- Our First Assigned Text:
The most important work in the history of America and Western Civilization, obviously, is the Bible.
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- The Bible is the most important book in the history of the human race.
Atheists might disagree with that statement at first, but consider the fact that TIME Magazine named Adolph Hitler the "Man of the Year" in 1939. Not that Hitler was the nicest man, but Hitler was the most important man that year and had the most significant impact on the world.
Some atheists might then say the Bible has had a negative effect on the world, by trapping its readers in superstition and non-reason.
But simply compare those nations where the Bible is freely distributed with those nations where the Bible is banned. The Bible brings social order, "civil rights," lower crime, charity and welfare, science and practical arts, and gives nations the highest standard of living. It is almost impossible for any thinking person to imagine what the world would be like if the Bible had never been written .
Despite opposition from tyrants and dictators over the centuries, the Bible has continued to be preserved, translated, printed and circulated. It is a truly miraculous book.
- George Washington read the Bible an hour every morning.
- Then another hour in the evening.
- America's Founding Fathers knew it well.
- It takes 11 minutes a day to read the Bible
from cover to cover in one year.
- Maybe you've already read the Bible --
- but you read it as a religious book.
- A "devotional" book.
- A book to "inspire" you.
- A book to help your "self-esteem."
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- We're going to read the Bible as
- marching orders from General Headquarters.
- We're going to read the Bible as a
- non-religious book, as a
- textbook in political science and economics.
- For example,
- We're going to pay close attention to
- what the Bible says about
- inflation and fractional reserve banking,
- which led the Framers of the Constitution to say
- "No state shall make anything but gold or silver
a tender in payment in of debts."
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- Americans in 1776 knew what the Bible said about economics, law, political science, and more.
- Americans today do not.
Christianity is not just religious devotionals.
Christianity is a worldview that affects every area of life.
- To the left and the right you can see a list of contemporary issues which the Bible addresses directly and clearly. During the next 365 days, you'll see these issues in the Bible like America's Founding Fathers did, and like you've never seen them before.
| In addition, you're going to see the story of the Bible like you've never seen it before. Many Christians today believe the story of the Bible goes something like this: |
- God created planet earth;
- God put man on earth to be a good steward;
- Satan tempted man;
- Man rebelled against God, choosing to be his own god instead,
- Satan now controls the world.
- Even during the future "millennium," Satan leads a rebellion at the end, and the whole glorious millennium falls apart.
- Since Satan and man refuse to play God's game by God's rules, God has to take his cosmic football and go home.
In other words, Satan wins.
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Pretty dismal story, isn't it?
Sure, God sent His Son, who died on the cross, so that some of the players can be forgiven for their rebellion and go home with God when He takes His football and runs away from certain defeat on earth, but God's original purposes for man and the creation were thwarted by Satan, the ultimate victor.
The Bible doesn't teach this.
The Bible says our purpose as human beings is to turn a fallen wilderness into a Garden-City. We can do this because we have been re-created by Christ. The New Jerusalem is the "Vine & Fig Tree" society.
Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Daniel spoke of the first Christmas, the birth of the Messiah in the days of the Roman Empire. That barbaric, debauched empire was destroyed, and the Kingdom of Christ began growing like a mustard tree, like leaven, like a field (Matthew 13). The Emperor Justinian began Christianizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and in the West kings like Alfred and Ethelbert made the 10 Commandments the basis of new legal systems. The "Common Law" began, with a Christian foundation, and eventually found its way into the Constitution of the United States, "a Christian nation." Though there have been ups and downs, the
progress of Christianity has been undeniable -- at least to those who have been taught the facts of history.
Most Americans in the 21st century have not.
If you enroll in the Samuel Adams Coaching Program, you will learn the story of the "Vine & Fig Tree." You will learn that the Bible says the purpose of the first Christmas was that "the knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14). This has been going on for 2,000 years now. This is a wonderful story that isn't being told.
Some people sincerely believe that the Bible says that everything is going to get worse and worse until God finally destroys everything and then starts over. (Why He would want to go through failure again is not disclosed.)
You will read a different story in the Bible when you enroll in the Samuel Adams Coaching Program, and have a coach pointing out things in the Bible that you may have missed.
