00:20:51.140However, Judeo-Christian is also an accurate way to describe values that both Jews and
00:20:58.400Christians hold because of our shared belief in the principles of the Old Testament, namely
00:21:03.720the creation order that we see in Genesis 1 through 3.
00:21:08.460Scripture gives us no reason whatsoever to sever Christianity from its Jewish roots.
00:21:14.520Jesus came as Israel's Messiah, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, and the gospel
00:21:20.580came according to Romans 1 16 to the Jew first and also to the Greek Christianity. It is absolutely
00:21:27.660true and inarguable is rooted in God's covenant with Israel, which Christ fulfilled. Matthew 5
00:21:34.88017. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. Jesus said, I have come not
00:21:39.700to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Jesus was born under the Jewish law given to Moses in the0.74
00:21:45.680Old Testament and came to those who were under the law, to Jews. That was his primary mission
00:21:52.920field. That's what he reiterated over and over again. Galatians 4, 4-5. But when the fullness
00:21:58.560of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who
00:22:03.900were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. So good news also to the
00:22:10.020Gentiles. This is explained so clearly also in Ephesians, really all of Ephesians, but especially1.00
00:22:15.700in Ephesians 2 and 3, talking about the uncircumcision versus the circumcision and how
00:22:22.880we have been reconciled in Christ, the dividing wall of hostility, not only between us as sinners0.64
00:22:29.440and holy God, but also between Jews and Gentiles. It has been abolished because of the blood of0.98
00:22:35.000Christ who covers us all. And that is really, really good news. And so this was a common theme
00:22:40.640that we see throughout the New Testament and preaching to the Jews and also to the Gentiles.
00:22:45.000It is the same Messiah. It's the same plan of salvation. It is the same gospel. And yet we read
00:22:51.720over and over again, Jesus was a Jew. He came first to the Jews to fulfill Jewish law. Jesus
00:22:57.320told a Samaritan woman this in John 4, 22, you worship what you do not know. We worship what we
00:23:03.180know for salvation, he says, is from the Jews. Gentile believers are grafted into Israel's1.00
00:23:09.960covenant story. Paul describes believing Gentiles as wild olive branches grafted into Israel's0.99
00:23:15.780olive tree. Romans 11, 17 through 21. But if some of the branches were broken off and you,
00:23:21.600although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among others, and now share in the nourishing root of
00:23:27.100the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you
00:23:31.860who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say branches were broken off
00:23:36.980so that I might be grafted in. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief,0.99
00:23:41.740but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare
00:23:46.700the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Talking about the Jews and the Gentiles there,
00:23:51.380really all of Romans 9 through 11 really talks about this, that again, everyone is saved by
00:23:58.520faith in the same Jesus. And yet the Jews have this privilege of having access to the prophecies0.97
00:24:05.560and to the understanding of the law that gives all of the proper context for the good news of0.71
00:24:11.340Jesus fulfilling the law and becoming the once and for all sacrifice and cleansing on the cross.
00:24:18.580So scripture presents one historically grounded, unfolding story of redemption centered on Christ.
00:24:23.920It's not two separate stories. It's not like God was like, ah, gosh, I didn't see this coming. Now
00:24:29.140I've got a plan B. It's Jesus and this new religion over here. Forget about that. His1.00
00:24:34.820eternal plan of redemption is going off without a hitch and has been since the first molecule was
00:24:40.840created. Before that, before all of time, God's eternal plan of redemption has been going off
00:24:45.940without a hitch. It is unhindered. It is uninterrupted. It is unchanging. R.C. Sproul
00:24:52.860wrote this, the late theologian, from the opening chapters of Genesis to the end of the book of
00:24:57.180Revelation, the entire dynamic of redemption takes place within the broader setting of real
00:25:01.920space and time of concrete history. The historical character of Judeo-Christianity is what markedly
00:25:07.960distinguishes it from all forms of mythology. A myth finds its value in its moral or spiritual
00:25:13.380application, while its historical reality remains insignificant. The Bible is the record of God's
00:25:20.320historic works of redemption within a context of space and time. That's so true. Such a fascinating
00:25:24.960way to put that. Take the gospel and its message out of the context of history and Christianity0.78
00:25:29.280is destroyed all together. So that actually seems to echo the ex post that I was reading earlier
00:25:36.020from the author of that book that I thought maybe was too far, that if you take Christianity out of
00:25:40.340its Jewish context, then it becomes something else entirely. R.C. Sproul, whose intellect and
00:25:46.140theological understanding I respect very much and would defer to. Here it seems to say the same
00:25:52.120thing, like you lose it altogether. And it does seem to be that that is what people are trying
00:25:58.880to do. They are trying to distinguish entirely Christianity from Judaism. And you cannot when0.68
00:26:04.380you serve a Jewish savior and a God who does not go back on his promises. One plan of salvation
00:26:12.240through Jesus Christ for Jews and Gentiles and every single person, that does not negate the
00:26:19.440very real Jewish context, Jewish history, Jewish principles that are shared because of the biblical
00:26:27.380canon, because of the history of who God actually is. And you know what's interesting? I see this a
00:26:32.900lot in the political context when it comes specifically to our foundation. You'll see
00:26:37.940people say, oh, don't say we have Judeo-Christian roots. Don't say it was a Judeo-Christian
00:26:42.880constitution or founding documents. None of the founding fathers were Jewish.
