Honestly as someone who doesn’t worship idols, I don’t care about this statue being taken down. If you want to learn about him, pick up a book or Google it.
So the president of a church history society is actively and gladly destroying historical monuments of church history? How terrible is that? Perhaps this society is somehow related to the people behind the Jesus seminar, the "Christian" group who "determined" Jesus never performed miracles and never rose from the dead. Christianity in the public sphere is ceasing to be Christian.
idk how I came across this but well said! I'm a Penn undergraduate and it is upsetting to see history being removed (without proper prior discussion) from public view… the only thing is humans have been removing structures and erecting new ones in their place for all of our history, it's nothing new… I mean the entire city of Philadelphia was presumably built on Native American Lenape land.. or during the Revolution, British soldiers burned down several historical Anglican churches in the Colonies… there are instances in the recent years of vandals desecrating statues commemorating slaves in the South… there's unfortunately always been precedent to inspire such acts
We can mark progress in history without glamorizing and praising promoters of slavery. It is extremely ignorant to dismiss the struggles and feelings of black Americans whose culture was stripped away from them. For them to have to see examples of people ,who would've put them in chains, in a state of appraisal is traumatic. No one is perfect, but no one should be praised for enslaving other people. This is extremely disappointing and why people stray away from the church; because its leaders excuse inhumane acts of violence and terror against marginalized communities. Be better.
Franklin said: “I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years. His integrity, disinterestedness and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good work I have never seen equaled and shall never see excelled.”
As a direct descendant of one of George's brothers (hey, my name is Raymond James Whitefield), I completely support the decision of UPenn to remove the statue. I know my ancestor had a key role in the establishment of the church and beliefs that you and your viewers hold dear, however that doesn't mean some of the actions he took during his life don't warrant review. That is all that is happening. The university has decided they don't want to continue to hosting this statue, that is completely within their rights. That doesn't rewrite history, or his role in it. George Whitefield, my ancestor and a founder of your faith was a man that owned, and advocated for the enslavement of, his fellow man. That is simply the truth. Yes, he did many good deeds in his life but they do not remove that fact. I believe that his good deeds and faith can be celebrated while also condemning his bad ones, and I think that if he miraculously came to life today he would reflect on the 251 years that have passed since his death and agree with me.
Where does it stop? It doesn’t. Christ is the worldling’s enemy, and so are all who believe. When a culture pulls down its iconography, then it’s “game over”.
My local, Reformed Baptist church’s Pastor absolutely loves George Whitfield. He would never in a million years defend his efforts to maintain slavery as the status-quo, however. You are essentially saying, “yeah, Whitfield was for slavery, but not that bad of a man. We all have our problems.” Yet, condemning those protesters (sinners) who did in fact pull down statues of Confederate heroes, angering those who are partial to those statues. Question is, why are they partial to them? Your social views and political ideals are bleeding into your Christianity, and it is on display for all who view your channel. I believe in equality, Matt; not partiality. You’ve seen my comments, you’ve read my email. You won’t budge, and that’s okay. And still, I feel you really need to examine your heart and what stance you truly take regarding your view on the equality of men of all colors. I mean, it’s really hard to say you’re impartial and don’t have a complex.
Are such prestigious institutions and their Boards so narrow minded and bigoted humans(??)? Where is the toleration for dissent? Where is the debate? Whitefield was TOTALLY AGAINST SLAVERY!!
Our history was taken away from us completely, I have know ideas of who my ancestors are and your crying about a statue of Whitfield lol, Progress in history I don’t even know my history this is so funny complete joke just preach the gospel stop crying about the statues I need to hear about Jesus not Whitfields statues
It would be good to have an update on the fate of the statue. My perspective is this – if the statue is not there then where does the discussion start? George Whitfield was important for more than one reason but it becomes more difficult to know why if there are few artifacts.
The heathen may attempt to cancel him, but they will never be able to cancel the great legacy this man left, all the souls this man, through the wondrous power of the Holy Spirit, brought into salvation!
I drive out to George's orphanage, Bethesda, outside Savannah a lot….I talk to him and can hear him laughing at this. Reverend Whitefield didn't take himself seriously, only Jesus and souls. In a dream he told me many cheap products made in China were designed to mock the nostalgia of Americans. He is very involved and doesn't need any statues. Ben Franklin raised the money for Bethesda in Philadelphia but because the children of Savannah were being stolen by pirates and sold into sex slavery Franklin agreed to let the funds build Bethesda here. No white people would do the work because of the climate so Whitefield got slaves, which he treated like frat brothers very well….the situation embarrassed him but could find no other way. I suspect those who disliked his statue were wearing clothes and carrying phones made by people treated much, much worse….and taking themselves much more seriously.
As a former resident of suburban Philadelphia, this is an absolute tragedy.
Honestly as someone who doesn’t worship idols, I don’t care about this statue being taken down. If you want to learn about him, pick up a book or Google it.
