This is part six in our series on responding to your questions and comments.  In light of our killing series, we considered whether Christians should kill the old, the young, enemies, or criminals, however we never addressed the morality of God killing. Brian asked: Can I expect a subsequent episode where you discuss a sort of ‘divine inflicted’ death, for example, the event with Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10; also the deaths of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, in Acts 5? If yes, wonderful, if no, then perhaps you could consider it. Hopefully in the future we can delve more deeply into this subject, but for now, here is a brief response to this important question. —— Links —— Check out the episodes in our killing seres See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script

Off Script 47: Is God’s Violence in the Bible Wrong? (Q&A)

 This is part five in our series on responding to your questions and comments.  In this Q & A episode, we address two commenters who responded to Off Script 34: Killing the Unborn (A Christian View of Abortion). Dan Fitzsimmons responds to Candace who inquired why Dan would vote against capital punishment but not against abortion even though he opposes it on moral grounds. Rose Rider responds to John's lengthy comments in which he called into question the legitimacy of using the bible to arrive at a position on abortion. —— Links —— Listen to the episode that this comment came from: Off Script 34: Killing the Unborn (A Christian View of Abortion) See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 46: Should Christians Outlaw Abortion? (Q&A)

This is part four in our series on responding to your questions and comments.  In this episode, we respond to a comment made on Off Script 37: Killing Criminals, in which we took the position that capital punishment is a biblically justifiable practice, but in America today it is fraught with problems, including the outrageous cost of death row and the possibility of executing the innocent.  We respond to the comment of someone named Sean who challenges us on our view of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus is challenging the old way of living and laying out a new way.  He also makes a couple of secular arguments in favor of capital punishment.  Here is Sean's comment in full: I think this discussion has to take a lot more into account, but clearly this would take hours and hours to encompass it all… This is a huge subject really. But for example, such as Abraham saving Lot by killing people to rescue him. This was obviously when there were less governmental type controls but the point remains the most righteous man on earth, the father of the faith killed to save someone. There’s also laws about the requirements of helping someone being attacked, which could clearly result in the death of an attacker. I don’t think vengeance is the same as self-defense, and many equate these two… I used to. And I still have the same objection that seems to arise about Matthew 5 and Jesus’ “…but I say unto you…” statements having to do with contradicting the Torah. I don’t see this as logical, nor a possible understanding if you believe the Messiah was a sinless man. To have any man come into Israel and start teaching contrary to God’s law(even if just in THAT time period) by definition would have been sin and the man should have been ignored/killed. (Isaiah 8:20, Matthew 5:19, Deut 4:2) No one could convict the Messiah of sin, that one would have been obvious if that’s what he was doing. He *had* to keep the Torah, right? Or do you believe he didn’t keep it? That might have to be clarified. The secular arguments are based on the risk of human error. By those types of standards no one should drive automobiles either because thousands of people die each year innocently due to the error of other operators. As sad as the situation is—there’s always a risk of human error/corruption, and God -still- gave the death penalty in his Torah. The young man seems to be arguing against God’s own commands. And one also must address the many assumptions that are built into his objections against capital punishment. To say “it costs more” to prosecute for the death penalty versus lifetime of prison is not the point—even if it were, it’s still proper justice according to God’s laws. God never said to hold anyone in confinement for the entire life. It also likely WOULDN’T cost more if there were so many other regulations in place that make it that much more expensive. It’s morally reprehensible to pay for convicted murderers to continue to live on our own backs for their lifetime. Take note also, that even with Paul as a former murderer and what he taught later–he said if he did anything worthy of death, he’d submit to it. Acts 25:11 Overarching all of this is clearly the most poignant thing of all—without the death penalty you would have no death of the Messiah and a risen savior. Again, I know this is a huge topic and I just thought I’d weigh in a few things on my mind that I don’t think really got full weight in this discussion. I think I also have more to say on the subject from Scripture because I used to hold the same view as many of you until I re-examined it. —— Links —— Listen to the episode that this comment came from: Off Script 37: Killing Criminals (A Christian View of Capital Punishment) See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 45: Should Christians Support Capital Punishment? (Q&A)

