Latest / The Salty Pastor / Jesus vs. Other Religious Beliefs [EP. 124]
Transcript
- [00:00:00] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Salty Pastor Podcast, a podcast dedicated to helping you learn to think critically for yourself and grow your faith. You, we cannot grow your faith for you. This is an individual experience that you have to do. We cannot help you think for yourself. That's something you have to do. All we can do is be guides and help. Um, teach you how to do it on your own. Um, very similar to, we use this on Tuesday, but you know, you can't go to the gym and have your trainer do your pushups for you. It's something you gotta do on your own. So, uh, my name is Jesse Maher. I will be your host and we can not do the Salty Pastor Podcast without the Salty Pastor himself, Dr. Douglas Peake. Well welcome. But if you're here new to the Salty Pastor, the bottom line is, is that we want you. To live your life to the fullest and you can't do that unless you take ownership and the more ownership you take, [00:01:00] then the stronger you're going to be. And so we're here to coach, we're here to inspire. I'm here to teach and I'm here to give it everything I can to you. For free in order for you to experience Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and walk in the fullness of him. And we've been in the new, uh, series that I'm pretty excited about. Yeah. We're in a new series talking about the essentials of the faith. If you take one of these away, it basically collapses the whole thing. It's not, it's not what it was meant to be. It's no longer the same thing. Um, and the essentials this week we're talking about is that first-line, Jesus loves me where we discussed on Tuesday. We were defining who Jesus is, right. Cause who loves you matters. Right. And we said, Jesus has God. He, and we discussed the principle of the Trinity, you know, Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. And what are, you know, we, we talked about kind of these, a little more high-minded things. We did some biblical study to define what the Trinity is, who Jesus says he is. Let's talk about societal implications. Now, you know, Thursday's [00:02:00] always our day where we kind of bring it into modern day. Why is this effect my life now? Why, why is what you're saying matter to me now? Well, it's all about connecting dots, I think, and it's really important to on occasion have a really big. Uh, like a 30,000 foot view of things, because sometimes over vast spans of time, there's really interesting things that kind of bubbled to the surface. And this essential is critical that Jesus is God, because in essence, over 2000 years, Christianity has grown from 120 people in the upper room. On the day of Pentecost, two, almost 3 billion people across the globe today. Almost half the world's population is identified as followers of Jesus Christ. That's pretty undeniable. Power that Christianity has had because it wasn't fad, you know, or a trend. I mean, it is, uh, grown [00:03:00] and it stayed true to the original texts, which is the new Testament in particular, uh, for 2000 years, you just that's unheard of in anything else. For instance, today, everybody in school lit courses reads Romeo and Juliet, right. And of course that was written by. Shakespeare. Everybody knows that. Or do we, I mean, there's been a couple of movies that some people might go, well, there is some debate about whether Shakespeare wrote everything. He said he wrote as much. There's a lot of debate on there. They don't know, but this is what's really interesting. Did you know, there are 400 different versions of the play Romeo and Juliet with massive plot differences and they don't know which one is the original. Interesting. They don't know that. And you know, just on a side note, you know, the reason why we read Shakespeare, the reason why Shakespeare is such a big deal and blah, it's not so much the content of his plays, but because when he [00:04:00] wrote them, what he basically did is he defined what the English language was. See the way he Right, the words we have today are attributed to him. Shakespeare came up with. Yeah. That he wrote he, and he identified these words and they're written in context. So the definitions could be highly specified. And so it was more of a technical thing that influenced the course of, of Western civilization. But the back to the original point is that Christianity though, on the other hand, we have fragments of the gospel of mark from the first time. Um, you know, so within 50 years of when Christ walked the face of the earth, and so we know the scholarship on the efficacy or the veracity, the authenticity of the new Testament documents is off the chart. There's nothing even. 5,000 different ancient manuscripts that, that, and they're all consistent. So basically the point being is that Christianity over 2000 years has, [00:05:00] uh, uh, a tremendous, uh, track record of staying very focused. Very focused on its original intent, you know, its original meaning. And because of that, it has an undeniable powerful influence over Western civilization. Today it's completely ignoring. But the proofs out there historically are undeniable. And in order to really understand what they are, you have to debunk the deconstructionist deception. I call it. It's a