Vine & Fig Tree
At War with Churches

I'm going to assume you are just curious. I don't believe you're really the Janet Reno of the institutional church.

If you're a pastor, and most of the Kingdom work accomplished by your church is accomplished outside your church building on Monday-Saturday, we probably aren't that far apart.

On the other hand, I have been told by church pastors that I am not even a Christian. There are many men who feel a need to label and excommunicate. I expected a few people to come to this page; I have met quite a few clergymen who feel that the sheep are dumb and cannot be trusted to come to a knowledge of the truth without "ordained" successors to the Apostles. It's amazing -- if not frightening -- that anyone would click on the jump to this page.

Whatever darkness existed during the "dark ages" did not exist because the Bible was believed by the masses (as secularists might have us believe), but because the institutional church sought to keep the Bible from the laymen, resisting even the translation of the Scriptures into the popular languages. This darkness has not been completely  eradicated.

Vine & Fig Tree is dedicated to the proposition that as more and more people engraft the teachings of the Bible onto their hearts, and begin obeying God's Law in every area of their lives, the institutional church will disappear. The institutional church is the greatest hindrance to the world-wide spread of the Gospel, the "good news" of global, spontaneous obedience to God's Law.

Get your Book of Church Order ready; prepare the Inquisition Chambers; there's more.

Ideas Have Consequences

So wrote philosopher Richard Weaver. Accordingly, we set forth our ideas, and explain the actions we are compelled by our ideas to take.

Our Ideas

THE MEANING OF VINE & FIG TREE

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, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted;
And I will make her that halted a remnant,
and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.

Micah 4:1-7

Vine & Fig Tree is considered by most institutional churches (who have considered it at all) to be extremely heretical, even dangerous. This is because of the way we interpret Micah's prophecy:

Our interpretation of this passage in

7 words
500 words
1000 words (and lots of links)

As you read this prophecy, you find

Seven "Archetypes"

1. Victory

In other words, "preterism," "triumphalism."

No "rapture," No "Great Tribulation," No rebuilt temple

2. Postmillennialism

In other words, "Gospel Hope"; "Universalism"; "Catholicism."

No racism, No Armageddon,

3. Theonomy

In other words, God's Law; Old Testament too; politicians not excused.

4. Pacifism

No "patriotism," No "Just War," No Vengeance; No "Capital Punishment."

5. Patriarchy

In other words, No State; No Church; ecclesiastical and political "anarchism." Virtue inculcated at home.

6. Agrarianism

In other words, "Distributism,"

No inflation-financed industrialism

7. Communism

In other words, "community," "personalism," "extended family,"

Clicking on any of these seven archetypes will begin a chain of links which flesh out each theme, showing the "Vine & Fig Tree" vision for life in Christ's Kingdom.

But don't take our words for it. Another 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."

Stated in broad propositions, Micah's prophecy teaches us about:

1. The Kingdom: Christ established it at His First Advent.

      Micah 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. Satan has been bound. By destroying this slavery, Christ established His Kingdom. If we accept His gentle yoke, we escape the harsh taskmaster of addiction to sin. Christ's plan is not to "rapture" His people, but to empower them to "overcome" sin and the demonic State. He is not "coming soon" to establish an Empire in Jerusalem.
      Churches preach defeat, slavery, impotence, and self-centeredness. "Shepherds" paralyze and castrate "the sheep." Liturgy and rituals replace dominion. Spontaneous obedience to the Blueprints of Life is muzzled by "doctrinal" diversions.
      Politicians legislate dependence and serfdom. Flag-waving replaces dominion, vengeance replaces mercy and "voting" soothes the conscience.
      The Media tempts us to self-worship. Meditation on God's Law is crowded out by "entertainment." Mousketeers graduate to cocaine.
      Yet whenever the Gospel has been believed and fleshed-out, culture has blossomed. Science, the arts, schools, hospitals, "justice, mercy and faith," are the products of Christ's Kingdom.
      Christ has established His Kingdom. Find out more.

