Steven S Veach

The following is a mock Dissertation Defense I completed in preparation of my actual upcoming defense for my ThD which I completed in May 2021. I will add any additional questions at the end of this document that come to mind if not already included. This list of questions was drawn from the Researchgate.net articles found here. Certain questions were removed from the list if they did not relate to the topic of my research.

1 In few sentences, can you tell us what your study is all about?

This research project was primarily focused on Christian persecution in an American context. Most specifically, is there persecution against Christians today, will there be persecution against Christians in America in the future, and how should American Christians respond?

2 What is your motivation for this study?

I was wrestling with many of the research project questions while finishing my Master’s program, but it was not until the run up to the 2020 Presidential Elections that I realized how dramatic the shift has been in American culture over the last few decades. For the first time I could see the radical left implementing their agendas as if a tipping point had finally been reached within the culture itself. Not only did this motivate me to pursue the research to better equip myself for what might come in the future, but I felt a strong conviction to help others prepare as well.

3 Did you bridge any gap from your study?

While there is some current research on Christian persecution in different parts of the world, there is little to no discussion about persecution coming for the American Church. Likewise, there is little discussion in academia and less still from the pulpit concerning a theology of persecution, a philosophy of death or how the Enochian Worldview explains the world’s continual shift toward self-destruction. This research project provides insight and analysis by combining all three areas.

4 Why did you choose this title?

The title of my dissertation is: In Preparation of Apostasia: Persecution Against American Christians within an Enochian Worldview as Informed by a Philosophy of Death. The initial working title focused more on persecution at the expense of the other two areas, though the research does spend significant discussion on both death and the Enochian Worldview. The final title addresses not only the “great falling away” predicted by Paul, but also zeros on the main subject matter: future persecution against Christians in the United States. But, there was more than this, as the motivation for the persecution to come will not be motivated by political or cultural issues alone, but will be a deep-seated hatred that arises from a great delusion given by God to those who follow after the hosts of the spiritual realms. The Enochian Worldview of the Second Temple Period perfectly explains the motives of the radical left. Lastly, the title includes how Christian persecution both historically and modernly has always been so much more than just a political or ethnic battle of wills. The Christian who stands as a witness for their faith without violence or retaliation provide a testament to those around them (including their persecutors) of the power of the Lord and true King.

5 What is the significance of the study?

This research will be made available to the American Church as academic research but also as a workbook course for individual and group use in the future. The aim will be to expand the material into an effective curriculum to help prepare American believers for persecution when and if it comes to the United States.

7 What limitations did you encounter?

There were two specific limitations encountered as I began the research project. 1. While there is some practical steps and techniques to be learned about persecution, there is more so a much greater depth of psychological training to be undertaken by the individual that is not easily formulated. Much of any effective theology of persecution will involve the day to day, long-term, transformation of the individual. It requires a repriortization of an individual’s personal and professional life, which cannot easily be taught. 2. There is little to no discussion being had in either academia or within the American Church concerning persecution. American Christianity has long since abandoned any teaching or theology of persecution or suffering and, subsequently, many generations of Christians simply have no frame of reference. If and when persecution does come to the American Church, it is quite possible there will be many defectors from the faith.

8 How did you establish the limits around the scope of your data collection?

There were two limits placed on the data collection process from the beginning. 1. Persecution had to be based on Christian identity and profession rather than on political identity. It was not good enough to discuss just political opposition, but it had to be directly connected in some way to being a Christian. 2. The second limit was all materials had to be digital in format. No print materials were utilized in the research. Resources were sourced from Amazon, Liberty University’s online library, and other free libraries online, as well as titles purchased for use in LOGOS Bible Software.

10 What are the main issues and debates in this subject area?

One debate to surface during the research was the issue over presumability of Christian persecution. There are a handful of academics over the last several years who have purported that first century Christians were not severely persecuted, but later acolytes dramatized their accounts. One researcher claims Christians in the early first centuries were not persecuted but were fairly punished under the law for being lawbreakers. Another debate is from Christian opponents today from the radical left who claim Christians in America suffer from a Persecution Complex. This claim states individuals have a psychological sickness that causes individuals to think they are being persecuted when in fact they are not. The last debate that surfaced from the research is the argument from the radical left on intersectionality, CRT, and woke ideology. The claim is that all Whites are guilty of systemic racism, regardless of behavior to the contrary, and non-white races are incapable of racism, regardless of behavior. Of course, logic would dictate that the radical left who ascribe to such futile thinking must be infected by a mind virus, in which they are given over to a strong delusion because of their rebellion against God.