So the president of a church history society is actively and gladly destroying historical monuments of church history? How terrible is that? Perhaps this society is somehow related to the people behind the Jesus seminar, the "Christian" group who "determined" Jesus never performed miracles and never rose from the dead. Christianity in the public sphere is ceasing to be Christian.
idk how I came across this but well said! I'm a Penn undergraduate and it is upsetting to see history being removed (without proper prior discussion) from public view… the only thing is humans have been removing structures and erecting new ones in their place for all of our history, it's nothing new… I mean the entire city of Philadelphia was presumably built on Native American Lenape land.. or during the Revolution, British soldiers burned down several historical Anglican churches in the Colonies… there are instances in the recent years of vandals desecrating statues commemorating slaves in the South… there's unfortunately always been precedent to inspire such acts
We can mark progress in history without glamorizing and praising promoters of slavery. It is extremely ignorant to dismiss the struggles and feelings of black Americans whose culture was stripped away from them. For them to have to see examples of people ,who would've put them in chains, in a state of appraisal is traumatic. No one is perfect, but no one should be praised for enslaving other people. This is extremely disappointing and why people stray away from the church; because its leaders excuse inhumane acts of violence and terror against marginalized communities. Be better.
I guess their core values are communism, fascism and paganism.
Franklin said: “I knew him intimately upwards of thirty years. His integrity, disinterestedness and indefatigable zeal in prosecuting every good work I have never seen equaled and shall never see excelled.”
As a direct descendant of one of George's brothers (hey, my name is Raymond James Whitefield), I completely support the decision of UPenn to remove the statue.
I know my ancestor had a key role in the establishment of the church and beliefs that you and your viewers hold dear, however that doesn't mean some of the actions he took during his life don't warrant review. That is all that is happening. The university has decided they don't want to continue to hosting this statue, that is completely within their rights. That doesn't rewrite history, or his role in it.
George Whitefield, my ancestor and a founder of your faith was a man that owned, and advocated for the enslavement of, his fellow man. That is simply the truth. Yes, he did many good deeds in his life but they do not remove that fact. I believe that his good deeds and faith can be celebrated while also condemning his bad ones, and I think that if he miraculously came to life today he would reflect on the 251 years that have passed since his death and agree with me.
I'm a Whitfield related to George.
Where does it stop? It doesn’t. Christ is the worldling’s enemy, and so are all who believe. When a culture pulls down its iconography, then it’s “game over”.
Right. And his up-keeping of slavery in the state of Georgia by way of manipulating the Bible’s teaching is not that bad, Matt. No, not at all.
My local, Reformed Baptist church’s Pastor absolutely loves George Whitfield. He would never in a million years defend his efforts to maintain slavery as the status-quo, however. You are essentially saying, “yeah, Whitfield was for slavery, but not that bad of a man. We all have our problems.” Yet, condemning those protesters (sinners) who did in fact pull down statues of Confederate heroes, angering those who are partial to those statues. Question is, why are they partial to them? Your social views and political ideals are bleeding into your Christianity, and it is on display for all who view your channel. I believe in equality, Matt; not partiality. You’ve seen my comments, you’ve read my email. You won’t budge, and that’s okay. And still, I feel you really need to examine your heart and what stance you truly take regarding your view on the equality of men of all colors. I mean, it’s really hard to say you’re impartial and don’t have a complex.
Are such prestigious institutions and their Boards so narrow minded and bigoted humans(??)? Where is the toleration for dissent? Where is the debate? Whitefield was TOTALLY AGAINST SLAVERY!!
I believe they have MLK on tape encouraging another pastor to rape a woman. I find that more than offensive. When will we take down those statues?
Our history was taken away from us completely, I have know ideas of who my ancestors are and your crying about a statue of Whitfield lol, Progress in history I don’t even know my history this is so funny complete joke just preach the gospel stop crying about the statues I need to hear about Jesus not Whitfields statues
So in other words, no one knows American history at UPenn.
It would be good to have an update on the fate of the statue. My perspective is this – if the statue is not there then where does the discussion start? George Whitfield was important for more than one reason but it becomes more difficult to know why if there are few artifacts.
The heathen may attempt to cancel him, but they will never be able to cancel the great legacy this man left, all the souls this man, through the wondrous power of the Holy Spirit, brought into salvation!
HAHAHAHA well done! But God will keep raising George Whitefields till the end of time!
I drive out to George's orphanage, Bethesda, outside Savannah a lot….I talk to him and can hear him laughing at this. Reverend Whitefield didn't take himself seriously, only Jesus and souls. In a dream he told me many cheap products made in China were designed to mock the nostalgia of Americans. He is very involved and doesn't need any statues. Ben Franklin raised the money for Bethesda in Philadelphia but because the children of Savannah were being stolen by pirates and sold into sex slavery Franklin agreed to let the funds build Bethesda here.
No white people would do the work because of the climate so Whitefield got slaves, which he treated like frat brothers very well….the situation embarrassed him but could find no other way. I suspect those who disliked his statue were wearing clothes and carrying phones made by people treated much, much worse….and taking themselves much more seriously.