A quote from Thomas Paine, cited in the program:

"But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve as monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is."

- Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Our friend Northpal called in at the end with some criticism of the Constitution, claiming the superiority of the Articles of Confederation in certain respects. We answered him here:  

Joe, did you read Article Eight?

We also posted the answer as a comment where this program is posted on John Friend's Blog.

Book of Acts Chapter 5 - Christogenea Internet Radio 06-14-2013

In our presentation of the last chapter of Acts, chapter 4, along with some appropriate passages from the historical works of Flavius Josephus, it was demonstrated that twelve members of a certain family, all of them of the sect of the Sadducees, had held the high priesthood for most of the time – perhaps as much as three-quarters of it, from about 6 AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. This was the family of Annas and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who were the high priests known from the accounts of the Gospel. An argument was also presented, contrasting two statements in Acts chapter 4, that these men were most probably Edomites rather than Israelites. Those two statements are found at verses 6 and 23. In verse 6 speaking of those opposed to the apostles and listing their leaders the account adds that they were joined by “... as many as were of the race of the high priest”. Later in the chapter, in verse 23, in contrast to those who persecuted the apostles we read that upon the release of the apostles “...they went to their own countrymen and reported as much as the high priests and the elders said to them. ” It was established that in other writings of Scripture the apostles considered all Israelites to be of their own race, yet in Acts chapter 4 we see that such was not true of the high priests, whom the apostles considered to be of a distinct race. Therefore it seems that the high priests of the time, while they were certainly Sadducees, were also very probably Edomites.

Book of Acts Chapter 4 - Christogenea Internet Radio 06-07-2013

We are going to begin this presentation by reading a passage from Josephus, from Antiquities Book 14, where Josephus also quotes some passages from Strabo and accepts Strabo's remarks with approbation. Strabo died about 12 years before Josephus was born, and Josephus was very much acquainted with his writings. We are doing this so that the scope of the political power held by the leaders of the temple in Judaea may be understood, and so that the size of the diaspora of Judaeans (which is not to be confused with the much earlier and much larger dispersions of Israel) may be more accurately perceived. By this we shall understand the daunting challenge which the apostles had in presenting the Gospel, which was indeed controversial and threatened the credibility of a long-established and very powerful political and religious institution: