Are conspiracy theories poisoning Christianity? - AUTHENTIC with Shawn Boonstra
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- The internet has supercharged the spread of conspiracy theories and urban legends both old and new. Many Christians have been caught up in its web. But their evangelizing, as Shawn Boonstra explains, has little to do with the core message of the Gospel. It may even be poisoning the faith for others. This week on Authentic: a plea for a return to Bible basics in a conversation that's gone off the walls and down weird rabbit holes.
Website: vop.com/authentic
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About Authentic:
Host Shawn Boonstra makes it easy to understand how philosophy and biblical principles can help you live an authentic life in the 21st century.
We talk about real existential questions-stuff that everybody wonders about: the meaning of life, purposeful living, the nature of human existence, the thoughts of great philosophers and how those have impacted our culture and how we live-the nature of love, relationships, emotions, self-awareness . . . But most of all, we explore what it means to live an authentic human existence.
New episodes on Saturdays. Watch on RUclips and a growing list of North American TV networks and stations.
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Both you and Scott are in my prayers. I am dealing with the same issues with my wife, son, and daughter. It is so painful to see those you love suffering. Pray for us, too!
Please pray for my beloved friend Scott who is suffering from mental health affliction and addiction. No one can help but God and I have been praying that He would deliver, heal and save my friend. Scott is a kind soul that needs God's intervention. Please cry out to God with me for my friend and for me.
Same name same issues doubled prayers.
@@curbweasel praying for Scott 🙏🏾
Check out professor Walter veith. There are some things in history that sound like conspiracy. Thanks bro
Thanks! As one who has fallen prey/indulged in this, but knows the Word enough to know you are right, this is very good! Things that really did need to be said.
Please pray for my son Antonio, who is chained in his mind to the evil one. He said he sees demons walking everywhere and is a slave to drugs. He said his family is dead because we don't bless his lifestyle.
Love authentic. Always inspiring
Thanks for speaking out about keeping the Gospel simple and Christ first!
Always encouraging and uplifting Shawn. Thank you for your ministry!
Happy Sabbath Brother Boonstra. Truer words have not been said. Thank you for your commitment to God's Word and your desire to share it. May the Lord richly bless you.
I don't "invite people to church" any more. If you want someone to grow in faith, that's probably the LAST place I would take them.
Please pray for my friend Delores Nelson, she was late diagnosed with autoimmune syndrome, Lupus. She has liver, kidney and heart disease and is hospitalized from June 8th, spending time in ICU. Whenever she will be discharged she will be going to a rehab facility 😢😮😢
@@orajanebell5049 I have a mild version of the same thing. Thank you all for keeping me also in your prayers as I pray for sister Nelson.
Thanks pastor for this, it was actually shared with me by a friend. We are from Uganda east Africa. But some I see in my church pin it all on Ellen White, how can someone draw a dividing line, when they claim it's in the spirit of prophecy?
Amen!!!!
That was a great episode. I do struggle with my emotions and guilt at times and when I do talk to someone, I often quote certain verses or I try to keep it simple and not make it seem self serving. However, with the childhood bullying that you endured from morning recess til 3:00 when it’s time to go home, at least you didn’t have to go home worrying about how you’re gonna get through the rest of the school year without getting jumped on. I’d say you were lucky, my childhood, after moving to St. Louis, was a never ending nightmare. Or at least it felt like it was.
This was really relavent for me
"the kooks and the crackpots" indeed... It's a minefield on some ministry pages and I feel bad for the people (often pastors) who don't have moderators to deal with the trolls, who are clearly there to cause trouble. Move along, people 🙄😞🙏🙏 Sometimes I try to contribute, and sometimes I have to just keep on scrolling... I enjoyed your examples and witticisms, as well as the insights. We have to pray for wisdom and discernment daily (hourly?!) 🙏
If you think ministry pages are bad, go read the comment section of "Dahb007". He uploads loony crap every other day FULL of conspiracies, and almost all of the comments are crazy, end-of-the-world christians screaming that the sky is falling and joe biden is the ant-christ
Some ‘truths’ evolve over time. Christianity, by virtue of its doctrines, is not immune to these developments, and the following examples mark an intersection of concerns requiring assessment. What do Christians believe about UFOs? Are they demonic manifestations? . Is US support of Israel’s plausible genocide in Gaza a step towards reinstatement of the third temple, the ushering in of Armageddon and the ‘rapture?. For the latter, some evangelicals entertain these theories as doctrine while others ( including some Christians) reject them as unsound - even conspiracy theories. Therefore, some conspiracy theories merit discussion in Christian circles because the issues they raise impinge on their own doctrines, which can seem just as bizarre and disturbing as the conspiracy theories themselves.
