JUST 62 people own as much wealth as the poorer half of the global population, a new report reveals, as the widening of the gap between the rich and poor accelerates.
As the business elite converge on Davos for the World Economic Forum, an Oxfam report shows wealth is becoming further concentrated, with the number of people owning the same amount as the bottom half of humanity falling from 388 to 62 in five years.
It says a “broken” economic model underpinned by deregulation, privatisation and financial secrecy has seen the wealth of the richest 62 people jump by 44 per cent in five years to $1.76 trillion.
“The big winners in our global economy are those at the top. Our economic system is heavily skewed in their favour. Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate,” the report said.
Oxfam acknowledged that efforts to tackle inequality had seen the halving of the number of people living below the extreme poverty line between 1990 and 2010
“Yet had inequality within countries not grown during that period, an extra 200 million people would have escaped poverty. That could have risen to 700 million had poor people benefited more than the rich from economic growth,” it said.
Oxfam said the growing problem of tax avoidance and use of tax havens was a prime example of how the economic system was “rigged” in the rich’s favour and must be stopped.
It is also calling for workers to be paid a living wage rather than the minimum, for the end of the gender pay gap, for the influence of the powerful with vested interests to be kept in check, and for the tax burden to be shifted away from labour and consumption and towards wealth and capital.
Bryan Patterson's Faithworks 
Fascinating read Bryan. Imagine if we take this to the end? Not looking good.
“Oxfam said the growing problem of tax avoidance and use of tax havens was a prime example of how the economic system was “rigged” in the rich’s favour and must be stopped.”
This has been in Australian Media and politics for awhile now. I hope both parties can work together on this but it also requires international collaboration.
Intuitively one might seek a balance between capitalist and socialist policy.
What would this look like?
Chinese system? A hybrid. How would this play out in policy? What does it mean for the rich?
Does the UN, G20, WMO and others have a part to play?
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With job opportunities rapidly lessening owing to computerisation and robotics, it’s approaching time to get over the work ethic. A person’s value is more than the work he or she can do, or pay others to do. A person’s value is their right as children of God to receive a living from the Earth.
Many countries have a Guaranteed minimum income (GMI) (also called minimum income) which is a system[1] of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test, and either availability for the labour market or a willingness to perform community services. The primary goal of a guaranteed minimum income is to reduce poverty.
This is means tested. If citizenship is the only requirement, the system turns into a universal basic income.
An UNCONDITIONAL BASIC INCOME (also called basic income, basic income guarantee, universal basic income, universal demogrant,[1] or citizen’s income) is a form of social security system[2] in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
This is not a basic wage, and is not means tested.
The Permanent Fund of Alaska is well established and is perhaps to be seen as a permanent system, rather than a basic income pilot. The same could perhaps be said about Bolsa Familia also. Leaving those two big systems apart, these are some of the most well known basic income pilots up to date.
The experiments with negative income tax in United States and Canada in the 1960s and 1970s.
The experiments in Namibia (starting 2008)
The experiment in Brazil (starting 2008)[19]
The experiments in India (starting 2011)
The GiveDirectly experiment[20]
The study in rural North Carolina[21]
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Yes Strewth
Robotics, 3D printing and other technologies will mean many jobs within the next 10-120 years will disappear. However, new jobs will spring up but whether they provide enough we shall see.
I like the ideas you presented. It may also be that voluntary work may acquire a higher priority too. Australia runs on volunteers and is a great reason we have the country we have.
It is possible the 38 hour week can be reduced too. I know some companies in Germany have done this but with increased productivity as an expectation.
As part of a basic income, health and education would need to be calculated into it too.
At the end of the day all expenditure must come from somewhere and if the richer are getting richer than that has to be dispersed.
The question is how? Do we encourage them too with policy and law makers? Do we encourage co-operation between some companies to share workers so as to create more jobs and less part time work? or is the reverse required, more part time work with more working but maintain wages through said companies?
We require changes in policy at the political level. We require creativity in thinking. At the moment we have many homeless in Australia so how on earth can we move forward without creating more homeless.
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” so how on earth can we move forward without creating more homeless.”
Build houses.
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Excerpts from “Beyond capitalism and socialism: could a new economic approach save the planet?”
“To avoid social, environmental and economic collapse, the world needs to move beyond the standard choices of capitalism or socialism. That’s the conclusion of a new report released Wednesday by US think tank Capital Institute.
“The non-partisan think tank argues that both systems are unsustainable, even if flawlessly executed, and that economists need to look to the “hard science of holism” to debunk outdated views held by both the left and the right.”
“For example, the current capitalist system has created extreme levels of inequality, the report says. This, in turn, has led to a host of ills, including worker abuse, sexism, economic stagnation and more. It could even be considered partly responsible for the rise of terrorism around the world, the report claims. In other words, this inequality has become a threat to the very system that is creating it. Without radical change, the report warns, “the current mainstream capitalist system is under existential threat”.
“What is needed now, the Capital Institute argues, is a new systems-based mindset built around the idea of a regenerative economy, “which recognizes that the proper functioning of complex wholes, like an economy, cannot be understood without the ongoing, dynamic relationships among parts that give rise to greater wholes”.
“In practice, this might lead to close analysis of supply chains, investigations of the effects of water use, circular economy initiatives, community economic development work or a host of other sustainability efforts. ”
“A radical shift
This holistic approach flies in the face of a great deal of long-held beliefs. For example, while decision makers usually focus on finding a single ‘right’ answer, holism focuses on finding balanced answers that address seemingly contradictory goals like efficiency and resilience, collaboration and competition, and diversity and coherence. Taken from this perspective, holism wouldn’t approach global economics from a capitalism-or-socialism perspective, but rather from a capitalism-and-socialism perspective.”
“Beyond movements of change, the institute points to a number of individual initiatives that show how the world could change for the better. For example, Mexico’s Grupo Ecologico has worked to fund impoverished small farmers and ranchers, giving them the economic freedom to preserve and regenerate their own land.
“Similarly, Australia’s Bendigo Community Bank splits its net income with local community enterprises. It directs a portion of community branch earnings toward grant making, giving local leaders the opportunity to become active players in their communities.
“Community development is also a primary concern for Chicago’s Manufacturing Renaissance, which is forging unusual partnerships among government, labour unions, educators, the private sector, and civil society to create programs that support the region’s advanced manufacturing sectors.
“Fullerton says there is great potential ahead if society can change its collective mindset: “This is a monumental challenge that holds the promise of uniting our generation in a shared purpose. We now have a more rigorous understanding of what makes human networks healthy – this alone constitutes an amazing opportunity. It is time to act. Our actions, now, will most certainly define the nobility of our lives and our legacy. This is the great work of our time.”
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/apr/21/regenerative-economy-holism-economy-climate-change-inequality#_=_
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Bubba, if it was that easy houses would be built and there would be no homeless. It also takes a long time for a homeless person to get back on their feet.
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regenerative economy, collective mind set, Bendigo bank encouraging business. All good things. I agree 100%.
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Hi Alexie,
It takes a heck of a lot longer if they don’t have a place to live.
Suitable accommodation appears to be the most cost effective solution to homelessness, at least in the jurisdictions where it has been trialled.
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True Bubba.
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So out comes the images of under feed children .
I have seen those images for sixty years.
And on every occasion no one ever states the plain fact.
The planet is getting more hostile.
What as if the ultra rich are responsible.
Without a concerted effort to reduce the numbers of human,s on this very small rock in a vast void things will only get worse .
Aaah
“I forgot their is a race to get more of one group of people greater than another group”.
I personally think if they could extend life to five hundred pr even a thousand years things might be clearer to the masses .
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Reducing the number of humans must apply to the whole world, not for example just Australia. Not assisted suicide for pensioners, not less refugee intake. There is a new political party along these lines, whose slogan is ‘Think Better, Not Bigger.’ So here you go, CB!
On 11 January 2016 the Australian Electoral Commission approved the name change of Sustainable Population Party to Sustainable Australia.
Our community movement aims to secure an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Australia. This means a prosperous economy, healthy environment and better quality of life for all Australians.
Sustainable Australia rejects the old left–right political paradigm, along with its fixed political positions and ideologies. Instead we pursue centrist evidence-base policies, for all Australians.
1. “One extra person can produce enough waste to undermine the recycling efforts of 20 citizens.”
2. Infrastructure cannot be doubled with population doubling
3. Australian cities have reached diseconomies of scale:
4. Ageing is No Ticking Time-Bomb
5.Redefining Economic Growth
6.If we achieve high employment, a diverse economic base, and sustainable resource management, GDP will take care of itself.
