In the continuation, we will look at some topics we have previously touched upon, and which have been central in our series of seminars. And now, we will briefly address these topics and examine them in connection by shedding light on them spiritually and existentially.
Among other things, we have seen how the Jews, through their active, yes, as Jesus himself expresses it, demonic unwillingness to bow down to and acknowledge the truth that was completely evident to them. Namely, that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The promised Messiah, as the prophet had testified. And as a result of this rejection of the truth, it is that if,
Rejection of the truth was that the Jews ended up in hardening and under demonic dominion, in other words. Instead of being liberated by the truth, the Jews ended up in bondage under guilt. And there they still are, as Øyvind Andersen also points out. They are still under this hardening and in demonic dominion. We have also, in light of Søren Kierkegaard, examined what he characterizes with the two expressions
Movement towards spirit, and movement away from spirit. That is, on the one hand, movement from the old paganism to Christianity. As this happened in Europe in the last centuries of the ancient times and into the Middle Ages. And on the other hand, the opposite movement, that is, from Christianity to what we, in line with Kierkegaard, have characterized as a modern paganism.
And as we have emphasized earlier, this last movement is only possible in populations that have knowledge of the Christian truths. And in this sense, we are dealing here with a reality that is completely identical to the one we previously pointed out was the case for gömme by turning away from and rejecting the Christian truths that have been revealed and fully understood. In other words,
Is it so, as we have previously mentioned, that populations living in this modern paganism have extensive and concrete knowledge of the truths that in ancient paganism were only known to a limited extent through natural revelation. And it is these truths that are rejected in modern paganism, these truths that one actually possesses. The third point I want to emphasize is that we have previously also addressed
the sophistic skepticism that fundamentally denies any notion of something being true in the proper sense of the word. And this is done because one is convinced that there is no objective reality that we can seek insight into. When our senses convey to us notions of an external reality, they are in reality only a reality that
is a product of our individual senses and thus a virtual reality that varies from person to person. Therefore, one should remain completely indifferent to the question of what is truth and what is not truth. It is, after all, not possible to establish something as true, since there are always different perceptions of each matter.
In other words, as we have also pointed out several times before, an attitude that also plays a central role in postmodernism. That is to say, the prevailing attitude within our contemporary culture and society, and thus an extremely important prerequisite for the movement away from the spirit. As we can see, the indifferent, even uninterested attitude towards truth is the common denominator within these three themes.
we have looked at above. So we are dealing with the absence or rejection of truth that sets humans free. Absence or rejection of the truth that should lead to the indivisibility and commitment that enables humans to passionately realize the truth in existence in their own lives. We have also discussed this a couple of hours earlier.
The opposite is thus to suppress the truth, either by not wanting to yield to it, or by denying that there is something that is true. In a previous seminar, we briefly touched on the second half of chapter 1 in the Book of Romans. The letter, as we know, was written by Paul, who himself had never been to Rome when he wrote the letter in the year 57.
That is, about ten years after he embarked on his first missionary journey. In other words, he knows the congregation there and the situation only through reports. And I expressed my belief that the introduction to the letter has as its prerequisite the reality that Paul has become aware of, that the congregation in Rome is living under. Ideally, Paul would have been with them to guide and console them.
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, as he writes in verse 11 of chapter 1. But fortunately for us, God placed obstacles in Paul's way so that he did not reach Rome. Therefore, he had to write a letter to them instead, in order to make the congregation participate in the spiritual gift he wanted to share with them. And for that reason, we can also
As for the natural reasons, he couldn't be present at the gatherings that Paul so eagerly wanted to have with the congregation in Rome, through the letter to the Romans, he patched up the regular gift he wanted to convey to them. So that was good for us. We must say that. God made it right, so to speak. In connection with the points from previous seminars that I mentioned earlier, let's look at some verses from the second half of chapter 1 in the letter to the Romans. Verses that we have touched on before.
And which, in my opinion, shed light on particularly important existential and spiritual conditions and laws that concern the state of Rome in Paul's time, but are especially relevant in our days. First, let's address verse 18 in chapter 1.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The wrath of God is revealed, that is, this wrath becomes visible, can be recognized and experienced, against the ungodliness and unrighteousness that unjustly suppresses the truth.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. The knowledge of God that is being referred to here is the knowledge of the Gentiles. That is, Gentiles who live in the old paganism. We see this in verse 23, where he writes about them, and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
So here we are dealing with pagans who worship concrete and visible idols and live in ungodliness. But even though they are still subject to God's wrath, their reason for this lies in suppressing the truth through injustice. Because what can be known about God is evident to them, for God has made it evident to them, as it says in verse 19. So they have a knowledge of the existence of God, which God himself has revealed to them.
