WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:04.140 It is the 17th of April, 2026. 00:00:04.420 --> 00:00:05.740 I am Corey J. 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.320 Mahler, and this is At Any Cost. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.320 This is episode 25. 00:00:11.520 --> 00:00:14.080 I am seeing some artifacting in my video. 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:18.780 So someone in the chat could let me know if the video or audio has any problems. 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:19.880 That would be great. 00:00:20.860 --> 00:00:26.680 OBS is using 20 gigs of memory, which is suboptimal. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:34.260 So hopefully, it's not having an issue on your end, although I somewhat doubt that. 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:42.000 Can anyone in the chat confirm whether or not the video and audio are fine? 00:00:48.750 --> 00:00:50.050 Looks fine on, great. 00:00:50.050 --> 00:00:56.530 Okay, so apparently it's just OBS being weird on my end, which we'll see how it goes. 00:00:56.530 --> 00:01:03.690 It's using 20 gigs of memory, which is fine on my system, as long as it does not continue to leak, which is what I assume it is doing. 00:01:04.130 --> 00:01:06.370 Anyway, this is episode 25. 00:01:06.410 --> 00:01:13.610 It is a Q&A episode, and I do not really have any housekeeping, so I will jump right into the questions. 00:01:14.550 --> 00:01:23.950 And I guess, pray that OBS does not crash on us, because it is still increasing in memory consumption, although somewhat slowly. 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:25.570 So hopefully we're good. 00:01:27.130 --> 00:01:41.750 Question one is about the use of First Samuel. 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:55.570 When I advocate for monarchy as the most coherent and God-honoring form of government, I frequently encounter resistance from Christians on the American right, who cite First Samuel 8 as a definitive refutation. 00:01:55.970 --> 00:02:04.090 They tend to view the establishment of the monarchy as an inherent rejection of divine authority, rather than a development within the historic order. 00:02:04.550 --> 00:02:10.550 What is the most effective way to engage these individuals and challenge this interpretation of the text? 00:02:11.690 --> 00:02:18.610 So, this is one of those that comes up all the time from people who are not particularly familiar with scripture. 00:02:19.870 --> 00:02:23.230 And, assuming OBS will actually let me switch windows here. 00:02:23.230 --> 00:02:24.010 Okay, here we go. 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:27.970 We will pull up 1 Samuel 8. 00:02:28.410 --> 00:02:29.390 Take a look at it. 00:02:33.810 --> 00:02:41.190 This is, of course, where Israel chooses to have a king, or rather demands to have a king. 00:02:41.910 --> 00:02:54.590 And the men of Israel gathered together and came to Har Mathaim, to Samuel, and said to him, You are old, and your sons do not go in your way, and now appoint over us a king to judge us like the rest of the nations. 00:02:55.150 --> 00:03:00.430 And the message was evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. 00:03:00.890 --> 00:03:12.510 And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in whatever they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:21.250 According to all the deeds that they did to me from the day I brought them up out of Egypt this day, and they forsook me, and were subject to other gods. 00:03:21.450 --> 00:03:23.290 So also, they are doing to you. 00:03:25.570 --> 00:03:38.570 So, the first thing to notice here, of course, is that God clearly says that they forsook him not just by demanding a king here, but this was their course of action from Egypt going forward. 00:03:38.570 --> 00:03:41.250 This is something they did all along the way. 00:03:42.810 --> 00:03:50.630 And demanding a king is not per se forsaking God. 00:03:50.630 --> 00:03:52.170 That is not what's being said here. 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:57.870 What is being said is that the Jews are persisting in their rejection of God. 00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:00.610 This is simply another step down that path. 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:11.030 And one of the ways that we can know this, of course, is that if you're familiar with the Old Testament, another section that will come to mind is, of course, Deuteronomy 17. 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:31.590 Now if you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you and take possession of it and live in it and you say, I will set a ruler over me like the rest of the nations that are around me, by appointing you shall appoint over you a ruler, him whom the Lord your God may choose, one of your own brothers you shall appoint as ruler over you. 00:04:31.890 --> 00:04:38.350 You shall not have power to appoint a strange person over you, which is to say a foreigner, because he is not your brother. 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:45.830 For he shall not multiply cavalry for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to multiply cavalry for himself. 00:04:46.050 --> 00:04:49.950 But the Lord has said to you, you shall never add to return that way. 00:04:50.470 --> 00:04:55.150 And he shall not multiply wives for himself, neither shall he turn his heart away. 00:04:55.690 --> 00:04:59.770 Also silver and gold he shall not multiply exceedingly for himself. 00:05:00.210 --> 00:05:08.290 And it shall be, when he is sat upon the seat of his rule, that he shall write for himself this second law in a book from the priest, the Levites. 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:10.470 And so on and so forth. 00:05:11.270 --> 00:05:22.630 If God is giving requirements for a king, and saying, when you desire, you appoint a ruler over yourselves, it's pretty clear that God is saying that's permissible. 