Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude, v. 3-4, NRSV
These words are believed to be those of the early Christian Apostle Jude, written sometime before 70 A.D. since he does not mention the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Even at that early point in the history of Christianity, an apostle had to step in and warn a group of Christians about the possibility that intruders, whose intentions are to use the church for their own purposes, not only existed, but were already out there, figuring out how to get inside a church, and get control.
In the first century of Christianity, its primary enemies were trying to snuff it out, before it got going. The Jewish Sanhedrin's interest was to protect its own institutional religious structure, since most of the early converts to Christianity came from Judaism. The claims of Jesus to divinity as the Christ, or Messiah, was blasphemy to them, and there were multiple attempts to subvert the Christian church in its early years which came out of the synagogues in the same communities. Gnosticism, which appeared in the late first century of Christianity and proved to be a particularly complicated and destructive heresy, may have been the object of Jude's assertion of the doctrine of the humanity and deity of Jesus as the Christ.
The Romans, in the first century of Christianity, were well on their way to considering that Caesar, whoever held that position, was divine. That, of course, clashed with the Christian teaching that Jesus was both human and divine. It became the source of much more intense persecution of the church, prophesied by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation, which lasted over two hundred years. As church history and wisdom points to the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," by the time Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, about half of the population of the Roman Empire was Christian.
And that started a whole new kind of intrusion. Now, instead of attempting to stamp Christianity out, Roman emperors turned to attempts to gain the favor of the church, infiltrating it in order to use its political power to support their reign. When Emperor Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica, making Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire, a whole new intrusion of political power and influence invaded the Christian church. Somewhere in that history, and the thousand years that followed prior to the Protestant Reformation, are the roots of Christian nationalism that now plagues American conservative Evangelicals in particular, making Jude's warning about intrusion and licentiousness as relevant today as it was when he wrote it.
A Cult is Blind to It's Own Heresy and Apostasy
The current strains of Christian Nationalism, which have led to the introduction of Project 2025 as the groundwork for turning the American republic into a Christian nationalist oligarchy, has its roots primarily in the work of reformation theologian Jean Calvin. In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin brings back the Old Testament idea that God, as an infinite and all powerful being, has foreknowledge of the ultimate destiny of every human being. Therefore, there are human beings, who are the highest order of creation, according to the Old Testament narratives, that are chosen for redemption and to receive God's favor by being given grace to forgive their sin and reconcile with God, and those who are chosen for damnation, who, no matter any effort they might make, remain reprobate and unredeemed.
Calvinism has been a persistent presence in many of the Protestant denominations that emerged from the Reformation. It is practiced by Presbyterians, and by the Reformed Church in America. The degree to which Calvinism becomes heresy falls along a very much debated and argued line of interpretation of a few passages of the New Testament, combined with some Old Testament doctrine about the nature of the Jews as God's "chosen" people. The evangelical branch of American Christianity historically considers Calvinism as false doctrine, and in some cases, outright heresy, when the New Testament is exposed to an academic interpretation that makes the words of Jesus himself the criterion by which all other scripture is to be interpreted.
One of the primary influences on what we consider conservative Evangelicals in this country especially, is a theological movement based on a literal exposition of the Bible, ignoring its historical, cultural and theological context which existed at the time of its writing and which is necessary to discern the Christian gospel out of the New Testament, and which is committed to the militant exposure of any deviance. [1] The combination of an over-emphasis on the doctrine of God's sovereignty, against the responsibility of humanity, and the literal interpretation of scripture, using the King James Version rather than any Greek text, has produced a Christian nationalist perspective that has taken over a good portion of conservative Evangelicalism.
And while Jude's warning applies to just such an intrusion of doctrine that is based on a completely faulty premise and interpretation of the New Testament, based on an inspiration theory and interpretation that ignores the criteria present in the words of Jesus, in the development of the Christian nationalists who brought forth Project 2025, I think the application is much simpler.
The intruder identified by Jude is Trump, and MAGA Trumpism. It is that simple.
A Pseudo-Christian Cult That is a Complete Departure from Biblical Christianity
The Christian gospel begins with the Beatitudes, and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, not with the Ten Commandments. In fact, in clarifying his gospel message, Jesus often started out a statement by saying, "You have heard that it was said," and then identifying the misinterpreted or false doctrine, finishing with "but I say unto you," as he corrected the misinterpretation. When he was asked, as an expert, to answer the question, "What is the greatest commandment?" he equated the first and the second, making one single theological concept.
The way that true Christian faith can be identified is demonstrated by a Christian in the way that they treat all other people. In fact, in one gospel account, Jesus went on to define the term "neighbor" in a parable in which he made a Samaritan, a man who came from the most hated ethnic group of the Jewish population of Judea and Galilee, the hero of the story, and the example of one who loved his neighbor, while the villains are the established religion's leaders. Not only was the Samaritan from a hated ethnic group, but because of his identity, to Jesus' Jewish audience, he would also have been a pagan, his idea of who God was being far separated and primitive when compared to theirs, at least in their mind. But the point is clear. "Neighbor" means "fellow human being" and Jesus did not distinguish ethnicity or race as a qualifying factor, nor did he separate "the chosen" from "the reprobates."
Trump's MAGA cult has distinguished themselves clearly by those they hate, and by the cruelty, insensitivity and inhumanity they promote and advocate as a means of handling and controlling those who are the objects of their hate. There is nothing of Christian theology or doctrine in that kind of hatred. They are reflecting the attitude of their leader, Trump, who is yet another intruder bringing licentiousness to the church, using its influence, but denying his own need for repentance, a core doctrine of the Christian faith.
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings and those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our savior, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. I Timothy 2:1-4, NIV
Do you disregard the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience... Romans 2:4, NIV
For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:9
My point here is not to evangelize. It is to point out the blatant, uncontrolled hypocrisy of those who claim that MAGA Trumpism has anything to do with Christianity. Charlie Kirk and Turning Point, who have been at this for about eight years now, have made it very clear that they submit to no Christian authority, but they have created their own pseudo-Christian theology and doctrine, and are using that to support this cult. Conservative Evangelicals are going to pay dearly for this, apparently many pastors and leaders are either unable or unwilling to stop it, and are blind to the fact that this is a movement that is quite anti-Christ in its approach. Some of their church members do see it for what it is, and they are taking the back door out. Trump doesn't have the emotional or psychological ability to show submission to Jesus or to acknowledge his need for repentance. And that, according to correctly interpreted scripture, makes him an anti-Christ.
I didn't say The Antichrist. All of that involves more error in interpreting the Bible than there is space here to cover. I said, an anti-Christ, which the apostle John identifies in his church epistle, I John 4:1-3, and says that the definition of anti-Christ is denying that Jesus is Christ. He says that many of those have gone out into the world. Trump's ego makes it impossible for him to acknowledge Jesus as Christ.
Christianity should not be identified by, or controlled by any politics. It should be the salt and light in culture and society that is its identified mission and purpose. If you are in a church where the pastor is a Trumper, and that gets mentioned in gatherings, then that is a sign that the congregation is apostate, and it is time for you to get out of there. There are plenty of churches and pastors who have not bowed the knee.
[1] A Brief History of Fundamentalism, Shepherd's Theological Seminary, shepherds.edu/a-brief-history-of-fundamentalism
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