History and Christianity Podcast

The historic Christian perspective on true significance. 

James Allen's popular booklet, "As a Man Thinketh," misinterprets Proverbs, but his favorable nod toward Christianity was enough to propel him to lasting fame in a long line of motivational speakers.

Hello! It's good to be back after a short break! On this episode of History and Christianity and I want to focus on a little sentence, in this little book -- but I'll get to that in a little bit.FIRST, I have a question: What would YOU say to someone who had abandoned you at a critical moment -- what would be the first thing you would say to them if you had a chance to run into them AFTER they had abandoned you?This question came to mind as I was reading Thomas Goodwin's little book, "A Habitual Sight of Him." Today Thomas Goodwin was a minister, writer and teacher who was born in the year 1600 in a coastal community in England.Now I know what you're thinking -- I never heard of Thomas Goodwin, why should I care about what he has to say about anything? That's a good question. He's not well-known today, but he influenced people whose names you're probably familiar with --  John Cotton, the guy who influenced the development of New England along the East Coat in what was then known as the New World. Goodwin influenced Jonathan Edwards -- When hear his name you probably think "the Great Awakening"--that's right--- and there he also influenced George Whitefield, an important leader of the Methodist movement of the 1700s.But the reason Thomas Goodwin was popular was because he was very Christ-centered, as I think you'll see.The question I raised about abandonment stems from my reading of his insights regarding Jesus after the Resurrection, when Christ first appears to His disciples. So let's just dive right in. Today young people talk about "ghosting," which is a form of abandonment. Psychologists tell us the impact on us can vary depending on how we react to it. Jesus felt abandoned, too, but this is a very different form of abandonment. He had "been subjected to an exhausting series of late-night inquests, brutalized by Roman guards and marched through the streets of Jerusalem under a crushing weight; he is now nailed to the wood and suffering excruciating pain." We can't relate to that and neither could his friends because we are told in the New Testament that when they saw the Lord Jesus get arrested "they all abandoned Him and fled." They ran off to save themselves rather than admit allegiance to Jesus, which would have likely meant they, too, would have been crucified along with Jesus on a cross. Imagine that.Now with this context in mind, let's fast-forward to the first appearance of Jesus after he had been abandoned by the disciples --Thomas Goodwin writes: Now when Christ comes first out of the OTHER world -- that is, from the dead, and he appears first to a woman named Mary Magdalene, he is --get this -- clothed with that heart and body which he was to wear in heaven -- and Goodwin asks, what message does He send first to them? Goodwin says since the disciples could not relate to Him in His sufferings -- the phrase he uses is -- they did not know Him in His sufferings -- remember they didn't understand why the Messiah had to die, they fled -- so how could they relate to Him in his glory?This is a reference to Jesus' body after the Resurrection. Now, to quote Don Stewart on this point:"The body Jesus possessed, though like His pre-resurrection body, was in some aspects different. He could suddenly appear and disappear. In the locked upper room, Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst of His disciples. His new body had abilities the previous one either did not have or did not demonstrate. He did not have to eat or rest. He also ascended into heaven when his earthly ministry was finished. Consequently there are similarities, as well as differences, between the body that Jesus had while upon the earth and the one in which he was raised."So Thomas Goodwin notes, "We would all think that as the disciples would not know Him in

The hope of Easter is looked at from two perspectives: a Texas pastor who died on Resurrection Sunday and a high school teacher who contrasts the fear of death among the pagans with the Christian hope for the resurrection. Sources: Fearing Death Is for the Pagans: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/fearing-death-is-for-the-pagansBeloved pastor dies on Easter Sunday: https://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/beloved-pastor-dies-on-easter-sunday/article_ea91ff46-7e7d-11ea-bd09-674e863c2f80.htmlYouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc1ufVwVhJ0

A look at the first editorial published by Chicago Tribune just days after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

A brief reading expounding on the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 40:31: "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Charles Spurgeon delivers a somber, yet hopeful, sermon in 1873 in London. It's a prophecy that the earth will be consumed with fervent heat before the coming, dreadful Day of the Lord. Whereas, the judgement in Noah's day was water, the final judgement on mankind will be meted out in fire.  But there's hope for those who turn from their sins to the Lord. Source:  The World on Fire: https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-world-on-fire/#flipbook/

This is a follow-up of sorts to my previous podcast on The Dunker Church, which was caught in the middle of the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War. I discuss Cassie: The Girl With a Hero's Heart, a book about a Maryland farm girl living through the Civil War. What's interesting is that the author, Myrtle Long Haldeman, who died in 2020, was a descendant of the Dunker Church members.  Her grandfather's brother was Elder David Long, who lived from 1820 to 1897 and preached the last sermon before the Battle of Antietam in the Dunker Church.