We address a broad range of economic, environmental and social issues.
http://www.votesustainable.org.au/
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The countries with a low birth rate, even in the negatives, tend to be 1st world countries. Good economics, good government, good health and education create an environment whereby lower birth rates help to reduce population growth. Maybe the answer is there but we require a road map. Strewth has outlined what the possible road map may be.
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Strewth ,Alexie and others.
Have you given any thought as to the consequences of living for five hundred to a thousand years.
“”Think outside the box “””
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Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
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After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land. Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 120 years.
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Noah was the tenth of the pre-flood (antediluvian) Patriarchs. His father was Lamech and his mother is unknown, but is thought to be either Adah or Zillah, wives of Lamech. When Noah was five hundred years old, he begat Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).
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Genesis 5New Living Translation (NLT)
The Descendants of Adam
5 This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings,[a] he made them to be like himself. 2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”
3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. 4 After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.
6 When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of[b] Enosh. 7 After the birth of[c] Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.
9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. 10 After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. 16 After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. 19 After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived 365 years, 24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.
25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died
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Humans will live to be 500-years-old, according to a top Google executive this year, who said the company was investing millions of dollars in life sciences to ensure this vision became a reality.
Bill Maris, a venture capitalist and the managing partner of Google Ventures, the internet giant’s investment fund, said it had hired scientists as partners in order to identify start-ups that could cure cancer and make chemotherapy “seem primitive” within 20 years.
“If you ask me today, is it possible to live to be 500? The answer is yes,” he said.
“We actually have the tools in the life sciences to achieve anything that you have the audacity to envision,” he said. “I just hope to live long enough not to die.”
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Outside the box.
Well, you could work less knowing that it will take longer to pay off a mortgage but knowing you have plenty of time to do so, while having more leisure time and time to help others.
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Sorry Bryan but your totally missing the question .
Did you not realize you post none of your thoughts and they where totally irreverent to the question.
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Alexie
So that,s you thinking outside the box.
Is your box a version of Russian dolls.
Think deeper !!!
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Those who fear death and want to live as long as possible would welcome living for 1000 years. But many philosophers and ethicists are sceptical about the implications of longer lifespans, both for the individual and society. Their doubts recall the old saying: be careful what you wish for.
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Life-prolonging treatments aren’t likely to be available to everyone. Wealthy people, including powerful autocrats in poor countries, will be able to afford them. The poor will not.
The prospect of a 1000-year-reign for the likes of Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, is not appealing.
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Great Terry
At last someone giving some thought.
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Vanity will tell us that medical science will eventually allow us to live forever. It ignores the notion that eternal life may be a celestial gift, not something we could ever achieve by ourselves. Vanity lies.
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Still Bryan does not give thought of his own as to what the results if people lived a very very long time.
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If we lived 500 years imagine all the comments on this blog? We could hear CB’s ranting for so much longer. How is that CB?
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Alexie
How about one of the things about very long life span .
Commit a crime ,be sent to jail for fifty years and still be around for others to hound you for hundreds of years more.
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I think CB may be coming from the population view. People live for 500 to 1000 years that means the population will go through the roof. You will have many generations alive at one time. Also if a person lives that long they maybe fertile for a lot longer. You could have two or three generations having children.
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I have no wish to live forever, to put off the greatest adventure. We are all here for a reason, which may or may not be clear to any of us. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.
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“It ignores the notion that eternal life may be a celestial gift…”
It also ignores the idea that eternal life is unpalatable for some of us.
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Unpalatable it may be. But that doesn’t mean it’s not real.
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The concept of eternity is very hard to grasp . It’s a place that our minds cannot fathom or understand because we are, by nature, being constrained by time and are aware of time. The Bible puts it this way (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
“He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
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CB,
Have you even seen how decrepit 112-116 year olds look like? How can you even envision mankind living to 150, let alone 500-1,000 years of age? Either you have a fantasmagorical imagination, or greater faith than I can ever hope to have! It’s not possible, not ever! Not unless we evolve and become as God.
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“Humans will live to be 500-years-old, according to a top Google executive this year, who said the company was investing millions of dollars in life sciences to ensure this vision became a reality.”
Well a googol is a very large number. 🙂
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living to 500 years. Imagine the baby sitting of grand kids?!
I wonder how living so long will affect the psychological make up of people? Imagine being depressed and anxious for hundreds of years?