00:26:52.340Well, you know, it's interesting. A lot of the people I see saying that are what you call
00:26:56.640Trad-Cath. A lot of the people I see pushing back against this Judeo-Christian
00:27:01.160terminology, moniker, are Catholic themselves. So if we are going to say we can't call it
00:27:08.860Judeo-Christian because the founders weren't Jewish, okay, well, we're also not going to
00:27:14.180call it Catholic Christian because the founders weren't Catholic. They were Protestant. They were
00:27:19.560Protestant. So if we want to talk about exactly the belief system and the worldview of the founders
00:27:25.200and of the people who wrote our founding documents and the founding charters for the colonies,
00:27:30.480they were specifically Protestant Christians, okay? And so if we're going to get into this
00:27:36.280debate of, oh, who was actually represented and what was the belief system represented at the
00:27:40.420founding, we can only use that terminology. Okay, let's start using Protestant Christians.
00:27:46.040You want to go with Calvinist? We could do that. If you want to get really specific about what0.97
00:27:50.280most of the founders actually believed about the sovereignty of God and the plan of salvation.
00:27:54.720When people are saying Judeo-Christian, they're not saying that some of the founders
00:27:58.120were jewish they were saying we have these shared principles of people people being made by a god
00:28:04.720whose power and knowledge transcends ours a god who gave us inalienable rights because we were
00:28:11.580made in his image because unlike any plant and animal any other part of creation we are special
00:28:17.200we have an eternal soul and therefore we have been given rights that are unalienable the government
00:28:22.100cannot take them away arbitrarily these are foundational principles that we see in genesis
00:28:27.0401 through 11 that, yes, both the Jewish faith and the Christian faith share.
00:28:32.640That is not people trying to say that Christianity and Judaism are the same.
00:28:36.880It's not people trying to rewrite history about what the founders actually believed.
00:28:41.080It's saying the Old Testament, like we both gain inspiration from that.
00:28:45.580And we don't compromise on the fact that Jesus is the only way, the only Messiah for everyone.
00:28:51.420I just think you're on dangerous ground when you start demonizing and negating a key part
00:28:56.020of Jesus's identity, the guy that you say you worship, wouldn't be me. Couldn't be me.
00:29:03.380Okay. Let me go ahead and pause. I'll tell you about our next sponsor for the day first. And
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00:30:45.000voicemails. We've got a lot of interesting questions that you guys have today. I talked
00:30:50.340about female genital mutilation in Islamic cultures, even here in America last week.
00:30:57.040So I've gotten some questions about, okay, female genital mutilation versus what is widely
00:31:02.140accepted, at least in Western society, and that is circumcision. Is there a difference?
00:31:09.400Let's hear from Alex. This is voicemail number one.
00:31:13.500Hi, Allie. My name is Alex. I'm a huge fan of Relatable and I've been listening since 2019.
00:31:19.240I just watched your episode where you went into the topic of female genital mutilation in Islam.
00:31:25.140Is there a difference between female genital mutilation that's practiced by much of Islam and the practice of circumcision that was commanded by God in the Old Testament?
00:31:35.640I understand in the New Testament, circumcision was no longer a requirement under the New Covenant, but it is something that is still widely practiced in the U.S. and typically not considered, you know, male genital mutilation.
00:31:47.480I would love to hear your thoughts about it, and I hope to hear back from you.
00:31:54.160Yeah, this is a totally fair question.
00:31:56.240And like I said, I've gotten a few messages about it.
00:31:58.540I think this has become more of a topic that has been discussed recently, although I know
00:32:04.060there's been a lot of people that have discussed this for a long time, but especially with
00:32:07.520Maha and people thinking more holistically and starting to question things of like, wait,
00:32:12.520why do we go through these standard procedures?
00:32:14.460whether it's the vaccines given to newborns or whether it's the circumcision done to newborn boys.
00:32:20.660And obviously, there are complications.
00:32:22.280So even beyond the ethical question, like there are considerations that people have.
00:32:28.020You introduce the possibility of infection in the hospital.
00:32:30.780There could be a botched circumcision.