But in their indifference and defiance towards this knowledge of the truth, they have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, in an unjust manner. Instead of allowing this truth to be expressed in knowledge, of course. One acknowledges that this is the truth. But above all, we want to realize it in existence. What is the church concerned with?
The truth only becomes truth for us when we realize it in existence, when it becomes meaningful for our lives. When one fully realizes what is specifically true, and as I mentioned, this is not about purely intellectual insight into things that are true in themselves, as I said that made you round, but here we are dealing with questions that concern my existence.
So they realize what the truth is, and then it is about embracing and realizing it in their existence. Only then does it become the truth. But what about modern paganism? That is, paganism within Christianity, as the church characterizes it. Here we are dealing with a paganism that has much more.
Comprehensive knowledge of God, and concrete insight into His holy will, surpassing anything that old teachings came close to having. Yet, the truth here in Western Christianity today remains greatly unjust. Despite knowing very well what the truth is. That is to say, we are dealing with what is called acting against better knowledge.
Unfortunately, I believe we must expect that God's wrath will strike here to a degree that corresponds to the much greater knowledge. Western Christianity possesses the paganism of Rome in Paul's time. Perhaps that is what the Church thinks of when he says that the new paganism will be far more terrible than the old.
And in what way does this peace of God manifest itself? The one that is revealed over those who keep the truth they actually know down in injustice? Three times in the following verses, Paul uses the expression, God gave them up. And it is quite clear that this is the punishment that strikes when one keeps the truth down. That is to say, does not acknowledge the truth, submit to it, and realize it in existence.
Then God allows the person to freely unfold and actualize in life the lies they choose to believe. Assert and orient themselves according to them, and thus reap the consequences of these lies and the choices they have led the person into. It is precisely this serious dynamic and contradiction in the relationship between truth and lie that Jesus reveals and clarifies in the conversations.
between him and the Jews in that passage in John 8, which we have discussed on several occasions before. And we will look at the structure of this chapter to show what this is about. From verse 12 to 30, a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees is depicted. It apparently takes place in the temple in Jerusalem, and it is evident that there are Jews present who are following the conversation. And we see the result of what Jesus says in this context in verse 30,
When he spoke these words, many believed in him. In other words, there are many Jews present who, as a result of the dialogue, are convinced of the truth about Jesus. That is, that he is the Messiah promised by the prophets. And this is a recognition that was quite widespread.
Among the Jews who come into contact with Jesus is someone named John. And it is strange to read John. As I mentioned, he wrote 60 years after Jesus was crucified. It is clear that he has reflected in a different way than what we encounter in the synoptic Gospels. And this is clearly expressed in his Gospel. So it is clear that they have understood
He is very aware of this. And as I mentioned, he actually addresses it in the prologue, where he talks about how he came to his own, but his own did not receive him. But we saw that there was a small group who saw and recognized him. So he says that this recognition is quite widespread among the Jews who come into contact with Jesus, which John emphasizes time and time again. Just to mention chapter three, verse two. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. We, he says,
He recognized Him, we say. Most likely the Pharisees are up there, I believe. By the fact that you are a teacher come from God. We know that, he says. And the Jews say in verse chapter 6 and verse 14, this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. Chapter 7 and verse 40 and 41, the Jews again, he is truly the prophet.
Not just a prophet of activity, he is the prophet. Not a prophet of activity, but the prophet himself. And so on in verse 41. He is the Messiah indeed. He was aware of that. Obviously, many, both among the Pharisees and among the Jews, were aware of the truth about Jesus. But what do we see in John 8, in continuation of what they have been convinced of the truth about Jesus? In verse 52 we read.
Then the Jews said to Him, now we know that You have a demon. In verse 59 we read, they took up stones to throw at Him. That is, Him whom they have been convinced the prophet should throw stones at. What has happened between verse 31, where the Jews were convinced of the truth about Jesus, and the end of the chapter, where they say He has a demon, and they seek to stone Him? Then we will look at a few verses from
Chapter 8, which we have encountered before. Verses 31-32. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. What can set the truth free?
Then we will read from verses 43 to 47. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth,
Why don't you believe me? Who among you can convict me of sin? But if I tell the truth, why don't you believe me? The one who is from God listens to God's words; you do not listen because you are not from God. It is therefore the attitude towards the truth in the words Jesus preaches that causes
those who initially believed in him to accuse him of being possessed and wanting to stone him. Instead of submitting to the unity and realizing this existence in life, they refuse to submit to the unity. But it is crucial to understand that refusing to submit to the unity, or by suppressing unity in injustice, as we read in Romans again, does not lead to changing a neutral no-man's land. You do not change a neutral no-man's land.
Where other truths are concerned. That is, comforting oneself with the fact that there are two perspectives in the churches, for example, as is done today. No, it's just that we have some other truths. You do not change into an alternative reality where other truths are concerned. That's not how it works. No, choosing other truths is the same as submitting to the lie.
There are two alternatives. There is the truth, and all the other alternative truths are lies. That is the whole point. One introduces the lie as an alternative truth and thus suppresses the truth in righteousness. One therefore opposes Jesus' words with the lie and actualizes the lie in existence. That is what the Jews we read about in John 8 did. And it has become very common to do in the Norwegian church today. There are two perspectives here. No, that's not it.
The churches have one vision, and all other visions are lies. Jesus rejects the dramatic seriousness in this relationship and relates to the truth in this way. In verse 44. You have the devil as your father, and you want to do his desires. He was a liar from the beginning, and there is no truth in him. When he speaks lies, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
So, by abandoning the truth and the protection and human lives that the truth actually is, one brings punishment upon oneself. It is important to understand. And instead, surrender to lies and come under the dominion of the demonic, for that is what Jesus says happens. For that is what he says, by holding onto lies, you have turned your back on God and the blessings that come from holding onto the truth.
And thus, you have made the devil your father, so that you do his desires. And this is not a father who wishes good for people when he leads them into his desires. On the contrary, he only wishes them harm. Yes, to destroy them as human beings. This is the punishment one incurs by rejecting the truth one knows and thus turning away from God.
and choosing lies. One becomes demonic. In the novel Dr. Faustus, Thomas' man, which is a novel we will return to at a later occasion, for now, I can tell you that one of his female friends has entered into an exclusive relationship, and she asks, Serenus, do they blame, despise, condemn me? Absolutely not, he replied." Note: The translation of "løyen" and "løynensvar" as "lies" and "father of lies" is based on the context and the common understanding of these terms in Christian theology.
That is forbidden by God. I have always reminded myself of these words. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. I know that he allows punishment to be included in the transgression, and permeates it, so that they cannot be distinguished, and so that happiness and punishment are one and the same. I know, he says, for the first knowledge is that vengeance is mine. I will repay.
I know that he included punishment in the crime and permeated it so that they cannot be separated, and so that happiness and punishment are just and the same. In other words, exactly what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden, when they, at the serpent's initiative, followed their desires and ate from the tree of knowledge. They tasted the fruit they desired so much, but in the satisfaction of that desire to eat the fruit,
They again experienced punishment as a consequence. As Thomas Mann describes, I know that he included punishment in the crime and permeated it so that it cannot be separated, so that happiness and punishment are one and the same. To suppress the truth in injustice by choosing to assert the lie is to let the devil become the father with the destructive consequences it has for human life.
that it is appropriate to use a few more words to comment on the verb "overgi," which can also be translated as "surrender" or "hand over," and we know it, among other things, in the sense of someone surrendering to the opponent, to the enemy, or being handed over to the police, for example. In summary, one can say that the surrender Paul writes about is about being surrendered to the lie. That is, the lies that people choose to believe,
They conform and live in a pack, instead of the truth they know. And Unnsladde says, there is a lot of that in the Norwegian church today. And then they are reminded of what Jesus says to the Jews in John 8:44. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. So, God lets go of those who, against better judgment, embrace lies as an alternative truth.
But one does not set oneself free, as is claimed, for example, about the sexual liberation that followed in the wake of Afro-American music in the 1950s and beyond. Instead, one acts under demonic influence, in bondage, under sin.
