CHRIST is RISEN INDEED! – Evidences for the Resurrection by Dr. Peter Hammond
CHRIST is RISEN INDEED! – Evidences for the Resurrection
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“And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the Resurrection from the dead.” Romans 1:4
The dramatic film, RISEN provides an excellent Evangelistic opportunity to engage friends, family, neighbors and strangers with the overwhelming evidences for the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have produced a tract specifically designed for you to print out and distribute. RISEN is a springboard to discuss the Person and Event that changed everything.
Decisive
The bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is tremendously important. Death is man’s greatest enemy and it has conquered all men – but Christ. Cities and nations, like people, are born and grow for a season and then fade away. Homes, clothes, even vehicles, wear out and eventually go back to dust, just as do their owners. The Bible describes this universal reign of decay and death as “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). In science it is recognized as the Second Law of Thermodynamics – the Law of Increasing Entropy. Left to themselves, every system tends to become disordered, to run down and eventually die. All the founders of great religions and movements have died and you can visit their graves. Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha, Muhammad, Marx and Lenin. They are all dead and decayed in the grave. But Jesus Christ is alive!
So, what difference does that make? You may ask. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is vitally important because it demonstrates Christ’s victory over death, it gives hope to all mankind, it shows that eternal life is available to believers, it points to the ultimate triumph of God over all evil and it provides an indisputable proof that the message about Jesus Christ, as both Judge and Savior, is true. “Because He has appointed a Day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man Whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31
The Research of Skeptics
The Resurrection is so important and foundational to Christianity that it has been targeted for the most relentless attacks. Frank Morison, a lawyer, determined to disprove the Resurrection and thereby undermine Christianity. The result of his exhaustive investigations was his conversion to Christ and the publication of his book: “Who Moved the Stone?” which decisively demonstrates the overwhelming evidence for the Resurrection.
A skeptical university lecturer, Josh McDowell, determined to disprove Christianity by investigating evidence against the Resurrection. The result was his conversion to Christ and publication of the monumental: “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” which exhaustively and conclusively presents documentation and evidence upon evidence substantiating the historical truth, factual accuracy, archaeological evidence, manuscript evidence, fulfilled prophecies, transformed lives and other indisputable evidences which support the fact of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and the truth claims of Christianity.
Thomas Arnold, Professor of History at Oxford University, one of the greatest historians of the 19th Century wrote: “I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better, fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair enquirer, than the great sign which God has given us that Christ died and rose from the dead.”
Simon Greenleaf, an unbelieving Jew, recognized as one of the most skilled legal minds ever produced, developed the Harvard Law School. He is recognized as the top authority on what constitutes sound evidence. After being challenged by a student if he had examined the evidence for the Resurrection, Simon Greenleaf made a thorough and exhaustive examination of the objective evidence and the testimony of the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In his book: “The Testimony of the Evangelists” (Baker, 1874) he concluded: “It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”
Simon Greenleaf declared that any court of law, if presented with the evidence of the Resurrection, would have to give a verdict in favor of the integrity and accuracy of the Gospel writers and the fact of the Resurrection.
One of the most popular books ever written and most successful films ever produced, Ben Hur, was a result of a skeptical challenge to General Lew Wallace to the authenticity of Christ’s Resurrection and a careful examination of the evidence. As General Wallace was US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at that time, he explored archaeological sites and manuscripts in the Holy Land.
What are the facts? The religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, who had campaigned and conspired to have Christ arrested and executed on trumped-up charges, had a compelling interest in disproving any claims of the Resurrection. They had presumed that the execution of Jesus would eliminate this threat to their religious power base and silence His supporters. These Jewish religious leaders had great concerns about the corpse of Jesus and they approached the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, for a military detachment to secure the tomb (Matthew 28:62-64).
