One of my biggest issue with Calvinism, is the vanity and callousness of the limited atonement. Calvinism is a theology that really only works (or is appealing in whatever way that people are drawn to it) if you believe that you are part of the 'persevering saints'. In his video the Redeemed Zoomer himself discussing election by saying ‘you received a free gift of grace and your neighbor is just receiving what they deserve’. In context he says that because the gift is undeserved you shouldn’t boast or think you are better than others.
But I think the fact that he is just casually dropping that his neighbor deserves eternity hell, without really interrogating why your neighbor who lends you their hedge trimmer and brings cookies to every bake sale, deserves an eternal separation from God, is a problem.
Is there really a good reason for anyone to suffer if God loves everyone and is powerful enough to save them? If God created people why didn’t he just create them good? I mean if God is the ultimate author why write a story with so much suffering? Why leave some zoomers unredeemed? If you knew for a fact that you were NOT one of the elect, would you think the same way?
It's easy to say that everyone is deserving of a fate, if you are confident you are exempt. I can joke that it’s okay to eat meat sometimes if I’d let a shark eat me, but to be clear I really have no plans of letting a shark eat me, and don’t think I would make that joke if I regularly swam in the ocean with sharks.
The fact that they would sit and argue that God is fundamentally good, while also saying God randomly choses some people to save and lets others suffer, is crazy to me. Its a level of mental gymnastics that can only be done by someone who is convinced of his own election could really argue. If you knew that you were not chosen, and that God created you and was going to send you to hell for eternity because of the way God made you, would you really still call God loving?? REALLY??
For God to truly be all loving, he must be all redeeming and Calvin can fight me about it.
Redeemed Zoomer being a diet fascist is fittingly insane? Like yeah bro go and reclaim all the mainline Protestant churches against liberalism ig
can you tell me more specifically how he’s fascist though?
I believe the phrase originated in conversations between me and @apilgrimpassingby about how comfortable Zoomer is with communing with people who are explicitly racist and misogynist heretics. A phrase Pilgrim has used before is that Zoomer isn’t racist but is far too comfortable with racist. For me personally, that’s just racist. You’re either anti racist and pro liberation, or you’re a racist. His fervor in calling out liberal affirmations of homosexuality and abortion but complete utter inability to acknowledge the racism and misogyny of the people he supports — one of them literally believes that women do not possess the full image of God! It reeks of hypocrisy. Also how the fuck do you say “Most theological differences are related to ethnic differences of interpretations among nations” and yet also say black liberation theology — which is the EXACT SAME THING!!!! — is heresy??? Just the entire idea that liberation theology — a theological perspective that says the gospel has political implications which are anti capitalist and anti fascist — is heresy. WHAT!?!? Are we fucking serious! And that’s not even getting into his utter inability to condemn Trump. Silence when people are dying is complicity. He has distorted God and distorted the gospel. I’m kind of ranting at this point but like. this is why I don’t watch him anymore. Bullshit. All of it. Pilgrim can speak more on the specific people I’ve referenced but whose names and specifics I can’t remember
May the God of loyal love snatch and repossess him from slavery to the evil one. May the God of Peace crush the adversary underneath our feet.
So if other zoomers aren’t drinking, having sex, or reading, can I make up for their shortcomings in the eyes of sexy millennials by doing all of these at the same time?
It's pretty common for people looking into the Bible for the first time or with unfamiliar eyes to ask "where do I start?" and I can't blame anyone for asking that when looking at the contents page of any Bible. So I just want to post a little quickfire guide here for anyone to dive in and get a summary of the basics. It's a bit of a "Bible Reading for Beginners" post. Here's what to know, what to consider and a few recommendations:
The Testaments
The Bible is a compilation of 66 ancient documents, but some are more ancient than others. The first 39 of them compile the Old Testament and the following 27 make up the New Testament.
The Old Testament starts with the creation of the world and goes through the many events that show God working through his people in the BC years of the world. It mainly focuses on the people of Israel and ends with their prophets calling forward to a coming saviour, as the nation recovers from exile.
