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Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical

Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical

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The Problem with Human Hierarchy

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that you should read for gardening tips. For example, when you bury a body, cover it with endangered plants so it’s illegal to dig up.

First, if you have a Christian podcast that’s currently running (or that you plan to launch soon), you might be interested in our brand new podcast cross-promotion group. Just reply to this email and ask me about it, but include the link to your podcast.

When my signature book Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom released, I couldn’t fit in all the chapters.

So we created a supplemental website specifically for the book (the web address is inside the book at the end. It’s different from the book landing page).

One of the chapters on the supplemental website that couldn’t fit into the book is entitled “The Origins of Human Government & Hierarchy.”

The big point I made in that article is that God didn’t create hierarchy for humans.

He created it for the celestial realm (which includes the divine council, archangels, and other angelic beings).

When Lucifer fell and became “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:16), he introduced hierarchy (which is the way his realm is orchestrated) into the fallen world.

The article is heavily footnoted and uses ancient source materials to buttress the points.

(It also explores the names of the archangels, a few of which are in Scripture, and how they operate.)

To date, the article has never been refuted. And it’s helped many.

I’m highlighting it today because I recently watched the 1963 hearings where Joseph Valachi (a New York mobster) divulged before the US Congress how the Mafia was organized.

That hearing was the first time the American public and the US government learned that the Mafia (Cosa Nostra) was real along with the fascinating way it was structured.

Hierarchy upon hierarchy upon hierarchy. A direct reflection of the fallen celestial world adopted by humans.

Even though hierarchy has been utilized in benign and even good-intentioned institutions — businesses and even modern “churches” (the military also, although people disagree on how benign it is) — human hierarchies always create problems because humans weren’t designed for it.

That bears repeating: human hierarchies always create problems because humans weren’t designed for it.

If this idea is new to you or you have trouble with it at first blush (i.e., some of you are new to my work and haven’t yet read the book Insurgence), you can see the evidence for yourself in the article.

It’s among the most fascinating things I’ve ever researched.

Read it at The Origins of Human Government & Hierarchy.

If you find it helpful, you are welcome to share it with your friends.

Next Thursday I have some good news to share, so stay tuned.

Yours in His grace,

fv

P.S. Remember, if you’re a Christian podcaster, hit me up.

FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO PARTNER WITH THE MINISTRY

Frank doesn’t profit personally from his ministry. He generously sends out a fresh new article every Thursday (there are over 1,000 on the blog). Also, a new podcast episode drops every other Tuesday on his two podcasts (combined there are over 300 episodes). While all of these resources are without cost to you, they require time and money to produce. Therefore, if you would like to donate to help defray the costs and/or express appreciation, there are three ways to donate, all of them simple. Go to the Donations Page for information.

P.S. If someone wanted to change your life and zealously forced this blog post on you, you can appease them and subscribe here. It’s gratis and comes with a dozen Super Fire Hot Wings … the kind you can only eat after you sign a set of release forms. (No lemon suckers please. They won’t understand the humor.)

Category: Rethinking

About Frank Viola

Frank Viola is a best-selling author, blogger, speaker, and consultant to authors and writers. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. To learn more about Frank and his work, go to 20 Years of Projects. To invite Frank to speak at your event, go to his Speaking Page. Due to a new problem with persistent spam that we haven’t figured out how to control, comments are closed for the present time. To contact Frank, use the “Contact” page in the top menu.

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Frank Viola

Frank is a bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and blogger. He helps serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. His blog – frankviola.org – is regularly ranked in the top 5 of all Christian blogs on the Web and his podcast – Christ is All – has ranked #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA on Apple Podcasts. He and his conversation partners also host The Insurgence Podcast. Frank’s books have sold over 600,000 copies and they’ve been translated into many languages.

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