Nazarene Caffeine's Top 10 Posts of 2023

As we enter 2024, it is a good time to review the top 10 posts of 2023. For each post on this list, I will provide a brief commentary on the post. The posts below are ordered based primarily on the number of views each one received over the course of the past 12 months. Enjoy!

10. I Read The Bible In 20 Days. This Is What I Learned

Coming in at number 10 is one of the first blog posts that I ever wrote for Nazarene Caffeine. Shortly after I had my first major anxiety attack, I took some time off from work, during which I decided to read through the Bible as quickly as possible. The original goal was to complete the Bible in 40 days. After reading ahead as much as possible, I completed the Bible, cover to cover, in 20 days. The blog post that I wrote here shared my experience and how this experience helped me understand Scripture in a deeper way. I hope that, as you read this post, you will be encouraged in your own Bible reading journey!

9. Which Bible Translation Is Best?

In this post, I explain part of my experience attending a high school that held to the King James Only position. In essence, we were told that the King James Version is the best translation of Scripture, and that every other translation was either a compromise or perversion of God's word. In this post, I push back against this notion and argue that the best Bible translation is actually the translation that you will read, provided that the translation is faithful to the original languages. While I was not planning to release a series on the King James Only movement at the time that I wrote this post, this essentially became the first major post in that series.

8. What Is Heresy?

If you have spent any time in theological debate groups, you will hear someone refer to another person as a heretic. However, much of the time, this term is used incorrectly. More often than not, this term is simply used in reference to people who do not share an individual's understanding of a certain passage of Scripture. But is this what heresy actually means? The short answer is: no. It is proper to use the term "heresy" in relation to historically recognized heresies, such as Arianism and Nestorianism. It is not proper to use the term "heresy" in reference to complementarians/egalitarians or in reference to Calvinists/Arminians. In short, "heresy" has a very precise and specific meaning in the world of theology, and I hope that this post serves to clear up some of the water that has been muddied by the misuse of this term.

7. Why I Believe In God (But Not In Unicorns)

I wrote this post in response to a bad argument against God that was shared with me. In short, in this post, I argue that belief in God is not in the same category as belief in unicorns, since there are positive reasons to believe in God, but such positive evidence is lacking for unicorns. When I wrote this post, I thought it might get more attention than the average post. However, I am amazed at how well this post did this past year. I hope that you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

6. Is Money The Root Of All Evil?

This is another post that I wrote in response to a bad argument. This time, the argument was against the church rather than against Christianity, per se. Basically, the argument goes like this: "Money is the root of all evil. Therefore, if the church is good, why does it ask for money?" In this post, I explain how this results from a misreading of Scripture. Nowhere does Scripture teach that money, in and of itself, is evil. Rather, it teaches that the love of money is an evil. This post, then, is a practice in both exegesis and reason.

5. The Self-Defeating Nature Of Subjective Morality

I should clarify something about this post that I have had to clarify since I wrote it. Namely, I want to state that, in this post, I am arguing against a particular view of morality that is held by the common person on the street. This post, then is not directed toward a specific argument for subjective morality that is used among academics. In short, this post addresses the understanding of many average, everyday people.

With that being said, in this post I show how a purely subjective morality, as it is understood by many average, everyday people, has serious flaws.

4. The Misleading Nature Of "Love Is Love"

While it may be a simple, repeatable, and useful slogan, the statement that "love is love" is not necessarily as straightforward as a person might initially think. In this post, I explore major issues with the concept, ultimately arguing that the slogan doesn't make a distinction between different types of love (agape, phileo, eros), and therefore robs us from understanding the nuance between different types of love. Furthermore, I argue that each type of love has a context. For example, I love my male friends in the sense of "phileo" (brotherly love), but this is not the same as the way that I love my wife. Ultimately, since different types of love are appropriate in different kinds of contexts, the statement that "love is love" is ultimately not accurate.

3. The Nicene Creed: A Short Introduction

As we enter the top 3 posts of 2023, we find my short commentary on the Nicene Creed in the number 3 spot. While entire books can be (and have been) written about the Nicene Creed, I have offered a brief introduction to the creed that unites all branches of Christianity. This post is primarily intended as an introduction to this creed for those who may not be familiar with it.

2. Atonement

The number 2 spot on this list surprised me. My article on the Atonement is one of the oldest posts on this blog. It is also one that I did not expect to be popular, since it was a more technical introduction to the topic. Yet here it is in the number 2 spot for 2023. If you are not familiar with the Church of the Nazarene's views on the atonement of Christ, feel free to check this post out!

And finally.............................................................

1. 6 Free Christian Magazines

This one honestly does not surprise me. Early on in Nazarene Caffeine's history, I spent quite a bit of time finding free items for my readers. I have found free books, music, and magazines (all located under the "Free Stuff" tab at the top of this page). I am honestly not surprised that one of these posts made the number one spot. I just didn't expect it to be the free magazines list.

In conclusion, I wanted to thank all of my readers for making 2023 a successful year for Nazarene Caffeine. I look forward to what God is going to do through this simple blog in 2024 and beyond. In the meantime, why don't you check out some of the posts that are available here, and let us know which one is your favorite in the comments below!