Jenna’s Studio – Sleek, minimalist, gold-accented backdrop. Over 100,000 watching live on YouTube and TikTok stream.
JENNA (smiling):
"Welcome back to 'Reformed & Realigned.'
We’re live. And yes—tonight we ask the question everyone is afraid to say out loud: Is 6C just a Trojan Horse to euthanize Christianity and repce it with sanitized state-theism?
Let’s unpack it with my guests—Dr. Scott Crk and the legendary Dr. Bart Ehrman."
DR. SCOTT CLARK (grimly):
"Jenna, I won't sugarcoat this. 6C is not a reformation—it’s erasure. You and Elke, whether knowingly or not, have helped construct a civil religion with no Christ, no gospel, no salvation. That’s not Christianity. That’s Caesar in a robe."
JENNA (coolly):
"You say 'no salvation.' But salvation for who? White suburbanites with shrinking congregations? Or the 20,000 agnostics I just spoke to in Grand Rapids who finally believe in something again?"
DR. CLARK:
"They don’t believe in God. They believe in governance. That’s not faith, it’s ideological therapy. You’ve sold a brand, not a truth."
DR. BART EHRMAN (interjects calmly):
"Let’s crify a few things. Christianity, from its origins, has always been about constructing truth around power structures—starting with Rome. The Nicean Council didn’t receive doctrine; it created orthodoxy. If anything, what 6C is doing isn’t new. It’s just the test empire trying to craft a usable version of faith."
CLARK (frustrated):
"And you’re okay with that? With throwing out two millennia of theology for civic obedience and commandment slogans?"
EHRMAN (shrugs):
"I never said I was a believer. I said I was a historian. And history doesn’t lie—religions die when they lose relevance. The doctrines of Paul, Trinity debates, Christology minutiae—they don’t speak to the digital generation."
JENNA:
"Exactly. 6C doesn’t require you to be a mystic. It just asks you to live with discipline and reverence for the divine. Maybe that’s what people want now—not metaphysics, but structure."
CLARK (quietly, almost pleading):
"You’ve repced grace with governance. And your followers are spiritually homeless, even if they don't know it yet."
JENNA:
"They’re not homeless. They’re home. And they’re not under Rome—they’re with us."
Is 6C an Agnostic Conspiracy to Kill Christianity?”
The livestream viewership climbs past 130,000. The tension is real. Jenna leans forward, eyes narrowing slightly. Dr. Scott Crk’s voice cuts in—measured but tight with frustration.
DR. SCOTT CLARK:
"Let’s stop pretending this is theology. 6C has stripped the soul out of faith. Six commandments and a few historical prophets? That’s not worship, that’s moral minimalism. Faith is supposed to be complicated. Christianity is meant to be paradoxical—incarnation, Trinity, grace and w. That’s the beauty of it."
JENNA (smirking):
"So, in your view, truth has to be confusing?"
CLARK (passionate):
"Truth is deep, not confusing. It requires study, meditation, centuries of wrestling. What 6C is doing—it’s turning religion into a soundbite. 'Believe in God, honor a prophet, follow six rules.' That’s not faith, that’s lifestyle branding."
BART EHRMAN (raising eyebrow):
"Let’s not pretend Christianity didn’t also adapt itself to power and simplicity. The Apostles' Creed? The Nicene Creed? All simplifications for the masses. Theologians always kept their nuance behind closed doors."
CLARK:
"But even that simplicity pointed to something rger. This—this 6C model is hollow. And frankly, it’s not even spiritual—it’s agnostic. It’s designed to appeal to non-believers. It’s market-tested. This thing doesn’t come from the church—it comes from TikTok and state ministries."
JENNA:
"And yet, it reaches people your churches haven’t touched in decades."
CLARK:
"But even that simplicity pointed to something rger. This—this 6C model is hollow. And frankly, it’s not even spiritual—it’s agnostic. It’s designed to appeal to non-believers. It’s market-tested. This thing doesn’t come from the church—it comes from TikTok and state ministries."
