The  Fulcrum  of  Truth: Taking Soteriology to the
			    Bank
		      $Revision: 1.1 $
	      Originally conceived 30 Jun 2013


		       John P. Willis


There are multiple theories regarding the nature and  mecha-
nism  of  atonement  in the Christian religion. The earliest
and simplest was the moral transformation theory, which  was
held  as  truth by the early church, from the time of Jesus'
earthly ministry until approximately  300  years  after  his
death.	This  view held that the death of Jesus was a simple
martyrdom, and that the mechanism and atoning result was the
transformation	of  human  lifestyles  to  become closer and
closer to the teachings of Jesus.

The penal substitution theory of atonement--along  with  the
Protestant  reformation--came  about  during the same era as
the rise  of  highly  organized  central  banks.  The  Roman
Catholic  church  had strict rules against charging interest
at any rate whatsoever, which precluded the establishment of
banking  systems  in  areas  where the Roman Catholic church
held sway.  However,  these  restrictions  were  relaxed  as
Protestantism  gained power. Given this social and political
environment in which the  Reformers  lived,  it  makes	some
sense  that  the  moral  transformation  theory of atonement
would be supplanted by a simple-yet-exclusive debt/repayment
equation.  The	prognosis  for	your mortal soul went from a
gold standard of continuous moral transformation to  a	fiat
currency controlled by a few high-powered religious and the-
ological elites.

It is also interesting to note that  the  Pauline  epistles,
the  theological  bedrock  upon  which	the  Reformation was
built, were not canonized until  ca.  140  A.D.  (about  160
years prior to the early decline of the moral transformation
theory) and were canonized by Marcion of  Sinope,  who	left
out all of the Gospels except his own heavily-edited version
of the book of Luke. Marcion believed that the teachings  of
the  New  Testament  were incompatible with the teachings of
the Old Testament, and himself proclaimed a dualist view  of
God:  he  believed that God of the OT and God of the NT were
separate and distinct; the former being visceral  and  evil,
the  latter  being spiritual and good. Marcion also rejected
all of the apostles who lived in Jesus' time for  being  es-
sentially  "too  Jewish",  and	held Paul as chief among the
apostles and Paul's teachings as the  essence  of  religious
truth.	Marcion  was,  in  his	own  time,  widely cast as a









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heretic.

All of this is essentially a study in  how  organized  reli-
gious  movements and religious men shadow all of the social,
cultural, and political developments  with  which  they  are
contemporary. In this case, Christianity sold its birthright
by aligning itself with the same class of money-changers Je-
sus had earlier cast out from Herod's temple. The end result
was that early Christianity was ultimately distorted into  a
view  wherein  slavery under sin could only be exchanged for
slavery under religious leaders,  which  is  ironically  re-
ferred to as "Christian freedom". It was politically expedi-
ent for these men to corrupt the church to their  own  ends,
as a "religion" where following simple teachings of kindness
and peace, guided by the spirit  within,  cannot  be  easily
controlled,  as  it  places  the fulcrum of truth within the
truth-seeker.

As long as the fulcrum of truth is held to be outside of the
truth-seeker, Caiaphas always lives. He simply exists in one
of many reincarnated  forms.  Paul  of	Tarsus,  Marcion  of
Sinope,  John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the Westminster "di-
vines", church elders "fencing the table"... the  list	goes
on.  They all require payment--with interest--on a debt only
they created, and they place individual freedom on the side-
lines.	In  this way, I suppose Caiaphas has even been rein-
carnated today: he is a central banker meddling with  inter-
est rates.