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:31.530 It is in fact, as we've argued elsewhere in Stone Quire, and as I've argued a number of times, the most natural system to have a monarchy. 00:05:31.850 --> 00:05:35.430 And so these are the requirements that God sets out. 00:05:35.910 --> 00:05:39.030 God setting out requirements means that it's permissible. 00:05:39.030 --> 00:05:42.830 God doesn't set out requirements for something that is sinful. 00:05:43.110 --> 00:05:55.830 And so, those who try to appeal to the section in First Samuel or First Kingdoms, as it's called in the Septuagint names of the books, doesn't matter what you call the book, that much for most of the books. 00:05:56.630 --> 00:06:04.090 The people who appeal to that are just cherry-picking verses going through the Old Testament and hoping that there's a condemnation of a king somewhere. 00:06:04.670 --> 00:06:06.610 Realistically, they probably heard it from someone else. 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:08.550 They did not come up with this themselves. 00:06:08.770 --> 00:06:15.550 If they did, they happened to be reading through First Samuel for some reason, latched on to this and then decided to run with it. 00:06:15.790 --> 00:06:29.810 If they were actually familiar with scripture and knew what scripture says on monarchy and kings across all of scripture, they'd recognize that what's being condemned in First Samuel is not having a king. 00:06:30.390 --> 00:06:40.690 It is rejecting God and desiring to be like every other nation, because God had set them apart to achieve a certain task, and they were rejecting him. 00:06:40.690 --> 00:06:45.210 And that's why God says they rejected him all the way from Egypt up to now. 00:06:45.210 --> 00:06:47.430 And of course, they continue to do so as well. 00:06:48.270 --> 00:06:53.190 So again, the condemnation is not of monarchy, it's rather of the wicked Jews. 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:56.950 So that's the response to that one. 00:06:56.950 --> 00:07:01.850 And we bring up the verse, the passage, that directly refutes what the person is trying to argue. 00:07:05.310 --> 00:07:13.670 Question two is about when one ceases to be a new convert, okay? 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:21.370 Given that new converts are explicitly warned not to teach, when does one know that he is no longer new? 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:42.350 And then the second part to the question, considering the fact that rebukeing the sins of others is a core part of the Christian life, which, correct me if I am wrong, is a form of teaching, no, it's correct, it is teaching to some degree, what should a new convert do when confronted with the sins of others, especially in view of the dire times in which we currently live? 00:07:45.350 --> 00:07:50.710 So, when you are no longer a new convert is going to depend on a number of factors. 00:07:52.110 --> 00:08:01.370 And it's not just a matter of how long in terms of, you know, days, years, whatever, you've been a convert. 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:03.830 It's a matter of maturity. 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:17.030 It's a matter of maturing in the faith, of being confident in your faith, knowledgeable in your faith, and having what you need in order to, in this case, teach the faith, but in order to defend the faith and do those things. 00:08:17.030 --> 00:08:31.650 There are some men who will never really do those things because they do not have the things that God has given as talents to other men that are necessary to do these things, to teach the faith, to defend the faith. 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:41.290 And as I've mentioned many times and as the men who do it also themselves recognize, being an apologist is not the same as being a theologian and things like that. 00:08:41.290 --> 00:08:43.750 There are different talents God gives out to different men. 00:08:45.550 --> 00:09:05.250 Now, for being a new convert, I would say at the very least you're looking at you should be a convert for some number of years before you even consider taking up the mantle of an actual teacher, because certainly if you've only been a Christian for two years, you're a new convert. 00:09:05.530 --> 00:09:11.330 Even if you are someone who is knowledgeable, you had a background in this stuff, etc., etc. 00:09:13.290 --> 00:09:19.050 You should not be standing up to teach because you have not matured enough in the faith in that little time. 00:09:19.330 --> 00:09:20.450 Are there exceptions? 00:09:20.670 --> 00:09:28.190 Maybe, but I think that they are such outliers, they aren't even really worth considering, and those men are certainly going to know. 00:09:29.490 --> 00:09:45.390 Now, the second part of the question, which is perhaps the more interesting because it's more applicable to us today, what do you do with regard to rebukeing those who are in sin, right? 00:09:45.390 --> 00:09:47.510 Because we have a duty to rebuke our brother, right? 00:09:47.810 --> 00:09:53.650 If you see your brother falling into sin, you have a duty to tell him, what you're doing is sinful, you need to stop. 00:09:53.650 --> 00:09:55.430 This is going to... 00:09:55.850 --> 00:09:57.730 This is bad for you, this is bad for your soul. 00:09:58.090 --> 00:10:02.550 This endangers you in some way, whatever it happens to be, however grievous the sin is. 00:10:03.170 --> 00:10:07.770 And so, part of the answer here is going to be, how obvious is the sin, right? 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:23.650 If your brother is doing something that is open and obvious in, all Christians recognize it's sin, it's plain in scripture, then certainly rebuke him, even if you're a new convert. 00:10:24.430 --> 00:10:37.030 Because that is something that is so obvious, there's no real wisdom call there, there's not any demand for the sorts of abilities that a teacher has in order to assess the scenario. 00:10:37.030 --> 00:10:39.430 So, you can think of the obvious examples, right? 