Personally i have no interest except to live eternally with Christ. If our Earth was not a fallen world then living bodily so long is another thing. A new earth and a New Heaven. Yes!
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Our allotted lifespan was three score years and ten. A pension at 65 gave a man his final 5 years of peace, to rest and die.
So far modern science has extended life in Australia from that, to over 80. And that includes a proportion of healthy years to enjoy retirement, no longer a five year dying period.
Presumably as life is extended, that includes active healthy life.
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The usual !
Don,t post real accurate comments
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Israel is a nation, though before that he was a person. Between times he was a tribe. A tribe can exist for many human lifetimes.
That is not to say that the length of human life in the past and/or the future can be different from now.
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Sorry. I meant to say “That is not to say that the length of human life in the past and/or the future can NOT be different from now.”
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Martin Luther King, Jr. on Income Inequality and Redistribution of Wealth + James Baldwin
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This is what happens when you help the poor.
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-study-has-accidentally-shown-the-incredible-effect-a-little-extra-money-has-on-the-poorest-families?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=InArticleReadMore
Now imagine the outcome of not helping them.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35370374
In then thousand years later the same crap
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And I guess you missed this CB?
Made me cry. What a wonderful, blessed human being he was. Yes, a Muslim, and a saint!
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35352763
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CB, as a world “governed by evolution” and survival of the fittest it continually surprises me the attitude you have towards human behaviour. Lions eat their prey. As a norm of reaction humans are violent. Aggressive behavior has evolved in species in which it increases an individual’s survival. Humans certainly rank among the most violent of species. Is not war just an extension of this? Why be horrified at this? It is normal evolution at work. We can extend this further to eugenics, the holocaust and genocide.
Of course I do not believe any of this. I believe the most collaborative survive and yes this could involved violence. Violence is preceded by sin. A fallen world.
If we go the evolution highway I would say we are biologically evolved to be cooperative more than competitive, affiliating more than antagonistic, peaceable more than violent. This also parallels with how the Bible portrays human beings.
When we are exposed to violence, we tend to respond with violence. Our cultures tend to reward violent behavior. Its a race to the bottom sometimes.
We will be freed to resist and to construct alternative systems that do serve life. This is best served by actually being free. The only way I know is to be free with Christ. Imagine a whole civilisation that is free in the Biblical sense. God promises us a life of well over 500 years, where Christ is the leader. A new Earth and a New Heaven.
Amen
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Ha Ha Ha.
Sorry just imagined those words except the enfing put forward by me.
I very much doubt it would be posted on this blog .And if it was you and others would be frantically attacking it .
As a side issue but a very import fact :-
Evolution is not a driving force for making life smarter .
Look up some facts about the KOALA
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?????????????? (n)
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The Koala was an animals that ate a great variety of foods, moved around and swam. Now it only eats one type of toxic leaf so it metabolism needs to be very slow resulting in it sleeping most of the time. To be safe it does this up a tree.
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And why leave out the fact the skull contains a small brain alongside a form of jelly to fill the volume left when evolution shrunk the brain.
The KOALA has reduced requirement for thinking
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CB
And your point is?????????
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I probably left it out because I did not know that 🙂
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Koala’s shrunken brain? Hmmm.
I believe that is an assumption.No one really knows but it could also be the smaller brain uses less energy and that this could be an adaptation to allow the Koala to survive on its low energy diet. It could be to help with digestion of its toxic leaves. Or many other possibilities.
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“Evolution is not a driving force for making life smarter”
I agree.
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“A new Earth and a New Heaven.” The Second Coming.
If you believe the word of Jesus, it has already started to happen. He said quite clearly that it would begin in the lifetime of those present.
For some, apparently, the Kingdom of God had already come –
” But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:28
And “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Does the Bible teach that the Kingdom of God came in the first century and that it is a spiritual kingdom, not a physical one?.
“The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21.
What if it is all there, and so many fail to see it?
I do not believe the Bible should be dissected and analyzed word by word, so I won’t be arguing that the above proposition is irrefutable – far from it. As ‘the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life,’ the value of what it says to each of us, is important. The Holy Spirit does not have to treat us in bulk – we are all precious to God in individual ways.