Perhaps you're reluctant to pay your tuition for a class that teaches something very different from what you've always heard. So we'll give you the entire year-long curriculum. We want to make it clear that simply reading the class outline in a week, or even a month, will not give you the same result as you will have if you enroll in the Samuel Adams Coaching Program and study a little bit each day, think about it, study more the next day, pray about it, and take an entire year to complete your reading of the “Vine & Fig Tree” story. It just won't be the same.
But you wouldn't be a good shopper if you bought a product without knowing what it delivered. So if you're doubtful about our agenda, here are two ways to survey the story of the Bible that you'll learn in the year-long Samuel Adams Coaching Program.
The first way is a 12-day study entitled "The 12 Days of Liberty." It's modeled after the "12 Days of Christmas," which take place from December 25 to January 6. You've never heard the Christmas message like this:
This study is obviously not a review of the entire Bible, though many other parts of the Bible are reviewed besides the Christmas narratives in the Gospels.
Here, then, is a review of the entire Bible. Again, it is no substitute for the Berean model of searching the Scriptures daily. And reading them all in an afternoon is not the same as reading one a day and thinking about it prayerfully over a period of time. But just so you can see an example of the worldview of the Samuel Adams Coaching Program, here are 95 Bible Studies, patterned loosely after Martin Luther's "95 Theses," somewhat-humorously called “The 95 Days of Christmas”:
- Welcome to “The 95 Days of Christmas” | View
- The Importance of Luther's 95 Theses | View
- The Origin of These 95 Theses | View
- Introduction: Taking the Bible Seriously | View
- Thesis 1: Christ the Word | View
- Thesis 2: Christ the Creator | View
- Thesis 3: Creation, not Evolution | View
- Thesis 4: Omniscience, Predestination, and Providence | View
- Thesis 5: “Self-Evident Truths” | View
- A. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE THE FALL | View
- Thesis 6: The Biological Basis of Patriarchy | View
- Thesis 7: The Dominion Mandate | View
- Thesis 8: Patriarchy and “the Extended Family” | View
- Thesis 9: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Sanctions of the Covenant | View
- Thesis 10: The Priority of Agrarianism | View
- Thesis 11: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Mountain | View
- B. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE THE FLOOD | View
- Thesis 12: The Fall Of The Angels | View
- Thesis 13: The Fall of Man | View
- Thesis 14: The Purpose of Cain’s “Suspended Sentence” | View
- Thesis 15: Cain’s City: The Autonomy of the State | View
- Thesis 16: The Demonic Roots of Violent Tyranny | View
- C. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE SINAI | View
- Thesis 17: The Post-Flood Absence of The Institutional Church | View
- Thesis 18: The Patriarchal Power Of “Capital Punishment” | View
- Thesis 19: Nimrod: The First Politician (Post-Flood) | View
- Thesis 20: “Vine & Fig Tree” vs. Political Slavery | View
- Thesis 21: Demonic Activity At Babel | View
- Thesis 22: The Division of The Nations | View
- Thesis 23: Evangelism In The Old Covenant | View
- Thesis 24: “Vine & Fig Tree,” “National Defense,” And Military Socialism | View
- Thesis 25: “Vine & Fig Tree” and “Sacraments”: Circumcision | View
- Thesis 27: “Vine & Fig Tree”, Precious Metals, and Money | View
- Thesis 26: The Myth of The “Separation Of Church And State” | View
- Thesis 28: Salvation is Political | View
- D. “Vine & Fig Tree” UNDER MOSES | View
- Thesis 29: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Resistance to Tyranny in the Early Days of the Old Testament | View
- Thesis 30: As With All Angelic Activity, No State Action Is Coincidental or Random | View
- Thesis 31: Ceremony, Ritual, Liturgy, And The “Pedagogical Law” | View
- Thesis 32: “Vine & Fig Tree” and “Sacraments”: Passover | View
- Thesis 33: Patriarchs And “Elders” | View
- Thesis 34: The Need for a Pedagogical Legal Structure | View
- Thesis 35: Angels And The Pedagogical Legal Structure | View
- Thesis 36: The Promised Land | View
- Thesis 37: The Temporary Character of The First “Church Officers” | View
- Thesis 38: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Temple | View