00:10:39.430 --> 00:10:45.690 A man who's actively committing adultery, you're probably pretty safe telling him he needs to stop doing that. 00:10:46.370 --> 00:10:57.030 Now, a Christian prince should certainly punish him, but you as a Christian should rebuke him for that, particularly if he is holding himself out as a Christian while engaging in this particular evil. 00:10:58.070 --> 00:11:03.910 So, it really is going to come down to how obvious is the sin, how clear is the matter. 00:11:04.390 --> 00:11:17.770 If it is clear, absolutely, it is your duty to rebuke your brother, because you are trying to get him not to engage in that sinful behavior in order to save him, in order to do good to him and for him. 00:11:18.150 --> 00:11:20.270 And that is your duty as a Christian. 00:11:21.630 --> 00:11:32.210 And that is certainly going to be something that is a live issue today with a number of men who are coming back to the Christian faith or turning to the Christian faith for the first time. 00:11:32.350 --> 00:11:34.510 And so we have a lot of new converts around. 00:11:34.790 --> 00:11:39.810 We have men who are figuring out for the first time really what it means to live a Christian life. 00:11:40.190 --> 00:11:46.970 And you need to have your brothers along with you to do that, because if you don't, you're going to find it much more difficult. 00:11:47.490 --> 00:11:59.530 So don't stand yourself up as a teacher if you're a new convert, but that doesn't mean that you can't rebuke others or tell them, this is sinful, you need to stop doing this. 00:12:00.390 --> 00:12:01.770 That's perfectly reasonable. 00:12:02.510 --> 00:12:10.510 So there's a sort of a mixed answer there, because is it teaching to some degree to say, this is a sin? 00:12:11.150 --> 00:12:21.810 Sure, but it's not really the kind of teaching that's in view when you're looking at the passages that are saying the stricter judgment, not many of you should be teachers, and so on and so forth. 00:12:22.150 --> 00:12:23.810 There are levels to this, right? 00:12:24.010 --> 00:12:45.070 If you are a man who stands up as a bishop, and is teaching tens of thousands or millions, you're inviting a different sort of judgment from someone who privately tells his brother, hey, you shouldn't be doing this, this is sinful, particularly when it is something that is an open and shut case, again, like adultery or drug use, something like that. 00:12:46.370 --> 00:12:54.590 And obviously, I'm not saying all drug use, I'm saying bad kind, you know, if your brother is doing meth, you need to tell him to stop. 00:13:03.453 --> 00:13:11.033 Question three, and yes, I know that I've swapped two and three around in the show notes, but I will fix that after the show. 00:13:12.753 --> 00:13:19.613 What is a Christian man to do in the meantime if his past sins would have merited death under a righteous government? 00:13:20.193 --> 00:13:25.653 And then, as an example, what is the repentant abortionist supposed to do? 00:13:27.053 --> 00:13:28.673 Just by way of example. 00:13:30.693 --> 00:13:35.573 This is one of those questions that is, again, going to depend on the particular sin. 00:13:35.573 --> 00:13:38.593 And so the example given is sort of the extreme example, right? 00:13:39.633 --> 00:13:46.773 I could give one that is, I gave one already, that is close to that but not quite that level. 00:13:47.373 --> 00:13:50.813 Adultery is a capital crime in scripture. 00:13:50.813 --> 00:13:56.293 And so under a Christian government, it should be a capital crime. 00:13:56.473 --> 00:14:03.013 It should be something that is death penalty eligible, at least, not necessarily automatic, but eligible. 00:14:03.533 --> 00:14:10.493 Because a lot of times, these punishments in scripture are sort of a maximum or a recommendation, depending on what it is. 00:14:10.893 --> 00:14:12.933 It's not, this is required. 00:14:14.033 --> 00:14:19.433 With regard to murder, the death penalty is required because Genesis 9, 6 is very clear. 00:14:20.313 --> 00:14:23.673 So for instance, we'll just take the abortion one. 00:14:24.533 --> 00:14:34.773 If a Christian government were to come to power, it would be morally obligated to find and execute abortionists. 00:14:35.453 --> 00:14:46.713 That would be a moral requirement because that is a violation of the moral law, and it is a violation of Genesis 9, 6, and Genesis 9, 6 is abundantly clear. 00:14:46.993 --> 00:14:52.513 He who sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed, for man was made in the image of God. 00:14:53.013 --> 00:14:54.413 Doesn't allow exceptions. 00:14:55.073 --> 00:14:56.213 Abortion is murder. 00:14:56.453 --> 00:15:00.613 Murder requires, according to God's law, the death penalty. 00:15:00.993 --> 00:15:04.933 And so for abortionists, they have to be punished by a Christian government. 00:15:05.173 --> 00:15:08.133 The Christian government does not get to say, that's in the past. 00:15:08.513 --> 00:15:09.893 The moral law doesn't change. 00:15:09.893 --> 00:15:11.453 Ex post facto doesn't apply. 00:15:12.233 --> 00:15:13.353 Not a concern here. 00:15:14.953 --> 00:15:21.893 With regard to other things, right, there are a number of things that should be punished and are currently not. 00:15:21.913 --> 00:15:27.773 Fornication should be punished in some way. 00:15:28.793 --> 00:15:35.093 Now, generally speaking, the solution is a shotgun marriage, right? 00:15:35.093 --> 00:15:37.093 That's usually how you fix that problem. 00:15:37.413 --> 00:15:42.013 You sternly reprimand them, keep them apart till they're married, and tell them, you're getting married now. 00:15:43.113 --> 00:15:44.373 That solves the problem. 00:15:44.793 --> 00:15:55.713 But with regard to, say, a serial fornicator, who has now caused problems across a number of individuals in society, that person should be punished. 00:15:56.673 --> 00:16:04.453 Is there any practical way for a Christian government to come to power and then punish all of those men and women? 