Welcome to this month's feature. Chaplain Liberte has written a response to a research paper which was concocted by a senior Army Chaplain who holds different views from other military Chaplains believing in an inerrant view of the Scriptures. While we live in a free country, there are those of a different opinion that believe some religious freedoms in the military should be banned for the greater good of the institution. This is something which definitely needs to be addressed in the public forum.
The second article is the conclusion to the paper discussing the Knights Templar and Christianity. It is the last of a three part series brought by Chaplain Bob Freiberg.
Rounding out this months "Shofar" is an interesting book review named "Hitler In the Crosshairs." The review on the book is written by Chaplain Ken Lawson and tells the story of World War 2, Hitler and a faithful Army officer named LT Ira Palm. God bless.
IMPORTANT TOPICS OF THIS PAPER
This passage shows how it is the will of God to use secular authorities to punish evildoers. Was this the case in the trial of the Templars ? It’s hard to say because we cannot know the mind of God. It has been shown that the method used by the Templars was not God’s best way. Even though they may have been sincere in their faith, they could have been sincerely wrong. Is there a time then that Christians can go to war, yes there is, but this isn’t the forum to discuss it because the important point here is that PERHAPS God was holding these men accountable for their blood guiltiness like Joab. Then there is the matter about the perception of their handling of money and the impression of being arrogant.
The second article is the conclusion to the paper discussing the Knights Templar and Christianity. It is the last of a three part series brought by Chaplain Bob Freiberg.
Rounding out this months "Shofar" is an interesting book review named "Hitler In the Crosshairs." The review on the book is written by Chaplain Ken Lawson and tells the story of World War 2, Hitler and a faithful Army officer named LT Ira Palm. God bless.
Duplicious Diversity For Pandering Pluralists
By Chaplain Timothy Liberte
There once was a time when those who called themselves Christians stood on principles and truth’s found in the Word of God. It was a time when the secular state actual persecuted Christians because they “didn’t agree with the status quo.” Furthermore, it was a time where truth, not moral and social equivocation reigned. Character counted and there was such a thing as right and wrong based on truth found in the Bible and not the present mores and customs of the day. It was a much simpler time where being right was more important than being politically correct. Such was life for a Christian in ancient Rome 2,000 years ago. Or, if COL Barbara Sherer has her way, the elimination of all Bible believing military Protestant Chaplains in the United States military.
In Col Barbara Sherer’s research paper, “Chaplaincy at Crossroads: Fundamentalist Chaplains in a Pluralistic Army,” the question is not about how Chaplains of different faith groups get along in a pluralistic environment, but can they? The bias of this paper is a foregone conclusion and the author plays her hand right up front. It’s obvious: she does not like those who are of the historic and traditional Christian Protestant faith who believe in inerrancy of Scripture. Worse yet, she believes those who hold to certain tenants of belief have no place whatsoever in the United States military.
What smacks of outright religious discrimination is crouched in a false tautology. She so desperately wants to present her case and convince all, but commits many logical errors in her arguments. Obviously her negative personal experiences from other Chaplain’s has tainted her objectivity. To this one can only say it’s unfortunate, but then again who among us has not had this happen? I myself have been the recipient of numerous religious discriminations because of my beliefs at the hands of higher ranking liberal Chaplains. However, I digress. There are some very disturbing concepts in this paper which need to be addressed.
From a perspective of someone with 19 years of active duty experience with military ministry, I found this work very troubling. Not only was a false straw man constructed against the historical Protestant Christian position, but pluralism and diversity are redefined from the “grid” of a new “toleration.” Words mean things and there is definitely a loosening of the intent of the word “pluralism” as found in DoD 1304.28. The gauntlet is certainly laid down. Gone are the pillars of the historical Chaplain Corps which espoused “Cooperation without Compromise” where everyone who was sent out by their denominations and/or local churches had a place at the table of serving their God and country.
