"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.
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.
The Bible speaks regularly about demons, and about the healing of physical illnesses. Sometimes, both are included in the same verse. Some conclude that demons cause illnesses, and that casting out the demons will heal the illnesses. Is this true?
Most businesses and churches and non-profits would love to rank #1. For anything. Most don't even rank #1 for their own name! A lot of companies pay a lot of money to try to reach #1. They pay fly-by-night SEO agencies. They pay local ad agencies who don't know much about how the web works. They also pay big money to big agencies full of experts in the field, hoping to rank well enough to get just a bit more traffic than they would naturally get.
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
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.
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.
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus was God's first creation, and not God Himself. This is rightly considered heresy, of course... but can you explain why they're wrong about the interpretation of John 1:1, where - they claim - Jesus is "a" god and not "the" God? Video, 5:30
Richard Rohr is an author, Franciscan, and a controversial figure on the fringes of Christianity. Here, Fred Sanders reviews his book, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation. Despite Rohr's popularity, it doesn't sound like the book will be a net benefit to anyone.
The Bible spends almost no time on whether God exists. Instead, most of what we read expresses God's character. In a world of competing religions, polytheism, and syncretism, there was no real need for answering atheism.
Tom Gilson responds to a personal challenge from an atheist author's book, The Case Against Miracles. During his study, Gilson realized that the author's conception of good differs greatly from a Christian view, and points to some of the implications.
Sean McDowell talks with Robert Bowman of the Institute for Religious Research about his book, Jesus' Resurrection and Joseph's Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity and Mormonism. In the book, Bowman compares the historical evidence for Jesus' resurrection and Joseph Smith's first vision.
A common belief in our culture today is that all religions ultimately lead to God... that their differences are irrelevant, since 'all roads lead to Heaven.' Does this claim stand up to scrutiny? Video 4:30
In this 72-minute interview, Holly Pivec discusses the heretical problems with the new apostolic reformation (NAR) churches, especially Bethel Church in Redding, CA. Due to the popularity of their music program, this is an important issue.
If you've spent any time online discussing Christianity with atheists, you may have heard this. While it's clever, it also suggests that they may not have actually read the Bible, let alone understood it. How should we respond to those who claim that it's the Bible itself that caused them to reject God?
While every religion makes claims about being unique and having history behind them, the historical evidence for Christianity stands out. Compare the historicity of a number of world religions with Christianity, and it becomes evident that there's a significant difference.
Whether life has any real meaning is a nearly-universal question. At its core, atheism must deny that life has any objective meaning. With no God, there can be no objective meaning, so there can be no objective morality.
Every two years, Ligonier Ministries commissions a survey of 3000 Americans to learn what they believe about God. As usual, "This survey shows that people inside the church need clear Bible teaching just as much as those outside the church."
The doctrine of purgatory says that people suffer to pay for for their own sins. The Bible tells an entirely different story.
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.
It's okay for Christians to eat pork. Why wouldn't it be okay? Some suggest that because the ancient Israelites were forbidden by God to eat pork, Christians are to avoid pork as well. That this is nonsense should be obvious to everyone, as Christians are not Israelites. Unfortunately, many preachers and teachers are teaching nonsense.
Postmodernism is the idea is that reality is subjective...that there is no absolute truth, and that reality differs from person to person. The phrase "what's true for you might not be true for me" typifies a postmodern point of view.
The KJVO controversy is about whether Christians should consider only the King James Version of the Bible to be reliable and trustworthy. While there are a variety of views within the KJVO movement, the basic idea is simple: no other Bible will do.
Also known as "Moonies" and "The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity," adherents of Unification believe Sun Myung Moon to have been the manifestation of God on Earth.
Created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is a pseudo-scientific business cult masquerading as a religion. Among its teachings is the idea that remembering your true identity will allow you to change reality with your mind.
Also known as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. after a supposed visitation by God and Jesus in which he was chosen to restore lost Christianity.
The name “Jehovah’s Witnesses” was taken to avoid confusion between the Watchtower organization and others who claimed to be the true followers of Russell, calling themselves the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement and the The Dawn Bible Students.
Islam is the 2nd largest religion in the world, with 1.6 billion people declaring their faith in Muhammad and Allah. With today’s birth rates and conversions to the religion, Islam is the fastest-growing religion in world.
While it could be said that Christianity had no beginning, the Christian church as we know it began in the 1st century AD. Founding Occasion: The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Theologically, Christian Science is a cult of Christianity. Also known as The First Church of Christ, Scientist, it shares common ground with Gnosticism.
