Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
When I came back to faith in my early 20s, I began attending a Pentecostal church. This church was extremely interested in the end-times, especially the rapture. This is not just my impression. At one point, while I was in seminary, I looked into getting credentialed with that denomination. One of the requirements was to … Read More “Should We Be Watching For the Rapture?” »
This episode of the podcast looks at my changing views of Christian theology. There is room for disagreement as people have had different opinions right from the beginning. You can support this podcast at Patreon or by downloading a free audiobook with a free trial of Audible. This episode is the audio for the following video:
We are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. It would not be surprising if people saw this as an indication that we are about to experience the end of the world. We get such predictions when everything is fine, so this time of pandemic is ripe for such claims. See Coronavirus is bringing a … Read More “Is COVID-19 a Sign of the End-Times?” »
I spent much of my 20s in a Pentecostal church which stressed the rapture. What is the rapture? It is the belief that God will rescue his people from earth. I will get into the biblical evidence later in this post. The church I attended also emphasized the book of Revelation. But the problem I … Read More “Where is the Rapture in the Book of Revelation?” »
When we speak of eschatology, we must remember that there are a couple of aspects to this doctrine. It both refers to what will happen to the world when Jesus returns and what happens to individuals when we die. My eschatology has developed in both areas. Growing up Anglican, I had no beliefs about the … Read More “My Eschatology Has Changed (But It’s Not the End of the World)” »
You may or may not be aware that there is some disagreement among New Testament scholars about how many of the letters Paul actually wrote. The “authentic” letters, that is the letters that they are most confident in are Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. The rest of the letters … Read More “Did Paul Write 2 Thessalonians?” »
Ever since I was a teenager and right until today, I have enjoyed stories set in a post-apocalyptic world. There is something fascinating about watching humanity rebuild after the apocalypse. One of my current favourites is the 100, a show that takes place almost one hundred years after a nuclear war. Another would be the … Read More “What is the Apocalypse?” »
I hate to do this on Christmas Eve, but since this is my 666th post on this blog, I decided that I needed to post on the Antichrist. What do we know about the Antichrist? When I returned to church in my early 20’s, I attended a church that had a very complex and detailed … Read More “Anti-Christmas” »
There was an interesting conversation at our most recent class on Romans. We were looking at a number of passages on suffering. “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” (Romans 5:3 ESV) “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him … Read More “Suffering, Protection and the Pre-Trib Rapture” »
In Hitchens’ chapter “A Note on Health, to Which Religion Can Be Hazardous,” he continues his tirade against religion. This chapter is really just more of the same. Hitchens’ goal is not to offer a direct link between religious teachings and evil/suffering but rather to just show some of the worst moments in humanity and … Read More “Health, Sex and the End of the World” »
With claims a number of months ago about a predicted rapture and the hugely popular Left Behind series from a few years back, the concept of the rapture has hit the mainstream. What are we to make of the rapture? I grew up Anglican and we never talked about anything about the return of Jesus … Read More “Will There Be a Rapture?” »