2. Postmillennialism: 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)
      Churches teach that everything is getting "worse and worse." Reforming lives and nations is thought to hinder the "return of Christ." Sectarianism and ecclesiocentrism is their sorry substitute for a Christianized Earth.
      Bureaucrats stalk the borders to keep "illegals" out. "My country right or wrong."
      Christ's Kingdom will grow to cover the planet. Find out more.

3. Theonomy: 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.
      Churches teach that "we are under grace, not law." They still enforce their own laws and traditions, but not God's. The rates for shoplifting, perjury, adultery, divorce, and abortion are as high in churches as among non-Christians. Governments seize billions, murder millions, destroy continents; churches are silent.
      Judges assert that law and justice are "culturally relative." All cultures are equal — except Christian culture, which is "oppressive." It becomes politically incorrect to condemn massive human-rights violations in so-called "left-wing" dictatorships.
      Biblical Law will reconstruct all 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.
      Churches support wars, bless bombs, cheer executions. When institutionalized violence is approved by the pulpit, it is practiced by the people.
      Organized govenment has murdered an average of 10,000 people per day throughout the 20th century. More killings are planned. Copy-cat street gangs protect their "turf."
      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.
      When families begin exercising independent dominion, the "shepherds" question their loyalty to the church. Inquisitions keep would-be patriarchs docile and "submissive."
       Leviathan is at war with Jefferson's "yeoman farmer." Free men of independent creativity and political skepticism have been replaced by consumer zombies easily managed by the State.
      The Christian Family will abolish the Church-State hybrid. Find out more.

6. Garden-Land: Return to Eden

      When families put Biblical Law into practice, militaristic industrialism is replaced with contentment and a harmonious relationship with the land.
      When Christians attempt to live debt-free, church finance boards call them "unrealistic" and "impractical." Industrialist peonage is nurtured.
      The Federal Reserve Board rewards debt, impersonalism, and cut-throat competition.
      Ecological destruction is a result of polluted hearts.
      Christian Patriarchy will restore Edenic conditions world-wide. Find out more.

7. Community: The Extended Family

      Just 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."
      Modernist church hierarchies pressure Christians who question birth control, HMO births, mass-schooling, and Secular Humanist degrees. Christians who practice hospitality, sanctuary, and home Bible-study threaten ecclesiastical monopoly.
      The nuclear-armed State is no less hostile to the decentralized provision of social wholeness.
      The Creeds say "I believe in the Community of Saints." Find out more.

Why the Institutional Church must be Abolished.

Let us take apart Micah's prophecy theme-by-theme. We will see the overall theme of global-human-Divine Reconciliation emerge.

I. The Kingdom:
Judgment of the World by the Saints of God

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

Many Christians are not participating in The Christmas Conspiracy because they believe that they must wait for Christ to come to earth a second time. The Old Testament Prophets foretold (and Christ's Apostles confirmed) that the Messiah's Kingdom would be established when the following had taken place:

1. Satan is bound and his power to deceive the nations curtailed (Revelation 20:1-3).
2. The Eternal King is enthroned upon the Throne of David (Psalms 2 and 110).
3. Believers are anointed as priests and kings to reign and rule with the Messiah (Isaiah 61:6; 66:21; Revelation 5:10).

The Christmas Conspiracy Extends Christ's Kingdom

Explore First Archetype: Victory

[Back to Archetypes]

II. The Gospel:
The Inevitability of the Conspiracy

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." "Extremist fringe" today; dominant culture tomorrow.

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.

Optimism: The Gospel ("Good News") is predestined to succeed.

What is the Gospel? Is "Vine & Fig Tree" a "new gospel"? NO! The word means "Good News" The Good News is victory. "The Gospel" is the predestined success of "The Christmas Conspiracy" (Galatians 3:8).

