Restitutio

Community is so important.  As so many continue to struggle with the ache of loneliness, anxiety about social encounters, and the gnawing pain of depression, we who belong to Christian communities have a huge opportunity and obligation to invite outsiders in, provide them a taste of God’s goodness, and welcome them with a spirit of genuine hospitality.  However, as soon as you begin reaching out to friends, coworkers, and neighbors, you may encounter a flurry of criticisms about Christianity.  “What about the crusades and the Spanish inquisition?” they may ask.  Or perhaps they’ll ask about pedophilia among priests or greedy mega pastors with private jets and multi-million dollar houses.  What can you say when these issues come up?  In this episode Daniel Fitzsimmons shares a about answering charges of hypocrisy as well as what authentic Christian community looks like. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 14 of the Why Christianity class. —— Links —— See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here More with Daniel Fitzsimmons Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— • Evil that is perpetrated by so-called Christians or in the name of Christianity is a reality that must be acknowledged and addressed. • God hates hypocrisy (1 John 4:20; James 1:22-25; 1 John 2:1-6) • There are many examples, both ancient and recent, of Christ-followers embodying his teachings of radical love, self-sacrifice, service and forgiveness. • The best example of what a Christian community looks like should be the one you set within your own community. People who are skeptical about the Christian faith will be persuaded more by how you treat those around you and in your church community than by rote recitation of the gospel message alone. • There are copious opportunities to live out Christ’s teachings within your church and community. • The defining characteristic of an authentic Christian community is love.

What is the proper role of your emotions?  Should you trust them?  How do you know when they are helping and when they are hurting?  Today we'll take a look at another exciting advantage that Christianity provides.  In this episode, you'll learn about the problems endemic to emotional reasoning, the robust biblical teaching about your heart, and how God provides us away to exercise self-control.  Even if these are not new concepts, I believe they provide fresh insights in our emotionally fraught time while helping us to lead better lives. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 13 of the Why Christianity class. https://youtu.be/M_6CuLEOTsM —— Links —— More information about KingdomFest (Sep 24-26, 2021) See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Cognitive Distortions----------------------- Emotional Reasoning- Catastrophizing- Overgeneralization- Dichotomous Thinking- Mind Reading- Labeling- Negative Filtering- Discounting Positives- Blaming Biblical View of the Heart---------------------------- The problem is worse than you think (Jeremiah 17.9; Mark 7.21-23)- We are the problem- Yet, God has provided a comprehensive solution both now and in the age to come Good News-----------1. New Birth- admit you are lost, believe in Christ’s death for you, accept God’s gift of salvation, repent, enter into covenant- he’ll give you a new heart (Ps. 51.1-2, 10)- regeneration via the spirit (Titus 3.3-7) 2. Sanctification- enkrateia ἐγκράτεια = “restraint of one’s emotions, impulses or desires, self-control” (BDAG); Proverbs 16.32; 12.16- God will help us through his spirit- (Proverbs 3.5-6; Galatians 5.16-23)- Jesus is our example (1 Peter 2.21-23)- ultimately we will benefit from a heart transplant (Ezekiel 36.24-28)

One of the most enduring problems we have faced throughout human history is tribalism.  From the Nazis to the Rwandan genocide, we’ve repeatedly seen the devastating results of group think and dehumanizing outsiders.  Although some Christian groups have tragically fallen into this sin, we don’t have to.  Christianity provides a better way.  We can draw upon our roots in scripture to live out a faith that recognizes insiders from outsiders while simultaneously inviting outsiders to become insiders.  Rather than excluding and shunning those who are different, we are called to love them and invite them in. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 12 of the Why Christianity class. —— Links —— See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Racial Inclusion —————– – glimpses in the Old Testament. Jethro, Rahab, Ruth, Jonah – Philip in Samaria – Philip with Ethiopian treasurer – Peter with Cornelius the Roman soldier – Antioch (Acts 11.19-26) – Barnabas and Paul’s missionary journey – the Jerusalem council – Paul’s 2nd and 3rd missionary journeys – see also Eph 2.11-16 and Rev 5.9-10 Gender Inclusion —————– – in a.d. 177, Celsus criticized Christianity, “It is only foolish and low individuals, and persons devoid of perception, and slaves, and women, and children, of whom the teachers of the divine word wish to make converts” (Origen, Contra Celsum 49) – Galatians 3.27-29 How to Treat Outsiders ———————– – love your neighbor as yourself – love your enemies – 1 Peter 2.11-15; 3.14-16; 4.12-16 – listen and be humble (Acts 17.11) – invite them to follow Christ (Luke 9.23-24) – if ANYONE will put Jesus first…then she or he is welcome to follow him – once God and his son begin to live in someone through the spirit, they will change him/her (sanctification)

