I read this in the voice of “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
I dunno which version this is from, but damn, this was in a letter to Christians of the times, PEOPLE DIDN’T CHANGE! Interesting, and sad.
Nearly Infallible Version: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+5&version=NIV
I don’t think it was aimed at the elect though, just rich people in general. Although any rich believers would have been wise to pay attention to the message.
We’re getting ever closer to biblical times, where the exploitation of the masses by a tiny minority was the norm. Democracy and equity are, historically speaking, a very new development and we’ve been backsliding for quite a while now.
new in western Europe* colonialism eliminated many societies that found ways to run their societies without the kinds of authoritarian power structures common in western Europe. the imperial powers, including eastern Asia (China and Japan), moscow, and western Europe wiped out threats to these authoritarian power structures. the societies they encountered were scientifically advanced in ways the imperial powers didn’t truly understand because those powers only interacted with the world around them via violence
Can you name any examples for such societies? With evidence, preferably.
- Village elders selecting a chief to represent their families was common in africa
- The Iroquois organized their tribes into a bicameral political structure as early as 1142, though most archaeologists believe the date was more likely to be around 1450
- The Cossacks of Eastern Europe were largely self organized as equals until the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth declared them to be protectorate subjects (which itself was… Not as good at being an anarchy as the Cossacks were, but was also FAR more democratic that the forces that ultimately partitioned it). I don’t have a good link for this one, unfortunately, but I’m sure if you do some light digging you can find some info
I read a bit about the Iroquois history. It sounds like as soon as they found strength in their political structure, they started conquering neighbors, a pattern that seems pretty much unbroken throughout human history :/
Thats because it is. We are still wired to be violent. Always have been. We came from a place where that was required.
There’s also ancient Greek and Rome which were republics 2000 and 2500 years ago.
Ancient Greece and Rome were societies that were based upon and heavily relied on slavery.
Now accepting preorders for black t-shirts with simple block letters across the chest:
JAMES 5:1-6
On the back:
THE INERRANT WORD OF GOD
Instead we have “Now listen, you rich people, cheer and dance because of the greater wealth that will be coming to you. Your wealth has fattened, and gold adorns your clothes. Your gold and silver is polished by an army of tongues of bootlickers. Their saliva testifies to your greatness, you will eat the flesh of the finest beasts. You have and will continue to hoard wealth as is Good™ to do. Look! The wages you fail to pay the workers who built your empire are justified, they are just immigrants and liberals. The cries of the workers are of silent text on screens, read by the unimportant, the powerless. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence and will continue to do so. You have fattened yourself on another day of your joy. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who you’ve made to oppose one another, and laughed at their suffering. Good show.”
-Me now:today
Lol I was gonna say, unless this is supposed to be a prophesy of the future, things are almost literally the complete opposite of the quoted text right now.
To the secular and the naturalist, this tells us it was a problem even then.
I’m an atheist, but isn’t a lot of the bible social commentary? The new testament at least, surely.
But did you consider the letters from Paul? I can assure you, powerful rich people are definitely right according to Paul. Or, if not wrong, can be saved merely through their faith.
Consider the origin and understand that today’s trials are just repeats of those referenced in the script
They don’t recognize their own dogmatic literature.
The righteous shall become wicked, and the wicked shall become righteous. But remember, there is always fluxx. There is always a state of change. Oscillations and vibrations that, though there are small, shall have great effect over the whole.
Over, and over, and over…
Edited: I can not spell
righteous?
Hah! I must’ve accepted to override spellchecker. I. Feel. Stupid.
Rich people facing consequences? Right
And people wonder why many call the Bible fiction…
Oh I’ll be using this!
