Against the justice of the Churchians [I Cor 15]

One of the useful new terms is the Churchian. This is a person who wants the honours of the church and the income and the status more than the gospel. They will often say what society wants, for they are afraid of giving offense. Their courage and witness follows liberal talking points.

They have forgotten the gospel, for they preach it not, instead talking of Justice and Tolerance.

Churchians are liars and deceivers. They worship the god of Babel, not the Christian God. They serve the world, not Jesus Christ.

The political church is heretical. The political church has always been heretical. For they consider the king of this world as more important than the gospel. The term Churchian thus has a utility. We can use it to label the Gollums, and distinguish them from the gospel.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

(1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ESV)

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

(Matthew 11:1-6 ESV)

We are not to take offense in the teachings of Christ. We are not to take offense: for to take offense is to lose the fundamentals. That we are guilty and damned without Christ. If we dilute this doctrine we lose the faith in the political noise.

This should enrage us. John Wright suggests that we cleanse ourselves with the use of faggots and stakes, for he loves the gospel, and hates those who try to turn it into a limb of the Labour Party, or Fascists, or Democrats.

It is at times like this I wish for the return of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith to secular power, so we can start burning heretics again.

Christ and His disciples taught unambiguously to obey the civic magistrates in all things except when they commanded the worship of idols. The idea of decriminalizing illegality is the opposite of sacred and ancient Christian teaching two thousand years old and counting.

And as for those who would call on Christ to support their local and parochial political causes, to hell with them. Using the name of the Lord in vain also violates a commandment.

The reason we no longer have an Inquisition relates to three things.

1. The Inquisition leads to a politicized church, and this tends to heresy. The Roman office that defends the faith and provides the holy inquisition is needed if you have state churches, for there will be nepotism, there will be people choosing the church as an alternative political career, and there will be a great tendency to say “Gott Mit Uns” even when the ovens roar.
2. The religious wars of the 17th century ended with this compromise: you could be a loyal subject to your King or citizen of your republic regardless of which side of the Tiber you were on. The Nation-State is a modern invention, made as a solution to religious wars, and such a state wants nothing to do with doctrine or heresy, particularly as, in these days, most leaders believe only in power.
3. The Church is effete. We need not the state to proclaim a brother in error. We need but our courts and consistory. If you are Roman, then the Pope has a duty to remove teaching licences and order priests and monks to a silent monastery to contemplate their errors, or to shut corrupt institutions. If you are in any church, then you need discipline and heresy trials. (And yes, my church has had one in my lifetime: we need to have some more). We are too compromised to use the keys, and judge truly. Yes, this is a weak argument, and Yes, this should not be the case. A healthy church casts our heretics: the Churchians would promote them.

What I find — I cannot speak for the Romans here, which is one reason I quoted John Wright — is that the Churchians tend to want the staff positions. They go into the para-church organizations, and destroy them. Focus on the Family is now a vector for feminist memes that promote divorce. Many aid organisations now talk about relative poverty and political action instead of feeding the truly starving.

And by your fruits you will know them. The Churchian leaves behind destroyed marriages, division, and a shrinking, dying church. The gospel heals the sick, gives reconciliation, and preachers to the poor. May you not be offended by the gospel of Christ.