Ex-Christian Sis. Esther Dhanraj’s tirade against Christianity has recently increased in popularity; thanks to Mr. Rajiv Malhotra and social media.
Mrs. Esther Dhanraj, as per her YouTube videos, is an Ex-Christian without any religious affiliation (for now). She completed her M.Div from a seminary in the USA. She has read the Bible cover to cover. However, while pursuing her Masters course in Divinity, she lost her faith in Christianity.
Wikipedia describes Rajiv Malhotra as “an Indian-American author who, after a career in the computer and telecom industries, took early retirement in 1995 to set up the Infinity Foundation, which focuses on Indic studies…”1 He is a devout Hindu.
Sis. Esther is an ex-Christian. During Christ’s time on earth and since then many have abandoned their faith. To be an ex-Christian is one thing but to publicly defame Christianity is another thing altogether.
Why is Sis. Esther an Ex-Christian? While speaking to Rajiv Malhotra, Sis. Esther spells out her reasons for leaving Christianity. Simple common sense suggests that Sis. Esther should have a strong, if not bullet-proof, reasons to accuse a historic faith. Interestingly, her reasons are very weak.
The Bible Teaches Young Earth Creationism?
Sis. Esther alleges that the Bible teaches Young Earth Creationism (YEC). On the contrary, she believes that the earth is very old a.k.a. Old Earth Creationism (OEC). Since she believes that the Bible teaches young-earth creationism, she claims the Bible to be false and hence she abandoned Christianity.2
The issue at hand is this. The YEC vs. OEC debate is an outcome of Biblical Hermeneutics (science of biblical interpretation). Whether the earth is young or old is an in-house discussion for Christians because this involves, very minimally, the interpretation of the word ‘day’ mentioned in the creation chapters of Genesis.
Devout Christians are present on both sides of this debate. Is Sis. Esther even aware of this?
Significantly, this conflict does not affect one’s salvation. A person who abandons Christianity because of a misunderstanding that the Bible only teaches YEC may be oblivious to the fact that this debate does not concern one’s salvation.
It does not matter if a Christian subscribes to YEC or OEC, both the Young Earth Creationists and the Old Earth Creationists (within Christendom) would be saved.
Is Sis. Esther so naïve that she is ignorant of this truth? Or could depravity play a role?
A concise response to Sis. Esther would be in order. A reader can literally interpret the word ‘day’ as a 24-hour time period or can understand that the Hebrew word yom can also mean epochs or long time periods. A reader is not erroneous if he understands the word ‘day’ (in Genesis 1 and 2) to mean long periods of time.
This understanding is further corroborated in these verses: The Psalmist said, “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4, NIV). Apostle Peter wrote, “Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.” (2 Peter 3:8, NET).
So Sis. Esther should learn that devout Christians could hold to any of these theories – YEC or OEC, and that it would not affect their salvation one bit.
The Bible Is Not An Encyclopedia Of Science, History & Geography
Sis. Esther alleges that her race is not found in the Bible. Apparently, the Bible does not mention India. This is offered as another reason for her to abandon Christianity.3
The Bible is all about God’s revelation to man. It’s an account of God’s action in the world, and his purpose with all creation. The Bible is neither a scientific handbook nor an encyclopedia of history and geography.
The Bible is not meant to mention every country and every race in the history of mankind. Expecting the Bible to mention one’s country and race exhibits either a total lack of understanding of the basic purpose of the Bible or the innate depravity of the person.
Due consideration should be offered to the aspect of decadence. Is Sis. Esther creating a ‘Straw Man’ (Straw Man logical fallacy) in her endeavor to debunk the Bible? Deliberately creating a straw man when there is none, to debunk a truth claim is an outcome of evil.
To state that the Bible does not mention India or her race is akin to creating a straw man. Sis. Esther may know that the Bible is not expected to mention every race and every country. However, creating a condition that the Bible should mention every race and every country (thus creating a straw man) is appalling.
Once a straw man is created, this person would claim that the Bible does not mention every country and every race, hence the Bible is false or invalid (this is how the person knocks off the straw man that he/she has created.).
This is not only a logical fallacy but this is a pathetic exhibition of evil.
The Bible Contains Contradictions?
Correct me if I am wrong; another reason for Sis. Esther to forsake Christianity is her lack of understanding of the Bible. Alternatively, a dim flaunt of decadence cannot be ruled out.