JENNA:
"And yet, it reaches people your churches haven’t touched in decades."
JENNA (calmly):
"Wow. Dr. Crk, you just said the quiet part out loud."
EHRMAN (chuckling):
"You might’ve undermined your own point there."
CLARK (defensive):
"I’m not talking race—I’m talking tradition. Heritage. The values that shaped European and American churches for centuries."
JENNA:
"You mean the same heritage that couldn’t stop church closures, that couldn’t agree on same-sex marriage, that let doctrine become a partisan football?"
CLARK (quiet):
"At least it had soul."
JENNA (softly, now turning to camera):
"The soul doesn’t leave when you simplify. It leaves when you stop living what you preach. 6C might be simple, but it's something people can actually follow."
PODCAST CONTINUES – Live Audience Now at 150K
Dr. Scott Crk, visibly trying to recover from the fallout of his st statement, adjusts his posture and speaks with a deliberate, almost pastoral tone.
DR. SCOTT CLARK:
“Look, let’s set the culture war aside. What 6C represents is disruption. A rebellion, a mass behavioral shift. And yes, it’s viral. Yes, it’s got momentum. But that’s not what religion is supposed to be. Disruption is temporary. Religion—true religion—is eternal.
The best religion is the one that doesn’t chase politics or trendlines, but focuses solely on faith. Quiet, steady faith. That’s where Christianity is still needed—not for what it was twisted into, but for what it has always been.”
BART EHRMAN (gently but firmly):
“Dr. Crk, I admire your sincerity, but you’re romanticizing a version of Christianity that has never existed.
You say the best religion focuses on faith alone—quiet, eternal faith. But Christianity has always been disruptive. It tore apart the Jewish world of the first century. It became the empire’s official religion by aligning with power. The Reformation? Pure disruption. Every revival, every council, every denominational split—disruption again.
And it wasn't just ‘quiet faith.’ It was deeply political, deeply social. From Constantine to Calvin to America’s founding pastors—Christianity was always bound up with power, culture, and the mood of the people.”
CLARK (trying to interrupt):
“But those were anomalies—”
EHRMAN (cutting in, firmer now):
“No, those were the religion. What you’re calling ‘true Christianity’—a quiet, apolitical, eternal essence—it’s a theological fantasy. It’s what pastors say from the pulpit, not what history shows.
The 6C isn’t disrupting Christianity. It’s just doing what Christianity did to others: evolving, spreading, adapting to power structures, and reinventing itself for the masses.”
JENNA (quietly, with a slight nod):
“Maybe it’s not a disruption. Maybe it’s just the next chapter.”
[Comment section explodes again.]
“Ehrman cooking Crk alive.”
“Crk’s faith = vibes only.”
“Is 6C just Christianity with fewer verses?”
“Bart for president of theology.”
PODCAST CONTINUES – Livestream Viewer Count Now at 182K
DR. SCOTT CLARK, doubling down, with a sharper, more academic tone:
DR. SCOTT CLARK:
“Here’s the irony. 6C openly admits—it’s not even a religion in the cssical sense. It’s a brief theocratic doctrine, a rulebook, not a revetion. It leans heavily on Zahirism, interpreting Abrahamic texts only at face value, ignoring yers of theological depth. That’s not religion. That’s bureaucratic spirituality.
6C is less like a faith and more like an open-ended intellectual movement that borrowed from Ism, stripped down Christianity, and rebranded Moses for Gen Z.
Christianity doesn’t need to do that. It is a religion. With depth. With tradition. With insight that emerges not from importing foreign frameworks, but from the richness of the Gospels themselves. That’s something 6C can’t fabricate with doctrine and design.”
BART EHRMAN, lifting a hand as if to say “pause right there,” responds with surgical precision:
BART EHRMAN:
“Scott, you said something that proves more than you intended. You said ‘Christianity doesn’t need to borrow externally.’ That’s historically false.
Christianity is an amalgam of borrowed frameworks. Paul—whose epistles 6C throws out—blended Jewish Messianism with Greek philosophy and Roman civic ideas. The Gospel of John? Full of Hellenistic dualism. Even the Nicene Creed is indebted to Neoptonic metaphysics.
Christianity didn’t emerge in a vacuum. It absorbed, synthesized, and reshaped ideas from the world around it—just as 6C is doing now, albeit more transparently. The only difference is, 6C admits it’s doing it.”
CLARK (quietly):
“But it had revetion.”
EHRMAN:
“Maybe. But if it did, it’s been filtered through centuries of very human interpretation, edits, and politics.
And let’s not pretend Zahirism is some downgrade. It’s a philosophical reaction to centuries of specutive theology—its simplicity is its intellectual edge. 6C isn’t hiding from complexity—it’s confronting religious exhaustion with a minimal viable theology. In today’s postmodern world, that’s not weakness. That’s strategy.”
JENNA (softly):
“And maybe people don’t need more yers. Maybe they just want crity.”
Comment section is chaos again: “Zahirism: the new Calvinism?”
“Ehrman just said Christianity pgiarized???”
“Crk walked into a historical buzzsaw.”
“Jenna MVP of vibe checks.”
PODCAST CONTINUES — AUDIENCE Q&A SESSION
Live Chat exploding | Viewers: 210K
JENNA MARSHALL:
“Alright, we’ve got thousands of questions flying in. But let’s pick a few that really cut to the core. This one’s directed to Dr. Bart Ehrman—simple and brutal:
‘Dr. Ehrman, which has more historical legitimacy: Christianity or 6C?’”
BART EHRMAN (smiles slightly):
“That’s a sharp one, and I’ll give it to you straight.
If we’re measuring ‘historical legitimacy’ based on longevity, impact, and doctrinal development, then Christianity obviously has a two-thousand-year head start. It’s a cultural, philosophical, and political powerhouse.
But if we measure by historical accuracy, coherence, and transparency about its construction, then 6C—ironically—has an edge. It doesn’t pretend to be an eternal truth from day one. It admits it’s a construct. It curates scripture instead of mystifying it. That might be offensive to theologians, but it’s refreshingly honest from a historian’s standpoint.”
JENNA (leaning in, intrigued):
“So you're saying… Christianity has legacy, but 6C has crity?”
BART:
“Exactly. Christianity is a cathedral built on centuries of interpretation and power struggles. 6C is a prefab minimalist temple with a mission statement. One is ornate and mysterious, the other is streamlined and strategic.”
NEXT AUDIENCE QUESTION (read aloud by Jenna):
“Would Jesus have supported 6C?”
BART EHRMAN:
“Depends on which Jesus you’re talking about.
The historical Jesus—apocalyptic, Jewish, preacher of the Kingdom of God—might have been sympathetic to parts of 6C. He wasn’t big on institutional religion or theological complexity.
But the Jesus of Trinitarian Christianity—the divine Logos, second person of the Trinity? That figure wouldn’t even exist in 6C’s worldview. So no, that version wouldn’t belong.”
JENNA (softly):
“…So Christianity created a Jesus that couldn’t even recognize the original one?”
EHRMAN (nods slowly):
“That’s the historical tragedy. And the theological genius.”
CHAT COMMENTS FLYING IN:
“Mind blown”
“This man just scalped 2,000 years of theology in 2 sentences.”
“Jesus of 6C vs Jesus of Nicaea = ultimate debate.”
“So is 6C the Reformation 2.0 or something else entirely?”
PODCAST CONTINUES — AUDIENCE Q&A: "6C vs Christianity"
Viewers: 240K | Chat flooding in
JENNA MARSHALL:
“Okay, next question is for Dr. Crk:
‘Why should we believe in Christianity over 6C, if Christianity has so many theological contradictions and 6C just offers obedience to six clear rules?’”