 This is part three in our series on responding to your questions and comments.  In Off Script 28: Seeking a Christian View on Refugees and Immigrants, we concluded on the basis of several scriptures in the Old Testament as well as the Great Commission that Christians should welcome refugees into their countries.  In response to this, William wrote: First, Thank you for your podcasts and all the work that you do preaching the word of God and your Unitarian teachings. I have to take the other side when it comes to Muslim immigrants coming into this country from the mentioned 7 Muslim countries. In December 2015, President Obama signed into law a measure placing limited restrictions on certain travelers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. Two months later, the Obama administration added Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list, in what it called an effort to address “the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters.” So Trumps “temporary 90 day ban” was justified considering he is coming into office and now it’s his problem to solve and protect the American people from terrorism. I don’t want to turn this into me defending Trump because I don’t agree with all of his policies, but I do agree with the temporary ban to come up with a way a vetting refugees who come with less then amiable intentions. Ok, first Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt”. The key word for me is “heart” The heart of the sojourner. What are the intentions of the refugee? do they plan to live among you and abide in God’s law? If they don’t, do you still accept them as your brother even if they want to kill you or convert you through force? Do you allow mosques to operate that call for jihad and sharia law, infecting peaceful Muslims? Surly you wouldn’t invite someone into your home if you thought their intentions were to harm you or your family. Europe has has a policy of dropping off Muslims into their country and Europe is mess. All I’m saying is that it was not Gods intention to have his people treat sojourners as brothers if they would not assimilate into the culture or worse…destroy it. God Bless. In this episode, Dan takes the lead in responding to William.  Here are some quotes from our discussion: "How many minds can be changed by radical love like that [the Good Samaritan Parable]?  How many barriers of racism and nationalism could be torn down by that, by that kind of radical love?  That's the attitude we should have toward outsiders, not, 'Hey stay away because we're afraid that you might shoot us even though our own countrymen are shooting us at a far higher rate." --Dan "The kingdom will be a melting pot anyway; it will be a true melting pot where the one thing that we have in common and the only thing that matters is that we are citizens of the kingdom of Christ.  So we look forward to that day and in the meantime we are have the opportunity to live like that now." --Rose "How cool is it that other nations want to come here?  How much easier does it make it to fulfill the Great Commission where Jesus says, 'Go make disciples of all nations?'  Well if the nations are all coming here?  There are all in Chinatown and Koreatown and Polishtown or whatever towns in New York City, then how much easier is it to fulfill that Great Commission?" --Sean —— Links —— Listen to the episode that this comment came from: Off Script 28: Seeking a Christian View on Refugees and Immigrants See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 44: Should We Ban Muslim Immigrants? (Q&A)

   This is our second answer in our series on responding to your questions and comments.  In Off Script 38: Killing in War: A Christian View of Violence, we discussed whether it is appropriate for Christians to participate in war, concluding that Jesus' command to love our enemies means that Christians should not kill others.  If you haven't already, check out that episode first before listening or commenting on this one.  In this episode we respond to Zak's comment.  He wrote: I really enjoyed this episode. It challenged my current worldview with scripture(a very good thing, even if not pleasant at times). I do have few questions. 1.Can none lethal self defense be put under “confrontational nonresistance” or is it always finding “exceptions to Jesus’ commands.” For example in the highly unlikely event that I would be walking a busy street and someone pulled out a gun and started shooting other people/family/etc. Would it be against the bible to(if I had the training)Disarm the individual. —— Links —— Listen to the episode that this comment came from: Off Script 38: Killing in War Check out these other posts on how Christians should love their enemies, including a full length debate between Christians on this issue More information about Christian pacifism: loveyourenemies.wordpress.com See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 43: Can Christians Use Non-Lethal Violence? (Q&A)

Welcome to our series answering your questions and responding to some of your comments.  We've been saving these up and over the next few weeks, we'll address a number of them.  We've decided to do these in individual episodes, so if you're not interested in the topic, you can just skip it and listen to the ones that matter to you.  As a result, these are each significantly shorter than our typical Off Script episodes. First up is a statement someone made on an old episode.  In Off Script 16: Christians Discussing Politics, we cited John Zmirak's comment that he made on Unbelievable, a Christian talk radio show in London, as an example of inappropriate Christian discourse.  Zimrak said, I would vote for a dead moose strapped to the hood of a car in order to stop Hillary Clinton or really any of the Democrats in America because their policies are fundamentally incompatible with Christianity and really just with human decency. This episode responds to the following comment by Levi: A dead moose would in fact be less threatening to freedom of religion, the lives of the unborn, the sexual purity of our young people, etc etc etc. The left is an atheistic, perverted agenda and the Truth is, the Facts are such that no disciple of Christ should ever countenance no less support their godless agenda. —— Links —— Listen to the episode that this comment came from: Off Script 16: Christians Discussing Politics Check out these other posts on how Christians should think politically See other episodes responding to your questions and comments Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 42: Hillary Clinton, a Dead Moose, and Christians Discussing Politics (Q&A)

This is part two of our discussion about Charles Mathewes’ Washington Post article, “White Christianity is in big trouble. And it’s its own biggest threat.”  Check out part one here.  In this episode we consider gun control, immigration, the death penalty, and treatment of the poor in an effort to understand and respond to evangelicalism's ongoing public relations problem.  Are "white evangelicals" as Mathewes puts it "a breathtakingly cruel bunch?" —— Links —— Read the original Washington Post article here Listen to part one of this discussion: Off Script 40: Roy Moore, Gay Wedding Cakes, and White Evangelicals Check out these Off Script episodes mentioned in this discussion: Off Script 38: Killing in War (A Christian View of Violence) Off Script 28: Seeking a Christian View on Refugees and Immigrants Off Script 37: Killing Criminals (A Christian View of Capital Punishment) Off Script 16: Christians Discussing Politics Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.  