00:16:04.913 --> 00:16:06.313 The answer is simply no. 00:16:06.933 --> 00:16:10.113 Some of this is going to come down to practicality. 00:16:10.113 --> 00:16:12.013 Can it be done, right? 00:16:12.333 --> 00:16:17.693 Abortionists can certainly be punished by a future government, because they're all MDs. 00:16:18.793 --> 00:16:20.093 We know all their names. 00:16:20.513 --> 00:16:21.873 They're all in a database. 00:16:22.233 --> 00:16:35.813 So the government can just go, did you perform abortion procedures or look at the history and say, you charged insurance for X number of abortion procedures, get in the cage. 00:16:36.273 --> 00:16:37.853 That's something that can be done. 00:16:38.293 --> 00:16:42.833 There are things that cannot be punished practically because you cannot identify them. 00:16:42.933 --> 00:17:04.433 And also, as a purely practical matter, you would, not even really purely practical, there's a moral aspect as well, you would cause greater chaos and destruction in society, trying to seek out and punish each of these crimes, instead of granting a sort of amnesty and saying, going forward, things are going to change. 00:17:05.353 --> 00:17:13.633 Wicked men used to rule, they were in charge, they did not do things in line with God's law and God's desires, we are going to change that. 00:17:14.613 --> 00:17:17.133 We are going to fix these problems going forward. 00:17:18.293 --> 00:17:33.093 I think that has to be what we would do, simply because of the fact that you can't just have complete chaos and destruction of society, even if you think what you're trying to do is strictly follow the moral law. 00:17:33.433 --> 00:17:36.513 There are things where you cannot grant leeway, right? 00:17:36.853 --> 00:17:39.053 Murder must be punished with the death penalty. 00:17:39.413 --> 00:17:44.253 But there are things where you can grant some sort of clemency, and I think that will have to be done. 00:17:44.673 --> 00:17:48.613 So if the question is, what should the abortionist do? 00:17:49.513 --> 00:17:54.493 He should demand that the government punish him, because that's the Christian response. 00:17:54.753 --> 00:18:00.173 Repentance is not simply, I'm sorry for what I did, right? 00:18:00.553 --> 00:18:03.693 It's also a recognition that you have certain obligations. 00:18:03.973 --> 00:18:12.253 So for instance, an obligation to try to amend harms you've caused, and you know, don't want to sound too much like AA, but they get some things right. 00:18:14.013 --> 00:18:29.953 For the abortionist, there is no sort of amnesty or mercy or wiping away of that, because it is a moral requirement from God, without exception, that the murderer must be punished with death. 00:18:30.493 --> 00:18:37.273 So a Christian convert, who was an abortionist, should tell the government, you have to execute me. 00:18:37.973 --> 00:18:39.433 That's required by God. 00:18:39.673 --> 00:18:42.653 He can't say, oh, I repented, I'm no longer that man, I'm... 00:18:43.133 --> 00:18:44.793 No, that's not how it works. 00:18:44.953 --> 00:18:52.893 Your sins are forgiven, you will be with God in paradise, but you still have to be punished by earthly authorities. 00:18:53.473 --> 00:19:00.213 You know, the best example would really be the thief on the cross, which I know people love that one for other reasons, but... 00:19:01.433 --> 00:19:05.613 Christ did not take him off the cross when he repented. 00:19:06.133 --> 00:19:11.813 He didn't say, oh, you repented, that's great, you're no longer being punishment, you're no longer being punished. 00:19:11.813 --> 00:19:15.933 Rather, he said, today you will be with me in paradise, which means you're still going to die. 00:19:16.673 --> 00:19:17.713 That's how it works. 00:19:18.893 --> 00:19:36.593 People mix this up all the time, and part of it's mercenary, but just because you convert to Christianity, just because you become a Christian, even if you actually amend your life and do so in an earnest way, it doesn't mean that all of those temporal consequences are erased. 00:19:36.953 --> 00:19:42.353 And sometimes the temporal consequences are severe, in the case of murder certainly. 00:19:48.150 --> 00:20:02.390 Question four is about the numbering of the commandments, and I've had this one on my list of topics to address for some time, not on the public-facing list, as it were, but on my own personal one. 00:20:04.450 --> 00:20:11.730 This is not an issue that is unique to the Septuagint or unique to the Masoretic text or anything like that. 00:20:11.910 --> 00:20:20.490 This is a general issue with which Christians have had to apple for as long as there have been Christians, as long as we've had the scriptures. 00:20:20.490 --> 00:20:23.910 But I'll read the question first, second at this point, I guess. 00:20:25.250 --> 00:20:32.070 As Lutherans, how do we deal with the difference between the Septuagint and the Small Catechism with regard to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments? 00:20:32.790 --> 00:20:36.550 So that's sort of a microcosm of the overall issue. 00:20:36.550 --> 00:20:45.350 And I'm not going to get into this too deeply because I want to address it more fully in the future, so I'm going to note that for myself here. 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:50.170 And then I'll go back and add it to the show notes when I get around to doing that. 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:54.650 There are some differences in the numbering. 00:20:55.330 --> 00:20:58.490 First of all, the Tenth Commandments are listed twice in the Old Testament, right? 00:20:58.670 --> 00:21:04.050 And there are some minor differences with regard to the order in which they appear. 00:21:05.010 --> 00:21:08.350 It's not really accurate to say numbering because they're not numbered, right? 00:21:08.850 --> 00:21:12.330 They are just a list of prohibitions. 