Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, was struck by a headline this morning, “America's Belief in God Hits New Low.” And this as church attendance falls precipitously. Vice President Kamala Harris pontificates that Christians can support abortion without transgressing Christian principles. She’s either ignorant or incorrigibly dishonest. And the current administration neither condemns nor prohibits demonstrations against U. S. Supreme Court Justices and their families, as President Biden gleefully anticipates a mini-revolution if states regain the right to vote on abortion once again. It’s one thing to curse the darkness—it’s another to build a lighthouse in the midst of the gathering storm. The broader culture is in the midst of a “great awokening”—but all of that can change by another Great Awakening in the church. The power of the Holy Spirit can animate the Christian church such that it no longer continues to decline but increases and becomes again a leavening force in the culture. It happened in the first century—it can happen again in the twenty-first. But that means you as a follower of Christ must recognize the incredible opportunity before you of making a difference for time and for eternity. See Erin Doherty, “America's Belief in God Hits New Low,” Axios, June 17, 2022, https://www.axios.com/2022/06/17/belief-god-low-gallup-poll; Leif Le Mahieu, “Survey Shows Fewer Americans Believe In God Than Ever Before,” Daily Wire, June 18, 2022, https://www.dailywire.com/news/survey-shows-fewer-americans-believe-in-god-than-ever-before; Sarah Arnold, “Kamala Harris Insists Abortion Has Nothing to Do With Religious Beliefs,” Townhall, June 18, 2022, https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/06/18/kamala-harris-says-support-for-abortion-does-not-require-people-to-abandon-their-faith-n2608954.

Ignatius of Antioch said that "Christianity is greatest when it is hated by the world." Facing an overwhelmingly dark and hostile culture, Rome's early Christians took the steps necessary to transform it—laying the foundation for a Judeo-Christian culture that changed civilization for centuries to come. As we watch Western Civilization crumble, learning from the struggles and lessons of early Christians affords us hope that, by imitating their example, we may do the same for our culture today. Hank Hanegraaff is joined by James Papandrea, co-author of How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again, to discuss how Christianity might, once again, transform our dark and hostile culture. For information on how to receive, How Christianity Saved Civilization—–And Must Do So Again, for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-how-christianity-saved-civilization-and-must-do-so-again//Topics discussed include: The only acceptable intolerance in our society (6:50); should the church change? (8:40); are we smarter than our ancestors? the brilliance of the Church Fathers (11:15); the Bible and Holy Tradition (14:25); why were Christians so hated in the early Roman Empire? (16:50); Christianity, Constantine and the history of religious freedom (22:00); is it self-evident that all people are created equal? (28:35); perpetuation as opposed to innovation (30:35); how involved should Christians be in the community? (32:45); the true significance of the Trinity to the world (35:00); is there a difference between abortion and infanticide? (37:35); the parallels between widows, orphans and the Eucharist (40:50); envisioning a world without slavery (44:30); the impact that Christianity had on the importance of children and family (45:35); how Christianity revolutionized the way we look at work (47:35); should Christians give to those that beg? (49:45); why the idea that the Church is for everyone was radical (54:00); how can forgiveness revolutionize the world? (1:01:50); caring for the poor is not optional for Christians (1:04:00); why is the Christian view of death revolutionary? (1:06:45); how do we measure human value? (1:11:50); the purpose of hierarchy in the Church (1:13:55); how can the Church change the world again? (1:18:45); should Christians isolate themselves from society? (1:22:10); technology should never replace community—especially in the Church (1:24:10); we must speak up and defend the Church (1:26:00); Christians should be joyful (1:27:20); how can Christians—Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox—best embrace unity to save civilization? (1:28:25). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on reactions to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Calla Hales, at the Preferred Women’s Health Center, says, “Let all this rage radicalize you.” This rage we have already been seeing carried out in front of the homes of Justices of the Supreme Court. In the midst of all of this, we must remember that abortion remains legal in many states, including North Carolina. The hysteria in the wake of the possibility that the Court’s ruling could stop the painful killing of innocent human beings at just 65 million over nearly 50 years is palpable. This hysteria over what Mother Teresa once said was a “scourge” (referring to Roe v. Wade) that “deformed a great nation.” Hear people now shouting in the streets about women’s rights and reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy and the right to choose—but choose what? Choose to thwart the dignity and worth of pre-born children. To exacerbate inequality and perpetuate racial division. It’s well known that vast numbers of Blacks and Hispanics are being exterminated via abortion. So, many are upset that we may not have the opportunity to continue corrupting our medical system. Nothing in our U. S. Constitution has ever promoted lethal violence in the wombs of mothers. But with all of the rage—the rage that is supposed to radicalize the painful killing of innocent human beings—the reality is that abortion will continue on and this battle is not over. Those who value all human beings as bearers of the image of God must continue to stand for truth. Not with the rhetoric of pro-abortion advocates, but rather with reason, respect, and the continuous propagation of truth communicated in love—the truth that every human being has worth.