The Roman governor’s priority in the volatile province of Palestine was to preserve peace and stability. He recognized the political problems that would ensue if anything happened to this religious Teacher whom he had three times declared innocent and ultimately washed his hands in front of the crowd declaring, “I am innocent of this Man’s Blood” (Matthew 27:24). His wife had warned him: “Do not have anything to do with that innocent Man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of Him.” (Matthew 27:19)
Pilate was only too aware that a travesty of justice had taken place and the last thing he needed was a review of his shameful conduct and dereliction of duty in this case. Ensuring that the victim’s corpse remained buried was definitely in Pilate’s political interests as well. “‘Take a guard’, Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how’. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” Matthew 27:65
The Roman Guard
As the chief priests had approached the Roman governor and as the Greek word Koustodia is used to describe the detachment of soldiers, it was evidently a Roman guard. If only a Temple guard had been used, there would have been no need to approach Pilate to issue the order. Additionally, the concern of the guards after the Resurrection to be protected from consequences from the governor (Matthew 28:14) confirms that those guarding the tomb were Roman soldiers. The detachment would have consisted of at least sixteen soldiers with four men placed directly in front of the entrance of the tomb, on duty, at any time. Under Roman military law any guard who deserted his post, or who fell asleep on duty, would face crucifixion. Typically, if Roman soldiers allowed a prisoner to escape they would face the same sentence as the prisoner – in this case crucifixion.
The seal placed on the stone at the entrance to the tomb signified the administrative authority of Rome and only an authorized officer of Rome would be permitted to break the seal. Anyone breaking a Roman seal without permission would be tracked down and executed.
Although the intention of the religious and political leaders had been to ensure that the phenomenon of Jesus ended at the tomb, their extraordinary security measures have only served to confirm the truth that they had murdered an innocent Man and that Jesus Christ was truly the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, “the Firstborn from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth… the One Who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore.” Revelation 1:5,18.
Christ’s Victory Over Death
“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold I have told you’. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying ‘Rejoice!’, so they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see Me.'” Matthew 28:1-10
Attempts to Avoid the Truth of the Resurrection
To explain away the empty tomb, the enemies of the Gospel have had to resort to some desperate deceptions. The first was to suggest that the disciples had stolen the body. This incredible theory suggests that those same disciples who had slept in the garden, fled at His arrest, denied Him before a young woman, were hiding in fear behind locked doors, could have unitedly overcome sixteen professional Roman soldiers, dared to break a Roman seal, moved a two-tonne tombstone, just to steal a corpse! A dead Messiah would have served absolutely no purpose for the disciples. What possible motivation could they have had, even had they possessed the ability to overcome the military, political and logistical obstacles? They had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Every one of the disciples suffered severe persecution, most dying as martyrs for the Faith. Would you die for a lie?
Did Jesus Really Die?
Others have questioned whether Christ had really died on the Cross. Perhaps He only fainted? This swoon theory would have us believe that the Roman soldiers, who were professional killers, (the centurion in charge, would most probably have already supervised dozens if not hundreds of executions), had failed to ensure that this high-profile political prisoner was not actually dead. Considering the vicious flogging which the Lord had already endured, the excruciating torture of crucifixion and the spear thrust into His side, with blood and water flowing out, all provide convincing evidence of death.
Yet, those advocating the swoon theory would have us believe that One Who had endured such savage flogging, crucifixion and a spear thrust to the heart, could not only have survived the legendary Roman military efficiency, but that He was revived on a cold slab in a cold tomb. Further that He somehow disengaged from the grave clothes and one hundred pounds of spices, ointments and wrappings which had effectively mummified Him, rolled away the two ton stone, overpowered, or eluded, the Roman soldiers and somehow found and impressed the disciples with His Deity? These suggestions have only to be mentioned in order to be dismissed as unbelievable.
The Empty Tomb
Another desperate attempt to explain away the Resurrection of Christ has been that they went to the wrong tomb. All of them, Mary Magdalene, Peter, John, the other women, all went to the wrong tomb. Somehow neither the Pharisees, nor the Sadducees, nor the Roman soldiers, nor Joseph of Arimathea, whose tomb it was, thought to point out that the tomb was in fact still occupied! However, this theory is also impossible, as the tomb was not in a cemetery, but in a garden privately owned by Joseph of Arimathea. There was no other tomb in that garden.
