The Church of Facebook

By Samuel M. Frost, Th.M.

I have been a member on Facebook for many, many years.  At it’s infancy, almost.  I saw the movie about Zuckerberg, The Social Network, and thought, “whatever.”  The fact is, FB has become a social norm.  In this link FB has the numbers almost more than Christianity.  As a theologian, I pay attention to things like that.  That is, I come from the Christian interpretative tradition that seeks to apply Scriptural reasoning and theory to every aspect of life; that Scripture has something to say about every aspect of life, and that is can be applied to every aspect of life.  On one occasion I asked my twin boys to name one subject the Bible does not address in one way or the other.  “Cars!” I replied, “Well, that would be horse power (from which we get the measurement of engines), or transportation.  The way we use transportation has moral issues, like, why are their speed limits?”  They said, “So that we are safe.”  “And why do I care about being safe, or looking out for another driver’s safety?”  They got the point: love your neighbor.  Biblical law applied.

Now, someone may reply, “I don’t need the Bible to know that.”  To which I would reply (the philosopher would come out), “know what?  What do you know?”  Yes, I am a Reductionist.  Sorry.  There is no such thing as “common sense.”

Now, then, does FB apply?  Oh yes.  Society and communication.  “Go ye and make disciples, teaching the nations all that I have commanded you.”  Letters are and were a form of media.  Media is just a Latin word (plural – medium is singular) that means “in between.”  The thing through which something else goes.  Communication goes through various media, words, speech, written letters, books, newspapers, television, computers, telephones.  These are forms of media, or medium-devices.  The news happens.  News reporters relate this news to you; they are the go between; the mediators.  Media.

The Bible itself is a medium.  The letters and books in the Bible are forms of media.  It’s how communication is made.  Before good, ole’ Zuckerberg there was Guttenberg, the inventor of the printing press.  Christians seized on this device by the truckloads.  They could get the message out far more quicker than sending individual letters, or copying them by hand.  Then came the camera.  The phone.  Wire service. The typewriter and the word processor.  All tools to use to foster the message; forms of media to use to further educate those who would listen.

Now, of course, these forms, as with anything else human beings create, wicked things that they are, have been abused and used for evil.  After all, Mein Kampf was published as well as the Marquis de Sade.  Pornography, perhaps one of the most destructive forms of media in the world then and now, is downright evil (downloadable evil).  So, do Christians flee these forms of media because they can be used for evil purposes?  Hardly.

Humans love to talk and communicate.  Expression of this kind has been around since Adam was told to “eat this, it’s good for you.”  From thought to expression of thought to another person, media is right there in the middle.  But, enough of my rambling.  The Church of Facebook, written by Jesse Rice (David C. Cook, 2009), is one of the first attempts to deal with the “Christian and FB” phenomena.  FB started in 2004, so I expect to see more stuff like this, especially in light of the article I linked above.  There are already several “blogs” on Christian sites, and some of them are good, but many of them come at FB from the perspective of idolatry.  That is, spending too much time on FB.  That FB is not real.  The communication on there is not real.  That its a loony bin for lonely people.

The church service I attended today, a Reformed Baptist community, had a new issue of TableTalk, published by Ligonier Ministries (senior Editor, R.C. Sproul).  This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (1517).  And, I had already typed the first two paragraphs this morning before I attended their service.  I picked up the copy, took it home, and this is what I read: “And oh what opportunities we have today for spreading the good news!  Five hundred years ago, Guttenberg’s recent invention of the printing press meant that the light of the gospel could be spread at a speed never before witnessed.  Tyndale’s Bibles and Luther’s tracts could go out by the thousands.  Today, digital technology has given us another Guttenberg moment, and the same message can now be spread at speeds Luther never could have imagined” (TableTalk, October, 2017 – ‘Why the Reformation Still Matters’, by Dr. Michael Reeves, 10).  Guttenberg to Zuckerberg in 500 years.  Would Calvin have a webpage like “Geneva.edu” or something?  You bet he would.  The forms of media are arbitrary, whether a animal skin (vellum), or papryii, or type-set, type writer, xerox or PDF.  The point is mass publication.  How many trees have we saved with the computer?

