Bullies and Saints | with Dr. John Dickson

Atheist Christopher Hitchens once wrote, “religion poisons everything”, and he included the Christian religion in that assessment. When you look at the behavior of some claiming to be Christians over the centuries— when you look at church history— you realize that Hitchens was right in many ways. The history of Christianity has been a mixed bag historically: some very good behavior and some very bad behavior.

Dr. John Dickson of the University of Sydney and visiting professor at Oxford has written a brilliant and balanced book called, ‘Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History,’ that covers every century of church history. He joins Frank to reveal the truth about:

The behavior of the first believers (they were “good losers”)

Myths about Constantine

How the religious freedom beliefs of Tertullian got to Thomas Jefferson

Why slavery was eradicated and why it took so long

The Crusades

The Spanish Inquisition

The real reason for the violence in Northern Ireland

The worst scandal in church history

The most unique ethical contributions of Christianity

The most surprising discovery made by Dr. Dickson in his research

Why bullies are common, but saints are not

How our bad behavior implies a standard and our need for a Savior

Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3cvMaRu

And please check out Dr. Dickson’s wonderfully produced podcast at undeceptions.com.