The Absence of the Body
All that the Roman and Jewish leaders had to do in order to end Christianity forever was produce the corpse of Jesus. But they couldn’t do it. Even when the Apostle Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and proclaimed: “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36. “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” Acts 4:33. Many thousands in Jerusalem, including many Pharisees, came to faith in Jesus Christ.
The Crisis of Credibility
To the Jewish religious leaders, this was their worst nightmare, a disaster. The proclamation of the Resurrection of Christ undermined their power and credibility. Thousands of their followers now believed that they had condemned an innocent Man, the Messiah Himself. The new religion of Christianity was undermining the power base and credibility of the Pharisees and Sadducees. If the body of Jesus could have been found, Christianity could be stopped dead in its tracks and the threat to the religious status quo would have ended. Since they desperately needed Jesus’ corpse, the Jewish leaders would have used every means at their disposal to hunt it down and find it – if that was possible.
The Testimony of Eye Witnesses
However, we are not only dealing with the empty tomb and the absence of the body, but the testimony of eyewitnesses. On at least twelve separate occasions Jesus Christ was seen after rising from the tomb. Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9); the other women (Matthew 28:8-10); Peter (Luke 24:34); the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35); ten of the disciples (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-24); all eleven disciples, eight days later (John 20:24-29); seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberius (John 21:1-23); to five hundred at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6); to James (1 Corinthians 15:7); to all eleven apostles and others, at the Ascension (Acts 1:3-12); Paul (Acts 9:3-8); and John (Revelation 1:12-18), all saw the Lord bodily raised from the dead.
To explain away the testimony of all these eyewitnesses, enemies of Christianity suggest that these were merely hallucinations, perhaps as a result of hypnosis or hysteria. However, while hallucinations tend to be unique psychological experiences of an individual, we are here dealing with a large number of individuals, who at different times, in different groups, in different places, both indoors and outdoors, on a hilltop, along a roadside, by a lakeshore, all saw the Lord. They saw Him, they ate with Him, they saw the wounds in His hands and in His side.
Far from being gullible, it would appear that His disciples were very skeptical and slow to believe. Thomas declared that he would not believe that Christ had risen unless he personally placed his fingers in the nail prints in His hands and feet and his hand in the wound in His side.
The Transformation of the Disciples
Not only do we have the testimony of the eyewitnesses, but the dramatic transformation of the disciples. The Resurrection of Christ from the dead transformed the disciples’ grief to joy, their cowardice to boldness, their skepticism to faith and their doubt to determination. It turned Saul, the persecutor of the Church into Paul the Apostle of the Church.
The Transformation of History
It also transformed society and history. It changed the Jewish Sabbath into the Christian Lord’s Day. What else could explain the replacement of Saturday as the Jewish day of rest into Sunday as the Christian Lord’s Day? The Resurrection transformed a Jewish remnant into the worldwide Christian Church. Over 2-Billion people worldwide describe themselves as Christians who believe in the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. The very existence of the largest religious movement in the history of the world is another powerful evidence of the truth of the Resurrection.
Prophetic Fulfilment
Jesus Himself had prophesied His Resurrection from the dead. Because of His fulfilment of this, we can be absolutely certain that Jesus Christ is God with us, as He claimed. By His Resurrection we can know that our sins are forgiven through His Blood sacrificed on the Cross of Calvary: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that Whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-16
Full Salvation
Because of Christ’s death on the Cross, we can rejoice that our sins are paid for – we are forgiven, justified by faith.
Because of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, we can rejoice in the prospect of eternal life.
Because of Christ’s Ascension, we can know that He has all authority and that His Great Commission will be accomplished on earth.
Because of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we do not need to trust in our own abilities, but in His power alone. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.”
Proclaim It to the Nations
William Sangster – the church leader and hymn writer – suffered from increasing paralysis which finally prevented him from even being able to talk. On his last Easter before he died, he wrote: “How terrible to wake up on Easter and have no voice to shout, ‘HE IS RISEN’, far worse, to have a voice and not to want to shout!”