00:21:12.410 --> 00:21:16.190 Do not do X, do not do Y, do not do Z. 00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:32.630 And then, of course, you also have the times where Christ or one of the authors of the New Testament lists them and says, you have heard it was said, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, or thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill. 00:21:32.630 --> 00:21:39.750 That order gets switched, including in the listing in the Septuagint in the Old Testament, and in Luke. 00:21:39.750 --> 00:21:46.390 So, I don't think that it's necessarily like a huge problem for Christians, right? 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:50.370 This is a list of things God has told us not to do. 00:21:51.470 --> 00:21:54.550 Are they roughly in order of importance? 00:21:54.550 --> 00:21:55.590 I think that is true. 00:21:55.590 --> 00:21:56.590 I've said it in the past. 00:21:56.590 --> 00:21:58.110 I still firmly believe that. 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:04.350 And you can see that clearly with regard to the fact that the first few commandments are about our duties to God. 00:22:04.710 --> 00:22:08.570 And then you get our duty to our parents, and then you get our duties to our fellow man. 00:22:09.170 --> 00:22:11.130 And so basic hierarchy there. 00:22:11.830 --> 00:22:20.450 That basic hierarchy does not change regardless of the order of the fifth and sixth commandment, which is to say murder and adultery in the Lutheran numbering. 00:22:20.450 --> 00:22:23.870 If you're reformed, you can go ahead and just add plus one there. 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:31.230 So I don't think that it changes anything sort of fundamental for Christians. 00:22:31.530 --> 00:22:42.730 I do think that it's important, and I think that it is a matter that will certainly be relevant for those who are creating the new translation of the Septuagint when that happens. 00:22:43.530 --> 00:22:50.710 Like I said, I will get into that more deeply at some point in the future, and partly it's going to be left to those men who do that translation work. 00:22:50.710 --> 00:23:06.210 But I don't think that it causes any real problem for us, because this was already something that we recognize, because there are some minor differences between the two lists in the way things are ordered, and not that there are different commandments, but the way that they are ordered is slightly different. 00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:09.230 So we already had to choose an order, right? 00:23:09.510 --> 00:23:12.670 You had to choose what's the 9th, what is the 10th. 00:23:13.050 --> 00:23:19.070 So I think that organizing them in the way the small catechism does is perfectly fine. 00:23:19.070 --> 00:23:20.130 It makes perfect sense. 00:23:20.130 --> 00:23:24.330 You have the content of the commandments there, which is the important part. 00:23:24.690 --> 00:23:27.470 And again, they aren't actually numbered in scripture. 00:23:27.810 --> 00:23:31.230 It's just a list of things that you shall not do. 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:35.710 And then it's said it's the 10 words of the 10 commandments. 00:23:35.710 --> 00:23:40.550 So you already have to do a little bit of work to figure out what the numbering is there. 00:23:41.510 --> 00:23:44.210 I have no problem using the numbering in the small catechism. 00:23:44.210 --> 00:23:49.490 I think it is perhaps an open question as to whether murder or adultery is listed first. 00:23:50.030 --> 00:23:53.150 It seems that there's a compelling argument for adultery being first. 00:23:54.050 --> 00:23:57.310 You could also make the argument perhaps that they are just equally important, right? 00:23:57.310 --> 00:23:59.930 Because adultery really is a form of murder. 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:06.870 And like I said previously in the answer to a previous question tonight, it used to be punished with the death penalty. 00:24:07.210 --> 00:24:08.990 That's what God says in Scripture. 00:24:09.730 --> 00:24:13.370 But like I said, I will get into this question more deeply in the future. 00:24:13.370 --> 00:24:16.050 I think I want to actually write something on it. 00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:21.250 Question five. 00:24:23.550 --> 00:24:37.670 Whereas the Church is the Bride of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, through Paul to Timothy, demands women's silence in the Church and matters of theology, does it therefore follow that the Church cannot speak or teach except as taught to us by Christ our head? 00:24:37.910 --> 00:24:45.390 This seems like it undercuts the premise of papal infallibility and teaching from tradition, but I would appreciate your opinion on it. 00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:53.490 I think that that is essentially a correct argument. 00:24:53.490 --> 00:24:55.950 I would formulate that a little bit differently. 00:24:55.950 --> 00:25:01.870 I guess I can close out of this Logos window here, assuming that OBS will cooperate with me. 00:25:04.450 --> 00:25:11.950 I do not believe that the Church, so-called in Roman theology, can promulgate new doctrine. 00:25:12.410 --> 00:25:15.090 I do not believe that the Church has that authority. 00:25:16.050 --> 00:25:26.770 But at the same time, I don't want that to be taken to the extent of saying that everything is contained in scripture. 00:25:27.010 --> 00:25:30.190 Right, as I've argued many times, God has two books. 00:25:30.190 --> 00:25:33.490 This is something that has been argued down through the centuries by many Christians. 00:25:34.830 --> 00:25:36.510 Creation has truth in it. 00:25:36.770 --> 00:25:38.230 Scripture has truth in it. 00:25:38.570 --> 00:25:40.770 You can derive truth from both. 00:25:41.190 --> 00:25:53.650 And so, at the same time, that is still consonant with this, insofar as you recognize God is the author of both of those books, to call creation a book along with scripture, right? 00:25:54.870 --> 00:26:00.990 So, there is no truth outside of God, because God is truth itself. 00:26:01.990 --> 00:26:05.810 God's books are His revealed truth to us. 00:26:06.250 --> 00:26:09.770 There's truth revealed in creation, there's truth revealed in scripture. 