Christian Apologetics

HEGE Series

Rabbit-Hole 01

• Humanity

  • Culture

    • Games
    • Food
    • Art
    • Music
    • Hollywood
    • Adam Curtis
    • American Adam
    • Modernism
    • Materialism

      • Christmas
  • Ethnicity

    • African
    • Asian
    • Celtic-British
    • First Peoples
    • Franco-Roman
    • Grecian-Balkan
    • Semitic
    • Slavic
    • Spanish-Latino
    • Teutonic

      • Exulanten (Exiles)
  • Racism
  • Human Body

    • Pinocchio
    • Addiction
    • Desire
    • Identity
  • Language

    • Reason
  • Personality
  • Relationship

    • Divinity
    • Creation
    • Sexuality
    • Marriage
    • Family
    • Community

      • Intentional Community
      • The Bruderhof
  • Spirituality

    • Oral Tradition
    • Philosophy
    • Psychology
    • Heterodoxy

      • Catholicism

        • Secularism
      • Protestantism
    • Orthodoxy

      • Christian Apologetics

        • Gnosticism
        • Western Esotericism
      • Iconography
      • Monasticism
      • Truth
      • Love
      • Beauty
      • Challenges
      • Lazar Puhalo

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
— 1 Peter 3:15

Christian apologetics | Wikipedia
Apologetics | Theopedia]

Orthodox Apologetics | YouTube St Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church, Stafford VA

Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World

Heretical Orthodoxy: Lev Tolstoi and the Russian Orthodox Church

Post-Modernism & The “Two-Story” Truth

Hank Hanegraaff
Christian Research Institute
Hank Hanegraff
Bible Answer Man | YouTube
Amazon Author Page

The photo that lost radio’s ‘Bible Answer Man’ thousands of listeners

Royal Priesthood

You are a Royal Priesthood | YouTube Channel Y2AM - Be the Bee

The Royal Priesthood of All Believers
Universal Priesthood

Orthodox Christians as Priests of Creation

Christian Heresy

List of Christian heresies | Wikipedia
Heresy in Christianity | Wikipedia

See — Catholicism, Protestantism, Gnosticism, New Religious Movements, Western Esotericism, Cults

LumenLearning — 14: Religion

Why were the Montanists condemned? Evangelical Pro-Montanist
Was the Church Right to Condemn Montanism? Anti-Montanist

The Acephalites

Protestantism is Ancient Heresy
— Condemned by the Church in Fourth Century

See — Protestantism

Christians do not believe in kismet, fate or destiny. Even if God determines the chief lines of our life, He, according to our prayers and merits, can change them. Thus, He prolonged King Hezekiah's life for fifteen years: “Go and say to Hezekiah, thus said the Lord, the God of David Your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold I will add unto your days fifteen years” (Isaiah 38:5), and to the Venerable Dius (July 19) he likewise prolonged his life for fifteen years. God extended the life of St. Basil the Great, according to the prayer of the saint for one day until he baptized the Jew, Joseph, his physician. But, as God can, by prayer, prolong life, so He can shorten it because of sin. Emperor Anastasius adhered to the Severian heresy, so called the Acephalites (the headless ones), who spread the foolishness that the Church does not need bishops and priests but rather that everyone unto himself is a bishop and a priest and that everyone has the right, in his own way, to interpret Holy Scripture and to teach others as he understands and believes. In vain did St. John the Patriarch counsel the emperor to return to the truth of Orthodoxy, and not only did the emperor not accept the counsel but rather ill-treated the patriarch in various ways and contemplated to have him banished. One night, the emperor saw in a dream an awesome man on an exalted throne, who held a book in his hand. This man opened the book, found the name of Emperor Anastasius and said: “I have wanted to permit you to live for a while longer but, because of your heresy, behold, I am erasing fourteen years from your life.” And he erased something from the book. Terrified, the emperor jumped up from his dream and related his dream to his followers. After a few days, thunder struck the emperor's place and killed Emperor Anastasius.
— Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue from Ochrid August 31 Reflection

