Advocating
A Return toof
So wrote philosopher Richard Weaver. Accordingly, we set forth our ideas, and explain the actions we are compelled by our ideas to take.
The Name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the Prophet Micah. We turn to the Law and the Prophets because we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and must therefore be our Authority. If you don't view the Bible in the same way, you should begin here. If you're willing to listen to the Prophet Micah, here is what he said:
And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills
And the peoples will stream to it.
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.
And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
"In that day," says the LORD, "I will assemble the lame,
I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation;
So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever."
Micah 4:1-7
One way to look at this passage is to examine Micah's prophecy word-by-word. It's very revealing. It's part of "A Vine & Fig Tree FAQ."
Another way is a thematic approach. As you read this prophecy, you find
Clicking on any of these archetypes will begin a chain of links which flesh out each theme, showing the "Vine & Fig Tree" vision for life in Christ's Kingdom.
Stated
in broad propositions, Micah's prophecy teaches us about:1. The Kingdom: Christ established it at His First Advent.
The Bible says man was created in a Garden, "the Mountain of the Lord." We rejected God's Providence because we wanted to "be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). In our poverty, we sold ourselves to the demonic slave-traders of the polis.
Jesus paid the price necessary to "redeem" us (buy us back) from the slave-traders. By destroying this slavery, Christ established His Kingdom. His plan is not to "rapture" His people, but to empower them to "overcome" the demonic State. He is not "coming soon" to establish an Empire in Jerusalem.
Christ has established His Kingdom. Find out more.
2. Catholicism: It is a global Kingdom; a New Earth.Jesus promises that His Kingdom will spread across the globe, and will be global, or universalistic, including all nations, all peoples, all races. Though the "dominant culture" only reluctantly admits it, Christianity has leavened the loaf, and the dough is rising. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9)
Christ's Kingdom will grow to cover the earth. Find out more.
3. Law: Man's law will be replaced by God's Law.This global spread of Christ's reign will be in terms of obedience to Biblical Law, which is Christ's Standard of Love, Justice, and Holiness. We do not adjust our interpretation of the Bible to fit our culture; we reconstruct our culture according to the Blueprints of the Bible.
Biblical Law will reconstruct human society. Find out more.
4. Peace: "Swords into Plowshares."Biblical Law teaches attitudes of virtue, reconciliation, and service; when mature, these qualities beat "swords into plowshares," disarming the heart of the individual and the polis. Decentralization replaces institutionalization.
Non-violent Christians follow the Prince of Peace. Find out more.
5. The Family: Home of God's global Shalom.The Family is the root and center of Kingdom growth -- overthrowing the violence of the State, abstaining from the sycophancy of the Church. Vine & Fig Tree means a return to Biblical Patriarchy -- and then new growth in terms of this family-centered paradigm.
The Christian Family will abolish the Church-State hybrid. Find out more.
6. Garden-Land: Return to EdenWhen families put Biblical Law into practice, militaristic industrialism is replaced with contentment and a harmonious relationship with the land.
Christian Patriarchy will restore Edenic conditions world-wide. Find out more.
7. Community: The Extended FamilyJust as we were adopted into the Family of God, Christians extend their families, bringing in the solitary and abandoned. Christians do not practice "rugged individualism." The "nuclear family" is culturally sub-Biblical. Living in extended-family communities, Christians exercise dominion and resist the pressure of worldly peers who spout the myths of the pre-Christian "principalities and powers."
The Creeds say "I believe in the Community of Saints." Find out more.
Let
us take apart Micah's prophecy theme-by-theme. We will see the overall theme of global-human-Divine Reconciliation emerge.And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills
Micah 4:1
The New Testament clearly states that Jesus lived, died, and rose again in "the last days" of the Old Covenant order. His last act under the Old Covenant was the destruction of the Old "House of the Lord" (Matthew 24) and the establishment of a new House, a new Mountain (Daniel 2:35,44; John 4:21,23).
The Old Testament Prophets foretold (and Christ's Apostles confirmed) that the Messiah's Kingdom would be established when the following had taken place:
Christ accomplished all these things at His First Advent. NOW is the time to begin fulfilling our mandate (Genesis 1:26-28) to exercise dominion under Christ.
Christian Conciliation Extends Christ's Kingdom
Explore First Archetype: Victory
And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And the peoples will stream to it.
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
Micah 4:2
We sometimes decide whether or not to follow Christ based on whether it's popular. We don't want to be "different." We should realize that what is important is the long-term, and in the long run, Vine & Fig Tree Christianity will be "mainstream." "Fringe" today; mass movement tomorrow.
Optimism: The Gospel ("Good News") is predestined to succeed.
What is the Gospel? Is "Vine & Fig Tree" a "new gospel"? NO! It is the True Gospel! It is the "Good News." The Good News is victory. "The Gospel" is the predestined success of "the Christmas Conspiracy" (Galatians 3:8).
Catholicism: The entire planet -- all races, all cultures, all languages -- will be governed by Christian principles.
Roman Catholicism: A Contradiction in Terms. Ecclesiocentrism: racism; statism.
Postmillennialism or Apostasy? Why postpone "the Rapture" by working for Global Reconciliation? Man's work of reconstruction is backed by the Power/Promise of the Spirit.