We serve a risen Savior! Death is defeated. Christ has risen – victorious over death, hell, satan and the grave.
Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Christ, though he may die, yet shall he live, (John 11:25).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
mission@frontline.org.za
www.FrontlineMissionSA.org
The above message has been adapted from a chapter in Answering Skeptics book (144 pages), which answers 14 such questions. The book, E-Book and an Audio MP3 Boxset Answering Skeptics with 32 sermons, lectures and radio programmes is available from Christian Liberty Books, PO Box 358, Howard Place 7450, Cape Town, South Africa, Tel: 021-689-7478, Fax: 086-551-7490, email: admin@christianlibertybooks.co.za and website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za.
To download the RISEN tract for distribution, click here.
See also:
The Illegal Trial of Jesus and the Verdict of History (for a PowerPoint, click here; for the audio, click here; for the video, click here.)
The Blood of Christ (for the audio, click here.)
The Cross of Christ (for the audio, click here.)
To hear the From the Frontline radio discussion on The Centrality of the Cross, click here.
Who Killed Jesus? (for a PowerPoint, click here; for the audio, click here; for the tract, click here.)
How Can I Know that Jesus is the Messiah? (for the audio, click here; for the tract, click here.)
A Review of the movie “Roe v. Wade by Myrna Maloney Flynn
In our Easter and Passover stories, life and hope co-star, just as they do within our movement. So also do life and hope headline Roe v. Wade, the new Hollywood feature directed by Cathy Allyn and Nick Loeb. If you’ve not yet seen the movie, I encourage you to watch it. You’ll find a link within my film review below.
Peace to you this weekend,
Myrna
“Pawns are the soul of the game.” – Bernard Nathanson in Roe v. Wade
So says the young, woefully naive, Bernard Nathanson to his father during a game of chess, doting girlfriend at his side. As Nick Loeb’s film Roe v. Wade begins, with Loeb in the role of Nathanson, the line seemingly foreshadows the introduction of Norma McCorvey, AKA Jane Roe, perhaps history’s most tragically well-known pawn. A troubled, economically disadvantaged teen who dropped out of her Texas high school, became pregnant, and sought an illegal abortion, the vulnerable McCorvey was, for those who wanted abortion laws repealed, the poster child they needed—and successfully used—to win their case.
As the movie progresses, though, it becomes clear that Loeb’s Nathanson is not only the co-founder of NARAL and an abortionist who claimed, by his own estimate, 70,000 lives, but himself a pawn, “a person or thing manipulated and used by others.” And Loeb presents this supposition well, portraying Nathanson as a credible medical expert and sincere, well-meaning women’s rights ally, a figure his peers knew was critical to generating widespread public support for the attempt to legalize abortion in America.
In just under two hours, Roe attempts to tell “the untold story” behind the infamous 1973 Supreme Court decision. What I experienced were several stories. At the heart of each: the question of truth, with a piercing spotlight on temptation’s power to quickly dissolve the solid intentions of even the most decent person.
Roe invites us to witness internal struggles common to humans weighing right and wrong; but the struggles among this group were uncommon, and their surrenders led to deadly consequences. Nathanson assumed that all doctors eventually breached their Hippocratic oath, which explicitly excluded abortion as treatment. This, along with a haunting memory of his helplessness during one girlfriend’s traumatic abortion, justified his chosen career specialization. Its lucrative benefits quickly convinced his wife, despite her initial morality-driven hesitation. It’s even suggested to the viewer that abortion wasn’t at the top of feminist icon Betty Friedan’s priority list, until Larry Lader, NARAL’s early founder, who personifies evil in the movie, convinced her it should be.
The film extends its right-wrong dichotomy beyond flawed individuals. Not surprisingly, Planned Parenthood inhabits the crosshairs. Those who watched Unplanned will recognize the throwing-under-a-bus maneuver likewise achieved in Roe v. Wade. While the former film subsequently rolled back and forth over the organization mercilessly, the latter suggests a family planning mission gone gravely awry. Friedan questions how effective a strategic partnership with Planned Parenthood could be, given its earlier brochures condemned abortion since it “kills the life of a baby after it has begun” and “is dangerous to your life and health.” Similarly, the antagonists in the film note founder Margaret Sanger’s espousal of eugenics and the role she believed abortion could, should, play.