Covenant Theology

Covenant Theology (Reformed Protestantism) | Wikipedia
Covenantal theology (Roman Catholic) | OrthodoxWiki
— “Eastern Orthodox theology has tended though to not emphasize a covenant-centric understanding of salvation history, but rather a Christological one. That is, Orthodoxy has stressed an over-arching focus on the Incarnation of Christ, His death and resurrection, and man's subsequent adoption as sons through Theosis as the primary vehicle to understanding scripture. However, that does not mean Covenantal thinking, such as Christ as Messiah, the fullfillment of the Law and the Prophets and covenant mediator has been lost on Orthodoxy by any means. Major precepts of Covenantal theology are to be found through out the writings of the Fathers, as the rise of Catholic Covenantal Theology proves, and indeed these precepts are present in contemporary Orthodox scholarship.”

My possible rejection of Covenant Theology

The Early Church Fathers: Babies or Giants?
—“I very much appreciate the Reformed tradition’s insight into the importance of the covenant, because it has helped me to identify the Orthodox Church as the true covenant community founded by the Suzerain Jesus Christ who came to restore us to the kingdom of God.”

Neither the Old Covenant nor the New Testament were “legal agreements,” rather they were spousal relationships. This was the great error into which the Old Israel fell [and Reformed Protestantism], and which the prophets warned them about. Israel did not recognize and receive the Christ because He came to her as a heavenly bridegroom seeking his bride. Israel, conceiving the covenant as a “legal contract,” anticipated a stern earthly ruler, come to enforce a violated treaty and establish his will by military and political means. It is for this same reason that Western Christianity fell into an idolatrous concept of atonement....
— Archbishop Lazar Puhalo (See — Sexuality)

Deism

Deism | Wikipedia

Syncretism

Syncretism | Wikipedia
Religious syncretism | Wikipedia
— “The Roman emperors used syncretism to help unite the expanding empire [just as The Antichrist may initiate an antichristian "christian" syncretistic global religion].”

Manichaeism | Wikipedia
— “Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine", succeed, and surpass the teachings of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions, and mystery cults. It reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, the Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ [just as Islam reveres Mohammed as the final prophet above all].”

Baháʼí_Faith | Wikipedia

Unitarian Universalism | Wikipedia
Unitarianism | Wikipedia
— a modern day form of Adoptionism
Christian universalism | Wikipedia
— “denies the doctrine of everlasting damnation, and proclaims belief in an entirely loving God who will ultimately redeem all human beings”

Islam

Islam | Wikipedia

Islam denies the divinity of Christ, like Arianism, a 4th century heresy.
See — Christian Heresy

The Meaning of Life | Muslim Spoken Word

Corporate American insipid Western secular consumerism (Mammon worship) trivializes Christianity (especially because it's rarely ever vocally or highly visibly opposed by Heterodoxy or Orthodoxy), reinforces Islam in Arabs, and feeds the drive of Westerners toward Islam —

List of Islamic apologetic works | Wikipedia

List of converts to Islam from Christianity | Wikipedia

Talk Islam — YouTube, Facebook
ASHAMED TO BE MUSLIM || Spoken Word Response
WHO IS GOD - ALLAH, JESUS OR EMINEM?

Islam | Wikipedia

World Civilization | LumenLearning
Ch. 7 The Rise and Spread of Islam

Did you know?: The Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia through the Trade Routes

Pew Research: Will Islam Be the Largest Religion in 2070?
Bible Answer Man explains why Islam will soon be the No.1 religion
Bible Answer Man Explains Christian Downfall to Islam

Salman Rushdie

How Salman Rushdie has been a scapegoat for complex historical differences
Hunted by An Angry Faith: Salman Rushdie's novel cracks open a fault line between East and West

Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo shooting
Charlie Hebdo | PBS
Charlie Hebdo attackers killed to avenge Prophet Mohammad, French court hears | Reuters
14 Accomplices Found Guilty Of Aiding 2015 'Charlie Hebdo' Attacks | NPR

Islamaphobia

Islamophobia | Wikipedia

Islam: What the West Needs to Know | YouTube
History of Islam Parts 1-5 | YouTube
The Third Jihad | Vimeo
Malcolm X: Prince of Islam | Archive.org

The Truth About Islam
Confronting Islam: Examining the Qur’an
Islam Exposed©

Islam Exposed: The Depravities Towards Black Africans
— “This book exposes Islam's role in the institution of slavery, racism, discrimination and other depravities towards Black Africans, right from the religion's formative stages to the present day. The book also exposes the religion's adverse legacy that has left Africa enduring a never-ending cycle of violence, religious polarization, coercion, slavery, human rights abuses, anti-Semitism, religious intolerance, and numerous other abominations. Africa has also become the epicenter of Jihad activities, plunging the already poverty-stricken continent into a further abyss of human affliction.”

Todd H. Green

Todd H. Green
The Fear of Islam, Second Edition: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West 2019 | Amazon
Islamophobia: What Are We Really Afraid Of? | YouTube

Robert B. Spencer

Robert B. Spencer | Wikipedia
— “According to author Todd H. Green, Spencer's commentary on Islam has been regarded as "hav[ing] made a huge impact on the misinformation about Islam that circulates so freely on the Internet, in the media, and in political circles”

Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions about the World s Fastest-Growing Faith | Amazon
The Critical Qur'an: Explained from Key Islamic Commentaries and Contemporary Historical Research | Amazon
Why Jihad Watch?
Robert Spencer: About the author | Amazon
Robert Spencer Amazon Author Page

The Truth About Muhammad | YouTube
The Lies about Muhammad | Amazon
— An Answer to the Robert Spencer Book “The Truth about Muhammad”

Judaism

Judaism | Wikipedia

Judaism denies that Jesus of Nazreth is the long awaited Messiah promised to the Children of Israel (Hebrew people) by the God of their patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), and denies His divinity, like Arianism, a 4th century Christian heresy.
See — Christian Heresy

Jewish Resurrection of the Dead

All Have Sinned
— Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10

The Feasts of the Lord: God’s Prophetic Calendar from Calvary to the Kingdom | Archive.org
Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants: Flowers and Trees, Fruits and Vegetables, Ecology | Archive.org
The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels | Archive.org
— “About the middle of the eighth century [BC], a Judean shepherd named Amos, living a few miles outside Bethlehem, is seized by a message from God and impelled to head north to preach to idolatrous Israel, which is enjoying high-flying economic success, a success that has passed some of its population by. Amos is decidedly not a professional prophet, like Elijah, and has no connection with any of the prophetic brotherhoods. He is, in his own words, “merely a herdsman and dresser of sycamore-figs,” as is evident from his rough, prickly words, delivered at the schismatic shrine of Bethel and in the streets of Samaria. There the shocked shepherd is witness to conspicuous consumption on a grand scale, which he realizes is just a new form of social injustice...
And the truth—for eighth-century Samaria—was this: to serve God means to act with justice. One cannot pray and offer sacrifice while ignoring the poor, the beggars at the gates. But more radical still: if you have more than you need, you are a thief, for what you “own” is stolen from those who do not have enough. You are a murderer, who lives on the abundance that has been taken from the mouths of the starving. You are an idolator, for what you worship is not the true God. You are a whore, for you have bedded down with other gods, the gods of your own comfort and self-delusion, you who “cram [your] palaces with violence and extortion,” who have “sold the upright for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals [from Gucci, no doubt],” who “have crushed the heads of the weak into the dust and thrust the rights of the oppressed to one side.””
Therefore, USA is “Samaritan” to the core — a thief, murderer, idolater, whore, and violent extortioner for not worshipping the True God, but instead the Mammon god of its “own comfort and self-delusion”. So much for all those empty, shallow, hypocritical American demands that "God Bless America”.

