Truce - History of the Christian Church

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When we were done conquering the west, done warring with Mexico, done fighting Native Americans, we looked out across the Pacific Ocean and said... "huh... I wonder what's over there?" The truth is that the United States is an empire. We accomplished that by fighting wars and by seeking out resources.

In the 1800's the United States faced a very real problem: we were running out of nitrogen. Not in the air. There is plenty in the air. We were losing it in our soil. Plants need nitrogen. Where were we going to get it?

The answer we came up with was: bird poop. It's rich in nitrogen and makes a great fertilizer. The trouble is that we didn't have any way to get large quantities of it. Until American businesses took over islands off the coast of our country.

This is the story of greed, a different kind of slavery, a Supreme Court battle, and the worst job in the 1800's.

Our guest this episode is Daniel Immerwahr, author of the book "How to Hide an Empire" and an associate history professor at Northwestern University. In his book, he argues that the United States has been an empire since it's inception

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What do you think of when you hear the word "empire"? Maybe Great Britain? The Soviet Union? The Mongols? Sure. But what if I told you that the United States is also an empire. And always has been.

Our guest this episode is Daniel Immerwahr, author of the book "How to Hide an Empire" and an associate history professor at Northwestern University. In his book he argues that the United States has been an empire since it's inception. We claimed lands owned by native peoples, and then expanded into places like the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, and more. This is the story of war, greed, resources, and tragedy.

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Is the USA a Christian nation?

There are a lot of people who argue that it is. And a lot of others who say that it is not. Which is it? What do we gain by calling it a Christian nation?

Our guest this episode is Dr. Gregg L Frazer, author of The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution and God Against the Revolution: The Loyalist Clergy's Case Against the American Revolution.

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Was the American Revolution biblical?

There are lots of people who argue that the United States is a Christian nation. But our nation is founded on revolution. The Bible is clear that we are to obey our leaders. How do we reconcile the fact the Revolution was not a Christian act with the assumption of a Christian nation?

Our guest this episode is Dr. Gregg L Frazer, author of The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution and God Against the Revolution: The Loyalist Clergy's Case Against the American Revolution.

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Special thanks to those who contributed their voices to this episode including: Paul Hastings of the Compelled Podcast, Eric Nevins of Halfway There, Angel McCoy of Angel Reads the Bible, and Bonnie Burns from Sex Chat for Christian Wives.

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Were the founding fathers of the United States Christians or Deists? That question has been at the heart of a debate that comes up all the time in the Church: is the United States a Christian nation?

Our guest for this episode is Dr. Gregg L Frazer. He's the author of The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders and God Against the Revolution.

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Are you curious about why Truce is covering the topics that it is? Wondering where this thing is going? We've heard you! In response to the confusion of our audience, we've put together this special interview episode to answer some of your questions.

Chris is joined by Eric Nevins, host of the Halfway There podcast.

Would you like to see Eric's review of Truce in Podcast Magazine? Click here to learn more. The review will come out March 30, 2020.

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In Russia during the Soviet era, hundred of posters and magazine covers were printed to encourage people to abandon their faith. They were state-sponsored and designed to be interpreted even by people who could not read. This propaganda clearly tied anti-Christian sentiment to the United States.

In his new book, Godless Utopia, Roland Elliott Brown collected a number of these images and provided commentary on their meaning.

What does it mean that we call the United States a Christian nation? What does it mean when presidents like Ronald Reagan merge their faith with the US? How does that impact our witness? These are questions we'll continue exploring throughout this series.

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How strong was the soviet mythology? Strong enough to make a young boy turn in his own parents. At least... that's what the communist government of Russia wanted their people to believe. They created a myth around a boy named Pavlik Morozov who they deemed Pioneer 1.

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Vladimir Prokhnevskiy moved to the United States as a Christian refugee from Ukraine. He and his family left that country after enduring oppression from their governments. He spoke with Chris about what it was like to live in such poverty, how his father was threatened with work in Chernobyl, and how a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child impacted his life.

Vladimir and his twin brother own Ukramedia, a company that teaches people to make motion graphics. You can watch this video about their lives and work.

It was a thrill to talk with Vladimir. Please consider supporting this show so that we can continue to make these episodes.

You can donate via our Patreon or Paypal pages or at trucepodcast.com.

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After the fall of the Romanov dynasty, Russia fell into the hands of the Bolshevik political party. They led the country into one of the darkest chapters in world history when religious people and dissidents were targeted, imprisoned, and murdered. This history is hard to hear but important for us to know.

Our special guest this episode is Felix Corley of www.forum18.org.

In this episode, we discuss why Vladimir Lenin persecuted Christians and how Joseph Stalin instituted a policy of fear in the Soviet Union.

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