Apostasy

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 31 Jan 2024

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

coreyjmahler.com

@CoreyJMahler

    Woe

    aka Eschatologuy

    @treblewoe

      By the time Josiah, King of Judah, noticed that pagan worship practices had crept into the land of Judah — and even into the Temple itself —, apostasy, wickedness, and idol worship were rampant. The Temple was filled with altars to and symbols of false gods, the area around the Temple and around Jerusalem was filled with centers of false worship, and the valley adjacent to Jerusalem even saw the sacrifice of children to demons. Undoubtedly, these false beliefs and false practices did not creep into Judah all at once — Satan brought them in bit by bit.

      The apostasy of Judah was not the first time humanity lost the Word of God (although perhaps none have done this as literally as Judah forgetting the actual scroll somewhere in a pile of rubble in the Temple); by the time of Judah’s apostasy, Israel (the Northern Kingdom) was already apostate and in the process of being eradicated by the Assyrians. We see the same happening all over the world as the sons of Noah lost the Word of God over time — some certainly faster than others. And, of course, the entire world, save Noah and his immediate family, had lost or rejected God’s Word by the time of the Flood.

      Today, the churches face a similar crisis as that which faced Josiah: We are beset on all sides by false worship, and false shepherds and wolves have even brought these false beliefs and false practices into the church. We have fallen so far that supposed pastors, priests, and teachers will recoil when presented with the words of God. This does not mean that there is no hope, but it is surely a call for repentance and prayer. Josiah would not see the destruction of Judah, which God promised as recompense for their wickedness, but his grandson would.

      Let us not be like the wicked Northern Kingdom or the apostate Southern Kingdom.

      Joel 2:12–14 (ESV):  
»“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,  
  “return to me with all your heart,  
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  
  and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  
Return to the LORD your God,  
  for he is gracious and merciful,  
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;  
  and he relents over disaster.  
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,  
  and leave a blessing behind him,  
a grain offering and a drink offering  
  for the LORD your God?«

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      Transcript

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      True Religion

      Corey J. Mahler on Wed 10 Jan 2024

      Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:59:15 — 228.8MB) | Embed

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      Hosts

      Corey J. Mahler

      coreyjmahler.com

      @CoreyJMahler

        Woe

        aka Eschatologuy

        @treblewoe

          Man is, by nature, religious. The Atheist or the agnostic is no less religious than the Buddhist, the Muslim, or the Christian. The question is not whether or not a man is religious, but which God or gods he worships. As Christians, it is incumbent on us not just to recognize this reality, but also to recognize how it plays out in our world, in our culture, and in our own lives.

          We may believe that because we attend church on Sundays (perhaps even also on Wednesdays), read our Bibles, and do all the things that Christians are supposed to do that we have no idols or that we have not fallen for any of the idols of our day. But is this true? When we examine our beliefs in light of Scripture, we may find that we have been indoctrinated into certain beliefs by the world. To hold such false beliefs is to have an idol.

          Today, we find that even pastors and teachers have fallen for some of these idols — and will even defend them more vigorously and more vehemently than they will defend the Word of God. And so we turn again to the genealogy of ideas. What do we believe and why do we believe it? And, more importantly: What should we, as Christians, believe?

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          Transcript

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          Capitalist Idolatry

          Corey J. Mahler on Wed 15 Nov 2023

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          Hosts

          Corey J. Mahler

          coreyjmahler.com

          @CoreyJMahler

            Woe

            aka Eschatologuy

            @treblewoe

              Of all the idols of modern man, Capitalism may be one of the most challenging to overcome. Not because the wickedness of Capitalism is not manifest, for it is (and we will demonstrate this in today’s episode), but because it has been sold as the only alternative to Communism — a system so wicked that no Christian can possibly support it. Yet the choice is not binary, and those who would claim that it is seek to mislead the Christian into supporting a system that is, in point of fact, anti-Christ.

              It is the lack of concern for one’s neighbor — a feature built into the Capitalist system and inextricable from it — that should immediately raise alarm bells for the Christian man. Under Capitalism, it is the maximum extraction of profit (itself a dubious category, insofar as it is a vague term) that serves as guiding principle, and yet this is an alien and hostile thing to the Christian system of ethics and morality. Need it even be said that the extraction of maximized profits runs diametrically counter to the second-greatest commandment:

              Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

              Throughout the pages of Scripture, God repeatedly states His concern for the poor, the needy, and the exploited, and yet Capitalism relies, in no small part, upon the extraction of profits from those very categories of the most vulnerable. Ours is not a Marxist critique of Capitalism, but a Christian one. The central question: Is Capitalism compatible with Christianity? We answer in the negative.

              Mammon is an old god, an idol served by many men from may nations across many centuries. The love of money is not the root of all evils, but, in the words of Scripture, it is certainly the root of many evils, and, in fact, may serve as the stumbling stone upon which faith may founder:

              »For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.«
              — 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)

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              Show Notes

              See Also

              Further Reading

              Parental Warnings

              None.

              Transcript

              The transcript for this episode can be found here

              Other transcripts can be found here

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