Not a Vox Day Fan

Apparently I need to say this again for some of you: Vox Day is by no means a model for our faith.

Let us never forget that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a symbol for trusting human reason to discern good and evil. The word “knowledge” in that name for the tree refers to the kind of knowledge that represents a willful assertion of judgment. It is not just being aware of the difference between good and evil; it is deciding what is good and evil from one’s own resources. It is a specific denial of faith and trust in God and His revelation.

It’s okay to reference some of the things Vox Day has to say. Nobody disputes his intelligence. However, whatever religious ideas he holds are not a matter of pure faith, but rest too much on his reasoning abilities. Yes, it’s possible to be caught somewhere between faith and reason; it’s not either/or in terms of how humans operate. However, his reliance on reason is far too great to trust anything he has to say about matters of faith. He revels in his lack of progress toward the primacy of faith. He is not a heart-led man, inasmuch as he still believes the Western mythology about what the heart does, in contrast to what the Bible assumes about the heart as a faculty of faith and awareness of moral truth. His epistemology is wrong; he worships his own intelligence. He is elitist to the core.

So, for example, while his exposition on men’s Red Pill matters is excellent, his vindictive spite for anyone who doesn’t bow the knee to his intelligence is pretty obvious to others. It’s not that he cares what anyone else thinks, nor should he. That’s not the point. Rather, he has obviously never really submitted to Christ in his heart, and cannot muster the power to promote the redemptive way of Christ. Vox’s work is not redemptive in nature, but vindictive. He cares far too much for this world, and rejects the biblical emphasis on the Spirit Realm. Vox Day is very much Dominionist, even if he never references the movement itself.

Worldly conquest is not a biblical goal. Defeating your enemies in the flesh is, at most, a mere tactic in Scripture. We are rightly cynical and skeptical about anything the flesh can accomplish. The business of expecting evil to win in this fallen world is straight out of Scripture. It’s not defeatism if you learn that it won’t matter. What matters is winning hearts to Christ, and when it’s convenient for the Lord’s glory, we’ll also build a community of faith that resists the evil of this world. But until God pours out His wrath on this earth, the systems of oppression do not end; there is nothing we can or should do to defeat them as a strategy.

I have no problem with admiring a warrior who has no mercy on his enemies. The shepherd soul does not spare the life of a predator against the flock. David is held up as a model for spirit-led leadership, and he killed countless thousands in defense of shalom. This life is not precious, so causing human death is not a sin in itself, if such death happens as a side-effect of your obedience to His Word. Yes, Scripture more than adequately supports taking human life for just reasons according to Biblical Law. But we acknowledge that such instances are increasingly rare as we move closer to the Final End of All Things. Instead, it is God’s own hand that will take massive numbers of human life, and the days of such wrath will increase as we approach the Second Coming. That is prophesied in Scripture.

If killing others is a mere tactic, then it shouldn’t matter if we often don’t bother. The gospel mission is not changing human government, but changing human hearts. The Word promised that things would get progressively worse. Using the weapons of secular government against the enemies of Christ is a very bad tactic. Scripture specifically condemns using secular courts to obtain divine justice. Our hope is not found in fixing the problems of his world, particularly in using the means of this world, but in seeing people turn to the heart-led path of Christ. Yes, we are endlessly optimistic about His power at work in us to touch individual lives around us. God Himself said we should have no hope in fixing the human condition, so the idea of carving out our worldly kingdoms is contrary to His Word. He Himself warned that there could be no Christian government over anything bigger than the small, private, feudal body of faith that gathers around under-shepherds of Christ.

Don’t bother him with my critique. I’ve warned him and his merry band, and they have rejected the message of faith over reason. Even I read his blog, so go ahead; I read a lot of stuff on the Net. Often it’s just a matter of seeing how Satan is at work in this world. There are a lot of nonessential things I pursue because they work for me, but I never represent them as essential to our community of faith.