Tag: Christianity

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Gnosticism is one of the oldest religions of man. When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, it was with an invitation to learn secret — explicitly forbidden, in this case — knowledge. From the mystery cults of Ancient Greece and Rome to modern Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and any of dozens of other cults, Gnosticism has always been a major font of false religion and corruption.

Christianity is not a mystery religion; Christianity is a religion with mysteries. The Sacrament is a mystery, because we cannot fully understand it, but it is not a mystery in the sense of being secret knowledge — we proclaim it publicly before the world and it is set forth in God’s Word. Anyone who claims that you must have some secret knowledge in order to be a good or a full or a proper Christian is lying to you and attempting to drag you into heresy and apostasy. There is no secret knowledge in Christianity.

In today’s episode, we do not go over the specifics of any of the various Gnostic cults — ancient or modern; rather, we go over the core of the Gnostic claims and the foundation of their beliefs: the existence of mystical or esoteric knowledge, the salvific nature of this supposed knowledge, dualism, and the denial of the flesh (i.e., the material).

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Show Notes

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

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The Judaizing Heresy

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 17 Jan 2024

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Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Judaizing has been a problem in the Church from the beginning. Even St. Peter fell prey to the Judaizers and their attempt to import into Christianity the false beliefs of Judaism. Today, Judaizing takes a number of forms. In this episode, we will cover circumcision, the use of “Yahweh” (and “Yeshua”), and several related matters.

As Christians, we must always ask ourselves both what the source of the thing is and what the purpose of the thing is. When it comes to Judaizing, the source is not God and the purpose is from Satan. The Jews do not have a special relationship with God or even any relationship with God, because they rejected His Son, and the Word of Scripture is clear:

No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Why would we, as Christians, who have the Son by Faith, ask the Jews, who reject the Son and therefore do not have the Father, anything about religion?

What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

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Show Notes

“Circumcision’s Psychological Damage” — one article among many
Twitter Thread on “Yahweh”
- If you do not have Twitter, click here.

Parental Warnings

We have a frank discussion about circumcision, including some technically ‘explicit’ language, in this episode — you may wish to screen it before listening to it with your children.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here

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True Religion

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 10 Jan 2024

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Man is, by nature, religious. The Atheist or the agnostic is no less religious than the Buddhist, the Muslim, or the Christian. The question is not whether or not a man is religious, but which God or gods he worships. As Christians, it is incumbent on us not just to recognize this reality, but also to recognize how it plays out in our world, in our culture, and in our own lives.

We may believe that because we attend church on Sundays (perhaps even also on Wednesdays), read our Bibles, and do all the things that Christians are supposed to do that we have no idols or that we have not fallen for any of the idols of our day. But is this true? When we examine our beliefs in light of Scripture, we may find that we have been indoctrinated into certain beliefs by the world. To hold such false beliefs is to have an idol.

Today, we find that even pastors and teachers have fallen for some of these idols — and will even defend them more vigorously and more vehemently than they will defend the Word of God. And so we turn again to the genealogy of ideas. What do we believe and why do we believe it? And, more importantly: What should we, as Christians, believe?

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Show Notes

Ezekiel 33

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

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Liturgical Life

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 20 Dec 2023

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Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Unlike the Old Testament Israelites, New Testament Christians are not required to observe any particular set of feasts, festivals, or commemorations — Scripture does not lay out a Church Year that we are required to follow. However, the Christian standard is not ‘What is required?’, but rather: ‘What is profitable?’ When we ask, instead of what we must do, what we should do for the sake of unity, instruction, and order, we arrive at a far different answer from that of most modern Christians, who have jettisoned from their faith much of the historic practices of the Church.

Whereas we affirm that neither we nor you, as Christians, are required to observe the feasts, festivals, and commemorations of the Church and her historic calendar, we also resolutely contend that these observances are good for the body of Christ. It is in the cyclical and seasonal observances that we live out of lives as Christians and recognize our brothers-in-Christ, who are living out similar lives. There is a difference between the minimum of the faith and the fullness of the faith — we want you to have the latter.

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Show Notes

Liturgical Year [Wikipedia]
Church Year [Encyclopædia Britannica]

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

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The Church

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 13 Dec 2023

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Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

What do we mean by “Church” or “church”? When we use this term (or these terms, when writing permits distinguishing them with the capital letter), we really mean a handful of distinct things — it is important to keep these clear. In today’s episode, we go over the Church (universal), the church (institutional), and the church (local, congregational). For the Christian, there is great comfort in recognizing the reality of the Church, even when the churches may be in disarray.

“In short, according to Lutheran teaching, it is faith in the Gospel which in every case establishes membership in the Christian Church. To him who believes the Gospel, membership in the Christian Church may not be denied; of him who rejects the Gospel, membership in the Christian Church may not be asserted. Excommunication pronounced against true believers does not deprive them of membership in the Church.”
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics

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Show Notes

Augsburg Confession:
- Art. VII: Of the Church
- Art. VIII: What the Church Is
Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
- Art. VII & VIII: Of the Church
Smalcald Articles:
- Part III, Art. XII

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here

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Very Eastern, Less Orthodox

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 06 Dec 2023

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

We are told to ‘test the spirits’, and this is a blanket admonition. You should test the things we say on this podcast against the Word of God; you should test the things your pastor says against the Word of God; you should test the things you believe against the Word of God. Yes, there are things that belong to natural revelation — to wisdom that can be gained from exploration of God’s Creation —, but, where Scripture speaks, Scripture is binding and final.

In today’s episode, we will subject Eastern ‘Orthodoxy’ both to Scripture and to natural revelation, which is to say human wisdom derived from God’s good creation. At the end of this episode, we fully believe that you will be left with a simple and unavoidable conclusion: Whatever the EO may have been historically, they are no longer Christian today.

The practice they call ‘hesychastic prayer’ is not prayer, but it is a very real spiritual practice — the problem is that those spirits with which it seeks (and even obtains) communion are not of God, but of an entirely different master. And God has spoken on the matter:

»“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.«
— Matthew 6:7–8 (ESV)

These are not idle or unimportant matters. To believe the things taught by the EO is to endanger one’s soul. If you or anyone entrusted to your care has ever expressed or pursued any interest in the EO, then we strongly encourage you to listen carefully to this episode — perhaps more than once. We also encourage you to ask question, if you have them — we will try to respond promptly.

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Show Notes

Parental Warnings

We discuss the demonic in this episode (and also, briefly as an example, sex), so you may wish to screen it before listening to it with your children.

Nota

When speaking of “distinctions”, I deliberately did not mention the difference between “logical“ and “formal” or “conceptual“ distinctions, because that difference was not relevant or helpful for the episode. If you are interested in the philosophy of this, please start with the links under the “Further Reading“ section.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here

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God’s Gifts, Man’s Duties

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 22 Nov 2023

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Whether our gifts are many or few, great or small, God has most assuredly prepared beforehand opportunities for us to use those gifts to serve our neighbors. We, in fact, have a duty to use what God has given us for the good of our neighbor. All that we have we hold in trust as stewards, for all comes from God and all belongs to God.

It is through our good works that we demonstrate, both to ourselves and to the world, that we have a living faith. There are no hard and fast rules or mathematical formulae to determine precisely what one should do with what one has been given — these are matters of wisdom. But we know the basics: Faithfully pursue your work, come to the aid of family and neighbor, and render good works when and where God provides you the opportunity.

The Christian life is not found in pilgrimages or hair shirts or in putting crosses on every surface in one’s home. The faithful Christian baker makes good bread; the faithful Christian shoemaker makes good shoes; the faithful Christian woman keeps a good home; a faithful Christian man diligently pursues his calling — whatever it may be. These are not matters over which to be anxious or about which to fret or worry; God knows what we need and he knows what our neighbor needs, and He has so ordered things that our neighbor can aid us and we can aid him. The Christian life is lived out in many thousands of small interactions, all undertaken with thanks for the good gifts, all of which flow from God.

»17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.«
— James 1:17 (ESV)

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Show Notes

Previous episodes:
Some recommended Scripture passages:
- Matthew 6:25–34
- Matthew 25:1–13
- Romans 12:3–13
- Romans 14:1–12
- 1 Corinthians 4:2
- 1 Corinthians 12:1–11
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
- Ephesians 2:10
- Colossians 3:18–4:1
- 1 Peter 4:7–11
- James 1:16–18
- Luke 12:35–48
- Luke 16:1–13
- Proverbs 3:27–28
- Proverbs 16:3
- Proverbs 22:29
- Ecclesiastes 9:9–10

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here

Other transcripts can be found here

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Capitalist Idolatry

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 15 Nov 2023

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Of all the idols of modern man, Capitalism may be one of the most challenging to overcome. Not because the wickedness of Capitalism is not manifest, for it is (and we will demonstrate this in today’s episode), but because it has been sold as the only alternative to Communism — a system so wicked that no Christian can possibly support it. Yet the choice is not binary, and those who would claim that it is seek to mislead the Christian into supporting a system that is, in point of fact, anti-Christ.

It is the lack of concern for one’s neighbor — a feature built into the Capitalist system and inextricable from it — that should immediately raise alarm bells for the Christian man. Under Capitalism, it is the maximum extraction of profit (itself a dubious category, insofar as it is a vague term) that serves as guiding principle, and yet this is an alien and hostile thing to the Christian system of ethics and morality. Need it even be said that the extraction of maximized profits runs diametrically counter to the second-greatest commandment:

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, God repeatedly states His concern for the poor, the needy, and the exploited, and yet Capitalism relies, in no small part, upon the extraction of profits from those very categories of the most vulnerable. Ours is not a Marxist critique of Capitalism, but a Christian one. The central question: Is Capitalism compatible with Christianity? We answer in the negative.

Mammon is an old god, an idol served by many men from may nations across many centuries. The love of money is not the root of all evils, but, in the words of Scripture, it is certainly the root of many evils, and, in fact, may serve as the stumbling stone upon which faith may founder:

»For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.«
— 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)

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Show Notes

Mises Definition of “Capitalism”

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

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The Lord’s Supper

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 08 Nov 2023

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Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

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Show Notes

Parental Warnings

None.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode can be found here

Other transcripts can be found here

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Dispensing with Dispensationalism

Corey J. Mahler on Wed 01 Nov 2023

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Hosts

Corey J. Mahler

Woe

aka Eschatologuy