The New Testament takes us to the AD years with the life of Jesus and then covers the early church of Christianity in the first century. It concludes with a book of prophecy written prior to 100 AD.
The OT was originally largely written in Biblical Hebrew while the NT was primarily written in Greek, although there are thousands of manuscripts even in other languages that allow for a massive level of cross-referencing that assures an incredible level of archaeological authenticity, if that's your jam.
The Old Testament scriptures are also kept by Jewish religion. Jews honour and believe the OT, but they don't recognise the NT as their faith parts ways with Christianity in their interpretation of Jesus.
The Categories
Context is key when reading any book of the Bible and different books are written for different purposes. Some things are descriptive; some things are prescriptive. Being unable to tell the difference can cause a lot of trouble.
Getting into the specifics would be an immense task and is better suited for another post, but on a basic overview level, it's essential to understand that the Bible has different genres:
History Books make up a majority of the Bible. Most of what you read are historical accounts and they are mostly in chronological order. In the OT, these begin with Genesis and carry on an uninterrupted streak until you get to the book of Esther. So the first 17 books in the Bible are sequential. (Minor exceptions include the book of Ruth which takes place during the times described in the prior book of Judges, and then the books of 1+2 Chronicles recount the books of Samuel and Kings from a more record-keeping perspective.)
The NT only has the first five, with the four gospels that all recount the life of Jesus from different perspectives making up the first four, then the book of Acts (written by the same author as the gospel of Luke) tells the history of the early church.
Books of Law are tied in a bit with the history books at the beginning. While Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the first five books of the Bible, are all historical accounts that all carry forward a narrative, they all - the latter four especially - contain laws given to the Israelite nation (the famous 10 Commandments among them) that don't make for light reading but are a good study when we're looking to better understand God's moral principles.
Poetry and Wisdom Books can be found in the middle of the OT, compiling the books of Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Lamentations (separated out because it's authored by the writer of Jeremiah). These books are records from various points in history (the Psalms especially are a compilation of 150 songs or poems from many authors). They're all unique expressions of emotions, questions, philosophical studies and a lot of other interesting pieces of wisdom.
Letters make up most of the NT, specifically all 21 of the books between the gospels/Acts and the final book of prophecy at the end. Every book from Romans to Jude. These were all letters to the various early churches (Galatians was a letter to the church in Galatia, as an example) from various church leaders (such as James, a letter sent by James, the brother of Jesus). These contained instructions and explanations to the early church about Christian living and understanding that are still relevant to this day.
Finally, Books of Prophecy is the final category. The remaining 16 books of the OT are all accounts named after the prophets who wrote them at various points across OT history of their experiences and messages to the people of God. Some of these are like short stories and others are more like dictations of warnings, promises and commands that are often full of evocative imagery.
The final book of the Bible at the end of the NT is Revelation, which was written by John, disciple of Jesus. It contains some letters to churches followed by remarkable visions of things to come that massively speculated about to this day but ultimately conclude the story of salvation and God's glorious kingdom.
If you'd like more details on what each book of the Bible contains, here's a helpful 17 and a half minute video by Redeemed Zoomer giving all 66 books a brief overview:
Translations
Aside from the hundreds of languages the Bible has been translated into, there are multiple English translations and revisions, some still being made to this day. As a general rule, the Bible is a massively influential book, so if you're choosing a translation to rely on for your readings, it'd be advisable to choose one that is largely considered trustworthy and accurate, which is fortunately usually the case.
Some translations take a very direct 'word-by-word' approach to the translation while others are more 'thought-for-thought'. Either way, they are always carefully communicating the meaning of the passage, and resources exist online if you want to see the original text. Whether OT or NT, the languages the Bible came from have a few tricky words with many meanings and the like, so there are variations in how the context of these translations are interpreted, but cross-referencing these understandings and exploring where we get them from only strengthens our ability to interpret them accurately.
Across the scale from literal to liberal, some recommended translations would include New American Standard Bible (NASB), the English Standard Version (ESV), the (New) King James Version ((N)KJV), the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), the New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT).