For President's Day, I focus on Abraham Lincoln. More specifically, I discuss "Abraham Lincoln's Creed," a collection of the 16th President's comments on religion put together by an unnamed clergyman during the Civil War. For his part, Lincoln once said he wished he was more devout. During a critical period in American history, Lincoln said, "In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party ... I am almost ready to say that this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet." My source is Carl Sandberg's biography of Abraham Lincoln. 

I start with current events -- on a history podcast no less! -- reading about the best age to get married and new research showing how to approach marriage based on a study of 50,000 women. I then dive into a distinctly Christian definition of love based on the writings in the New Testament, commentators, theologians and even a philosopher. All that and chocolate, too?  Happy Valentine's Day. 

Benjamin Lay was a deeply religious, anti-slavery activist in colonial America who died before the start of the American Revolution.  If you've never heard of him, you're not alone. Many people haven't.  In terms of abolitionists, you might be more familiar with names like Frederick Douglas and Sojourner Truth. Benjamin Lay labored before these better-known abolitionists appeared on the scene. Ahead of his time, Benjamin Lay is someone you should know!

Christianity arrives on the scene and offers the world a linear view of human history -- a Christian way of thinking that is very different from the Greek and Roman views of history. This difference partially explains why Christians become persecuted in Rome -- at least initially. To the Christians in Rome, history has meaning. History has purpose. And history has a goal.Sources:Paul Johnson, A History of ChristianityErnst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Charles Hummel, The Galileo Connection

Americans are reading fewer books so I quote a chapter from a 300-page children's book from the mid 1800's. Compare your attention span and vocabulary with this book. Sources:The World's Birthday: A Book for the Young, https://archive.org/details/worldsbirthdaybo00gausiala/page/n295/mode/2uStop Reading This Lousy Column, and Read a Book Instead," https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-reading-this-lousy-column-and-read-a-book-instead-11642186561FRANCOIS SAMUEL ROBERT LOUIS GAUSSEN: https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/g/francois_samuel_robert_louis_gaussen.html

In honor of MLK day, I'm going to revisit my podcast on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his sermon during the Cold War against communism. Dr. King said Christians believe in God, communism does not, therefore a Christian cannot be a communist. Said King, communism "regards religion psychologically as mere wishful thinking, intellectually as the product of fear and ignorance, and historically as serving the ends of exploiters."

In Maryland, the Dunker Church, made up of a small group of German farmers, could not avoid the Civil War Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.

Almost 60 years ago, Harry Blamire, wrote: "There is no longer a Christian mind." The British theologian and literary scholar, who died at the age of 101, added, "There is still, of course, a Christian ethic, a Christian practice, and a Christian spirituality ... as a spiritual being, in prayer and meditation, he or she strives to cultivate a dimension of life unexplored by the non-Christian. But as a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization." For the video, click here: https://youtu.be/pmY3iBzrvGk

Famed preacher Charles Spurgeon offers a solution to those concerned in 1860 "it may be" that Christmas festivities would lead to sin. 

www.AdolfoMendez.comIn this episode, I go back in time to consider one sermon -- just one of the more than 18,000 sermons preached -- by George Whitefield, for the purpose of getting a small glimpse into what early Americans, who lived during the Great Awakening, were hearing from one of the most famous preachers of all time.For the video, click here. 

