WHTT Podcasts

Is Christianity A Religion of Peace or War?

With all the support from American evangelical Christians for America's serial wars, a stranger unaware of the teachings of Jesus might conclude that Christianity is primarily a religion of war and not of peace. Craig Hanson of We Hold These Truths, using a biblical approach, weighs the evidence on whether Christianity is a religion of peace or of war in this thought-provoking, 29-minute podcast. Craig looks more in-depth into a significant sermon series about how Christians, as followers of Jesus, should relate to the civil power over them. As a result of Dr. Boyd's sermon series, "The Cross & The Sword" (for an overview see the CNN segment from 2007: "God's Warriors: Dr. Greg Boyd"), 1000 of Boyd's 5000 congregants at Woodland Hills Church left. It appears that millions of evangelical Christians have welded the cross to the sword. The war nature of evangelical Christians is evidenced in the Land letter (see: "Christian Zionist Leaders: Hardly Peacemakers" and our podcast "The Three Ugly Faces of World Conflict").

The Three Ugly Faces of World Conflict

That the United States has a war based economy should be universally self evident but is not. Think of war at the apex of a three-sided pyramid. The first side is the powerful military/industrial complex that manufactures the war material and fights the wars. The second side is the Federal Reserve system and the international bankers that finance these wars. The third face is the wholehearted and fervent, patriotic support by the Christian right for these wars, particularly those to protect Israel. Chuck Carlson and members of We Hold These Truths discuss this three-sided pyramid in this 27-minute podcast. References: "The Federal Reserve's Role in Financing America's Wars," "The Cross & The Sword" sermon series by Dr. Greg Boyd shows how Christians have welded the cross to the sword (for an overview see the CNN segment from 2007: "God's Warriors: Dr. Greg Boyd,") and "Christian Zionism: The Tragedy & The Turning, Part I" exposes the false theology of Christian Zionism.