Rice’s book focuses on the positive value of FB in particular and tries to pinpoint its success on a number of factors, mostly psychologically.  FB “connects” us.  “Connectedness mattered” (p. 43).  “Authentic connection is described as the core of psychological wellbeing” (45), and so on.  The lonely guy in the basement of his mom’s house can now “feel” like someone, and not just a face in the crowd, but with FB can be someone.  He can be heard by whoever will listen, far more than he could ever be heard before.  We all get this analysis.  And, a very funny episode of South Park captures this very idea.

Kyle is happy because he has a new “friend”.  However, Rice goes a little further.  Zuckerberg is not just stopping with FB as a place to create some hoopla.  It is predicted that FB will become akin to what the telephone was, and what the Yellow Pages used to be.  This is the dream of Zuckerberg (62).  That cranks up the stereo-type of South Park into the fact that FB is entering into a stage of legitmacy and seriousness.  FB is here to stay.  What’s being said on there is being used in the media, on your job and in your school or college.  The FBI uses it as well as the CIA. The Oval Office has its own FB page.  Professors, high academicians, universities and law firms use it.  FB is just as connected now as was the Internet, and is so linked to the Internet, that with one push of a button on many websites, you can “like” this page on FB.  In other words, what you say on FB stays on FB, and what you say on FB is what everyone can see.

“There is a force that is capable of synchronizing a large population in very little time, thereby creating spontaneous order,” says Rice (84).  This can be done in the area of education.  I can virtually Google any subject I like and find an academic paper on it, written with all the rules of Chicago/Turabian Style.  In other words, we have entered another area that affects education: overchoice, which is related to hyperconnection (101).  Want to know the “real reasons” for the Civil War?  Google it.  You will find there virtually all the pros and cons, the versus’, the why’s and why nots, and the “support” of “footnotes” galore from “history” and “professors” to support whatever it is that you want to support.  Was Jesus married to Mary Magdelene?  Google it.  You will find “proof” that he was!  With scholars and footnotes to back it up!  It must be true!

In another book, George Friedman’s hailed work, The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century (Anchor Books, 2009), the author sees an assault on what used to be called, reason.  “The computer represents both a radical departure from previous technology and a new way of looking at reason” (61).  The computer is binary, and operates on 0’s and 1’s.  “To a computer, everything is a number, from a letter on a screen to a bit of music…it can play music, but it cannot write it, or express its beauty” (62).  “The computer treats reason as an instrument for achieving things, not for contemplating things” (62).  The language of the computer, Java, C++, or Basic is an artificial language.  “It is the antithesis to natural language…[which is] filled with subtlety, nuance, and complex meaning determined by context and inference” (62).  In turn, artificial language can accomplish an amazing amount of things.  Natural language is impractical and shades of meaning (“what did you mean by that?”) causes conflict.  If we could become like computers, think like computers.

Computers get results and Friedman links the American Philosopher Charles Pierce and Pragmatism.  Pragmatism is common sense philosophy.  It is a reduction of all language into “what matters” and “can you get results”.  The fusing of this Philosophy, so American as it is, with the reduction of reason leaves us, quite possibly, with a culture that see no reasonableness at all to anything that smacks of metaphysical, contemplative, complex or the subtleties and nuances of thought.  In short, Christianity is on the way out.  Computers get results.  Christianity gets you the Pope, Evangelicals, Donald Trump and White Supremacy.  We know what we get when we use a computer language.  But, entering into anything metaphysical, philosophical, theological is for the birds.  All that gets is fighting.  Enter FaceBook.  FB is a world totally operated by .00001’s and .00000’s.  And, yet, just look at the divisions of all sects, arguing all around, throwing names, shouting in CAPS, and belittling your ideas as, “like, totally retard.”

What has been invented, the computer, and its wonderful simplicity in code, a tool for uniting all languages and peoples, a tower of Babel if you will, is, in fact, not uniting the world at all.  FB is a place that one can see just how divided the world actually is, from the armchair commentator, to the well, footnoted academician.  Predicts Friedman, “The twenty first century will be a period in which a range of new institutions, moral systems, and practices will begin their first tentative emergence.  The first half of the twenty first century will be marked by intense social conflict globally.  All of this frames the international struggles of the twenty-first century” (64).  The divisions of mankind were known, but not so pronounced. Now they are pronounced and given a platform on FB, the Internet in general.  Fragmentation has gone global.  What is united is that we are not united.  What is taught is that we can teach ourselves.  The creation of artificial language has allowed us to see, for the first time in history, the mess of natural language.

