Our favorite Old Testament scholar is back to talk about the Book of Daniel. Dr. John Walton says the apocalyptic passages of Daniel—which deeply influenced those End Times charts popular among evangelicals—aren’t really predictive of the future in the way we think.
And the story of Daniel isn’t necessarily a manual for how Christians ought to live in a post-Christian society. Prepare to have your mind blown as you learn what apocalyptic visions in the Bible are really about. Also this week—how should Christians think about social welfare programs, slavery reparations, and guaranteed minimum income? Esau McCaulley brilliantly reframes the Easter story in light of the Black church’s experience. Plus, the excellence and etymology of Peeps.
I love this topic of how to best help impoverished people and the discussion around it. I also thought of 2 Thessalonians 3:10 in response to the question of the basis for "you can't help people who won't help themselves". I think everyone who is living in poverty needs help but not all need help in the form of money necessarily, although that is exciting that this study seemed to work out so well. Some people need mental help to correct faulty thought patterns which would be easier if formed in childhood, some do need discipline and/or motivation, and all need love, acceptance, and encouragement.
I wonder how the California study was able to accurately measure what people spent their…
On the topic "Why don't more evangelicals support more welfare spending?" I offer these comments: 1. Skye brought up the point of "love thy neighbor." That's a valid and compelling point for individuals and churches, yes. But I think a better concept for understanding the responsibility of government is justice, not love. Government rests on the use of force (try not paying your taxes or complying with a citation and see what happens!). Force and love are incompatible. 2. Some Christians may oppose welfare spending because they just don't care, or because that's the Republican Party position or for some other reason that's less than admirable. But others have looked at the evidence and have concluded that it is not as…
I too enjoy the silly side of the podcast (in addition to the thought provoking content!) Simply because I think that Phil will get a chuckle from this, please check out http://www.peepresearch.org/ to see the time spent studying the beloved Peeps
I started listening to this podcast because of the Race in America video. I recommend this podcast to people who may have grown up watching Veggie Tales and now their evangelical family will no longer talk to them because of politics.
The idea of worthy and unworthy poor has a long history in law in the UK and it was brought over to the US. It goes all the way back to the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_for_the_Relief_of_the_Poor_1601#:~:text=The%20Act%20for%20the%20Relief,system%20for%20England%20and%20Wales.&text=It%20was%20not%20a%20centralised,responsible%20for%20Poor%20Law%20legislation.)
Part of this law put the parish church in charge of administering the aid. Because some Parishes were wealthier than others, some poor would be turned down by poor churches, others might travel to wealthier parishes (gives new meaning to church shopping). In 1662, they amended the law that the parish responsible for helping you was the one you were on the roles for.
Then came poor houses/farms, which lead to work houses (to separate the unworthy from the worthy) and on…