Marsiglio of Padua #1 (Historical Context)

The speaker discusses the concept of Christian nationalism and criticizes books that claim to define it, stating that the true version can be found in the Book of the Covenant in Exodus 20-24. He argues that inventing one's own version of Christian nationalism goes against the authority of God's law. The speaker also mentions historical events such as the expulsion of Jews from England and the Hundred Years War. He emphasizes the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and the importance of the spiritual seed of Abraham. The influence of Thomas Aquinas and Marsiglio of Padua on political and religious philosophy is discussed, as well as the consequences of a secular state divorced from God's law. The speaker argues that civil government has become tyrannical and irresponsible, leading to societal problems such as crime, war, and moral decay. Marsiglio's views on a neutered church and the role of the state are criticized. The speaker also mentions the attack on the nuclear family and pr Welcome again, ladies and gentlemen, to TheGreatBibleReset.com, where we beat the drum incessantly for the Book of the Covenant in Exodus 20-24. This is true Christian nationalism, or better, a true Christian nation. There's a number of impostors floating around out there claiming to be books that define Christian nationalism. Since we've got Exodus 20-24, there's no need to waste money on these books. In defense of Christian nationalism runs to about 400 pages of philosophical psychobabble. It presumes to lay a foundation of political theory on which to build an edifice of political theology. And that's exactly backwards, and it does nothing but tempt God. There's another book of political theology called the Book of the Covenant. It runs to about six pages, and it was written by God in Exodus 20-24. So which would we rather have? We should be reading the scriptural version of Christian nationalism and reasoning out from there, rather than inventing our own version of Christian nationalism and using that as a foundation for biblical theology. It's a usurpation of the authority of the law of God. Now Marsiglio's defense of Pacis is a tragic example of the damage that can be wreaked by a pseudo-piety. The Franciscan order to which Marsiglio belonged required a vow of poverty and withdrawal from the material world, and this prompted him to insist on a radical separation of church and state. The state being secular has no obligation to God's law, rather it is governed by human reason after the Greek model. And last week we looked at Dante's power religion, in effect worship of the state as a great solution to our sociopolitical problems. But about the same time, Marsiglio of Padua presents a privatized religion as the appropriate response of the church, thus leaving the door wide open for the power religion. And now we have Klaus Schlapp with his great economic reset. You will own nothing, and you will be happy. During this period, Edward I is striving for dominance over the Scotland of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and he expels the Jews from England. Florence is rising to power and influence in northern Italy. Ironically, Edward I, the conqueror of parliamentarian Simon de Montfort, holds his second model parliament in 1295. In 1312, Pope Clement suppresses the Knights Templar, who had risen to power as financiers of the Crusades. The English longbow dominates the battle, and the first cannon are made of forged iron in 1324 France. In southern France of 1323, an academy for troubadours is founded at Toulouse, celebrating the legacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine in chivalry and courtly love. The crusading spirit is thriving in Europe. The Hundred Years War between France and England begins in 1337. Now when we get to the Reformation in the 1500s, we'll find what we might call providential religion in which the nations have been given to Christ by the decree of God in Psalm 2. Some kings will resist that decree and be destroyed, but most will submit and experience the blessing of obedience. As the last verse of Psalm 2 says, blessed are all who take refuge in him. Thus we have the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in 1706 of Genesis, that I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. As we learn in Galatians 3.16, these promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say unto seeds, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is Christ, and all those Jews and Gentiles who are united in Christ. And we see this prophecy also in Daniel 7.27, where it says, Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey him. So it is the spiritual seed of Abraham, not the physical seed that God will bless. Thomas Aquinas died in 1274, the year of Marsiglio's birth, and he left his massive but unfinished Summa Theologica to infect southern Europe with Aristotle's rationalism, and the Renaissance was a result. It brought a revival of art and culture, and a stress on man is the major in philosophy. The political results of Aquinas' rationalism and national theology were not long in coming. Marsiglio's Defensor Pacis of 1324, just fifty years later, reinforced the work of Dante, who lived at virtually the same time. And as with Dante, his motive rose from church-state squabbles during the early Renaissance. Earlier, in 1075, the Papal Revolution had loosed the church from the chains of state control and the state from the Bible, and these writings confirmed the state as an entity not only separate from the church, but separate from God. And thus began the era of a secular state that has extended to the present day. That is, a state divorced from otherworldly concerns or constraints of God's higher law. What are the implications for subsequent history? Civil government today is adrift from any sense of responsibility to Bible law. It has by definition assumed the role of a tyrant, which means rule apart from the law of God. In the United States, it is actually illegal for an officeholder to legislate or pass judgment on the basis of the Bible. The church is viewed as being irrelevant to the culture. Moreover, the church has no authority to advise the magistrate, or as in Rastianism, the church is viewed simply as a department of state. The mystical church has earned this censure, unfortunately. The evil outcome is everywhere obvious today. We have rampant crime, war, abortion, sodomy, sky high taxes, illegal seizure of property are just a few of the many symptoms. We have Marsiglio of Padua to thank for much of this, where he said, of the Mosaic law, we have not here to do, not even the political precepts which such laws provide for the affairs of this life. Marsiglio's position springs naturally from quietism or pietism. Even the reformers were not completely immune from his teaching. Hobbes and Rousseau's theories of the state came from Marsiglio, according to Alan Giewirth. Giewirth noted that, quote, in the view of the state as reason, the philosopher kings are sovereign in the coercive state. The strongest are sovereign. In the republican view, sovereign power belongs to the whole people, end of quote. Virtually every national revolt has borrowed from one or another of Marsiglio's misguided ideas. Marsiglio's views on a neutered church spring from the Franciscan oath to renounce the world in a vow of poverty. The writing of the censure paces was in fact provoked by the attack of Pope John XII on the doctrine of poverty. Also the pope had claimed the right to approve the taking of office of a secular ruler. So is the state necessary for everything done by men who live together as a community? And how is this attitude manifested today? Well, Aristotle confuses the state with culture. The state is but one institution in a biblical society, and a limited one at that. Its God-ordained purpose is the application of biblical law to settle disputes that may arise within society, or adjudicate criminal cases. This is important, but a limited role. And so contrary to Marsiglio, the state is not necessary for everything done by men who live together as a community. Such a view diminishes the more foundational role of church and family within society, the latter being the intended provider of health, education, and welfare. This view of the state makes the family and the church increasingly irrelevant and sets the state at war against the culture. For example, today in America we find a nuclear family under attack as an anachronism that no longer meshes with such new realities as homosexuality, open marriage, LGBT, and so forth. So tomorrow we'll get into Marsiglio's teaching in a lot more detail. In the meantime, check out our details on the supplements at boomers-alive.com. Buy one, get two free. Buy one, get three free. These supplements have the elite National Sanitation Foundation badge of quality, the NSF badge of quality. And only a handful of restaurants in each city have earned this elite Michelin Stars quality seal. And check that out. It helps to support the school at kingswayclassicalacademy.com. And we'll see you tomorrow.