| Why Christian Anarchism is so important
1. Jesus Commanded His Followers to Be Anarchists |
Vine & Fig Tree is a Biblical phrase which speaks of a day when we beat "swords into plowshares" and every family holds their property without fear of conquest. In the Garden of Eden there was the Family. "The State" did not exist. The Prophet Micah speaks of this day: when Edenic conditions will be restored throughout the earth. This means the disappearance of "the State."
You probably view the phrase "Christian Anarchist" with incredulity. A person who claims to be an "anarchist" cannot possibly be a Christian, you think. The "Vine & Fig Tree" brand of Christian Anarchism is a rigorously Biblical anarchism. We believe in the historic views of the Inerrancy of Scripture. We are six-day creationists and 5-point Calvinists. We strongly and enthusiastically hold to the first 20 chapters of the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647).
And yet we believe the Bible nowhere commands men to form "the State," and everything the State does is a violation of God's Law. And as "Theonomists," we take Biblical Law very, very seriously.
Your first question is likely to be: "But what about Romans 13?"
Romans 13 is the most disastrously misinterpreted Biblical text in the history of Western Civilization. Romans 13 says "the powers" are "ordained" by God. As Calvinists we believe everything is "ordained" by God, including the demonic "powers," of whom the Apostle Paul says we are to "wrestle against" (Eph. 6:12). God "ordains" evil, and the State is the institutionalization of evil. Christians are not to resist evil by fighting evil with evil. This is the message of Romans 12. Not only are Christians not to resist evil in the form of an isolated bully, Christians are not to return evil to the greatest form of evil in the world: The State. This is the message of Romans 13. Here might be the first place for you to begin:
- Vine & Fig Tree's Romans 13 Home Page
- The most disastrously misunderstood Biblical text in history!
If you desire more assurance that we as Christian Anarchists are not anti-Christian, please consider the following links:
Nothing is more important in this world than
Christian Anarchism
and destroying the myth of "The Divine Right of Archists"
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When people think of "anarchists" they think of bomb-throwing assassins and anti-property criminals. This is exactly what "archists" want people to think. In fact, more bombs are thrown by "archists" than "anarchists," and more crimes against property are committed by "archists" than common "private sector" criminals. "Archists" have deliberately murdered an average of 10,000 per day in the 20th century. They are planning to murder an additional 15,000 per hour in the next century. |
The opposite of an "anarchist" must be an "archist." An "archist" believes that violence is morally wrong, but violence committed by "the State" is morally acceptable. |
| In 1994 "criminals" committed 7,885 bank robberies, taking $28 million. That same year, "government agencies" seized $2.1 Billion in "asset forfeiture proceedings," often without "probable cause," and often not returned when innocence was proven. Theft by any other name . . . would be called "taxation." |
The crimes committed by those who are called "criminals" cannot come close in number or intensity to the crimes committed by "organized government." |
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Why did God decide to judge the world by flood at the time of Noah? What do you think God hates so much that He would destroy the earth because of it? |
Anarchy Defined
"Anarchy" comes from two Greek words:
(the "n" is added to bridge the two vowels).
"A" means "not" or "without," as in "amoral" (which Christian Anarchists are not).
"Archy" means "head" or "ruler."
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"Monarchy" |
"Oligarchy" means a small group rules over all. |
"Rule" classically means to "tax," "imprison," "conscript" and "declare war."
"Anarchists" believe that no human or group of humans should "rule" over other humans.
For Further Study: "Anarchism" Defined and Dissected
"Anarchism: What Is This Word Our Rulers Hate?"
by Patricia Neill
Some who call themselves "anarchists" say they believe in no law at all. From a Christian perspective, this is an impossibility. In a group of 50 such "anarchists" there will be 50 law-makers and (at least) 50 codes of law. Every such "anarchist" is really just a nascent archist.
When everyone is his own god, his own law, you have multi-archy, or poly-archy.
You may have chaos.
You may have terror.
But you do not have the absence of archism, which is what "anarchy" literally means.
"Anarchy" is best defined as the absence of a "State," a "political" system, or a "civil government."
"Christian Anarchism" is the view that Jesus should be our Law-giver,
Christian anarchists believe that society is more orderly, harmonious, and prosperous when people are committed to Jesus Christ and His Word, rather than to the arbitrary, shifting decrees of Secular Humanism and fiat law.
A Christian is commanded to love his enemies, not "bomb them back to the Stone Age." A Christian is commanded to obtain life's necessities by voluntary exchange, not by levying a "tax." A Christian cannot be a part of "the State." A Christian cannot become an American citizen.
The classic passage in which Jesus forbids us to be "archists" (and thereby commands us to be "anarchists") is Mark 10:42-45
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our word "anarchist." Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists," and that means we are to be "an-archists." In fact, God hates archists.
You're bound to find the word "archist" from time to time in Vine & Fig Tree web pages. But it's not a word you're likely to find in any dictionary. It was a word that was created to make a point.
People sometimes criticize Vine & Fig Tree for being "anarchist." What they fail to realize is that Jesus commanded His followers to be "anarchists." He did this when He told them not to be "archists," but since no one knows what an "archist" is, they don't understand why true Christians are "an-archists."
Here are some more verses which use the word "archist." Do YOU want to be an archist?
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
1 Corinthians 2:6-8 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. {7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, {8} which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
| Romans 13:1-3 Let every soul be subject unto the higher exousiai [pl.]. For there is no exousia but of God: the exousiai that be are ordained of God. {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the exousia, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. {3} For archists are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the exousia? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: | Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against exousiai, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Colossians 2:15 |
Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the archists were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the archist of this world be cast out.
