The Amateur Scholar: Recent Episodes
Dustin White
How did monotheistic faiths react to polytheism? Well if we look at Zoroastrianism and Judaism, they were both quite tolerant. In the case of Judaism, they were a lot more tolerant as a monotheistic religion, as compared when they were still polytheists. Polytheism was just violent.
In this video, I look at the development of Zoroastrianism and Judaism, as they move from polytheistic religions, to monotheistic, and at the same time, I compare Judaism with the Canaanite religions that surrounded it.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
The claim is that there is no extra-Biblical evidence for Jesus. But is there? And what does it all mean? In this episode, I look at all the extra-Biblical evidence, as well as the history surrounding first century Palestine.
Jumping back into the idea of the Jesus myth. Dan Baker argues that Jesus is a myth, and I tear down that argument.
Do scientists still accept that American Indians came to the Americas via a land bridge? Well, kind of. It's a lot more complicated, but there is some truth there still.
Did Jesus exist? According to David Fitzgerald, he didn't. I believe differently. Here I counter the arguments that Fitzgerald makes in his claim that Jesus didn't exist. Part 3 of 3.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Did Jesus exist? According to David Fitzgerald, he didn't. I believe differently. Here I counter the arguments that Fitzgerald makes in his claim that Jesus didn't exist. Part 2 of 3.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Did Jesus exist? According to David Fitzgerald, he didn't. I believe differently. Here I counter the arguments that Fitzgerald makes in his claim that Jesus didn't exist. Part 1 of 3.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
The Old Testament, New Testament, and Intertestamental works describe Satan in very different manner. This allows us to see how the idea of Satan evolved over time.
In this video, I tackle that question of how the idea of Satan evolved during these time periods.
For a longer discussion on Job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrgfW...
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Who was Satan? What does the Bible tell us of this figure? How does the figure of Satan develop over time.
In this video, I jump into that massive question, and discuss the early formation of the figure we know of as Satan.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
So I jump into somewhat of a weird question. Could the descendants of giants, as described in the Bible, still exist?
In this video, I jump into the topic of the Nephilim and the idea of what were giants as described in the Bible. I also answer how tall Goliath really was. Surprise, it wasn't as gigantic as one may think.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Did Jesus criticize the Jewish authorities? A bit. One story really stands out, and that's the incident in the Temple.
In this video, I look at the incident at the Temple, and what it really meant. But I also look at the larger picture, and that's interfaith debates.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
In the 20th century, we see a decline in religion. It was more pronounced in Europe, but even the United States felt the effect. But for some reason, while Europe didn't rebound, the United States found a golden age of religion.
In this video, I explore the reasons for both the decline and the rise, and what made Europe different from the United States.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
There is this myth that before Europeans showed up, Indigenous peoples in the Americas were at peace with everyone, and violence didn't really exist. That instead, Europeans introduced things like sexual assault.
But the history of various tribes tells us something else. In this short video, we look at some of those cases, which are rather fascinating.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
The Old Testament is filled with warfare. It should be expected since Israel was in a strategic position. So to pick some terrible actions within war should be easy when it comes to the Old Testament. Yet Dan Barker picks the Tribe of Dan conquering a city. No massacre, no gory details, just a simply conquering.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
A second video on the topic of scalping, because well, it's a popular question. Here we dive a bit more into the history.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
In the Book of Hosea, we get some disturbing images. Israel was under attack, and would soon become a conquered people. Hosea was one of the prophets that were trying to get the people to understand what was happening.
But the book of Hosea was written long after the events it speaks of, and the intention was to try to understand what had happened. And part of what happened was terrible. Hosea doesn't leave out those gory details.
The thing though is that the perpetrators of those actions wasn't God, but the Assyrians.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
In the near distant past, American Indians found it to be illegal to practice their religious beliefs. This seems incredible given that our First Amendment gives us the right to free worship, but what exactly that meant has long been debated.
In this short video, I go over the history of the right to worship freely, and how American Indian's history has impacted this.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
A two question type of video. First, how did Indigenous peoples feel about non-hetero individuals? Well, it was complicated, much like it is today.
What about nomadic tribes? Well that is much easier. Yes, and I look at some of those tribes.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Did Europeans bring the practice of scalping to the Americas? No, but the did help spread it a bit. But long before any European set foot on this continent, scalping was practiced quite widely.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation has compiled a list of his top 10 worse verses of the Old Testament. There's just one problem, he utterly butchers the job.
In this first video, I look at the number 10 verse, which deals with the story of Job. Job is a complicated book, and one that both atheists and theists often get wrong. Barker isn't an exception here. Instead of looking at what Job is saying, the argument that he's making, he takes a verse out of context.
Ironically, what Barker is pointing out as a flaw about how God is portrayed is the same thing that Job was doing.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Why the stack of rocks, who knows. But what I do know is about autism. I was diagnosed as a young adult, and have since studied it extensively to figure out why I am the way I am. Sometime it's just because I"m weird.
In this video, I start a new series that looks at some of the top questions that are posed to people with autism, and, well I answer them. If you have any questions about autism you'd like answered, feel free to ask.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
For much of history, Jews were not welcomed in Europe. They would be expelled from one area after the next, and serious persecution continued to happen. To fight that, a man named Hirsch would set up the Jewish Colonization Association, and set up Jewish colonies around the world.