00:26:10.270 --> 00:26:17.430 And so, outside of those, no, we can't speak on anything, because nothing else is knowable to us. 00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:23.030 So, yes, I think the argument is sound. 00:26:23.030 --> 00:26:33.770 I would reformulate it a little bit, but I do obviously object to the claims of Rome that the Pope can promulgate new doctrine, new dogma. 00:26:34.350 --> 00:26:46.370 I don't believe that that is something that is permissible, because God has not given that authority to any man, except, of course, Christ, if you are focusing on the man part there. 00:26:46.370 --> 00:26:54.430 But he's not promulgating new doctrine or new dogma, either, because truth is eternal, truth is for all time. 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:07.030 So, for instance, when Rome decided to promulgate the dogma of the assumption of Mary, I don't think that they have the authority to do that. 00:27:07.070 --> 00:27:08.750 I do not believe that is permissible. 00:27:09.530 --> 00:27:13.370 Most of the Marian dogmas have been created by Rome. 00:27:13.570 --> 00:27:23.790 They have been promulgated according to so-called papal authority instead of scripture, because it's nowhere in scripture, unless you start looking at Gnostic texts, which are not scripture. 00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:27.910 So, yes, I think that the argument fundamentally is sound. 00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:35.730 I would reformulate it a little bit, but no, the church does not have the authority to make new doctrine, to make new dogma. 00:27:35.730 --> 00:27:38.030 That is something that is... 00:27:38.350 --> 00:27:39.870 God alone has that authority. 00:27:42.230 --> 00:27:46.470 And to be clear, that doesn't mean that we can't have traditions that were created by men. 00:27:46.470 --> 00:27:49.210 We just can't say that they are salvific, right? 00:27:49.490 --> 00:27:53.150 So, having a Christmas tree created by men, completely fine. 00:27:53.410 --> 00:27:56.630 Exchanging gifts on certain holidays, completely fine. 00:27:57.290 --> 00:27:58.690 Doesn't forgive your sins. 00:27:59.710 --> 00:28:01.090 Doesn't get you into heaven. 00:28:01.130 --> 00:28:05.210 Doesn't get you, you know, good points for good works or whatever. 00:28:06.370 --> 00:28:12.130 It could be a good work, just incidentally, because serving your neighbor is a good work, and it may happen to overlap there. 00:28:12.130 --> 00:28:17.010 But it does not get to be a good work, because it's a tradition made by men. 00:28:21.230 --> 00:28:23.110 Let's see, the next one. 00:28:24.570 --> 00:28:34.590 Question six has three premises and then a conclusion, so I will just read through those in order. 00:28:34.590 --> 00:28:39.350 Premise one, nations have a trajectory of sin that can reach a fulfillment. 00:28:40.730 --> 00:28:48.510 Genesis 15-16, speaking, of course, of the Amorites, the iniquity of the Amorites being complete and coming back in the fourth generation. 00:28:49.210 --> 00:28:51.830 Premise two, there is a hierarchy of sin. 00:28:52.290 --> 00:28:58.170 John 19-11, of course, Jesus speaking to Pilate, he who handed me over to you as the greater sin. 00:28:59.010 --> 00:29:06.470 And premise three, woes exegesis on the condition of Christ's birth, to be born a Judean is to be born of the lowest race. 00:29:06.950 --> 00:29:10.610 Jesus was born a Hebrew for the same reason he was born in a feed trough. 00:29:12.550 --> 00:29:28.430 Okay, and given those three premises, the conclusion of the question, is it fair to say that God permits the Jews to live, albeit as a landless nation, because they will have, because they have not yet completed their national sin? 00:29:28.950 --> 00:29:33.570 Does this suggest they have an even worse sin than killing Christ in their future? 00:29:34.970 --> 00:29:52.650 Well, they're currently committing quite a few interesting sins, not the least of all being impermissible genocide and persecuting the church and all of the various things they push through the entire world that are deeply and incredibly wicked. 00:29:53.010 --> 00:30:11.890 But to answer the core question here, I don't necessarily think that God has a formulaic way of dealing with nations insofar as you have some sort of sin or cap on the amount of sin you get to commit, and then God smites you. 00:30:13.010 --> 00:30:16.590 I don't think that that's how God operates. 00:30:17.550 --> 00:30:28.870 And I think that that pans out in history, too, if you look at history, because God lets some nations commit a great deal of evil before he destroys them, and some he destroys before they've committed that much evil. 00:30:29.050 --> 00:30:34.290 You could argue it's a mercy to be destroyed sooner because then you don't have that many sins on your ledger. 00:30:35.310 --> 00:30:40.350 So I think that it is just a matter of God's will and God's plan. 00:30:40.910 --> 00:30:53.550 I don't think, again, I don't think it's a mathematical formula where if you commit X number of sins, given the different way to the different sins, then God will automatically smite you, right? 00:30:53.550 --> 00:30:57.290 I don't think that God is an algorithm, essentially. 00:30:58.790 --> 00:31:03.530 So this is up to God's wisdom, God's timing, and God's plan. 00:31:04.350 --> 00:31:21.490 He works all things together for the good, and part of that is using wicked men to achieve good, even if we don't necessarily understand how that is working out in time, because we don't have the perspective God does. 00:31:21.910 --> 00:31:24.490 We are trapped in time, God is outside of time. 00:31:24.490 --> 00:31:26.990 He can see the beginning and the end simultaneously. 00:31:27.250 --> 00:31:29.050 He knows exactly what is going to happen. 00:31:29.050 --> 00:31:33.430 He knows the fullness of the consequences of any given action at any given time. 00:31:33.730 --> 00:31:35.230 We don't do that, we can't do that. 00:31:35.270 --> 00:31:39.950 We're limited, these things are infinite, only the infinite can understand them. 00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:47.390 With regard to the Jews, I think God is just permitting them to fill their cup of wrath. 