did when it was founded in 1945. Its primary purpose and the greatest benefit to its members is to maintain world peace. It is an international organization of countries created to promote world peace and cooperation. Its mission is to maintain world peace, develop good relations between countries, promote cooperation in solving the world’s problems, and encourage respect for human rights.”
2. If that were the true purpose of the UN, then it should be considered a miserable failure. There are more wars and more hostility now than before the UN was established.
3. Matt. 24:6 - You will keep on hearing of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that
you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
4. Nowhere in the Constitution of the United States of America is there any provision for our federal government participating in an organization of nations that ignores national sovereignty as its agenda for world government pushes forward.
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5. What is easy to find are many warnings from our founding fathers about foreign entangle-
ments and permanent alliances that would draw us into conflicts that could result in our undoing.
6. Quote from Representative Ron Paul – “The choice is clear; We either follow the
Constitution or submit to the UN global governance. If we continue down the uN
path, America as we know it will cease to exist.”
7. We have ignored these warnings and are now involved in global politics and economic unions
that are not accountable to our nation. Our Congress has illegally transferred its Constitutional
power to our president, and he has transferred that power to the United Nations!
8. The United Nations is NOT about:
1) inalienable rights
2) personal freedom
3) national sovereignty
9. What the United Nations IS about:
1) social-engineering
2) wealth transfer
3) no accountability - Americans do not elect any representatives to the UN
4) leveling the playing field
5) lies and deception
6) consolidation of power
7) corruption and back room deals
8) rampant anti-American rhetoric
The fact that we are acting unilaterally in Iraq but justify our invasion by insisting that we are enforcing UN resolutions demonstrate how confused our leaders and people are.
It appears that our national security has become a matter of international consensus.
The UN has intruded into our environmental, trade, labor, tax, and gun laws.
The UN has no authority to make laws that bind American citizens because it does not derive its powers from the consent of the American people. UN resolutions and edicts are not legitimate laws, and we are not bound by them.
The internet has made it possible to communicate with anyone around the world thus rendering nation-state boundaries that much more irrelevant.
The WTO, IMF, World Bank, International Criminal Court, Global Taxation
A pledge of allegiance in a 3rd grade class in a Wisconsin public school – I pledge allegiance to the world, to care for earth, sea, and air To honor every living thing with peace and justice everywhere.!
It is reported that the 3rd grade class in Jonsville Elementary school in Blaine, MN that the teacher, Ms. Klophochy, took down the American flag and made the kids pledge to the earth instead.
One of the Colombine murderes on the day of the killings was wearing a T-shirt with the inscription
“NATURAL SELECTION” on the front. He was a big believer in evolution.
“I myself have little doubt that in England it was the Theory of Evolution that changes us from a Christian to a pagan nation.” Sherwood Taylor “Geology Changes The Outlook”
Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which was to become the foundation concept supporting the theory of evolution. Darwin’s theory holds that environmental effects lead to varying degrees of reproductive success in individuals and groups of organisms. Natural selection tends to promote adaptation in organisms when necessary for survival. This revolutionary theory was published in 1859 in Darwin’s now famous treatise On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. When Charles Darwin published The Descent of Man in 1871, he challenged the fundamental beliefs of most people by asserting that humans and apes had evolved from a common ancestor.
Darwin was independently wealthy and never had to earn an income.
4 GREAT QUESTIONS AND 2 WAYS TO ANSWER THEM
1. Who am I?
2. Where did I come from?
3. Why am I here?
4. Where am I
5. gong when I die?
Humanists regard the universe as self existing and not created.. Evolution is the foundation of humanism. Do humanists believe I a supreme being? Yes. Man is the supreme being.
If evolution is true, Who owns the world? How can one know right from wrong? “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” Psa. 24:1
EVOLUTION AND RACISM
“The Origin Of Species by Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of Favored Races In the Struggle For Life” Darwin was a racist. He thought natives were just advanced animals.
