"The Bible is a very efficient book; it only speaks completely about redemption and tries to get to that and to the spreading of that as quickly as possible. It is a huge mistake to think that any other theme in it is complete or worthy of attention." --Dr. F. Schaeffer, L'Abri Fellowship "
L'Abri Fellowship was a home ekklesia, or Tyndale's translation of ekklesia as a congregation; it was not a Capital C Church, which as Peter mentions, in which the clergy class "lords over God's heritage" (I Peter 5: 1-3. Schaeffer was one of a few Christian celebrities, writers of many books, such as "Corrie" Ten Boom, who had the Holy Spirit. Most Christian celebrities are dispensationalists.
We are living in an age of deception, un âge de tromperie. A type of
surrealist painting was called "tromper l'œil," or "fool the eye."
Likewise, a celebrity may fool not only the eye, but also the mind.
Christ says in John 7: 24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but
judge righteous judgment."
In our post-Christian culture image is everything. Some years ago,a TV
commercial on NBC for Canon cameras told us that "Image is
everything." In Norman Spinrad's science fiction novel, Bug Jack
Barron (1969) Morris, head of the Republican Party, tells Jack,
"You're a marketable commodity...an image behind which we can
unite...Image, Barron, image is what counts...not the man...never mind
what the real man behind the image is like."
In the image culture success has become more and more a matter of
giving An appearance of being successful and attractive. And the main
game in the worldly culture is to win image and success for oneself.
An artist is successful when he attains to much image.
The Greek word "emoranthesan," translated as
"they became fools" in Romans 1: 22, aorist passive, breaks down to
the Greek μωρός (moros), which means, according to the Analytical
Greek Lexicon Revised, by Harold K. Moulton, p.274 "dull, foolish."
Our word "moron" was coined by psychologists from the Greek μωρός, and
Alfred Binet and the Stanford–Binet Intelligence IQ Scale defined the
moron IQ range as being 51-70, superior to "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50)
and even more superior to an "idiot" (IQ of 0-25).
So, a person dumbed down by American education, bad food, toxins in
the water and air plus celebrities in the media (including Christian
ones) might be likened to what happened in Paul's description to the
guys who professed themselves to be wise, but "emoranthesan," i.e.,
"they were made dumb," the passive aorist. The one word "emoranthesan"
means "they received dumbness, (or stupidity)."
We are living in an increasing age of cognitive dimness. And spiritual
darkness follows cognitive dimness and deception with its dumbess
regarding truth, especially among church Christians, and increasing
moral insensibility. Often contemporary people cannot tell the
difference between truth and lies - in Christian doctrines and
elsewhere. This is also true in the sciences, especially in areas that have been brought under that which is political.
A list of Christian celebrities would include Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell,
Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, Tim LaHaye, Grant Jeffrey, John
Hagee, Rick Warren,Robert Schuller, Jimmy Swaggart,and Hal Lindsey.
Celebrities are the most successful people in the image culture of
television, movies, radio, magazines and newspapers. Many people who
are not celebrities imitate celebrities in presenting surface
appearances
of attractiveness and success. Almost everyone takes part in the
celebrity system - including Church Christians - by allowing
celebrities on TV, in movies, on the radio and in other media to
influence
them in what they think and in the way they act. Celebrities not only
entertain Americans and those
in most other parts of the world, but they also tell us what to
believe and how to behave.
In our age of deception, it is the
celebrities of entertainment, politics and religion who do much of the
deceiving; and they are able to deceive people because the people are
impressed by their surface appearances.
Before the secular celebrity system spread to politics, sports, the
arts, the military, education,
business and to Christianity, it was confined to Hollywood film stars.
Richard Schickel in his book, Intimate Strangers: The Culture of
Celebrity, 1985, says the celebrity system began in the period of
1895 to 1920 with early Hollywood movie stars. Some of these early
celebrities of film were Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas
Fairbanks and William S. Hart.
Like Narcissus, the Hollywood celebrity fell in love with his or her
own image. In Greek, narke, or narcotic, means stupor, a state of not
being very sharp cognitively.
Daniel J. Boorstein in The Image: Guide to Pseudo-Events in America,
1965, says we now live in a world "...where the image has more dignity
than its original...We have become eager
accessories to the great hoaxes of the age." In the image culture of
movies, TV, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, the image is more
real that what it is supposed to represent. The mass media, and its
celebrities, create our illusions that we live by. Boorstein writes
about the "thicket of unreality" in the American image culture.
The dispensationalist celebrities appear to have been caught up to some extent in
Boorstein's thicket of unreality o0f the image culture.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears" II Timothy 4: 3
But - the mainstream media, including Hollywood - within which the celebrities operate, degraded by 2016 into the "Fake News" Media Establishment. The Fake News Establishment is no longer believed by so many people as it was a few years ago. The celebrity and the celebrity culture is still around, but it is losing credibility.
In the present phase of the age of deception, as many people in the popular culture began to stop listening to the mainstream media, in which the Hollywood -Originated Celebrity System is embedded, an alternative and populist-patriot media arose. There are leaders in the Alternative Media too who in some ways are like celebrities, but they are sometimes capable of casting a cold fishy eye upon the old Hollywood and old Media type of celebrity, and deriding them. At present these Alternative Media "Celebrities" are focused more on the old worn out type of political celebrities. Could the Alternative Media Celebrities turn their critical focus upon Christian celebrities who promote false doctrines like Christian Zionism. I do not know, but it is an interesting idea.
Its possible that false prophets have had some influence on Trump, a celebrity, but one who many believe is real and has a mission. And these Christians who might have had an influence on Trump's Christian doctrines are dispensationalist and pop Christian "name it and claim it" celebrities. On the other hand, Trump, the celebrity with a mission, is bright and may understand or soon will, and come to the knowledge of the truth.
