Redeemed Zoomer
| Birth Name | Richard Ackerman |
|---|---|
| Birth Place | New York |
| Occupation(s) | YouTuber / Content Creator |
| Residency | Manhattan, New York |
| Affiliation(s) | Operation Reconquista, Presbyterian Church (USA) |
| Spouse(s) | "Mrs. Zoomer" (m. August 18, 2024) |
| Children | None |
| Website | RedeemedZoomer.com, OperationReconquista.com |
Richard Ackerman better known online as "Redeemed Zoomer" is an American Christian internet personality known for making Minecraft content while talking about Christianity or explanations about Christian beliefs and creeds. He runs the Christian-themed Minecraft server "KingdomCraft", which is often featured in his videos.
Personal life
Not much is known about Richard Ackerman's personal life outside his YouTube videos, although it is known that he is a member of Presbyterian Church (USA), a mainline Protestant church in the United States. Ackerman's father is Jewish making him half Jewish, something he rarely mentions in his YouTube videos. He currently resides in Manhattan, New York City. He is both a quarter Lithuanian and Italian, and he originally attended High School in Irvington High School in New York,[1] but started attending Southern Methodist University in Texas.[2] He described his time in Irvington High School as difficult, claiming the community has ostracized him for his political beliefs. [3] However, community members have denied this, saying that Ackerman was disliked due to his attempts to start unwanted political arguments in the middle of class. In High School, he converted to Christianity through attending a youth camp and soon thereafter his family followed with conversion.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Richard started his Instagram and YouTube career which he continues to be highly active in. Compared with his YouTube channel, he is slightly more active in Instagram. His Instagram mainly revolves around Christian memes, facts and miscellaneous posts. Zoomer is socially conservative, and he often describes himself as theologically conservative. However, he is open minded and ecumenical towards other Christian traditions and denominations.
He was dating his girlfriend who is known by her online handle as the "Mrs. Zoomer." They met through a bible study ran by one of her friends who goes by the name of "Redeemed Zoomer Third-Wheel" during the COVID-19 pandemic. She convinced Redeemed Zoomer to join her bible study group after viewing one of his Instagram posts which gave her the impression that he would have good chemistry with her friend (Future Mrs. Zoomer) thus she decided to set both of them up on the basis of their shared beliefs. They started dating 13 days after meeting each other.
On the 16th March, Ackerman announced his engagement with "Mrs. Zoomer".[4] He has since married her as of 18th August 2024. [5]
Criticism
Critics of Redeemed Zoomer usually criticize his Operation Reconquista, since they view such as misguided encouragement for younger people to be in false/apostate churches/denominations in their attempt to "reclaim them". Other criticisms are often in regards to his positive and inclusive views of other groups related to Christianity (such as adherents Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy). Redeemed Zoomer also has publicly affirmed views on Old Earth Creationism / evolution, which have also been points of contention with those in the Reformed community.
Content
Redeemed Zoomer originally created his current channel on 29th February 2020, being inspired by the many sermons he watched from reformed theologians such as Tim Keller. Earlier on in Zoomer's YouTube career before coming to be known as "Redeemed Zoomer" he started a small YouTube channel called "Gospel for the Least" during the COVID-19 pandemic where his content held much looser and more relaxed views on Christianity. However, his channel did not grow as much as he hoped thus he decided to restart as the nascent Redeemed Zoomer, which embraced a much more traditional and reformed perspective of Christianity.
Zoomer's content revolves around explaining Christianity particularly towards his demographic: Generation Z (hence the name "Zoomer)". His earlier videos provided a basic explanation for a variety of Christian topics such as Jesus Christ or Baptism. These videos discussed these topics typically from a Reformed/Calvinistic perspective. Overtime Zoomer's explainers evolved into discussing other groups related to Christianity such as the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches of which he provides reasons [6] within different denominations outside Presbyterianism. Zoomer also covers Christian apologetics such as the theological positions and methods used in apologetics.
In addition, Redeemed Zoomer spearheads the "Operation Reconquista": an online community of young protestant Christians that intends on supporting and returning mainline denominations back to biblical Christianity and traditional roots.[7]
Christianity Simplified Series
Zoomer's channel is well known for his commentary skits which provide a basic explanation on Christianity. These explainers provide an incredibly simplified commentary on many Christian related topics such as each book of the bible or on the denominations of Christianity often with a humorous tone. This series includes Zoomer's most popular YouTube video: "All Christian denominations explained in 12 minutes" that has garnered over 7 million views as of July 2023 making the series amongst the most viewed on Zoomer's channel.
Minecraft Server
Zoomer's videos often feature his Kingdomcraft Minecraft server where he was seen constructing a large church which has now been completed. On 17 May 2023, Zoomer decided to open his Minecraft server to the public with many players building churches/structures. The server initially struggled with many players joining and as such had to be upgraded to cope with higher capacity although it frequently lags, as seen in Zoomer's videos. The Kingdomcraft server routinely closes down on Sundays to encourage Christians to attend Church as well as for observing the [Christian] sabbath.
Other Content
Zoomer frequently collaborates and discusses with other Christian influencers and YouTubers through various livestreams on his channel that cover various topics such as Christian unity and systematic theology. Zoomer's livestreams also involve ranking various Christian denominations or Presbyterian branches on tier lists along with infrequent Q&A streams where his viewers would submit to him questions of various subjects through social media.
Impact and Inspirations
As the "Every/All Type Of _ Explained In _ Minutes" format of his videos started getting popular,[8] he started a trend of creating videos about certain topics in similar styles. These types of videos are simple and get straight to the point as soon as the video starts. This aspect of them have got popular since people don't have to wait through a lengthy intro. Some notable people inspired by Redeemed Zoomer are:
Quotes
- “The book of Ecclesiastes is one big existential crisis.”
- “Theology people like to use big fancy words for things.”
- “I used to not believe the bible and that changed when I read the bible.”
- "If God is good, why can't He destroy evil?" "Well, He eventually will." "Why can't He do it now?" "Because He'd have to destroy you."[9]
Notable facts
- He is part of a conservative-leaning church within the Presbyterian Church (USA)
- He has publicly stated he believes in evolution.
- He has used political compass several times with him scoring on different positions.
- He plays the Viola.