The movie attempts to pull back a soiled curtain on the judiciary, beginning in Dallas and ending at the Supreme Court itself. While we see “the other side” stencil “choice” and “privacy” on its sails, toss calculated lies into shark-infested media waters, and chart a clear course among the masses, the movie depicts those on the pro-life side, legal minds, the religious, the otherwise biologically informed, as caring yet disorganized, repeatedly shocked yet too numb to fight back effectively. Loeb’s film suggests one incompetence and preventable miscalculation after another, along with a disturbing series of right-wrong choices among the justices themselves that ultimately resulted in the most superior “wrong” on January 22, 1973.
Redemption is a welcome salve in movies like these, and the viewer gets to experience a bit of that with Nathanson, when he poignantly enters the light of truth, with humility, repentance, and courage. Dr. Nathanson wrote in Hand of God, his autobiography, that truth, in the form of ultrasound technology introduced in the mid-1970s, brought about his conversion. Loeb’s performance in the film, when Nathanson witnesses this truth, grips the viewer. He sees life, which he has destroyed thousands of times.
The scene should shake each of us by the shoulders, pro-life or not. This isolated moment at the film’s climax, when a human’s existence ends only because she is the weak among the powerful, is something we continue to allow. Worse, too many look away. This is the painful truth.
The Roe v. Wade cast is as impressive as Loeb’s feat of bringing this movie into the mainstream. It’s worth your time and reflection (you can stream it on the MCFL website). While I appreciated the film’s historic context that surrounded the case and a close look at players whose actions shaped its outcome, the greater value of this movie exists as a grim reminder that the darkness of lies constantly threatens the light of truth.
Today, the illogical allures of “freedom” and “equality” remain the rhetorical foundations of a barbaric act. And the mob mentality fuels it all, more dangerously now because of lightning fast communication via social media and the “I decide” mantra that sustains it. Yet supporters of life and of women’s best interests have become more sophisticated, our argument more impactful, and we are undeniably the side of truth. With the help of films like this one, we will win. Life will win.
Myrna Maloney Flynn is a skilled and creative communications practitioner with leadership experience in marketing, broadcasting, account management, teaching and, currently, higher education. She earned a B.A. in mass communications and political science from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, an M.A.T. in English from Smith College and is presently enrolled in an M.B.A. program at the University of Massachusetts’ Isenberg School of Management. Flynn’s long-held beliefs, and recent challenges to defend them, inform her willful commitment to saving lives of the unborn through education, dialogue and outreach to populations that are both demographically and politically diverse.
In her free time, Flynn enjoys travel, historic fiction, and running. A native Minnesotan, she’s resided in Northampton for 15 years with her husband and four children.
Massachusetts Citizens for Life
http://www.masscitizensforlife.org/
http://www.masscitizensforlife.org/
The Weekly Sam: Riots, Revolution, and the Creation of a Permanent Black Underclass
In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Sam Blumenfeld did a brief interview explaining that the Elites who run our government schools share a part of the blame for the riots. He said that their policies have led directly to the creation of a black underclass that is illiterate, angry and useful to the Elite. While these words were spoken almost 30 years ago, he could have been commenting about today’s situation.
In June of 198, Sam dedicated a newsletter entitled “Eugenics in American Education and the Making of a Black Underclass: http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/1987/BEL%2002-06%20198706.pdf
Sam dedicated his life exposing the Elites and worked to make America literate again. . He volunteered his time to an inner-city organization in Boston’s Roxbury section called the WAAITT-We Are All In This Together-House where he taught phonics to adults.