Sis. Esther asks, if the Bible is divinely inspired, how can there be contradictions?4 She goes on to add, how can there be errors in the text of the Bible when it was written by God HIMSELF or the Holy Spirit?5
To start with, neither God nor the precious Holy Spirit wrote the Bible directly. The inspiration of Scripture means that there was the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Scripture authors which rendered their writings an accurate record of the revelation or which resulted in what they wrote actually being the Word of God.
The Bible witnesses to its divine origin in several ways. Let’s consider two references only.
The New Testament author Peter taught this about the Scriptures of his day (Old Testament), “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1: 20-21, NIV). This is what Apostle Paul taught, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NET).
So neither God nor the precious Holy Spirit wrote the Bible themselves.
Only the original texts (autographs) are inerrant. We do not have the autographs with us. All we have are copies of the original text. No one in Christendom claims that the copies are inerrant.
What about the contradictions in the Bible?
Ruminate on this route as a response to this question. This excerpt is from a previous blog of mine entitled The Bible Has Errors, What Do We Do?: [Emphasis Mine]6
Would an erroneous Bible entail the non-existence of God? No, not by any chance!
God exists necessarily. God’s existence is not predicated or intricately linked to the veracity of the Bible. In other words, God will not cease to exist if the Bible is erroneous.
In fact, God existed even before the Bible was written. It was God who inspired the human authors to write the Bible. Bible reveals God. However, the Bible is not the only source that reveals God (cf. Romans 1: 19-20).
The Lord Jesus Christ, the means to salvation of mankind, existed independent of the Bible’s veracity. For instance, history affirms Christ’s existence and resurrection.
Dr. Gary Habermas asserts that Jesus death by crucifixion, HIS postmortem appearances to HIS disciples, and Paul’s vision of the resurrected Christ, are the most affirmed historical facts by both Christian and non-Christian scholars. 7
Therefore, if the Bible is proven to be with errors, neither would God cease to exist nor would Christ. If history affirms Christ’s resurrection, then salvation through Christ is also a fact that remains independent of the Bible.
This is not an exercise to undermine Bible’s authority. This is a mere exercise to affirm the independent existence (apart from the Bible) of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation of mankind through Christ.8
Therefore, even if the Bible is proven to contain errors, it would not and cannot undermine God, Christ and salvation of mankind. In other words, Christianity would not crumble if the Bible is proven to be with errors.
God is at the core of Christianity. Christ and the salvation that HE offered to mankind are at the core of Christianity.
But inerrancy of the Bible need not be at the core of Christianity. If inerrancy of the Bible is to remain at the core of Christianity, then it would presuppose that inerrancy of the Bible is far superior in value to God, Christ and salvation. However, since God is the source of the Bible, God ought to be at the core of Christianity and not the inerrancy of the Bible. Inerrancy is the corollary of God’s nature.
Unfortunately, this is not what Bart Ehrman thought. Bart Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, lost his faith in Christ because he apparently discovered one minor error in the gospels. It seemed Professor Ehrman held the doctrine of biblical inerrancy as the core of Christianity.
When a particular passage in the Gospel of Mark befuddled Bart Ehrman, his strong belief in inerrancy of the Bible was shaken. He became a liberal Christian and then ended up as an agnostic atheist after being unable to reconcile the philosophical problems of evil and suffering.9
So should inerrancy be an essential doctrine of Christianity? Maybe so. However, God who is the source of the Bible ought to be at the core of Christianity and not the inerrancy of the Bible. Disputing inerrancy would not and cannot damage God or Christ or salvation of mankind.
The theme of this article is intended to touch the scores of ordinary Christians. By ordinary Christians, I refer to Christians who are not into serious Christian pedagogy or academics.
The full blown wrath of Christianity’s detractors, such as the New Atheists, is aimed to rattle the faith of these ordinary Christians. At the first instance, when you hear the relentless tirades of these detractors, your faith in Christ may shake…
So, fear not!
God is at the core of Christianity. Christ and the salvation offered to mankind are at the core of Christianity. The Bible reveals our triune God. The Scripture cannot be broken. Let us continue to totally trust and study God and HIS Word. Amen.
So Sis. Esther need not worry about the contradictions in the Bible. There are many useful works online and offline that tackle these contradictions. She may as well study this book: The Big Book of Bible Difficulties: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation authored by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe.
Finally, was Rev. Billy Graham a hypocrite? Sis. Esther, in the context of contradictions in the Bible, rudely condemned Rev. Billy Graham as a hypocrite.7 Only a naïve or a depraved detractor of Historic Christianity could make such an accusation.