The freedom, therefore, in the realm of sexuality that is celebrated and marketed by the mass media today, and which many see and experience as freedom for desires to unfold and take control, is in reality the judgment they bring upon themselves by embracing deceit. And in doing so, they lose control over their own desires. Just as our father, Thomas Mann, said,
I know that he lets punishment be part of the crime, and permeates it so that they cannot be distinguished, so that happiness and punishment are one and the same. And it is poignant towards the end of the novel when I, the character Serenius, on a tram in Munich, witness how tragedy forcefully strikes Ines and her lover. By choosing lies, one falls under the dominion of the father of lies,
and one begins to do after his desires. It is a dominion that is only destructive for humans, especially when it happens by knowingly abandoning the truth and choosing lies. I believe I can say that.
The sexual freedom that applies to some today, and it is absolutely incredible what freedoms are involved. And think about how fantastic you have it. No, it's not. Because for them, sexuality never becomes what it is meant to be. A unity where the spiritual governs, where it is like they are the framework for all of this, and where the carnal, erotic, which I spoke about earlier,
binds two people closely together, and can also be realized in the physical. A unity, a combination of what happens and is physical, where two individuals are bound together in that way. Here, it is only about one thing, and uniting with two sexual organs, without anything else to build on. And that is the thing of the poor man, to put it bluntly. And that is the punishment. And that is what we read about in Romans 1:24-25.
Therefore, God gave them up to their heart's desires for impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, exchanging the truth for a lie. We have previously quoted from the churchyard that the sexual is located at the extremes of the sensual in humans, meaning it is removed from spiritual and mental control. Therefore, we have also previously mentioned how Paul emphasizes the expression of the sexual in marriage as a safeguard against desires.
as nature resides in the human heart, so that Satan does not take control of these desires and lead people into impurity, as Paul writes in the Corinthians letter. And Satan knows that this is one of the points in human life. At the very tip of sensuality, he resides with good opportunities for success, ready to launch his attack to lead people into impure desires.
Shall I tell you something? It is not the case that all desires residing in the human heart are impure. It's not every desire. But Satan ignites the impure desires. And therefore, after World War II, it has been one of the elements in the demonic strategy to undermine and suppress marriage as an institution, both in theory and practically in Western Christianity,
The past ten years have been greatly aided by the church. There is no doubt that much of what is happening in the church today is a complete undermining of marriage when one accepts to marry two of the same sex, for example. But this is precisely what happens when one falls under the influence of the father of lies. Then the person is given over to actualize these desires of the heart in impurity. They begin to nourish their lusts among themselves.
as it was written. That is, what Margaret Mead presented as an ideal of sexuality that Western Christianity could learn from the pagan tribes on the islands. An ideal that has been taken over by the music and entertainment culture, glorified, and transmitted to a great extent as a liberation of sexuality. Further down in this section of Romans 1, we read that those whom God gave up to their own desires received on their own bodies
a punishment they deserve for their waywardness. And that what we have pointed out should make it clear what power one is subjected to and what the punishment is. In other words, I do not believe this is to be understood as God intervening in these people's lives and punishing them in the same way as one punishes disobedient children or criminals. And for me, it confirms precisely that it is the world that is being used.
God surrenders such people by giving up on keeping them within the truth he has revealed to them. A truth that is meant to help protect their lives from the destructive and demonic forces in existence. And God does this because they, even though they know the truth, in defiance and rebellion break away from the truth
and surrender themselves to a practice that is a consequence of choosing to follow their bodily desires instead of living in accordance with the truth. God lets them go their own way out of the truth and the righteousness he has established for creation, out of his truth and the defense against the demonic that this truth is, into the lie they have chosen instead,
But this is a choice that has consequences, its consequences, consequences for their bodies. The devil drives them to follow their desires contrary to and in rebellion against the truth we know. And these consequences are indeed the punishment they incur. As I said before, it is not God who intervenes with the punishment. The punishment is rather the consequence they bring upon themselves. So when
For her it was in the section we read, and now it is obviously about the first surrender being to indulge in one's desires. So when there is a culture of subordination, and everything today is that. All the ways. There is no freedom to choose the freedom that one chooses today in the area of sexuality. It is to choose the third domain under sin and lies.
