I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Thom Hartmann to discuss the evangelical obsession with Donald Trump and the cynical manipulation of a lunatic fringe.
Despite evangelicals’ best efforts to bring about the utter destruction of civilization, how do we make our way back into love, beauty and creation? Discover my new book Letter to Lucy: A Manifesto of Creative Redemption—In the Age of Trump, Fascism and Lies, a multi-touch book about art, love and parenting, from the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the prophetic music of Green Day and everything in between. Read the first chapter for free on your kindle fire or iOS device. Available now on iBooks and Amazon.
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Frank..thank you for this wonderful video between you and Tom Hartmann…well done and informative
Dear Frank Schaeffer:
Thank-you for drawing attention to the massacre of peaceful Palestinian demonstration for the right of return. Will you now declare support for the working class and speak in defense of teachers in their ongoing action for public education?
Pentecost blessings!
2,000 year later, and some are still waiting for a second coming that was supposed to happen within the lifetime of Jesus’ followers. This is what happens when modern folks still believe in bronze age and iron age myths like the resurrection and divine revelations (e.g., Bible, Korah, etc.). For shame that our Mideastern foreign policy is being drawn by such absolute nonsense.
Are you sure Christ’s second coming was “supposed to happen within the lifetime of Jesus’s followers?”
If read without the commentary of Christian apologists who have attempted to obscure this obvious false prophecy, the Bible is very clear. Jesus allegedly told his followers he was returning soon.
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’” Rev. 22:20
Soon means “in or after a short time.” 2,000 years later ain’t soon.
“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“ (Matthew 16: 28)
“Do not seek a wife. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none… For the present form of this world is passing away.” (1 Corinthians 7:27, 31)
Short is defined as “lasting or taking a small amount of time.” So why would Paul give this advice if Jesus’ return was more than 2,000 years or more in the future?
“…the coming of the Lord is near. …the Judge is standing right at the door.” (James 5:8, 9)
Near is defined as “a short time away in the future.”
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)
Last (as an adjective) is defined as most recent in time; latest.
These verses (and many others) do not denote a 2,000-year wait. Enough said.
That was a superb appearance on Hartmann’s show and cogent explication of the predicament 63 million U.S. voters have put planet Earth in. Thank you so much, Frank Schaeffer. Only a 2018 “Blue Tsunami” and the departure of “The Greatest” and “Baby Boom” generations will clear the way for right-thinking “Nones”. To quote the immortal Hitchens, “Religion Is Poison” !!
My white Zionist Christian republican friends were high offended by this video of a terrorist vandalizing “his” wall of protection:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M4lcA-nFXvY
Art tells truth
Nine
It is ironic to me that Frank Schaeffer agrees in great respect, in both word and deed, with the teachings of Jesus, even though he is not sure there is a God and he no longer believes a word written in the Bible. In amazing contrast, Franklin Graham, in my opinion, is in utter disagreement with what Jesus taught us, yet he claims to be an adamant follower.
Someone on your site has stated that higher education has freed that person from the bonds of believing what the Bible literally says. Many very intelligent people claim there are self evident contradictions that all intelligent people can recognize.
I disagree.
I have read 3 chapters of the Bible daily for more than 40 years and will categorically state I do not believe there are any contradictions. All of those apparent contradictions can be explained. There are very difficult verses and passages, but the Bible does hold together.
And I do not state this lightly. In the 70s I studied the field of Apologetics for about 10 years, including studying the works of Francis Schaeffer, and consider myself quite well versed on the subject of Scriptural Apologetics. I am absolutely convinced there is an Almighty God and Jesus truly is His Son.
And yes, I do believe we are actually now in the end times and the literal return of Jesus will happen in the next few years.
Randy Bullock
All those apparent contradiction can be explained.”
Once someone starts reading the Bible through the lens of the apologist, they start reading what the apologist claims the verses mean, not what it actually says. Case in point: Isaiah 53 refers to the nation of Israel; it is not a prophecy of Jesus as Christians believe. Jewish Rabbis do a great job of demonstrating how Christians misappropriate Jewish scripture. The same goes for Isaiah 7. The fact that some still believe Jesus is coming back although he promised 2,000 years ago to return soon demonstrates the success apologists have had in explaining away this particular false prophecy. As long as folks are willing to believe, no amount of evidence will ever change their beliefs.
There are very difficult verses and passages, but the Bible does hold together.
I’ve also read the Bible for more than 40 years and will categorically state that there are plenty of contradictions in the Bible. Yet that a moot issue because Biblical legends like Noah’s flood have been demonstrated to be a myth and no one knows what the original text of the four Gospels look like. There are no extant original copies in existence anywhere.
We only have copies of copies of copies. No one has any idea of what the original sources may have said or whether or not they were oral, written, Aramaic, or Greek. And no one knows what changes may have occurred to the so-called original text from the time of the events they allegedly record until decades and centuries later when they were written down. The Bible only holds together if one is reading Christian commentaries that explain it that way. Read alone, the Bible may be the greatest manual for creating religious doubt.
Joelyn, Of course I can’t answer you in a few words on a blog. As I said, I have studied this subject very extensively. Literally thousands of hours of personal study and, I stand completely behind every word in my post. Very few Christians have seriously studied the field of apologetics. I have. Randy
Randy, like you I have studied this subject very extensively. Literally, thousands of hours of personal study. And while you may stand completely behind every word in your post that only proves that you are a believer, not whether or not what you believe is true. I don’t know how many millions of Christians have seriously studied the field of apologetics, but that’s the problem. They should just read the Bible instead of apologists making excuses for the imaginary deity depicted in the Bible. Joelyn