Sis. Esther should recognize that there are Christians who cannot grasp the deep complexities of Historic Christianity. How do these Christians believe in Christ then? By faith alone:8
Famed Christian evangelist Billy Graham went through a crisis of faith when his evangelist friend Charles “Chuck” Templeton questioned the veracity (truthfulness or accuracy) of the Bible and abandoned his faith in Christ. Billy Graham, however, overcame his crisis situation.
Billy Graham reminisced those moments, “The exact wording of my prayer is beyond recall, but it must have echoed my thoughts: “O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. … I can’t answer some of the philosophical and psychological questions Chuck [Templeton] and others are raising.” I was trying to be on the level with God, but something remained unspoken. At last the Holy Spirit freed me to say it: “Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word—by faith!” … I sensed the presence and power of God as I had not sensed it in months.”2
Templeton’s departure from Christianity did not deter Billy Graham. He survived the crisis and became a more committed believer in Christ.
How?
Through faith. Simple faith!
You and I will not be remiss if we simply believe that the Bible is the word of God.
This article partially responds to one YouTube video of Sis. Esther Dhanraj. So this is the first part of a counter to Sis. Esther Dhanraj and Mr. Rajiv Malhotra. Part two will be published soon.
Endnotes:
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Malhotra
2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdgGttyvyA&t=1804s; Time: 15:57
3https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdgGttyvyA&t=1804s; Time: 16:34
4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdgGttyvyA&t=1804s; Time: 23:04
5https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdgGttyvyA&t=1804s; Time: 23:56
6http://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-bible-has-errors-what-do-we-do.html
7https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNdgGttyvyA&t=1804s; Time: 38:09
8http://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2019/08/does-bible-contain-errors-or-not-how.html
Websites last accessed on 9th February 2020.
23 comments:
As Peter tells us, be ready to answer those who question us "with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet 3:15). Why not rewrite your blog and replace inflammatory words like "depraved" with a more gracious tone?
Sis. Cathy, Have you wondered why Jesus was so harsh on Peter (Matt 16:21-23)? Why was there no gentleness and respect?
Significantly, I said, in my blog, that it's either a naive or a depraved mind that could accuse Christianity to be false.
Thanks for asking....
Remain blessed
Mr Raj, Peter was already a disciple when Jesus rebuked him (actually rebuked Satan through Peter). The Lord Jesus, who knew all hearts, knew how far he could challenge Peter and bring him back to right thinking. When it comes to us making disciples out of those who are non-believers, we must attract them to Christ with gentleness and respect, as that same Apostle Peter said, and as Paul said, "speaking the truth in love." Sadly, some Christians have misinterpreted Paul's words to mean "It's always loving to speak truth no matter how unlovingly I say it." When we use harsh and judgmental words we come across as arrogant. Apologetics is a crucial Christian discipline of thinking rightly but must be applied to our non-Christian friends with humility.
Sis Cathy, I agree with you wholeheartedly. No doubts about that.
However, for the sake of digging deep into this theme, let me pose a couple of questions to you.
We are called to be Christlike. Christ was not a likable figure to the religious leaders of HIS time. HE called them the choicest of names (Matthew 23).
Now, I will not do that because, in my mind, Christlikeness isn't driving the Christian hypocrites out of the churches with a whip in my hand or calling them names. I love the positive version of Christlikeness. That's my learning and understanding.
Having said that, we need to ask why Christ used harsh terms towards the then religious leadership (Q1). The answer is quite straightforward - their staunch belief in their unbelief and their treatment of naive believers.
Sis. Esther, if she continues to be an ex-Christian, would go to hell. This is certain. She is presently ruled by Satan (hence her stance against Christianity). When Satan rules a mind, that mind is indeed depraved. This is a fact.
So there is nothing wrong in telling Sis Esther that her mind is in a depraved state. She also needs to know the truth of her current existence. Depravity is the spiritual sickness she is suffering from, and she deserves to know that. (But to the best of my knowledge, I haven't called her 'depraved' but I questioned whether she is naive or depraved.)
This brings me to Proverbs 27:5: "Better is open rebuke, than hidden love."
