Richard Wagner wrote operas with German mythological themes. In his Ring Operas, the tragic hero ends up, by means of his VIRTUOUS MOTIVE, causing the destruction of everything. This good-destroying-everything concept, is called Gotterdammerung in German. It's a pregnant word.
Gotterdammerung is Satan's policy; the success of it is patent via religion's sordid history. Purpose is to create a dark ages, so man rejects God, never learns Him. Thus Satan wins in the Trial.
Satanic out-maneuvering in the so-called 'theory' of evolution starts with definitions that are tautological, just like reincarnation and animism religions do (explained Godevol.htm). Worse, the PREMISE is that something INANIMATE can spawn ANIMACY. A child can see through that insanity. Yet, look at all the effort spent, and by some truly brilliant people! This criticism is not to debunk science. Rather, this is to PROMOTE science, since God's Physics (of-His-Own-Nature) underly all scientific laws, so the more of those laws we see, the better we can understand Him (potentially). Satan &Co. would like it very much if we go back to the Dark Ages, so to destroy the human race. However, to GET there, they've got to sell the man-becomes-god idea any way they can, so to unify us enough to foment Gotterdammerung. If you look through history, you'll find that all big unification attempts, like a flurry of treaties, PRESAGE war and/or mass persecution.
That's why, periodically in history, those in 'authority' suffer revolts. Granted, those revolting ARE revolting (disgusting) themselves, with or without a deemed-valid pretense for revolt. So, science being so incredibly DUMB to promote evolution, thus sows the seeds of its own future denouement, as indeed happened with past science/authority: in each case, due to an overweening arrogance by those authorities involved. So, the 'uneducated' will of course eventually revolt with iconoclasm, usually under some demagogue; and a dark ages ensues.
The deeper reason for this recurring phenomenon is man's insecurity, due to his sin nature in Adam+any sins he's committed which weaken him even further. See, when change occurs, people get helped, but they almost always FIRST get hurt. Change destabilizes man, because he equates familiarity, with security. Put him into a changing situation, and you rob him of the familiar; so, he feels threatened, simply because he lacks familiarity with the circumstance he faces. This, whether the circumstance is pleasant, or not; whether he recognizes he's feeling threatened, or not. So, then: some have come to be FAMILIAR with the idea that science is good; some replace 'god' with science, and therefore expect science to be infallible, or derive their ego-comfort in a different way: that science NEVER claims a conclusive answer ("the data suggest"). Thus, they can always comfort themselves that since the (irrelevantly-tested or picked) data never bear out any proof of anything, but always suggest, there is no assured answer. So, anyone who HAS assurance must be stupid, for science is not like that. So, they are assured in their UNassurance. Safely.
Others, uncomfortable with the pseudo- or real intellectuality of science, just plain hate it. Couple this with the unprecedented pace of change in man's 'progress' over the past two centuries, and especially over the past two generations, and you have a tinderbox for revolution. The insanity of the evolution idea will eventually show, due to the ossification of its proponents; which results in political pressure to AGREE imposed on those who would 'belong' to the community, just as has always been true with denominational religions; hence, those who don't fit in will be ripe for any demagogue to rally them to rebel. Power versus power, and everyone falls into the pit of the dark ages.
We are on the verge of yet another such fall into the pit of dark ignorance, destroying what science and advances we've learned, like the peasants destroyed all those valuables in the Czar's many houses during the early stage of the Russian Revolution. As noted above, Satan&Co. use over or under exposure to truth to foment emotional reaction. In the past 100 or so years, mankind has been OVERexposed to technological advance. He's not kept pace with it, psychologically. While the same can be said for the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the combination of that plus the current technological revolution -- is too much. The problem with so much overexposure is this: it needs MEDIATION by counter-truth. Which is, Bible Doctrine. Morality, which is also authored by God, will not be enough help for man to orient to so much massive CHANGE.
Derivative power can be explained with the following example. If you bounce a ball against a soft surface, the ball will either not bounce BACK at all, or will do so weakly. Conversely, if you bounce a ball against a steel or brick WALL: the STRENGTH of the wall is far harder and stronger. So, the ball will bounce BACK far harder/stronger, in 'reply'. God, thus, being INFINITE strength, is so STRONG a 'wall', that when the 'ball' of volition bounces AGAINST Him, the force and velocity of the DESTRUCTION to the human is extremely high. In fact, if God didn't INSURE the soul's indestructibility, we'd be obliterated at our first sin. Because, the power of sin is the Law, as Paul quipped. And the Law, is from God. So the 'law' of REJECTING God has a FAR greater power -- derivative of GOD, because bouncing 'against' God -- not derivative of the being who does the rejecting.
Hence salvation and post-salvation spiritual growth are ONLY possible if GOD accomplishes them, since the derivative of negative volition creates a state of God vs. God, so to speak -- the DERIVATIVE POWER is a reactive thing, reactive against God. So, of a power LEVEL which RIVALS God's Own. Of course, since any rejection is necessarily a lesser power, God Himself always can defeat any rejection's power. However, to do this and NOT compromise the free will of the rejector, is truly a masterful thing. So it is NOT demeaning to God that He save us and grow us. It is also NOT demeaning to us that He do so. So it is NOT demeaning to admit our total helplessness and depend ON Him. So it is NOT demeaning to be constantly confronted with our own puny nature and failures. So it was NOT demeaning for Christ to pay for us on the Cross. It is, after all, a challenge of such magnitude, that ONLY God can confront and defeat! So it was NOT demeaning that Christ should have depended on the Holy Spirit ONLY during the entire 1st Advent: for, even perfect human power is no match for the teeniest negative derivative power bouncing against God.
