By Davis Carlton

I’ve recently criticized Todd Friel for his insistence that Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 require Christians to obey mask mandates (Part 1 and Part 2). I certainly don’t intend to beat a dead horse, especially in light of Colby’s recently published piece on why wearing masks isn’t “loving thy neighbor.” Quite frankly there isn’t much more that needs to be said about the coronavirus or government policies, especially in light of the CDC’s recent concession that 94% of patient deaths attributed to coronavirus were cases in which co-morbidities contributed to death. The overwhelming majority of people who contracted COVID-19 who were otherwise healthy did not die and recovered without lasting detriments to their health. Many who test positive for coronavirus report only mild symptoms, if symptoms are even present at all. At this point there is simply no justification for the continued restrictions that state and local governments have imposed in order to protect people from the spread of coronavirus and the only possible motivations for continuing these measures are malicious. read more

By Davis Carlton

As a traditionalist with a high view of authority I can appreciate what the Apostles taught in regards to submission to lawful authority. Submission to the government flows from God’s own authority, Who “rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Dan. 4:17, 5:21). Barabbas is a useful example of what Christians are not supposed to be. Barabbas is guilty of sedition (Lk. 23:19, 25), murder and insurrection (Mk. 15:7), as well as robbery (Jn. 18:40). Barabbas used legitimate grievances against Rome as an opportunity for sin. Barabbas should have been punished by the Romans as an evildoer. Whatever questions about the legitimacy of the Roman government in Judea were in the first century, they did not justify breaking just laws against sedition, murder, and robbery. read more