Most of us are familiar with the gospel accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple. You know, where He flipped tables and ran out the moneychangers. That happened right before His crucifixion, right? Well... yes, but maybe He did it twice.
Sheep aren't the smartest kind of animal, and there's a reason that Christians are often describes as sheep. As a group, we're pretty easy to manipulate. Jesus taught us to watch out for wolves, but we usually don't.
What does it mean when Christians say that they "decree" something? When they "declare" something, what are they doing? I witness people who claim to follow Jesus saying these things, and I'm disheartened. Why?
What is apologetics? Is it good for only Christians, or is it also helpful for non-Christians? Is anyone actually born again as a result of apologetic arguments? Should we bother with it at all?
It's always exciting when someone decides to trust God with their life! For many, this decision can be a bit overwhelming. Sometimes it's hard to even understand what they just did, let alone see what happens next. Dr. William Lane Craig explains both in this brief video.
"Follow the science." That's a good idea, I'd say. Why? Because good science tells us true things about the world around us. Scientific thinking has always been on the side of theism, and of Christianity in particular.
GodWords readers ask a LOT of questions. That's good! Unfortunately, many of the questions (and arguments) betray a certain level of ignorance about what the Bible says, and what it means. They show that many don't know how to study theology.
Many, even non-Christians, believe that God is love. However: only those who believe in the Trinity can substantiate the claim. It's not arrogance that makes me say that... it's simple logic.
Can a person be TOO religious? In much of the world, being a Christian doesn't present any real social problems... but being vocal about your faith is often seen as going too far. How much is too much, and how much is just right?
I recently witnessed a "blood moon." That is, I saw a full lunar eclipse where the moon appeared red. A lot of people believe that there is some spiritual significance in the occurrences of blood moons... that they accompany important events related to the nation of Israel. Is that true?
A lot of people believe in the 'law of attraction.' It's been promoted by people like Robert Schuller and Oprah Winfrey, and it's the foundational idea behind most Word of Faith preachers. What is it? How does it work, if it works at all? Should Christians study it?
"Progressive Christianity" is difficult to define, but easy to spot. There are a variety of different ideas in progressive churches, but the one thing they have in common is that they have abandoned the idea that the Bible is true and reliable.
Abortion is always a hot topic. Some see the debate as between religious people and non-religious people, but that's hardly accurate. There are a lot of atheists who oppose abortion, for example. The question at hand is whether abortion is a moral good, a moral evil, or a neutral act.
I hear it all the time from skeptics: the Bible didn't exist for hundreds of years after Jesus died. If true, that would imply that "established Christianity" differs from "original Christianity." This opens the door to all kinds of other nonsense, like Jesus not existing, Jesus not being God, and more.
Do people end up in Hell because they're ignorant? It's easy to assume that those who refuse to be saved simply lack information. "If they had only understood," we say. "If only they had known." At first glance, these words feel compassionate, but they really expose an insufficient view of God.
Do people become angels? Are God and Satan opposites? Are unicorns in the Bible? Melissa Dougherty explains twenty more things she wish she'd known... and points out again that many non-believers - and new believers - may believe a lot of things that just aren't so.
Melissa Dougherty is a former New-Ager turned Christian apologist. Here she lists a few of the misconceptions she held before becoming a Christian. They're kind of fun to hear, but it's important to remember that most non-Christians - and many new believers - believe a lot of things about Christianity that just aren't true.
As with so many things, confusion abounds about demons. What does the Bible actually say? How are followers of Jesus to think about interacting with demons? How can we avoid falling into superstitious nonsense and - more important - how can we avoid unbiblical ideas about demons?
Shema is a very interesting word. It's commonly thought to mean "obey," but that's not the whole story. There's no Hebrew word for "obey," and there's no English equivalent for shema. It's far richer than that, so it's good to see how the writers of Scripture use it. The name Simon is related, coming from the Hebrew Shim'on. Video, 3:25.
Skeptics of Christianity often cite the so-called 'problem of evil' to indict Christians, and to indict God. How, they ask, could a loving God - or a supposedly loving follower - live a life with any joy, peace, or contentment while others suffer? Then, they ask, how could anyone be happy in Heaven when they know that others are suffering eternally in Hell? Consider this article as one example of how we might address such an objection.
The universe is vast, mind-bending, and fascinating. Scientists - religious and non-religious alike - speak of the conditions necessary for life to exist, and the numbers are mind-boggling. If the universe were only slightly different, based on a large number of different forces, no life could exist. This is a strong argument for the existence of an intelligent designer who purposely created everything. Video, 6:22
The New Testament refers a number of times to people speaking in tongues. That is, believers being enabled to speak in languages they hadn't previously learned. Many in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches are taught that every believer will speak in tongues, as that is 'the initial physical evidence' of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Video, 3:14
Neo-Darwinian evolution is generally accepted by the public as fact, but that doesn't make it so. There are a lot of scientists who, with no religious agenda, acknowledge the scientific and mathematical problems inherent in evolutionary thought. Doug Axe explains simply and clearly why we have reasons to doubt one of the basic tenets of evolution: that small mutations add up to successful adaptation through unguided processes. Video, 17:02.
These days, many who claim the name of Jesus are also politically and theologically "progressive." They don't view God, Jesus, or the Bible in the traditional sense of what Christians have believed from the first century forward. They often substitute their own views for those found in Scripture. For this reason, it's important to be able to compare progressive beliefs with Scriptural truths.
Did you know there are no fossils with blowholes? As we learn more about biology, the numbers of missing evolutionary links have skyrocketed. Every new discovery brings many more questions than answers, and ever more evidence that blind evolution cannot explain the origin of life’s astonishingly sophisticated biological designs. Audio, 14:08.
Is the Bible in your hand (or on your shelf, or on your phone) inerrant? What would that mean? Can we trust that the Bible we have is the same Bible originally written? Jimmy Wallace explains what inerrancy means, and what it doesn't mean. Video, 9:54
Darwin's 'natural selection' is a favorite idea of philosophical naturalists - people who believe the physical world is all that exists. The problems begin when trying to explain how ANYTHING exists. As Doug Axe clearly explains in this video (5:38), evolutionary biology can't account for the origin of things. "The power of invention resides elsewhere."
We all want things we should not want. Each of us has to struggle with the decision either to indulge unhealthy desires or to obey God. However, not every struggle carries the same weight. Rachel Gilson's struggle was about relationships: oneness, love, sex, and romance… and faithfulness.
Historians have traditionally acknowledged the impact of Judaism and Christianity on western culture. That's no surprise. What IS surprising is the modern trend of atheists defending biblical values. Skeptics like Tom Holland, Richard Dawkins, and Jordan Peterson are now willing to admit that the values of Christianity are not only good, but necessary for human flourishing.
Mormons and New-Agers have something in common: they often consider the Fall of Man to be a positive development for humanity, rather than a negative one. This contradicts what we read in the Bible, of course. Alisa Childers outlines the problems with this view.