Alfred Edersheim

Alfred Edersheim | Wikipedia
Alfred Edersheim | Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL)
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
The Temple—Its Ministry and Services
Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Antisemitism

Antisemitism | Wikipedia
History of antisemitism | Wikipedia
Antisemitism in the United States | Wikipedia
Adversus Judaeos | Wikipedia
— “According to Patristics scholars, opposition to any particular view during the late fourth century was conventionally expressed in a manner, utilizing the rhetorical form known as the psogos, whose literary conventions were to vilify opponents in an uncompromising manner; thus, it has been argued that to call Chrysostom an "anti-Semite" is to employ anachronistic terminology in a way incongruous with historical context and record.”
But of course, that doesn't matter to history “scholars” like Miriam Bodian with a particular “human rights” axe to grind (Christianity as “anti-semitic”).
Such is the current condition to which Academia has degerated.

Miriam Bodian

Miriam Bodian UT Professor Emerita, Ph.D. 1988, Hebrew University
The Church And The Jews
— “This course will examine the complex relationship between the Church and the Jews over two thousand years. It will analyze Christian ideas and policies regarding Jews as expressed in both elite and popular culture. We’ll examine various sources, including theological texts, canon law, church art, and popular preaching. We’ll consider how the Church’s powerful anti-Jewish teachings provided a basis for restrictive legislation and violence against Jews, even if Church authorities sometimes acted to protect Jewish communities. The course emphasize the factors that led to striking changes in attitudes and policies over time, with emphasis on how the theological legacy was adapted in the face of changing realities. It will examine the consequences of the Protestant Reformation and conclude with a look at the radical shift in the perspective of the Catholic Church in the 1960s, with the documents issued by Vatican II.’”
The Church and The Jews website
John Chrysostom (c.347-407) : Eight Homilies against the Jews, Homily I [excerpted for Bodian’s polemics, Full Translation]

Bodian’s course ought to be entitled “Modern Jewish Propaganda: Accusation of anti-semitism for socio-political control”. Though some Western heterodox phenomenon in Western Europe does fit the bill of anti-semitism (e.g. the Judan Sow), she essentially argues for Christianity as distortion of Jewish monotheism. Alfred Edersheim by way of much greater historical depth and inspired interpretation shows otherwise. Bodian effectively claims that Christian teaching justifies abuse of Jews. With such Christianity as systemic anti-semitism, the next obvious step is to outlaw and banish Christianity from the face of the earth.
Bodian ignores all intemperate and indelicate accusations of Jewish Rabbis (sage Scribes and Pharisees, “lawyers”) against Christians over the centuries as recorded in their Talmud, preferring instead to play pot to kettle black. What she doesn’t understand is that anti-semitism, like any form of racial or other hatred, is not Christian, but anti-christian, the sinful product of temptation of humans by the Evil One and his minions, regardless from whom such sin originates. Neither does Bodian acknowledge that all modern human rights are legacy of Christian upholding of all humanity as created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore deserving of respect and humane treatment, as expounded in the first book of the Jewish Pentateuch.
The same respect for all humanity cannot be said of historical Judaism as expounded in the Talmud. There instead is found that all non-Jews are subhuman, “cattle” (dumb beasts) and therefore not deserving of equal respect and treatment required for Jews. In short and in keeping with historical Talmudic Rabbinism, Bodian doesn’t acknowledge that Jews are part of humanity, all of which (including Jews) have ”sinned” (fallen out from comm-union with God, the One and only as revealed through Abraham and all other patriarchs and prophets of the Jews).
Jews are not more righteous than everyone else, more perfect fastidious keepers of the Ten Commandments than non-jewish gentiles.
Such “we do no wrong; everyone is against us”, playing the victim is Jewish Supremacy, racism of the worst kind.

Hinduism

See — Gnosticism

Buddhism

See — Gnosticism

Pantheism

Pantheism | Wikipedia

See — Gnosticism

Full Circle: The Resurgence of Animism in Modern Scientific Pantheism

Panentheism

Panentheism | Wikipedia

See — Gnosticism

Paganism

Paganism | Wikipedia

Polytheism

Polytheism | Wikipedia

Indigenous Religion

Indigenous religion | Wikipedia