Nazarene Caffeine

 Do you know the easiest way to annoy a Bible major? It really is simple: Misquote the Bible in such a way that it becomes painfully obvious that you didn't even read the passage you are quoting. It seems that I am finding more and more instances of people who quote the Bible, yet clearly haven't read the passage they are quoting. If the Bible is one of the more misunderstood texts in our culture, and if it is important to understand a statement before offering a critique of it, then it should follow that it is important to read the Bible before commenting on it. Or, at least, read the passage that you are quoting, in context. Yet it seems like people consider the Bible the exception to this rule. This was made even more clear to me today when I ran across this statement from a group on Facebook: This sign gives us some insight into the difference between what the culture at large believes  the Bible says compared to what the Bible actually says. The passage that this sign is a

  I went to a Christian high school. They provided about what you would expect from a Christian school. We had Bible class every morning. We were expected to memorize Scripture each week. We had a time of worship every Friday. They even had a Church service on the School property each Sunday for those who did not otherwise have a Church home. Overall, this was a wonderful school. I loved my instructors, and I loved my fellow students. However, as I have become older and more mature in my faith, I have come to find myself in disagreement with what the school taught on some non-essential issues. One of these issues is the best translation of the Bible. You see, my high school was a King James Version Only high school. We were taught that every translation except the King James Version was corrupted. The NIV was especially called out on a regular basis as being compromised. When we memorized Scripture, it had to be from the King James Version. While I used other versions in my study of Sc

  Introduction It is 11:30 on a Saturday night as I am writing this. When I saw the objection that I will present below, I had no plans to respond to it immediately. However, since it is late and I am unable to sleep, I thought I would take the time to respond to this before I go to bed. I first saw this objection in a Facebook group that I am part of. No doubt, it showed up in this particular group because someone saw the same flaws in it that I did. I would not be surprised if I were not the only person responding to this at some point today or tomorrow. I know others have responded to this in the past, but I hope that my points will contribute something to the discussion. The objection is summarized, again, in a meme that was posted by an atheist group out of the Philippines: When this objection is stated (rather than shared as a meme), it usually takes a form like this: "If God were real, we would be able to see/observe/run tests on him." The implication is that what we s

  INTRODUCTION If you have been in any Facebook theology group, you have seen the term "heresy" thrown around. In fact, it seems rare that a civil debate happens without the term popping up. However, what has become clear to me over the last few months is that, while the term is a popular one to use in this setting (after all, who wants to continue arguing for a position that some will, at that point, assume to be heretical?), many people do not understand what heresy actually is. In this post, I will answer that question. First, let's look at some bad definitions of heresy. ANYTHING THAT CONTRADICTS SCRIPTURE I was in a discussion with a man today who defined heresy as "anything that contradicts the Bible." At first glance, this may seem like a good definition, and it is likely what many non-theological minds think of when they think of heresy. However, there is a major problem with this definition, and there is a good reason why. If heresy is anything and ever

INTRODUCTION There is a story about a young child named Johnny. Johnny liked to go play with the other kids on his block outside. He also liked to come inside on a hot day and drink apple juice. Johnny always came home around the same time, so his mother would always set out a bottle of apple juice for Johnny to drink. One day, his mother was cleaning the house while Johnny was out playing. A few minutes before she expected Johnny to come inside, she set a bottle of apple juice out for Johnny to drink. His mother, however, did not pay attention, and set the bottle of apple juice next to a bottle of pine cleaner that was in a bottle that looked very similar to the bottle of apple juice. When Johnny came inside, he saw two bottles on the counter. He assumed there was no difference between the two bottles, but simply thought that his mother had set him out two bottles of apple juice instead of just one. He did notice that the liquid was a slightly different color in each bottle, but he ju

 In my previous post , I addressed the so-called "Problem of Divine Hiddenness," since it appears to be making the rounds again. Another issue that has been making the rounds is related to the concept of hell. The question was put well by one Twitter user, as seen below. This Twitter user appears to believe that Christians just really wish that hell were real. Implied in this claim is that we wish that it were real so that we could see people punished for things that we do not like. But is this actually the case? There are two aspects to this question. First, whether or not Christians teach that there is a hell. Second, whether or not we sincerely desire for it to be true in some malicious way. Let's take each of these claims one at a time. Does Christianity teach that there is a hell? If I were to poll most people who are practicing Christians, we would say yes, we believe there is a hell. This does not mean that we want  people to end up there. So why do we teach that h