18 Apr Seth Keshel – An Easter Gem
You’ll find lots of links to Seth Keshel’s work on this site (and our interviews of him). He will be in America’s history books someday for his moral courage and persistence and patriotism and Christian faith.
We don’t link to all of anyone’s work; just the posts that catch our eye for some reason. Keshel’s recent post on the day after Easter caught our eye. It was posted in relation to his practice every morning of coining a ‘thought for the day‘.
The brutal martyrdom of Jesus’ disciples is historically documented but, as Keshel notes, isn’t widely commented upon or otherwise pondered. But living in this era of rabid atheistic leftism and its abject hatred of and desire to cancel anyone and anything that does not bow to the ‘matter-is-everything-and-God-is-nothing‘ militant brand of atheism, you may get a sense for why Jesus’ disciples were so violently martyred.
The disciples represented a spiritual allegiance to a higher power they recognized in Christ Jesus–and that allegiance threatened the existing ruling class power structure as nothing else could. It was not a massive invading force called an army that could be put down by a bigger army; it was a body of thought that disputed whether men and matter were in total control of the human condition. And it could only be put down–or so the ruling class thought–by literally putting down the most visible holders of that thought (the disciples), and the more violently the better…so as to scare off any others who might so think.
Yet a few millennia later, the Bible, including the stories of the disciples, remains standing. The disciples’ ‘body of thought’ was not put down. And as always, more and more people turn to it in dark and dangerous times.
_______________
From Seth Keshel, on Telegram
This country was founded for the people to enjoy free expression of religion. This was a feature stemming from persecution by the Church of England.
I am not one to have it out for someone who chooses to believe differently than I do, or not at all. I have noticed, however, that some folks get very aggressive on Easter trying to disprove the Gospel.
I recommend “More Than A Carpenter,” by Josh McDowell, a committed atheist who sought to disprove Christ but wound up proving him to himself.
The single biggest proof of the validity of Christ and his Resurrection is the account of the disciples. All but one disciple (John, who was exiled and severely persecuted) were martyred for their faith. Cut in half, boiled alive, whipped, beheaded, crucified (Peter upside down).
If you doubt the Gospel, then why is it that these men had every chance to recant their positions *if* Christ stayed in that tomb? When you know, you know. Look at this mortal world, the many who have not recanted their views on matters of men.
The disciples, at least to me, are the single biggest confirmation of the Resurrection and Christ’s story, that they found him worth dying over.