But, back to Rice’s point.  What if these fragmented groups finds other of like minds?  Their fragmentation in a local setting (say, in a small town there are only 4 people that “believe the way you do”), can now jump into the thousands globally who “believe the way you do.”  A whole group never before able to be united and show numbers (strength) can now be united on the very tool that demonstrates just how un-united we are, globally.  This can be good, or very dangerous (think, Terrorism).  Let’s face it.  What we had before ISIS were the bombings of the IRA in the seventies.  You don’t hear about that anymore.  ISIS united globally through technology.  How many of them are there?  Doesn’t matter.  ISIS spreads itself on FB and the internet through education.  So, why would not the Christian use this for the very same purpose?

We may be entering into an area where what was once described as “unreal” cyber connections (friends) are becoming real.  A person “friends” another on FB, and there is no way to say that I have 1200 actual friends, is there?  Well, there is.  A “friend” is not just someone that you live close by, someone you grew up with, but someone you have something in common with in terms of “what you believe” – and that is powerful.  We have to redefine the term, rather, expand the term, ‘friend.’  It is a meaningful connection, albeit a cyber one.  But, what, would you rather actually hear and see Martin Luther in 1517?  Of course.  But, what we have of that thinker is merely copy-text, much like cyber-text.  I only know of Luther, or any other figure in history I have never met through texts and my imagination.  I am ‘friends’ with Luther.  I’d like to think I know him a little through reading his profile (biography).  There’s nothing new under the sun…

However, there is one dimension the computer, and FB does not have.  A power far more greater than any power that can be named: Jesus Christ.  He knows everyone.  Communication is communication – it all comes from the heart, and he knows the heart of everyone pounding on the keyboard at 2:13 in the morning.  What may appear as that which is being organized around a tool that brings together a billion people (FB) – the computer itself, is actually being cause by a much greater Power that is the Cause of All Things.  FB is a tool no more complex than a printing press, or Paul’s fellow compatriots who copied his letters for the use to distribute them en masse.  And, God used those means.  Caused those means to work for a far more greater Good.  Does FB give us opportunity to reach those who we could never reach?  Absolutely.  Does that mean entering into the much larger place of arguments and disagreements?  Absolutely.  Does that mean when you present a case or argument for something you better know what you are talking about – because I can pull up and “fact check” at the speed of light -?  Absolutely.  Although error permeates the cyber world, it can also be used (and in my experience is being used) to combat error on a massive scale -with the click of a button.

May it be even possible to have a cyber-church gathering on a Sunday?  Already being done.  I’ll let that last thought just stand there…..(I can already hear many pastors say, “but what about my paycheck!”).  Well, they have Sunday morning television shows, and the Christians took to the TV like a fly on stink.  Why not a FB church?  Don’t throw stones yet….I don’t even know where I stand on that.  But, the discussion must be had.  FB isn’t going anywhere, and the cries that it is not “real” or not “meaningful” are becoming drowned by the numbers.

500 years, from Guttenberg to Zuckerberg.  I say, Happy Anniversary!

Author: Samuel M. Frost, Th.D.

