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Jumpstarter 6 of 10

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The Myth of Christian America  /  MCA (1 of 14): In the Beginning  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 6
He claims the “theory has been tested” for 1,600 years and “without even one exception” every professedly Christian nation trampled Christ’s teachings; what examples or counterexamples come to mind, and what would you need to see (from primary sources, as Bercot models) to be persuaded one way or the other?
Another way to ask: Do you think every “Christian nation” has failed to follow Jesus’ teachings, as Bercot claims? What examples would you point to, and what original sources would you need to be convinced either way?

Direct Answer The transcript itself doesn’t list many later examples yet, but Bercot points to “Christian Rome” as a key test case and says the pattern continued through “Christian Europe” where Christians slaughtered Christians. To be persuaded, his own method implies examining primary documents—laws, charters, and leaders’ writings—to see whether states truly governed by Jesus’ teachings or inevitably used coercion and violence.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says, “it’s been tried… for 1,600 years… without even one exception, every one of those nations trampled upon the teachings of Christ.”
  • He previews that later messages will show “real-life examples” of attempts to establish Christian nations and “what happened.”
  • He details Christian Rome: outlawing evils (abortion, gladiator games, idolatry) required Christians “to use violence,” and soon it became “Christians slaughtering fellow Christians.”
  • He summarizes the wider era: in “Christian Europe,” “blood flowed freely as Christians slaughtered fellow Christians without end.”
  • He models a standard of proof: he is “committed to digging out the truth by going to the primary sources… writings… documents… charters of the colonies.”
Discussion Follow-ups What kinds of evidence would count as a real counterexample: peaceful governance without coercion, or merely moral legislation? How would you test that historically?

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