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The New Age and the Kingdom of God
Rick Joyner
The New Age Movement has become a powerful force in the devil’s strategy to blind the world to the gospel of Jesus Christ. One reason why this movement has been so effective is because many New Age teachings closely mirror the great truths of the gospel, but then carry them to conclusions that are in conflict with the most central of all Christian truths—the cross. Much of the success of The New Age Movement has come by stealing from the gospel the high ground of hope for the future. This is the church’s special domain, and we must refuse to surrender a single acre of it to the enemies of the cross.
It is a fundamental truth of the gospel that there is a new age coming. It is an age of peace, righteousness and justice that will prevail over the whole earth. It is the age in which Jesus Christ will rule as the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, and the Righteous Judge. This is the true message of the new age to come that the enemy is trying to subvert through the New Age Movement. Almost every aspect of New Age teachings is a counterfeit of the true hope of the gospel. Hope for the future is central to the power of the gospel. The age that is coming belongs to the Lord, and the message of the new age belongs to Him.
When the Lord came to earth the first time, He came to purchase our redemption with His own blood. As Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” The price for the entire earth, and all of its inhabitants, was fully paid at the cross. After His resurrection, Jesus could have destroyed the devil and taken His rightful domain over the earth right then. Instead it was the Father’s plan that a people would first be redeemed from the earth to become joint heirs with the Son of God, and they will then rule with Him in the age to come. The Scriptures testify that when His bride is ready, the Lord will return to redeem the earth from all consequences of the fall. Peter referred to this as the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21), and this is why all of creation is groaning and travailing (Romans 8:19-22).
The enemy has been trying to preempt this powerful message of hope which the church is called to proclaim. Our message is not one of doom, but of a glorious future as Jesus takes His dominion over the world. Great troubles are coming at the end of the age, but not for those who know the Lord and have built their lives upon His kingdom and His ways. For those who are obedient to the Lord, even the troubles that are prophesied at the end will be a time of great glory. The Scriptures are clear that the end of this age will be accompanied by a time of trouble such as the world has never experienced before. These are biblical prophecies which cannot be changed. We must teach them if we are going to present the whole truth. Even so, the Scriptures are also clear that even the time of greatest darkness will be one of glory for the Lord’s people, as we see in Isaiah 60:1-5: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you……..
The Gospel of Hope
No other religion or philosophy in the world has a hope that can compare to the hope we have been given for the age to come. Even so, we know that the Lord is about to judge the earth. As Paul wrote, “Behold then the kindness and the severity of God” (Romans 11:22). Many have a distorted view of His judgment, automatically assuming that it means destruction. God’s judgments should never be feared by the godly, but they should be feared by the ungodly. If we are living in obedience, we do not need to fear even the greatest times of trouble that will come upon the earth. The Glorious Hope
The message that the church has been entrusted with is a far more glorious hope than any utopia or Age of Aquarius that the humanists or spiritualists have been able to come up with. Our message is the kingdom of God. Like every great biblical truth that is the foundation of our trust in God, this one has come under a major assault of the enemy. His diabolical strategy has been to blur the truth, weaken our faith, and cloud the message.
The message Jesus preached was not the gospel of salvation, although that was contained in His message. Neither was His message about the church. In all of His messages He only made a few brief references to the church. His message was the kingdom, and this is the message we have been given to preach.
The message of the kingdom is essentially one basic, but all encompassing truth—Jesus is the King! He reigns, and His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom. When He returns to set up His kingdom on the earth, He will not just do away with war: He will bring the whole creation into such harmony that the lion will lie down with the lamb, and children will be able to safely play with cobras. No man or beast will do harm to another in the kingdom. Not only will sickness and disease be removed from the earth, but even death will have been abolished. The nations will drink from the River of Life, and eat the fruit of the Tree of Life.
The following are just a few of the Scriptures that reveal the nature of His coming kingdom:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7).
And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them.
Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples, and His resting place will be glorious (Isaiah 11:1-10).
And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.
And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place (Revelation 22:1-6).
He is coming to bring peace, but He is also coming with a rod of iron to strike the nations.
There will be no more mourning, no more pain, no more hunger and no more disease. No child on earth will ever again be abused, and no one will ever again try to injure or defraud a neighbor. Truth will prevail over every lie, and love will prevail over the whole earth. Our glorious King will return. His kingdom is coming, and He will perform His will on earth as it is in heaven.
We are getting closer to the greatest times of trouble the world has ever known. However, we must see the light that lies beyond the darkness. In the midst of the time of darkness, we will know that the time of our redemption is getting closer.
The greatest hope the Lord gave us in His kingdom was that it was “at hand” (Mark 1:15). This means that those who hear and believe Him can live in His kingdom now! Even though we walk on the earth, we are also seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The miracles He performed were evidence that the kingdom was available to any who could see it by faith. When He cast out demons He said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).
The last trumpet, or message, in the Book of Revelation is, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15b). The message of the kingdom will be preached by those who live in the reality and power of His kingdom now. We do not wait for the millennium for Jesus to reign over us. His kingdom is already “at hand.”
Those who have the Holy Spirit of God have more power abiding in them than in all of the demons combined. John wrote:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the {spirit} of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (I John 4:1-4).
We must also be aware that our gospel will cease to be true to the degree that we compromise the centrality of Jesus. Even heaven would not be heaven unless He was there. Our hope is in the King, not just the kingdom. Satan will try to offer all the elements of the kingdom of God without Jesus, which is the essence of the New Age Movement. Our message of the kingdom is that Jesus is King!
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Then Monica, you don’t believe Jesus said that it would begin in the lifetime of those present? This is not just New Age thinking, it was discussed by theologians at least as far back as Eusebius of Caesarea.
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See the fifth paragraph from the bottom, Strewth:
“The greatest hope the Lord gave us in His kingdom was that it was “at hand” (Mark 1:15). This means that those who hear and believe Him can live in His kingdom now! Even though we walk on the earth, we are also seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The miracles He performed were evidence that the kingdom was available to any who could see it by faith. When He cast out demons He said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).”
What do I think that means? To be united with Him and His authority. So yes, I wholeheartedly believe that is for now. But I also believe in the literal return of the King, Jesus Christ, just as is prophesied in the Bible.
Cheers
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My point is believers are so interested in getting a reward for living on this planet they see no reason the madness should stop .
After all they are only around a short time.
Just maybe if they lived for 500 to a 1,000 years they would treat everything better.
They would see the massive destruction .
If you truly believe man is the greatest why is this planet crap to some .
And those people are reaching for the exit
:-
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You really have a low opinion of believers.
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CB sadly has a low opinion of all humans, except himself it seems.
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No, humans would be not much different if they lived longer. We know what is right but we do not do it. Why? Sin.
But as fallen creatures we do love and are loved. There is hope.
But are we not just like any animals, survival of the fittest. So why complain about it???
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Why blame ‘believers’ for the state of the planet CB? Your statement says more about your bigotry than anyone else. I know someone who hates Jews with a passion, and I see you as no different, only you hate us. If anyone needs changing here, it’s you. For a start, learn about Christianity before you open your mouth again.
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Wow.
What an advertisement for religious belief.
Somebody makes a contentious point and not one single believer replying bothers to address that point.
But they do make up for it with by making some personal attacks.
Well done fellas I’m sure the deity of your choice is right proud of you all.
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Well Bubba, Pot…kettle…… Would you care to address what you call the “contentious point?
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Bubba has a go at believers for “personal attacks” and then has a go at believers by attacking them.
By the way there were no “personal” attacks. Some “pointed” out the “point” was not true or not about believers. Maybe you just wanted to have a cheap shot (attacking) believers.
By the way, where is your reply about the “point”?
By the way I said that CB was wrong as living longer would make no difference. I ignored the false premise about a “reward” all humans have made a contribution to issues on the earth and so any type of reward is actually not the point, but the “crap” planet we live in. I suggest you read his post and pin point the point.
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Somebody makes a contentious point and not one single believer replying bothers to address that point.
I pick and choose when I respond and when I let it slide. I feel this statement does not deserve a response because it pigeon holes more than half the worlds population..
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Hey Dom,
I think to pick and choose when you respond is fine.
But you’re response was “You really have a low opinion of believers.”
So you did choose to respond. And your choice was to have a dig and somebody and that was about it.
But if peer pressure means anything to you then you’re not alone with that and apparently it’s not a problem.
Less debate, more personal attacks. Surely the ideal way for us to all move forward.
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Still don’t want to address the “contentious point” Bubba?
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I don’t think it was a personal attack. It was an observation. CB did not take exception to it, in contrary, he actually confirmed it in a latter post to be not just limited to believers but to all humans.
If I post something personal and someone takes personal exception to anything I post. Please let me know.
