Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
The first time I encountered what is often called annihilationism was in a talk about the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The idea that God would just cause the wicked to cease to exist was another blatant example of how heretical the Jehovah’s Witnesses really were. But then I heard about well respected evangelical scholars such … Read More “My Move Toward Conditional Immortality” »
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Introduction I experienced an existential crisis in my teen years that lasted into my early twenties. The issue I faced was that despite being raised in the church, I became convinced that there was no life after death. When you are dead, you are dead. We would just cease to exist. Now … Read More “Hope in Christ” »
If you were to ask the average person on the street what they think Christianity says about where people go when they die, they would probably respond with: “Either heaven or hell.” Is the Christian position as simple as heaven or hell? For some people, it would be that simple. But within the Christian Church, … Read More “What is the Eternal Fate of Non-Christians?” »
Many people equate religion with belief in the afterlife and some might even expect that to be the driving force behind most religions. When it comes to the Bible, most people understand the afterlife in fairly clear categories of heaven and hell. The truth is that what most people think the Bible says about the … Read More “5 Things You Might Not Know About the Bible and the Afterlife” »
One of the areas that I’m interested in is that of the resurrection. Not just the resurrection of Jesus, but the final resurrection from the dead. Divine Bodies: Resurrecting Perfection in the New New Testament and Early Christianity by Candida Moss is an interesting addition to scholarship on this topic. One of the most helpful … Read More “Divine Bodies – Review” »
The following blog post is a guest post by Graham Ware. This is not Graham’s first guest post for me. As a fellow autism dad, Graham wrote this post for my autism blog. I know that this is a controversial topic. I’m agnostic myself when it comes to the topic, although I do see good … Read More “The Case for Conditional Immortality: A Brief(ish) Summary” »
What is the Gospel? Many would say that the Gospel is: If you believe in Jesus you will go to heaven when you die. There is much I could ask about that simple definition (e.g. What does believe mean?). But I would also want to ask about the emphasis on heaven. You will find countless … Read More “Don’t Plan on Spending Eternity in Heaven” »
“All religions are based on people’s fear of death and their desperate attempts to find hope after death.” Have you heard statements like this? Certainly the afterlife is an important part of many (but not all) religions. My interest is in how this relates to biblical faith. Again the afterlife is important to Christians. The … Read More “Was the Bible Written Because People Were Afraid of Death?” »
The purpose of this post is not to argue for a particular theory about hell. I simply want to make some clarifications to help people have a more biblical understanding. Here are six things that you should take into consideration when talking about hell. 1. Sheol The Hebrew word that is translated as hell in … Read More “6 Things You Need to Know About Hell” »
Easter Sunday is the most important day for Christians. It is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Does this have anything to say about disabilities? When we think of the afterlife, we think about becoming perfect according to popular understandings of normal. All the things that we think make us stand out … Read More “Jesus’ Resurrection and Disabilities” »
A devotion based on 1 Thessalonians 4:14. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is dealing with a problem that is hard for us to imagine in our modern context. Christians in the early church thought that Jesus would return within a few years, if not within a few months. When that began to stretch out into decades … Read More “Devotions: 1 Thessalonians” »
One of the big things to happen on the religion scene recently is that Alex Malarkey, whose story was supposed to be told in the book The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, came out saying that he did not really experience the events described in the book. There are all sorts of reactions we could … Read More “What We Can Learn From the Boy Who Didn’t Go to Heaven” »
I have been asked many times about the eternal fate of people who commit suicide. Do people who commit suicide go to heaven? I need to make two things clear: I have never committed suicide, nor have I been to heaven. All I can do is make some observations and leave it to you to … Read More “Do People Who Commit Suicide Go to Heaven?” »
It is common to hear the accusation that religion was created by those who feared death and needed some sort of afterlife. Really? And what research is that based on? Your neighbour who had a medical scare and decided to start attending church? I am sure that there are people who get interested in religion … Read More “Religion as a Quest for Afterlife” »