1 Timothy 5:20 says, "Those guilty of sin must be rebuked before all, as a warning to the rest."
So should Christian apologetics only be undergirded by love and not rebuke? Yes, I know that Ravi said, "...if truth is not undergirded by love, it makes the possessor of that truth obnoxious and the truth repulsive." However, when we are called to rebuke we are to rebuke, of course. But even that rebuke should be undergirded by love. In this context, I do not think my rebuttal of Sis Esther dwells on the side of hatred at all.
1 Pet 3:15 is indeed a guiding verse for apologetics, but I do not think it's right to form a doctrine based on that verse alone. Doctrines are built through the study of the various verses speaking about the subject of the doctrine.
So should Christian apologetics not include rebuke? (Q2) I think it should wherever and whenever needed, but not to the extent of espousing hatred or being disrespectful. Let me reiterate that my rebuttal is neither spewing hatred nor being disrespectful.
Thank you brother Raj for this explicit explanation that clarifies the claims of Mrs Esther Dhanraj.
A real God of the entire Universe would obviously have infinite intelligence and wisdom.
Does the behavior of the bible god demonstrate the infinite intelligence and wisdom worthy of a real god of the entire humanity and universe?
In my view the answer is no.
Hey.... It's super.... Counter.... I don't know why such type of people were doing like this..... Any way it's awesome counter
Ms Esther Dhanraj has studied bible more than anyone of you, so that means giving counter arguments by quoting vague bible quotes doesn't help you Mr Raj & Cathy.
In your logic, anyone questions bible is (satanic) or possessed by demonic forces. Your problem is your are believing in believe something that you cant logically defend.
My take on you is that you are possessed by Satanic Christianity or demonic forces of Christianity.
Please come out and see the light or true God in Hinduism. God in Hinduism is not like God in Bible, its much more better.
Here is the Bhagavad Gita quote.
Chapter 9:29: "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him."
The only way Christians can debate is to continue to clutch on the Bible says this or that but forget the book the Bible is a hodge podge compilation of books that were written after christ had left this world. None of the five gospel writers ever met christ.Many books that didn't fit the narrative were not included in this so called bible.Only a god who is mentally unstable would say he is a jealous God!!!. Christianity is a disease that has destroyed many cultures and brought about so much wars and destruction. To remember the words of Kenneth Kawonda when the white men came they had the cross and we had the land, now they have the land and we have the cross.Abunch of theives and no better than Satan give me soul and I give you riches, Christians pretend to help but want conversions or your soul.
Mrs puripeddi kamakshi dhanaraj (aka Esther kamakshi dhanaraj) was a converted Christian. She is brahmin convert. She never accepted Christ aS her saviour at the time of her conversion or at the latter stage of her Christian life. Her husband Dhanaraj was a nominal Christian according to her own statement. While she was living in America, she incurred a loss of Rs 100,000 dollars in business. This has affected her faith which was brittle. After these she started questioning the Holy Bible. Holy Bible doesn't say that if you accept Christ you will become rich. Rather John 16:33 Jesus said , you have tribulations in this world. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
This is not the main reason for her to become ex-christian. Even if she had continued as a Christian she would not have been delivered from Sin, Satan, and hades bcoz she never believed in her heart that Lord Jesus Christ is her LORD saviour and the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ was real. The seed of rebellion against the Living God of the Bible which was planted by Satan ( pride of culture, falsehood of the old religion from which she came has taken firm root in heart). She opposes TRUTH just like her father who is Satan. John8:44 Jesus said "You are of your father the Devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was murderer from the beginning, and abode not in Truth, bcoz there was no truth in him. When he speakers a lie, he speakers of his own; for he is liar and father of it "
Now let me remind sis Cathy who appears to be a super spiritual Christian wo is not aware anything about Esther kamakshi dhanaraj. Judas Iscariot was disciple of Christ for about 3 and 1/2 years and was with Jesus. He betrayed JESUS for 30 Pieces of silver . Afterwards he committed suicide by hanging himself.
