Zeitgeist the Movie

Me and Linn recently received a request from a friend of ours who was quite concerned about a movie she watched recently. The movie, Zeitgeist, is film created by Peter Joseph that presents, at first glance, a compelling argument that religions, specifically Christianity, are in fact based upon ancient Egyptian mythology. Zeitgeist first debuted in 2007 and since has had a large impact on both believers and non believers alike.

Linn and I decided to see what the movie was all about. I must admit that the movie presents its case in a convincing manner, however, upon closer examination of the facts it has proven to be another cleverly devised myth that has been targeted to cause confusion and doubt among those who are new to their faith or unfamiliar with the historical claims they are making. We decided to do a bit of research to see how some of the top scholars refute the claims of Peter Joseph. See the following links to view the movie and a good apologetic response.

The Movie (see part 1 on religion):
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

A Response:
http://www.alwaysbeready.com/index.php?Itemid=107&id=124&option=com_content&task=view

The majority of the mysticism claims that Peter Joseph makes in this movie is actually not anything new. The ideas that Christianity could have been taken or influenced by pagan mythology was first introduced by the German Religionsgeschictliche Schule around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Some notable names to come from this school of thought were Richard Reitzenstein, and Sir James Frazer. Even at that time, scholars rose up to debunk the claims that Christianity was taken from other ancient pagan religions. In recent years, these ideas have seen a comeback of sorts in the form of books and movies (such as the DaVinci Code). However, just as before, scholars have pointed out all the major historical and scientific errors that are purported in these claims. As it is, the majority of scholars consider this parallel between Christianity and ancient Egyptian mysticism as a non-issue since there has been a wealth of research done to refute the claims. Personally, I find it interesting to see to what lengths people will go to try and refute Christianity and as Christians, we ought to be familiar with the views of the surrounding culture such that we can engage others and present a sound case for our faith. If you look at the response to zeitgeist you will find a long list of scholars and sources for further investigation.

Word

I oftentimes finding myself wondering what I'm actually good at...
What I could spend more time doing...
Basically, how I can up the value of who I am...

vain. I read the Word, and it reminds me of the joy I can have in Christ - if I claim it. Reminds me of the value I have in Him - because He's given it to me...The Word - haven't been in it enough!

I read 2nd Timothy. Whenever I read Paul, I get all excited inside. He is very passionate, and it rubs off! Some of my faves would be:

"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season" (4:2) - that is, when it is convenient, when it is not convenient!

"Always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry"(4:5) - are we fulfilling our ministry? what is it?

"Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work" (2:21) - for me, this is anger (a newsflash for me believe it or not) and laziness to name a few.

"Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2:1)

"fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (1:6,7). - don't be afraid to grow and excercise the gifts that God has given us, with our confidence rooted in Him

and of course (I say, "of course," because it is a typically memorized verse that we can sometimes become numb to...which is sad),
"All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (3:16)

It is funny how we can forget some of these verses, or even PARTS of these verses, and what a difference it can make! Basically, what I love about Paul, is his fear of God, and not of man. Throughout it all, I hear, "Worship God! Serve God! Love God! Draw closer to Him! Don't let the world take you away from that!"

And I think, Paul is CRAZY! He is a Jesus-freak! Guess what, it's really OKAY for people to think that you are one...it's okay. In fact, if you are Christian, someone in your life probably should think you are crazy...

I generally don't like that idea, and I think there is a lot of us out there...

Welcome, back!

Well, we're married now :). It's been almost 3 months - and it has been wonderful and difficult, too :)!

Eric wanted to resurrect the blog so we could update people on our lives and share what we're learning (this'll help us reinforce what we're learning, too).

Hope you enjoy!