Friedrich Froebel, son of a Lutheran pastor, was converted to Christianity at an early age. Throughout his life, he reflected on his faith and the world around him. And he invented kindergarten in the 19th Century.SOURCES:Christan Work, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Christian_Work/hg5OAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1Froebel, Friedrich. Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel. United Kingdom, Swan Sonnenschein and Company, 1886.Froebel WebL www.froebelweb.orgPioneers In Our Field: Friedrich Froebel - Founder of the First Kindergarten: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/pioneers-our-field-friedrich-froebel-founder-first-kindergarten/Friedrich Froebe, https://www.froebel.org.uk/about-us/froebelian-principlesEarly Childhood Education, Froebel and Montessori: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLcKTB_aAFs&t=16sFriedrich Froebel Museum: https://froebel-museum.de/pages/en/about-the-museum/museums-history.php?lang=EN Friedrich Froebe, https://www.froebel.org.uk/uploads/documents/pwbookmedium.pdf Page 13Havighurst, Robert J. The Elementary School Journal, vol. 75, no. 6, University of Chicago Press, 1975, pp. 394–97, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1000609.Woodard, Carol. “Gifts from the Father of the Kindergarten.” The Elementary School Journal, vol. 79, no. 3, University of Chicago Press, 1979, pp. 136–41, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1001375.

For the video, click here: https://youtu.be/A5IAQRqfUk8 Reading from “A Gentle Heart,” published in 1896. The book was popular among the descendants of the Blue and the Gray.My site: www.AdolfoMendez.com Sources:Read online free, James Russell Miller, 'A Gentle Heart,' https://tinyurl.com/mendez-gentleheartSMITH, ALVIN DUANE. “TWO CIVIL WAR NOTEBOOKS OF JAMES RUSSELL MILLER: Introduction.” Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society (1943-1961), vol. 37, no. 2, Presbyterian Historical Society, 1959, pp. 65–90, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23325294.

For the video, click here: https://youtu.be/Pljp8ADr-W0Today I take a brief look at Early American Cotton Mather's beliefs regarding Christianity. Topics covered in the supernatural; the Trinity; Jesus as truly God and truly Man; Salem Witch Trials and a brief biography of this "flawed hero" who wrote some 450 books in colonial America SOURCES:Mark G. Toulouse and James O. Duke, Sources of Christian Theology in America. Abingdon Press, 1999. Harry Blamire, "The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think?" (1963)Milk for Babes. Drawn Out of the Breasts of Both Testaments. Chiefly, for the Spiritual Nourishment of Boston Babes in Either England: But May Be of Like Use for Any Children (1646): https://tinyurl.com/mendez-milk4babes Megan Mulder, "Magnalia Christi Americana," by Cotton Mather (1702): https://zsr.wfu.edu/2011/magnalia-christi-americana-by-cotton-mather-1702/The History of Printing in America, 1874,https://tinyurl.com/mendez-cottonmatherHugh Ross, Improbable Planet, www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/improbable-planet/350992Plain Preaching — Puritan Evangelism https://www.ligonier.org/posts/plain-preaching-puritan-evangelismCotton Mather: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/who-was-cotton-mather-2019-10/

For the video, click here: https://youtu.be/n9tTXN5ibCQ. Thoughts on the first President of the United States' Thanksgiving Proclamation, wherein he wrote: "By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- " 

A brief look at the religious influence on America's founding. For the video, search Mendez Teaching on YouTube or click here: https://youtu.be/YLlchdJtJOg No King but Christ. That's the problem a British Loyalist had with the Colonies, as he noted when he wrote: "In order to engage the Americans in general to promote their designs, its conductors pretended, that a regular system was formed 'by a corrupt and abandoned Administration,' for oppressing and enslaving the colonies, of which every exercise of authority over them, however expedient or usual, was alleged as a convincing proof' that such acts were invasions of their natural rights, of their charted privileges, and even of that unalienable liberty wherewith Christ had made them free ... "Sources:John Locke, “Modern History Sourcebook: John Locke: Two Treatises of Government, 1690,” Fordham University, 1998, http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1690locke-sel.aspThomas Jefferson, “The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827,” Library of Congress, http://goo.gl/7tb6iH R. R. Palmer, The Age of Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760-1800 Vol. 1, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1959), 64.George III, https://www. biography.com/royalty/king-george-iii1b. Types of Government: https://www.ushistory.org/gov/1b.asp"Inflammatory Arts of the Americans," Gentlemen's Magazine,  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018406168&view=1up&seq=41&skin=2021

A excerpt from the journal of JR Miller, a Christian who served in the United States Christian Commission during the Civil War years.  

A brief consideration of the theological arguments against Communism in the 1950s and 1960s from a Christian perspective.  For the video, search for my channel, "Mendez Teaching" on YouTube.