Podcasts about Rodney Stark

FAN MAIL--We would love YOUR feedback--Send us a Text MessageHow did an obscure religion from a remote corner of the Roman Empire grow to become the largest faith in the world? Explore the fascinating origins and rapid spread of Christianity with us on the final Catholic Corner podcast of 2024. Engage with the insights of Rodney Stark's compelling work, "The Rise of Christianity," as we unravel the historical factors that fueled this remarkable transformation. Join us for our final Catholic Corner of 2024, where we also spotlight the traditions of the Christmas season and the intriguing history behind the "12 Days of Christmas" carol. From the beginnings of Christmas Tide to the evolving secular celebrations, we offer a deep dive into the cultural and religious significance of the holiday. Let us guide you through a thought-provoking discussion that promises to enrich your understanding of Christianity's rise to prominence.Key Points from the Episode:Discover how Christianity's unique message of love and community resonated across social classes, creating networks that would shape the future of Western civilization. We'll challenge conventional beliefs by drawing comparisons with pagan traditions and exploring the revolutionary idea of a loving relationship between humanity and the divine.Through these explorations, we'll examine the enduring appeal of the Christian virtue and its role in building vibrant communities that helped the faith flourish. Other resources: Want to leave a review? Click here, and if we earned a five-star review from you **high five and knuckle bumps**, we appreciate it greatly, thank you so much!Because we care what you think about what we think and our website, please email David@teammojoacademy.com.

From the Archive! Dr. Tom Curran, Fr. Kurt Nagel and Fr. Jeff Lewis begin to discuss God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark. Order your copy!

Summary of the EpisodeIn this episode of Good Distinctions, host Will Wright interviews Mike Aquilina, co-founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and author of the book 'Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: 12 Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized'. Aquilina discusses his interest in the Fathers of the Church and his goal of providing an imaginative entry into the ancient world through his books. He highlights the importance of friendship and conversation in the spread of Christianity in ancient cities and draws parallels to the modern world's need for genuine connection. Aquilina recommends books by Robert Louis Wilken and Rodney Stark for further exploration of the early Church and the role of cities in evangelization.Buy the Book Today - Ignatius PressRabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized - https://ignatius.com/rabbles-riots-and-ruins-rrrp/Takeaways* The early Christians spread the gospel through friendship and conversation, utilizing the roads and trade routes of the Roman Empire.* The Romans had a cosmopolitan sense and were open to other peoples, cultures, and religions, which facilitated the spread of Christianity.* The early Christians' commitment to friendship and genuine connection is a model for combating loneliness and isolation in the modern world.* Reading the writings of the Church Fathers provides a sense of connection to the roots of Christianity and the enduring nature of the Church.KeywordsMike Aquilina, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, Fathers of the Church, ancient cities, evangelization, friendship, conversation, early Christianity, Roman EmpireThanks for listening to Good Distinctions! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.gooddistinctions.com

Christian ministries and other non-profit organizations have played a huge, positive role in American culture. If you don't believe me, just read Benjamin Franklin, Alexis de Tocqueville, Robert Bellah, Rodney Stark, Arthur Brooks…the list goes on. Because of the positive influence in our culture, our laws encourage their work. They are not required to pay taxes on revenue, and donors to them get tax advantages as well. In exchange for these advantages, we ask only a couple of things: First, that they actually do the good work they promise to do, and – secondly – that they disclose enough details about their work so that the donor public can confirm that. That disclosure is a Form 990, which all tax-exempt bodies except churches must file with the federal government. However, churches are exempt from that requirement. That exemption makes some sense, since most churches are small and all of the donors to a local church were members of the church. Today, however, we live in an era of mega churches that are often the center of an ecosystem of related entities – both profit and non-profit. We also have religious advocacy groups that are claiming to be churches even though they don't have regular services, don't ordain clergy, don't marry or bury their members, don't do anything that we think of as the normal activity of a church. This state of affairs have led some – including those of us here at MinistryWatch – to believe that we need a new regimen of regulations and laws that update those written in another era. Sharing some of these views is Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame. He and his coauthor Ellen Aprill have written a new paper outlining changes that need to happen to fix – or at least to bring a bit more up to date – the current situation. Links to articles mentioned in today's program. https://ministrywatch.com/law-professor-advocates-changing-irs-definition-of-church-association-of-churches/ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4346286 https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-government-can-stop-churches-from-getting-treated-like-real-churches-by-the-irs-237922 That brings to a close my interview with Dr. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame. We'll have links to the articles we discussed today in the show notes for today's program. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. I'm your host Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.

Jen Oshman joins Hunter and Autumn on the podcast today to discuss her book Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More. In today's culture, women and girls are influenced by idols that promise purpose and meaning for their lives―outward beauty and ability, sex, abortion, and gender fluidity. Within the church, women may elevate good things like marriage and motherhood to the status of idolatry. Ultimately, these idols are hollow and leave women feeling unsettled, but where should they turn instead?In Cultural Counterfeits, Jen encourages women to reject these idols' empty, destructive promises and embrace real hope and peace in Jesus, calling them to recognize their unshakable and eternal identities in him.Resources mentioned in this episode:Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More by Jen OshmanIt's Good to be a Girl by Jen and Zoe OshmanKing: A Life by Jonathan EigVirgil Wander by Leif EngerHow to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David BrooksThe Rise of Christianity by Rodney StarkDominion by Tom HollandThe Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry

In this episode of History 102, WhatifAltHist creator Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg explore the surprising origins of Christianity. From a carpenter's son's teachings to its unexpected rise to global dominance, discover how this religion, appealing to the marginalized, provided a sense of community and purpose in a brutal world. Learn how this religion, once seen as a radical threat, became a defining force in Western history.

Brad Wilcox a modern social scientist picks up the torch for understanding current demographics perhaps to Rodney Stark. Insights relevant to our generation can be Continue reading The post Marriage A Great Gift III appeared first on Fides et Ratio.

In this episode of the Lausanne Movement Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Gina Zurlo, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity and a leading expert on global trends within Christianity. Dr. Zurlo shares her groundbreaking research on the vital yet often overlooked contributions of women to the global church. Together, we explore the historical and contemporary roles of women in Christianity, the challenges they face, and the significant impact they continue to have on the spread of the faith. Dr. Zurlo's insights shed light on the importance of recognising and valuing the work of women in all areas of church life. Key Takeaways: Historical Contributions: Women have played a central role in the spread of Christianity from its earliest days, often serving as the first converts and primary evangelists in their communities. Modern-Day Impact: Women continue to play crucial roles in the global church, from grassroots evangelism to leadership in various ministries, despite facing significant challenges and underrepresentation in leadership positions. Practical Advice for Leaders: Dr. Zurlo emphasises the importance of listening to women within the church, creating safe spaces for them to share their experiences, and actively championing their contributions. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the Lausanne Movement Podcast. Leave us a review, and share this episode with your network. Visit our website for more resources and to stay updated on future episodes. Links & Resources: Dr. Gina Zurlo's Website: https://ginazurlo.com/ “Women in World Christianity: Building and Sustaining a Global Movement” by Gina Zurlo - https://www.wiley.com/en-sg/Women+in+World+Christianity%3A+Building+and+Sustaining+a+Global+Movement-p-9781119823773#download-product-flyer Center for the Study of Global Christianity - https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-the-study-of-global-christianity/ World Christian Database - https://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/ "The Rise of Christianity" by Rodney Stark - https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-rise-of-christianity-rodney-stark?variant=40923443814434 "World Christianity as a Woman's Movement" by Dr. Dana Robert   Dr. Gina Zurlo Bio: Dr. Gina A. Zurlo is co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and her research focuses on the demography of religion, World Christianity, sociology of religion, and women's studies. She is also a visiting research fellow at Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs, where she works on the World Religion Database (Brill). Her most recent books include Global Christianity: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (Zondervan Academic, 2022), Women in World Christianity: Building and Sustaining a Global Movement (Wiley-Blackwell, 2023), and From Nairobi to the World: David B. Barrett and the Re-Imagining of World Christianity (Brill, 2023). She was named one of the BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 for her work in quantifying the religious future. We'd love your feedback to help us to improve this podcast. Thank you!

In the final episode of the Men, Women & Gospel series, pastors Ashley Mathews and Isaiah DeVyldere respond to five questions submitted by listeners: What is the relationship between this view of women leading in the church and human sexuality? How were maleness and femaleness understood in Genesis? And should that inform how we understand it today? What are the implications of Paul's call to mutual submission for marriages today? Why were Paul's requirements for elders and deacons gender normative? Or were they? If they were women leading in the early church after Pentecost, why do we not see a continuation of women leading in the church historically?Biblical references:Genesis 2Ephesians 5:211 Timothy 2:5,6, 3:4Other works referenced:Click HERE for a visual illustration of how male “headship” is taught in some Christian contexts (in contradiction to 1 Timothy 2:5,6).The quote from Linda L. Belleville is from chapter one of the book Two Views on Women in Ministry published by Zondervan. The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan KreiderThe Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries by Rodney Stark

Watch this message on our Calvary Church YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1qZX_tx4Kc    Message notes are also available on the YouVerison Bible App: https://www.bible.com/events/49257668   HOW JESUS MADE A BETTER WORLD FOR WOMEN It's common for people today to assume that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, restricts and represses women. In reality, nothing and no one has done more to advance the equality and dignity of women than the Bible, and the life and teaching of Jesus.   History shows us that gender equality hasn't always been high on humanity's radar. So how did we come to assume that everyone, particularly the genders are equal? Biologically speaking, men and women are not equal in structure. Men are almost always physically stronger, so on what grounds do we say women are equal to men?   Tom Holland in “Dominion” That every human being possessed an equal dignity was not remotely a self-evident truth. A Roman would have laughed at it … The origins of this principle . . . lay not in the French Revolution, nor in the Declaration of Independence, nor in the Enlightenment, but in the Bible.   From the very first page, the Bible upholds the dignity and value of men and women.   Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.   God's creation ideal is unmistakably clear, that women possess the same inherent value. Both are image bearers of God and are representations of God's own nature.   Genesis 1:27 explains why the book of Exodus commands honour be given to both mother and father (Exodus 20:12).   In the ancient world, it was typical that prophets would speak only to kings and adult males. But when Moses, the first prophet, assembles the people on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in Deuteronomy 27-28, and reads them a list of blessings for faithfulness and curses for disobedience, he includes women, children and foreigners also.   Deuteronomy 29:10–12 “You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today…”   For thousands of years the Bible has honoured women with a variety of significant roles. Old Testament examples include Esther, Ruth and Deborah.   If you were to read the accounts of Jesus' life, through first century eyes, you'd be shocked at how Jesus' treated women.   Rodney Stark in “The Rise of Christianity” “… women were in relative short supply owing to female infanticide, practiced by all classes, and to the additional deaths caused by abortion. The status of women was very low. Girls received little or no education [and] were married at puberty and often before. Under Athenian law a woman was classified as a child, regardless of age, and therefore was the legal property of some man at all stages of her life. Males could divorce by simply ordering a wife out of the household.”   At a time when most men viewed women as inferior and weak, Jesus was revolutionary in the value he placed upon women.   · His longest recorded conversation with any individual was with a Samaritan woman of ill repute (John 4:7-30).   · Dining at a Pharisee's house, he allowed a “sinful woman” to gate-crash, and she preceded to anoint his feet with perfume and wipe them with her hair. When the host objected, Jesus used the opportunity to commend and defend the woman and rebuke the Pharisee who'd dismissed her.   · Jesus taught women, in a culture where most went uneducated.     · When Jesus was met by a woman with a bleeding disorder, He was tender with her, calling her “daughter,” (Matt 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48)   · To another woman who'd suffered with a debilitating back condition for 18 years, Jesus addressed her as “daughter of Abraham” (Luke 13:16).   · Two of his close friends were sisters, Mary and Martha.   · Some of Jesus' final words from the cross were to do with the welfare of his mother, as he said to John the disciple, “Here is your mother”. (John 19:27)   · Luke notes that Jesus' ministry was funded by several women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others (Luke 8:1-3)   The sight of men and women travelling together, working as co-workers as Jesus taught, healed and performed miracles would have horrified many.   Dorothy Sayers: “Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man—there never has been another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them as ‘The women, God help us!' or ‘The ladies, God bless them!'; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything ‘funny' about women's nature."   Jesus not only affirmed the value and significance of women, but championed their gifts and called them into ministry.   · It was women who were the first to see Jesus' resurrection.   · Upon seeing Christ, Mary goes to the disciples (men and women) proclaiming, "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18)   · In Matthew's account, Jesus instructs the women to go and tell His disciples (Matt 28:10).   Jesus' example shaped the role of women in the early Church   Women were full members of the covenant community (Acts 1:14), serving as partners and leaders.   · On the Day of Pentecost when the church was born, the Spirit was poured out upon men and women, both filled and prophesying. (Acts 2:17-18)   · Women in the Church were expected to use their spiritual gifts, to their full potential, as equal partners in the mission of God.   · The Apostle Paul considered at least twelve women as co-workers in his ministry.   · Paul taught that widows and older women ought not be abandoned but were to be given a place of honour.   D.M. Scholer “Jesus respect for and inclusion of women as disciples and proclaimers provided the foundation for the positive place of women in the earliest churches and their ministry.”   Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.   Greg Sheridan in “God is Good for You” Christianity from the start was much better for women and girls than anything that had previously been on offer in the ancient world. It utterly rejected infanticide and abortion. Infanticide had been practised overwhelmingly against girls. So Rome had a structural imbalance of numbers, a shortage of women common in traditional societies that practise sex selection through killing female infants.   All of a sudden, Christian families had a lot more daughters than other families. And women and girls could participate in Christian life in a way undreamed of in most of the ancient world.   Not only did Christians as a result have a lot more children but also … they attracted large numbers of female converts. And the female converts resulted in male converts.   Christianity, in many explicit passages in the New Testament, taught that marriage was a mutual and loving relationship. The prohibition on adultery applied equally to men as to women. This had not been the practical reality previously … The Christian ideals of mutual love within marriage, of fidelity within marriage, and of chastity before marriage, were much better for women and girls than the rapacious behaviour of men previously.   Historian Samuel Moyn in “Christian Human Rights” “… without Christianity, our commitment to the moral equality of human beings is unlikely to have come about…”   Ancient civilisations viewed the father as not only the head of the household, but almost like a god in his own right, effectively owning his wife and children who were regarded as his property, meaning he was able to do what he liked with them. But Christianity gave rise to the belief that each human being is created in the image of God and possesses an immortal soul.   Rebecca McLaughlin in “Secular Creed” “In Greco Roman culture, the idea that every woman had the right to choose what happened to her body would've been laughable. Christianity threw out this model. Rather than being seen as inferior to men, women were equally made in God's image.”   Understanding that Christianity was introducing new paradigms in how men were to relate to women, we start to understand the shape of some of Paul's teaching to households in the New Testament.   Ephesians 5:22–33 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.   Paul uses just 52 words to instruct the women, because in that culture, everyone just assumed wives ought submit to their husbands. Paul uses 163 words to instruct the men, because what he was teaching was radical.   Wherever the Christian message has spread and been taken seriously, dignity, care, and opportunities for women have increased. When men live for Jesus, homes, communities and workplaces become better for women.   James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.   Rebecca McLaughlin in “Secular Creed” … if Christianity is true, the central plank of women's rights isn't our right to have our unborn babies killed. The central plank of women's rights is Mary's unborn child, who grew to be the man who valued us so much he died on a Roman cross so we could live. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth shouted to her pregnant cousin Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:41–42) … truly this baby conceived out of wedlock and born into poverty changed everything for women.