God of course knew what the consequences of their choices would be. But he does not force anyone to stay within his truth, which in strong rebellion and defiance against this truth, knowingly and willingly, and in pure desire, chooses untruth. But these consequences are thus fundamentally God's wrath over the lies. A rebellion against the order and lawfulness that he has laid down in creation. It is a conscious choice to choose lies over truth,
One knows, has as a consequence, that one must also reap the fruits of the choice. That is to say, as it happened for the first time in the stories in the Garden of Eden. One is surrendered to lies and to him who is the origin of lies, as it is mentioned in the latter part of verse 44 in John 8. That is to say, to the devil, who when he speaks lies, speaks from his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies. One is thus acting in the demonic, we have already pointed out
what befell the Jews as a consequence of choosing lies. But then one may wonder if the church today is aware of the responsibilities that rest upon it by leading people into the choice of lies. What forces, what fatherhood, one then surrenders people to. Or for that matter,
What music eventually dominates the church because they chose to adhere to the contradictory and consistent lies about the music that was served in the last ten years of the 19th century. The result is that the music the cemetery says the church must exclude because it is an expression of what the church must exclude since it is an expression of the demonic. Today, more and more dominates the church.
One acts through the choice of falsehood in idolatry. One worships idols instead of the immortal God, who has given himself up for them. As we saw in verse 24. Therefore, God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.
And there can be no doubt, as we have already established, that this refers to a promiscuous and boundless sexuality, where one, in pure desire, goes from one partner to another in pursuit of satisfying their lust, in other words. As we know it from the ancient paganism of a black man.
and as Margaret Mead has described and recommended to us, and not least as the Second World War to a large extent here in the West has seen it unfold within the modern paganism that follows in the wake of the mass media conveyed by American music, and its triumph in culture. Then we come to verse 25, and the next step on this staircase of surrender downwards. This is about descending steps. And this is thus a
A downward staircase leads people into the evil through deception. As it says in verse 25, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. It is very clear. And the punishment that follows is described by Paul in verses 26 and 27. Therefore, God gave them over to shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
Likewise, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. As I have mentioned before, I do not believe that this primarily refers to sexual relations between homosexuals and lesbians. I don't think so. When I suggest that there is support for this interpretation, it is because of the verbs used here.
In both of these verbs used here, there is an expression of a transition from one thing to another. The women exchanged, as it says. That is, they moved from one practice to another. And the men abandoned, that is, they moved from one form of sexual relations to another.
And the 78th translation, which I usually do not recommend, clearly states that this is about a changed practice from one thing to another. There it is translated as follows, likewise, men abandoned natural relations with women. And this happens in the same way as among women, as it says. In the same way. Here, it is about someone ceasing one practice and taking up another. In other words,
Where is there such an identical change in practice for both women and men? What I'm saying is that I believe we are dealing with individuals who could be characterized as heterosexual men who have lived such a sexually adventurous life that they seek new and thrilling sexual experiences with individuals of the same gender for the sake of excitement. In this perspective, sexuality is solely about satisfying desires.
Which, of course, is also possible with a person of the same gender. And today, newspapers are filled with advertisements for all sorts of products you can buy to achieve that satisfaction. Yes, that's where I'm heading.
And this was a strong objection to such practices within the lawless paganism that prevailed in Rome during Paul's time. It is a fact that sexuality between individuals of the same gender was both defended and practiced, especially among the higher circles of society, throughout the Greco-Roman world.
And this is a practice that has been embraced and facilitated both outside and within the Church in Western Christianity by equating natural sexuality between women and men with a sexuality that goes against nature. We see the same trend in our time as in ancient Rome, namely how increasingly larger groups, both women and men,
who identify as fundamentally heterosexual and live as such, dream of and are drawn to sexual experiences with individuals of the same gender, which provide an enhanced experience of desire fulfillment. And as we saw, this is a consequence of exchanging God's truth for lies. It is a conscious choice to adhere to false answers. Yes, when we look at the tremendous efforts of our time to
and deny the gender categories of man and woman. A natural truth, that is, a truth based on nature, one would think was as solid as Dovre. One might actually wonder if in the future it will be relevant to distinguish between heterosexuality versus homosexuality.
and instead replace these terms with panfilia. That is, a sexual orientation that results in being able to fall in love with, feel sexually attracted to, and have relations with other individuals without regard to their gender. Since gender is a categorization that no longer applies.
And I said it, there was a debate on TV, where there was a scientist, he said it. When I write male gender or male individuals and female individuals in my research, I get criticized by colleagues for it being a categorization that no longer applies. No longer applies. And then I say it, he says. Yes, but I'm just doing what I observe in nature. That male individuals have large genitalia, even though the male individuals are small.
