Articles about Christianity and the Bible

Supersessionism is the idea that the old covenant has been replaced - superseded - by the new covenant. By itself, this idea is entirely biblical. However: some other ideas are often lumped together with supersessionism, so we need to examine each idea separately.

Sounds simple, right? That sounds good to me… if everybody loved everybody else, our world would be far, far better. There would be no crime. No slavery. No prostitution. No abortion. Nobody would go hungry. Nobody would take advantage of another’s generosity. There would be no need for soldiers, or courts, or lawyers, or police. There would no metal detectors at airports, or security guards at the mall.

When were the books of the New Testament written? While there is some debate, I've compiled a list with the best scholarship I can find. I will continue to update the list as I get new information.

At the beginning of the Bible we see an account of the creation of the universe. Here is the order of creation as outlined in the first chapter of Genesis:

A simple listing of the authors of each book of the Bible. Religious Jews and Christians consider God to be the ultimate author of Scripture, using humans to communicate His message.

A lot of people, including many Christians, are confused about whether Christians should live by the 10 Commandments. There should be no confusion.

These words aren't found in the Bible, but that doesn't mean they're not biblical. They are, of course. However: that doesn't mean they're always useful.

Some people believe we should continue teaching unbiblical ideas because they can't think of a practical way to do God's work without those unbiblical ideas.

If you ask a bunch of people how they came to faith in Jesus, you'll hear a bunch of different stories. No two explanations are exactly alike. Still, it's helpful to understand what all of those stories might have in common.

What do angels, a compass, the four gospels, the 12 tribes, three animals and a man have to do with each other? Is there some hidden spiritual connection between them? Is there a biblical pattern to these things?

This is a very important question! I can tell you whether you’ll make it to Heaven. Seriously. It’s not that difficult.

Every now and then someone asks me whether I think God “calls” people into ministry… that is, whether God speaks to certain individuals and tells them to make ministry their full-time work.

When I was a teen, I went to a church in a Seattle suburb. Another church down the street had a split over doctrine. They were Seventh-Day Adventists.

The beatitudes is the name given to a portion of Jesus’ teaching that talks about being blessed. They are a section of the Sermon on the Mount, considered by many – both religious people and non-religious alike – to be some of the most profound words in history.

Matthew asked: Is God happy with his people having Christmas trees and celebrating Christmas? I suppose the answer to your question is, like so many other answers, "it depends." I don't think God cares one way or another about trees being used for such things.

There are a lot of Bible verses about love. Some tell us what God is like: God is love. Some tell us what to do: love your enemies. There's a verse about love that's very precious to me, and I'd like to spend a few minutes on it: