The Gary DeMar Podcast

Gary discusses a critic on Facebook that believes Christians should leave politics alone and not get involved. Gary points out that 1) this is not biblical, and 2) Christians must be involved to promote righteousness and punish evil. Just as the early church in the book of Acts called out the corruption of the leaders in their day, so must Christians today. It's not a top-down imposition of our will over theirs, it's a bottom-up approach of obedience in every area of life—including civil government.

Part Two of Two. Gary concludes his conversation with Jeremy Stalnecker about biblical worldview. How do we train our minds to "think biblically"? How do we answer cultural and ethical problems with biblical truth? It's not easy, but Christians should want to put in the work to understand and teach others how to apply biblical truth to every area of life.

Part One of Two. Gary is interviewed by Jeremy Stalnecker on the topic of biblical worldview and thinking and acting biblically. Christians must begin with the God of the Bible and what He has revealed. As the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer, God defines truth and reality for us. We merely listen and obey. But how does biblical truth get applied in everyday life?

Part 5: Gary concludes his response to his critics with this episode. He discusses some interesting background information about a few of those demanding answers from him, as well as the Nicene Creed, and a few passages regarding resurrection. In the end, his appeal is the same: the Church needs an ecumenical council on eschatology, similar to what happened in early church history over the humanity and divinity of Jesus.

Part 4: Gary continues his response to his questioning critics. This time he looks at several passages in Acts (17:30-31 and 1:6-11) mentioned as proof texts in the Unorthodox Eschatology statement. In Acts 17, we have three groups of people: the Thessalonians, the Bereans, and the Athenians. One group was mentioned as being "more noble" for their reception of the Apostle Paul and his teaching. Which one are you?

Part 3: Critics on Facebook keep telling Gary that the three questions are "so simple," which actually reveals they haven't studied the issue in any sort of depth. Gary responds by looking at a few of the Bible verses used in the "Unorthodox Eschatology" statement. They use 2 Peter 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, and 2 Thessalonians 1 as "end of the world" proof passages, but problems arise when you 1) read them in context, and 2) look at how some of the signers have interpreted these passages in contradictory ways.

Part 2: Since his first response was recorded, the letter sent to Gary has blossomed into an entire website with a condemnation of certain aspects of what the creators believe is "hyper-preterism." A few hundred individuals have signed it, but the most relevant part of the statement is that Scripture verses have finally been included, giving Gary a place to begin interacting with both the original three questions and the statement.

Part 1: Gary received a letter signed by several individuals looking for answers to three specific questions. In this first podcast of several, Gary gives his side of the "controversy" and why he won't simply answer their questions. A large part of the issue is how the questions are worded. The heart of the matter is what does the Bible teach, not what does Gary believe.

Gary answers a listener question about theonomy and Leviticus 19. Many churches teach, including the listener's, that Old Testament laws not repeated in the New Testament are no longer binding. But Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:8 that "we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully." Paul wrote this BEFORE there was such a thing as the NT and the OT was the only Scripture he had. There is much more to this topic than simply relying on a made-up rule about repetition between the OT and NT.

Gary discusses the current movie, Jesus Revolution, which tells the story of the Jesus Movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While not a review of either the movie or the movement, Gary laments the shallowness of what was taught (or not taught) by this captive audience of new believers more than 50 years ago. Had a comprehensive biblical worldview been taught, we may be in a completely different situation today.