Tag Archives: History of Christianity

Posted on

The Bible—A Record of Humanity’s Moral Development: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly



Coming out of evangelicalism years ago, I always struggled with how to reconcile parts of the Bible. When I started to study history, however, there were several mysteries I solved about the Bible that totally blew me away and helped me finally make sense of most of it. I’m going to share those with you on today’s podcast.

Buckle your seat belts and let’s take a ride together off the mythological Bible Belt Interstate and onto the road-less-traveled historic Bible Byway.


What You Will Learn:

  • Why the Bible can’t be inerrant and an altogether true record of history and God’s character
  • Why the Bible should not, however, be viewed as irrelevant for today
  • How the Bible is a collection of dissenting views on the character of God and human morality
  • The ways the Bible critiques itself, e.g. in the sacrificial system and violent retribution narratives
  • The stark contrast in the Bible’s narrative of violent sacrificial religion vs. social justice of the prophets and the non-violent love ethic of Jesus and Paul
  • How the Bible can be viewed as a record of humanity’s moral development
  • What narratives rise to the top that will help our local and global communities overcome conflict, violence, war, and harmful fundamentalist religion
Also, Michael shares plans and hopes of forthcoming interviews. Grab a brew and enjoy responsibly! Be sure to ask questions and make comments below, pro or con.
Posted on

12 Fake Claims of Western Christianity – Part 2

What if we turned the concept of “fake news” on politics to examining fake claims about religion? What would we discover? 

We’d find the DNA of ancient Christianity (i.e., Jesus’ teaching and peace movement) has suffered grave mutations that the Western Reformation never completely corrected, and in some cases, made worse. How can we know this? Through careful historical, biblical, and linguistic study. And how can the Jesus of history be authentic and much of this religion called Christianity be a scam? By an historical sleight of hand.

In this episode (Part 2), we discuss the remaining 7-12 major fake claims or scams that have been fostered by Western Christianity and ignorant or unsuspecting adherents about popular views of the meaning of the cross, the end times, women in the church, morality for the LGBT community, spiritual exchange, and justifying violence and war. (For fake claims #1-6, see Part 1). 

Authors cited or quoted include, James Bernstein, Mark Heim, Marcus Borg, N.T. Wright, Josephus (first century), Ann Nyland, Jacque Ellul, Michael Hardin, Rene Girard, and Robin Meyers. 

Interview Announcement: Michael announces the next episode will be an interview of Barbara Symons! Barbara is the author of “Escaping Christianity – Finding Christ” and has a lot of overlap with Michael on many experiences coming out of fundamentalism/evangelicalism.