The Great Commission vs. the Wimp Commission
Hal Lindsey: Passé Prophet of the Wimp Gospel
Appendix: A Scripture Checklist of Conspiratorial Success
Christian Conciliation is Rooted in Sovereign Grace
Explore Second Archetype: Catholicism
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:2
The whole Bible -- including the Old Testament -- is God's Law-Word.
From Moses to Malachi, God sets forth an unchanging standard of Justice, Mercy, and Faith (Matthew 23:23). When faithfully taught and obeyed, observance of the Law of God mends the torn fabric of life. Bringing our lives under the total jurisdiction of Christ is the key to social renewal, not reforming the lives of others through the impersonal violence of statist bureaucratic regulation. Biblical Law is God's pattern for peace, justice, and harmony.
The Comprehensive Scope of God's Law: Every Area of Life, Every Activity
Obedience in Life pleases God more than Ritual and Sacrifices in Church
A Slave's View of Law and Politics
Legal Obedience and the Gospel
Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is
- love,
- joy,
- peace,
- longsuffering,
- gentleness,
- goodness,
- faith,
- meekness,
- temperance:
against such there is no law.
"Love" vs. Law
The Impossibility of "Legalism"
Christian Conciliation is Grounded in Law
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.
And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Micah 4:2-4
Biblical Law teaches us to pray and work for peace: personally, locally, globally.
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: The State is institutionalized violence.
Obedience to Biblical Law will eliminate "the State." Justice is altruistic, not adversarial.
The Glory of God, not the Glory of the "Fatherland"
Militaristic Industrialism or Decentralized Harmony? Swords into Plowshares
Christian Conciliation is the Discipling of the Nations
Explore Fourth Archetype: Peace
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Not Priesthood, nor Statecraft: The Family is God's Central Institution.
Training Ground for Morality, Forgiveness, Self-Discipline, Competence.
Obedience through the Family eliminates tyranny, protects property.
Institutions such as Church and State were formed in rebellion, not faith.
Christian Conciliation Is the Product of the Home
Explore Fifth Archetype: Family
And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the hills
And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
"Deep" Creationism vs. Evolutionism / "Deep Ecology" / Fascist Genocide
Dominion vs. Domination: The Model of Christ or The Survival of the Fittest?
Culture vs. Commerce: Salvation by Grace or by the Machinations of Man?
Agrarianism vs. Industrialism: Covenant Blessings or Humanistic Idolatry?
In general, each of the characteristic Blessings of the Garden and of Man's Life in the Garden are reversed as man rebels against the Lordship of the Creator. We see the anti-parallels:
The Life and Nature of Man are also ruined by Man's rebellion
Vine & Fig Tree
is a movement to restore Edenic conditions throughout the globe.Christian Conciliation Embraces All of Creation
Explore Sixth Archetype: Garden
Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
"In that day," says the LORD, "I will assemble the lame,
I will gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation;
So the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
Patriarchal Communities: Beyond the "Nuclear Family" and "The American Dream."
The Weak and Illegal: Standing Against the Principalities and Powers
Perseverance of The Saints in Community
Encouragement from Believers vs. Social Peer Pressure
Social Darwinism vs. Personalism
Christian Conciliators Resist the Accuser
Explore Seventh Archetype: Community
People who refuse to be categorized as either "left" or "right" click here
In the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
On Radio
Our Prayers
No, this isn't "Let's stay inside and be glum because Christmas is 'a pagan
holiday.'"
This is "Followers of the Babe born in a feeding trough are plotting to topple all
Empires."
The Conspiracy is exposed here.
A Vine & Fig Tree FAQ
An Outline of Vine & Fig Tree WWW Pages!
So writes the author of this webpage. My name is Kevin Craig, and sometimes I feel like the loneliest guy in the world. I was formally excommunicated from the "Religious Right," but as a Bible-believing Calvinist I am not comfortable with the anti-"Religious Right," even though for the last 10 years the "radical leftwing" Catholic Worker movement has been a large part of my life.
I have this gut feeling that there are a lot of other people like me; people who are terrified at the emerging secularist dictatorship ("The New World Order"); but uncomfortable with the cold machismo of the militia-minded "Reconstructionists." If you find the "Vine & Fig Tree" vision attractive, please write me: Kevin4VFT@aol.com.
Updated November 17, 1997.
Vine & Fig Tree
is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and charitable organization.
A word to "Feminists."
We defend "patriarchy."
If that strikes you as offensive and threatening, you should explore the rest of this
site. You will find that your definition of "patriarchy" was given to you by the
very institutions opposed by Vine & Fig Tree.
In our experience we have found two types of people who might classify themselves as "feminists." If you hate men and children, and hope to arm yourself with the violence of the State in order to bring about your vision of social order (a socialist system of gun-wielding matriarchs), you will definitely be challenged by Micah's vision of Vine & Fig Tree. If politics, guns, condoms, and shouted slogans don't interest you, you are probably in the right place.
Our definition of "patriarchy" differs from many who oppose that term, because we are pacifists, anarchists, and anti-institutionalists.
Q. What kind of "patriarchy" can exist in a context of anarchism, pacifism, and decentralism?
A. One you should explore with an open mind; open to ways of thinking which are so old, they appear new.
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