I GOT OVERRUN by YouTube viewers this week. Some 220,000 of them. I have no idea why my video What Romans said about crucifixion attracts such a diverse crowd:
- Loving Christians
- Crazy drunk Christians
- Kind atheists
- Killer atheists who recommend suicide (for me)
- Muslims
- Muslim-haters locked and loaded
- Jews
- Jew-haters who missed that Jesus was Jewish
You get the idea.
They write comments. I think I got 2,000 or more this week. That’s not counting the 800 still waiting for me to review. I have filters that try to pause potentially mean-spirited stuff such as name-calling, cussing, and saying bad things about my mother. (You know who you are. Shame on you. Mother’s Day is just two weeks away.)
I ignore most critics who compare Jesus to the imaginary Easter Bunny, and who dismiss Christianity as wishful thinking or as a source of war or as a threat to humanity.
But I do get solid criticism and hard questions in the comments, too. I feel compelled to answer the folks sending those serious notes, even if it’s just a short reply.
Here are a few from this week, most in reaction to What Romans said about crucifixion or to my newest video, Resurrection of Jesus—why Christians believe.
“I’m a skeptic. However, I am truly searching for the truth. So, if God/Jesus really is real, that is something I would like to discover. I appreciate your honest approach.”
Steve: “Just keep searching honestly for the truth. Jesus had a famous line, one of many: Seek and you will find. Keep your head and your heart open. If you don’t find him, he’ll find you. My prayers are with you.”
Jenna, another viewer, added: “Read the Bible with an open heart and an honest desire for the truth, and it will be shown to you. I guarantee it.”
I got pushback when I explained that Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus because of the four Gospels and the Roman writers who mentioned Jesus, and because the disciples were willing to die rather than stop telling people the story of his resurrection.
“Anonymous writers, a historian who said ‘there are those who call themselves Christians’ decades after the death of Jesus, and people who were willing to die for something they believed in—like that never happened in any other religion. Sorry, not good enough for anyone with half a brain.”
Steve: “An eyewitness to the resurrection who’s willing to die for what he knows to be the truth isn’t comparable to a modern-day martyr willing to die for what he has been told is the truth. I’m sorry that’s not good enough for those dear folks you said have only half a brain. But as I said, there are more facets involved than the three you mentioned. Those may be processed by the other half of a brain, though researchers haven’t really mapped the brain well enough to distinguish what part does what. Their research seems to show that both halves share the processing duties.” (I sometimes get a bit snippy. Bad habit, I know.)
“It is an intellectual embarrassment that so many gullible people still believe in the mythology written by ancient superstitious peasants who were so ignorant about the world they were baffled by where the sun went at night. It is easy to see that since they were completely unable to understand the origin and nature of the world why they would invent magical beings as an explanation. But it is a palpable absurdity clinging to such ancient mythology in this day and age.”
Steve: “Not all Christians understand the Bible alike. Some take all the stories literally. Others don’t. Those others probably don’t believe there was a worldwide flood around 6,000 years ago. Many Christians have no problem with the Big Bang theory of creation because they figure God pulled the trigger. The core of Christianity, I believe, is the teaching to love the Creator and the Creation, which we’re supposed to take care of. I’m talking about protecting the planet and those on it…especially those at risk. Peace to you.”
You’re welcome to join the discussion. I count on other Christians to help me respond in meaningful ways to these folks. I don’t have the time to do it all alone. Some responses take some research.
If you’ve ever had my back as a YouTube wingman when the critics roared, God bless you. I count on cavalry.
Here’s my video channel. If you get some spare time, pick a video, scout out the comments, and find a viewer who needs a response.
Have a great weekend. I’m looking forward to a little grandpa time with a granddaughter.
We like to believe history is written in stone. But the truth is that history — like our own personal story — tends to edited by our collective subconscious to tell whatever story we want to tell. If you want to believe, for instance, that the founding fathers of the USA were trying to create a Bible based society, you read history one way. If you want to believe that our country was created by secular humanists working with the social philosophy of John Locke, you read the history a little differently.
Unfortunately the internet has ushered in an era of absolutists. This the way it is and if you disagree with me you’re an idiot.
It doesn’t surprise me that you find yourself attacked whenever you present a Christian view of history, Steve. It’s not because you’re wrong. It’s just that you’ve stuck your neck out where the long knives await.
That’s a fine description of the Great Commission. Stick your neck out where the long knives wait.