Archists attempt to convince us that when things don't go the way we would like them to go, we can resort to violence to change matters. Even if nothing will be changed by violence, that's OK, because making them suffer who made us suffer is called "justice." Archists thus believe in institutionalized vengeance.
The Bible clearly links violence and rulership. The Bible says Israel rejected God when they opted for archism (1 Samuel 8). Much of the Old Testament Scriptures describe this archist rebellion, denounce the violence and death it caused, and record the prophets' message of judgment from an anti-archist God. Whole books in the Bible chronicle the violence of the kings. God hates this violence-archism nexus, and when His patience is crossed, He will destroy all those involved in this "patriotism."
| Genesis 6 Now it came to pass, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. {4} There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. {5} Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. {11} The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. {12} So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. {13} And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. |
Above all previous centuries, the 20th century is characterized by:
But most Christians don't care about violence. Most Christians don't care about archism. They only care about "personal peace and affluence." They're just waiting around for the rapture, and if they can skim a little pork off the top of the archist barrel before they go, all the better. Their archist apathy makes God puke (Revelation 3:16).
Since Christ is the Prince of Peace, it follows that Christians are Pacifists (from the Latin word for "peace"). And since the State is institutionalized violence, it follows that Christians are anarchists.
| The most important reason for being a Christian Anarchist is not merely to point a finger at the bad things archists do, like killing, stealing, kidnapping, and committing other acts of violence. The most important reason for being an anarchist is the effect archism has on us. We hear the philosophers and theologians praise Jesus as a "great teacher," and everyone gives lip-service to the Sermon on the Mount. But when a pagan dictator threatens to raise our gas prices, Jesus takes a backseat to realpolitik. And
everyone learns a subtle lesson: loving your enemies and forgiving one another is all well and good for our "private lives," but for public matters -- the "really important stuff" in "the real world" -- "national security" takes precedence over "the Great Teacher." Thus when someone wrongs us, we don't think twice before saying "I'll sue his pants off!" (See 1
Corinthians 6.)
From a Christian perspective, two things characterize pure religion. They can be summed up in the words of the Apostle James:
Christian Anarchism is the "one pure religion." If you want to be the kind of person who spontaneously and from the heart has the compassion of Jesus, and visits the weak and afflicted, you must become a "Christian anarchist." Your success at treating the most despised members of society with love and compassion is a divine indicator of your allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you treat the "marginalized" and your "enemies" with contempt, those acts will be imputed to your account as though you had personally treated Christ that way (Matthew 25:31ff.). For this reason, it is absolutely vital that you remain "unspotted" by the agenda, mythology, and weltänschauüng of the world of archism. The world-and-life view of archist culture is summed up in these phrases:
It is an impure religion of the worship of self, and the denial of Christ. It is the refusal to love even your enemy, and to follow Jesus to the Cross. It is the religion of Secular Humanism. As a product of government media and schools, this religion has left your spirit spotted and impure. You must get these ideas out of your head if you are to find yourself at Christ's right hand (Matthew 25:34). You must become "unspotted." You must become a Christian anarchist. |
No. Archists are. Archists are in rebellion against the True Source of Law and Order, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. The history of the world and especially the history of America makes clear this correlation:
Here is what a Christian Anarchist looks like after he has joined The Christmas Conspiracy.
This question is often asked after one becomes acquainted with the responsibilities and duties of a Christian Anarchist (like forgiving enemies rather than declaring war on them). We don't want to have to take Christ's Sermon on the Mount "too literally," and we want to justify our vengeance against our enemies by saying "we must be practical," and we usually turn to Romans 13 to do that. Read the chapter in its context (Romans 12).
Romans 13 is no obstacle to Christian Anarchism. In fact, Romans 13 proves Christian Anarchism:
Do you really want to know what Romans 12 and 13 are about? Then see our
This page is no joke. The 21st century will be an incomparable blood-bath if Christians do not repudiate the political mythology of institutionalized vengeance. Christians brought liberty to the Western world by questioning the universally-accepted belief in "the divine right of kings." Now is the time for a "paradigm-shift" of equal magnitude. Our concept of social order should depend on Godly families, not institutionalized political violence.
Interrogatory in Federal Court by Christian Anarchist
The whole Bible teaches Christian Anarchism. From cover to cover. Most Christians are familiar with only a few passages in the Bible, those on "salvation," or maybe a few passages on "the rapture" or "the second coming." Most Christians have never read the history of the rise of the State or the idolatry and infanticide of the kings, and the Prophets who so thoroughly denounced them.
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 Family is the basic social unit of a prosperous society.
Obedience through the Family eliminates tyranny, protects property.
The Institution called "The State" is unBiblical. It reflects 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 Humanistic power: coercion and violence. It is the history of Politics vs. Patriarchy.
200 million people in America claim to be Christian. If all of them would
the State would disappear. |
One reason many of these Christians don't actively work for Micah's Vine & Fig Tree society is that they believe God has predestined the world to get worse and worse. This is an unBiblical view.
A second reason many Christians don't actively work for Micah's Vine & Fig Tree society is that they believe God has "ordained" the State, and that God commands us to have a State, and abolishing the State would be contrary to His will. This too is an unBiblical view. It begins with an erroneous interpretation of Paul's Letter to the Romans.
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