Meeting-Date
Sun 2018-Mar-11
Facillitator
Stefan
Body
What is the harm in Christians believing in conspiracy theories?
Christians are naturally conspiracy minded: Christians are meant to be outliers (Rom 12:2), going against the grain of the world's ways. Christianity depends on faith (Heb 11:6), and apparent wisdom often isn't (1Cor 3:19).
Christians are not naturally conspiracy minded: We are clearly told to avoid foolish speculations (2Tim 2:23). We are told to avoid deception, be clear minded, and follow the truth.
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." -- quoted by Charles Spurgeon
"No, people aren't stupid. On average, people are of average intelligence." -- Randall Munroe
Questions
- What possible harm can believing in conspiracies have?
- To what extent should we oppose conspiracy thinking in fellow Christians? Or should we let them be?
- Defend, refute or clarify: Standard Christianity believes in a fundamental conspiracy, that there is personified evil subtly working in the world today. That alone can justify a lot.
- What can we do to refute conspiracies when the conspiracy mongers think they know more?
Reference(s)