trick that historians use today and basically what they do. They use it to denigrate Christianity by using a deceptive frame of reference. So what they'll do is they'll take a standard from today. And then we will judge what they did a thousand years ago. Right. Right. Without any cultural context it's, exactly. In, without any understanding of how overall the [00:06:00] influence of Christianity is brought you to the point, uh, where we're at today. Does that make sense? Right. And so if you do that, that's deceptive GK. Chesterson used to say that this was the tyranny of. Of the living. Well, it's similar to like, you know, if you're back in, if you look at let's take, you know, Rome, right. Um, they used to have gladiatorial matches in the Coliseum where they would feed people, slaves or prisoners to lions basically, and have them kill each other. And so there, if someone went up to people in Rome today and be like, I can't believe. You personally used to do these things and it's like, well, but that was part of the culture back then. And it's not my that's not who I am anymore. It's, it's a thing of the time that happened. And yeah, we're not super proud of it, but we don't do it anymore. We're not still actively feeding it. And it was a cultural reference point of you [00:07:00] weren't there at the time and you didn't understand the culture of the time and holding me to the standard of something that was culturally relevant applicable back then. It's not fair. Yeah, of course. Right. Well, yeah. And, and beyond that, it's not even fair to make a judgment on that. He, I mean, not only holding people who are affiliated like Christians for what happened a thousand years ago, but actually having a moral, uh, judgment on those people because you you're incapable from your frame of reference of understanding what they did. Was it just, or not you, you know, unless you really immerse yourself in history, you wouldn't know the real test. This is what the real test is of the veracity of those things that happened. And the influence of Christianity is, is. How did what they did during that period of time, compare with everything else that was going on at that period of time. So when you use that [00:08:00] objective standard within the context of everything else that was going on, you see the overwhelming power of Christianity on the development of Western civilization. Western civilization has produced the greatest outcomes, advancements, quality of life than any other civilization in the history of the world bar, none. Nothing is even close. Western civilization, particularly the personification of it. The United States of America over the last 200 years has been brought, uh, advancement to the human race beyond compare. In the 5,000 years prior. It's absolutely amazing. And so where does all this influential power come from? Where does the capacity of Christianity to influence, uh, Western civilization and the formation of America and the personification of Western civilization? Well, it comes from this basic essential, and that is Jesus Christ is the law, is God. And he is the living God. What you'll see [00:09:00] over the course of the last 2000 years is that societies that pursue God always do better than societies that don't. And as a matter of fact, the closer they get to pursuing God, the better at it that they get. Guess what. The better that they do in the outcomes are so much better. So that's why in our world today that the design is to get rid of the church and get it out of the public square and to, to denigrate it as much as possible secularism should rule the day. And we're going to be really awesome people. And this is an absolute and unequivocal lie. It's a deception. Uh, no one in Christianity is proposing a theocracy. Nobody's proposing. As a matter of fact, the only reason why we don't have a theocracy in the United States of America is because of Christianity. Because the founders said there should not be one religion that rules them out. Cause that's part of the reason they left England in the first place was because there was an [00:10:00] expectation of religion. Adherence, basically. Denominational religious here. It's, you know, I mean, you look at the history of England and, you know, for a long time, one king would be Catholic. And so they'd go out there and they would, you know, kill and prosecute everybody who was a Protestant. Then the next person would be church of England or they'd be a Protestant, and then they'd want to push, make everybody against the Catholics. And, and so that's where a lot of. Came up is that they were, you, faith was used as a political weapon. Right. And so, so I think it's really important to understand is what allowed the influence of Christianity to be so powerful on Western civilization and it's development. Well, there has to be something other than just whim or randomness or an arbitrary working out. And plenty of other religions that could have theoretically have the same impact. But they didn't. Right. And so that tells you that there is a power is the power of the living God. And this [00:11:00] power has stayed focused on the original documents for, so we know that Jesus said what he said. It's up to you to believe whether he, his claims are true or not, that's called faith, but there's no debate, honestly, an