====================================================SUSCRIBETEhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNpffyr-7_zP1x1lS89ByaQ?sub_confirmation=1==================================================== LECCIÓN DE ESCUELA SABÁTICA         II TRIMESTRE DEL 2024Narrado por: Gustavo PérezDesde: Málaga, EspañaUna cortesía de DR'Ministries y Canaan Seventh-Day Adventist ChurchJUEVES 11 DE ABRILUN LEGADO DE AMOR Lee Juan 13:35 y 1 Juan 4:21. ¿Qué revelan estos pasajes a la luz del desafío de Satanás contra el gobierno de Dios en el Gran Conflicto? ¿Qué nos dicen acerca de la esencia del cristianismo auténtico? El amor era la norma de las comunidades cristianas de los primeros siglos Tertuliano afirmaba: “Son principalmente las obras de un amor sumamente noble las que llevan a muchos a poner una marca sobre nosotros. Vean, dicen, cómo se aman unos a otros”. (Ver Apología 39 de Tertuliano traducida al inglés por S. Thelwall en https://www.logoslibrary.org/tertullian/apology/39.html). Una de las mayores revelaciones del amor de Dios se demostró cuando dos pandemias devastadoras asolaron los primeros siglos, en 160 d.C. y 265 d.C. Los cristianos dieron un paso al frente y atendieron a los enfermos y los moribundos.Estas plagas mataron a decenas de miles de personas y dejaron pueblos y ciudades enteras casi sin habitantes. El ministerio desinteresado, abnegado, atento y amoroso de los cristianos tuvo un enorme impacto sobre la población. Con el tiempo, miles, y finalmente cientos de miles, y luego millones del Imperio Romano se hicieron creyentes de Jesús durante estas dos epidemias. El amor, el interés por los demás y la atención abnegada en favor de los enfermos y los moribundos generaron una admiración por estos creyentes y por el Cristo que representaban. The Rise of Christianity [El surgimiento del cristianismo], de Rodney Stark, es una narración histórica moderna que retrata estos acontecimientos históricos bajo una luz nueva y perfeccionada. En ella describe de qué manera durante la segunda epidemia (260 d.C.) toda la comunidad cristiana, que continuaba siendo fuertemente judeocristiana, se convirtió en un virtual ejército de enfermeros, que satisfacían las necesidades básicas para que la doliente comunidad pudiera sobrevivir. “En el punto álgido de la segunda epidemia, alrededor de 260 d.C., en una carta pascual, Dionisio escribió un largo homenaje a los heroicos esfuerzos de enfermería de los cristianos locales, muchos de los cuales perdieron la vida mientras cuidaban de otros. “La mayoría de nuestros hermanos cristianos mostraron un amor y una lealtad sin límites, sin escatimar esfuerzos y pensando siempre en los demás. Sin tener en cuenta el peligro, se hicieron cargo de los enfermos, supliendo todas sus necesidades en Cristo, y con ellos partieron de esta vida serenamente felices; porque se contagiaron de otros, atrayendo sobre sí la enfermedad de su prójimo y aceptando alegremente sus dolores” (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity [Princeton, Nueva Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996], p. 82). ¿Cuál es el claro mensaje para nosotros? ¿Cómo aprendemos a morir al yo para poder manifestar ese mismo espíritu de abnegación? No es fácil, ¿verdad? 

Many Christians are naïve about the ways Islam has gained much ground within western society in recent years, influencing numerous spheres of culture, politics, and law. The vision of Islamic beliefs ruling all spheres of society (‘Islamism') may not be adopted by all western Muslims, but it is a belief entirely consistent with Islamic tradition. Where Muslims are often very bullish about defending their values and public symbols, Christians often happily give away such cultural ground, fearing the accusation of ‘Islamophobia'. What are the implications of allowing elements of Shariah Law to be imposed within western societies today? What can Christians draw upon to think through and respond to these challenges with love, confidence, and clarity? In this special episode in our mini-series on Islam, Andy and Aaron are joined by Tim Dieppe (Christian Concern), a regular media commentator on Christianity and Islam in British public life, to talk through these important issues. LOVE POD OF THE GAPS? PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US ... Pod of the Gaps needs your help to keep going! If you enjoy our adventures in culture and theology, please consider a small monthly tip to keep us recording: www.patreon.com/wkop RESOURCES: - Tim Dieppe, “What's Wrong With Islamic Finance?” (2018) https://christianconcern.com/resource/whats-wrong-islamic-finance/ - Christian Concern resources on Islam. https://christianconcern.com/ccissues/islam/ - Andy Bannister, “Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?” (2021) - Rodney Stark, “God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades” (2010) - Raymond Ibrahim, “Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam” (2022)

As we celebrate Christmas today, let's look back at the world into which the Word who became flesh entered human history. It was a world shaped by the worship of false gods, gods who didn't care about their worshippers with worshippers who didn't care much about each other. The God who became flesh changed everything. His life, death, and resurrection not only exposed the false gods for the counterfeits they were, but His followers demonstrated a new way. As historian Rodney Stark puts it, Jesus' followers offered “mercy and security” to a world filled with “squalor, misery, illness, and anonymity.” What started in Bethlehem two millennia ago continues today. Jesus is still disarming false “gods,” like money, fame, sex, and power, and His followers are still called to to offer a better way of being human than anything currently offered in contemporary society. This is the gift we have to offer the world. This Point was originally published on December 25, 2020.

As believers we remain people of hope by proclaiming the promise of a new heaven and new earth, where God's presence dwells intimately among his people. We celebrate that in heaven there will be no more sorrow, tears, and death, and ultimately creation will be restored to its intended perfection. The New Jerusalem is presented as a beacon of hope, a city of eternal joy and communion with God, inviting us to anticipate a future free from the struggles of the present world. References: “In your life, there is bound to come some trouble that there will be no words for.” Rich Mullins The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark "it was this hope that fueled the early church that made them unstoppable." Dominion by Tom Holland "Hell is other people.” Paul Sartre, French philosopher “Well enough about me. How about you? What do you think of me?” Bette Midler in the movie Beaches “How much larger our lives would be if our selves could become smaller in it.” G.K. Chesterton

As believers we remain people of hope by proclaiming the promise of a new heaven and new earth, where God's presence dwells intimately among his people. We celebrate that in heaven there will be no more sorrow, tears, and death, and ultimately creation will be restored to its intended perfection. The New Jerusalem is presented as a beacon of hope, a city of eternal joy and communion with God, inviting us to anticipate a future free from the struggles of the present world. References: “In your life, there is bound to come some trouble that there will be no words for.” Rich Mullins The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark "it was this hope that fueled the early church that made them unstoppable." Dominion by Tom Holland "Hell is other people.” Paul Sartre, French philosopher “Well enough about me. How about you? What do you think of me?” Bette Midler in the movie Beaches “How much larger our lives would be if our selves could become smaller in it.” G.K. Chesterton

Rodney Stark, noted historian, looks at the Crusades in an attempt to clear the air of misunderstandings and outright lies. In chapter 4 he states that the Crusades were not unprovoked. Muslims attacked pilgrims and destroyed holy Christian sites.

Every year around this time, the ritual begins anew. The weather cools off, the leaves change color, and Christians start arguing about Halloween.   Many people love this night. It gives them an excuse to host parties, kick off the holiday spending season, and provide economic stimulus for the dental industry. Others use it as an excuse to flirt with things much darker than plastic skeletons and creative jack-o'-lanterns. Too many adults use Halloween as an excuse to throw out common standards of modesty.   What is the history behind Halloween? What's all the decoration and tradition really about? Is there something spiritual behind all the ghoulishness?   When I was a kid, a series of comic-book-style tracts went around claiming that Halloween was a pagan holiday called Samhain, when ancient druids used to carry out human sacrifice under a full moon. That story, as even modern pagans who love Halloween admit, is mostly made up.   The very name “Halloween” means “holy evening.” It was a throwback to when Catholic Christians prepared for the Feast of All Saints on November 1st. A few years back, Kirk Cameron urged Christians to make the most of Halloween's Christian origins, and to throw “the biggest Halloween party on (the) block.” Not only is it a great way to make fun of the devil, he argued, but it offers Christians a wonderful opportunity to proclaim Jesus' victory over sin and death to our neighbors.   Our Christian forebears might have agreed. In his book, For the Glory of God, historian Rodney Stark argued that Christians in the early centuries of the Church frequently reacted to pagan practices like fortune-telling, alchemy, and even sorcery, by not taking them seriously. Augustine, for example, myth-busted astrology by pointing out how twins born under the same star sign were often very different in personality. St. Boniface taught that “to believe in ‘witches' is un-Christian.” Pope Gregory the Great even advised a missionary to Britain to destroy idols but to re-purpose pagan temples for Christian worship.   A few years ago, Steven Wedgeworth offered another perspective in an article at The Calvinist International. After providing a helpful overview of the history of Halloween, he concluded that though there are echoes of paganism and Christian re-purposing in Halloween, the holiday of today, especially the costumes and trick-or-treating, is a recent invention. Like the commercialized secular Christmas, Halloween as we know it has more to do with department stores than druids.   No matter what day it is, Paul's instructions in Philippians 4 should guide our celebrations. Christians should think on “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable.” Axe-murderer get-ups and sexually provocative costumes fail to pass that test. And, we should consider Paul's teaching on meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8. Idol worship is always wrong, but eating meat sacrificed to idols is a matter of conscience.   If you are unable to participate in Halloween with a clear conscience, there are plenty of other things to celebrate this time of year, from Reformation Day to All Saints Day, to the beauty of fall's changing colors, to, as always, the sovereignty of God and the victory of Christ over everything. And, if kids will be knocking at your door on Halloween night, you can always put on a wool tunic and nail 95 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to your door.   If you and your kids do enjoy a little spooky stuff, just remember,   as Paul Pastor wrote over at Christianity Today, “monsters should point us to God.” “No story worth listening to,” he says, “lacks a villain. And no villain worth fighting lacks monstrosity.” No story has more monstrous villains or darker darkness than Scripture. We do have an enemy, an enemy of our souls. At the same time, Scripture describes evil as not just “out there,” but also in our own hearts.    And yet, evil does not have the final say, either in the world or in our own hearts. Evil is a real foe, but because of Jesus Christ, evil is a defeated foe. So, fear not.   For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org.  This Breakpoint originally aired October 31, 2014. 

