I found the "deep state" in the book of Romans. Who is going to tell MAGA?

[Dem4life1970]

It has been hiding in plain sight. I even listened to a preacher who began quoting Romans 13 and conveniently stopped before Romans 13:6.

Their hate for the "deep state" is antithetical to what the Apostle Paul cautioned and counseled the early church about, esp. in the face of a maniacal Roman Emperor named Tr***, excuse me, Nero.

For all of their talk about morals and "principled stands" and their Project 2025 Schedule F plans, I would love to hear how they reconcile their deep state attacks and what Paul says in Romans 13. Just for fun.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2013%3A6-7&version=NIV

[dchill]

1. This is why they pick and choose so carefully.

[iemanja]

2. In reality what they object to is a

rational bureaucracy (Weber). That’s why they want to replace it with political appointments, as characterizes some developing countries. They are committed to the devolution of the American state and America as a whole.

[state of stupid]

3. They are true believers

When the created can recreate the creator in their image whether they believe it or not
they have made themselves God. Republican Jesus anyone?

[Karadeniz]

4. Oh, dear! Ever since the Bible has been translated into more modern languages from the Greek, this and

another of Paul's teachings have been misused by governments and institutional churches to bolster their power. In the Greek, this couldn't legitimately happen. Here, Paul uses the word "archon" for a ruler. In the other Pauline passage, he uses both "archon" and "aeon." Elaine Pagel's book, the Gnostic Paul, goes practically word for word to show all the ways Paul was teaching in a Gnostic atmosphere. So do the gospels, but it's not nearly as easy to spot as it is in Paul. I don't think anyone is saying that most of our scripture writers were full fledged Gnostics, thank goodness. Their cosmologies developed into the most off putting quagmire for understanding that one can imagine. What we can do is compare the heart of Jesus' and Paul's messaging with what was going on at the time with the two main Judaisms, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The latter preached a legalistic/scribal approach to what would garner God's approval. The Jesus and James movement preached that God only favored soul development as expressed by good deeds. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for us; performing good deeds on the Sabbath was fine. His disdain for the P's and S's and scribes is based on their insistence that God is really impressed with how well you can read and follow a recipe.

The words Paul uses, archon and aeon, were Gnostic terms to identify the spiritual beings that had authority over the different levels of heaven. They shouldn't be translated! The Gnostics taught that there was a World of the Source (see Prodigal Son's father) which the perfect, all loving Source power never left (again, Prodigal Son). Almost all the "secret" parables deal with the soul as the mechanism by which creation brings the divine nature down to our corrupt, evil planet. We humans who house the soul are totally necessary to the divine scheme of things!!! But, we have to exhibit godly behavior and values in everything we do. So, Paul is saying that until we, like the Prodigal Son, qualify to return home, our souls will be evaluated by the archons and aeons to determine where we're falling short or if we can rise!!!!

[slightlv]

5. Couldnt your last sentence be

Testimony for reincarnation? I feel politics robbed Peter of his place in the Bible and history. To the point, I think the religion was misnamed. The church is based mostly on Paul's teachings, and he was a man with quite a few hangups... like test of us, to be sure, but not on the holiness scale of Jesus.

[Karadeniz]

6. I cant see my last sentence but the Prodigsl Son does indeed teach

reincarnation !! Reincarnation was such a mainstay in early Christianity that the official Orthodox church had to officially ban it from Christian theology. Lots of book burnings! Imagine if doctrine said that we are each responsible for our own destiny as well as the world at large. Jesus's death to wipe out our sins would have to be ditched. It is thought that the preeminent theologian, Origen, taught it, but that remains iffy. However, Origen himself said that when a new recruit interrupted his conversation with an older student, they had to change the subject!! Hmmmm.....there's a good reason why the Catholics practice a catechism drill of Q's and A's. They didn't maintain their monopoly on understanding by letting people search for answers on their own (seek and you will find). Sadly, the old church conducted its first Crusade against the Cathars, a genocide. Then there's the Inquisition. The history of the Catholic church to destroy any and all dissent should show that they were completely unchristian. But, most people didn't read at all back then, much less understand Greek or Latin.

[slightlv]

7. And most people don't care enough to read about

or attempt to understand the differences in culture between then and now, either. It's a "plug and play" kind of theology that supposedly never changes; never adapts. They think of the U.S. Constitution in the same way!

[Karadeniz]

8. The frustrating thing is that christianity has the potential to be the most

interesting religion out there. Unfortunately, the outer, "biographical" layer is loaded with apparent contradictions, so people's default setting is to not seek and find, but to chalk their glossing over them as a measure of their faith.

On the other hand, much of Jesus's secret teachings can now be authenticated due to research into the reality of mind over matter and the continuance of mind after death. In the parables' secrets, we find the provable God System. Sunday school classes could study videos of near death experiences, reincarnation stories, even psychic detective shows! What fun! But maybe it's just me!

[slightlv]

9. You sound like me when I was about 17,

and started to earnestly study world religions from a Seeker's POV. I found it fascinating then, and I still do to this day!

[Karadeniz]

10. Seekers uniite !!!!!