Initial video: https://youtu.be/InZmz-MilFs?si=Rk16i_mokWQ29PsA
Suppose the best obstacle to modern-day Christianity comes not from Islam– but from Christianity’s very own forgotten background?
Who actually followed the mentors of Jesus (ʿĪsā عليه السلام)? His ‘sibling’ James and the original adherents who knew him personally, or Paul, whose teachings pertained to control Christianity despite never ever fulfilling Jesus?
In this remarkable episode of OnGuard, Dr Hamza Andreas Tzortzis takes a seat with Paul Williams of @BloggingTheology to uncover a mostly failed to remember phase of Christian history– one with potentially cutting edge effects for how we understand the faith of Jesus.
They discover the ideas of the earliest fans of Jesus, the amazing relevance of James, the rise of Pauline Christianity, and why the original Jesus movement may have had much more in usual with Islam today than a lot of individuals become aware.
This discussion goes beyond Christian beginnings. Paul also tests standard Muslim strategies to daʿwah, assesses his journey with Blogging Theology, and shares insights from his engagement with leading Christian academics.
As Paul puts it, the effects could total up to a “Copernican transformation” in just how we recognize Christianity
Was the original religion of Jesus forgotten? And what took place to those that followed it?
Watch the complete conversation and choose for yourself.
00:00:00 – Did James and Paul teach different types of Christianity?
00:01:07 – Jeffrey Bütz on The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity.
00:02:57 – Incarnation as the doctrinal wall surface in between Muslims and Christians
00:05:20 – Speculating just how history would alter if James’s motion dominated Paul
00:08:20 – Dr. Hamza and Paul on Christian apologetics international and online trends
00:13:09 – Strategic focus on typical ground rather than evangelical apologetics
00:15:05 – Spiritual mission amongst youth in the West in the middle of church decrease
00:17:19 – Pushing back against triumphalist Christian nationalism
00:20:37 – Finding commonalities with a common Christian through Mark 12 and tawhid
00:24:46 – Individualizing da’ wah according to context and the pythonic sunnah
00:27:29 – Engaging Christian academics through genuine discussion instead than polemics
00:32:00 – Common ground in the iceberg of shared beliefs beneath doctrinal disagreements
00:33:14 – Christianity’s improvement from Jewish sect to Gentile rescuer cult
00:34:46 – Understanding the Bible to comprehend modern Western ideas and viewpoint
00:36:26 – Top intellectual debate: James the biological brother as head of the very early church
00:40:36 – James and the Ebionites: Torah observance, monotheism, and fondness with Islam
00:42:50 – Historical testimony of Josephus, Hegesippus, and Eusebius on James
00:45:35 – James’s commitment to the regulation as the Sharia, contrasted with Paul
00:48:02 – Paul deserting the Torah: the example of throwing out the Sharia in Islam
00:50:10 – Historical reliability: relying on the lifelong buddy and brother over a vision
00:54:57 – The faith of Jesus (As.) versus a faith about Jesus (As.).
00:56:04 – Hadith on caring for mankind what you enjoy on your own, and very early Christian parallels.
00:59:46 – Responding to insurance claims of doctrinal growth and John Henry Newman.
01:02:16 – Diversity in the early church: Ebionites, Marcionites, Gnostics, and Proto-orthodox.
01:04:45 – The disciples appointing James instead of an outsider with a subjective vision.
01:06:47 – F. C. Baur and the Tübingen School on the conflict in between James and Paul.
01:09:46 – James Dunn’s scholarship on very early Jewish Christianity and the Trinity.
01:11:49 – Dunn’s critique of the Ebionites as a premature confidence, and Christian apologetic bias.
01:14:36 – The reverse standard in Islam: the very first generation as the excellent standard.
01:18:20 – Why Muslim debaters typically forget the historic disagreement concerning James.
01:20:45 – Ambiguity in biblical proof and differing theological analyses.
01:23:05 – Book referrals on early Christian background: Bart Ehrman.
01:25:24 – The epistemic predicament: depending on Paul’s visions over historic testimony.
01:27:07 – Origins of Blogging Theology: long-form material during lockdown.
01:30:13 – Transition to interviewing scholastic scholars: Anthony Buzzard and beyond.
01:33:14 – A Salafi close friend’s recommendations: the value of humbleness and sincerity in success.
01:35:47 – Learning from Speaker’s Corner: preventing conceit and argumentative harshness.
01:37:16 – Moses (As.) talking carefully to Pharaoh, and the pythonic character in da’ wah.
01:38:36 – Critique of the on-line interest economic climate incentivizing hostility in da’ wah.
01:40:59 – Closing comments, many thanks to the visitors, and farewell salam.