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Hey Dom,
Some people might make the observation that all terrorists are Muslim. Or that Islam is a religion of violence and oppression.
Would that be just an observation or would there be a bit more to it ?
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You know perfectly well my view of myself is on par with all other Homo Sapiens
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And yet you say you are smarter….an odd delusion.
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How is it going in “”COPY & PASTE” world ?
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Fine without you CB. How’s it going in your little world?
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I was thinking about you today CB. Hoping to God that I didn’t hurt your feelings. Apologies if I did. It wasn’t intentional. I know that I can be very blunt, especially when the pressure builds up and escapes. But glad you’ve resurfaced.
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“You know perfectly well my view of myself is on par with all other Homo Sapiens”
With the exception of ‘believers’, of course. 😉
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Ho Hum
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“”Little world””
Yes
But plainly everyone lives their own little world.
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Or IN their own little world
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That is obvious CB. Do you have anything relevant or grammatically correct to say for a change?
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As a product of this time and place developing my perception .
And the realization my thoughts are very flawed .
And the realization all others are inflicted by their own versions.
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Because I believe reincarnation is compatible with Christianity, http://reluctant-messenger.com/origen.html, and because I have had a personal experience supporting it, and because it helps make sense of a lot of things, this influences my thoughts on living on and on and on.
Life is about learning lessons. To benefit from them we don’t have to remember them, any more than we need to remember our early attempts to walk, to speak, etc.
Too much memory of the past can hold back a forward movement. We can move on, taking our new learning, without the baggage, the impediment, of old, often hateful, memories. Reincarnation allows a fresh start, without old labels. Something hard to achieve by continuing our present lives.
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Christianity says we live once, and die once. I can’t see reincarnation as compatible with that.
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May I also advise that the link Strewth has given us is to a cult, the United Church of God and in no way is it representative of Christianity.
https://carm.org/ucog
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I’m not recommending the United Church of God. Looking for link, that was the first that came up that recommended serious books on the subject.
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I am not, nor would want to be, associated with the UCG. But I do think they could be classed as Christian, even though they do not have some of the same traditions teachings as taught in orthodoxy.
According to Wikepedia, the UCG follows and believes in many of the basic doctrinal principles shared by other Christian churches such as the inspiration of the scriptures, Christ’s bodily resurrection, and the three ordinances of baptism,[14] and agrees with Protestant theology regarding the tenets of sola scriptura and that Justification is a gift given freely by God. Like many Christian churches, it also believes in the resurrection of the dead, Millennialism, baptism by immersion, Gap creationism, and is strongly Adventist, believing that the return of Christ is imminent, interpreting current events in the light of Bible prophecy.[14] However, its teachings differ from mainstream Catholic and Protestant theology in a number of key areas:
Cult, sect, denomination – the words carry a different amount of ‘respectability’. Yet Christianity was at first a cult of Judaism.
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Apparently, Dr. Stephen W. Boston, creator of http://www.reluctant-messenger.com was not only a member of the Worldwide Church of God, but also wrote a book about it…..”Boston, Stephen W. (2002). The Essential Teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.”
I still maintain that The Worldwide Church of God is considered to be a cult by many a Christian denomination, although Mr. Armstrong apparently later rejected many of his beliefs and came back to a more orthodox understanding of the Christian faith before his death. There are some former Worldwide Church of God churches/members who still espouse the unbiblical doctrines of Armstrongism though.
http://www.gotquestions.org/Worldwide-Church-God-Armstrongism.html
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This was not in itself a teaching, but an analogy used to show that Jesus did not have to die repeatedly to save mankind. Yes, we live once and die once, then the judgement. Beyond that? No one knows. Perhaps then we return to learn how better to serve God.
Taking one quote from the Bible is not the same as looking at its over-all message, the number of times a precept is presented. And Jesus never spoke against reincarnation, despite being quite aware that it was being questioned regarding Elijah, John the Baptist, and the man born blind.
But I am no authority, especially not on what others should believe.
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From the Christian perspective:
“The one passage that some point to as evidence for reincarnation is Matthew 17:10-12 which links John the Baptist with Elijah. However, the passage does not say that John the Baptist was Elijah reincarnated but that he would have fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah’s coming if the people had believed his words and thereby believed in Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 17:12). The people specifically asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah, and he said, “No, I am not” (John 1:21).
Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon and is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Many modern pagans also believe in reincarnation as do some New Age movements, along with followers of spiritism. For the Christian, however, there can be no doubt: reincarnation is unbiblical and must be rejected as false.” (Got Questions Org)
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To take the one incident where dying once, and then the judgement, is used, is spot reading. Only in Hebrews 9:27, nowhere else is this put forward. It is not that reincarnation is dismissed here, the subject matter had no mention of reincarnation. In any case Revelations speaks of a second death.
When Jesus corrected his disciples who wondered why a man was born blind, John 9:1- 41, he said it was for none of the reasons they proposed, but so that God’s works might be revealed in him. He had a perfect opportunity to tell them that reincarnation was a false teaching, but did not. Nowhere in the Bible does he speak against it.
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“The whole thrust of the Bible opposes reincarnation. It shows that man is the special creation of God, created in God’s image with both a material body and an immaterial soul and spirit. He is presented as distinct and unique from all other creatures—angels and the animal kingdom alike. The Bible teaches that at death, while man’s body is mortal, decays and returns to dust, his soul and spirit continue on either in a place of torments for those who reject Christ or in paradise (heaven) in God’s presence for those who have trusted in the Savior. Both categories of people will be resurrected, one to eternal judgment and the other to eternal life with a glorified body (John 5:25-29). The emphatic statement of the Bible, is that “it is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). This statement and the concept that mankind’s creation in God’s image is unique from the animals and even angels stand totally opposed to the idea of reincarnation—dying and coming back as another person or in the form of an animal or insect. The claim of some that they have information of past history is nothing more than some kind of encounter with demonic powers who have been present throughout history.
Christianity rejects reincarnation for ten reasons.
1. It is contradicted by Scripture (Heb 9:27).
2. It is contradicted by orthodox tradition in all churches.
3. It would reduce the Incarnation (referring to Christ’s incarnation) to a mere appearance, the crucifixion to an accident, and Christ to one among many philosophers or avatars. It would also confuse what Christ did with what creatures do: incarnation with reincarnation.
4. It implies that God made a mistake in designing our souls to live in bodies, that we are really pure spirits in prison or angels in costume.
5. It is contradicted by psychology and common sense, for its view of souls as imprisoned in alien bodies denies the natural psychosomatic unity.
6. It entails a very low view of the body, as a prison, a punishment.
7. It usually blames sin on the body and the body’s power to confuse and darken the mind. This is passing the buck from soul to body, as well as from will to mind, and a confusion of sin with ignorance.
8. The idea that we are reincarnated in order to learn lessons we failed to learn in a past earthly life is contrary to both common sense and basic educational psychology. I cannot learn something if there is no continuity of memory. I can learn from my mistakes only if I remember them. People do not usually remember these past “reincarnations.”
9. The supposed evidence for reincarnation, rememberings from past lives that come out under hypnosis or “past life regression” can be explained—if they truly occur at all—as mental telepathy from other living beings, from the souls of dead humans in hell, or from demons. The real possibility of the latter should make us extremely skittish about opening our souls to “past life regressions.”
10. Reincarnation cannot account for itself. Why are our souls imprisoned in bodies? Is it the just punishment for evils we committed in past reincarnations? But why were those past reincarnations necessary? For the same reason. But the beginning of the process that justly imprisoned our souls in bodies in the first place—this must have antedated the series of bodies. How could we have committed evil in the state of perfect, pure, heavenly spirituality? Further, if we sinned in that paradise, it is not paradisical after all. Yet that is the state that reincarnation is supposed to lead us back to after all our embodied yearnings are over.”
https://bible.org/question/what-does-bible-say-about-reincarnation
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“In his great prophecy about the end times Jesus warns, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Paul has a similar warning, “The spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). He warns, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy” (Colossians 2:8).
Reincarnation is an old belief, but it has become much more popular in the West in recent decades. As we approach the Scriptural end times, I believe it is part of the deception against which Jesus warned.
I believe that the Bible is true, that it is a rock on which to stand when everything else is shifting and unsure, and that it is the touchstone by which we test every other teaching. When I test reincarnation by that touchstone I find that it does not match up with Biblical truth. Not only are there specific texts that clearly contradict it, but it simply does not fit into much of the basic teaching of Scripture. I believe it to be a false and deceptive doctrine. It is dangerous because it leads men to believe what is false, and distracts attention from the truth.”
http://www.scriptureinsights.com/Reincarnation.html
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