The Christmas Conspiracy is Rooted in Sovereign Grace

[Back to Archetypes]

III. God's Law:
Blueprint for Overthrow and
Reconstruction

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.

Theonomy vs. Autonomy

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

Theonomy in Christian Ethics

Liturgy vs. Law

"Spirit" vs. Law

Law or "Fruit of the Spirit"?

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"

Living Faith

The Origin of Greasy Grace

Getting in Touch with Your Feelings

Emotions in Psalm 119

Can you be a Christian if you don't "worship" God?
Can you "worship" God if you don't worship His Law?

The Gospel Message is a Word from God. Every Word of God is Law.

The Christmas Conspiracy is Grounded in God's Law

[Back to Archetypes]

V. The Family: The Nursery of Global Reconciliation

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.
Micah 4:2-4

In the Garden of Eden there was the Family. There was no priesthood, no State.

All human beings are created in families. Patriarchy is an inescapable concept. If the Christian pater does not train his family in the Ways of Peace, he will be oppressed by a "paternalistic" State.

The Institutions of Church and State are unBiblical. They reflect rebellion against God's Law.

The whole history of man as recorded in the Bible is the history of sinful rebellion against society as created in the Garden of Eden, and the construction of institutions based on coercion and violence. It is the history of Politics vs. Patriarchy.

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.

The Christmas Conspiracy Is the Product of the Home

[Back to Archetypes]

VI. The Garden: Paradigm of Reconciliation

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.

"The Mountain of the Lord" is a reference to the Garden of Eden.

The original Garden had the following characteristics.

• Fellowship in the Presence of God
• Springing forth like rivers of water
• Flowing from a mountain plateau
• Producing abundant vegetation
• Decorated with precious jewels

The Life of Man was characterized by the following:

• A Mandate to Exercise Dominion
• over a Fruitful Garden
• gaining Knowledge
• in Harmony with Nature
• enjoying the Freedom to Glorify God
• in a Family-centered life
• lasting many healthy years
• as Stewards over the creation
• Planted Securely on the Land.

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 will soon post links to the anti-parallels:

Instead of water	Thirst
Instead of the Mountain of the Lord	a desert Valley
Instead of the Botanical Garden	a Wilderness
Instead of Precious Stones	Clay, wood, stubble, asphalt
Instead of God's Presence	Separation, "Hell on earth," alienation

The Life and Nature of Man are also ruined by Man's rebellion

Instead of Dominion Man	Neanderthal Man
Instead of a Garden	"The Concrete Jungle"
Instead of Knowledge	Mythology
Instead of Harmony with Nature	Conflict, Pollution
Instead of Freedom to Enjoy and Glorify God	Economic Scarcity
Instead of The Family	"Singles," "Careerism "
Instead of Long life-spans	Sickness, Death
Instead of Unmolested stewardship over land	Serfdom, slavery
Instead of Stability	Wandering, Unpredictability

The Christmas Conspiracy   is a conspiracy to restore Edenic conditions throughout the globe.

"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?

Vine & Fig Tree is a movement to restore Edenic conditions throughout the globe.

The Christmas Conspiracy Embraces All of Creation

[Back to Archetypes]

VII. The Remnant: Reconciliation in Community

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.

The Christmas Conspiracy Creates Community

More Ideas

A Random Assortment

People who refuse to be categorized as either "left" or "right" click here

NEW!

The Christmas Conspiracy

Perfect Holiday Reading!

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.

Have You Seen . . . ?

Answers to your questions!

A Vine & Fig Tree FAQ

Previews of coming pages!

An Outline of Vine & Fig Tree WWW Pages!

Our Actions

In our House of Hospitality

In the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

C.A.U.S.E.

On Radio

Our Prayers

Ideas Need Friends

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" and the manipulative rituals of the churchmen. 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.

Directory of our pages.

Write to:

Vine & Fig Tree 12314 Palm Dr. #107 Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240

Send email to:

VFTinc@aol.com