11 What were the crucial research decisions you made?

I decided early on in the research to not include issues with American Christianity on its own merits, but rather that such issues of function or behavior had to somehow connect with persecution. Example: house church vs modern church debates were not included in the research even though it is a valid argument from Scripture. The only time house churches were mentioned were in direct connection to persecution driving the use of house churches for safety of its membership. At the beginning of the project, I decided to utilize the LOGOS Bible Software program in order to draw from a wider base of source material. Utilizing keyword search criteria, I could data mine hundreds of ebooks and academic articles that I could not have otherwise even skimmed in the same time frame.

13 What is the research problem? What phenomenon are you trying to explain/understand?

The real issue pertaining to the project had several facets. 1. Was there persecution occurring in America as some Christians claim? 2. Is there persecution coming to American Christians and why? 3. Why did American Christianity abandon their theology of persecution after the founding of the country? 4. What would a theology of persecution look like in a post-modern culture? 5. How is persecution theology informed by a philosophy of death? More specifically, if there is no philosophy of death within the theology, how might that theology of persecution change?

14 Who will be most interested in your work?

If brutally honest, I am convinced there will be very few American Christians who are interested in persecution training….until persecution hits them like a tsunami wave. Once the skirmishes are over and there is a concerted effort to close churches down completely and the government and radical culture join together to oppress through the passing of laws and physical dismantling of Christian identity, then persecution training will be sought after, yet it will no longer be as easily obtained. Academically, any research that is being done in Christian suffering, in persecution, in the new intersectional ideology will find this project interesting and possibly useful. Lastly, any Church pastor or teacher who is interested in equipping their members for persecution to come will likewise find the material useful.

16 Is your literature current (up-to-date)?

Much of the issue of intersecutionality and its fallout was drawn from material dated 2019-2021, with some sources being published the same month as the dissertation writing. Gauging how current a topic is like persecution is difficult, as it has occurred in different parts of the world at different times and to varying degrees throughout human history and for as long as the Christian Church has been alive. But, because the research project is framed in such a way as to focus solely on persecution coming to the American Church and the signs evident in the culture and politics of today point to such conflict on the near horizon, I would say it is quite relevant to today.

18 Have you included in the literature the major theories, concepts, factors, and variables connected with your research?

There were several texts on both sides of the issue that I drew from heavily, along with a supporting cast of documents and sources that provided context and data necessary to make the arguments I did. Information was drawn from the Bible, first and foremost, as well as the Church Fathers, Christian writers of the Middle Ages, as well as the Reformation and modern Christians who have experienced persecution first hand. Also examined at length is the argument for persecuting Christians – the radical left and those who ascribe to a socialist mindset. Such arguments are difficult to represent as they are predominately based on emotion and irrationality, but several sources were used in an attempt to capture their arguments as fairly as possible.

19 Have you collected and reviewed enough literature? Have you been exhaustive in your literature search?

There were approximately 275 ebooks collected, divided roughly into three groups: Christian Persecution, the Enochian Worldview, and a Philosophy of Death. There were an additional 50 academic articles consulted during the research project. There were approximately 142 sources cited directly in the dissertation, resulting in over 800 footnoted citations. This represents only about 40-50% of the data and notes collected during the research. During the keyword searching phase, keywords were run against a database of approximately 2000 titles (including the above mentioned specialty titles).

20 What method or strategy did you use for your analysis* technique * for coding analyzing and presenting data?

An outline was created for the dissertation during the Proposal process. This outline was subsequently edited and expanded after the proposal was approved by my advisor. Once the outline appeared comprehensive enough, keywords were generated for each section and those keywords were run as searches in LOGOS Bible Software to mine data from all materials available. The database used contained 2400 titles that every search was run against, which included the 275 ebooks and 50 articles already discussed. Once results were found, they were transferred to the word processor and a card was created. The contents were examined afterward and each card was moved to its appropriate place in the outline to be used later in the writing process.

29 Where did you get your research framework? Is it your own? Why this framework?

There were two primary frameworks utilized during the research process. 1. Historical Christianity and their record of and response to persecution. 2. The Second Temple Period record pertaining to the supernatural world and the Enochian Worldview. Rather than work from a modern American Evangelical Theology that most often dismisses the supernatural realm entirely, I framed the research in the Enochian Worldview, as did the New Testament writers and Jesus Christ.