And then he said, but it doesn't make any impression on them. It doesn't reach them. They have no understanding that it is still believed that this is something you have to accept. And it is very clear that it is going in that direction. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I can mention it. That one time we saw damn it, I have a movie at home. There were some great filmmakers, Italian filmmakers, in the latter half of the 20th century. And one of them made a film that depicts in a way the relationship in
Rome around Nero's time. And there are two young boys. And there you have this gentleman. Pan, filin. So, sexuality is not something that unfolds between men and women and such. No, it's just that these ones are fast.
going around in the areas and initiating sexual relationships with people and feelings attracted regardless it doesn't seem like the gender category is present at all. I think it's quite accurate for the conditions that prevailed then. When we have gone through the two stages I have described before, the next stage comes which in a way leads into the consequences of and sums up the whole demonic development that necessarily follows from the preceding, that is, as we read in verse 28.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind. Here we see how skeptical indifference and disinterest in truth culminate in an attitude where one simply does not care about God's truth.
which results in a debased mind. That is, reason and understanding have become useless and have ceased to function according to their purpose. And it almost becomes the natural consequence for those who do not care about what is true. But when large groups of people are controlled by such debased minds, the following becomes particularly dramatic. Then we are dealing with the extensive tendency towards chaos and dissolution.
Like Paul, without mincing words in all his brutality, describes them. So they do things that are unseemly. They are full of all kinds of injustice, immorality, greed, malice, full of envy, murder. The desire to kill, that is. And there aren't very many ladies I've heard of doing that.
In Sweden, it's like this: children as young as elementary school age contact criminal leaders and order weapons because they want to shoot their parents or someone else they don't like. That's how it is in that situation. And we see, was there anything else? Yes, yes, yes. It was explained that it was like that. The desire to kill, simply put. And strife, betrayal, falsehood.
They became rumor-mongers, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, which is very well-known today, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. I don't know if you have read about these gentlemen.
Young ladies in Kristiansand who engaged in terrible violence against their peers. And the parents said that we are completely desperate. We have no control over them. And these were relatively young girls in middle school age. It is actually not the least bit difficult to understand what the church refers to when he means that the new paganism will be far more dreadful than the old.
To live in a society of people characterized and governed by the attitudes, traits, and personality traits that we read about here in Romans 1:28-30 must be so nightmarish that we are not at all capable of imagining it. But we can establish that anything related to social community relations is inconceivable under such lawless conditions. Or as we have previously quoted from the cemetery.
With the sensible state elevation, the art of governance, the game of life, everything revolves around getting the most bootlickers and the worst to be the noisy, manipulative, and agitated ones on their side, indifferent, completely indifferent, whether they understand anything or not.
As I said, through the extermination of Jews in Germany, in which many Jews were involved, without them, I believe, at any moment thinking that there is anything special about Jews. And to remind us again, what is the underlying cause that, according to Paul, will lead to this terrible situation? Well, we read about it in verse 18, the verse that is the introduction to this gloomy section. It is a consequence of people suppressing the truth in unrighteousness,
There is such seriousness associated with being indifferent to the truth, to reject or deny it instead of acknowledging it and realizing it in life, in existence. Then one ends up in falsehood. Therefore, Paul writes in Romans 2:7-8. To those who, with perseverance in good works, that is, truly live it out in existence, seek glory and honor and immortality,
he will give eternal life. But for those who are stubborn and disobedient to the truth, but obedient to unrighteousness, that is, the unrighteousness that suppresses the truth, wrath and fury will come upon them. The Jews have already bitterly experienced this last part to a great extent, as it says in verse 9 of Romans 2. Trouble and distress will come upon every human soul that does evil,
Both for Jews first, it says. And then Greeks. The Jews, as mentioned earlier, and ever since the year 70 when the temple was destroyed, have known affliction and anxiety on their bodies before anyone else. But also the Greeks, that is, the pagan nations, will eventually experience the same affliction and anxiety. But Paul does not only convey hopelessness,
For glory and honor and peace will be given to the few who do good, both to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But doing good has a crucial prerequisite: acknowledging the truth and embodying it in integrity and sincerity in one's existence, in one's life. That is doing good.
Based on what I have presented, dare to assert that the postmodern indifference towards truth that characterizes our time is a consequence of the activity of the one called the father of lies. The one who rules over all paganism, and this indifference is actually just a cover for choosing falsehood. It becomes evident when observing the lifestyle and way of living
that follows from this pursuit of happiness. I actually believe we should stop here today, instead of starting on a slightly new intention.