Samuel M. Frost has gained the recognition of his family, peers, colleagues, church members, and local community as a teacher and leader.  Samuel was raised in the Foursquare Gospel tradition and continued in the rising Charismatic Movement of the early 1980’s.  While serving in local congregations he was admitted to Liberty Christian College in Pensacola, Florida where he lived on campus for four years earning his Bachelor’s of Theology degree.  It was there under the tutelage of Dr. Dow Robinson (Summer Institutes of Linguistics), and Dr. Frank Longino (Dallas Theological Seminary) that he was motivated to pursue a career in Theology.  Dr. Robinson wrote two books on Linguistics, Workbook on Phonological Analysis (SIL, 1970) and Manuel for Bilingual Dictionaries: Textbook (SIL, 1969).  It was under these teachers’ guidance that Frost entered into his Master’s studies, being granted a scholarship for Greek I and II at Pentecostal Theological Seminary, accredited, in Cleveland, Tennessee (adjunct of Lee University).  Frost completed his study under Dr. French Arrington (The Ministry of Reconciliation, Baker Books, 1980), who used the text of J. Gresham Machen, New Testament Greek for Beginners. Frost studied Hebrew for two years under Dr. Mark Futato (author, Beginning Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns, 2003) and Dr. Bruce K. Waltke (author, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Eisenbrauns, 1990) at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida. With combined credits from PTS and RTS, Samuel completed his Master of Arts in Christian Studies and Master of Arts in Religion from Whitefield Theological Seminary in Lakeland, Florida under the direct tutelage of Dr. Kenneth G. Talbot, co-author of the well reviewed work, Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism (Whitefield Media, 2005) with Dr. Gary Crampton (and Foreword by the late, Dr. D. James Kennedy).  Dr. Talbot also oversaw Samuel’s Dissertation, From the First Adam to the Second and Last Adam (2012) earning him the Magister Theologiae (Th.M.) degree.  He also helped put together A Student’s Hebrew Primer for WTS, designed and graded exams for their Hebrew Languages course. Samuel’s studies lead him into an issue in the field of Eschatology where his scholarship and unique approach in Hermeneutics garnered him recognition.  Because of the controversial nature of some of his conclusions, scholars were sharp in their disagreement with him.  Frost’s initial work, Misplaced Hope: The Origins of First and Second Century Eschatology (2002, Second Edition, 2006 Bi-Millennial Publishing), sold over four thousand units.  While arguing for the Reformation understanding of sola Scriptura as defined by the Westminster Confession of Faith, Frost’s book launched a heavily footnoted argument for a total reassessment of the doctrine known as the Second Coming of Christ.  The conclusion was that the events of the war of the Jewish nation against their Roman overlords in 66-70 C.E. formed the New Testament authors’ eschatological outlook, and went no further than their own first century generation; a view otherwise known as “full” or "hyper" Preterism.  Internationally recognized Evangelical author and speaker, Steve Wohlberg remarked, ‘On the “preterist” side today…we have such influential leaders as Gary DeMar, Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., David Chilton, R.C. Sproul, Max King, James Stuart Russell, Samuel M. Frost, and John Noe.  To these scholars…the beast is not on the horizon, he’s dead” (Italics, his)” (End Time Delusions, Destiny Image Publishers, 2004, page 133).  It should be noted that only Noe, King and Frost supported the “full” Preterist position. Thomas Ice and co-author of the best selling Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye, quote Frost’s work, Misplaced Hope, as well in their book, The End Times Controversy: The Second Coming under Attack (Harvest House Publishers, 2003, page 40).  Dr. Jay E. Adams, who single handedly launched “a revolution” in Christian Counseling with his work, Competent to Counsel: An Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling, (1970, Zondervan), also wrote an analysis of Frost’s work in Preterism: Orthodox or Unorthodox? (Ministry Monographs for Modern Times, INS Publishing, 2004).  Adams wrote of Misplaced Hope as a "useful, scholarly work" (p.6 - though he disagreed with the overall thesis).  Dr. Charles E. Hill, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, wrote of Misplaced Hope that Frost, “attacks the problem of the early church in a much more thoroughgoing way than I have seen” (When Shall These Things Be? A Reformed Response to Hyper Preterism, Ed. Keith Mathison, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 2003, ‘Eschatology in the Wake of Jerusalem’s Fall’ p. 110-ff.).  There were several other works as well that took the scholarship of Frost seriously, like Ergun Caner in The Return of Christ: A Premillennial Perspective, Eds., Steve W. Lemke and David L. Allen (B&H Publishing, 2011). Because of the controversial nature of Frost’s conclusions on these matters, it was difficult to find a denomination within the Church-at-Large to work in terms of pastoral ministry.  That situation changed when Samuel was called by a Bible study group in Saint Petersburg, Florida to found a congregation.  