Today on Kresta - April 21, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on April 21
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!!

4:00 – Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance
Many Christians find themselves struggling with a particular sin or dysfunction. They seek counseling, practice confession, and pursue God-centered lives, yet still these genuine believers feel hopeless in finding freedom. Could they be under the influence of evil spirits? Yes, says author Neal Lozano. He reveals Satan's strategies and the sneaky "entrance points" Satan finds to get a toehold in a Christian's life. He helps us acknowledge the doors they may have opened to evil influence, and shows them how to close those doors and walk in God's freedom and abundance. Lozano's focus on God and his work in the believer's life, not on intimidating aspects of evil spirits, gives this book a balanced and hopeful tone. Because deliverance is part of the ongoing, glorious work of the Holy Spirit, he outlines a plan for tapping into the potent power of the gospel. Neal joins us.

4:30 – The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity
How does Jesus fulfill over three hundred Old Testament Prophecies? Is Catholicism inherently Anti-Semitic? Do the Hebrew Scriptures accurately predict Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah? How does Jewish thinking presuppose devotion to Mary? Is the Catholic Church a fulfillment of historic Israel? How do Jewish water rituals relate to Catholic baptism? Is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass a Passover meal? Should the Catholic priesthood conform to the priesthood established by Moses? How has the Jewish Temple influenced traditional Christian architecture? Does the Pope wear a yarmulke? We answer these questions and more with Taylor Marshall, author of The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity.

5:00 – A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement
Over the past thirty years, as Wesley J. Smith details in his latest book, the concept of animal rights has been seeping into the very bone marrow of Western culture. One reason for this development is that the term “animal rights” is so often used very loosely, to mean simply being nicer to animals. But although animal rights groups do sometimes focus their activism on promoting animal welfare, the larger movement they represent is actually advancing a radical belief system. For some activists, the animal rights ideology amounts to a quasi religion, one whose central doctrine declares a moral equivalency between the value of animal lives and the value of human lives. Some believe their cause to be so righteous that it entitles them to cross the line from legitimate advocacy to vandalism and harassment, or even terrorism against medical researchers, the fur and food industries, and others they accuse of abusing animals. All people who love animals and recognize their intrinsic worth can agree that human beings owe animals respect, kindness, and humane care. But Smith argues eloquently that our obligation to humanity matters more, and that granting “rights” to animals would inevitably diminish human dignity. We discuss it.