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Category Archives: hell
The Story of Sin and Salvation—Common Baggage Version (CBV)
From the time I started church as a second grader, I began to hear the story of sin and salvation. I heard it from the pulpit; I heard it from Sunday school; I heard it in adult discussions; and I … Continue reading
Posted in atonement, baggage, God, hell, Jesus, sin
Tagged Adam and Eve, angry God, crucifixion, salvation
44 Comments
The Best Blog Posts I Read in September
Here is a list of some of the best blog posts I read in September that pertain to the themes of Jesus without Baggage. If it is well received I plan to repeat the list each month with the best posts … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, creationism, evolution, favorite blogs, gays, hell, inerrancy, love, persecution
7 Comments
This is the Anniversary of My Most Viral Blog Post Ever!
This time last year one of my posts, 6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm, soared to become my most popular post of all time in only 13 days! It still stands as my most viral post ever. It begins: In … Continue reading
Posted in baggage, Bible, creationism, evolution, favorite blogs, gays, God, hell, inerrancy, legalism, sinners
5 Comments
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis: A Book Review
I read this small volume many years ago and it impacted my thinking tremendously. In years since, I have been amazed by the number of other evangelicals who have said the same thing about this book—it transformed their perspective on … Continue reading
When the Good News of Jesus Doesn’t Sound like Good News At All
Over this series, we explored various aspects of the Good News of Jesus—things that we learn from Jesus’ words and actions in the four Gospels. 1. We learned that God is not angry and harsh with us as many of … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, eternal life, God, hell, Jesus, legalism, love, sin, The Father
Tagged angry God, heaven, religious rules
42 Comments
Announcing Jesus Without Baggage Resource Pages
For the past few months, I have been working on compiling and organizing some of the best books, websites, and exceptional articles I have found on these seven important topics we discuss on Jesus without Baggage. I am very pleased … Continue reading
Posted in baggage, behavior, Bible, conditional immortality, evolution, gays, hell, inerrancy, legalism, love, sin
Tagged angry God, violent God
7 Comments
Outer Darkness, Weeping, and Gnashing of Teeth in Matthew
We addressed the question of whether weeping and gnashing of teeth in Luke describes hell, but I think we can gain even more insight into Luke’s passage, and the question of weeping and gnashing of teeth, by looking at Jesus’ uses … Continue reading
Posted in hell, Kingdom of God
Tagged gnashing of teeth, kingdom of heaven, Luke 13, Matthew 13, Matthew 22, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, Matthew 8, outer darkness
24 Comments
What Does Jesus Mean by an Outer Darkness of Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth?
Recently, a reader responded to some of my articles on hell and included a question and a request: You were helpful, Tim, and your articles were helpful to me too. Just a last question: Luke 13:28, the weeping and gnashing … Continue reading
Posted in hell, Kingdom of God, Pharisees
Tagged gnashing of teeth, kingdom banquet, Luke 13, outer darkness
19 Comments
Love Wins by Rob Bell: a Book Review
This is not a new book. I read it when it first released in 2011, but I am reviewing it now. Rob Bell was the founder and pastor of the prominent Mar’s Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids (not to … Continue reading
Do You Still Feel Guilt and Fear because You Fall Short of what God Demands?
Recently I published a post titled God’s Love for Us Takes Away Our Fear, Guilt, and Self-Condemnation. Two responses represented what I am sure many people felt after reading the article—they still felt guilty and fearful. The post was not … Continue reading
Posted in fear, God, hell, Jesus, Kingdom of God, legalism, love, the Good News
Tagged divorce, guilt, Matthew 5
38 Comments
My Most Popular Post of 2014
In September of this year one of my posts, 6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm, soared to become my most popular post of all time (two years) in only 13 days! It begins: In my opinion, six mistaken beliefs … Continue reading
4 Ways that Believing God is Angry and Harsh Hurts People
As a young believer, I was taught that God is angry, harsh, and vindictive. I was taught to be afraid of God and follow strict religious rules or he would punish me in terrible ways; I’m sure many of you … Continue reading
Posted in fear, God, hell, legalism, the Good News
40 Comments
The #1 Most Harmful Belief Among Christians—Angry God
When I was younger, I knew a lot about God. From the time I was a child I knew God all too well! God was that all-seeing eye that watched my every move and slapped me into shape when I … Continue reading
How Reading C. S. Lewis Changed My Mind About Hell
Originally posted on Sketches By Boze:
I’ve been thinking about the dangerous group I was once a part of and trying to understand how so many innocent Christian people could be tricked into following a predator. And the truth is,…
6 Religious Beliefs that Cause Tremendous Harm
In my opinion, there are six mistaken beliefs among Christians that cause incalculable pain, suffering, and lasting damage. On this blog I focus a lot on these baggage issues, as summarized on my About page: The belief that the Father … Continue reading
Posted in baggage, creationism, evolution, gays, God, hell, inerrancy, legalism, sinners
Tagged Christian Evolution, Jonny Scaramanga, Lana Hope, Rachel Held Evans, Samantha Field
50 Comments
5 Reasons to Reject the Belief of Eternal Punishment in Hell
Blogger Benjamin L. Corey, of Formerly Fundie, posted an excellent list of reasons why many believers reject the idea of eternal punishment in hell. His post begins: More and more Christians are beginning to reject the traditional view of hell … Continue reading
Does Abandoning Legalism and Belief in Hell Destroy the Foundations of Morality?
When I was seven years old, my family joined a fundamentalist church which taught that if we did not observe the laws of the Bible we would burn forever in hell. I embraced this concept completely. For the next ten … Continue reading
Posted in behavior, fear, hell, Jesus, legalism, love, The Father
Tagged immorality, morality
67 Comments
The Problem of Impersonal Evangelism
There is nothing more delightful to me than sharing the good news of Jesus with someone. It is rewarding to watch as they discover the love the Father has toward them and to see how it changes their lives. However, … Continue reading
Posted in God, hell, sinners, The Father, the Good News, witnessing
Tagged 1 Peter 3, legalism, personal evangelism, relationship, saved
22 Comments
Why I Quit the Soul-saving Business
A few years after finishing Bible college, I became manager of the denominational bookstore in the city where our denominational offices were centered. This made me a minor, but very visible, figure in one of our church departments. Though I … Continue reading
Posted in hell, legalism, sinners, witnessing
Tagged being saved, Ephesians 4, gift of evangelism, personal evangleism
24 Comments
Jonny Scaramanga Confronts Hell
My friend Jonny Scaramanga posted There is Definitely No Such Thing as Hell on his blog Leaving Fundamentalism. It is a good article, and he particularly got my attention with his comparison of a loving God to a loving parent. Jonny … Continue reading
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