Author of Contradict – They Can't All Be True.
There were way too many topics, stories, and scenarios pertaining to how to dress when going to church shared, questioned, and addressed in this episode to give a brief summary description for this episode. Just press PLAY.
All too often religions are said to cause evil and to cause wars. The Crusades are often times mentioned to support this claim. Andy interviews Stephen Puls, a Lutheran high school history teacher, who explains what the Crusades were, why they were started, and what went wrong.
In the second segment, they turn towards looking at the role of Atheism in connection with wars!
By the end of this episode, you’ll have some great talking points whenever such an argument against religion arises. And of course, the goal is to use these talking points to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A few suggestions on making this connection are also shared in this episode.
Article discussed in show: “The Myth that Religion is the #1 Cause of War”.
Send comments, questions, and complaints to Andy Wrasman at andy@contradictmovement.org. You may also record a short mp3 audio file to be shared on a future episode of Reconnect.
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A friend shared a blog post to his Facebook wall. The image was that of a Corona beer bottle stuffed into the sand of a beach. The title was “Ten Christian Stereotypes I Hate”.
The stereotypes were:
1. Cussing around me is a no-no.
2. I don’t like homosexuals.
3. I don’t drink alcohol.
4. I don’t like to have fun.
5. I’m judging you because you act differently than me.
6. I am ignorant or uneducated about beliefs other than my own.
7. I think I’m better than you.
8. I’m Republican.
9. I ignore science.
10. I’m a hypocrite.
I agreed with the author. I thought most of these are Christian stereotypes, meaning many nonChristians assume these ten points about Christians. I liked the list because I think these stereotypes hinder people who are not Christians from spending time with Christians and from listening to Christians. Let’s think about it… if a nonChristian thinks that I am ignorant of all beliefs other than Christianity and that I ignore science, will I be able to offer an educated discussion on religious pluralism, the latest Richard Dawkins book, Islamic influence in the world, or what it means to be living in the “New Age”?
If a nonChristian typically swears a lot and finds out that I am a Christian, will he or she then not want to be around me in fear that I will either be judging him or her or act differently, holding a grudge the whole time?
If someone thinks I don’t like them, will that person want to be around me? If someone thinks I don’t like a certain group of people, will he or she act differently around me because he or she does like that group?
I definitely think these stereotypes can setup immediate barriers between the nonChristian and Christian, so I shared my friend’s Facebook posting of this list. However, when I shared it, I received many comments from people who thought the author, Brett Shoemaker, wasn’t even a Christian! They thought he was mocking Christianity. They thought he was twisting Scripture. They thought a Christian would never say the things he did in the blog post. If I liked his post, does that mean I’m twisting Scripture? Does it mean I am not a Christian?
I arranged an interview with Brett and I let him know in advance that I was coming with argumentative questions. I shared many of the comments with Brett for him to address. I also shared other tough questions that I think led to the confusion and offered Brett a moment to explain himself… because to be honest, the way Brett worded some of his explanation could lead one to think that Brett is justifying getting drunk, swearing, homosexuality, and all other sorts of sins that are condemned in the Bible, especially if the Christian reading it fits the stereotype.
I grill Brett to find out if these stereotypes are in fact things that Christians should uphold and obey as commands from God, or if these Christian stereotypes fall into the realm of Christian freedom.
And for you dear listener, If these stereotypes are NOT in fact mandated by Scripture, and if these stereotypes have become unnecessary burdens or divisions for nonChristians to hear and receive the Gospel, then how should Christians respond who DON’T fit these stereotypes? And if a Christian DOES fit these stereotypes, how should he or she respond to them if they aren’t in fact Scriptural mandates for everyone?
Send your thoughts, comments, and questions to andy@contradictmovement.org. Feel free to write them, or if you want, record a short one minute reply and send it as a mp3 file for me to share on a future episode or Reconnect.
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George and Andy, discuss a series of articles from Credo House entitled: 21 Things Christians Say to Hurt Their Credibility. In this episode they have time to discuss three of these statements:
1. “You can’t use the Bible to prove the Bible.”
