Biblical References
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages are from the NIVArchives
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Category Archives: Jesus
Inerrantists are My Brothers and Sisters in Jesus—Not My Enemies
I do not believe in biblical inerrancy. I think inerrancy is a very harmful belief, and I often demonstrate the errors of the assumption, or presupposition, of inerrancy. Of course, I get a lot of push-back from inerrantists and (though … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, fear, hell, inerrancy, Jesus, legalism, love
Tagged angry God, enemy, homosexuality, John 13, LGBT, proof-texting, sexual abuse, spousal abuse
35 Comments
5 Common False Assumptions Inerrantists Make about Me as a Progressive Believer
Since I often challenge the concept of biblical inerrancy, I receive a lot of feedback from inerrantists. But often that feedback reveals false assumptions inerrantists make about me—assumptions that are sometimes the very opposite of what I believe. Here are … Continue reading
Posted in authority, Bible, inerrancy, Jesus, The Father
Tagged 2 Timothy 4, Book of James, Cherry-picking, Genesis, genre
53 Comments
Did Jesus Confirm the Inerrancy and Historicity of the Old Testament?
While 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the queen of all ‘proofs’ of biblical inerrancy, I would say that certain words of Jesus come in second. And, since Jesus is central to all believers, how can we ignore his words if they … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, inerrancy, Jesus, Old Testament
Tagged 2 Timothy 3:16, Book of Enoch, Book of Jude, Isaiah 61, John 10, Jonah, Jot and Tittle, Luke 4, Matthew 5, Psalm 82, Scripture cannot be broken, Tom Sawyer
33 Comments
Jesus Says, “I Will Give You Rest” not “I Will Give You More Burdens”
Many say the foundational passage of the New Testament is John 3:16. Even young children can quote it: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish … Continue reading
Posted in faith, Jesus, legalism, the Good News, the invitation
Tagged burdens, following Jesus, I will give you rest, John 3:16, Matthew 11, sinner's prayer
21 Comments
Sharing about The Father’s House with Others—Which Model?
Previously, I introduced the metaphor of the Father’s House, and we will now look at it further. I believe the love of the Father extends to everyone, and I like to think of all of us being in the Father’s … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Kingdom of God, The Father, The Father's House, the Good News
Tagged Evangelism, universalism
21 Comments
Belief in Biblical Inerrancy Must be the Second Most Damaging, Misguided Christian Belief of All
Earlier we discussed that Angry God is a foundational harmful belief because it gives rise to other misguided, harmful beliefs. We can say the same about Inerrancy and for the same reason. In fact, the two are closely connected. Inerrancy leads … Continue reading
Posted in atonement, Bible, creationism, dispensationalism, evolution, fear, gays, God, hell, inerrancy, Jesus, legalism, love, Old Testament, Satan
Tagged angry God, Demons, LGBT, patriarchy, Penal Substitution, proof-texting, Rapture, YEC
84 Comments
Letter to an Anti-Gay Relative
A person recently asked for sample letters to convince an anti-gay Christian that they were wrong. I don’t think that is likely to help, so I submitted this… Dear Uncle Luke, I think you know you are very special and … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, behavior, gays, Jesus
Tagged clobber passages, Justin Lee, LGBT, Matthew Vines, Mel White, Troy Perry
45 Comments
The Kingdom of God is Like Attending a Banquet
Do you like banquets? Jesus did. It is amazing how many stories we have of Jesus eating with people or talking about eating. And he was sometimes criticized for not being choosy enough about whom he ate with. Banquets were … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Kingdom of God, Pharisees
Tagged feast, kingdom banquet, Luke 13, Luke 14, Mathew 25, Matthew 23, Parables, The Ten Virgins
25 Comments
The Kingdom of God is Like… (7 Short, Informative Kingdom Parables)
The concept of the kingdom of God was very important to Jesus, and he told a number of parables about the kingdom to help his followers understand it better. I am so glad he did that! Matthew 13 is a … Continue reading
2 Parables of the Kingdom from Planting
For many (perhaps most) of us the concept of the kingdom of God is very unclear. What is the kingdom of God? What is our relationship to it? And what do we know about it? We discussed the first two … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Kingdom of God
Tagged Matthew 13, Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Weeds
24 Comments
How Do We Become Part of the Kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God appears early in the gospels. Matthew 3 reports that: John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Remember that the ‘kingdom of heaven’ … Continue reading
Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of God
Some seem to think that the kingdom of heaven is the same as heaven, but it isn’t. The kingdom of heaven is actually another term for the kingdom of God. Some years ago, I read an author who said that … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Kingdom of God
Tagged book of Luke, book of Mark, book of Matthew, dispensationalism, John the Baptist, kingdom of heaven, Matthew 3
27 Comments
What Is Heaven and Where Is It?
