Where I try to gather a lot of resources on why annihilationism is wrong. Annihilationism is the belief that the final fate of those who are not saved is literal and final destruction… A belief that runs against the traditional Christian understanding of hell. So naturally as I worked through the doctrine of hell during my stint…
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Does the Bible really teach that judging others is smart and vital? Indeed, it does. Here’s my case. One of the most common objections I get to my critique of Jason Westerfield is this: Do not judge. The preferred text to back up their objection is : Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and…
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There is no getting around it–the Bible speaks of a coming day of ultimate and final judgement. A day when Jesus will proclaim the eternal destinies of all people: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of…
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Ever since I posted my complaint over Jason Westerfield’s little book God Come to Me his fans have let me have it. One of the dominant accusations looks like this: “Damien [sic] does not believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit or miracles for today; that is a damnable heresy…” There are three things wrong with that statement….
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Implied in my headline is this: we SHOULD teach our children about hell. As I mentioned yesterday in my post on the justice of eternal punishment, the doctrine of hell is there in the Bible… And we, as Christians, are liars if we neglect it and cold-hearted if we refuse to warn the unregenerate. John 3:36 states…
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The argument goes like this: ‘Eternal punishment for seventy years of sin is excessive.’ But is that the way justice works? Do we actually determine the sentence based upon the duration of the crime? No, we don’t. If it takes 13 minutes to rob a bank, we don’t sentence the criminal to 13 minutes in…
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About two years ago a friend asked me what I thought about the tribulation. My response: “The what?” I obviously hadn’t thought about it. The question is, should I have thought about it? More importantly, is this a doctrine that promotes a healthy, meaningful Christian life? Or is this simply a speculative future event that…
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Simply fulfilling my promise to write about Radical all week. Suspend your belief for a moment. I want to change your view of history. In January 1703, shortly after graduating and failing an audition for an organist’s post at Sangerhausen in January 1703, didn’t take up his post as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann…
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Where I take a class called “Bible as Literature” in college and come away scratching my head. Hard. The January/February Nine Marks journal on brought back old memories of a particular class I took While in college: “Bible as Literature.” That course title was very misleading. Perhaps I was a bit naive. The course was an elective and since I…
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Answers to the hard questions of life can subdue our death instinct. A systematic study of what the Bible says about a particular topic is theology proper. It’s a pursuit every Christian must vigorously and regularly engage… Because it’s the means by which we answer the hard questions of life. Questions like who am I? Why…
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