Praying to saints or angels is a practice performed by a few different sects of Christians. People who do it will tell you that they are seeking the saint’s intercession, they hope the person they’re praying to will petition God on their behalf which they think will improve the chances that their prayer will be heard by God. Here is a small sample of the reasons this is wrong and Christians shouldn’t do it.
The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome, and Roman Catholics believe that this makes him the head of the universal Christian Church. This claim hinges on something called “apostolic succession”, that the pope’s authority has been transferred from the previous pope, and the one before that, and the one before that, all the way back to the apostle Peter. Peter was without a doubt an apostle and a hugely influential and important person who is worthy of praise. But was he pope? Was Peter the supreme leader of universal Christianity whose authority could be transferred to successors? I say no, and here’s a few reasons why.
The topic of whether churches can have female leaders and teachers is hotly debated and sometimes divisive. At first glance, the Bible appears to teach that women shouldn’t be teachers in a church… but there are growing number of churches with female priests. How do we make sense of this?
The reality of pain, suffering and evil in our world is often challenging for believers and even a point that atheists use to claim God doesn’t exist. The topic itself is not an easy one to cover and especially not an easy one to be brief on. Rather than pour out a doctoral dissertation, let me offer something more brief that may help you think about suffering differently.
People who doubt Christianity or the authenticity of the Bible often make a claim that nobody knows who wrote the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the first four books of the New Testament that describe the earthly life and ministry of Jesus). They often hold that this alleged unknown authorship invalidates the writings somehow. While this is a nonsensical claim, nonetheless it is helpful to know that Christians can actually be quite certain of who wrote each of the four first books of the New Testament.
We are blessed to enjoy a large number of English Bible translations that are all reputable and worthwhile. While having such a wide variety of choices is, indeed, a huge blessing, it can also be confusing for people to navigate these waters and choose the right translation for them.
The Bible is a collection of 66 smaller books written over hundreds and hundreds of years. It’s organized into a Old and New Testament. The Old Testament contains 39 books written before the earthly ministry of Jesus, and the 27 books of the New Testament details the earthly ministry of Jesus and earliest inspired teachings of the apostles. For new believers or new Bible readers, it can be intimidating to get started as you’ll quickly realize that the order the books of the Bible are organized is not necessarily the best order to read them all. To be clear - a Christian should absolutely read the entire Bible and not simply pick and choose their favorite parts. But for a first-time or novice reader, there are better and worse ways to go about this endeavor. Let’s break down some options - cover to cover, New Testament first, and then my recommended order for new readers.
The CSB Apologetics Study Bible aims to equip Christians with information that’s helpful in understanding and defending their faith. Apologetics is an area of theological study that I love and have recently dived head first into. So, I got this Study Bible and read from cover-to-cover. It took me about a month (including some time off over Christmas) of daily reading. In this post I’ll describe what I did and didn’t like about it and hopefully help you decide if you want to read it, too.
Brothers and Sisters, kinsmen in Christ; I have seen all of your holiday strife:
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons all sharing one essence. The Trinity is something that many Christians have misconceptions or misunderstandings about and a subject that non-Christians like to attack or use as a reason to dismiss Christianity. There is no perfect analogy for the Trinity and the most mature Christians will freely admit that it’s a challenging concept that they may still grapple with. This post will cover why the Trinity is so hard to understand, why Christianity is still monotheistic even with a Triune God, the persons of the Trinity, and then how to answer common questions about it.
The Trinity is one of the most controversial, misunderstood, and misinterpreted biblical doctrines. To understand the Trinity, we first have to clarify some truths:
Before explaining what Heaven is like, it has to be clarified what we’re referring to. There are three heavens that are mentioned in Scripture. Paul refers to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2, and other passages in Scripture reveal a first and second heaven.
To clear up one’s confusion about whether one can bother God with too much prayer, we have to understand two things: how God views prayer, and His All-Powerful, eternal nature.
Here’s my quick notes on speaking in tongues. I’m a continuationalist, which means that I believe that God still distributes spiritual gifts like speaking in and interpreting tongues and prophecy. I do think they are less common today than what’s described in Acts and other parts of the New Testament because there’s a reduced need for edification, but that they are still distributed. This is opposed to the view of a cessationaist who believes that God no longer distributes spiritual gifts.
The foundation of Christianity can be quickly understood by examining a collection of scripture from Romans.
Something fascinating to consider regarding the resurrection of Jesus and his burial.
The death of Jesus is the sacrifice by which Christians may be washed clean of their sins and be made righteous with God. Why is this acceptable? How can Jesus’ death pay the debts of any and every random sinner who believes?
People of all ages and backgrounds may be plagued by intrusive thoughts. Here are some biblically supported ideas on them.
Here’s my quickest canned response to the question “Does God exist? And how do you know it’s the Christian God?”