intellectual, honest debate over. Did the guy named Jesus actually say this stuff? Well, yeah, he did. And it's pretty every scholar and academic. Yeah. Even those who don't believe. Yeah, that is true. And so what's amazing about that is, is to me, is that is an overwhelming testimony to the power of God, because the, this essential that Jesus Christ is God is seen in the wake. You know, if this essential is a boat, the wake that it's left has 2000 years of proof. It's pretty powerful. So what's interesting. If we compare this to other religions, we were just talking about this. There are other religions that could have theoretically try to been as impactful [00:12:00] as Christianity over the last 2000 years, but none of them have. And what's interesting is that none of them have. A central figure that actually claims to be one and the same as God, right? Yeah. I mean, we look at Islam. Hindu is, um, uh, Buddhism, Judaism, even like none of them have that thing. And that's kind of a key difference in Christianity, right? It's not just, Jesus is the only one that says I am one in the same as God, everyone else it's, you know, there is a God or there isn't a God or. Well, yeah. For instance, in Hinduism, you know, there's a, I mean, there's over 6,000 gods, but they come from three separate gods Brahma. And then the other two, I can't recall off the top of my head real quick, but, and then you're, you're caught in this cycle of reincarnation and reimburse and the thing, and everybody's like, wouldn't it be so cool to be reincarnated? And I go, well, if you went, if you go and you actually read the [00:13:00] principles that they teach, the reason you're reincarnated is because you're paying for the sins of somebody else. Um, so that doesn't seem to me like a really just system. Right. And it denies the sovereignty of the individual, but there is no, you know, there is no god figure. There's no Messiah. It's just the, the issue is the impersonal reincarnation. Uh, if you go and you look at Buddhism, you know, Tom, uh, uh, Siddhartha Gautama who became known as the Buddha, never, ever claimed any. Deification. As a matter of fact, he speaks against it. Uh, there's a book out there, uh, that a philosopher wrote. Who is a, an expert in a Buddhism where it's called a discussion with Buddha, a conversation with Buddha, and he brings this up. He says, you know, all of your adherence have deified you and he basically responds. Yeah, that's a huge mistake because if you read what he said, he goes, yeah, I'm not [00:14:00] duty. I just became enlightened. Right. And so it wasn't until like seven to 800 years after. His life that he was deified by his followers. And then you look at Islam, of course, Muhammad does not claim any deification of himself that he's God he's just says, I'm a prophet. I'm the last prophet of a law. And so it's really in Judaism even today in Judaism, there's your way, but they're still waiting for the Messiah to come. So they don't accept Jesus as the Messiah, at least Orthodox Jews. So I think that's, what's really interesting in this discussion of religions is why you see why it's so important that this essential is cannot be taken away from Christianity. Otherwise it is very similar to any of the other ones. Anything else. And so, and it loses all of its power. Right? Right. Because you, you, you, you know, you, look, you go, boy, the wind is blowing, you know? [00:15:00] And so obviously I see it's effects and that's really has a lot to do with the impact. The, the wind that Christianity is blown through the world is overwhelming and it's influence and power for the good. Now, some people go well, let's do all these things that religious people have done two or 3000 years, uh, has been so bad and, you know, over the last 2000 years, so bad, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And what I've, what I find really interesting in that is I go, well, if it wasn't for Christianity, you wouldn't even know. Right. You need to know what those are because, because of the overwhelming power of Christianity and its positive influence, we recorded those things. We wrote down those things. We corrected those things over sometimes generations. But to me, that's like, how does that, those core values get seated into generation after generation, after generation, after generation. Always point and come back to the pier morals and values and principles that were articulated in the New Testament. How do you explain that? [00:16:00] Because you don't see that in any other belief system or philosophy in the history of the world. Well, and I think it's interesting that, um, as we look at these other ones, they all had at some point a chance to kind of take their, their at bat for. This kind of a change. Right. And some of them did not, some of them did not, um, really go anywhere with it. Right? Like it's just a change. I'm going to pause. Can you hear me? Yeah. Something was weird with my Mike earlier, too is coming in and out. I was talking and I didn't hear myself, but we can edit this portion out. So since we're stopped anyways, what is this question that you're wanting me to answer? I don't understand. I was reading it and I'm like, I don't know what you want from this. Oh, Jeremy, are you getting me clearly? I can't see you. We are good. Okay. So it's