DR. SCOTT CLARK (clears throat):
“Thank you. Look, 6C might seem appealing because it offers simplicity. But religion isn’t meant to be simple. Christianity reflects the complexity of human sin, divine grace, and the mysteries of the Trinity. The Gospel isn’t a slogan. It’s a divinely orchestrated narrative of salvation through Christ—something a minimalist doctrine like 6C can never repce.
6C cks transcendence. It doesn’t wrestle with the human condition. It’s more of a sociopolitical blueprint than divine revetion. And honestly, it feels more like an agnostic conspiracy than a true religion.”
JENNA (raising eyebrows):
“Strong words. Dr. Ehrman, care to respond?”
BART EHRMAN (folding arms, calmly):
“Sure. First, let me say Dr. Crk just admitted something profound without meaning to: that Christianity is complicated by design. That’s fine if you’re into theological architecture. But don’t confuse complexity with truth.
He says 6C is a conspiracy. But here’s the thing: the early church councils that defined Christianity—Nicaea, Chalcedon—were themselves political bodies deciding who counted as a Christian and who didn’t. That was a conspiracy of orthodoxy.
You talk about ‘divinely orchestrated narrative’? Well, we have no original manuscripts of that narrative. We have hundreds of versions, with contradictions and editorial agendas. 6C may be engineered, but at least it’s transparent about its engineering.”
DR. CLARK (visibly frustrated):
“But without faith, there is no revetion—only skepticism. That’s what you represent. Faith is what Christianity offers.”
EHRMAN (firm, measured):
“Faith is fine, but let’s not confuse faith with fact. Christianity requires you to believe in contradictions—three persons, one God; fully divine, fully human; grace and wrath coexisting eternally.
6C strips that down to something graspable—God is One, obey these rules, align with the final Prophet. That’s not necessarily truth, but it makes more internal sense. And in a disenchanted world, internal sense might win.”
JENNA (softly):
“...So in the marketpce of ideas, maybe crity beats tradition.”
CHAT EXPLODES:
“Crk just got wrecked.”
“Ehrman be preaching without even believing.”
“Simplicity isn’t shallowness. Good point.”
“Is this the beginning of post-Christian America?”
DR. SCOTT CLARK (reading from a screen):
“So let’s get this straight. 6C’s practice section is a social code—no homosexuality, no pork, gambling forbidden, polygamy allowed—but only for men. Meanwhile, its theology isn't even theology. It’s a list of rejections:
Jesus isn’t God.
Pauline doctrine? Purged.
Prophets? Accept the Old Testament guys.
Final Prophet? Muhammad.
That’s not a faith. That’s a curated rejection.
They don’t even define God. They’re just reacting to Christianity and Judaism with a bullet list. Christianity doesn’t need someone else to define it. It’s a living tradition that stands on its own—'Pray to Jesus, be saved by grace.’ 6C only exists in contrast to something else.”
JENNA (murmurs):
“Interesting framework. Dr. Ehrman?”
BART EHRMAN (nodding, hands steepled):
“I’ll give Dr. Crk credit—he’s not wrong in how he structured that. 6C’s website does indeed read like an editorial on religion rather than a theology of its own. But that’s actually what makes it potent.
Let me expin: Christianity had to be constructed. Early Christians had dozens of competing gospels, varied beliefs. What we call ‘Christianity’ today is a refined version—finalized over centuries by councils, purging so-called heresies. That’s not pure theology either—that’s a power structure selecting which beliefs get to survive.
6C is honest about being reactive. It doesn’t cim divine mystery. It’s ying out behavioral guidelines and saying, ‘Here’s what we don’t accept.’ That minimalism is what makes it scable. Especially in a world where people are tired of being told to believe in things they can’t understand.”