DEVOCIÓN MATUTINA PARA ADULTOS 2023“YO ESTOY CONTIGO”Narrado por: Roberto NavarroDesde: Montreal, CanadáUna cortesía de DR'Ministries y Canaan Seventh-Day Adventist Church 29 DE OCTUBRE                                                   "HAGAN USTEDES CON LOS DEMÁS..." Hagan ustedes con los demás como quieran que los demás hagan con ustedes; porque en eso se resumen la ley y los profetas (Mateo 7:12, DHH). Imaginemos el siguiente cuadro: "Estamos en una ciudad con hedor a muerte. A nuestro alrededor, caen nuestra familia y nuestros amigos. Nunca podremos estar seguros de sí caeremos enfermos nosotros también. En medio de tan espantosas circunstancias, los humanos son arrastrados a preguntarse por qué. ¿Por qué ocurre esto? ¿Por qué ellos y no yo? ¿Moriremos todos? ¿Por qué existe el mundo? ¿Qué va a pasar después? ¿Qué podemos hacer?". *Dice el sociólogo Rodney Stark que las respuestas a dichas preguntas formuladas las bases para que el cristianismo conquistara al Imperio Romano. Cuando las pandemias azotaban algún territorio del imperio, la gente planteaba esas preguntas. Acudían a los sacerdotes paganos, pero estos eran incapaces de responderlas. Si recurrían a los filósofos, recibirían una larga perorata, pero los interrogantes seguirían ahí, pues ellos tampoco tenían respuestas. El cuadro imaginario que presentamos al inicio era la realidad con la que se encontraban los cristianos. Y en medio de las crisis de fe que suscitaban las epidemias, los creyentes encontraron el ambiente propicio para explicar su fe. De ese modo, los cristianos hicieron lo que los paganos y los filósofos no pudieron: dar consuelo.De acuerdo con Dionisio de Alejandría, en tanto que alejaban de los enfermos y los dejaban en los caminos para que muriesen, "la mayoría de nuestros hermanos cristianos mostraron un amor y lealtad ilimitadas, sin mostrar jamás mezquindad, pensando solo en el prójimo. Despreocupados ante los peligros, se hicieron carga de los enfermos, atendiendo a todas sus necesidades y sirviéndolos en Cristo". **A las preguntas: ¿Por qué ocurre esto? ¿Por qué ellos y no yo? ¿Moriremos todos? ¿Por qué existe el mundo? ¿Qué va a pasar después? ¿Qué podemos hacer? Los cristianos respondieron sin entrar en los incontables misterios del sufrimiento, sino poniendo en práctica la regla de oro: "Hagan ustedes con los demás, como quieran que los demás hagan con ustedes; porque en eso se resumen la ley y los profetas" (Mateo 7:12, DHH). Nuestra respuesta al dilema humano se resume, como dijo Pablo, en una sola palabra: "Amaras a tu prójimo como a ti mismo" (Gálatas 5:14). Eso fue lo que hizo que el cristianismo surgiera; y es lo que hará que se mantenga hasta el fin de los tiempos.* Rodney Stark, La expansión del cristianismo: un estudio sociológico (Madrid: Editorial Trota, 2009), p. 79.** Ibíd., pág. 81.

Christianity conquered cities one by one, not by arms or propaganda, but by the quiet witness of ordinary lives well lived. Worldly power yielded before the prayers of the saints and the blood of the martyrs. What can we learn from the first evangelization as we work our witness today? Links Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Christianity-Marginal-Religious-Centuries/dp/0060677015/ Rodney Stark, Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome https://www.amazon.com/Cities-God-Christianity-Movement-Conquered/dp/0061349887/ Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul https://www.amazon.com/First-Urban-Christians-Social-Apostle/dp/0300098618 Thomas A. Robinson, Who Were the First Christians? Dismantling the Urban Thesis https://global.oup.com/academic/product/who-were-the-first-christians-9780190620547 Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina's books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/

Julie and Scott go back to the Dark Ages and are surprised to find the Sun shining. Episode 315: Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History by Rodney Stark Download or listen via this link: |Episode #315| Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: |HERE|

Christianity and the Gospel are often accused of not being relevant. But is that accusation warranted? Christ said we were to be in the world but not of it, this lays the foundation for a counter-cultural truth.Join the conversation on Twitter @TeleiosTOr, email us at teleiostalk@gmail.comCheck out our book "Six Good Questions" https://a.co/d/bCtOzajThanks for listening!Please consider supporting our ministry. Donate using the link below:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=N54GRDE34VUDY&no_recurring=0&item_name=Donations+to+the+ministry+of+Teleios+Talk.¤cy_code=CAD

Show notes and Transcript For years Dr Steve Turley has been bringing an optimistic and upbeat analysis of current events.  His Turley Talks are some of the most popular social commentaries in the Conservative sphere.   He joins Hearts of Oak to ask if we are seeing the revitalization of Christian civilization and a new Conservative age?  We look at the political shockwaves happening across Europe with the rise of populist conservative political parties in many countries.  And we end off looking at the rise of the parallel economy as a bulwark against the increasing woke economic wave that is sweeping through many large corporations. Steve Turley (PhD, Durham University) is an internationally recognized scholar, speaker, and author who is widely considered one of the most exciting voices in today's growing patriot movement. Dr. Steve's popular YouTube channel has over 1 million subscribers and daily showcases his expertise in the rise of nationalism, populism, and traditionalism throughout the world. His videos, podcasts and writings on civilization, society, culture, education, and the arts are widely renowned. Connect with Dr Steve and join the movement of Courageous Patriots... WEBSITE:         https://turleytalks.com/ TWITTER:         https://twitter.com/DrTurleyTalks YOUTUBE:        https://www.youtube.com/@DrSteveTurleyTV PODCASTS:      https://podcasts.apple.com/am/podcast/turley-talks/id1520478046 Interview recorded 17.7.23 Audio Podcast version available on Podbean and all major podcast directories...  ⁣https://heartsofoak.podbean.com/ Transcript available on our Substack... https://heartsofoak.substack.com/ To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more...  https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please subscribe, like and share! Transcript (Hearts of Oak) Hello, Hearts of Oak, and welcome to another interview coming up in a moment with Dr Steve Turley. You'll have seen his Turley Talks, and I've loved watching these over the last few years, bringing an optimistic and hopeful message, looking at world events, looking at the political side, and often quite at odds with a more dour, conservative message, which we sometimes see in the media. But we look at, are we seeing the revitalization of Christian civilization? A new conservative age is rising. And we look at the political winds, the political conservative winds blowing across Europe and how they're changing also in the US. Why is that? We look at a search for spiritual meaning in the midst of the moral vacuum decay collapse of society when there is no right and wrong. People are searching for meaning and often people are looking to faith and to Christianity for that. And then we finish off on parallel economies. This is a pushback on the woke corporation, the woke agenda, the progressive wave that is coming through commerce and we are seeing a new set of companies that don't want to force that upon our throats and want to cater for a more traditional conservative market.  Dr Steve Turley, it is wonderful to have you with us today. Thank you so much for your time. (Dr Steve Turley) It's my honour, Peter. Thank you so much. It's wonderful to be here with you. Oh, thank you. And you can find @DrTurleyTalks on Twitter, @SteveTurleyTV, obviously on YouTube. All the links are in the description, but turleytalks.com and the many podcasts at Turley Talks, but all the links are there in the description. And Dr. Steve Turley is internationally recognized, best-selling author. I didn't actually realize one of the books, touching on C.S. Lewis. Anyone who writes anything on C.S. Lewis is wonderful to have on. So from my home town back in Belfast.  Yeah, of course. Yeah, that's right. But you're a scholar, speaker, obviously, Turley Talks. I think you've been putting stuff up since, what, 2016, 2017, something like that?  That's right. Yeah, we started on November 1st, 2016, just seven days leading up to November 8th, which was what I like to call Brexit Part Two, which was the election of Donald Trump. And so I started there. I made one video per day analysing the current political situation. I made the argument, the extended argument, that Trump was going to win against all odds, as it were. And of course, I spent the next few weeks gloating and we just kept going. Yeah, give us a little bit of your background. Probably 80%, well, 75% of our viewers are UK, 15% US, and then the rest all over. So, Dr. Steve, could you just take a moment and introduce yourself to our UK audience who may not be as familiar with you as others? Yeah, well, I'm Dr. Steve Turley. Technically, I'm an internationally recognized scholar, speaker and author, that's part of the elevator pitch. But I've spent most of my life either in the world of music, my first degree was in classical guitar, or in theology. My other degrees are in theological studies, the last one being a PhD from Durham University in the UK. Which we were just talking about. And as a result, I was in academia for a number of years, both at the university level as well as classical schools. Classical schools are going through a bit of a renaissance here in the States and as well as in Europe where we're going back to the great books tradition, Latin, Greek, the importance of theology as the queen of the sciences and so on. So I spent about 20 years, 18 years in that world and then a friend of mine suggested I start doing some YouTube videos to analyse the political and cultural scene going on back in 2016. It was obviously very exciting. Brexit had just passed in June, which I mean, I didn't think it stood a chance and I was, of course, hoping for it, but when I saw it actually happening, that's when I I realized a lot of the scholarship that I had encountered at Durham University, which we can develop a bit, called post-secular studies. That's when I started to see some of the ramifications of those studies actually in real time. So my friend suggested I do something akin to that kind of analysis for people with the upcoming Trump-Clinton election, which I did. And the channel turned out to be a hit, as it were, over time. And so I ended up leaving academia and going into broadcasting full-time. And I've since written 20 books on various subjects, and we now have over a million subscribers to the YouTube channel. And really in the end, my daily analysis is one of looking at current events in light of, of what I would call very real conservative trends. And so my analysis tends to be very optimistic for the conservative, which is fair, which cuts against the grain and rightly so, fully noted. We've lived for the last 300 years in what's called the modern world and the modern world's inherently leftist, liberal, anti-traditionalists, you know, it's... Keep science and religion worlds apart, they have nothing to do with each other, and on and on and on. So rightly so, we've been rightly frustrated, but that modern age is coming to an end and a new world is rising. And so what I try to do is provide hope for courageous patriots with daily optimistic broadcasting of news and events. Can I start with your tagline on your YouTube, it's the secular world is at its brink and a new conservative age is rising. Tell us about, because bad news sells better than good news, which you mentioned in the conservative circles. Tell us why you use that, I guess that tagline, that message. Yeah. Well, I, you know, I have you guys over on the other side of the pond to blame for that, I would say a little bit of it when I was doing my doctoral studies at Durham University. It was while I was there that I came across a field of study that's broadly known as post-secular studies, and it's a huge field of study. I mean, it deals with, philosophy and law and fashion and media and politics, you name it, and involves all kinds of scholars like Jürgen Habermas, a sociologist, he's really the one who kind of coined the phrase decades ago, Peter Berger's another one, Charles Taylor, Talal Asad, they're all united in their assessment that what's known as the secularization thesis is for all practical purposes dead in the social sciences. So secularization thesis is this notion, it was very popular in the early 20th century. It's this notion that the more educated and technological society becomes, the less religious it will be. So sociologists like Max Weber, Emil Durkheim, they all saw secularity and progressivism and so forth, as just basically baked into the cake of this progressive, evolutionary movement of history. And what these post-secular scholars were arguing is that thesis, for all practical purposes, is dead. And they made the argument that very few contemporary sociologists will take the secularization thesis seriously today. And that's because, as it turns out, religion is more prevalent in our world today. It's actually, well, I should say it's just as prevalent in our world today as it's always been. And in fact as Rodney Stark at Baylor University would put it, we're actually going through the single greatest religious renewal the world has ever seen. But the key here is that what all of these different scholars are noticing in their own way, in their own bent, and their own degree of, you know, strength or certitude, is that this return of religion that's going on all over the world, because of this extraordinary religious renewal, the world's political order is changing. So these aren't just personal private sentiments that people are just having new religious experiences of. No, this is changing the balance of power. This is something that's enacting a kind of paradigm shift we haven't seen probably in 300 years. In other words, we're increasingly shifting away from the world order that began in Europe with the Enlightenment in the 18th century, that was founded on the fundamental tenets of scientific rationalism as a one-size-fits-all vision of reality for everyone, that became universalized through colonization and industrialization and globalization and westernization. And what we're seeing here now is more and more populations rejecting that modern world, and embracing what's commonly called a more post-modern or post-secular world. That's ultimately working itself out with populations going back, going back to nation, culture, custom, tradition, most particularly religious traditions, to quite literally, ironically, pre-modern beliefs and practices, while at the same time maintaining modern technology. So this is something akin to what Guillaume Fay argued, or what he called archaeo-futurism. Some have called it techno-primitivism, but it's the notion that the antithesis between science and religion and church and state, you know, technology and tradition, that's at the heart of the modern age, that antithesis has collapsed. And now the two are joining forces, like we're seeing with the rise of neo-Orthodox Russia or neo-Confucian China, Shinto Japan, Hindu nationalist India with the BJP party there, the neo-Ottoman vision of Erdogan in Turkey. Of course, we saw it in 1979 with the rise of theocratic Iran. Now we've got theocratic Afghanistan, now we've got neo-traditionalism absolutely on fire all throughout the African continent and on and on and on and on. And I think it's taken Western powers by surprise. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're dealing with the Dolts in D.C. or the bullies in Brussels or the demons of Davos, my comic book names for them. But Western elites just don't really know what to do with this new, far more traditionalist, conservative world. Or that's how I use the term conservatives, ultimately is a traditionalist. That's what, that's what unites a Texas conservative with a with a Hindu conservative in, you know, in India. Because they don't know what to do with this world order because it doesn't respond to the political and economic manipulative pressures that the West has learned to rely on over the last several decades and sort of closed the loop here to make things even worse for them. The same dynamics are manifesting themselves in the West. But obviously from a different vantage point, because we were really the centre, the epicentre of this industrialism, of this globalism, of this enlightenment, sort of ideology that has morphed into a very bizarre wokeness. But we're seeing comparable nationalist, populist, traditionalist trends on both sides of the Atlantic, with the Brexit and Trump earthquakes happening literally within days of each other, what, 90 days or so, just a few months of each other, more than that. But Trump actually campaign back in 2016. There was a time in the mid-summer when he said, call me Mr. Brexit. I mean, he was a huge supporter of Brexit, a huge supporter of dismantling the liberal world order and the globalist institutions that make up that order. So while there's all kinds of hiccups and and there's all kinds of oppressions and all kinds of roadblocks and frustrations and setbacks. There's really nothing the Dolts in DC or the Bullies in Brussels can do to stop this tectonic shift that's happening underneath their feet. No political paralysis in the palace of Westminster, can stop it because again it's a foundational paradigm shift from secular to post-secular, from modern to post-modern, and so secular modernist sentiments and structures are indeed withering away.  You talk about kind of religion, spirituality, and certainly it's strange because we have this search for meaning in an age of chaos where there is no order, no right and wrong, no truth, and people are looking at spirituality. Certainly I have seen it here in the UK, people once again opening their Bibles, trying to understand what it is all about. So you have that rise of inquisitiveness, of curiosity, and at the same time, certainly from a Christian point of view, you've got a very weak church that seems to have bought into that lie, the progressive lie. What are your thoughts on that, and how does that work out in the U.S.? Oh yeah, in terms of the mainline churches, we're seeing very much the same thing. I mean, what happened, of course, is in the modern experiment, the church got privatized. I mean, even in the UK in many respects, even though you have a national church there. And we get to see it and we're actually enamoured by it whenever there's a coronation or a royal wedding or a funeral, a monarchical funeral, whatever.  You can have the Church of England any day, Steve. Please take it.  I went to school with some of the clergy in Durham and I was shocked by some of the interaction I had with them. Yes, I know exactly what you mean. And again, we're facing it here to the extent that the Episcopal Church manifests our wing of the Anglican Church or the United Methodist Church. Mainline denominations have basically gone the way of modernity, and it's because they got privatized. And we have to just remember that, you know, if you just compare the way, like we were just talking about the beauties of Durham, medieval cities, where the church was in the urban planning of the medieval city, of course, it was right at the very centre. I mean, you've got a map of the Christian image, a Christian cosmos in every medieval city here in the states the New England commonwealth drew from similar frames of reference, the church steeple, the highest building in the commonwealth there with it with a town green and Edenic green in its front and like you look at modern urban planning today, where's the church? if it's even there it's been it's been pushed into the place of consumerism you know, it's right next to pizzerias and dry cleaners and it's and what's happened as a result is the truth has been privatized because public life and private life operate by very different dynamics. Public deals with the obligatory, whereas private is more optional, right? Public is objective, private is subjective, public applies to all, private applies to only some. So when you privatize the church, what you do is you basically wither, you hollow out its truth and its moral claims because truth is public, it's not private. Truth is objective, it's not subjective. Truth applies to all by definition, not to only some. And so when you're pushed into the social equivalent of a Weight Watchers program or the YMCA or like a pizzeria or whatever. If you're pushed into that equivalent, you can know more proclaimed truth than they can. That's what got hollowed out of the gospel. So the gospel no longer weighs on us, like it would have, say, just in the 18th century. So the clergy, I mean, they're more interested in all these gimmicks and church marketing programs and the like. I'm broad brushing, but you know where I'm coming from. In the states, we do, since church and state are so separated here, in one sense, right, the church can be actually pretty vibrant here at local levels. And so many leftists think we live in a default theocracy in all the red states, or even more specifically, sort of the red counties where the church exercises, very conservative church exercises, so much inordinate influence and the like, but there are very, very heavy barriers placed on that, where it's not allowed to rise to more national levels. They do everything they can to quell that. But it does seem to be, for all kinds of reasons, particularly demographic reasons, it does seem to be rising in a way that they just can't clamp down on anymore. And Christian faith still seems to be something that's seemed positive, certainly in, generally in politics. I mean, when you look at the front bench of, in parliament, of any MP, the last thing they would ever want to say is they'd go to a church or they may be a Christian. That's just not on the radar. In the US, it still seems that that is part of, kind of, the identity, and even Joe Biden claims he's a Christian, and I'll let him take that up with God personally, but how does that, because you still seem to have that as a central tenant, as an anchor, certainly in the political sphere. Yeah, right. Exactly. It's still very, very strong here. It's right. I mean, I guess we would be more akin to the Irish side of the UK, where religion is just a stronger part in the United States. Yeah, it's no coincidence that secularization thesis was actually formulated in Europe because that's what they were seeing. They were seeing these radical secularizing forces as liberalism, and the liberal project began to take over in Europe. And yeah, it just, it took over here in the States to a certain extent, particularly among our elite, but that never really made it into the heartland. We, for whatever reason, we just were able to keep, I guess maybe it's just the frontier sort of culture that we have here, but in our rural and in ex-urban areas, Christianity's just been able to flourish. I think largely also because of the demographic revolution that's happening today, where liberalism more or less destroyed the family, they stopped having kids. And so with all these alternative lifestyles or just with very secularized conceptions of the family, woke liberals, while busying themselves trying to take over every cultural institution in the nation and being very successful in doing so. They forgot to procreate. So for whatever reason they omitted replacing themselves from the cultural takeover plan. So we have a number of studies, Ed Dutton actually has an excellent studies, he's in the UK, Durham fellow as well, on the extraordinary fertility differences between atheists and religionists and liberals and conservatives. And in all kinds of demographic studies all over the world, but particularly in North America and Europe, we're seeing a very clear and direct relationship between, for lack of better term, you know, how right-wing you are, particularly how religiously conservative you are, and how many children you have. And the demographic discrepancy is extraordinary, and that seems with the United States and with its concentrated population, that's having some pretty profound effects. So yeah, it'd be very hard to win an election here nationally and be hostile, overtly hostile to faith in your expressions. Like you said, I think Joe Biden's incredibly hostile to faith. Just ask any Christian baker, for example. But he will never admit to that. He'll always try to say, oh, I'm a good churchgoing, Catholic and blah, blah, blah. Obama did the same thing. Yeah. Clinton, you know, scenes of him singing in his church choir. You just, there's no way around it. You have to, you have to do this. If anything, Trump, Trump may have been probably the least overtly Christian fellow we had, but I mean, his pod, they were, it was so woven into his policies that it just, it didn't matter. No, absolutely. Can I ask you, obviously the message you bring, a hopeful message, and I've seen you on numerous, I think I saw you on Seb Gorka the other day. The only person kind of I come across with that, kind of more positive outlook possibly is Steve Bannon. But yours, I mean, do you, are you told, come on Steve, it's really, look, we've got this against, we've got that against, just come on, it's and you're living in a fairy world. How do you kind of cope with that pushback that just fit into the this is a fight and it's a dark fight and we may win in the end? How do you kind of cope against that? The choice to tune that positivity down? Yeah, yeah. They I've been accused of pushing copious copium on. Oh, no, absolutely. And again, well, the irony to it all is when I first came across post-secular scholarship, I didn't believe it. I thought it was applicable to the Middle East, Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. Maybe I noticed Russia being in the orthodox tradition. I noticed Russia was doing quite well. But outside of that, I mean, I came across this during the Obama era, right after the Obama era started in 2009. And I just, I didn't buy it. I thought the West was shot. The West was done. So I share, ironically, I have shared in that kind of pessimism. But the more I studied, the more I was confronted with the data and the more I'm seeing the political outworking's happening that data just is is playing itself out it's just getting confirmed and I think too one of the ways of thinking about the current climate we're in particularly spiritual climate analytically helpful way of seeing it it is through the prism of post secularism sort of a counter reading of it, we have to recognize how frustrated and disconcerted our secular left is. Remember, secular progressivism lived by the notion that religion was on its way out. Conservatism was on its way out. Traditionalism was on its way out. It was an evolutionary throwback that had no relevance to us today. And so you have the likes of like a Sam Harris who's repeatedly and openly expressed his utter dismay as to the stubbornness of particularly American Christianity but also Islam, not just its persistence but its actual growth and flourishing. And so to these people who've admittedly captured all the cultural levers of power, to these people, we're not supposed to be around, Peter. So a lot of the persecution that we're facing here, political, cultural, economic, the de-banking, the latest trend of de-banking that Nigel Farage has had to deal with, these persecutions are happening precisely because we're not supposed to be here. We're not supposed to persist. So I see a lot of the the obstacles and the frustrations that we face as an ironic confirmation. That the jokes on them. We're winning. We're not going away. They can clamp down as hard as they want on us. We've got all the demographic back winds behind us blowing in our direction. One of the fascinating statistics is that in just three decades, they predict there will be one liberal woman here in the United States for every so-called, for every four far-right women. And it's just because when all is said and done, right-wingers are having families and in many ways, bigger than ever, because you take in consideration child mortality rates having imploded. So we're having more kids than ever, and we have the data on whether or not those kids retain that conservatism into adulthood. And the answer is yes, because the more conservative, the more you tend to rely on parallel structures, like Bible colleges or home-schooling or what have you. And the United States and Britain are number one and number two in terms of home-schooling populations. Populations. Interestingly enough, Russia is number three, which is also fascinating. But so what we're seeing is we're seeing 70%, 80% retention rates among young people. We've studied particularly with the Amish, the Amish population. And the Amish retention rates have actually been going up over the last 30 years. Eric Kaufman, who's a Canadian expat at University of London, has done a lot of writing on this. And back in the 70s and 80s, if I recall, they had about a 70% retention level. About 30% of their kids would go through Rundspringe, this kind of, you get to flirt a little bit with the outside world. About 30% of them said, no, I like this. I'm going to stay in the outside world. And they basically become Mennonite, so they stay close to their families, but they have more freedom with modern technology and so forth. Those numbers have hit upwards of 80% or 90% retention of late. So the more woke and crazy our society gets, ironically, the more traditionals hang on to their kids. So there's just no way around it. They're disappearing. We're growing. And there's nothing they can do to stop that. And so as long as those dynamics are in place, Kauffman says by 2030, the United States culture war should tip dramatically in favour of the right permanently, or at least for the foreseeable future. We're estimated to have upwards of 300 million Mormons in our country just by the end of the century, 300 million Amish by the end of next century. So we're basically evangelicals, Mormons, Amish. I know there's a joke in there somewhere. I haven't quite figured it out yet. It can't be walking into a bar, Mormons don't drink, but three guys walked into a bar. But Europe is the same thing. Now it's slower because you don't have the density of the population and the Bible Belt per se, but you look at what Viktor Orban's doing in Hungary. Can I ask, because you've written and one of the things that I've enjoyed about, what you put out is that you cover what's happening in Europe and I wouldn't want to criticize the wonderful U.S. commentators and maybe not looking at Europe. We certainly in Europe look to the U.S. for kind of...  Terrible. No, you could criticize, they completely ignore you and it makes me upset, because at least Eastern Europe particularly they're ahead of us. You know, we're all honouring Viktor Orban but we were talking about Viktor Orban six years ago before anybody knew his name around here. So yes, no, go ahead, beat them up all you want, Peter. He's an absolute rock, but it's not, I mean, two of the, uh, two podcasts you put out recently, France's right-wing party surge and first persons riots. In other words, WEF, Dutch government collapses, and that's going to be phenomenal to watch that with the new farming party. But all across, I mean, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Italy, uh, Austria, Germany, it's, it's happening all over and how, I guess, as an American commentator, do you view what's happening? Because I think a lot of us maybe in Europe had thought, you know, we're post-Christian in Europe and conservatism is very much out of fashion and this liberal way of this, the EU just knitting everyone together, throwing off the nation-state and suddenly you've got a push back on nearly every single country across Europe. How do you see that from the States? Absolutely, yeah. I think again, well, getting my doctorate in the UK helped, no question, to kind of broaden my horizons to what was going on in the world. But also, when I encountered the post-secular studies, a lot of it was on Europe and the trends that were happening, particularly starting in Eastern Europe, going into Central Europe, talking a lot about Hungary and Poland. We were just seeing the rise of the Law and Justice Party Poland back around that time. And I really thought, and again, you have to remember this was during our Obama era. I really saw the so-called far right. They're not far right. They're just, you know, the apostles of common sense, I think you would call it, but I was noticing that we were already seeing the 300% surge in so-called far right parties, these nationalist populist parties. And I really thought, wow, something's going to happen in Europe before we know it. And then again, this is before Brexit sentiments came in. The Cornell sociologist Mabel Berezin has written about what she calls post-security politics. And it's very interesting because she argues that the nation state historically promised to provide three things, secure borders, a stable economy, and a space for the celebration and perpetuation of a population's customs, traditions, and religion. And what Berezin argued is that, of course, over the last three, four decades, we've seen all those securities just erode as a result of globalization, so border security eroding as a result of mass unfettered immigration, economic security eroding through what's called a global division of labour, where manufacturing and industrial factory jobs are shipped out to third world nations, while capital and finance are relocated in urban centres, leaving rural populations highly disenfranchised. So that's where you got the Yellow Vest uprising in France, where there were no jobs, where rural folk were living. They had to commute to the big cities to work. But they couldn't work there because the gentrification of those cities through finance had jacked up the real estate prices. So there was no work where they lived, and they couldn't live where there was work. And then they're commuting an hour and a half each way. And then Macron slaps a fuel tax on them to pay for some green initiative. And that just blew up into the Yellow Vest uprising. So we saw that kind of post-security politics there. And then the cultural security has eroded through progressive political correctness, redefining our traditions as racist and bigoted and all kinds of phobic. At the same time, we're seeing this mass influx of migrants coming in with a different culture, different language and so forth. So it goes right back to the border security. So it's a closed loop, as it were, a self-enforcing loop. And so post-security politics was manifesting itself very clearly in the rise of bootleg parties. That's a neat phrase. again, I think goes back to Eric Kaufman, where the centre-right, centre-left were in their political paralysis. They refused to deal with any of those issues, any border security, any economic security, any cultural security. And so you ended up seeing the rise of these so-called, we call them third parties here in the parliamentary system, and they started to win. Nigel being one of the most extraordinary examples of that. I mean, back in 2019, one in three Brits voted for a party for the European Parliament elections before Brexit was finally instituted. And even then, you know, we know we got the issues, but they voted for the Brexit party and it was only what, six weeks old, five or six weeks old. The Tories collapsed. It was absolutely astonishing and the Tories only had their best election ever months later with Nigel basically bowing out and giving his blessing that if you want Brexit, put Boris back in. So you're seeing these, if you've got border security, economic, I'm sorry, yeah, border security, economic security, and cultural security as the new main issues of European populations, then you inevitably see nationalism, populism, and traditionalism emerging as the political forces that are changing politics in the continent. Now again, bullies in Brussels are doing everything they can to stop it. You'll hear them talk that way, as you well know, where you just hear them say, well, we have instruments that we can use to force compliance and things like that. But increasingly, it's just not working. Finland, you mentioned, the Sweden Democrats, the rise of the AFD in Germany. They're doing everything they can to try to prevent the AFD from running in their next national election because it looks like right at this point they're going to come in second only to, formally, Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. So the Vox party in Spain, keep an eye on that next week. They have their, socialist government collapsed and they're going to probably boot out Sanchez and they're going to probably get into a coalition government with the Podemos party, the centre-right party, so you have something very much like what we're having in Finland, in Sweden, in Greece where the left just collapsed, and on and on and on. I think France is next. I think National Rally is poised to win a very impressive national election. And then if they begin to coalition with the centre-right Republicans and a couple of the others, Eric Zemmour's party and so forth. Now suddenly France is going to be a, the France that was supposed to be the globalist space par excellence for Europe's new emperor, Emmanuel Macron, now they're going to have a government more on par with Viktor Orban. It's incredible. It is and we could have the AFD arrive second in Germany, could have a freedom party first in Austria next year and Le Pen leading France. I mean that would just be the most beautiful scenario...  And it's happening, that's the thing, what we try to do, every day on my channel and what you're doing is we're tapping into the trends that are moving, in this direction. So a lot of people are late to the party. A lot of people are like, what's going on in Europe? This is amazing stuff. Well, it's Nigel Farage first came on the scene in the 1990s. This is stuff that's been happening. I mean, remember the European union sanctioned Austria when the when the freedom party first got a certain amount of the vote. And if I recall, that was back in the 1990s as well, well before the 2008 global financial crisis. These are seeds that have been germinating for a while, and they've already been sown, and now we're just going to witness how big the harvest is. Another part of the jigsaw, and we'll finish up on this area, but is the economic side. And one of your phrases from your website is, now is the time to build a parallel economy, to live out our God-given freedoms and leave a legacy of faith, family and freedom for our children and grandchildren. And that idea of a parallel economy intrigues me, especially when you see corporations bound to wokeness and being severely damaged because of it, happily. Tell us more about that parallel economy because we've talked about kind of the spiritual and the political side but, you also need to have a juggernaut, an economic juggernaut, taking that on and people need an alternative and this is what a lot of the conversation has been about a parallel economy. Absolutely, and again it's a term or it's a concept that's also European as well. I mean just in terms of the way it was formalized and written about, I'm thinking in particular of Václav Havel, Václav Benda, and the Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 80s. They wrote a lot about what they called a parallel polis, and they actually pointed to churches and the concept of the churches in Jerusalem as this notion of being able to create an alternative society where citizens can live out truth in the midst of a society dominated by lies, like in the Soviet period, and the more we live out truth, the more we reveal those lies to be what they actually are, fabrications and the like. So, obviously, Václav Havel was a brilliant fellow, ended up becoming president of Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic. And the Berlin Wall fell within just a decade or so of those writings. So we're taking a lot of inspiration from that as we live in a kind of, well, what scholars actually call a refeudalization. I've heard the term refeudalization for the United States, and I've heard the term neo-medievalism when applied to Europe because of the EU functioning very similarly to, say, the Holy Roman Emperor or something, or the Roman Catholic Church, working in that way, having sort of ultimate control over districts and emerging sovereign nations and the like. But refeudalization refers, it's a very helpful model to see what's going on today, because it refers to ways in which the structure of society is increasingly reflecting the, this kind of caste system. So for example, today, like say in the medieval period, you have an astonishing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of very, very few. So five years ago, 400 billionaires owned half the world's assets. Today, that number's dropped to a hundred. Now, thank God one of them is on our side. Elon Musk is, and that, and he's just, he's been one of the biggest boosts to this parallel economy that's trying to provide a different kind of space from this neo-feudalism or refeudalization. But it's not just the billionaires and the bureaucrats that are that are teaming up. There's also a new kind of radicalized fundamentalism involving all things woke, the environment, gender and race. And again, that's where bureaucrats and billionaires, you can really see them teaming up where you have corporations now enforcing ESG and DEI. And this is where the demons and Davos come in. They're enforcing stuff that none of us would ever vote for, right, from our politicians, but because bureaucrats and billionaires are hooking up here with this bizarre kind of ideological fundamentalism. Where there's no room for dissent whatsoever, dissenters are heretics, but instead of a clerical class, now it's a clerisy class, a class of pseudo-intellectuals from the universities, the professional class, the credential class that are imposing an ideological inquisition on the whole of the population. But again, the good news is what we're seeing is something akin to a Protestant revolt that we saw coming out of that feudalized period, and the Protestant revolt in many ways was a populist revolt where the people had the right to the scriptures and so on and so forth and to pray and to have a direct relationship to God, And so what we're seeing, I think, is we're seeing a new kind of Protestant revolt in the form of a parallel economy where more and more people are with money and investment opportunities and seeing extraordinary business opportunities are starting to pump lots and lots of money into an economy that is the only requirement of being a part of it is you must disown all things woke. Anything woke is not allowed. Anything else, you're come on in. You're going to love it. So we're seeing the Sound of Freedom movie. It's number one at the box office. It's about to hit a hundred million dollars in revenue. This is all as the Disney's new Indiana Jones has just bombed and as a matter of fact, Disney. I just came across a stat the other day, Disney has lost nearly 1 billion dollars in its last eight releases. Nobody's going to see it anymore, So they're going to alternative movies. Um, they're going to alternative stores. They're boycotting, well, I would say they're going to alternative beer, but I don't think bud light is beer quite frankly. I'm partial to British beer myself, but you see Bud Light's sales on the tank, Target, you know, they had their pride section for children in their clothing store. Target is a department store here in the States. They're falling apart because of a boy, actually Boycott Target was a song and it hit number one on iTunes. It's just amazing stuff going on. And it's happening at the same time, even within the Democratic Party. There are constituencies like Muslims who are pushing back against the LGBT agenda. So in Hamtramck, Michigan, which is a Detroit district, it votes 70% Democrat, but they have the first all Muslim city council there. They were the first city council to vote unanimously to officially ban the rainbow LGBT pride flag from flying on any and all city public property. And these were all Democrats. And Democrats and the woke just don't know what to do with this, because they're seeing all of their cultural products basically going bankrupt. And now they're even seeing what was up until now very loyal voting constituents rebelling against them as well. It does really look like it's starting to implode. And this parallel economy may indeed be the mainstream economy within the next five to 10 years. Dr. Steve Turley, I appreciate you coming on and sharing that optimism and upbeat message, which I think is often missing in commentary. So thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you, Peter. It's been my honour.

Transcript:Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! Early Christians were known for their care of the weak and frail. This contrasted deeply with the callous Roman culture in which they lived. For example, the Law of the Twelve Tables, the earliest codification of Roman Law (c. 450-451 BC) required fathers to kill any deformed child. Though this Law was no longer in force during the rise of the church, its basic ethos continued to influence Roman culture. As a matter of fact, one historian notes that in one Roman village, “archaeologists found one hundred skeletons of infants less than a week old in the sewers under the Roman baths. The babies were unwanted or inconvenient, and so were literally flushed down the drain” (Why You Think the Way You Do, p. 34). Christians refused to participate in such practice. Following Holy Scripture, they knew that every human was made in the image of God, regardless of how weak, deformed, or “unwanted”. Moreover, since they held that God Himself had become a real human (bodily!) in Jesus Christ, the value they placed on the human body was elevated to previously unknown heights. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of the conception and birth of Jesus Christ saying: “that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). At the center of the gospel story is God Himself becoming a weak and helpless infant, even a hidden embryo. This radically altered the way Christians viewed the weak and frail and, thus, drove them to reject not only the common practice of infanticide, but also the common practice of abortion. As modern historian Rodney Stark put it: “…perhaps above all else, Christianity brought a new conception of humanity to a world saturated with capricious cruelty and the vicarious love of death....”   “…what Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity.” ~Rodney Stark as quoted in PBS: Frontline: “From Jesus to Christ” Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:     “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,      and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus..”~ Matthew 1:18-23 (ESV) Sources to consider:Law of the Twelve Tableshttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Twelve-Tables The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History by Rodney Stark (Princeton University Press 2020). The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider (Baker Academic 2016). Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn S. Sunshine (Zondervan 2009). The Didache (Chapter 2).

Good Question is a podcast for the curious by Compassion Christian Church. Join us as we create space to discuss ugly church history. Have you ever thought I love Jesus, but why has His church been responsible for so many bad things throughout history? If you have, join Marcus and Blair with love and curiosity in your heart as we learn more about the past and how we can grow together now.During this episode we shared information about Rodney Stark, Bart Ehrman, and the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. If you have questions you want to submit or talk with our team, email us at:  Online@CompassionChristian.comWEBSITE: https://compassionchristian.com/ CONNECT: https://compassionchristian.churchcenter.com/people/forms/295239 FOLLOW US: Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CompassionChristian   Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/compassionchristian/ AND-- Don't forget to RATE, SUBSCRIBE, LIKE and SHARE Good Question! 

In this episode we do a short history of the actual church houses of worship. Then we have a reflective discussion on how the idea of free will has shaped Western Civilization. Sources: https://theconversation-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/theconversation.com/amp/what-are-the-origins-of-cathedrals-and-chapels-143341 How the West Won by Rodney Stark https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-origins-of-cathedrals-and-chapels-143341

Transcript:Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! Many are shocked to learn that infanticide, the killing of unwanted children, was considered perfectly acceptable in the ancient world. The most common means of carrying this out was the practice of “exposure”, leaving a child exposed to the elements, usually on the city dump, until they died. Since male children were considered more valuable than female, infant girls were usually the target of this practice. Generally, after a family had given birth to one girl, any further female offspring had a high likelihood of being tossed. Archaeologists have uncovered a chilling letter sent by an otherwise “loving” husband and father to his pregnant wife. Listen to the strange callousness with which he speaks of ordering the murder of their child: “Know that I am still in Alexandria [away on business]. And do not worry if they all come back and I remain in Alexandria. I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I receive payment I shall send it up to you. If you are delivered of a child [before I come home], if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl discard it. You have sent me word, ‘Don't forget me.' How can I forget you. I beg you not to worry.”~A letter written in 1 BC, cited in Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, 97-98 Note well, “if it is a girl, discard it”—just throw it away! Now, Christians operated with a completely different ethos. Why? Because Holy Scripture informed them that the lives of little girls matter. All human lives matter because we are all made in the image of God. Christians not only rejected the practice of infanticide, they would also go to the city trash heaps and rescue these discarded children. Since most of these infants were girls, historians tell us this helps explain the unusually high number of women in the early church. The Christians of Rome valued all lives. Do you? Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”    So God created man in his own image,   in the image of God he created him;   male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”~ Genesis 1-26-28 (ESV) Sources to consider: Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries ( Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn S. Sunshine (Zondervan 2009).

With this introductory episode we begin our exploration of the cities where the Fathers lived and taught. At first these were cities that raged against the Gospel and persecuted the Church. The Fathers brought them to faith. Each city was different from all the others—and each became more perfectly itself through its encounter with Jesus Christ. We can learn from the history. LINKS Mike Aquilina's 2023 pilgrimage to Rome https://www.pilgrimages.com/mikeaquilina/ Fustel de Coulanges, The Ancient City https://stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:xs159yz4591/00002552_mixed.pdf John Julius Norwich, Cities that Shaped the Ancient World https://www.amazon.com/Cities-that-Shaped-Ancient-World/dp/0500293406/ Rodney Stark, Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome https://www.amazon.com/Cities-God-Christianity-Movement-Conquered/dp/0061349887/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Mike Aquilina's books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/  

Something that gets buried today is how the pagan or secular world treated people, and it's buried for a reason. We like to pretend the “Dark Ages” were full of witch-burning psycho priests but that pre-Christian societies were joy-filled lands where all joined hands and sang songs like the Whos in Dr. Seuss's Whoville. But nothing could be further from the truth. A good read on how much people have forgotten our Christian roots is a book by Tom Holland, titled: Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. We have forgotten how much Christianity has improved the lives of everyone in comparison to the “good old days” of paganism. We are so accustomed to hospitals, universities, libraries, and non-profit charities that we forgot where they all came from. They didn't come from Caesar or anyone in his time. People like to think there was some utopia before the “evils” of Christianity stamped out the fun. We will get to find this out soon, however, since we are lurching backward toward that “fun.” We forget things easily, not just over long expanses of time, but in single generations. The book of Judges illustrates this well, where each fall into sin has a savior, but within forty years, the people resume their errors and forget why they needed order. Our era is similar to that which preceded World War I when nations celebrated the beginning of the war, holding parades, cheering, wishing the boys well in their lovely uniforms and flags, only to find out a few years later that the war was a meat grinder of unprecedented levels, thanks to progress in technology and science. As we whisk God out of the public arena and out of our personal lives, we forget what the world was like before Jesus walked this earth, died on a cross, and rose from the dead to take away our sins, transform our suffering, and defeat the devil. One of the primary lies told today about the pre-Christian world is that women's lives were better without the Church imposing restrictions on them. But this is not true. It has never been true. It never will be true, no matter how many professors and bloggers keep writing about it. Disrespect of women was not a Christian doctrine or idea, but it was indeed a core doctrine of the secular powers of Rome, actually quite similar to the lyrics of Snoop Dogg. You could sum up the treatment of women by the wealthy of the ancient world in Snoop's hit song, “It ain't no fun, if the homies can't have none.” Women were objects, pure and simple. The interesting thing about reading the Old Testament treatment of women is that today we think it sounds barbaric, when in reality it was the most progressive treatment of women in the ancient world. We read with Western eyes, blinded by time, through which we are blocked from understanding, nuance, and history. With the Church, women achieved a radical leap forward, one that the pagan world mocked for centuries. Many of the women who fought against the old ways were martyred for it. Strange that they would be willing to die for such “oppression.” We are taught and bonked over the head repeatedly with this “Dark Age” myth in every university course. By design, we are not taught the reasons why Christian life appealed to so many women, because it undermines the sand foundation of modern life, which will ultimately undermine itself because it is spiritually dead.Here is a summary from Mike Aquilina of how women were treated before God revealed himself to us through Jesus. I should note that none of this was covered in my university history classes, nor was it ever mentioned in the Women's Studies class I had to take:Pagan and Christian sources agree that the Church grew at an astonishing rate in the first three centuries of its existence. The modern sociologist Rodney Stark estimates a steady growth rate of forty percent per decade during centuries of intermittently intense persecution when the practice of the Faith was a capital crime. Pagan and Christian sources agree that women made up the majority of converts.The most effective opponent of Christianity from this period, the Greek philosopher Celsus, mocked the Church for this. Around A.D. 178, he accused Christians of not daring to evangelize women when their sensible husbands and fathers were present but rather getting hold of them privately and filling their heads with “wonderful statements, telling them to pay no attention to their father and to their teachers.”What kind of statements were those? They no doubt involved the principle of equality of the sexes before God. “There is neither Jew nor Greek,” said St. Paul, “there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).The apostle wasn't denying sexual differences, nor was he claiming there should be no difference in the roles that men and women played. Rather, he was claiming for women—and slaves and foreigners—a dignity that no one in his world, not even a philosopher as brilliant as Celsus, could recognize.A woman in that world was seen as having little intrinsic value. She derived her identity from the males in her life—first her father, and then her husband, and then her sons. The law recognized little for her in the way of natural rights or protections. Women were not permitted to testify in a court of law because their testimony was considered unreliable. The law treated them like children.The value of their sex was nowhere more evident than on the day of their birth. Infanticide was common in the Greco-Roman world. It was practiced mostly for economic reasons, to limit family size and to maximize the future return on the father's investment in childrearing.Thus, children who were “defective” in any way—i.e., disabled—were usually drowned in a bucket of water at birth or left exposed at the town garbage dump. There they might be claimed as carrion by vultures and dogs or taken up by pimps to be raised as prostitutes. All the documentary and archaeological evidence indicates that the most common “defect” for which children were abandoned was femaleness.Nowhere is the matter expressed more shockingly than in a “love letter” found in the excavations at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. The husband, Hilarion, closes his missive to his wife, Alis, by saying: “If you happen to be pregnant again, if it is a boy, leave it; if it is a girl, throw it out.”In the economy of antiquity, a girl was an expense, an economic liability in ways that a boy was not. A boy would one day be an earner. A boy might provide for his parents in their old age. He might even improve their status by his accomplishments.A girl, on the other hand, would need to be fed and clothed for more than a decade before she was married off—and upon marriage her father would have to pay a sizable dowry. For these reasons the Roman playwrights referred to girls and young women as “odious daughters.” It's likely that the dialogue in their works is an accurate reflection of common turns of phrase.The ideal daughter, for pagan Romans, was physically beautiful, for the beautiful would be married off the soonest. The typical age for her arranged marriage was twelve, theoretically at puberty, but many girls were given in marriage at eleven to a man much older. And the marriage, it seems, was consummated whether the girl was physically ready or not.It appears there was little expectation of a loving relationship. Adultery was common, as was divorce. Abortion was common, as was infanticide. Marriage was a transaction established for the continuation of the customs of family and society for another generation.A woman's role was to produce a son to be heir. If she suffered the misfortune of widowhood before bearing a son, she might live the rest of her life in poverty.The laws and traditions of the Greco-Roman world had been refined over centuries to communicate the value that society placed on women. It was very low.If not held back by faith and morals set on the rock of objective truth, people will treat women like objects and objects like women. (This is sin in a nutshell, by the way: choosing the wrong goods.) And there is no one more in danger of being treated like an object than the crown of creation, who is called woman. If you were rich and powerful in pre-Christian times, you could have as many objects called women as you could afford or capture, including the wives of those less powerful than yourself (see: every King that ever had a harem. Also see: David and Bathsheba, as well as Solomon's sex life with hundreds of wives. These are two Biblical falls from grace for this behavior, where sin is being narrated and not praised…notice that wherever there is polygamy, you have a mess, and that includes Abraham and Jacob. At least Isaac kept it together with Rebecca, and they are the true model of marriage in the Old Testament). We are moving back to that era now, as calls for the bad idea of polygamy have resurfaced. Utah is no longer the only place we associate with this term. This is just one form of sin that is being presented as a good today, as slippery salespeople twist truth into the shape of bad ideas that women finally escaped through faith in Christ and living the Christian life with Christian men. The arguments today are no different from the Romans and Greeks. Is your baby possible defective or just bad timing? Kill it. Abort. Marriage has a minor difficulty? Divorce. Want immediate pleasure instead of commitment, responsibility, and love that requires work and action? Porn. Got a mother-in-law you don't want to deal with? Park her in a home. The reality is that the only reason we have nice things at all is because of Christianity. And that is the spiritual struggle that we are in, where advertisers and intellectuals preach from the screens, telling us that progress means going backward to pre-Christian insanity, which always ends in “might makes right.” If you are not pursuing objective truth as your ultimate goal, as the end of all things, then the desire for power is the substitute. I don't care how you try to sugar coat it; when God is no longer the foundation of truth, you end up with “my truth” and that devolves into groups dictating “truth” by coercion, eventually at gunpoint. Whenever the church has gone astray, they fall into this same trap, of power politics mixing with the faith. The eye can never stray from Christ, who is the truth and foundation of all things. Nor can his words be twisted, as he says of the Commandments they are not malleable to fit the decade we live in:Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:17-20)To understand the difference between the pre-Christian era and the “Dark Ages” of Christianity, let's compare two buildings, arguably the two greatest buildings in the world, which happen to be in the same city, just a few miles apart.When people travel to Rome, they mainly visit two places. One is the Colosseum, where hordes of bloodthirsty fans got drunk, gambled, and watched men fight one another to the death. The other is St. Peter's Basilica, a Church, where a fisherman was crucified for telling people about a carpenter who was God incarnate. It's stunningly beautiful, but the real purpose is that St. Peter's is a place where the Sacraments take place: Baptism, Confession, Holy Matrimony, and the Eucharist. Holy Mass happens hourly, even while the tourists mill about. The purpose of St. Peter's, and any other church, is humility and surrender of your life to God. Do you see the difference? Both are architectural marvels, visually stunning, spectacles to the senses, but their purpose is in direct opposition to each other. Notice that America no longer builds beautiful churches. This should tell you something, as we build billion dollar stadiums for gladiator games. St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City was built in 1858 and dedicated in 1910. The rise of the modern stadium started in the early 1900s, and exploded after World War II. We are moving away from St. Peter's and back to the Colosseum, and so are our human relations. What I am getting at is: without humility before God, we see competition and strife as the great entertainment, the great game. Suffering is something to avoid and shun at all costs. Winning is all that matters, because winning removes suffering. We completely lose the point of redemptive suffering. This is because most of us don't really believe in the afterlife or eternal life any longer. We have no meaning in our lives, so we look for it in athletics, sex, money, and power. Our simple functions as fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters no longer excite us because we have traded eternal life for the plastic trophies of this world. One thing that always amazes me is that within three months after the Super Bowl or NCAA Tournament, I can't even remember who won, because it really doesn't matter. But I never forget Christmas or Easter or Pentecost or the Ascension days, because those matter immensely.Nothing angers unbelievers so much as the idea that you were made for a higher purpose, made by a living God who resides outside of time and space but speaks to us here. The purpose is to serve him and serve others, and the primary way we do that, if not married to Christ or his Church, is marriage between one man and one woman. Having a marriage and family is the great purpose of our earthly lives. Why is that message so bothersome? Because it doesn't allow us to follow our base instincts, which is to pleasure ourselves constantly. It requires abandonment to a higher power and a higher purpose, neither of which is the self. Sometimes we confuse this, thinking that our “sacrifice” for work or school is the offering we make to God. But those things are ultimately for the self, not God. Offerings to God expect nothing in return, because there is no transaction to be made when dealing with God, and if your offering is contingent on receiving something from God, you are actually talking to the devil. Yes, some people are not fertile, some will live a single life, some will adopt, some will never have children. Abandonment of the self means conforming your life to God's will, not despairing over what struggles he has given us, because we are all given struggles in order to draw us closer to him. Until you realize this, suffering will seem arbitrary and unfair. As for sex, the great call to chastity is pursuing a life of virtue whether you are married or single. They are both chastity, just different types. How can anyone understand the parable of the grain of wheat without looking at the formless void of creation and seeing that in order to fill it, it must be done in the right way, which is to fill this void in the form with families? God didn't say, “Subdue the earth and form a government, and have the government raise the children.” No, that's what Karl Marx said, and all of his flunkies that followed him, who now occupy your employer's human resources department and local school board. The form we are given by God is called marriage, between a man and a woman, and the void is filled with new life, called children. That sentence there is enough to get me fired, but the truth must be spoken and the truth will remain whether I say it or not. Because not only does marriage and family fulfill the physical form of this world, but it fulfills the heart. Dying to self means maturing into a greater purpose to serve God and others. Only then can we be spiritually reborn here. Then in physical death, if we choose God's will and not our own, we will we be brought back to union with God in eternal life. That's what we want, both here and hereafter. We don't want what HBO is telling us to want. We don't really want what Apple is selling. It's not just sex that we want. Not just career. Not a threesome. Not four wives. Not soullessness. We want God, as it is in heaven and on earth. Psalm 128 is the model for fulfillment. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;your children will be like olive shoots around your table.Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. FYI: “Fear” of the Lord means wonder and awe, a healthy fear, not the kind of fear where you simply pay your taxes to avoid jail. This is a kind of fear that grows out of love, wonder, awe, reverence, and it all starts with knowing that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, in need of a savior. Recognizing your status as a sinner will free you, because it sheds all the fig leaves we wear. Then once we have bore our souls before God, and become honest, open, and willing, then we can return to the faith of a child and let the ego wither away as it must. Recall that Jesus died naked on the cross. All was stripped away, and his death showed us the result of our sins, for what we did to Jesus we do to one another every day. This doesn't mean it's easy, but if you fear the Lord and are grateful for your daily bread and want nothing beyond the grace of God, only then will the blessings of a wife and children satisfy you, because you will share all of it with the Creator. And if some tragedy occurs, like in the book of Job, and all is taken away, even then you will still have the grace of God, as that is the rock of your life that can be clung to when everything else fades away. When your life becomes an offering to God, and God's endless offering of creation is accepted by you, then what more could you possibly want? Conforming your will to God's is how you level-up in this world, and you do this by praying. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.whydidpetersink.com

This one is interesting as we talk around our common assumptions, Rodney Stark, 911, Bill Clinton, the Enlightemnent, and other things. All of this is a lead in to our discussion of the Crusades. Sources mentioned: "How the West Won" https://amzn.to/3FdUmEL "Bearing False Witness..." https://amzn.to/3mOi9Vs Christianity Today article: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/52.0.html

Dr. Tom Curran, Fr. Kurt Nagel and Fr. Jeff Lewis continue their discussion on God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark. Listen to Part 1 of the Book Club Discussion!March 6 -Sacred Heart Book Club: God's Battalions, The Case for the Crusades (Part 1)

Dr. Tom Curran, Fr. Kurt Nagel and Fr. Jeff Lewis begin to discuss God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark. Order your copy! Search for more Book Club episodes!

Dr. Tom and Kari Curran share insights from the books they are reading in Lent, Habits for Holiness by Fr. Mark Mary Ames, CFR, and God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark.

Matthew 13:30-31Sean MyersResources:https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/which-religion-will-be-the-largest-by-the-end-of-the-century-52637The Rise of Christianity, by Rodney Stark=============Stay Connected:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pellacommunitiesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/pellacommunitiesYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/pellacommunitiesWebsite: https://pellacommunities.com/

It's tempting to think that secularized academics are too intellectual to ever come to the kind of “childlike faith” that Jesus described, or that, if they ever were to trust Christ, they'd have to abandon their academic pursuits. However, like once-liberal theologian Thomas Oden or once-radical feminist English professor Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, the case of Rodney Stark suggests otherwise. Dr. Stark's research and reading, specifically about the impact of Christianity in history, was part of what moved him to become a committed believer.  Stark was born in North Dakota in 1934. Oddly enough, he played high school football with Alvin Plantinga, the great Christian philosopher. After a stint in the army, he studied journalism in college, graduating in 1959. Once, during his early career as a reporter, he covered a meeting of the Oakland Spacecraft Club where the speaker claimed to have visited Mars, Venus, and the moon in a flying saucer. After Stark reported the story straight, with no sarcasm or snide comments, he was assigned all of the odd stories that came along.  Stark's ability to treat people's beliefs seriously and recognize that, at least for them, these beliefs are plausible, was a key element in his decision to shift from journalism to sociology. In 1972, after completing his graduate work at the University of California-Berkley, he was hired as a professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington.  Stark focused his research on why people were religious. How did they understand their faith? What did they get out of it? How did they live it out? From this focus, Stark developed a theory of conversion that emphasized social relationships, felt needs, and personal choice. In essence, Stark concluded that conversion was a rational choice, based on the expectation that one would receive more from the religion than it would cost to join it.   He was among the first sociologists to recognize that competition between religious groups increased the overall religiosity of a community. In other words, a religious group with a monopoly tends to get lazy and neglect meeting needs and conducting outreach. Stark was also critical of the standard academic view that secularization was an inevitable result of modernization. Instead, he argued this idea was wildly wrong because sociologists misunderstood religion and failed to account for religious revivals and innovation.  His book The Rise of Christianity was published in 1996. In it, Stark argued that the incredible growth and spread of Christianity were because it offered more to people than any of its competitors. In particular, Stark argued that the rapid growth of the Church was, in large part, due to how Christians treated women. This, especially compared to the pagan treatment of women, led to more conversions, which led to the faith being spread through social networks. Also, prohibitions of abortion and infanticide led to an organic growth of the Church, and how Christians responded to persecution and plague led to a growth in credibility. The Rise of Christianity was so groundbreaking that it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  After this, Stark focused his work on the history of Christianity. After writing two books on the historical impact of monotheism — first One True God in 2001 and then For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch Hunts, and the End of Slavery in 2003, Stark wrote what may be his greatest book, The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success, in 2005.   In 2004, the year before The Victory of Reason was published, Stark commented, “I have trouble with faith. I'm not proud of this. I don't think it makes me an intellectual. I would believe if I could, and I may be able to before it's over.” The Victory of Reason first brought Dr. Stark to the attention of Chuck Colson, who was astounded that a self-professed agnostic sociologist was clear-eyed and honest enough to recognize and highlight the effects of Christianity on the world. Chuck featured The Victory of Reason on Breakpoint and included it in the Centurions Program (now known as the Colson Fellows).  After the commentary aired, Rodney Stark contacted Chuck Colson, and thanked him for the kind words. He also told Colson that he had come to faith in Christ, which he publicly announced in 2007.  In 2004, Stark became the distinguished professor of the social sciences at Baylor University, as well as the co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion and founding editor of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. Although Baylor is a Baptist school, Stark preferred to call himself an “independent Christian” and continued to produce important and sometimes controversial books on Christianity, history, and culture.  Throughout his career, Stark was an irascible critic of political and religious biases in the academic world, especially in his own field of sociology. His intellectual brilliance is attested by his groundbreaking work, and his intellectual honesty and integrity by his faith, a faith he studied for many years. 

Christian Smith looks at what Atheism can't deliver. The late Rodney Stark was a strong proponent of the belief that religion is beneficial to all in society. We look back on a conversation explaining why.

Rodney Stark has written a sweeping and tour de force with his work The Victory of Reason:  How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success and so we had to cover him especially with this nugget of wisdom today. Enjoy!Key Points from the Episode:Northern China should have had an industrial revolution in the 11th century but didnt!Who stopped it?Why was the fall of the Roman Empire good for progress?Four of the Asian Economic Tigers have been reduced to three.   Let us Remember Hong Kong and let us remember Jimmy Lai!Other resources:More goodnessGet our top book recommendations listWant to leave a review? Click here, and if we earned a five-star review from you **high five and knuckle bumps**, we appreciate it greatly, thank you so much!Because we care what you think about what we think and our website, please email David@teammojoacademy.com, or if you want to leave us a quick FREE, painless voicemail, we would appreciate that as well.Be sure to check out our very affordable Academy Review membership program at http:www.teammojoacademy.com/support

The Crusades is an era that is divisive in discussions about Christian history. Rodney Stark attempts to make the case for the military campaigns over the Holy Land in today's book, "God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades." Was it worth fighting over the Holy Land? https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Battalions-Crusades-Rodney-Stark/dp/0061582603/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2I7QY4RAWMZB5&keywords=god%27s+battalions&qid=1659651585&sprefix=God%27s+Batt%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1 Stark, R. (2010). God's battalions: The case for the crusades. Harper One.

By the 4th century, many historians, Rodney Stark, Roger Bagnall, and Shiley Jackson Case and others have argued that the spread of Christianity was nothing short of miraculous. By the early part of the 4th century, some estimate that over half of the Roman Empire had converted. They were actually running out of people to convert! Seriously? And yet today, we seem to be in a decline. A century ago, a pastor held a high position in society. Today, they are often labeled as fanatics, prone to disgraceful activities among the congregation, and full of pride and arrogance. Many fall from grace, but most seem to find their role diminished and relevant to a remaining, post Covid, 40-50% smaller congregation. Believers feel their faith is impotent to change culture or to bring about sustainable change in culture. Christians feel often sidelined and irrelevant to influencing world and cultural issues. And then there's the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds found in Matthew 13:24-30. Jesus says the wheat will stand strong, grow grain and reap a harvest. Be patient. Even among the weeds that vie for its food supply and very survival. I often want to throw up my hands in complete disappointment in response to the state of the church in America. Then I read this parable and I think, shut up. Stop this nonsense thinking and be the wheat planted. The world needs a harvest and it survives. Quit complaining. And for those that have given up on the church, got too busy, distracted, apathetic, get back in the game or one day you will look back and miss out on the reward of the harvest. You will look back and and see that your lives did get drowned out by the weeds because you didn't stay in the field with the other wheat.

In this episode, we consider what might happen to the Church if the conditions of comfort we are so used to disappear because of political developments in the United States. Turns out the Church thrives in pagan conditions. We were highly dependent on the works of Rodney Stark for much of this episode. Here are a few of the books that informed this conversation: The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries by Rodney Stark The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion by Rodney Stark How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at comment@cithonahillpodcast.com. Or, leave us a voice recording at https://www.speakpipe.com/cityonahillpodcast. Music: Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

If you've ever been confused by something Jesus has said, you're not alone. Even the people that heard His voice audibly were confused, too. It can be difficult to understand what He did and said when it's such a radical departure from what had always existed. The confusion between the Old Testament and the New Testament still exists today, but this week we hope to shed insight on exactly what Jesus meant when He said He would destroy a building and rebuild it again in three days. Here are some helpful resources if you'd like to explore these ideas further: "Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World" by Andy Stanley - https://amzn.to/3Nm372e "Irresistible Study Guide" by Andy Stanley - https://amzn.to/3qD6QPa "The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion" by Rodney Stark - https://amzn.to/3tF0W1I Subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things Northpoint! Thank you for giving to support Northpoint: https://www.npaustin.com/give STAY CONNECTED: Website: https://npaustin.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/experiencenorthpoint/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northpoint_ch/ #Northpoint #WhyDidJesus #Questions #Easter #Jesus #2022 #BuckGiebelhaus #churchonline #inspiration #faith #savior

In this episode, we discuss preaching and neo-Calvinism. Many evangelicals turn to neo-Calvinism in search of resources for cultural life beyond the church, but overlook its significance in how we think about preaching. By its emphasis on the redemptive-historical reading of Scripture, neo-Calvinism connects us to an ancient way of reading and preaching from the Bible. Added to this, its deeply Augustinian anthropology helps us understand the people who hear our preaching. Together, these emphases offer resources for preachers as those who exegete the Bible and the human soul. Join us as we discuss how those ideas have shaped how we preach in our distinct cultural contexts: Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Jackson. Resources mentioned: James Eglinton (ed., tr.), Herman Bavinck on Preaching and Preachers (Hendrickson, 2017). Tim Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Scepticism (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015). Tim Keller, 'Preaching to the Heart,' TGC 15. J.H. Bavinck, 'De prediking als theologisch probleem,' Vox theologica (1957-58), 42-48. [Dutch] K. Schilder, Kerktaal en leven (Holland, 1923) [Dutch] https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/schi008kerk01_01/ A Noordtzij, The Old Testament Revelation and the Ancient Oriental Life (Bibliotheca Sacra 1913) Koert van Bekkum, From Conquest to Coexistence Ideology and Antiquarian Intent in the Historiography of Israel's Settlement in Canaan (Brill, 2011) Larry Hurtado, Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World (Baylor University Press, 2015). Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton University Press, 2020)

Rodney Stark, noted historian, takes a look at the Crusades to show how many misconceptions and lies exist about those struggles. I explore his chapter that refutes the idea of a "Dark Ages" in Europe and clears up a misconception about Muslim culture.

This is Episode 78 of The Jesus Society Podcast, and today's podcast is something I've been thinking about and working on for a very long time. Now, before you listen to today's episode, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to last week's episode, which is an episode I did early in 2020, but which I re-released last week because it provides some important background for what I'm going to be talking about today. I think this episode will have more impact if you listen to last week's episode first. So with that out of the way, the crux of the issue is this: For most of us, when we talk about “the church,” lots of things come to mind. After two thousand years, we've all got a lot of history and hangups and baggage wrapped around that word, some of it good, some of it not so good, and some of it that rightfully makes us cringe. A lot of you, like me, have been hurt by church. And that itself creates a fog that's hard to see through and see past. And all those things come flooding to the forefront whenever we hear the word “church,” and that prevents us, I think, from understanding the church and seeing the church as intended to be seen. And yet, the church, as I resolutely maintain, is God's idea. It's a good thing. The Bible refers to the church as the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-27). And so the challenge is, how do we understand and talk about the church without all of that other stuff getting in the way? What is the church supposed to be in the world? That's what I want to try and provide some clarity to today. Join me today as we discuss: 1. The challenge of talking about the church. 2. The church and the Jesus Society. 3. The struggle to articulate a vision of the church that is true to the biblical picture without the grime and grit that often clouds that picture. 4. Guess who else has been working on this? 5. What kind of communities was the Apostle Paul trying to establish and build in the first century in his Kingdom work throughout the Roman Empire? 6. Descriptor #1 - Jesus-Honoring 7. Descriptor #2 - Edifying 8. Descriptor #3 - Egalitarian 9. Descriptor #4 - Philanthropic 10. Descriptor #5 - Fictive Kinship Groups 11. So what do we do with this in the 21st century? 12. The challenge of holding together the two critical virtues of holiness and unity in the church. The kinds of Christian communities Paul was creating changed the world. I think they still can. ______________________________ As always, we'd appreciate it if you'd tell others about the podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, AND now also on Amazon Music. Please visit us on our Facebook page for The Jesus Society Podcast (@JesusSocietyPodcast). And check out our NEW website — https://thejesussociety.com/. And, as we continue to try and grow our audience, we're currently loading all episodes of The Jesus Society podcast onto YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy1ppP5RWd3jXPc6bI6WuQ/) and Odysee (https://odysee.com/@TheJesusSocietyPodcast:6). If you search for The Jesus Society Podcast on either YouTube or Odysee, you'll find us. And, if you'd like to support the show and our related ministry, click on the “Support TJS” link on the Jesus Society website to find out how (https://thejesussociety.com/). Thanks for listening! And remember, you are greatly loved. Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music  _______________________ Resources for Today's Show: 1. The Jesus Society Podcast: “TJS Rewind - Attractive Christianity (Episode 77, November 1, 2021).” 2. “Who Was the Apostle Paul and Why Does He Still Matter?” The Ask N. T. Wright Anything Podcast, Episode 87 (October 14, 2021). 3. N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography (HarperOne, 2018). 4. Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton University Press, 1996).

In this episode the guys are discussing How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity by Rodney Stark. Links From This Episode Buy How the West Won Download the Libby App on Apple Download the Libby App on Google Play The Dark Ages The Noble Savage Books Mentioned in This Episode Books by David McCollough Books by Rod Chernow Sapiens and Homo Deus Cities of God --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/kenny-james65/message

În acest episod discutăm despre contextul istoric și politic în care filosofia antică se preschimbă în filosofie medievală. Invitați speciali: Iisus, nu unul ci doi indivizi pe nume Boethius,  Rodney Stark, Zdreanță Cel cu Ochii de Faianță, Sfântul Pavel și The Avengers. Dacă vreți să susțineți acest podcast puteți da un like paginii de Facebook sau puteți dona pe www.patreon.com/octavpopa. 

The book Andy referenced was: The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark

Peter Greer Interview Peter Greer, President & CEO at HOPE International and a 2019 keynote speaker at the Business On Purpose conference, talks about what it looks like to root for rivals, even while our businesses might be fighting for survival. Does it even make sense to root for rivals during a time of uncertainly and widespread economic fallout from the pandemic?  Peter shares some examples of businesses and organizations that are engaged in open-handed collaboration despite very difficult times. Conversation Highlights: -Is this crisis bringing out the best or the worst in you, your business or your team? -Partnership and collaboration are the tools we need to survive this crisis. -“There are no competitors in the Kingdom of God.” -Uncommon kindness means looking out for people and organizations other than ourselves. -“Chose the generous path, the path of open-handedness, the path of trust.” -If God owns it all, that frees us to open our hands to allow the resources God has entrusted to us to flow through them. (Ps 24:1) -The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark.  We are writing our chapter of church history right now.  How will God's people be known as we emerge from this crisis? -What lessons can we learn from the generosity of the New Testament-era Macedonian church? Learn more about Peter and HOPE International at https://www.hopeinternational.org/ or https://www.peterkgreer.com/ Peter's book is Rooting for Rivals. https://www.amazon.com/Rooting-Rivals-Collaboration-Generosity-Charities/dp/0764231251

In his book, “The Triumph of Christianity,” (which, by the way was one of Chuck Colson's favorite books) historian Rodney Stark describes the Roman world of that first Christmas Eve. The gods, Stark writes, “were everywhere and thought to be undependable.” Apart from “some magical powers” and “perhaps the gift of immortality,” there was little to distinguish them from their human worshippers: “they ate, drank, loved, envied, fornicated, cheated, lied and otherwise set morally ‘unedifying examples.'” And, not surprisingly, they didn't care one bit about those who worshipped them. All they wanted was to be propitiated. In other words, Christ entered into a culture in which the gods of the age were not worthy of worship. And Roman society was just as oppressive and undependable as its gods. For most people, life in the empire's cities could be fairly described, to borrow a phrase from philosopher Thomas Hobbes, as “nasty, poor, solitary, brutish, and short.” This was world into which Christianity was born. And still Christianity triumphed, not least of which because it offered an alternative to the oppression of Roman society.  It offered another way than the dead-end of paganism, a way so compelling that it outweighed the obvious social disadvantages of being identified as a Christian. As Stark writes, “in the midst of the squalor, misery, illness, and anonymity of ancient cities, Christianity offered an island of mercy and security.” I hope that when you hear Stark's words, you realize that we also have something far more compelling to offer our contemporaries as well. Many of our contemporaries also worship deities that are undependable and scarcely distinguishable from their worshippers. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “worship” as “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” Worship transforms the worshipper. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “the Gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that . . . thus, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” Emerson wrote that without even foreseeing the age of “social media,” in which we increasingly worship what we've become or at least what we imagine ourselves to be. Many pages on Facebook and Instagram can, with almost no exaggeration, be called “shrines.” Our deities are as much of a dead end as the pagan gods of Rome. And like all idol worship, self-worship can be a lonely activity. Just like the Greek gods, who didn't play well together, today's pagans are far from anonymous, but just as isolated as their ancient predecessors. A 2011 Cornell study found that the average American has only two “good friends.” What Christians today have to offer is remarkably similar to what the early Christians had to offer: what Stark called an “intense community,” a place where, instead of being surrounded by strangers, they are surrounded by “brothers and sisters in Christ.” A place that when the hard times come, as inevitably they will, “there [are] people who care -- there are people who have the distinct responsibility to care.” Stated succinctly, what Christians have to offer is a better way of being human than anything currently offered in contemporary society. That's why, despite the often-distressing state of our culture, I remain hopeful. The Christian alternative is just as desperately needed today as when the early Church offered it to the Romans. Like them, we must proclaim and embody that alternative. And if we do, it could be another Christmas Eve all over again. And friends, as we prepare to gather with our own friends and family to exchange gifts and celebrate the light of Christ coming into this world, I would ask you remember BreakPoint and the Colson Center in your year-end giving. Thank you so much. And have a very merry Christmas.

Remember that 1980's cough syrup commercial when Chris Robinson said, “I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV”? I wanted to paraphrase these immortal words when I read what actor Joaquin Phoenix of “Gladiator” fame said about his role as Jesus in the upcoming movie, “Mary Magdalene.” Phoenix is not the Son of Man, but he plays him on the big screen. His is a very different Jesus than the one we meet in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Judging by the trailer and the press roll-out, the movie will draw heavily on a second-century Gnostic text known as “the Gospel of Mary.” In a recent interview with Newsweek, Phoenix slammed early Christianity for not canonizing this and other apocryphal writings about Jesus, saying: “Why was Mary's book not included in the Bible? The stench of blatant sexism,” he says, is “inescapable.” Phoenix went even further in another interview: “Somebody made that decision to exclude [Mary Magdalene's] observations and feelings about the life of Christ and her experience. There seems to have been an overt intention to exclude women from that process.” The truth is, no one excluded Mary Magdalene's experiences. Scholars universally agree that she didn't write this so-called gospel. Along with other texts like “the Apocryphon of John,” and “the Sophia of Jesus Christ,” “the Gospel of Mary” was never recognized by the Church as part of the New Testament. The reason is that it is an obvious forgery. The Gospel of Mary is a work of fan-fiction by members of a false religion who attempted to co-opt Jesus for their own purposes. True to the pattern of other Gnostic texts, the “Gospel of Mary” claims that Jesus delivered a private revelation to its namesake that radically contradicts the canonical gospels. Even more, the Mary Magdalene revealed in the Bible is the best response we have to the accusation that early Christianity was sexist. Recall that she is reported as the first witness of the risen Lord—a claim that would have scandalized first-century Jewish readers. In that culture, the testimony of a woman was considered worthless, yet she and several other women were entrusted to take the message of Christ's resurrection back to His disciples, and those disciples were hesitant to believe them. If the four gospels were written to make Jesus' male followers look good at the expense of the women, they did a lousy job. Authors like Alvin J. Schmidt and Rodney Stark have documented that Christianity—far from oppressing women—radically elevated their status in the ancient world. It's hard for us in 2019 to grasp just how revolutionary the Apostle Paul's words were that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” And speaking of important background material, Joaquin Phoenix grew up in a pseudo-Christian cult that seems to have soured him toward religion. While we should be sensitive to that experience, we have to admit he's no expert.  Even so, his unfounded statements and the false story this movie tells will strike many as convincing, in the same way Dan Brown's “The Da Vinci Code” did a few years back. The good news is, we live in what I like to call the “golden age of good arguments.” There is a wealth of apologetic resources available that ably debunks the idea that the Gnostic gospels were unfairly suppressed or that they offer any new information about the life of Jesus. We'll link you to just a few of those resources at BreakPoint.org. The problem isn't that the answers aren't available. The problem is that the answers rarely reach as many people as the falsehoods do from the publishing industry, the media, or Hollywood—which, like the Gnostics of old—never tire of producing false Christianities and false Jesuses. Our job is to learn the answers, to engage in conversations, to dialogue about those answers, and to do our best to set the record straight.

If you are looking for a passive, docile, obedient woman, a woman that would be satisfied to be bossed around and “discipled” and told what to do and be patronized and taught and instructed…you are looking for the wrong kind of woman. Take those patriarchal ideas and throw them in the garbage can. Assigned Reading: – The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, Rodney Stark