(be sure and scroll down to the bottom of the page linked above to watch the video)
The most disturbing thing from this video was this portion…
Popov blessing a group of soldiers about to go out on a patrol: “I pray that you would give them the ability to exterminate the enemy and to accomplish the task that they’re been sent forth by God and country to do. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.”
This is immediately followed by Popov saying to more soldiers: “Every soldier should know Romans 13, that the government is set up by God, and the magistrate, or the one who wields the sword — you have not swords but 50 cals and [unintelligible] like that — does not yield it in vain because the magistrate has been called, as you, to execute wrath upon those who do evil.”
CPT Popov is not a real minister of Christ, because he ignores and distorts the teachings of Christ.
Jesus said to not repay evil for evil, and to turn the other cheek, while CPT Popov presumes to pray in CHRIST’S NAME that his troops would have “the ability to exterminate the enemy and to accomplish the task that they’re been sent forth by God and country to do.”
CPT Popov needs to repent of this great evil as does the rest of the Army that is seeking to baptize the evil war with its Chaplain’s corps. CPT Popov would fit well into the history of the backsliding church post-Constantine, but his teachings would be seen as blasephous and evil in the early church.
P.S. With regards to CPT Popov quoting from Romans 13, I’ll post more on that in the comments…
On the issue of Romans 13, first here’s a link to the text in NRSV version…
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=96454391
Paul’s basic message was one of getting along with the authorities. Jesus was much more of (non-violent) revolutionary than Paul, but in this second generation of the Christian movement, Paul was supremely concerned with the survival of the early Christians.
But I think Paul went too far. If you take Romans 13 literally, then it would mean that God literally ordains all nations of the earth to stand, and if that is the case then God ordained Hitler to rule Nazi Germany, and Stalin to slaughter his millions, and Saddam Hussein, and George Bush, and…
Seriously that just doesn’t make sense. God actually ordaining the holocaust? If you take Romans 13 literally, then one would have to say that to resist the holocaust would be to resist God.
But let’s take it a step further. Paul in his letter to the Romans speaks primarily of the “sword” as being a symbol of law enforcement/police power. I don’t really see him speaking of the concept of war here.
In other words, maybe you could argue a comparison between a police officer carrying a 9mm Glock and the sword of Paul’s day, but to compare the 50 cal machine gun (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning_machine_gun ) with the sword is ridiculous. The 50 cal is massive gun.
Here’s a Youtube video that celebrates the 50 cal. (be warned that this “war porn” video is incredibly graphic, and racist)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCl6GG4ajH8
This is the gun that CPT Popov was praying that US troops would use to exterminateIraqis.
Yes, Paul dose say that the authorities are put in place by God. Interestingly, at the time, he was talking about Rome as the authority that Christians were to be in [realative] subjection to. That would mean that ANY Christian should obey the laws of the land that they happen to be in. However, when the government’s laws overstep the commands of God, Paul also stated, “We must obey God rather than man.” One of those commands is to love – even your “enemies”. What the world is witnessing now is typical of twisting what the Bible says in order to maintain HUMAN supriority over other humans. With such a line of reasoning as what most of the churches teach that is out of harmony with the Bible, it’s no wonder the world continues to go crazy. Can you imagine the bloodguilt that those who claim to teach truth accrue as they drench their hands in innocent blood in the name of God….