Bible Doctrine uniquely mediates all man's problems by progressively relating them to God's Plan, which thus better integrates the BELIEVER HIMSELF, with God. Hence, as we saw in Part IV's ".. Your Thinking" section, the derivative power is reduced, as growing believers talk, think; and their conversations 'beget' like thinking in others around them who agree. This integrative process starts, of course, with salvation. It progresses, as the believer learns Doctrine under his right pastor-teacher, and perseveres in that course. However, as history amply proves, man's DESIRE for this course is at best sporadic, and short-lived. Else, the Catholic Church and its protesting children, state religions, would never have stayed in semi-monopolistic power for so long.
We are at a unique spot in history, possibly: for the first time, not only has man come under an unprecedented rate of change, but the ONE thing which long remained familiar, religious monopolies, have crumbled; this, largely due to yet another unprecedented factor, the level of interest in Bible qua Bible throughout the globe (even higher than the 1700's and 1800's). The FOURTH unprecedented factor is related to that unprecedented level of interest: the attendant PROSPERITY that GOD ECONOMICALLY PROVIDES due to such interest (see the 1st halves of Lev26 and Deut28).
However, by the mid-1800's, these denominational semi-monopolies in both Catholicism and Protestantism, blew wide open. The local churches were the ones most avidly PURSUING the MSS. and reading them: learning, in short, the way God intended, as happened in that first generation after Christ rose. Consequently, the denominational approach was no longer man's sole option: he could be independent, now. Granted, though much of the independent-church movement started long before the mid 1800's, it didn't have the impetus for widespread growth until those discoveries, because it didn't have truly-independent sources of AUTHORITY -- Scripture MSS. Instead, all the would-be independents had to work with, were denominationally-slanted TRANSLATIONS.
All that changed, with the collations, discoveries, etc. of men like Tregelles and Tischendorf. The discovery in the 1950's of ancient RELIABLE Greek grammar rules (which made all scholars rewrite their grammar books), massively heightened man's ability to objectively PROVE what the original-language texts MEANT. So that, by the middle or last quarter of the 20th century, the 'independent local church' was instead the mainstream, and the ecumenist/ denominational version of Christianity was in substantial decline. In part, this 1850 et. seq. changeover occurred, because people discovered from the newly-free-to-all Scripture, that many of the denominational doctrines taught were anti-Biblical. Some Bible Doctrines which folks now saw, and thus blew open the ecumenical decline were:
Thus you have the collateral SECULAR trend from the 1850's onward, of INDIVIDUALISM. The prior traditions of autocracies and oligarchies, though punctuated ever with the Greco-Roman idea of representative government, had largely been accepted: the leader had more absolute authority, and the individual was less important. Come the breaking-open of Scripture, though, and INDIVIDUALISM became much more stressed. It's no coincidence that America's individualistic streak is founded upon an individualistic responsibility toward God, apart from denominations. So it's no coincidence that independence movements around the globe were, below-radar, fostered by a growing interest in Bible itself: after all, that's how AMERICA'S ideals were formed.
So another big consequence of the so-called 'independent-church movement' (as if it were political instead of Biblical, lol): WORLDWIDE, man is rapidly homogenizing AWAY from his traditional cultures, all of which were religion-based, in favor of MATERIAL commonalities. This separation of God-and-culture (a healthy one, always) thus opens up BOTH the potential for truly-free seeking of God .. or, massive war. This, because the old ties being loosened creates a temporary state of psychological flux.
Fortunately, the world at large was so exhausted by the war, it had breathing space to consider choosing God for the right reasons. Some, did. Most, did not. That's why all the instigators of the so-called 'revolutions' in China, the Middle East, Africa, were emboldened to occur; we suffered a massive BREAKDOWN in faith. We rejected the monarchical system, en masse; we rejected our hitherto-accepted authorities. We still are. We've not recovered from WWII, which was merely an outgrowth of WWI, which was merely Satan's response to positive volition to BIBLE on an individual level by millions of people. For, where there is positive volition to God, Satan has to set up a counterfeit in order to counterattack.
So, then: the believer's role is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than usual, vis à vis his fellow man. The contagious, MEDIATIVE, attractive TRUE thinking of Christ's, is what will deliver the world from 'the dark side of' its current trend. Of course, even if delivered, the trend will eventually result in a dark ages. But we who are alive now, can help massively POSTPONE it, by growing up in Him. Which, after all, is our FIRST privilege and post, ordered by the Lord, for Father: because, we are FIRST, Priest-Kings-in-training. We thus owe our home countries, as a patriotic duty -- to grow up in Him, as well. For, we have each been DEPLOYED by God to whatever nation He's sent us, to be among that nation's best citizens (see Rom13, 1Tim2). Ambassadors, even: no ambassador is good, if not loyal to the country where he's stationed: see 2Cor5:20. We'll have a lot to answer for, if we don't get real serious about learning Him, real fast...
Of course, eventually one of two outcomes will happen, since believers, DESPITE this freedom, will nonetheless STILL choose not to learn their wealth-in-Christ, Bible Doctrine: either the independents will all band together in an attempt to exercise political hegemony (which is how Catholicism got started, and is a current trend among independents in the US here in 2003); or, they will seek some kind of treaty with one or more of the traditional denominations (another current trend happening as you read). Either outcome is a satanic goal, and Satan&Co. are equally served by EITHER outcome occurring. Which, of course, the current insanities of treating science, technology, etc. as 'gods' OR demons, will neatly aid.
So, since our current, satanically sponsored trend toward tyranny-via-chaos cannot be regulated on a macro level at all (i.e., politically), the only solution is for believers in the polity to keep learning Bible Doctrine (see Part IV's 'contagion' role of thought). That alone will provide the necessary mediation, and reduce the trends toward either tyranny or chaos. Of course, we believers never live up to our role.
