What Is a Nation, Anyway? | The World View With Alex Kocman

How do we define nations? Is America just an idea? Maybe there’s a deeper reason that the broader culture is pushing back against Scripture’s definition of a people.
The World View is opinion show offering a mission-driven view of the world from a biblical worldview. The views of the host do not necessarily reflect the views of ABWE but represent an effort to channel a biblical approach to culture and mission that is consistent with ABWE's doctrine and values.
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[@-RM-]

Great video. Too bad it had to end with such a scary photo of Kenneth Copeland! Eek!

[@bankiey]

It's our egregore.

[@recgamer019]

The problem is that when the great commission was given, it was in an imperial context, not a national one. The Roman Empire and its predecessors mentioned in Daniel 7 was not an ethnos nation but something more akin to America: an empire made up of multiple nations, including Italy, France, Denmark, Poland, Israel, Egypt, Arabia, Greece, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, Libya etc. It is for this reason that preterists, even some partial ones, claim that the Great Commission was fulfilled during the apostolic era because the Roman Empire contained representatives of all the nations in Genesis 10. So it is better to interpret ethnos in Matthew 28:19 as political or especially geographic entities. This has the advantage of achieving harmony with Acts 1:8 "ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Note that this speaks of a geographical expansion of the gospel only, not an ethnic or national one. Also, I should point out that the New Testament makes it clear that the syncretism that you are speaking of began almost immediately with Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 being an example. It is the result of demonic activity, doctrines of devils, and not confusion over national and ethnic markers. But the main issue is that America never met your definition of a nation to begin with. From the very beginning it was a mix of different tribal and ethnic groups that were already here, immigrated here voluntarily (and please note, were given to millennia of tribal and ethnic warfare in their continent of origin) or were brought here involuntarily. Attempts to evade this rely on alternate history that contrives a notion of "pan-Europeanism" that has never existed and still doesn't (to this day the British, French, Germans, Italians, Irish and Scotsmen don't much like or trust each other with pretty much their only point of agreement is their mutual disdain for eastern Europeans).