00:31:47.750 --> 00:31:49.290 That is not good news for them. 00:31:49.290 --> 00:31:55.850 It would be much better news for them if God would just snap his fingers and they were all gone, because then they couldn't continue collecting sins. 00:31:56.690 --> 00:32:05.390 The worst thing you can do is spend a long life collecting sins and then die impenitent. 00:32:06.090 --> 00:32:10.930 And I know some people have sort of a visceral reaction to that. 00:32:10.930 --> 00:32:12.070 They want to reject it. 00:32:12.370 --> 00:32:16.330 Christ says of Judas, it would have been better for that one had he not been born. 00:32:16.330 --> 00:32:18.630 There's no way around the conclusion. 00:32:18.990 --> 00:32:27.230 If you are going to die impenitent, the best thing you can do is die younger, so that you do not collect all those sins in the interim. 00:32:28.090 --> 00:32:31.970 Incidentally, a pretty strong argument against the deathbed confession. 00:32:32.350 --> 00:32:34.610 You may not make it to your deathbed. 00:32:34.830 --> 00:32:36.750 You may die on the bus, right? 00:32:37.550 --> 00:32:38.950 Don't wait to the end to repent. 00:32:38.950 --> 00:32:45.610 Don't say, I'm going to do as much evil, wickedness, all this stuff as I can, and then repent at the very end. 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:47.190 That's a terrible plan. 00:32:47.190 --> 00:32:48.750 It will probably backfire. 00:32:48.810 --> 00:32:49.650 Don't do it. 00:32:51.090 --> 00:32:56.550 So confess, repent, and then live a Christian life, and collect good works. 00:32:56.570 --> 00:32:58.570 Much better thing to collect than sins. 00:32:58.870 --> 00:33:04.610 But I think God is, again, just letting the Jews fill full their cup of wrath, which is bad news for them. 00:33:06.230 --> 00:33:09.890 Bad news for the rest of us as well in some way, but worse news for them. 00:33:13.090 --> 00:33:14.830 Question seven. 00:33:15.910 --> 00:33:19.150 How do we deal with family members who have sinned publicly? 00:33:19.710 --> 00:33:24.210 I have a cousin who was at one time living in sin with his girlfriend prior to marriage. 00:33:24.610 --> 00:33:30.570 I confronted about it several years ago, and in response to me confronting him, he basically laughed at me for foolishly being religious. 00:33:31.310 --> 00:33:34.090 At least to my knowledge, he is yet to repent of his sin. 00:33:34.330 --> 00:33:37.050 Do you have any advice for dealing with such family members? 00:33:37.470 --> 00:33:41.830 Up until now, I have simply ignored him, but he recently invited me to his daughter's birthday party. 00:33:42.290 --> 00:33:46.950 I will not be able to attend the party, but I am obligated to at least respond gratitude as invitation. 00:33:48.090 --> 00:33:54.730 How do I not fall off the horse when it comes to associating with the ungodly versus a lack of forgiveness for I was treated? 00:33:55.230 --> 00:33:57.810 Is this a scenario where I need to shake the dust from my feet? 00:33:58.030 --> 00:34:06.290 So, the first part of this is going to be, you have different duties to different people, right? 00:34:06.290 --> 00:34:13.710 That's going to be a very different approach with a stranger versus a family member. 00:34:14.030 --> 00:34:16.910 Family members, for better or worse, get more leeway. 00:34:17.350 --> 00:34:19.830 They get more grace, they get more forgiveness. 00:34:20.490 --> 00:34:26.210 You give them not necessarily more rope, but you give them more time. 00:34:26.310 --> 00:34:30.170 You let them act a little worse than you would others. 00:34:30.370 --> 00:34:33.470 We all recognize this, just dealing with family members day to day, right? 00:34:34.330 --> 00:34:40.750 So, with regard to a family member, you just continue being a good person in his life. 00:34:41.190 --> 00:34:59.950 You do what you can to demonstrate being a Christian, and you hope that eventually you get an opportunity where he's willing to listen, where he's receptive to listen to answers to important questions about life and meaning and religion and things like that. 00:35:00.890 --> 00:35:04.650 So, no, you don't shake the dust off your feet in this case. 00:35:04.650 --> 00:35:10.050 If this were just some random stranger at work, then sure, maybe you don't bring the issue up with him again. 00:35:10.530 --> 00:35:19.370 But you don't really get to do that with a close family member, a sibling, a cousin, an aunt, an uncle, something like that. 00:35:20.450 --> 00:35:28.470 So, sure, was it sinful for him to say you were being foolishly religious by telling him not to live in sin with his girlfriend? 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:31.630 Absolutely, that was a sin on his part. 00:35:32.250 --> 00:35:42.990 But at the same time, at least he did the right thing and married her, which is kind of all you can do in that situation. 00:35:43.510 --> 00:35:52.570 And for that at least, he should be not necessarily congratulated, but he should be told that he did the right thing, because he did. 00:35:53.030 --> 00:35:56.750 That is what any man who is currently living in sin with his girlfriend should do. 00:35:56.750 --> 00:36:01.430 You should marry her, make her an honest woman, as we used to say, do the right thing. 00:36:01.990 --> 00:36:10.070 And I think it's also worth highlighting here, I have a post, something I've said a number of times. 00:36:10.890 --> 00:36:13.650 I won't bother with the Latin, because I doubt anyone cares. 00:36:13.650 --> 00:36:15.310 If you want to go look up the Latin, feel free. 00:36:15.310 --> 00:36:22.070 But a sin that is against nature is a greater evil than a sin that is according to nature. 00:36:22.390 --> 00:36:27.930 And you could also say contrary to nature versus in agreement with nature, right? 