Off Script 41: Guns, Immigrants, and White Evangelicals

While scrolling through Facebook, I came across Charles Mathewes' Washington Post article, "White Christianity is in big trouble. And it’s its own biggest threat."  At first reading, I was infuriated at what I felt were unfair criticisms, but after I thought about it, I realized what an opportunity this article presented.  It collects together no less than thirteen criticisms against Christianity.  In this episode Dan Fitzsimmons, Rose Rider, and I (Sean Finnegan) respond to the first seven, including: Our society's war on Christmas bothers Christians A Christian baker refused to sell a cake for a gay wedding 80% of white evangelicals in Alabama voted for a pedophile We're ignorant of history We're ignorant of the current state of the world We're ignorant about scientific knowledge We're surprisingly ignorant about our own religion —— Links —— Read the original Washington Post article here Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 40: Roy Moore, Gay Wedding Cakes, and White Evangelicals

Several significant sexual harassment cases have come to light in the last few months.  Now a whole range of behaviors have come under scrutiny as women (and some men) have felt emboldened to make public their experiences.  In this episode we even out our Off Script panel with one more female voice, Terri Crowder, to help us discuss this prevalent phenomenon from street corners to workplaces to churches.  After discussing sexual harassment in some detail, we bring relevant scriptures to light to provide a Christian response. —— Links —— More on the Christian work ethic here Also check out Off Script 31: Stewarding Our Bodies Check out the first part of episode 603 of This American Life to hear what happens when a woman confronts men after catcalling her. Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 39: Sexual Harassment, A Christian Response

Off Script 38: Killing in War: A Christian View of Violence

Determining the validity of capital punishment is a complex task, especially when approached from a Christian perspective.  To arrive at a biblically informed decision we need to consider both the Old and New Testaments, giving special attention to the nuanced understanding the Apostle Paul gave in Romans 13.  Furthermore, in America we have quite a few other issues we need to balance out such as the exorbitant cost of sustaining convicts on death row and the handful of cases where an executed person turns out to be innocent on the one hand, and  capital punishment's ability to deter crime and mete out justice on the other. —— Links —— Check out the other episodes in the series on Killing Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 37: Killing Criminals: A Christian View of Capital Punishment

Is it ever right to end someone's life early? If so, under what conditions? In this episode we turn to the bible to sort out a Christian position on euthanasia.  Drawing on the inherent dignity God has invested in each person by making us in his image and the fact that God claims sovereignty over life and death, we conclude that physician assisted suicide is a sin.  In difficult cases of extreme and continuous suffering, Christians have pioneered palliative care in the hospice movement as a compassionate alternative to euthanasia. —— Links —— Check out the other episodes in the series on Killing Watch a short testimony of Joni Eareckson Tada Read more about Cicely Saunders, the founder of hospice Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 36: Killing the Suffering: A Christian View of Euthanasia

On average, 121 people commit suicide per day in America. It is now the tenth leading cause of death in this country.  In this episode we discuss this phenomenon and seek to understand what the bible can teach us about this subject.  In addition, we wrestle with a number of hard questions about suicide such as: Is suicide a sin? Will suicide bar someone from eternal life? How do we explain God strengthening Samson to commit suicide at the end of his life? How can we show compassion and love to those with suicidal thoughts? Lastly, we consider how the bible provides hope for when we go through the darkest of times. —— Links —— Check out the other episodes in the series on Killing For more on Wendy Savage and her interlocutor, Hayood Robinson, check out this Unbelievable episode Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 35: Killing Yourself: A Christian View of Suicide

Today we are beginning a new series on life and death, in which we'll consider abortion, suicide, euthanasia, and capital punishment.  Our goal is to address each topic from a biblical framework in order to arrive at a Christian position.  At the outset, I'll admit that we don't know everything and could be wrong, so we appreciate your engagement in helping us arrive at a godly position. Today we'll focus on abortion and consider whether it's ever right for a Christian to have an abortion.  We'll cover the scriptures that relate to this topic, the track record of early Christianity, and how this relates to our own time.  We discuss the major objections and consider the toughest cases like rape, incest, and when the mothers' life is in danger. Please note that some of what we discuss here is probably inappropriate for children. —— Links —— Check out the other episodes in the series on Killing For more on Wendy Savage and her interlocutor, Hayood Robinson, check out this Unbelievable episode Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 34: Killing the Unborn (A Christian View of Abortion)

We all have resources, whether money, time, talents, or skills.  How should we steward these resources?  In this episode, we conclude our series on stewardship by talking about work, debt, contentment, retirement, volunteering, industriousness, and laziness.  We conclude that as with all areas of life, we need to seek God's glory with our resources. Links: Check out the other episodes in the Stewardship Series Listen to Off Script 6: Consumerism or read this article Listen to Podcast 4: A Biblical Theology of Finance (Craig Blomberg) Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. 

Off Script 33: Stewarding Your Resources

How does Christianity intersect culture? Resist the conforming pressure of this age by learning how the biblical worldview answers our greatest longings better than naturalism or postmodernism. Off Script is a round table discussion with Sean Finnegan, Daniel Fitzsimmons, and Rose Rider. In addition to Christian apologetics and cultural analysis, topics include discussions about tattoos, refugees, power, money, TV, consumerism, work ethic, and much more. Off Script is part of Restitutio.

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Off Script

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