"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.
