Christian theologian James White made a response video to refute Brandan Robertson's claims on Jesus acting racist towards the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7.
About five days ago, Brandan Robertson - who identifies as a "reverend" and a "progressive Christian" - uploaded a commentary video on his take of the Mark 7 account in Jesus' life. His unorthodox interpretation caused controversy, thus making his clip go viral on the internet.
"Did you know that there's a part of the Gospel of Mark where Jesus uses a racist slur," says Robertson in his video intro.
"He (Jesus) calls her a 'dog,'" Robertson repeated as emphasis. "What's amazing about this account is that the woman does not back down. She speaks truth to power. She confronts Jesus and says, 'Well you can think that about me, but even dogs deserve the crumbs from the table.'"
Robertson equates the woman's statement as "bravery to speak truth to power" which caused Jesus to change his mind, repents of his racism, and grants the woman her request.
"I love this story because it's a reminder that Jesus is human. He had prejudices and biases, and when confronted with it, he was willing to do his work. And this woman was willing to stand up and speak truth," he concluded.
This caught the attention of James White who decided to give a "thoughtful response" and to present the kind of "approach Christians should have when responding to blatantly anti-Gospel views," says Faithwire.
White first cautioned Christians to not engage in debates over deemed heretical doctrines in an emotionally charged manner. In what he calls as "thinking presuppositionally," White said that issues like Robertson's is a "symptom of a larger problem." This larger problem, as noted by Faithwire, is the "abandonment of recognizing the authority, infallibility, and divine revealed nature of Scripture."
As for Robertson's interpretation on what transpired between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman, the theologian stated his observations.
"But what this man just said was that Jesus is not a savior, can't be a savior, he's a sinner, he's a racist, he's not as good as a Syrophoenician woman. She had to speak truth to power. He's not the truth, he's not the way, he's not the life, he's not the savior. He was a lie from the beginning. But he'll still call himself a Christian."
White explains that this line of thinking is "woke" meant to undermine the basic truths of the Bible, and that this happens when a Christian's foundation is tossed out. The result is a rejection of Scriptural revelations that bring convictions to people's hearts.
Back to Jesus's alleged racist demeanor, White said that Christians are, over the centuries agreed on their understanding of the Mark 7 account. They know what Jews think of non-Jews, and what the Syrophoenician woman expects to hear from a Jewish man.
"She hasn't changed his mind," White said, but noted that because she pressed on, Jesus commended her faith.
"He was testing her faith. He was bringing that up," White said then gave another example from the Gospel books when Jesus did the same.
"Many times in the Bible we see Jesus commend people for having faith, such as the woman who reached out, touched Jesus' cloak and was healed. Jesus wasn't dumbfounded when he asked "who touched me" - He knew who it was, of course. He's bringing forth her confession so that he can minister to her."