THANK YOU Shawn
May God bless you and your ministry.
Grace and Peace,
Aaron
Grow this show! Share it with a conspiracy Christian you know!
I love the line here about though there's things in the Bible we might disagree on, how we're saved is not one of them.
That bit about the slave girl reminded me of when Jesus silenced the demons in possessed people. He didn't want to be announced by the wrong side. Bad advertising is aleays bad advertising. Thanks for the video Shawn
Please pray for my daughter who has ear impairment on her other side of the ear. She can't hear words from far distant & my son who is 11 years old also have problems with growth. He's testicals did not decend when he was born and he's growth is slow & he's got impairment on speaking words .
Please pray 🙏 for them.
1. My daughter.
Glays Mipari.
14 years old.
2. My son.
Kenzie Mipari ,
Jr.
God bless you.
Needed that, focus on the wrong thing instead of God.
Thank you for explaining things so clearly. Love your videos. Please keep up the wonderful work you do and God Bless you.
I joined the church prior to the pandemic, and when that came in, I made a mistake of prophesying to a friend something crazy that I had heard about the United States and how the pandemic was going to turn things favourable for some prophecies to occur. Later on, I learned that that goes against the expectation of God because when our prophecies are not fulfilled that discredits our ministry. So we are not to speculate, but only to share the light that is clearly indicated in the Word of God.
I wish people would avoid the topic of politics. When they talk about "the woke" being what's wrong with our society, they're actually talking about me as the problem. One very important thing that I see missing from our congregations seems to be the ability to say, "I'm sorry for what I did to you." They're quick to point out that if a member doesn't forgive another member, then they're soul is in danger of hellfire. It seems that no one is willing to compromise their own ego. I was pleading with our little church one Sabbath morning that as the time of Jesus' 2nd Advent nears that we should meet more often and get to know each other more closely. In response, one young husband and father began loudly proclaiming what he saw as some of my character defects. I was confused and deeply hurt. I no longer attend that church in person. Praise the Lord that they use zoom now. But don't think for a moment that it was only one incident that caused me to stop attending that church personally. I have been lied about, gossiped about, had church members making my dad feel unwelcome when, by a major miracle of the Lord, he wanted to start coming to church. I have been screamed at by a woman who didn't let me get half a sentence out when she found me alone in the basement of the church after church services one day. There is so much that makes me want to stop going to this church. The last thing I want to hear is an excuse for the nut bags that Satan uses on a regular basis. We have a leader who will not so much as consider the idea of what could turn into a confrontation when I approached him about some of these things. He told me that she was the most educated person in the church. I'm very discouraged, but I still pray abominably and still attend the Bible studies and services online through zoom. I'm not far from giving it all up. I struggle with depression and anxiety enough as it is. I don't need the immature stuff that goes on in the local church. I just need God to move and to get us all ready so that we can do his will and forget about ourselves. I appreciate any prayers
The video addresses important issues for Christians about focusing on their core biblical beliefs about salvation and the need to avoid being caught up in over-analysing questionable official narratives or counter theories that can be both distracting to themselves as well as repellent to non-believers. Here are a few observations:
1. Abuse of labels.
The term 'conspiracy theory' is indeterminate and liable to be used dismissively and perjoratively against those who question or reject an orthodox position- including whistleblowers, dissidents, investigative journalists and religious freedom advocates. The polarity generated by some of their held positions is well recognised.
2. Christianity's conspiracy theories.
While it might not seem obvious to Christians, Christianity itself cherishes 'conspiracy theories' as points of doctrine, the most notable of which is the belief in what may be termed a 'Great Controversy' between two diametrically opposed spirit beings- God and Satan. In the eyes of non-believers that idea seems so fanciful and irrational as to render such believers conspiracy theorists of the highest order in an already crowded space. Yet in contradistinction, such Christian adherents would readily defend the title of being conspiracy realists. Thus, they believe their brand of conspiracy to be true based on biblical evidence while its deniers stand on the wrong side of the truth and history.
3. The challenge of verifying "facts".
Upholding the above world view makes the tasks of proselytising and discernment of conspiracy theories challenging. Even when available, the tools for establishing their veracity can be a two-edged sword. For example, recourse to self-styled fact checkers leads to mixed verdicts: the allegations of fake moon-landings are declared false, but the theory of evolution is accepted as true. Those who reject the conclusions of these arbiters of truth lay themselves open to the charge of being irrational, unscientific, and sceptical of authority. In response, those holding counter positions accuse the custodians of official narratives of using selective evidence influenced by vested interests, money, ideology, partisanship and in some cases, malevolence.
Today these conflicts manifest in the realms of climate change, vaccine safety, evolutionary theory- all of which purport to be supported by ‘the science’.
4. Assessing propaganda.
Narratives based on historical interpretations are influenced by dominant political ideology and resistance to them may be seen by the establishment defenders as counterfactual, even seditious. Media propaganda exemplifies this: claims that the Huns bayoneted babies during the First World War; that communists, not Nazis, started the Reichstag Fire; the Gulf of Tonkin incident was not a false flag operation in the Vietnam war.
Consider how long it took for revelations about the obfuscation and collusion of Big Tobacco to emerge, and the incalculable harm it caused to public health in the meantime.
With the passage of time a historical reassessment can render accepted orthodoxies false thereby confirming the validity of the original scepticism.
5. Evolving perceptions
Perceptions can be altered by government imprimatur to create new orthodoxy: the UFO phenomenon is examined publicly in the U.S Congress lending it credibility; the U.S Congress equates support for Palestinians with anti-semitism- thus satisfying the demands of lobbyists such as AIPAC and Christian evangelicals. ‘Joining the dots’ in these events is a rational exercise leading to logical conclusions: UFOs may exist after all; and the U.S-Israel relations are influenced by determined, highly influential lobbyists some of whom serve the interests of the Military Industrial Complex.
6. Christian scepticism.
Healthy scepticism, rather than contrariness or gullibility, can be a key driver challenging official narratives. For some Christians in particular, the theological premise that "Satan deceives the whole world" (Rev 12:9) provides the incentive not to be 'ignorant of Satan's schemes' ( 2 Cor 2:11). On that basis, some theories about conspiracies may be plausible and worth consideration .
7. Controversial theories merit attention.
The mentioned case excamples highlight the sometimes lack of clear distinction between truth and falsehood. Some truths about conspiracies only emerge after a long period of time as revelations about Big Tobacco have shown. Christianity, by virtue of its doctrines, is not immune to these developments, and the earlier examples mark an intersection of concerns requiring assessment. What do Christians believe about these matters, and should they talk about them?. Are UFOs demonic manifestations?. Is US support of Israel’s plausible genocide in Gaza a step towards reinstatement of the third temple, the ushering in of Armageddon and the ‘rapture?. For the latter, some evangelicals entertain these theories as doctrine while others ( including some Christians) reject them as unsound - even as conspiracy theories.
8. Conclusion.
Some controversial theories merit discussion in Christian circles because the issues they raise impinge on their daily lives as well as on their doctrines, which ironically, are also prone to intense debate and can seem no less bizarre and disturbing than the conspiracy theories themselves. As with doctrines, there is a time and place for their discussion.
Wish there was a Dutch subtitle so i can share the video with my mother-in-law.
"Inherit the Wind"? Jack Lemmon gets dressed down for attacking George C. Scott in court? "Have you ever believed in anything"?
Thank you so much for this. I have shared it on my FB page in the hope that there ate some of my friends that will listen to the common sense the Spirit has passed on Thru you.
I am so glad you brought this issue that is plaguing our churches. It has to be told. Thank you.
Another great program, thank you pastor Shawn.🌹❤️🙏May God continue to bless you all.
So grateful for helping me find the words to express concern for a family member going further and further away from God.
Happy Sabbath everyone,
God bless you all at Authentic for presenting a simple, straight forward message.
I have been blessed.🙏🏽
Deut.32:36 compared to Rev.13:16??
Thank you for addressing this very real problem. There are still people among us who value these theories over the Three Angels' Message and the Great Commission. It's nice to know where to find counsel in the Word of God in dealing with these individuals.