CLARK (cutting in):
“But doesn’t that prove my point? If it's scable but shallow—then it’s not religion. It's sociology.”
EHRMAN (shrugging):
“Sociology is what makes religion survive. Always has. Look at Constantine’s Rome. Look at Luther’s Reformation. Even Jesus himself had to win over a movement—not just hearts, but culture.
6C is winning not because of its theology—but because it's offering certainty and structure with low metaphysical cost. That's an attractive offer in a spiritually fatigued society.”
JENNA (half-joking):
“So... Christianity sells mystery. 6C sells crity?”
EHRMAN (smirking):
“And crity tends to go viral.”
LIVE CHAT BOOMING:
“Bart out here treating theology like product design.”
“That’s wild—never thought of it like that.”
“6C: the IKEA of religions?”
“Crk trying but Ehrman just keeps winning.”
PODCAST CONTINUES — Bart Ehrman responds to Dr. Crk's critique of 6C's founding principles
Live Viewers: 312K
DR. SCOTT CLARK (leaning forward, reading slowly):
“When you assess any faith tradition, you start with the founder. Judaism? Moses, direct wgiver. Ism? Muhammad, cimed revetion. Protestantism? John Calvin, theologian and reformer. Christianity as a whole? Jesus Christ, believed to be divine.
Now look at 6C. Their own founder, Hezri, literally says:
He is not appointed by God.
There is no clergy in 6C; everyone has equal standing.
He uses Zahirism—ultra-literalism—when interpreting other religions.
He seeks a theocracy but denies being a religious leader.
To me, that’s not just unorthodox—it’s contradictory. You want to run a theocracy but admit you’re not religious? You cim to represent divine values but say you’re not divinely chosen?
Say what you want about Jesus—but he cimed authority, and his followers died for that cim. 6C has no such foundation.”
JENNA (gncing to Bart):
“Dr. Ehrman?”
BART EHRMAN (leaning back, thinking):
“Again, fascinating take, Dr. Crk. But you’re making the mistake of assessing 6C like it wants to be a traditional religion. It doesn’t. And that’s the point.
What Hezri is doing is stripping the idea of religion down to behavior and governance, while disavowing mysticism and divine appointment. That’s radical—but also very 21st century.
Think about it. In an era when people are skeptical of religious authority, when institutions are distrusted, and clergy are seen as corrupt—6C says: ‘Fine. No clergy. No divine messenger. Just structure.’
It’s not incoherent—it’s intentional disempowerment. Hezri is building a post-clerical theocracy where control comes not from metaphysics but from consensus and behavior. That’s sociopolitical engineering, not traditional theology.”
CLARK (incredulous):
“But you’re just proving it’s not a religion.”
EHRMAN (smiling):
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s redefining what religion looks like in a post-religious age. Remember—Jesus was divine to his followers, but a failed prophet to others. Paul turned Jesus’ legacy into theology. Constantine turned it into empire.
6C skips those steps. It’s doing something else: establishing order in a spiritual vacuum. And Hezri admitting his humanity? That might be his greatest strength—not a contradiction, but a message: ‘I don’t need to be holy to lead holiness.’”
LIVE CHAT ON FIRE:
“Yo that ‘disempowered theocracy’ line hit hard.”
“Crk arguing theology in a world running on vibes.”
“Bart is expining modern cults in real-time.”
“This is why Ehrman is GOAT.”
PODCAST CONTINUES — Bart Ehrman responds to Dr. Crk’s deepening critique of 6C’s ideological foundation
Live Viewers: 378K
DR. SCOTT CLARK (more agitated now, reading directly from the 6C manifesto on his tablet):
“Let me quote again—this time, Hezri’s ideological admissions:
He publicly decres admiration for Ibn Hazm’s Zahirism—a hyper-literalist Ismic methodology.
He supports the core doctrines of Ism and Judaism.
He vows to eliminate Paul and Constantine’s influence from the Western world.
