The Prince of Peace

Man is responsible for the materialization of the world, for the necessity and compulsion which reign in it; for man is called to be king of the universe-and the world lives or dies by him. The world is deadened by man’s fall and it is revived by man’s uprising. But the all-vivifying and spiritualizing rise of fallen man is possible only through the advent of the Absolute Man, bringing man’s nature into communion with divine nature. The Redeemer and Saviour of the world exorcizes the spell and casts off the fetters of necessity. He is the Liberator. Without Christ the Liberator, the world would have remained for all time shattered in necessity and determinism would be for ever true. Determinism is finally overcome only in Christ the Liberator. Any philosophy which does not accept Christ the Liberator, which is not illumined by Christ the Logos, inevitably contains within itself to a greater or less degree an undissolved remnant of determinism. Without Christ the Liberator, freedom itself must appear to be the result of necessity. Freedom without Christ the Liberator is the freedom of the old Adam, freedom without love, freedom of the seven-day creation. Freedom with Christ is the freedom of the new Adam, freedom which by love removes the spell from the world-freedom of the eighth day of creation. After Christ, man is a new creature, knowing new freedom. For determinism only the old creature exists, under the spell of necessity. The naturalistic view of man and the world is the old view, born of the old consciousness, consonant with the epoch of unfinished seven-day creation. Determinism and naturalism will always persist until man’s human nature is joined with divine nature through the Absolute Man.
–Nikolai Berdyaev¹

Prior to the coming of Christ, man has been living on the perversion of God’s laws for centuries. Whereas the Creator has intended for man to live in voluntary synergy with Him, man perverts God’s benevolent reign of love and twists His monarchy into a slavish dependence on regulation through ritual blood sacrifice. The very consequence of this perversion is all around us; it is not hard to see at all.

Where the Creator intends for us to give in to His love so that our freedom might enable us to be magnified as kings of the universe, mankind attempts to subjugate each other through violence, coercion, and persecution. The unrest at the heart of the world’s culture and politics and the rampant nihilism that encourages us to mock and degrade our fellow man is proof that we are living under rulers who know nothing of reality.

These rulers along with their influencers in high places try to manipulate the fabric of reality. They think that a universe built on love and freedom can be twisted into their own versions of utopia with enough blood sacrifices to turn the entire Earth red. This was the folly of archaic religions and this continues to be the folly of those today who inherit the sacrificial structure of paganism whilst claiming to be irreligious.

The rulers and influencers in high places who attempt to engineer the world into order through coercion, manipulation, and violence are going to fail miserably. The reason they are going to fail is that Christ has made known to us reality as it is. Jesus has given us the true science by which we may act in harmony with the universe and all those around us who are the image-bearers of God.

In the sermon on the mount, Christ lays out for us what can be described as avoiding the entanglement into the machine of violent resistance towards God and fellow man. He says:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
–Matthew 5:3-10, (New King James Version)

In the beatitudes of Christ, we see the thread of voluntary and transformative synchronization with God instead of attempting to engineer our fellow man with coercion. Not only that, but we see God’s energy of compassion flowing through us towards others and healing them. We see a refusal to neglect our fellow men or to see them as mere units or cogs in the great man-made machine. As Christ Jesus is glorified by the Father, we too are elevated and transformed into His likeness.

When we are made into His likeness, we will not need swords or any other tools of coercion that the powers and principalities utilize to maintain their versions of order. The rulers’ attempt to maintain order or manifest utopias through coercion is based on the pretext that they can somehow become the rebuking arms of the Lord. That pretext is laughable because Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega and the second person of the Trinity, does not need pitiful human coercion to enforce his vision into humanity.

The Lord and Savior, the God-man Jesus Christ persuades through His irresistible voice and His own example. He persuades humanity through His energies and through His magnificent miracles and creativity. He is not weak that he should lower Himself to the devices of fallen humanity and use the sword of coercion to enforce His will. To claim the office of the coercive arm of the Lord is akin to robbing banks in order to satisfy the bank owner–a pitiful and vicious cycle.