Truly inspired episode. Thank you
Amazing
Amen Pastor Shawn. Priority A personal relationship with Jesus
Thank you, Pastor.
This was awesome. I’ve shared it with friends and I’ve watched it multiple times. Can’t wait to hear more!
Very Good! This presentation must go viral. I am doing my part by sharing with our church.
Thank you once again for a very insightful message. May God continue to bless you and your ministry as well as your family.
Prayed.
If I were your mother, I’d be so proud of you! Thankful for your message even though there can’t be pride-humble joy at getting to hear great messages. I’m 70. That’s soooo not old! But in my life I have had a lot of kooky tendencies to overcome. Your commentary is so understanding while being almost pithy and very to the point.
Another great one Shawn. Thanks be to God!
In the last few years during the pandemic we saw the rise of more subtle and insidious forms of conspiracy theories being embraced by many church members and even pastors.
"The science: is always right, isn't it? Therefore, you should believe in 'the science' of evolution and climate change. If you don't, are you a science denier and therefore a conspiracy theorist?
Happy Sabbath thank you for a great video🙏
Happy Sabbath Everyone!!
Thank you for presenting this wonderful truth. Authentic is fantastic
I want to ask you a question, the Bible says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that he was raised from the grave that you be saved, and God said that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever shall believe it in him shall be saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 for by faith you are saved through grace it is a gift of God not of yourselves lest any man should boast, so how do you talk to people who say that you have to keep his commandments, that if you love him you will keep his commandments? People say that if you don't keep the Sabbath you're not saved that you're not going to heaven, how do you combat against that?
Gives us something to think about, for sure. Great episode.
Great message!
Funny not mainstreem being a problem or is the narrow way really correct? When we learn to love God and get closer to Him He can will innus of His good pleasure, we may love also oùr fellow mankind. Gods kingdom is real with love in it.
Thank you
Agreed.
I've been sda for 20 years I have apprehension over members continually quoting Ellen White knowing they are oblivious of church history or as Doug bachelor said in his last presentation on Ellen " of course there is A cult in the church " .
For instance does the church believe in being saved post tribulation? Or does the church believe in pre tribulation rapture as Ellen White and the 1888 committee at the general conference?
Does the church believe in the book of revelation beings fulfilled or does it believe Christ could have returned in 1893 or indeed anytime since then ?
I could go on ad nausem detailing the scriptural contradictions between the two positions. Needless to say I struggle greatly and have difficulty and give offense and truthfully taking offense often when I ask these very questions in church. Any correspondence would be appreciated.
Be well with the lord.
I just seek truth. I don't push it on anyone, however I know the truth and I will share it.
The truth is explicit in the scriptures.
The truth is discernable without the scriptures if you have understanding.
The truth is that you are wrong. You don't have understanding. Stop putting your opinions out there Brother.
Ellen G White was a Methodist so she would have some of those beliefs but she was inspired by God and her works are positive and true which is why we quote her. If you believe otherwise then okay, she would actually be happy you did since she encouraged people to read theological works for knowledge.
@@justanindigoplanet sir I'm not sure you understand the gravity of the situation, either the church believes that which it teaches which is the holy scriptures, or it believes in the FAILED prophetic utterances of Ellen White, my POINT is that it CANNOT be both. If you perceive such discrepancies as irrelevant, I will anticipate and wait for a more definitive response. May the lord keep you and bless you.
@@jimblackwood8462 sir if I am wrong in what point please? Are you familiar with the 1888 controversy? Are you aware Ellen White prophecied Jesus's return in 1893? Are you sure you are aware Doug bachelor said there IS a cult in the church? Perhaps you would tell pastor Doug to keep his opinions to himself?.
@@johnschmidt792 I'm actually female and I don't think any Adventist believes in the rapture or that Jesus is coming on a defined date. Maybe some do but that is not taught by the church. The Adventist Manual has our beliefs stated, you can read that if you haven't. God Bless.
Preach it!!!!
Amen.
Thanks!
I don't know about Pat Robertson's book but are you saying that the idea of a coming new world order is an unfounded conspiracy theory?
Yes
@@StrangeScaryNewEngland Do you hold Christian beliefs?
How about Sunday worship as the mark of the beast??? Seventh Day Adventists are silly as heck!