2. “Good question. I’ll find the answer and get back to you.”
3. “One white lie will send you to hell for all eternity.”
Andy and George agree that some of these statements really do hurt the credibility of our Christian witness and should be avoided, but they come to disagree with at least one of these articles, because they think the statement is in fact Scriptural, thus should be spoken, but maybe there is a better way of presenting the truth to a nonbeliever.
Other questions and topics emerge as they discuss these articles, such as: how do we know the Bible is the Word of God, how should we respond to questions we don’t know the answers, is it possible for Christians to have all the answers to life’s questions, what exactly is revealed to us in Scripture and why, how should we approach preparing answers to difficult questions raised against or about the Christian faith, why should churches teach apologetics, and the very controversial topic of varying degrees of punishment in hell!
If you want to chime in on any of these topics or give a short review of any episode of Reconnect, record a short 30 second to one minute long audio clip, stating your name and the episode number you are addressing, and send it to Andy at andy@contradictmovement.org as an mp3 file. If you have any questions you want addressed on the show, send them there via email as well. Thanks. Reconnect us, Oh Lord.
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Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah, because they claim he didn’t fulfill Messianic prophesy. Andy received an email from someone arguing that there were four key prophesies Jesus did not fulfill. The sender also listed other ways in which Jesus contradicted the Hebrew Bible. Andy discusses this email with Crean Lutheran High School’s Old Testament teacher, Conni Schramm. She provides a Biblical response to all of the man’s objections. Her first response to the email is shocking, and it should serve as a reminder for all of us entering into such debates via online messaging!
How would you have responded to these objections? The following is the email Andy received at andy@contradictmovement.org in its entirety (swear words are blanked out):
I am contacting you because one of your members noticed my Israeli Air Force shirt today and proceeded to launch into horribly misinformed evangelical nonsense. I’ve had more enlightening conversations with Time Warner Cable technical support. He shared his nonsensical worldview with me, and I felt I should contact you, giving you feedback on one of your flock. Simply put, he was an idiot, but just barely intelligent enough to be _____________.Let me speak frankly, then: Jesus of Nazareth was not the messiah.
What is the Messiah supposed to accomplish? One of the central themes of biblical prophecy is the promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace and recognition of God. (Isaiah 2:1-4, 32:15-18, 60:15-18; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:20-22; Amos 9:13-15; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34)
Specifically, the Bible says he will:
- Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
Second one was already standing – he’s out!- Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).
There was an enormous population of Jews outside Israel that stayed outside – nope.- Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)
If anything, more people were killed in his name than any other reason.- Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: “God will be King over all the world ― on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One” (Zechariah 14:9). – Nope.
If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be the Messiah. Jesus failed at all four.
The Messiah must be descended on his father’s side from King David (see Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:17; Ezekiel 34:23-24). According to the Christian claim that Jesus was the product of a virgin birth, he had no father ― and thus could not have possibly fulfilled the messianic requirement of being descended on his father’s side from King David. (1) – Yet the genealogies of the gospels CONTRADICT EACH OTHER
The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4) So, he’s a dissident.Throughout the New Testament, Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. For example, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat, which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), “He does not observe Shabbat!” And a blasphemer.Quite Frankly, sir, your evangelical organization is a sham, and the word “Contradict” in your title only refers to contradicting yourself. You can’t hold that all parts of the bible are true if Jesus BLATANTLY contradicts the Torah, though you hold that it is the binding word of God (written by people, by the way, even Torah) even though it is contradicted by a blasphemer and political dissident who accomplished exactly nothing. Jesus contradicts Torah, yet you worship Leviticus 18:22. YOU ARE CONTRADICTING YOURSELF! Normally, I don’t get too upset about these things. This person was hell-bent on converting me back to idiocy, and I am hell-bent on letting you know the following:1. That your followers are ________. You won’t win any hearts and minds with people like that.2. That your followers are also idiots, they are incapable of thinking for themselves save the lies with which you fill their heads.3. I shall make it my goal to contradict your insidious movement whenever the opportunity arises.
Andy Wrasman 