One thinly veiled tenant of her paper rests on her version and definition of “Fundamentalist.” With a gross oversimplification of a huge historical religious movement which affected every single Protestant denomination, she negates any positive contribution this movement made to this country. She then constructs a false entity using quotes from so-called scholars who obviously do not agree with those who hold to beliefs differing from theirs. What is lacking is the definition that the “Fundamentals of the Faith” was an academic response to the then challenge of “Modernism” happening in the traditional Orthodox Protestant denominations. Using reductionistic history, her use of “Fundamentalist” has connotations which all but equates Muslim radical “fundamentalism with Christian fundamentalists.” Given the choice, I prefer the term to describe the Chaplain who believes in the traditional Orthodox Protestant faith as “Biblicist.”
These are Chaplains who actually believe the Bible as the inspired Word of God and interpret it from a “Historical-Grammatical” point of view. These Chaplains believe in a calling to serve the Lord and humanity with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in any venue, field or country. These are compassionate men with a desire to help others and like St. Martin of Tours are willing to give up everything in order to give the greatest gift that God ever gave human kind: the GOOD NEWs of Jesus Christ. Last I heard, we still live in a free country where one can believe what they want according to the dictates of their faith.
Now what about the genre known as “pluralism” as found in this paper? Again, this word has been re-defined and by no means is there agreement of its use in the Chaplain Corps. Traditionally “pluralism” was a word which described how each Chaplain brought their own faith beliefs and each of them was respected. Furthermore, it has always been known that religion and especially the Christian religion has a positive result in our society at large. Need I go into historical examples to state the obvious? Our Freedoms have been a fruit of the historical Protestant position in this country and now our senior military Chaplains want to silence this truth?
How would one make this happen is the big question? With the new interpretation of pluralism and the one COL Sherer embraces, one no longer can be counted as an individual, but has to conform towards another set of values as set forth by those in leadership position (i.e. “hers”). Our country no longer values anything religious, so now the historical definitions are at the mercy of the new “High Priests” of judicial statecraft known as “pluralism and diversity.” If one disagrees, they are immediately ostracized and even subject to various degrees of persecution. Thus is the current affairs for religious freedom with the State asking civilian clergy to fill the ranks of our nations’ military according to Title X.
One grand false assumption that COL Sherer makes is her belief that anytime one talks about spiritual or religious values to others, it is an automatic negative thing… at least when those who have evangelical beliefs. With a world of hurting people torn from war, crumbling marriages and depression, many are comforted by hearing the Gospel of Christ. Is it offensive to present the Gospel of Christ to those who are hurting? To most: NO. To some: Yes and that is to be expected. Christ even warned His followers about that. However, no one is ever forced or even coerced into a conversation. In all of my experiences, I have yet to see any uniformed or even civilian for that matter dragged physically into a Chapel and forced to become a Christian or believe anything against one’s will. At the very most, 99.99% of all Sailors, Soldiers, Marines just simply say they are not interested.
On the other hand, I have seen marriages restored, military personnel with severe PTSD return to a normal life and people who are suicidal embraced hope and conversation through the power of regeneration as they embraced a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many of these folks would never have been helped had this Chaplain had her way. One wonders why the Crusade against a particular faith group when there are so many other evils. One could just as easily use her arguments against Catholics, Missouri Synod Lutherans or even Muslims. It does not even bother her that one of the tenants of Islam is to convert the infidel or kill them if they don’t. I find that really disconcerting. Don’t believe me? Just ask Christians in Iraq. Oops sorry, that’s not possible because they are all dead or have fled the country or live under Islamic Dhimma law. However, she has no beef with that part of Title X.
I have known some “Fundamentalist” brothers who are contentious at heart and are not willing to work within the confines of the military. However, they are few and far between and the system does weed them out. Often, these are wheat with the tares and time usually demonstrates that these are not called of God for the Gospel ministry. They usually have a hidden agenda. To make a blanket statement about everyone who holds to this theology is not responsible and logical. It is like saying that because car accidents kill people, we will ban all cars and never talk to anyone ever about cars because they can be offensive. Cars do good things, but because cars have potential to do bad things, we will never talk about cars in public or private because one may like a Ford compared to walking and one may offend the one walking if the one with a Ford tells the walker they need to drive a Ford. Sound absurd? Of course it is and if COL Sherer has her way, all Fords’ err, Biblicists will be banned.