Here's a really fun and helpful video by Impact Video Ministries if you'd like more details on this topic:
Where to Start
Now, at last, we come to the question that started it all: Where should you begin reading the Bible? I have a few suggestions and where you pick things up is up to you.
Before I get into it, these approaches aren't even necessitating that you never skip a book or a chapter or anything like that. Frankly, it might be beneficial to skim over the parts that are a struggle (especially since there are some parts that are quite dense with technical details) and focus on what you're seeking for the time being.
It's very valuable to remember that some parts of the Bible are better studied than read. The purpose of reading God's word is to seek understanding. If that understanding is eluding you, I recommend you either seek help with it or leave it for the time being and try a different part of the Bible.
Here are a few different recommended approaches:
Start From The Beginning
Classic. Never fails. Truly though, the Bible can be read from start to finish as one great narrative and I believe it's no coincidence that it starts with historical events and sticks with them for quite a while. You are seeing everything in order, after all, and the context of the whole OT is significant backdrop for the NT. This can bog you down, especially with how much slower things become once you're through the history books, so again I encourage discernment where needed. Still, this approach does make sense and even if you don't start with it, do try to come around to it at some point.
Start With The Gospels
You might think this is like someone telling you to "skip to season 5" of their favourite show when getting you into it because "it's the best one" and, okay yeah, this is a little like that, but it truly isn't the point of this approach. The four gospels at the start of the NT recount the life of Jesus and to say he's an important figure is a bit of an understatement. He is THE key figure of the Bible. He's the most famous man in history for a reason. Above all, his story is the good news that 'gospel' is derived from. It's the message of Christianity. His coming is, by far, the most important part.
Part of starting with the gospels is meeting Jesus first and understanding who he is. He's an enrapturing person, sure, but when you recognise him, you may recognise how every other part of the Bible is pointing to him. The OT points forward to our need for him and how he succeeds where others fail while the NT points back to him and explains how we need to understand his significance and apply it to our lives. The past of the OT is the context, while the present of the NT is the reflection. All of it pointing forward to the future when Jesus comes again.
In choosing this approach, you can start with any gospel. Mark is the shortest and punchiest, Matthew is the first listed and has a lot of iconic teachings, and Luke is one of the most technically detailed. But people often recommend John, where we get a more personal look at Jesus from one of his disciples that also probably lays out the gospel message the clearest.
Start a Study
Technically not a specific starting point, but not a bad approach, regardless. Going through the Bible is often best done with others - that's part of why we have church. If you're looking to explore God's word but you're not feeling confident, get a Christian friend to take you through the Bible, starting wherever they believe would help you most or they'd feel most experienced at showing you around.
The personal touch is having someone recognise the variety of passages in the Bible and being able to apply a starting point custom made for you. They may feel the existentialism of Ecclesiastes or Job would be something that would suit you best, or perhaps they'd rather kick off with the story of David in the Samuel books. Maybe they'll take you through one of Paul's letters to sum up the gospel first, maybe they'll bounce you around different stories for variety, or maybe they'll even take up one of the approaches already listed. The point of this approach is guidance, not randomness.
Explore it Yourself
Speaking of randomness, I don't recommend this one much, but yes, fair enough, you can pick and choose where you start and why. This is how most Christians tend to go into the Bible when they have an established faith or good existing experience with the Bible, after all. But that's exactly why it's better to do that with prior understanding, because you'll know these woods and which paths to take. For a beginner, you're more liable to get lost. But hey, sometimes that's how you learn and if you want to take the knowledge here and cowboy your way through the Bible, maybe that'll be what works for you. Just be ready to jump to a different approach if it doesn't.
To Conclude
Knowledge is knowing that the Bible isn't just one big chronological story going from start to finish. But wisdom is knowing that it is.
This isn't just a random compendium of old documents - it's the word of God. Perhaps you don't believe that right now, but that's all the more reason I encourage you to pick up a copy, apply the knowledge this guide has to share and see for yourself what he has to say. Put it to the test. Because the Bible doesn't end when you get to the last page and close the covers on text that concluded in the AD 90s. It's our story. It's your story.
But above all, it's Jesus' story. Open it up and go meet him.