In the same way this Esther dhanaraj faith was a fake faith. It was never real. She should have approached some Godly men of Christian faith for redressal of her grievances. Did she do that ? No. She went to her
Old Hinduthwavadi extremist to attack Christ, the Holy Bible, and Christianity. InIndia she started attacking Christians thro' Hinduthwavadi extremist organisation called Shivashakthi, and Bharat today TV channel. In America, she did this by joininging hands with Mr.rajiv malhotra, a fake scholar as well as a Christ hater. He pretends to be a proud American in order to deceive the Americans. He is a hypocrite and liar. He is a staunch supporter of extremist group who persecute Christians in India thro' their hatred literature. This Esther dhanaraj is one such person whom rajiv malhotra uses as a tool. Both of them have a same agenda. To make India a Hindurastra ( Hindu nation) . Now a person of this mentality with Hinduthwavadi agenda, is it possible to convince that Christ is Truth, Holy Bible is the inspired
word of God ? Not at all. Persons with such depraved mentality always search in the Bible to find faults and Not Lord Jesus who is the central theme of the Bible. These kind of devil's children will seek the material of those writers authors who have written or commented or opposed against Christ and Christianity. If someone counters them with tonnes of evidences for the Holy Bible they will not accept bcoz god of this world ( Satan) has blinded her mind as she has chosen not to believe the glorious gospel of Christ ( 2 COR 4:3).
Isn't that applicable to all religions?You just want to prove something wrong without listening to the arguments.The source of all Semitic and Indic religions could be the same,have u ever thought about that?About Christianity,the positive impacts far outweigh the negative.This discussion itself is proof of that.
Haha by addressing Esther's new earth issue at length you are infact clutching to the strawman argument. Depraved is too strong a term to use don't you think. Depraved should probably only be reserved to describe all those christian priests who have rammed the crucifix down the throats of young people under the superstitious and nonsensical pretext of excorcism.
There are many verses in the Bible that prove that it is a pro-Jewish literature and not meant for all people.
The following bible verse is Jesus’ OWN WORDS in which he says that he was only sent for Israel(jews)
Matthew 15:24
King James Version
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus also told his disciples not to go and teach non-jews(gentiles)
Matthew 10:5
King James Version
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
The problem has been recognized by scholars as to why Christianity thinks Jesus was meant for everyone.
2,000 years ago A self appointed disciple of Jesus named Paul claimed to have had a vision of Jesus telling him to teach non-jews(gentiles).
Almost everything that Paul taught was opposite to what Jesus taught and from what the rest of the Bible says.
It must be realized that Paul NEVER MET JESUS in real life.
Paul’s so called ‘experience of Jesus’ CANNOT be proven. Even the story of Paul’s vision/experience in the Bible are contradictory. In one of the stories the people around Paul heard Jesus’ voice but in another description of what happened NOBODY heard anything.
What you’re probably wondering is how did the world come to believe that Jesus was meant for everyone.....
That is because Paul taught people in other countries.
Paul’s teachings is what became Christianity.
Once Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire it was interpreted to be applicable to everyone.
Regardless of Paul, Jesus never taught what Paul did and nothing in the Old Testament specifically identifies Jesus.
It’s even possible that Jesus didn’t exist.
So Christianity believes in the Bible, not God, not Christ or his divinity. I fail to appreciate that a belief, a mere belief without any common sense, reason or reasonableness
can be accepted as THE TRUTH, THE WORD OF GOD.
For that matter any religion is no different.
Lets try to understand life first, not god.
So what is life would religions attempt to answer.
Very true, exactly, anyway following christ is not an easy road, this sister was looking @ the American Gospel of fame n fortune, she was supposed to follow the Bible,
In Hinduism itself the name Prajapati is related to Jesus. So go and find it and worship. Jesus not only God of Christians but for all people.
Basically she was not really a christian to begin with
Let us be clear. The biblical god has no form, no shape, no color. But he has gender. And it is masculine gender. May be daughter in law of Adam and Eve knew this mystery.
So to put it briefly you are saying though the Bible is the word of god it can have errors. And those who dont believe in your faith will go to hell.
Pretty narrow minded and childish of you.
I believe in Jesus because there is no God in so called Hinduism that said I Love you even to the point death. It's proved that Jesus was crucified and he died for the whole of humanity and that's not the end he overcame death he rose from the death that enough for me to believe that Jesus is the true one living God and there is no other God.
Your heart wants to hear fake gnostic knowledge. The Bible warns about fake wisdom. Psalms talks about god's wisdom . You love Satan's fake lies .
Satanism and other pagan religions are based on what people desire and think is good or wise , christianity is based on the words and actions of the one true living god. You may not like his definition of good and bad because the Bible say humans are sinful and want to go their own way they want to worship god's of their own desires because satan has deceived them with fancy stories about the so called fake wisdom of the fake god's. Our God is good , he is loving , he suffered for us. The other religions are attractive because they are Satan's lies . Shall I start pointing out the lies of your pagan Hinduism god's . 330 million god's
But India is mentioned in the Bible. "This happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Cush." (Esther 1:1)
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