Resources for George Floyd, Social Justice, and Racism

Given the current events, I wanted to post some links to help people stay informed on how to think through such events biblically. The circumstances we see around us are fruits of seeds planted years ago with the rise of Social Justice and other worldly philosophies. Thankfully there are brothers and sisters in Christ who have done some excellent thinking on these issues and we are in their debt. Here are some of my favorite resources on these issues. 

Resources on George Floyd and Current Events

“George Floyd and the Gospel” – The Just Thinking Podcast gives an excellent response to the current events, the death of George Floyd, protests, and the riots. If you only listen to one thing, I would recommend this.

Race, Justice and the Gospel: BBC Q&A with Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker – George Lawson interviews Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker on current events and BLM.

“Thinking Biblically in a Time of Unrest” – One of the pastor’s at Grace Community Church, Mike Riccardi, gives a level, biblical analysis of how Christians need to think about current events, including the death of George Floyd, racism, etc.

“The Injustice Against George Floyd” – Samuel Sey writes his thoughts on the injustice of George Floyd’s death.

“Critical Theory Issues in Recent Events” – James White talks for the first part of this podcast on the current events and some of the implications.

“Who’s to Blame for the Riots?” – This was a sermon preached by MacArthur on 6/7/20 in response to all the cultural iniquity we see around us. Addressing it from a biblical perspective.

2018 Statement on Social Justice

In 2018, an assemblage of evangelical leaders wrote The Statement on Social Justice. This is a great website with its own resources section with a variety of blog articles on the issues involved with social justice. Here are some of the highlights:

• Samuel Sey – “Social Justice Is a Threat to Human Rights and the Gospel”
• Darrell B. Harrison – “Divided by Sin”
• Darrell B. Harrison – “The Fault in Their (Social) Gospel”
• Josh Buice – “Social Justice is an Attack on the Sufficiency of Scripture”
• Tom Ascol – “White Privilege”
• James White – “The Imago Dei”

2019 G3 Social Justice Preconference

In 2019, the G3 Conference had a Social Justice Preconference. You can click the previous link and access all the sessions, but here are some of the highlights:

• Voddie Baucham – “Defining Social Justice”
• James White – “An Exegetical and Historical Examination of the Woke Church Movement”
• Josh Buice – “Brave New Religion: Intersectionality”
• Thomas Ascol – “White Privilege: The New Original Sin”

Helpful Podcasts and Videos on the Issues of Social Justice and Race

Just Thinking Podcast is an excellent resource, providing discussions by two African-American brothers who speak with clear theological and biblical clarity. Here are some of their best episodes:

• Breonna Taylor and the Gospel
• Black Lives Matter?
• The Church of BLM
• A Biblical Exposition of “White Culture”
• Racial Reconciliation
• Politics and the “Black Church”
• When Forgiveness Isn’t Woke Enough
• A Socialist Savior
• Black Lives Matter and Abortion
• Whiteness
• Slavery Reparations (Note: This is the first episode I ever heard of theirs and came to love these guys and their heart for biblical thinking)
• A Biblical Theology of Socialism

Other Helpful Sources

“Deconstructing Communities” – James Lindsay and Peter Boghossian talk about the worldview behind Critical Theory and how it ultimately destroys everything it touches.

“Critical Race Theory” – James Lindsay talks about the problems with Critical Race Theory and how the methodology is the problem.

“Ethnic Gnosticism” – Ethnic Gnosticism is a term crafted by Voddie Baucham to explain the phenomenon of people believing that somehow because of ones ethnicity that one is able to know when something or someone is racist.

“Cultural Marxism” – Voddie Baucham unpacks Cultural Marxism, identifying how it is incompatible with the Christian faith that has once for all been delivered to the saints.

“Review of Bradly Mason’s Critical Theory Diatribe, Interacting on ‘Cultural Marxism’” – This is a very helpful analysis by James White of Bradly Mason’s arguments, and a discussion of cultural Marxist influences.

Critical Race Theory, White Privilege, and T4G – Alpha and Omega Ministries – James White

“The Words of James Cone, Unvarnished” – In the 2^nd half of the Dividing Line, James White discusses the theology of James Cone and his influence on the church, and how he himself is actually guilty of racism.

Critical Theory and Social Justice Ebook – Ratio Christi has made a small PDF primer available for free on their website. You just have to sign up with your email. It is written by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer.

Other Helpful Blog Posts

“Black Lives Matter: Affirm the Sentence, Not the Movement” – Al Mohler dissects the Black Lives Matter movement, and concludes, “While we affirm the sentence “black lives matter,” without hesitation and with full enthusiasm, we simply cannot use the sentence, because it will be heard, nearly universally, as a movement, not as a sentence. The sentence is no longer a sentence—it is a movement, a platform, an agenda of revolution at odds with the gospel, contrary to and destructive of God’s creational order.”

“Eight Big Reasons Critical Race Theory is Terrible for Dealing with Racism” – James Lindsay discusses the problems with Critical Race Theory and why it can never solve the problems of racism.

“Critical Race Theory: Is it Christian?” – This is a series of posts from Owen Strachen who analyzes CRT from a biblical perspective. Make sure to read Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 as well.

“Our Fathers, Our Failures” – Samuel Sey is an incredibly clear writer, and a benediction to the church. This article compares the problems of the Black Canadians and Black Americans, showing they are identical and not related to a history of slavery.

“What is Racism According to the Bible?” – This is an article I wrote a couple years ago. It has renewed value in today’s culture.

“Slavery Reparations and the Christian” – This is another post I wrote which deals with the specific issue of reparations and the biblical (and logistical) problems with reparations.

“Does Systemic Racism Exist?” – Another article by Samuel Sey, which connects well with his previous article.

“Does ‘Systemic Racism’ Exist?” – Neil Shenvi gives a very helpful analysis about how it is necessary to define systemic racism.

“Do Whites Need Corporate Repentance for Historical Racial Sins?” – Neil Shenvi writes another helpful article.

“Overview of Critical Race Theory & Intersectionality” – Eric Davis writes at The Cripple Gate and gives an overview of these important issues.

“Why ‘Racism’ Isn’t Wrong” – Darrell Harrison talks about the idea of race and whether or not it is biblical.

“Three Reasons Why Christians Should Reject #BlackLivesMatter” – Josh Buice writes on the serious problems of #BlackLivesMatter.

“Can We Weep with Those Who Weep?” – Denny Burk writes a helpful encouragement to be empathetic to our black brothers and sisters. Just because there is no evidence of race-motivated lethal police action against blacks, this does not mean there are not times when our black brothers and sisters do suffer.

“A Christian Critique of Personal Experience” – I wrote this blog post in the midst of some of the cultural madness. I kept seeing friends (and everyone else) appeal to personal experience to validate their judgments. This can be quite problematic.

Concluding Notes

There is probably more that could be included (and perhaps I will add more in the future). But my hope is that some might find these resources helpful in understanding the culture, and more importantly, the Christian obligation during these turbulent times.

Photo by Heather Mount on Unsplash