Here is a link to an MP3 version of the interview posted on our Podomatic page:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2021-03-30T18_03_25-07_00
Riots, Revolution and the Creation of a Permanent Black Underclass – YouTube
It takes big energy to back up little wind and solar by David Wojick
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The Weekly Sam: Is Public Education Necessary: A Lecture by Sam Blumenfeld
Sam Blumenfeld, a pioneer in the modern homeschool movement, gives a presentation about his book “Is Public Education Necessary?” This presentation was conducted in 1980 at a meeting of a chapter of Americans for Constitutional Action in Newton, Massachusetts.
Here is a link to an MP3 version of the presentation on our podomatic page: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2021-03-25T15_36_50-07_00
Most of Sam’s works have been archived on the Blumenfeld Archives: https://campconstitution.net/sam-blumenfeld-archive/
Covid 19 and the New Agendas Red Pilled: An Interview with author James Perloff
We recently caught up with our friend James Perloff to discuss his recent book Covid 19 and the New Agendas” on Camp Constitution Radio. Here is a link to the interview: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2021-03-26T13_55_04-07_00
To get a free PDF version or order the paperback version, please visit Mr. Perloff’s website http://www.jamesperloff.com
And a synopsis of the book:
Drawing on statements of numerous scholars from around the world-virologists, epidemiologists, immunologists, pathologists, microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, including Nobel Prize winners, as well as front-line ER physicians and family practice MDs-veteran journalist James Perloff asks hard questions about the global response to COVID-19. Are the virus’s health risks greater than those posed by the lockdowns?, What does the science say about masks and social distancing?, Why were no lockdowns imposed for previous pandemics of comparable magnitude?, How accurate are the death numbers attributed to COVID-19?, Is the virus completely natural, or could bio-engineering have played a role?, Should the world’s population take a Covid vaccine developed at ‘warp speed’?, Why is Bill Gates formulating health policy, even though he has no medical credentials?, How might a ‘second wave’ be different?, Is the Covid crisis being exploited to push us into an Orwellian future of mass surveillance, digital IDs and cashless transactions?, Perloff draws from mainstream publications and official government sources such as the CDC, as well as independent researchers whose work is increasingly hard to find online due to censorship by tech giants like FaceBook, Google and YouTube
Every Black Life Matters-the Biblical Alternative to Black Life Matters: An Interview with Kevin McGary
Rev. Steve Craft and I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Kevin McGary, co-founder of Every Black Life Matters https://everyblm.com on Camp Constitution Radio. Every Black Life Matters supports the lives of all blacks including the unborn as well as the innocent victims of inner-city crime. We uploaded the MP3 on our Podomatic page: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2021-03-21T16_43_44-07_00
And on our YouTube Channel:
The Weekly Sam: Humanism vs Christianity: A Lecture by Sam Blumenfeld
The late Sam Blumenfeld, a pioneer in the modern homeschool movement, conducts a presentation on the influence of Humanism in our government schools and its war on Christianity. Sam also explains his conversion from atheism to Christianity:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2021-03-20T10_46_14-07_00
Know Your Constitution
Jay Leno, former host of the “Tonight Show”, was known for his street interviews where he would ask people basic questions on U.S. History and the Constitution. Most of those he asked failed miserably. While it made for entertaining television, Leno never addressed the reason why most Americans have no knowledge of basic questions like who we fought in World War II or who is the current Vice-President of the United States nor did he offer any solutions. Camp Constitution participates in Constitutional outreach events where we offer folks a 10-question quiz on the U.S. Constitution and offer all- takers a free pocket copy. Our goal is not to make people feel stupid; our goal is to help Americans become Constitutionally literate.