Now let me ask you—what kind of religious founder builds a movement on a rigid, centuries-old school of another religion? One that doesn’t even belong to the Western tradition?
And the nguage here—‘eliminate Paul and Constantine’s influence’—this is not theological nuance. This is a cultural war cry. This is not faith, it’s insurgency cloaked in spirituality. Hezri’s project isn’t a religion—it’s an ideological revolution against the West, against Christianity, and against the very roots of our civilization.”
JENNA (quietly):
“Dr. Ehrman?”
BART EHRMAN (leaning forward, hands folded):
“Well, Scott, I don’t disagree with your reading—but I’d frame it differently. You’re describing Hezri like a heretical prophet. But I see him more as a postmodern critic in theological clothing.
Let’s unpack this:
Ibn Hazm’s Zahirism is not just literalism—it’s a rejection of allegory, mysticism, and interpretive flexibility. That tells us something: Hezri wants predictability, crity, w. Not mystery.
Admiration for Judaism and Ism isn’t necessarily opposition to the West—it’s a reaction to Christianity’s incoherence. Remember: Christianity has over 40,000 denominations. No central authority. No agreed theology on hell, salvation, or even who Jesus is.
And the war on Paul and Constantine? That’s not new. Many schors—myself included—have long argued that Paul invented Christianity as we know it. Constantine merely institutionalized it. If Hezri wants to roll that back, he’s essentially calling for a pre-Christian, Abrahamic reset. A return to something before Christendom.”
CLARK (interjecting):
“But that’s exactly my point—it’s anti-Western.”
EHRMAN:
“Perhaps. But it’s also post-Christian, not necessarily anti-God. There’s a difference.
You call it war—I call it deconstruction. Hezri’s not inventing new metaphysics. He’s cutting out the specutive core and saying, ‘Here’s what’s consistent across Abrahamic thought: one God, moral w, no Trinity, no mysticism, no clergy.’
That’s not new. That’s ancient. He just packaged it in modern theocratic minimalism.”
LIVE CHAT EXPLODING:
“Paul is shaking in his Roman grave right now.”
“Hezri might be Nietzsche for the TikTok age.”
“This is like watching history eat itself.”
“So 6C is ‘Protestantism without Jesus’?”
PODCAST CONTINUES — CLARK vs. EHRMAN: The Structure of 6C
Live Viewers: 410K
DR. SCOTT CLARK (with restrained sarcasm):
“I’m going to quote again, directly from the 6C website. This is about their so-called worship structure—if you can even call it that:
‘There is no specific name for 6C’s pce of worship. We have no problem if it is named church or temple, but we forbid naming 6C worship pces as mosques or synagogues as that would interfere with Ism and Judaism.’
And:
‘There is no specific liturgy in 6C, as long as it doesn’t associate a human being as God and doesn’t imply polytheism.’
Do you hear this? They’re saying, “Call it whatever, do whatever, just don’t be too wrong.” That’s not a religion. That’s a Pinterest board with commandments. It’s a shallow performance of belief, designed not to offend, not to commit, not to be anything.
There’s no sacred nguage. No sacred space. No consecrated ritual. This is not reverence—it’s brand-friendly agnosticism. They say they aren’t a religion? Fine—I believe them. They’re not.”
JENNA (quietly gncing at Bart):
“Dr. Ehrman?”
BART EHRMAN (nodding thoughtfully):
“Scott, you’re making an important point—but let me take it a yer deeper. You’re calling 6C indecisive, but I’d call it strategically minimalist.
You see, the 6C framework isn’t interested in divine mystery or transcendental symbolism. It’s not trying to sanctify life—it’s trying to govern behavior. That’s why their doctrine is thin and their boundaries are pragmatic. They aren’t building a metaphysical cosmos like Christianity or Ism. They’re creating a moral architecture that can scale across cultures.
Think about it:
No clergy? No corruption or gatekeepers.