- Thesis 39: Patriarchy and Education | View
- Thesis 40: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Oaths | View
- E. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE RISE OF THE STATE | View
- Thesis 41: The Character of “gods” | View
- Thesis 42: National Security Without a State | View
- Thesis 43: The Prohibition of Monarchism | View
- Thesis 44: The State as the Answer to the Prayers of Rebels | View
- Thesis 45: The Inferiority of Old Covenant Typological Mediators | View
- F. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND PROVIDENCE : THE STATE | View
- Thesis 46: Romans 8:28 and The State | View
- Thesis 47: God’s Sovereign Ordering of Every State | View
- Thesis 48: The State Serves God by Sinning | View
- Thesis 49: The State As Sanctified “Servant”/“Deacon”/”Minister” | View
- Thesis 50: The State Does Not Serve God Self-Consciously | View
- Thesis 51: Only One King Self-Consciously Serves God | View
- Thesis 52: Judgment of the State in Heaven and Earth | View
- Thesis 53: Moloch-Worship and the Nature of Idols | View
- Thesis 54: War, Capital Punishment, and “The Sword” | View
- Thesis 55: The Throne of David | View
- G. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE MESSIAH | View
- Thesis 56: Statism At The Time Of Christ | View
- Thesis 57: Kingship, Citizenship, and The Gospel | View
- Thesis 58: The Civil Authority of The Pastor: Christ The Shepherd | View
- Thesis 59: Jewish Opposition To The Kingdom | View
- Thesis 60: Christ’s Binding of Satan | View
- Thesis 61: True Power vs. Political Power | View
- Thesis 62: Agrarianism As Environmentalism | View
- Thesis 63: Christ’s Ascension to the Throne of David | View
- Thesis 64: The Camaraderie of “Church” And State | View
- Thesis 65: Fox News and the Coming of the Kingdom | View
- Thesis 66: The Anointed King vs. Political Kings | View
- Thesis 67: Jesus The Nazarene | View
- H. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE EARLY HOME-CHURCHES | View
- Thesis 68: Extremism Vs. Neutrality | View
- Thesis 69: Sons of God and Pedagogues | View
- Thesis 70: Judgment and the Church-Courts of Christ | View
- Thesis 71: The Apostolic Church and the Spread of Power | View
- Thesis 72: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the House-Church | View
- Thesis 73: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the “Sacraments”: Baptism | View
- Thesis 74: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the “Sacraments”: “The Lord’s Supper” | View
- Thesis 75: Self-Ordination | View
- Thesis 76: Salt and Statism | View
- Thesis 77: Political Authority and Kingdom Citizenship | View
- Thesis 78: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Resistance to Tyranny in the Last Days of the Old Covenant | View
- Thesis 79: Taxation, Kingdom Citizenship, and Overcoming Through Suffering | View
- Thesis 80: Violence | View
- Thesis 81: Vengeance | View
- Thesis 82: Creationist Anarcho-Socialism and Darwinian Archo-Socialism | View
- Thesis 83: Pedagogy and The Powers | View
- Thesis 84: The End of Archists: The Pedagogues Judged by the Church | View
- Thesis 85: The Last Days of the Old Covenant | View
- I. “Vine & Fig Tree” IN “THE MILLENNIUM” | View
- Thesis 86: “The Millennium” | View
- Thesis 87: “Ruling with Christ” | View
- Thesis 88: Salvation as Light and Social Healing | View
- Thesis 89: Edenic Restoration | View
- Thesis 90: The New Heavens and New Earth | View
- Thesis 91: The Unconverted In the “Millennium” | View
- Thesis 92: The Last Acts of Earthly Archists | View
- Thesis 93: The City of God | View
You need to go through the entire year-long program to appreciate these studies. You do yourself a disservice if you try to judge any one of the studies without studying the entire series. Real change will take place when you work through the entire Bible systematically, daily, prayerfully, thoughtfully, over the course of a year. The change in your thinking -- the change in your worldview -- will not come about because we forced you or tricked you. You will experience those "Aha!' moments when the lightbulb goes on and you're never able to look at the Bible the same way again.
The significance of most of these studies will become clearer after you become acquainted with the four other works that we'll be covering in the Samuel Adams Coaching Program. |