What do you imagine when you think about heaven? Wings and halos? Sitting around on clouds? Playing harps? Pearly gates and streets of gold? Where is heaven anyway? Is heaven the place we go to when we die? The NIV … Continue reading
If We Are Free to Approach God Without Fear, What Becomes of Our Other Religious Fears—Like Hell?
To many believers God is love. This is the primary thing we know about God from Jesus—unconditional love. This is what Jesus told us about the Father and also what Jesus demonstrated in his own life as the representative of … Continue reading
Posted in atonement, fear, God, hell, Jesus, legalism, love
Tagged angry God, Gehenna, Hades, Isaiah 66, Jeremiah 19, Penal Substitution
22 Comments
Belief in Angry God is Perhaps the Most Damaging, Misguided Christian Belief of All
What is more central to our religious experience than our relationship with God? But some believers understand their relationships with God much differently than others do. Most of us believe God loves us and cares about us. We even talk … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, fear, hell, Jesus, legalism, love, love your enemies, Old Testament, The Father
Tagged angry God, Deuteronomy 28, harmful beliefs, Hebrews 10, Matthew 5, sermon on the mount
44 Comments
How Some Misguided Christian Beliefs are Very Harmful
Christianity is a very broad group of more than 2.3 billion people throughout the world, and there is tremendous variation in doctrinal beliefs among us. What we have in common is that we all, in some way, recognize Jesus as … Continue reading
More about Progressive Christians and How to Connect with Them
Last time we talked about who progressive Christians are and some things they tend to believe. High on the list of what most of them do NOT believe are harmful doctrines like angry god, inerrancy, hell, legalism, penal substitution, homophobia, … Continue reading
Judgment and Punishment in the Book of Enoch
Remember that Zoroastrianism contributed significant ideas to Jewish thought during the exilic and post-exilic periods that did not exist before in Judaism. Some of these ideas were current in Jesus’ day, such as: * A personalized adversary to God—Satan * … Continue reading
Posted in Enoch, God, hell, Jesus, judgment, Satan
Tagged 2 Peter 2, Book of Enoch, Book of Jude, Matthew 25, Michael, parable of sheep and goats, Raphael, Zoroastrianism
37 Comments
The Influence of Zoroastrianism on Jewish Thought in Jesus’ Time
In my first semester of college (1969) I wrote a term paper on Zoroastrianism. That paper affected my fundamentalist understanding of Satan and hell, though it did not come to fruition until several years later. It was clear to me … Continue reading
Posted in hell, Jesus, judgment, Satan
Tagged Ahura Mazda, Angra Mainyu, Babylonian Captivity, Chinvat Bridge, Demons, fallen angels, Zoroastrianism
49 Comments
What Did Jesus Mean by the ‘Eternal Fire Prepared for the Devil and His Angels’?
What Did Jesus Mean by the ‘Eternal Fire Prepared for the Devil and His Angels’? Last time we talked about the parable of the sheep and the goats. The parable is not about judgment or the end-times as many people … Continue reading
Posted in book of Revelation, hell, Jesus, Satan
Tagged 2 Peter 2, Book of Jude, Daniel 7, Isaiah 30, Matthew 25, Revelation 12, Revelation 20
32 Comments
Jesus Without Baggage 