Isaiah 8:12-14New King James Version (NKJV)
[SUP]12 [/SUP]“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
HISTORY and CONTEXT show this verse has nothing to do with "conspiracy theories."
1. This chapter never uses the word "theory"... so it would be unwise to turn the word "conspiracy" here into the phrase "conspiracy theory."
It's just not what the text says.
2. This chapter was written about 3,000 years ago... that's about 3,000 years before we even had the modern term, or concept, of "conspiracy theory."
The term "conspiracy theory", in it's modern understanding and usage, didn't even exist until about 1960.
3. There is a lot of translation dispute about these particular verses of Isaiah.
What you're reading may not be the correct translation at all.
4. CONTEXT:
To even CONSIDER this is talking about "conspiracy theory" in any modern sense of the word, is to COMPLETELY MISUNDERSTAND the entire chapter.
Contextually, this just has nothing to do with "conspiracy theory"... that isn't what's going on in the chapter.
Assyria is about to attack Judah, and God is instructing them not to WORRY and FEAR and thus start CREATING ALLIANCES (actual conspiracies, or confederacies) with outside nations, to fight against Assyria.
Judah was not to make alliances (conspire) with outside nations; they were to fight Assyria on their own.
God is literally saying, "when people start talking about conspiring with other nations (allying with them) don't LISTEN to that talk, and don't DO that."
This has nothing to do with the phrase "conspiracy theory" which means a crazy bunch of FALSE RUMORS.
But rather, this means DO NOT CONSPIRE, or LISTEN TO THOSE TALKING ABOUT CONSPIRING for an ACTUAL BATTLE.
This is not about false rumors... this is about real conspiring... talking to others, and planning with them, to form alliances for a battle.
Conspiracy Theory = Talk about something FAKE.
Conspiracy = Talk about something REAL, in order to plan something REAL.
I recommend you read the entire chapter, with the aid of some good commentaries.
Now that we see this verse has nothing to do with "Conspiracy Theories",
is it right or wrong for a Christian to discuss conspiracy theories?
I'll leave that discussion for others.
That's not the point I came in here to make.
I only came here to show the context of Isaiah 8 has nothing to do with "conspiracy theories."