In the Summer of 2018, I was in Lynchburg, VA where I encountered Jennifer Lewis, Democrat candidate for Congress. I asked Ms. Lewis where one would find the job description for a member of Congress. She gave me that “Deer in the Headlight” look so I rephrased the question: “Where would one find out about the duties, and powers of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.” Her reply in an unsure tone of voice “Online?” I told her that you can indeed find the info online, but the source is Article One of the U.S. Constitution. I then handed her a pocket copy of the Constitution and suggested that she learn it. Thankfully, she lost her election. It is not just Democrats who are ignorant about the U.S. Constitution; most Republicans seem to have little knowledge of it as well. A few years ago, at a county fair in New Hampshire, I asked former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to take the quiz. He had an allergic reaction to the quiz and refused to take it. His voting record as a U.S. Senator clearly demonstrated that he did not know the Constitution, or he willfully ignored his oath of office. I am happy to report, however, that the 2019 Miss Maine, Carolyn Brady stopped by our info table at the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival in Presque Isle, and received a 90% on our quiz. She would have got a perfect score, but she changed an answer.
Let me challenge the readers to the questions in the quiz. (Answers below)
1, Which amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms?
2, What is the age requirement for the U.S. Senate?
3, Which amendment reads “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs”? (It is not a trick question if you know the Constitution.)
4, Lawmaking abilities are vested in which branch of government?
5, How many amendments does the Constitution have?
6, Which branch of government has the power to regulate education?
7, Where in the Constitution is foreign aid mentioned?
8, How many senators are needed to ratify a treaty?
9, Which branch of Congress initiated the impeachment process?
10, Which branch of government declares war?
Our information tables where we offer this quiz can be found at the regional homeschool conventions, fairs, gun shows, and public venues like Boston Common. The average grade of our quiz is 30%. After seeing it, many people refuse to take it. Homeschoolers tend to score higher than most. Gun show attendees get the first question correct but go downhill after that. Bostonians do abysmal but tourists visiting Boston and foreigners usually score above average.
Since our inception in 2009, we have distributed over 20,000 copies of the Constitution. We have conducted numerous “Know Your Constitution” presentations around the region. If your organization or school would like to host one of speakers, please contact me. We are offering a free pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence to the first 100 readers. E-mail me with your mailing address campconstitution1@gmail.com.
Answers:
1, The Second Amendment. The U.S. Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. Rights do not come from government. Our founders made it clear that rights came from God.
2, 30 years old
3, This is not in the U.S. Constitution. It is a plank in the “Communist Manifesto.”
4, Congress.
5, 27
6, None. The U.S. Constitution does not grant any power to the Federal government to regulate education,
7, Foreign aid is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution which makes it unconstitutional.
8, 2/3rds of those present. A quorum of 51 is needed to do business.
9, The House of Representatives. The House has no power to impeach private citizens which includes former presidents even those they hate.
10, Congress. The last time that United States declared war was in December of 1941. 1n 1945, Congress passed the U.N. Participation Act unconstitutionally giving the United Nations the power to send our troops in so-called police actions. A link to a PDF version of the quiz: https://campconstitution.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Camp-Constitution-U-S-Constitution-Quiz.pdf
Hal Shurtleff is co-founder and director of Camp Constitution. Hal is an Army veteran who spend a tour with the 101st Airborne, and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He hosts a weekly radio show which airs on WBCQ in Montecello, Maine. He is married with five children, and one grandchild. A life-long Boston, MA resident, he and his family recently relocated to Alton, NH.
Evacuation Day March 17, 1776
March 17, 2021 marks the 245th anniversary of the British evacuation from Boston and General George Washington’s 1st victory. After the Battle of Bunker Hill which took place on June 1775, Boston was under siege from the newly formed Continental Army. In early March of 1776, cannons captured at Ford Ticonderoga transported to Boston, under the leadership of General Henry Knox. and used to fortify Dorchester Heights in South Boston. This allowed the Continental Army to be able to fire cannons unopposed by the British. After viewing the efforts of the Colonialists, British General William Howe said “The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month.” Howe who didn’t want to see a repeat of the Battle of Bunker Hill which was won by the British but at a high cost of lives, decided to vacate Boston.
Every year, the Henry Knox Color Guard of the Massachusetts Sons of the Revolution, https://www.massar.org/ , celebrate this important day in our history with a ceremony on Dorchester Heights. This year’s ceremony was held a few days ago due to the state’s stringent and unconstitutional Covid 19 restrictions. Camp Constitution was on hand for the ceremony: