Christianity, the Backstory

By Elliott Smith

Looking between the lines of Church history and the New Testament.

The narrative that Christianity is based on includes assumptions that are easy to miss, assumptions that are also fundamental premi... more

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FAQs about Christianity, the Backstory:

How many episodes does Christianity, the Backstory have?

The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.

Christianity, the Backstory episodes:

May 10, 2021 8e) Acts of the Spotlight Part 5
The stage play

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
54min
May 04, 2021 8d) Acts of the Spotlight Part 4
James the brother of Jesus, and the elders at Jerusalem, and thousands of Jews there who have believed and are zealous for the law...
How are they regarded by the author of Acts? How are their envoys received at Antioch?

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
48min
April 08, 2021 8c) Acts of the Spotlight Part 3
Jerusalem and Antioch, culturally and ideologically divergent.

The defining principle of Christianity, and a response to it by James, the brother of Jesus.

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
38min
March 01, 2021 8b) Acts of the Spotlight Part 2
"They added nothing to my message."

The exclusive gospel of Paul.

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
24min
February 22, 2021 8) Acts of the Spotlight Part 1
Tracing the belief system of Christianity back in time, how do we get from Antioch to Jerusalem ? It’s about what people were thinking. There’s a group of people in Jerusalem who need to have believed pretty much the same things that people were believing in Antioch.

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
27min
June 26, 2020 CHURCH NOTICE
This is notice of a public challenge to the Christian Church, bringing into question its past conduct.
To the Church of old: The story you passed on to us about a first century Jewish movement…
was it faithfully told?
REFUTE THIS THESIS.
The premise of the thesis is that Christianity began in Antioch, and can't be traced back to Jerusalem.
The disciples of Jesus and their community in Jerusalem could only have been Christians if they changed their belief as a result of Paul's self proclaimed, exclusive, encounters with the risen Jesus. And there is plenty of evidence in the New Testament to say that this didn't happen. They were Jews who followed the teaching of their rabbi. Both these men and their movement disappear from the story in Acts, and from Church history, for a reason.
This thesis is presented as a podcast. It's open to contribution and requires argument for the other side.
Its conclusion is that there is something fundamentally wrong with Christianity.
Can you demonstrate that there’s something wrong with the thesis?
Are the core doctrines of Christianity built on the teaching of the man we call Jesus, or not?
This notice needs to find a learned Christian willing to speak up for listeners who are waiting to hear the Christian response.
If that's you, choose any assertion made in the podcast, or respond to the whole premise,
and send it in as a voice message.
If it's instructive and concise, it will remain as part of the podcast, to provide a more balanced view of things.
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Send in a voice message: anchor.fm/christianitythebackstory Over 1400 subscribers, waiting for an explanation.
...more
14min
June 08, 2020 7) A Tenuous Connection

The story that Christian belief is centred on,
does it reach back to Jesus?
...more
39min
May 30, 2020 6) Early Church History

The story begins.
What did Peter and John and the other disciples of Jesus go on to do?
... Where did they go?
Introducing Paul, and his doctrine.

...more
43min
February 21, 2020 5b) Messiah. (Part 2)

What did they believe?

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
44min
February 21, 2020 5) Messiah. (Part 1)

The missing information about the disciples of Jesus.

Image: 'What is Truth?', a painting by Nikolai Nikolaievich, 1890
...more
39min

FAQs about Christianity, the Backstory:

How many episodes does Christianity, the Backstory have?

The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.