The U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 decision. In light of the Supreme Court ruling, we would like to present an encore presentation of Hank Hanegraaff’s conversation with Frederica Mathewes-Green on how she went from being a fierce advocate for abortion to becoming a pro-life advocate. When Roe v. Wade was decided almost half a century ago, Frederica Mathewes-Green believed that the landmark decision didn’t go far enough to ensure adequate abortion access for women. However, everything changed after she read an article titled “What I Saw at the Abortion” in a 1976 edition of the magazine Esquire that detailed the violent act against both woman and child that takes place when an abortion is performed. Simply put, there was no way that a peace-loving feminist could support this violence against both woman and child, and just like that she became a pro-life advocate. Frederica Mathewes-Green went on to become a pre-eminent voice for the lives of the unborn and—importantly—the mothers who carried these children. Almost everyone on both sides of the debate can agree on one thing—abortion is a miserable choice, as Frederica emphasized in Real Choices: Listening to Women, Looking for Alternatives to Abortion, “No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg.” Frederica joins Hank Hanegraaff to discuss the state of abortion in America as well as what she has learned during the decades of her distinguished career encouraging dialogue between pro-choice and pro-life advocates. For more information, visit www.equip.org. Topics discussed include: What changed your mind about abortion? (5:00); is abortion a violent act against women? (8:30); abortion fatigue—people just don’t want to talk about abortion (9:30); Roe v. Wade (11:00); snowflake children—when does life begin? (12:15); the importance of listening to the stories of women when discussing abortion (18:50); defending unborn children without making mothers the enemy (23:45); finding common ground—how can pro-choice and pro-life people better understand one another? (26:30); is public opinion changing on abortion? (30:25); most countries in the world have banned abortion after 12 weeks—making U.S. abortion policy one of the most liberal globally (33:20); “in the land where women kill their unborn children, every lesser love grows frail” (34:30); the extreme individualism of our culture (38:35); what would America look like without abortion? (40:30); what about adoption instead of abortion? (45:15); misconceptions about contraception (48:25); cheap sex—the devaluation of sex in a culture of free love (50:00); the difficulties of being a single parent and the benefits of a two-parent home (59:00); the war on adoption—why is adoption disparaged by abortion advocates? (1:02:40); what actually happens during an abortion procedure? (1:05:45); victims of unisex sexuality (1:12:10); the paradoxical aims of feminism (1:13:30); the problem with government welfare programs (1:18:15); the importance of a support system for mothers and children (1:20:00); the importance of listening to women’s stories about abortion (1:21:30); the issue of abortion in the early church (1:27:15); how should we talk about abortion? (1:30:00); responding to common pro-choice claims about abortion (1:34:00); the impact of Frederica Mathewes-Green’s book Real Choices: Listening to Women, Looking for Alternatives to Abortion (1:42:25).

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, observes that one is labeled Islamophobic for conveying plain old Islamic history or for pointing out Islamic denigration of Christianity. Yet, despite clear evidence to the contrary, Muslims will say that Christ was never crucified, and therefore He was never resurrected—and that is deemed to be perfectly politically correct in the current social environment. The oil-rich Middle East is full of enormously affluent men who are ready to use their wealth to aid jihad for the sake of Allah worldwide. Most prominent among cobelligerents is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has spent $100 billion—perhaps much, much, more—to spread their fundamentalist brand of Islamic jihadism around the globe. According to Thomas Friedman in a provocative New York Times piece titled “Our Radical Islamic BFF, Saudi Arabia,” the “title greatest ‘purveyors of radical Islam’ does not belong to the Iranians. Not even close. That belongs to our putative ally Saudi Arabia.” America enables Saudi terror lords to peddle their poisonous propaganda pills across the planet with impunity. And in coming months we’ll see more puff pieces in the media concerning Saudi Arabia as a result of the new LIV professional gold tour.For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, MUSLIM: What You Need to Know about the World’s Fastest-Growing Religion https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-muslim-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religion-det/