00:34:51.060There are some risks that it could mitigate
00:34:53.480for helping mitigate a UTI or different things down the line, but it is a very American thing0.93
00:35:02.880and of course a Jewish thing to do. But in many European countries and all around the world,
00:35:08.660this is not a common practice. In fact, most men in the world are not circumcised. So this
00:35:13.580has become a very American medicalized thing to do. And I think it's totally legitimate for people
00:35:19.640to ask if it's necessary. I do not think it is on par with female genital mutilation simply because
00:35:25.960it is not as invasive. It's not causing the same problems. But again, more conversations to have
00:35:32.920about bodily integrity. I just don't think that these two things fit in the same category at all
00:35:38.040because in a woman, it causes so many more problems than it causes for a man. So that's1.00
00:35:43.320what I would say about that. And obviously God is good. Like God is good. And so I can't say
00:35:48.560across the board that doing something like that is simple or wrong or bad because God who created
00:35:54.400the body and created us male and female and created health and medicine and all of these
00:35:59.140things, he also knows what is good and right and true. Okay. Voicemail number two.
00:36:05.860Hi, Allie. I just love you. First of all, you're wonderful. But hey, I have a quick question.
00:36:12.700So I am going to visit my sister next month, and she is a woman pastor, and I've been feeling very convicted about this with the Holy Spirit has been convicting me just to gently share the truth in love with her.
00:36:33.140I would just love some encouragement and love your thoughts on how to go about this without
00:36:39.440ruining a family trip, because it's a week long trip and I will be staying with her the whole
00:36:45.140time. So love you again, Allie. Thank you so much for everything you do for the kingdom. Bye-bye.
00:36:52.600Such a good question and can be really hard to navigate that tension, wanting to share the truth
00:36:56.960and love, knowing that you could offend someone that you love. It's so hard to know the time and
00:37:01.460the place and the right thing to do. I always think about tactics by Greg Kokel and his argument
00:37:06.500that you're not trying to, you're not trying to score a touchdown in every conversation. You're
00:37:10.760trying to get the ball a little bit farther down the field. And so this might not be the trip where
00:37:16.300you are going to, you know, score points. It might be the trip where you are advancing the ball
00:37:22.400through thoughtful questions that make her think. Um, if you, I think one of the boldest
00:37:27.780things that you could do, but also a way that gives you a little bit of cushion so it's not
00:37:33.740completely like guns blazing confrontation right away is, you know, what do you think about?
00:37:40.360There's so much conversation online from the Southern Baptist Convention making their vote
00:37:44.340about the whole female pastors thing. Like, what do you think about that? Obviously, you know,
00:37:49.280in general what she thinks, but what are her feelings about it? Things like that.
00:37:52.120Now, in that conversation, you don't want to come across as nodding your head and affirming
00:37:57.440what she has to say. But you can say, yeah, that's an interesting thought. I could see
00:38:02.700why it would make you feel that way. And you try to affirm and understand where she is coming from
00:38:10.040without confirming and affirming her points that you know are unbiblical. And you could even assent
00:38:16.440to some things like, yeah, gosh, you're obviously so gifted as a speaker and as a communicator.0.96
00:38:21.960A lot of my favorite Christian authors are women. And I love that. But I struggle with this because0.74
00:38:27.220I go back to, you know, 2 Timothy 2.12 or whatever passage, and it does seem like Paul,
00:38:34.100I don't know, he goes back to creation, you know, and she probably will say something about the
00:38:38.680culture at the time, maybe. I don't know how liberal she is. If she's conservative, then she
00:38:42.440might be more open to that. If she's liberal, we got deeper problems. Like, we got much deeper
00:38:46.680problems with what we believe about the authority of God and scripture and stuff. But if y'all are
00:38:50.920generally on the same page except for this, she might engage with you in good faith. And you could
00:38:56.820just, you know, you could just say, yeah, you know, like I'm, I'm working through this or I
00:39:01.440have worked through this and this is what the Bible says. And you know, it is, it is tough and
00:39:07.200just see what she has to say there. That could be the only thing you do. Just pointing her to
00:39:12.960the word of God could be the most powerful thing you do. And it doesn't have to be a long drawn
00:39:17.900out argument. It doesn't have to be angry. If she gets heated, that's her responsibility. You could
00:39:22.080say, look, yeah, I wasn't trying to start an argument. Honestly, I just find it to be a very
00:39:27.980interesting and difficult conversation. And obviously, like with your background, I know
00:39:34.840that you'd have a lot of insight into that. I just didn't know if you had thought about it
00:39:37.960like this. And then maybe a week later, maybe after the vacation, like, hey, thanks so much
00:39:42.400for being like willing to talk to me about that. Let me know what you think about this podcast or
00:39:46.900this article. Let me know what you think about the points made here and just be open to her
00:39:54.920giving her side without being super defensive. Come from a more curious perspective without it
00:40:01.920seeming like you're compromising or like you just don't know. I'm not saying you have to pretend
00:40:06.580to give an open-ended answer, but I do think coming from that perspective of humility can
00:40:14.680help you have a more open conversation. That's what I do, but don't ignore the conviction that
00:40:20.200you feel from the Holy Spirit either. Great question. Thank you for that. Before we get
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