Christ Covenant Church was established in 2002 operating under the principles outlined by Presbyterian historian James Bannerman’s work, The Church of Christ: A Treatise on the Nature, Powers, Ordinances, Discipline, and Government of the Christian Church (Banner of Truth Trust, 1974, original, 1869).  By-Laws and a Constitution were drawn up in the strictest manner for what was considered an “Independent” establishment of a Presbyterian Church, granted that a “call” was received and recognized by Presiding Elders duly ordained from existing and recognized denominations.  Two Elders, one ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Mike Delores), and another ordained in the Presbyterian Church of America (Dr. Kelly N. Birks, now deceased) tested and reviewed the call, ordaining Samuel on October 20th, 2002, the Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity.  Proper forms were submitted to Tallahassee, Florida with the stamp of a Notary Public Witness.  Christ Covenant Church (CCC) functioned as a local church for five years with a congregation as large as 30 members.  Frost was gaining recognition after Misplaced Hope had been published in January of that year, and conferences were hosted that included debates with another prominent "full" Preterist educator, Don K. Preston.  CCC hosted best-selling authors, Thomas Ice, and Mark Hitchcock from Dallas Theological Seminary; and Dr. James B. Jordan (Westminster Theological Seminary), well-known author/pastor in Reformed theological circles.  Frost was invited for the next several years to speak at over 25 conferences nation-wide, was featured in articles and an appearance on local news in Tampa for one of CCC’s conferences.  The Evangelical Theological Society also invited Samuel to speak at the Philadelphia conference (Frost is currently a Member of ETS as well as Society of Biblical Literature). During this time Samuel had submitted one more book, Exegetical Essays on the Resurrection of the Dead (TruthVoice, 2008; repr. JaDon Publishing, 2010); and co-wrote, House Divided: A Reformed Response to When Shall These Things Be? (Vision International, 2010).  Frost also wrote several Forewords for up and coming authors who were influenced by his teaching materials, as well as cited many times in books, lectures and academic papers.  However, because of certain aspects of Hermeneutics and Frost’s undaunted commitment to scholarship (with always a strong emphasis on the personal nature of devotional living to Christ), several challenges to the "hyper" Preterist view he espoused finally gave way, largely due to the unwavering commitment to Samuel by the Dean of Whitefield Theological Seminary, Dr. Kenneth G. Talbot, who continually challenged him.  In what shocked the "hyper" Preterist world, Samuel announced after the Summer of 2010 that he was in serious error, and departed the movement as a whole, along with Jason Bradfield, now Assistant Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, Florida .  Christ Covenant Church had dissolved after 2007 while Samuel continued as a public speaker and writer, largely due to reasons that would unravel Frost’s commitment to "hyper" Preterism as a whole. The documentation of Frost’s departure was published by American Vision’s Founder, Gary DeMar, with a Foreword by Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry.  Why I Left Full Preterism (AV Publishing, 2012) quickly ran through its first run.  The book was later republished under the arm of Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry and is sold today (GoodBirth Ministries Publishing, 2019; though still available in Kindle form from American Vision).  Dr. Gentry also gave mention to Frost in his book, Have We Missed the Second Coming: A Critique of Hyper Preterism (Victorious Hope Publishing, 2016), noting him as "one of the most prominent" teachers within Full Preterism (135).  Dr. Keith Mathison, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformation Bible College in Sanford, Florida, endorsed the book as well.  Samuel has gone on to write, Daniel: Unplugged (McGahan Publishing House, 2021); The Parousia of the Son of Man (Lulu Publishing, 2019); God: As Bill Wilson Understood Him, A Theological Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous (Lulu Publishing, 2017).  He is also active as a certified Chaplain with the Henry County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana, and enrolled with ICAADA (Indiana Counselor’s Association on Alcohol and Drug Abuse), and worked directly under Dr. Dennis Greene, Founder of Christian Counseling and Addictions Services, Inc., for a year.  Frost’s passion is in the education of the local church on various issues and occasionally works with Pastor Alan McCraine with the First Presbyterian Church in Lewisville, Indiana, and Bethel Presbyterian Church, Knightstown, Indiana, where he periodically is called upon to give the sermon. Samuel, with his wife, Kimberly, helped to establish Heaven’s Bread Basket food pantry that donates food items to local families in need once a month – a ministry of the Session of First Presbyterian Church, Lewisville, Indiana. Samuel also works part time at Ace Hardware in New Castle, Indiana for several years.  He has a solid, family reputation in the community, and has performed local marriages and funerals.  He also sits on the Board of the Historical Preservation Committee in New Castle. Recently, he has completed his two year quest for a Th.D from Christian Life School of Theology Global, Georgia. View all posts by Samuel M. Frost, Th.D.