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR'S AND CHRISTIANITY. CONCLUSION (Continued from last month)
by Bob Freiberg
If the original question is to be answered that was asked at the beginning is answered, the conclusion as to the correct Biblical foundation for the Templars must be answered with an emphatic and unequivocal no. This is based on the comparison with Scripture in its context versus the use of Scripture in the Templar documents. Using the Bible passages and their meaning as found in the Templar documents definitely shows a difference of interpretation. This was shown in the earliest part of this paper.
Why should this question about the Spiritual foundation be brought up ? It’s well known that the Templars were a spiritual group and that fueled their desire and drive. They existed purely to serve God and His Church. It is in this realm that another possibility may lie. That is the possibility of Providence. If one was to take the Scriptures seriously about the nature and character of God, (the Templars certainly did !), then the possibility exists that the demise of the Templars could also be due to Providence. To exclude this option is to make a judgment that God never does anything in the affairs of humans and eventually makes fallible humans like us the final authority. Judgments of course are based on biases and we all interpret things according to our biases. Not to include a bias for or a bias against this is to ignore completely the influence of Christianity in the development of the Western world for the past two millennia.
If Scripture is to be used (and it was at this time), then it can be demonstrated that God holds people accountable for the blood they shed. Exodus 21:14 tells us “If a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die.” In a story in the Old Testament Scriptures, Joab was held accountable for two men he had killed while he was a soldier.[1] The passage discussed earlier in Romans 13 could have meant that the civil authorities (Philip IV in this case) were acting against those who had perpetrated some evil (The Templars). This is also backed up with I Peter 2:13-15a where it says:
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of those who do good. FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD . . . (emphasis mine).
There is proof from outsiders that they didn’t like the way the Templars conducted themselves. For instance, a famous anecdote is told of how Richard the Lion Hearted was asked by the famous preacher Fulk of Neuilly about who was he going to marry his three daughters of Pride, Greed and Sensuality to (traits to which Richard was well known for). To this question Richard answered “I would marry Pride off to the Templars, Greed to the Cistercians and Sensuality to the Bishops.”[2] This response not only demonstrated a definite view of the Templars, but it also gives a window into how people perceived the Church as a whole.
This discrepancy was in no part due to the error of the Templars however. By many accounts, it seems that the Templars conducted themselves generally with honor and integrity in what they thought was their holy calling. If there was a fault they were guilty of, it was perhaps they trusted their spiritual mentors too much without searching the Scriptures themselves. Instead of looking to the Templars as being the ones responsible for the heinous accusations brought against them, as the scholars in the introduction suggest, perhaps we should look instead to the policies of the Papacy for the underlying cause of the demise of the order. As spiritual leaders, they should have given the order a better rock solid spiritual foundation based on truth instead of political expediency. Perhaps that is the Providential reason the Popes lost power during the almost two hundred years during the Crusades ? As leaders they had the greater culpability.
While the order had their temporal problems (real or perceived), they generally lived up to their part of what the order was all about. More evidence of their determination to do this was found by their last act in the defense of Acre. In one of the earliest accounts of the fall of Acre written in the summer of 1291 by the “Chronicle of St. Peter’s Abbey” in Erfurt, Germany, the writer records the following last act of the Templars during the Crusades:
It is said that a good 7,000 men fled together to the house of the Templars. This house because it is located in a strong part of the city by the sea shore and surrounded with good walls, defended itself manfully against the Saracens. But when the Templars and the others who had fled there saw that they lacked supplies and had no hope of receiving help, with devoted prayers and after confession, making a virtue of necessary and committing their souls to Jesus Christ, rushed out strenuously on the Saracens and strongly threw down many of their adversaries. At last they were all finally killed by the Saracens.[3]
The story of the Templars should not end with the details of their destruction due to their own sins. It should be told that they were eventually betrayed by an established religious clergy who used and abused them. Accusations against the Templars were sketchy and one sided, but there is evidence to show a motive between the Church and Philip IV’s part in this tragedy. Perhaps it was God’s Providence which exacted judgment ? After faithfully serving the Church for centuries, they became the sacrificial lambs left to the slaughter.