33 Why did you use the software you did as opposed to other software?

There were several programs and apps used during the research project. I used the Scrivener word processing program during the initial phase, the note taking, and the writing phases. It was not until the very end that the dissertation was exported to docx file format and imported into Word. The only reason this was done was to comply with the docx file format (saving in docx format from Scrivener can be unreliable). Scrivener is superior for notetaking and organization compared to Word. LOGOS Bible Software was used because of its import and search functions. It is superior to TheWord Bible Software in this area. Also used was the Balabolka Text to Speech software, which, hands down, is the best text to speech software for Windows.

34 How well did the study design work in practice?

It actually went quite well. I had never used LOGOS Bible Software for such a large project in the past, so the keyword search feature proved excellent at handling content searches across a large number of texts (2000+) and returning and organizing large search results quickly and efficiently. The same amount of work done by linear reading and notetaking would have taken a at least two years or more. Working from an outline at the onset was a great benefit, as was using Scrivener to organize and expand the work. One time saving tactic was attaching the citation to each note from the beginning, which alleviated the need for tracking down sources later on. Scrivener’s content search feature also made quick work when sourcing page numbers from resources. It would have been much easier to use a better stock of source material (such as purchasing all titles from LOGOS, so they had uniform page numbering) but this would have been fiscally impossible, costing tens of thousands of dollars. At the outset of the research project, I outlined phases for the work and loosely scheduled milestones and deadlines. These were all met. The end of the reading and gathering phase ended approximately two weeks early and the writing phase likewise finished with a week to spare. Editing and final touches were completed with four days to spare, having submitted the dissertation on May 28th 2021 instead of June 1st 2021.

35 What was the most challenging aspect of your research?

Psychological self doubt was by far the most difficult aspect of the research. During the reading and collection phase, even into the writing phase, I felt very much like a fraud, unsure if anything I had written made sense at all. It was not until I moved on to the editing phase that I could rest a little easier, being able to see the end result. This process would have been much more stressful if there had been a financial burden, which it would have been if I had gone to Liberty University instead of FTS. But, because of FTS, I was able to complete the project, even enjoy the process, and produce a document I can be proud of (fingers crossed my committee agrees).

37 How did you analyze your data?

This was done 1. Biblically, 2. Logically, 3. Rationally. I did not employ any kind of cultural or ethnic lens to the process of interpretation.

38 Why did you use this research methodology? What did you gain from it?

I operate under the presumption that there is a fundamental truth to reality and to knowledge. Yes, there is perspective and there is a certain level of relativism to our sensory input and output, but there is also an absolute, objective truth that subsumes that relativism. For me, that absolute authority is God as manifest in Jesus the Christ. His message to humanity can be found in the biblical text, the 66 books of the protestant Bible. His authority reigns over all of creation, from the universe down to the atomic level. There is nothing outside of his purview, and there will be nothing beyond his judgment at the end of all things. From this methodology, I was able to clearly analyze the claims of the opposition for what they are – insanity and a strong delusion. It is a spiritual war that is being waged and those who are called, who are sealed, they discern spiritually what the fallen see only as foolishness.

39 What were the main ethical issues of conducting this research?

The greatest ethical issue to this project is the “crying wolf” phenomenon. It is entirely possible that persecution never comes to the American Church. It has been absent for 250 years so far and at many different times, other believers were certain the time of persecution had arrived, only to be disappointed or proved incorrect. There is no way to predict the future, as only God knows the day and hour of his return. It is quite possible that we, 2000 years after Christ, are still considered by God to be part of the “early church” and there remains still thousands of years between us and judgment day. But, this ethical concern abates as one recognizes the inherent benefit of persecution theology training even on individuals who never experience persecution. Such training is at its core, historical Christian sanctification, producing the same results of a genuine maturity in the individual believer. Because of this, there is no risk to the individual who embraces a theology of persecution, the enochian worldview or a philosophy of death. All these avenues lead one to a more pronounced walk with the Lord, with a better understanding of themselves from a biblical persecutive, and ultimately lessen or better sever the ties they may have with the materialism in the world.

