Comments: Letter to the Editor for submission next week

Comment

Comment by James Robertson on January 16, 2013 at 5:22am

Comment by Dave Gosse on January 15, 2013 at 5:00pm

The published version:

Anti Christian Bigotry

Is it only me or has anyone else noticed that each Christmas and Easter the "education" channels, (you know them, the ones who run programming promoting alien visits, Nostradamus, Stonehenge, the Mayan calendar, and every other obscure belief), start running programs which question the well-documented history of Christianity.

I don't mind critical questions; critical questions have motivated my own inquiries about Christian history. What bothers me is the utter hypocrisy and, dare I say, dishonesty of those who present obscure speculation as fact while disparaging one of the best documented events in ancient history.

As I said, I don't mind the criticism. Critical questions guide and focus my own search for answers. And what I have learned while trying to answer the questions may surprise some readers. Very little of the New Testament is questioned on historical grounds. Even when scholars reject the biblical interpretation of the events, they agree they are historically accurate.

There may be some excuse for questioning the miracles, even though they are well supported by the testimony. However, that is not my complaint. What troubles me is a bias, or prejudice, which presents itself as scholarly reserve but is, in fact, anti-Christian bigotry. "The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them." Chesterton

As early as the late 1800's archaeologists in the Middle East discovered that the accounts in the New Testament accurately described the area 1st Century. They realized that within 100 years after the events described the area had changed enough that writing such detailed accounts 100 years after the event was effectively impossible. This means the New Testament had to be written within living memory of the events described.  The conclusion is made even more certain by references to the events in other writings, many of them authored by hostile witnesses.

Yet, more than a century after the archaeological evidence was published, and with even more discoveries adding support to the conclusion, we still have so-called "scholars" claiming the books were written hundreds of years after the fact. Either these "scholars" are deceiving their audience or they are deceiving themselves.
I might even excuse the television networks which broadcast this nonsense, if they provided balanced reporting, but they do not. The same people who promote naïvely superstitious belief for Stonehenge, aliens, or the Mayan calendar regularly propagate a biased and unjustified skepticism of actual history.

There are literally thousands of documents and artifacts available to honest researchers. We do know, with near certainty, what has happened at the time. We have eye-witness testimony with archaeological support. Yet so-called "educational" television gives us speculative nonsense mingled with conspiracy theory. That's not education; that's not even information; it's anti-Christian propaganda.

Dave Gosse,
Camrose

Comment by Dave Gosse on January 15, 2013 at 7:21am

Hi Becky.  Good to hear from you.  God bless.  Thanks for the words of support.  I thought it time to point out the obvious since not everyone can see their hand in front of their face, particularly non-Christians.  Some of the "discoveries" and their "interpretation" are mind-numbingly idiotic. 

I remember the first time I really noticed the bias, shortly after entering the church.  An archaeologist in Israel was talking about their work in ruins of ancient hill communities (small villages and isolated houses) dated as from the time of Judges.  His big discovery?  Small idols of "hearth-gods" discovered in the ruins.  The interpretation?  It seems that Hebrew culture wasn't as homogenous or monotheistic as the Bible would have us believe.  Some of the early Hebrews practiced polytheism.

I remember my jaw hitting the floor and thinking, as it fell, "Which Bible is this guy reading?"  Most of the OT is about the fickleness and idolatry of the Hebrews.  Finding some hearth-gods in ruined houses is exactly what one would expect if one read the narrative as it was written. 

 

BTW.  If anyone wants to send this to their local paper pleas feel free to do so.  I would advise putting it over your own signature or that of some other local because the paper generally wants to call and confirm the submission and they are more inclined to print letters from locals.

Comment by Becky on January 15, 2013 at 6:43am

Oh, yes. I have noticed this. There's always some "new" "discovery" to cast doubt on Christianity in the weeks leading up to Christmas and Easter. My poor husband now has to endure my standard comment at least twice a year: "Fancy how they put that on the news just in time for Christmas/Easter!"

Thanks for sharing this letter. (I'm going to print it out and memorize it.)  ;-)

Comment by Dave Gosse on January 2, 2013 at 8:48pm

Thank you Carolyn.  I have been wanting to write somethiing like this for some time now.  I hope, God willing, to write more of the same, defending the Gospels in the popular press.  We have more resources at our fingertips today than any other Christians in history.  The internet has entire libraries digitized and books I used to look for years to find in used book shops are available for free on the 'net.  I have several of Dr. Maier's books and videos (but they cost money). 8^>  God bless, Dave

Comment by Carolyn Burns on January 2, 2013 at 8:46pm

I agree with you. Thank you for expressing what I too have been aware of even on PBS which used to be my favorite source for  balanced news and informative fair discussion  and education without commercials, .  Christians tend to be reticent to  write and  express their feelings about the discrimination and  biased  views of their beliefs in the public media. Does this have something to do with being brought up to "Turn the other cheek?!!  Let's face it ,  we Christians   don't tend to apply to such media  for our work , nor would we  be hired, This  concentrates  the bias all the more in such enterprises.   Am grateful for what Christian movie companies ARE producing these days especially in the  ProLife arena like October Baby.( Also  the "Fireproof" series.)  Our local author Paul Meyer, WMU emeritus Prof of ancient Bible History has had some success with his books on such. Could it also have something to do with this being the"End Times"?!!  Paraphrasing the 1997 LCMS President's Commission on the Sanctity of Life:  " Witnessing to the  truth of the Word (Respect for Life)  is not just an intellectual belief. It is a personal commitment which recognizes that other people will not be convinced of moral seriousness regarding these issues until that seriousness is evidenced in actions.. The protection of the innocent, aged , and handicapped is, therefore, both a social goal and an individual  responsibility."    Thanks you again for speaking out and getting it into  the media. More of us should do the same about all the wrongs we see perpetrated against The Word. 

Comment by James Robertson on December 29, 2012 at 12:49pm

Thanks for the opportunity to practice my editing and proofreading skills.

Comment by Dave Gosse on December 29, 2012 at 12:43pm

Update

Is it only me or has anyone else noticed that each Christmas and Easter the “education” channels, you know them, the ones who run programming touting aliens, Nostradamus, Stonehenge, the Mayan calendar, and every other mythical belief system, start showing programs which question the historical foundation of Christianity. I don’t mind critical questions; they have motivated my own inquiries about Christianity. What bothers me is the utter hypocrisy and, dare I say, dishonesty of those who present obscure speculation as fact while disparaging one of the best documented events in ancient history.

As I said, I don’t mind the criticism.  Critical questions guide and focus my own search for answers. What I have discovered may surprise some readers. Very little of the New Testament is questioned on historical grounds. Even when they reject the biblical interpretation of these events, most scholars think they are historically accurate.

There may be some excuse for questioning the miracles, although they are well supported by the testimony.   However, that is not my complaint. What troubles me is a bias, or prejudice, which presents itself as scholarly reserve but is, in fact, anti-Christian bigotry. “The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them... If I say, “Mediaeval documents attest certain miracles as much as they attest certain battles,” they answer, “But mediaevals were superstitious”; if I want to know in what they were superstitious, the only ultimate answer is that they believed in the miracles.” Chesterton

By the late 1800’s archaeologists in Judea and Turkey discovered that the accounts in the New Testament accurately described the 1^st Century Middle East. Within 100 years after the events described the area had changed enough that writing such detailed forgeries was effectively impossible.

Yet, more than a century after the archaeological evidence was published, and even more discoveries having confirmed the conclusion, we still have so-called “scholars” claiming the books were written hundreds of years after the fact. Either these “scholars” are deceiving their audience or they are deceiving themselves.

I might even excuse the television networks which broadcast this nonsense if they provided balanced reporting, but they do not. The same people who promote naïvely superstitious credulity for Stonehenge, aliens, or the Mayan calendar regularly propagate a biased and incoherent skepticism of actual history.

There are literally thousands of documents and thousands of artifacts available to honest researchers. We do know, to a fair degree of accuracy, what has happened in the past. We have eye-witness testimony and official reports. And so-called educational television gives us superstitious nonsense mingled with conspiracy theory. That’s not education, that’s not even information; it’s propaganda.

Comment by Dave Gosse on December 29, 2012 at 12:30pm

Thank you James.  That cleans it up quite nicely.  Other thoughts welcome. 

Comment by Dave Gosse on December 29, 2012 at 12:24pm

Hi Rev. Mittelstadt

The letter will submitted to the local weekly.  My letters are invariably published as the editor thinks I am a competent writer.  I was a little aggravated when I began the letter so it may read as somewhat belligerent.  I tend to belligerence on occasion... 8^>  The intent of the letter is to undermine the authority of so-called educational television when it reports on Christianity.  In fact, I have learned to trust almost nothing which appears on "educational" television since most of it is either false or misrepresentation.

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