just my headphones. Just say, I'd [00:17:00] say, you know, we're talking about derivation, you know, and like one thing I've noticed about my generation is we take for granted all this stuff with no idea where it comes from. As far as like freedoms and where this understanding. Okay. So what I think is really interesting about this whole thing is that it's kind of like. We take all these ideas and thoughts for granted, like the fact that we can see, Hey, these things that used to happen were bad. You know, we look at slavery or we look at, you know, throwing people into a Coliseum and having them murdered by lions. We, we have the scope and, and clear vision. To see these things, right. Because of what Christianity has done and what it is, pushed our cultures across the world. Like, how do we get from that, to this today? Right. And it's like, was it an easy A to B path that just happened over night? And suddenly it was like, Jesus was like, okay, I'm going to fix all your guys thinking [00:18:00] great, the world's done. Right. Perfect. No, it's like, yeah, there was stumbles. There was times when Jesus says name was used for bad things. I mean, people use my name sometimes and say, Jesse told me that I could do this. And then I'm in like, what are you doing? It's like, and I'm nobody compared to Jesus. So, you know, the things that people will do in the name, quote, unquote of Jesus are crazy, but the, underpinning of that, is that a lot of the freedoms. We have a lot of the understanding. We have a lot of the, even just the progression in science, you did an amazing series, not long ago about faith and science, about how Christianity and Christian scientists have been some of the most forward-thinking pushers of the revolutions. We've had medically technologically things of that nature. And so. I think it's really easy, especially for my generation, that's grown up kind of like, oh, the computers came along and like all of these things that are kind of happening yes. Are just like givens for us. Like, and it's [00:19:00] like, well, no, this was over a long period of time. And a lot of it was because there were people of Christian faith pushing the ball forward slowly but surely up the hill to get where we're at. And are we done pushing the ball? No, no. It's important to understand that, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the thing that pops into my mind, you know, I want people to understand this principle really, really well is so Steve jobs, right. He created Apple and he created a different operating system. And then he's done all this. And because of it, you know, now, today we all use his phones and his, you know, their computers and. We're not a Mac environment here. What are you talking? You know, we're using all that. We'll use it for editing. We, you know, all this kind of stuff. Right. So, but what's really interesting is so I've, I've read some biographies on his life and, and, uh, watched a couple of movies about his life and so forth. And so when people are like, well, see secularists will say, see, we have all this really cool stuff. And it was created by Jay, uh, uh, Steve jobs, right. And Steve jobs, wasn't a Christian. He wasn't a believer. And [00:20:00] so see how awesome we do when we don't have religion. And. Oh really? Oh really? I mean, let's, let's actually, you say you're a deconstructionist, let's deconstruct your argument here for just a moment. And that is, is that all of this computer stuff, right. Is all based on a simple concept and it's called binary and that is there's a one and a zero. And because of that, we can write in that language. Okay. Where did that idea come from? It doesn't come from Eastern Mysticism. It doesn't come from Hinduism or Buddhism. It didn't come from Chinese tower ism. It didn't come from Islam. It came in. Some people are gonna try to argue that point, but when you go back and you actually read the history, all the mathematical advancements, Of Islam during the height of its hay day, we're taken from people that they had conquered and those people were Christians. So don't send me an email. Some of you, people who [00:21:00] think you're historians, when you actually don't know the facts you just bought into propaganda, that is Christianity and Christianity alone is where these ideas and these concepts have grown in, originated from. And, and to the point where Steve jobs was in an environment where he could actually create a context, do you think that he could have started that company in China and it'd be where it was today? No. It wouldn't have ever happened because Chinese communist party would have taken over and owned it and run it. Do you think that even though all of their parts are made there now, right. But so if you go back and you actually look at his life and his, that he was able to do what he did not because specifically he was a believer, but because he lived in a pool. You see, he was in the context of a culture that had been overwhelmingly influenced by Christianity and allowed all of these great innovations to take place. So it's the issue of this is I call it [00:22:00] derivation. And that is why do we take for granted how, uh, how we got from there to here. You know, and everyone wants to take credit for it, but in the end it's like you said, I really liked that it's