One of those colonies was in Argentina, where they flourished for a few years. But anti-semitism, and the Second World War would catch up with them. In this video, I explore that history.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
It's been mentioned that Serbians and Israelites have had a very long friendship, dating back to Roman times. Yet that really isn't the truth. While Israel and Jews have sold weapons to the Serbs on a number of occasions, which helped in various conflicts, and Zionism did have a founding in Serbia, the friendship just wasn't something that stood the test of time.
In this video, I dive into that history, trying to trace it back to Roman times. I look at the history of Zionism, as well as current relations between Israel and Serbia.
To check out more of my work, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6GrgIk-69sA69suZMDKWg or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
Were Quakers and Mennonites persecuted in the US? Well yes, but largely in the same manner any religious minority was. But there were some positive times as well, especially after Pennsylvania was set up.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
The question was asked, why didn't Christianity spread to Asia. Well it did, but often in weird ways. Such as with the man who claimed to be the brother of Jesus, and then waged a Civil War with China. Or with the Kahn dynasty, which was filled with Christian princesses. So it definitely did spread.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/ or https://twitter.com/tamateurscholar
We don't always know how a religion first began. But for Christianity, we have a good sense of how it evolved out of Judaism, and became it's own religion.
In this episode, I dive into the formation of the Christian religion, and the influences that led to it's shaping.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
One of my favorite topics is the Historical Jesus. I've been on almost every side of the issue, from seeing him as having been a fictional character, when I was a teenager, to seeing him as a real historical figure. So what evidence do we have to suggest that he really existed? That's what I cover in this video.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
We all have that one friend who loves to drop this trivia bomb on us, that there were Presidents before George Washington. Yet they never really dive more into it than just that.
The problem is, when we do dive into the question, it becomes clear that those previous Presidents weren't really Presidents at all. They didn't serve in an executive branch, and really amounted to more of a ceremonial title. That and they served under a very different government and constitution than what we have now.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
Who are the Hamites? And why would some African Americans claim to be such?
The answer is rather strange as it centers around slavery, and the Israelites. In the mid 19th century, a group of African Americans made the claim that they were Hamites, and thus descendants of the Israelites. Yet, the idea of Hamites really originated in the Southern states, as a way to justify slavery. And that's why the question is a bit of a mess.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
Psalms 137:9 is truly horrific verse, in which the author celebrates the idea of babies being dashed upon the rocks. It's jarring to say the least.
Why would anyone wish for that? Well, it was because the author was lamenting. His world turned upside down and he was overcome by grief. That doesn't make the passage okay, but in this video, I look at the context.
In the end, I think most can understand the feeling their, even if we don't agree with it.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
Exodus 22:18 is one of those famous verses. It is the verse that tells us that we shouldn't suffer a witch to live. But why were the writers of Exodus so against witches?
The context really creates this verse. In this video I dive into the history of this verse, as well as what sort of witch we really are talking about. It isn't some nice little witch of the forest, who gives out peaceful remedies. It's a witch who is sinister, and will make you do things you don't want. And we see that idea form within the context.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
The Old Testament contains some very barbaric passages. There are some horrendous things in that history, that we shouldn't try to justify or excuse.
But we can dive into these verses and examine the history behind them. By doing such, we see the flaws in humans, and they don't necessarily reflect commands and views of God.
In 1 Samuel, we have Samuel claiming to speak on behalf of God and claiming that Saul needs to commit a genocide. But who really is speaking here? I argue that it's Samuel, and it may be that Samuel is on a bit of a power trip.
In the discussion, I also jump into the history behind the text, and it's formation, which is quite fascinating.
To check out more of my work, you can go to http://belzian.com/ or to connect with me go to https://www.facebook.com/amateurscholar/
Paul is often called sexist, and part of the reason for that is this passage, 1 Timothy 2:12. Yet Paul wasn't the author of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy directly contradicts what Paul truly said.
So in this episode, I dive into the verse, and see what we can pull out. In the course of that, I also go which letters are authentic to Paul, and which ones are later forgeries, and how we know that.
Complicated, that's what Lincoln was. Yet people continually try to simplify him into either a hero, or a villain based on taking him out of context. Diving into Lincoln, and the topic of slavery, we see just how complicated he was, and how much he grew over time.
There is a movement to change place names, which is coming on the shoulders of a larger issue, a misunderstanding of history. In this episode, I look at one example, and explore the complicated history of Custer in order to show that he, like most people, was complex. So to demonize him, or to make him into a mythical figure doesn't make sense.
Job is a difficult work to get around. The author combines an older folktale with their own poetic material in order to argue against the traditional wisdom of the day. God is challenged in the work, but in the end we do get some answers, even though they aren't the ones that were sought for.
In Bismarck, ND, a proposed mural of Greta Thunberg sparked outrage. But that outrage was voiced only by a minority, yet those involved were able to make it appear as if the community as a whole was divided on the situation. In the days that followed, certain individuals were able to capitalize on that division, and after many conversations, it appeared that the outrage that both sides were voicing was largely hypocritical. Neither side were on morally superior ground, and in the end, the entire community lost. In this episode, I look at how this all played out, and why freedom of speech needs to be protected.
How can a loving God exists when there is evil? This is one of the major stumbling blocks when it comes to the question of whether God exists. In this episode, I begin looking at the issue in order to see if it is possible to produce a viable answer. This is the first episode in a much larger series that will be looking at the question of theodicy. If a credible explanation can be created, this will lead into the question of God.