What Do You Mean It's True?

What Do You Mean It's True?

di C. David Hainer

Religione e spiritualità Società e cultura

Stagione 1

Does the Bible Really Mean What it Says?

It seems that everyone has a different understanding of the Bible. For some, the Bible clearly mandates that women should not have leadership over men, premarital and homosexual sex is a sin, wealth and status are God’s reward for deep faith, and capital punishment is justified and approved by God. For others, the Bible clearly encourages women leadership without restrictions, sex between consenting adults is a gift from God, God wants the best for people no matter the degree of their faith, and capital punishment is a societal sin for which we should repent. These contradictory interpretations of what the Bible says confuses Christians and non-Christians alike. How can I know what the Bible really means? Do I have to agree with all what the Bible says? These are the questions I ask. Maybe you as well. Today’s topic will review social, historical, and biblical research conducted by academic scholars that challenges many popular assumptions and beliefs. I hope that with this analysis of our history and Christian faith we are able to re-assess and reclaim what we value, what we believe, and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.

Why Are There Poor When There is So Much Wealth?

Wealth inequality seems contrary to Christianity's basic teachings. Jesus preached a way of life free of possessions, and the original disciples warned against power and prestige. The first church in Jerusalem abolished private property by holding personal wealth in common and distributing resources to everyone as needed. As the Jesus movement grew in numbers and geographically spread, collectively the churches maintained that their primary purpose was to serve the needs of the sick and the poor and that the practice of surrendering everything in love was the hallmark of the Christian ethic. So in the United States with a predominant Christian ethic (at least according to popular belief), why are there so many poor when there is so much wealth? But even yet more puzzling, today popular Christianity promotes the message that God promises wealth and abundance to those who have faith. This prosperity theology and its proponents claim that the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God and personal wealth is the reward for having faith in Jesus. However, why such a dramatic, historical change of beliefs within Christianity from, in its early history, church leaders warning against wealth to today many church leaders and their followers seeking and celebrating it? Does popular Christianity believe that the poor are simply poor because they lack sufficient faith? Or is popular Christianity’s fixation on achieving wealth a betrayal of the historic Christian faith? As Christians, have we lost the vision of Jesus and the early church where the care of the sick and the poor is the Church’s primary focus of Christian discipleship? These are the questions I ask. Maybe you as well. Today’s topic will review social, historical, and biblical research conducted by academic scholars that challenges many popular assumptions and beliefs. I hope that with this analysis of our history, national culture, and Christian faith we are able to re-assess and reclaim what we value, what we believe, and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.

How Does Jesus Save?

Perhaps the most well-known biblical quotation is from the Gospel According to John, chapter 3, verse 16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” With these words, the New Testament clearly states that Jesus is the source of salvation, a proposition that is core to the Christian faith regardless of denomination or sect. However, while the Church universally has affirmed Jesus as the means of salvation, historically Christianity has proposed various and contradictory understandings of the process of salvation. Therefore these are the questions I and probably you ask regarding our salvation. How does Jesus save us? From what are we saved? And most perplexing, why did Jesus have to suffer and die? Today’s topic will review historical and biblical research conducted by academic scholars that will challenge many popular assumptions and beliefs regarding salvation. My intent is not to convince anyone that what they believe is wrong, but to critically explore the diversity of beliefs within the global Church, and for each of us to determine for ourselves what we value and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.

Whose Understanding of Our National History is Correct?

Diverse people and cultures challenge our understanding of history. Statues of historical leaders of the United States that have been deemed offensive are being removed, buildings long named after public figures are being renamed after more “appropriate” dignitaries, local and national holiday celebrations are being recast to represent other cultures, and school lessons are teaching new historical “truths”. Why are we changing our understanding of our history? Is our current understanding of the past so wrong that it needs to be corrected? With all the challenges to the historical record, how do I know what to believe about the past events that make me who I am today? These are the questions I and probably you ask with hesitation, for any change in our understanding of history changes who we are and threatens our self-identity. Today’s topic reviews historical research conducted by academic scholars that will challenge many popular assumptions and beliefs. My intent is not to convince anyone that what they believe is wrong, but to critically explore an understanding of our history, and for each of us to determine for ourselves what we value and how we should conduct ourselves in the sacred interactions we call life.

Whose Understanding of Christianity is Correct?

The Christian faith as traditionally understood is under attack. Scientific discoveries and theories regarding the evolution of life and the cosmos contradict traditional Christian doctrines. Archeologists continue to uncover ancient religious manuscripts that challenge what we thought we knew of early Christianity and why we believe the doctrines that we do. Drums, keyboards, and coffee bars are today essential components of corporate worship for many and are replacing pipe organs. And rampant sexual misconduct by priests and pastors dramatically degrade the faithful’s confidence in the apostolic authority of the Church and the teaching it espouses. With scientific discoveries contradicting the Church’s historical teachings, how do I know what is true and what is not? With the discoveries of ancient manuscripts that reveal a different Christianity than what I was taught, what should I believe about the historical traditions of the Church that make me who I am today? Are the traditional teachings and practices of the Church so wrong that we need to change them? Could the history of Christianity and the religious traditions I embrace also be subject to reinterpretation and change? These are the questions I and probably you ask with hesitation, for any change in our understanding of theology changes who we are and threatens our self-identity. Today’s topic will offer social, historical, and biblical research conducted by academic scholars that will challenge many popular assumptions and beliefs. The purpose of this discussion is not to convince anyone that the ideas presented here are right and theirs are wrong, but to encourage everyone to question, to doubt, to challenge, and to learn for themselves what they believe and how they should conduct themselves in this sacred space called life.

What is Faith?

What does it mean to have faith? Does faith mean accepting things as true that have little to no evidence? Is faith based on what we profess to know or how we live? Can I have doubts and questions and still have faith? These are the questions I and probably you ask with hesitation, for any change in our understanding of history and theology changes who we are and threatens our self-identity. Today’s topic will offer historical and biblical research conducted by academic scholars that will challenge many popular Christian assumptions and beliefs. The purpose of this discussion is not to convince anyone that the ideas presented here are right and theirs are wrong, but to encourage everyone to question, doubt, challenge, and determine for themselves what they believe and how they should conduct themselves in this sacred space called life.

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