As for their sins, that is between them and God. These men were faithful to what they were led to believe by their spiritual teachers. They died in battle believing what they were doing was the will of God and the institution that originally told them what to do was the same one that ended up deceiving and forsaking them. What sublime perfidy.
[1]I Kings 2:28-34.
[2]Helen Nicholson, “Military Orders and Thoughts on Them.” Orb Online Encyclopedia, 1999, accessed 25 September 2000; available from http://Orb.rhodes.edu.htm.
[3]Helen Nicholson, “Cronica S. Petri Erfordiensis Moderna,” edited by O. Holder-Egger, Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, 30, 424-5.
Book Review: Hitler in the Crosshairs: A GI’s Story of Courage and Faith, by John Woodbridge and Maurice Possley. (Zondervan Publishers, 2011).
Reviewed by Chaplain (COL) Ken Lawson
This 19- plus chapters book is an easy read, something a person could read in one relaxing day. In 230 pages the authors tell a story of an Army officer named Ira Henry Palm (1913-1966). He got into the war in Europe late, but saw more than his share of fighting in the closing months of the war in 1944-1945.
Throughout his life Ira H. Palm had the nickname of “Teen,” because as a child he was “teeny.” A talented musician and athlete, he was converted to Christ in his mid-twenties under the ministry of the fundamentalist Presbyterian Rev. Charles Woodbridge, the father of one of the authors of the book. He met his wife in 1939, was married in 1941, was drafted by the Army in 1942, and departed for the war in Europe in 1944.
Though naïve as a second lieutenant, he learned quickly. He was tall, muscular, and a leader. He arrived on Omaha Beach in France about three months after the Normandy Invasion. For the first few weeks he led men in accomplishing a lot of necessary work behind the advancing American lines. On the last day of September, 1944, Lieutenant Palm was in combat against the Germans. From this time until the surrender of Germany, Teen Palm was in fighting, skirmishing, and patrolling. Serving in the 179th Infantry Regiment, he was well decorated, slightly wounded, and was respected by his men.
Lieutenant Palm was asked to be part of an elite team of Americans that would covertly enter Munich and kill Adolph Hitler in his Munich home. Hitler was not home, but Lieutenant Teen Palm did search through Hitler’s desk and discover a gold and jeweled revolver. He kept the revolver and returned it to the US, eventually giving the unique weapon to his pastor, Rev. Charles Woodbridge. Sometime later the pistol was stolen from the pastor’s home.
Teen Palm and his wife had one child, a daughter. Theirs was a happy marriage in a Christian military home. Captain Palm was in Germany during the height of the Cold War, near Berlin during the Berlin Air Lift in 1949. He was promoted to major in 1949 and quickly promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1950. Ira “Teen” Palm was known to teach bible studies, to support Army chaplains who taught the Bible, and was seen by other officers as a Christian gentleman. His wife Helen taught ladies Bible studies and children’s bible clubs on various military bases. In 1961 Lieutenant Colonel Palm was in Berlin when the Berlin Wall was constructed by the East Germans and the Soviet Union. Palm was a senior US commander in Berlin at that time.
In 1963, it was discovered that Teen Palm had cancer. He retired as a colonel. He died in 1966 at age 53. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, with his pastor, Rev. Charles Woodbridge, taking part in the emotional burial service. The book is mostly a narrative of the life of Ira “Teen” Palm. Like most American men of his generation, he served well in World War II. But unlike others, he made the military his career. A dedicated Christian, Teen Palm was a devoted husband and dedicated father. The closing of the book attempts to trace the history of the missing gold pistol that Teen Palm took from Adolph Hitler’s Munich home. The photographs and maps in the book are very helpful. Colonel Ira Palm’s life as a Christian in the military is an example to men and women today in the armed forces. I recommend this book to be read and passed on to others who would benefit from the interesting testimony of a man who was successful as a Christian, a Soldier, and a family man.