Christ says:

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
–Matthew 5:11-12, (New King James Version)

He continues:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
–Matthew 5:43-48, (New King James Version)

The rulers of the world say that we must persecute our neighbor and report them to the authorities whenever something occurs that isn’t to our liking. The rulers of the world mandate that coercion and manipulation is good for our longevity and well-being. They mandate self-imprisonment, self-defilement, and self-torture under the pretext of well-being. This is what we see all around us: mass incarceration of nonviolent persons, abortions, endless wars, forced lockdowns, wholesale theft through taxation, disintegration of the nuclear family, blatant racial discrimination, blatant misogyny and misandry, hatred of the elderly, and the blatant objectification of the human person.

The accusatory spirit, i.e. Satan, says that we must do unto those before they do unto us. The modus operandi of the rulers is to use preemptive violence in order to initiate peace. But peace never comes through preemptive violence, only more violence. Christ, on the other hand, exemplifies the good way, the most practical way. Despite being divine, he is born not into the ruling class but rather chooses to be born into the class of commons, and from there on he comes in contact with the masses. He influences each person at ground zero through voluntary discourse.

Unlike the satanic way of the world, the Prince of peace exemplifies the way of the strong. Christ exemplifies true power.

Power by its essence is deeply contrary to coercive force. Coercive force is always powerless or in any case an indicator of insufficiency of power. Coercive force is a sign, that a given energy does not act sufficiently deep enough, skips a beat, does not penetrate at depth, does not inwardly act, does not set afire or take hold. An oppressive mechanical shoving in human life is of powerlessness, an incapacity. An authentic power and might sets free, grants freedom to all and everyone, it is a transition into the world of Divine energy, its taking root into the very core of things. Powerlessness always enslaves, is violence prone, and bestows beatings. Authentic power evokes a respect for itself, meets with acknowledgement, and in its supreme manifestations — is a delight. Whoso possesses true power is one who rules over human souls or the soul of the entire people, and is never sensed as an oppressor. An oppressor however rules nothing. In every state there is coercion and force, but no state can rest entirely upon coercion and force. A state tends to fall apart and collapse, when the power of rule in it is violent force, and not rue power.
–Nikolai Berdyaev²

The rulers of the world and their protected oligarchic allies enjoy flaunting what they perceive to be power, but in reality, they wield the weapons of cowards. They wouldn’t last a second when they venture into voluntary discourse as our Lord did during His earthly life. Their wielding of so-called power over the defenseless is akin to a bumbling amateur martial artist doing awkward roundhouse kicks. Christ in His superior wisdom and unmatched personality simply steps aside and lets them fall over themselves.

The rulers and the protected oligarchs are the true reactionaries who rebel against the fabric of reality. Christ is the creator of the cosmos, and He is in perfect harmony with his creation. He makes the rain fall both on the just and the unjust. He takes the path of the strongest, traveling on foot through sun-scorched deserts and interacting with those who are on the outskirts of civilization.

Any fool can live off the loot of the masses, but Christ lived and breathed through creativity, service, and self sacrifice. He employed creativity in feeding the hungry, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, casting out legions of demons, and raising the dead. He employed creativity in His preaching through the art of storytelling. In his many miracles and teachings He exemplified innovation while calling us to do the same through the gift of science and the arts. He commands us by example to fight against the forces of necessity. He displays superior negotiation in his exchanges with tax collectors, priests, prostitutes, criminals, zealots, prophets, soldiers, widows, and many others.

Christ convinces Zacchaeus to voluntarily distribute his wealth to his neighbors (Luke 19). He convinces an adulteress to give up her life of sin (John 7). He convinces a zealot lawyer to love the otherized from the out-group (Luke 10). He ignites the faith of a Roman centurion (Matthew 8). He causes a crucified criminal to repent (Luke 23). He makes disciples from all walks of life by simply saying, “follow me.” In all certainty, the life of Jesus is a tour de force in voluntary interaction and transformation.

The rulers of the world know that Christ is unmatched in his persuasive skills. They are secretly envious of Him because He commands more influence than they could ever imagine. This is why the priests in high places seek to manufacture consent among the masses in order to limit Jesus’ power and influence, but they are fighting a losing battle. The cross of Calvary has already taken captive the minds of men in all corners of civilization. In a hundred years the names of these self-proclaimed priests who seek to regulate information and mandate coercion will be forgotten, but the name of Jesus will reign supreme just as it has for over two thousand years.