Henry Gairfield Osborn Museum curator of the New York Museum mid 1800 “The standard of intelligence of the average adult Negro is similar to that of the eleven-year old youth of the species Homo sapiens
Charles Kingsley was an Anglican Priest who promoted Darwin “(Negros) are poor brutes in human shape and they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts.”
Darwin thought women were inferior, he said “A married man is a poor slave, worse than a Negro.”
“The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shown by man’s attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman -whether requiring deep thought, reason or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands, the average of metal power in man must be above that of woman.
“Thus man has ultimately become superior to woman, poetry, strength, voice , etc.”
He married his 1st cousin as he believed in inbreeding because he wanted to produce a “superior stock”. They had 10 children. Mary died shortly after birth, Anne died at age 10. Rober was born retarded and died a 9 months, Henrietta had a serious breakdown at age 15. 3 of his 6 other sons were ill so often that Charles regarded them as semi-invalids.
EVOLUTION AND COMMUNISM
Karl Marx – “My objective in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.”
Karl Marx tried based his pholosophy of Communism on the theory of evolution. He dedicate his book, Das Kapital, to Charles Darwin because he believed so strongly in evolution.. He wrote on the title page of one of his books, “To Charles Darwin from a sincere admirer, Karl Marx 1873..” Karl Marx was a lazy bum. He had 6 children and 3 died of starvation in infancy, and two others committed suicide. When he died in 1883 only six people attended his funeral. Part of his legacy was the Communist Manifesto.
ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Evolution, in biology, the complex of processes by which living organisms originated on earth and have been diversified and modified through sustained changes in form and function. Although the fact of evolution is scientifically accepted as underlying modern biology, theories that concern themselves with the processes of evolution continue to be debated and refined.[1]
Between about 700 and 570 million years ago the basic body plans of modern animals were developed during a remarkable burst of evolutionary diversification. The earliest body fossils consist chiefly of impressions belonging to jellyfish and their allies, a rudimentary group. At about the same time, however, fossil burrows appeared, signaling the evolution of burrowing worms with considerably more advanced body structures. Then, beginning just before 570 million years ago, skeletons developed independently in a number of animal lineages. Fish arose from a wormlike lineage of early invertebrates that evolved a stiff dorsal cord and, eventually, an articulated internal skeleton that improved swimming efficiency.[2]
In order for complex animal communities to develop, plants must first become established to support herbivore populations, which in turn may support predators and scavengers. Land plants appeared about 400 million years ago, spreading from lowland swamps as expanding greenbelts. Arthropods (some evolving into insects) and other invertebrate groups followed them onto land, and finally land vertebrates (amphibians at first) rose from freshwater fish nearly 360 million years ago. In general, the subsequent radiations of land vertebrates made them increasingly independent of water and increasingly active. Dinosaurs and mammals shared the terrestrial environment for 135 million years; dinosaurs may well have been more active, and certainly were larger, than their mammalian contemporaries, which were small and possibly nocturnal. The mammals, however, survived a wave of extinction that eliminated dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, and subsequently diversified into many of the habitats and modes of life that formerly had been dinosaurian. For a theological interpretation of the origin of life, see Creation.
CREATION STORIES
Many creation myths focus on the idea that primal elements were separated or made distinct from one another during the act of creation. In ancient Egyptian mythology, creation began when a mound of land first distinguished itself in the midst of the primal waters. In the biblical Genesis story, Yahweh's creation of the world is described mainly in terms of separating—for example, the separation of light from darkness, and of sea from land. In other creation mythologies, the raw material for making the world derives from a specific source. A widespread Native American myth tells of the descent into the depths of the ocean of a so-called earth-diver, an animal—often a turtle—who brings back mud from which the world is fashioned (see Native American Religions).[3] . . . In mythic history, the earliest era of the world is usually the closest to perfection—a Golden Age or Garden of Eden—with later phases showing the progressive degeneration of the world as it grows more distant from the original creative impulse.[4] Contributed By: Rev. Bruce Vawter
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