it's Christian principles being rediscovered each generation over and over again, and slowly pushing that ball or that cart up the hill. There's no other belief system. There's no other philosophy. There's no other worldview that has ever done that to the extent of Christianity in Western civilization. It just doesn't exist. And that's, what's so wonderful about Christianity is, is that, and that tells us why this essential in particular is so important is because we're not dealing with a truth claim only. We're not dealing with a. Perspective of life. Only what we're dealing with is the power of the living God, Jesus Christ in our midst to transform our thinking and our living at every level of our lives. It's the fact that Jesus is God. [00:23:00] Power to change your life. The fact that Jesus has God is the power to change your family. The fact that Jesus has God has the power to change your community into a safe, peaceful, protective place where you can grow and thrive, where you can get a job where you can build economies. You see all of these come from the power of this essential Jesus Christ. Wasn't just a nice guy who taught some profound truths. He was the living God in human flesh to reveal to us the true nature of the reality in which we live. So. I think people really want to constantly kind of separate Jesus from being God. What's the issue with that? Well, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that people want to do this because they don't want to be accountable for their morals. You see, they, they want to live in a way where they don't feel guilty. See a lot of [00:24:00] people feel well, I don't want to be religious because I don't want to feel guilty. Right. So a lot of people just take a real pragmatic approach to that. And that is, uh, it has, this is, this is a very common theme that happens all a lot. I've been in this church right here for over 25 years. So I've seen it numerous times and that is kids will grow up in Christian families. And then they will go off to college and then they will come back and at Christmas and then their parents, you know, Thanksgiving or Christmas will send me an email. So you got to talk to my kid and I go, why? Well, they don't believe in God anymore. And I'm like, oh, so they went to university and they became an atheist in one semester. That's amazing. That was fast. And so I sit down and I talked to him and I'm like, they're like, well, I don't, I don't wanna, you know, I just not sure about all this anymore. I think my parents just rammed it down my throat and I don't know. And so I used to sit there when I first started out and I would go, well, what, what did you hear that questioned? And what truth did you read? And what I found out [00:25:00] is that every time I went down, that line of reason, It went nowhere. There was no truth. There was no new idea that, and so I changed tactics and I started asking them, I say, well, when did you start partying? And they go, well, the second week I was there, you know, I wanted to go meet some friends. And when I got drunk at this party and I go, okay, and I go, so when did you start sleeping and having sex with girls? And they kind of get sheepish, but I mean, 90% of the time. Yeah. Well, yeah, that started, you know, the second month I was there and blah, blah, blah, blah, I go, this, I go, your issue isn't that you don't believe in God. The issue is you just don't want to feel guilty about the way you're living. Right. You're living wild and crazy, you know, and that happens at college. You know, college is basically a modern day, Sodom and Gomorrah. I mean, you can go and do anything you want and all, and it's encouraged and, and, uh, you know, they have parties to do it. And so. Getting it and doing it is really easy. So if you [00:26:00] participate in that, then you feel guilty because you were raised different than the way you're living. And so the way you try to get rid of your guilt is you say, the way I was raised is wrong, or what I used to believe is wrong. Right. But you see, this is the issue with that. It only works for a very short period of time, because then eventually you have to ask yourself, what do I believe? Right. And you always violate what you believe anyway. And so the reason why Christianity, what Jesus came in and said, is that the reason why people follow me and why I'm God is because I understand how you're made, and I understand how sin impacts you and how it plays with your head. And so the issue to me, isn't a moral code that you violated and now you're in trouble and you're going to be judged for it. The issue is, is you don't understand how your conscience works and you can't alleviate guilt by getting rid of more. It never works. So I mean, the biggest issue is really that it's creating a dissonance in you. And so you're saying, well, I believed this, but now I'm [00:27:00] doing this. And so one of them has to go in order to eliminate the dissonance. Right. So it's okay. Well, I just don't believe that anymore. Or maybe what I was told wasn't right. And I mean, there are people that are going to be around you going and I mean, just don't worry about it. It's fine. And that's why they separate, you know, Jesus wasn't really God. You see if he's really God, then what does that say about all of these morals that you're trying to get rid of? Right. You're well, if he's God, then he's right, right. But if he's not God, then I, then I can get rid of them. Right. And so that's why people are trying to separate Jesus from being God. Right. So, and then what that additionally does is it allows them to. Pick and choose their morals based on the situation they're in, because then it's like, well, you know, when I'm home with the family, I can, you know, I can put on the good phase. I can go to Christmas service with them, but then I want to just go back to what I'm doing when I'm not home. [00:28:00] And so it's it's really, but then you start living this double life. You start living in this dissonance and then you start questioning, especially after kind of the luster of the partying has worn off. You're like, yeah, well now I have nothing to stand upon. I'm just. I guess I'm just dust and whatever I do, doesn't matter. And it's like, what? It's what a depressing life. Right? Like you have nothing to, nothing pinning you down. So you're just kind of a drift and it's like, okay, well, If you look at you, look at that historically what's happened is that these ideas were seated into our cultures in the sixties. Right. And they came to fruition on a whole generation in the early seventies. And then. The rock band, Kansas bursts onto the scene, singing these songs. All we are as Dustin, the wind, you know, w, why, why, you know, hang on, right. All three are as a drop in the endless sea. Well, and it leaves you very, it's not just kind of a metaphysical or a [00:29:00] philosophical adrift. It's like, it really affects you emotionally. We've talked about. Even though you have the freedom to do more and more things these days and how the world will affirm your lifestyle, no matter what you choose and more and more things, people are more and more depressed. And it's like, didn't that be switching if that's the real solution and same thing, relationally, you know, uh, relationships are not lasting as long because you're, you're, you're wanting it to be. You don't know what you believe. And so how are you supposed to connect with another human being if you're just sort of lying? I don't know. Yeah. I just I'm here. We're here. Let's kind of be here. Yeah. Your whim and your emotion and your, your feeling in the moment becomes paramount. There's no thing that guide you and lead you on how to build intimacy with that other human being. Absolutely. So, do you have any other closing thoughts before we wrap up? Yeah. I just think that not only is the essential that Jesus Christ is God critical for Christianity, but it also proves the power of Christianity and its influence on society. And [00:30:00] ultimately in society, if we take this away, then we become totally adrift. It's like you said, You know, there's nothing that brings us stability. There's nothing that, that centers us anchors us is a foundation. Everything becomes a whim and anxiety goes up, depression goes up, isolation goes up, everything bad emotionally for you increases it. Doesn't decrease because there's no stability. There's no security. And that's why in the end, it's all about this. The simple truth without God, there's no objective morals or duties without a God. There, there is no reason for our existence without God. There is no point in being connected and building families without God. There's no love. There's no romance. There's no honesty or integrity. There's no courage. There's no confidence. There's no building. There's no meaning. There's no purpose. And so when you take God away, you it's called nihilism and [00:31:00] nihilism, always ends, in what Kansas saying. So appropriately, all three are, is dust in the wind life has no meaning. So that's all we have for you guys today here on the Salty Pastor. We're really excited that you are joining us on Tuesdays and Thursdays to discuss what we're we're going to be talking about. On Sundays, we get to dive a little bit deeper. We get to have some, some fun conversations that don't usually fit into the sermon message. And we just love that you guys are here, but most of all, we want this to be an opportunity for you to have discussions with. Your close friends, family, other people about what you believe. You can't understand what you believe. If you're not talking about it. If you're just sitting in the house, thinking to yourself a lot and going, I think this is what I believe in. You don't have anybody else to bounce it off of and hear alternate points of view. So you can really solidify that. It's just kind of. It's a, it's a thought that's going to kind of blow away. You have to really set those standards in your mind and talk about them with someone because otherwise, yeah, otherwise you have no [00:32:00] confidence in it. It's like, well, I was thinking one day in my house that I think I believe this, but until you have a conversation with some. You really can't solidify that it's not something you can kind of just do alone in a house. So have conversations. live in community and have some conversations. So thank you guys so much for joining us, Pastor Doug, we'll be finishing up this section of the essentials, um, on the first part on Sunday here. Essential number one. Essential number one here in beautiful Boise, Idaho at Foothills Christian Church. Beestings everyone.