00:36:28.770 --> 00:36:32.370 And the best example of that is basically this. 00:36:33.210 --> 00:36:38.530 Fornicating with your girlfriend is a sin that is in agreement with nature. 00:36:38.690 --> 00:36:40.430 It is natural. 00:36:41.530 --> 00:36:46.090 If you instead were male and had a boyfriend, that would be against nature. 00:36:46.330 --> 00:36:47.530 That is a worse sin. 00:36:47.750 --> 00:36:50.110 And there's no way to fix that one. 00:36:50.110 --> 00:36:52.290 You can't marry that person and fix it. 00:36:52.670 --> 00:36:56.710 You have to stop that sin, and then technically the state should also punish you. 00:36:57.170 --> 00:37:05.150 But it is not as bad of a sin to fornicate with your girlfriend, because that is according to nature. 00:37:05.590 --> 00:37:08.070 It is not something that you should be doing. 00:37:08.070 --> 00:37:08.930 It is still sin. 00:37:08.930 --> 00:37:10.370 I want to be very clear about that. 00:37:10.730 --> 00:37:18.770 But there are significantly worse sins, and at least, in this case and in any similar case, if you marry the girl, that's certainly better. 00:37:19.530 --> 00:37:20.710 You still did it wrong. 00:37:20.750 --> 00:37:22.290 You should have done it in the other order. 00:37:23.770 --> 00:37:25.690 But it's better than many alternatives. 00:37:25.690 --> 00:37:28.690 So, there's a hierarchy of sins. 00:37:28.690 --> 00:37:30.090 Some sins are worse than others. 00:37:30.250 --> 00:37:31.630 That one is... 00:37:32.570 --> 00:37:37.430 It's not a good one, because it has so many consequences that come along with it, but it is a natural one. 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:42.450 And so, it's not something that is against nature, and therefore a worse sin, right? 00:37:42.830 --> 00:37:47.290 And it's, again, going to be one that pretty much everyone's going to struggle with that, particularly men. 00:37:49.950 --> 00:37:58.770 But yes, forgive your family member, and hope that God presents an opportunity where you can share the Christian faith with him, and he'll actually listen to you. 00:37:59.390 --> 00:38:02.570 So... 00:38:02.570 --> 00:38:04.230 I have an eyelash in my eye. 00:38:07.790 --> 00:38:09.330 Question 8. 00:38:10.390 --> 00:38:20.790 Can you please give some historical book recommendations, particularly non-Jewified books on World War II and Hitler, but also history broadly? 00:38:23.010 --> 00:38:34.410 I think I am going to add some to the show notes for this, and this is one of those where it really depends on what part of history you want, right? 00:38:34.870 --> 00:38:40.910 Because, for instance, there's a very good, just as an example, series on the Crusades. 00:38:40.910 --> 00:38:42.450 I think it's a dozen volumes now. 00:38:42.450 --> 00:38:45.190 I don't know, it takes up an entire shelf on one of my bookshelves. 00:38:45.550 --> 00:38:51.630 It's quite a few books, but it's an excellent series, but it's specifically on the Crusades. 00:38:51.630 --> 00:38:54.270 So if that interests you, that's a good example. 00:38:55.090 --> 00:39:03.310 With regard to World War II, you have a great wealth of books, particularly recently many have been published. 00:39:03.730 --> 00:39:05.910 I will link to some of those in the show notes. 00:39:05.910 --> 00:39:09.890 It's just easier to find those as opposed to my saying it, and then people have to go find it. 00:39:10.730 --> 00:39:27.730 But if you want to know anything about World War II and have a reading recommendation about something specific, I would say ask Carl Rodle on X, because he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the books that have been written on the topic. 00:39:28.150 --> 00:39:30.390 He is going to be the best one to give that recommendation. 00:39:30.390 --> 00:39:33.490 Again, I'll put some in the show notes to get people started. 00:39:34.190 --> 00:39:42.390 Antelope Hill is a publishing house that has a number of good ones, including some packages where you can get the World War II package, something similar like that. 00:39:43.350 --> 00:39:51.770 But Carl Rodle is going to be the one where you want to ask him if you have a specific interest with regard to that era. 00:39:52.170 --> 00:39:55.710 That is Carl with a K, Rodle, R-A-D-L. 00:39:56.730 --> 00:40:00.670 I'll link to him as well on in the show notes. 00:40:05.170 --> 00:40:07.670 Just make a note for myself to remember to do that. 00:40:10.970 --> 00:40:18.050 And then a sort of related question from the same person, question nine, do you have a favorite fiction book? 00:40:18.090 --> 00:40:23.090 Another difficult one, I get asked for reading recommendations and favorite books and things like that a lot. 00:40:23.510 --> 00:40:31.450 And I don't necessarily have a favorite book in any given category, other than obviously I have to answer the Bible, right? 00:40:32.050 --> 00:40:37.670 But that's a sort of specific one, and it almost doesn't even count as a favorite in that sense. 00:40:38.750 --> 00:40:49.710 Dune is definitely high up the list for me with regard to fiction books, but it's hard not to list things like, say, Gertes Faust. 00:40:50.530 --> 00:40:54.370 That's obviously one of the best German language novels ever written. 00:40:54.370 --> 00:40:57.410 It has very good translations as well, so certainly you can read that in English. 00:40:58.170 --> 00:41:01.050 I read a decent amount of poetry. 00:41:01.050 --> 00:41:04.750 I've read a lot in the past, so that would certainly count as fiction. 00:41:04.750 --> 00:41:07.610 The Lays of Ancient Rome, an excellent collection. 00:41:07.610 --> 00:41:09.250 I've cited that a few times. 00:41:09.250 --> 00:41:10.430 I've quoted from that one. 00:41:12.310 --> 00:41:22.550 Many, many recommendations I could give for fiction, but I don't know that I have necessarily a particular fiction book that I'd say, yes, this one is my favorite one. 00:41:22.850 --> 00:41:29.390 I think that I have read so many and liked a lot of them that I don't necessarily have just one I would choose. 00:41:32.810 --> 00:41:36.470 Very tempted to answer, insert a question from the... 00:41:36.470 --> 00:41:41.510