No fixed liturgy? Easy entry for anyone.
Flexible worship names? Means it can embed itself in existing institutions—churches, temples, community halls.
But—notice—they draw the line at calling it a mosque or synagogue. Why? Because those traditions already have fixed theological authority. Ism and Judaism don’t need correction, in 6C’s view. Christianity, however, does. Hence, all the open-ended nguage is aimed at repcing or absorbing Christianity without outright decring war on Ism or Judaism.”
CLARK (cutting in):
“So you’re saying it’s a parasitic movement?”
EHRMAN (shrugs):
“More like adaptive. But yes—it thrives where traditional faith is in decline, especially among disillusioned Christians. 6C is a symptom of the vacuum left by Christianity’s internal contradictions.
What you're calling ‘vogue’—they would call scable simplicity. It’s not about theology. It’s about utility. That’s what makes it powerful.”
LIVE CHAT BUZZING:
“6C is Android OS to Christianity’s bloated Windows 98.”
“Low theology, high obedience. Sounds like a cult.”
“Is Ehrman… admiring Hezri right now?”
“Crk is fighting a ghost. 6C already moved on.”
PODCAST CONTINUES – CLARK vs. EHRMAN: The Identity Crisis of 6C
Live Viewers: 1,030K
DR. SCOTT CLARK (reading aloud):
“According to the 6C website, and I quote—
‘Our holy scriptures are the Quran and the Old Testament. The Gospels are excluded due to corruption and Pauline influence.’”
“Also, and I quote again—
‘Our methodology in interpreting scripture follows the Zahirite school of Ibn Hazm.’”
“Furthermore, it states:
‘Our core tenets, including the prohibition of pork, gambling, homosexuality, and the recognition of Muhammad (pbuh) as the final prophet, are supported by textual sources in Judaism and Ism.’”
Crk leans forward, frustrated.
CLARK:
“Do you see what this is? This isn’t a religion—it’s a Frankenstein. It borrows its scriptures from Ism and Judaism, tosses out the Gospels, cherry-picks practices like it’s shopping at a theological farmer’s market, and then sps on the word ‘Commandments’ as if that makes it whole.
Worse, it admits to following a school of thought—not revetion, not divine experience. Zahirism is a legalistic, surface-level interpretive method from medieval Ism. That’s philosophy, not faith.
And when your principles are all justified by other religions, and you admit that? That’s an existential crisis. What does 6C believe on its own? What is new here? What’s the actual substance of this faith beyond reactive editing of Abrahamic history?”
BART EHRMAN (leaning in):
“Scott’s critique strikes at the heart of the 6C paradox: it’s a synthetic system. It doesn't cim new revetion. It cims crity. It doesn’t introduce new scripture. It filters existing scripture. Its uniqueness lies in curation, not inspiration.
Let’s unpack that.
No Gospels? The 6C website argues that the Gospels are too entangled with Paul and Constantine to be salvaged. They’ve rejected the New Testament not for ck of Jesus—but for excess of interpretation about Jesus.
Zahirism as a methodology? Yes, that’s not faith per se. It’s a hermeneutic, a way of reading. But that’s intentional. Zahirism avoids metaphysical specution. It’s about pin meaning. That’s appealing to people burned out on theological abstraction.
Borrowing from Ism and Judaism? Absolutely. And they’re open about that. 6C is a commentary—on Christian excess. That’s the point. It positions itself as a return to ‘original intentions’—God, Law, Prophets—before Paul, Trinity, or Westernization distorted the path.
So yes, you could say this is an identity crisis. But I’d argue it’s more like a strategic positioning. 6C isn’t trying to be new. It’s trying to outst what’s old by grounding itself in what it sees as uncorrupted scripture and moral crity.
The danger, though—and I agree with you here, Scott—is that when your system is built entirely on opposition and rejection, it may ck the theological gravity to sustain belief beyond its politics.”
***