Who are you and why does your life matter?  These two piercing questions get to the heart of your identity.  Our society in the West has increasingly embraced an internally discovered identity on the basis of individual passions.  Such expressive individualism is exciting to live out, especially if those around you push back, however, the resulting identity is both fragile and abrasive.  In contrast, the Christian identity begins with a surrender and an acceptance of who God says you are.  This received identity is both more durable and more loving. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 11 of the Why Christianity class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEEoHr42eGk —— Links —— See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Identity--------Sense of self—who are you and your understanding of yourself in relation to your family, friends, society, and the world. Sense of worth—your assessment of your personal value in life. Individualism--------------Expressive Individualism—a desire to pursue one’s own path but also a yearning for fulfillment through the definition and articulation of one’s own identity. It is a drive both to be more like whatever you already are and also to live in society by fully asserting who you are. • You be you; Be true to yourself• Follow your heart; Find yourself Christian Identity------------------Not outward or inward, but upward. Grounded in the immutability, the unconditional love, and the faithfulness of God. A secure sense of worth and value that is not dependent upon anything but God alone.

Let's face it, suffering is a major problem for those of us who believe in a good and powerful God.  How do you answer skeptics who challenge your belief in God because of the gratuitous suffering endemic in human history?  In this episode we'll explore some answers to this question offered by several worldviews before looking at how the Christian metanarrative offers hope. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 10 of the Why Christianity class. https://youtu.be/Lu-TyjXB-Nc —— Links —— More podcasts about suffering and evil See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Suffering---------Natural Evil—suffering that is caused by impersonal agents (e.g., hurricanes, famine, fires, illness, etc). Moral Evil—suffering that is caused by personal agents (e.g., murder, rape, torture, theft, slander, etc). The BIG Questions1) Why me?2) Where’s God?3) What does it mean? How do the 3 major categories of metanarrative answer these questions? Tri-Lemma----------• Is evil, evil?• Is God all good?• Is God all powerful?• Evil exists• God is omnibenevolent• God is omnipotent Critics: “Which of these do YOU deny?” Response: “How are they all true?”

Freedom and morality are two interrelated concepts that everyone has an opinion about. From a Christian perspective, we limit our freedom based on our received moral code. We believe that the restrictions the bible provides us are for our good; They are not the result of a capricious deity's arbitrary or stifling whims. In fact, we believe that the limits God places on our freedom lead to the best human flourishing available in our fallen world. After thinking through Christian freedom, we'll delve into the much more important question of moral motivation. Most people believe in right and wrong, but many of us lack the drive to chose the good over the convenient or self-serving course of action. In this episode we'll survey some of the popular moral systems out there, including classic systems such as virtue ethics, categorical imperatives, and utilitarianism as well as religious systems, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. Although we'll only scratch the surface, I hope you will find this approach useful when conversing with people who call into question your Christian moral commitments. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 9 of the Why Christianity class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D8wiyxxJOw —— Links —— More podcasts about Christian ethics See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library   —— Notes —— Jesus Explains Morality------------------------Mark 12:29-3129 Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 5 Biblical Reasons To Do the Right Thing----------------------------------------1. fear of God (Deuteronomy 6:1-2)2. duty (Ecclesiastes 12:13; Luke 17:10)3. personal/communal benefits/detriments (Psalm 7:14-16; Galatians 6:7-8)4. love (1 John 4:9-11)5. prophetic witness (1 Corinthians 6:1-3) Other Worldviews-----------------1. Atheisma. Virtue Ethicsb. Deontological Ethicsc. Teleological Ethics 2. Hinduisma. karma, rebirth 3. Buddhisma. life is suffering, eliminate desires 4. Islama. five pillarsb. Yawm al-Qiyamah

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 8 of the Why Christianity class. Last time we delved into the first two components of scripture's overarching story line: creation and fall.  These two explain where the world came from and what went wrong with it.  Today we'll consider the last two components: redemption and restoration.  These two tell us what God has done about the problems of our world already and what he yet plans to do in the future.  Taken together, these four elements of the Christian metanarrative provide a robust explanation that not only makes sense of the human experience, but also gives us purpose and hope. https://youtu.be/HxVEkcyeuAQ —— Links —— More podcasts with Jerry Wierwille See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Redemption-----------Redemption – Greek apolutrōsis, meaning “to release,” connoting the deliverance effected through the death of Christ from the retributive wrath of God and the merited penalty of sin. Eph 1:17—“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of his grace” Rom 8:24—“Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?” Restoration-----------Restoration – Greek apokatastasis, meaning “to return to a previous good state,” connoting the restoring of what was once good but has since been altered. Acts 3:21—“Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord's presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Jesus. He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.”  

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 7 of the Why Christianity class. So far in this class we have stuck to classic apologetics topics like reasons for God’s existence, the historicity of the resurrection, and the rationality of Christian epistemology.  Now we are going to shift gears and do some work on worldview.  One of the reasons Christianity appeals to someone is how it “works.”  In other words, from inside a Christian worldview life makes sense.  We understand where the world came from, how it got corrupted, what God has already done to remedy the situation, and what he still plans to do in the future.  This four stage metanarrative provides us with a framework to understand not only history, but also our place in the world.  Today we’ll focus on just the first half of the biblical metanarrative (creation and fall) and next time we’ll cover the second half (redemption and restoration). —— Links —— More podcasts with Daniel Fitzsimmons See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— What Are Metanarratives? ————————- An overarching story or storyline that gives context, meaning, and purpose to all of life; a worldview   Examples of metanarratives, or the “-isms” —————————————— • Marxism, capitalism, nihilism, atheism, agnosticism, enlightenment & scientism • Religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam etc…   Why are metanarratives useful? —————————— • Give structure to our existence • Give meaning and purpose to our lives • Help explain why things are the way they are, provide a lens through which to view and interpret the world • Metanarratives are comforting and allow us to think about other things besides the ostensible mystery of our existence   What is the Christian metanarrative? ————————————- • God created the world and all that is within it • God’s original design was that we be together in paradise, living in harmony with Him, the land and the animals • Through original sin – the fall – both man and earth became corrupted • The consequences of sin endure to this day and created the need for redemption

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 6 of the Why Christianity class. The Bible is such a strange thing. On the one hand, it looks like a big book, on the other hand, it’s a library of books. It’s loaded with very different kinds of literature from poetry and wisdom to history and prophecy. Dozens of people were involved in it’s production over centuries…and most important of all, it claims that the creator God inspired it all! In this presentation, Jerry Wierwille briefly covers what the Bible is, how Christians decided which books belong in it, how we transmitted it over the eons, and why other collections of books like the Apocrypha, Psuedepigrapha, and Gnostic Gospels didn’t pass muster. —— Links —— See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— How We Got the Bible ——————— Bible – from Greek biblia, meaning “books,” and then from the Latin biblia, meaning “book.” The Bible refers to the collection of sacred writings of the Christian Faith. Canon – from Greek kanōn, meaning “a rule or standard.” A canon refers to an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture. Criteria for Canonicity 1) Apostolicity 2) Orthodoxy 3) Catholicity Inspiration – from Greek theopneustos, meaning “God-breathed.” It refers to the origin and character of a writing as being authored by and produced according to God’s will. Supposed “Lost Books” of the Bible ———————————– Apocrypha – from Greek apokryphos meaning “hidden, concealed, obscure.” It refers to a body of writings that are considered noncanonical. Pseudepigrapha – writings with anonymous authorship that are falsely attributed to other individuals.

  Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 5 of the Why Christianity class. How would you go about convincing someone that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened?  Now, what if that person didn't recognize the scriptures as inspired by God.  How would you go about making a case for Jesus' resurrection in that kind of scenario?  In this presentation, you learn four key pieces of historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, including (1) the honorable burial, (2) the empty tomb, (3) appearances, and (4) resurrection belief.  You'll also become familiar with competing theories and how to respond to them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uax_VwrUS94 —— Links —— See other episodes of Why Christianity More episodes about defending your faith here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library —— Notes —— Honorable Burial-----------------1. multiple, early, independent sources say he was buried in a known marked tomb (1 Cor. 15.4, Mark 15.46, John 19.42) 2. Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be a Christian invention since he is not one of the disciples, but a member of the Sanhedrin, the very body that condemned Jesus3. no competing burial story exists (even enemies never claimed a common grave or that Joseph’s grave was inaccurate) Empty Tomb-----------1. several independent sources attest to empty tomb (Mark 16.6, Luke 24.5/Acts 13.29-31, John 20.2)2. a movement founded on Jesus’ resurrection could not get far if his body was still in a known tomb…otherwise early opponents could just bring Jesus’ corpse out disproving resurrection3. that women first discovered the empty tomb is unlikely a Christian invention since Josephus tells us women weren’t even allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a court of law4. the Gospels lack marks of legendary development and theologizing in the resurrection narratives (cp. to Gospel of Peter)5. the earliest Jewish polemic, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep” (Matthew 28.13) presupposes an empty tomb Appearances-----------1. the early creed of 1 Cor. 15.3-7 contains a list of eyewitnesses2. the Gospel appearance narratives contain earmarks of eyewitness testimony and their divergences exclude the possibility of collusion3. that the disciples failed to anticipate or believe in Jesus’ resurrection even after they found out about the empty tomb is unlikely to be a Christian invention4. James & Paul both did not believe in Jesus as Messiah, but became leaders in the church after they claimed they saw him Resurrection Belief--------------------1. belief that God raised Jesus from the dead is unlikely to be a Chr