The roots of Anglo-American culture are mostly pagan. It’s a combination of Greco-Roman Civilization and Germanic tribal culture. The influence of Christian religion was highly compromised well before it gained any entry into the mix.
From both pagan antecedents we have a very unpredictable world, filled with deities whose passions were no different from those of humans. There was no all powerful deity, no real Creator who offered revelation, compassion and mercy. Instead, you chose your deities, took your chances and tried to make the best of things.
This is whence the highly perverted image of Satan, with a range and power of influence too close to that of Christ. This is also the source of our wild conspiracy theories, in the sense that Americans are predisposed to believe that there are parties out there who approach omniscience and omnipotence, at least in terms of how they are portrayed. “You need to fear!”
A genuine biblical viewpoint is quite different from that. It’s not that there are no conspiracies, but that they aren’t anything approaching superhuman. Their plans aren’t any real threat. And the demonic powers behind them are distinctly limited. If you put yourself under the shadow of God’s favor, there is very little they can do to you.
So it’s not necessary to examine all their names, their legacies, their plans and their powers. There is no need to make deep studies and form careful and complex plans to stop them. All we really need to know is how their influences work in the world around you so that you aren’t a sucker for their deceptions.
When I wrote about The Cult, I kept it very close to the concerns expressed in Scripture. I didn’t bother trying to chase down every actual individual involved in the history of this cult’s influence, only how it tends to work in broad terms. I give you enough to recognize their methods and motivations, to discern their footprints in your world.
There is really very little we can do about all the various conspiracies in this world, real or imagined. Our God is the true Creator and Lord of all things, and He has clearly revealed all we really need to know how to live in this world. Feel free to read stuff about conspiracies, but don’t get lost in that world. It’s not the world God revealed.