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the fact that while certainly not all evolutionists are racists, the theory of evolution is inherently racist. In The Descentof Man (1871), Charles Darwin speculated, “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilizedraces of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world.” For evolution to succeed, it is as crucial that the unfit die as that the fittest survive. Adolf Hitler’s philosophy that Jews were subhuman and that Aryans were supermen led to the extermination of six million Jews. In the words of Sir Arthur Keith, a militant anti-Christian physical anthropologist, “The German Führer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution.” While the evolutionary racism of Darwin’s day is politically incorrect today, current biology textbooks still promote vestiges of racism. For example, consider the inherently racist recapitulation theory—known by the evolutionary phrase ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, the odd idea that in the course of an embryo’s development, the embryo repeats or recapitulates the evolutionary history of its species. Not only is the recapitulation concept common fare in science curricula but has been championed in our generation by such luminaries as Carl Sagan. The fact that recapitulation is inherently racist is underscored by no less an evolutionary authority than Stephen Jay Gould, who lamented that “recapitulation provided a convenient focus for the pervasive racism of white scientists” in the modern era. How different the Christian worldview, according to which all human beings are created in the image of God. And in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).For further study, see Richard Weikart, Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-darwinian-racism-how-darwinism-influenced-hitler-nazism-and-white-nationalism-wa0822/

While a growing cacophony of Christian voices reject the historicity of Adam and Eve, others argue that Adam and Eve were members of a species of apes on which God effected physical and spiritual renovations. And some contend that Adam was created mortal, such that he would have died even if he had not sinned. Incessant innovations riddle the evangelical landscape and on this episode of Hank Unplugged Hank discusses this very Adamic denial and distortion that he has written about in the current new edition of the Christian Research Journal that will be shipping very soon!To subscribe and make sure you get this issue when released, please click herehttps://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/. For a special limited-time offer (Spring-Summer 2022) on gift subscriptions please click here.https://www.equip.org/product/may-june-2022-resource-wa/Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the Calvin Klein ad campaign for Mother’s Day 2022. In support of mother’s all over the world, Calvin Klein proudly spotlighted the realities of new families. The ad featured Roberto, due to give birth to his and Erika’s son Noah—“any day now.” So, here you have a picture of a pregnant man, lying next to his significant other—a woman, or at least someone who at first blush appears to be a woman (who knows?). How did this woman get this man pregnant? How does that work? Well, the reality is that it doesn’t. So, Roberto (a biological woman), transfigured into the appearance of a man, must have gotten pregnant through some type of extraordinary measure. One thing that Roberto cannot do, of course, is breast feed their forthcoming infant. Why? During his sex reassignment surgery, Roberto had a double mastectomy. His breasts are gone—although the scars left by their removal are still visible in the Calvin Klein ads. One thing that couldn’t be altered, of course, was Roberto’s hips. And thankfully so, otherwise it would be transcendently difficult to birth a baby. What Calvin Klein must surely know is that sex refers to biology. To the 23rd chromosome pair. To the DNA written into every cell of the human body. To the reality that biological sex is biologically unchangeable regardless of sex reassignment surgery. One thing is inviolate. While the CK ad features what looks like a man having a baby, the reality is that men do not have wombs—only mother’s do.See Christopher Tremogli, “Will Calvin Klein’s ‘Pregnant Man’ Be Able to Find Baby Formula?,” Washington Examiner, May 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/will-calvin-kleins-pregnant-man-be-able-to-find-baby-formula

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on a wonderful book he’s currently reading — How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again, by Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea. In the middle of the third century AD, the Roman Empire was not much older than the United States is now, and there are myriad parallels. The Roman economy was in dire straits — experiencing uncontrollable inflation, multiple wars, spending money on bureaucratic niceties and military expansion, suffering rampant unemployment and underemployment. Children were viewed as liabilities and routinely aborted, with infanticide deplorably common. Christians were hated for their perceived rigidity; and pagan Romans justified their intolerance of Christian virtues by calling the Christians intolerant. But eventually, the authors show, the Church overcame persecution and transformed the Roman Empire. The point of the book is that the Church of the 21st century can and must overcome the Great Awokening. How? The Church can overcome the new paganism just as Christianity overcame the old paganism of the Roman Empire by Christians refusing to deny the faith and by being willing to risk earthly comforts for eternal verities by faith working through love. Truth has triumphed in the past, and Christianity remains the only hope for transforming the world.See Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea, How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again (need link to CRI donation page)

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s decision to bar House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion. Because of her unrepentant support for legalized abortion on demand, the archbishop felt it necessary to do so for her personal protection — those who receive Christ’s body and blood unworthily eat and drink judgment to themselves (see 1 Corinthians 11:17–34, especially v. 29). Moreover, the eucharist is also an expression of the unity of the church. As such, Pope Francis, just last year, said that a pro-abortion politician “cannot take communion, because they are out of the community.” For his part, the archbishop in effect said that when practicing Catholics spurn moral reality in political discourse, souls and lives hang in the balance. And when souls hang in the balance, priests and bishops have an obligation to act. Pelosi, who says that she has studied this issue as an ardent practicing Catholic for a long time, would know full well what the Church’s historic stance on abortion is.For further study, see “What Is Abortion?” https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/what-is-abortion-2/ and “Annihilating Abortion Arguments,” https://www.equip.org/PDF/DA375.pdf.