41 What theories or theoretical framework is your study based on?

There are two fundamental theoretical frameworks used in this research project. 1. God, in fact, does exist and the account proffered in the Bible is accurate and 2. The Enochian Worldview accurately describes the supernatural realm and the beings that inhabit that world. These two frameworks are theoretical in the sense that there is no evidence for either beyond the written record of the Bible and that which can be revealed from the physical world. There is no other evidence as no one has left this world and returned and no one recalls where they came from before they were born.

44 Can you describe your main findings in a few sentences?

While there is no persecution against Christians today, the monumental shifts in both cultural and political spheres in the US point to coming persecution in the future. It is the responsibility of every American Christian to prepare for persecution to come.

45 What are your findings?

If referring specifically to the overall findings of my research project, I would say I discovered not only that the American Church abandoned its theology of persecution at the founding of the United States, but the vacuum caused by that abandonment was filled with a dominionist theology of perpetual prosperity and success and nationalism. This 250 year history of progress and advancement in nearly every aspect of life and society produced a professional clergy of a brand of Christianity unknown in virtually any other place on earth, leaving the individual Christian without any context to understand or responsibility to respond to persecution if and when it comes. As a result of behind-the-scenes effort and multi generational indoctrination by the radical left in America, the society has reached a critical mass, finally tipping the scale of culture toward socialist ideals, utilizing intersecitionality and woke ideology as a means of dividing the populous along racial and ideological lines, which will inevitably lead toward a governmentally enforced persecution of the opposition, namely the biblical Christianity identity. Because of these events, it is the responsibility of every Christian in America to prepare themselves for potential persecution in the future, by developing an effective theology of persecution – one that is informed by both the Enochian Worldview and a Philosophy of Death – so that they are equipped and prepared to stand as a testimony of Christ, even to the death if called by God to do so.

46 How would you relate your findings to existing theories on the study?

There is significant data in the historical record concerning Christianity’s response to persecution, either by the hands of the mob and other non-Christian religious zealots or by the strong arm of a government authority such as China or Russia or Rome in the first few centuries of the Church. Rejected, of course, is the claim that Christians are not persecuted at all, since statistics bear out that Christianity is the most persecuted religious group in the world. Likewise, it is clear from the results of this research project, the cultural shift within America is setting up the perfect environment for violence and hostility to thrive against Christians who do not compromise their faithful witness. Since the 2020 Presidential elections, there is already concerted talk about stripping Christians of accreditation in academia, of blacklisting Conservatives considered for employment positions, and soon we will see a whorish government go after Christians in the name of prostituting themselves for the benefit of their constituents. Single party rule (the results of the Election) will only exacerbate the situation as freedom of speech and freedom of religion are eroded to the point of extinction.

47 What are the contributions (to knowledge) of your thesis?

The contribution is a wakeup call for all Christians worldwide and especially so for Christians in America. It is time to wake up from our slumber and prepare ourselves with sober reflection and spiritual sanctification to stand for Christ when they come demanding we denounce him. Likewise, this research also examines critically the claims of woke ideology, showing how their emotionally charged claims are false and falter against the absolute truth of Scripture.

49 What is the implication of your work in your area? What does it change?

It calls both individual Christians and Church groups in America to wake up and take seriously what is occurring culturally all around us. It is not a call to become social activists or to take a dominionist stance against such malignant ideologies. Rather, it is a call to prepare for a time when American Christianity will look more like that of Christianity in China or in the Middle East than it does today, with open buildings and fat bank accounts. Currently, Christianity in America is a business and many who are involved are not Christians at all. But, if the research is correct, there is a time coming when this aberration we call American Protestantism will vanish from the face of the earth, and the true Church in the United States will go underground and the true work of Christ will then begin.

50 How would a policy maker be able to utilize your findings?

My research is not geared toward a policy maker, but rather toward the individual and also the pastor or Church or para-church teacher. This research can be used to inform the Christian, to prepare the Christian, and train the Christian for works of service and psychologically ready them and equip them for what they might have to endure in the future for their confession of Christ.

53 Based on your findings what are your recommendations?

I personally plan to do the following and would recommend it to everyone else as well. 1. Re-commit my life and place my priority in reaching biblical literacy, in memorizing large portions of the Scripture (if not all of it), in preparing myself psychologically and spiritually to endure persecution and even martyrdom in the future if Christ calls me to share in his suffering and if I’m destined to conform to his death. 2. Convert the research into a workbook course that can be used by individuals or Church groups to help others prepare for persecution in the future.