My faith started with doubt.
When I was 12 or 13, I went to my dad and told him that I wasn’t sure I believed the whole “Christian Thing”. Now, you have to understand who my dad was. When he was that age (12-13), his Sunday school teachers would ask him where verses were in the Bible because he knew and they didn’t. He was asked to be an elder at a many of the churches he attended.
But when I told him at 12-13 that I wasn’t sure I believed the whole “Christian thing”, his response was one of the wisest things anyone has ever said to me.
He said (with a genuine smile)
“Good, Great 🙂 You can’t ride the coat tails of our faith forever. So I’ll show you why we believe what we believe and how to do the research for yourself. If you find out were wrong and can prove it, we’ll do what you’re doing.”
That started a lifelong search for the truth on all things, not just my faith. (and obviously I stayed Christian after doing a TON of research.)
I have this “strange” idea that God gave us intellect and reason because He wants us to use them. Most people have no problem with that in concept. However in practice you will find it gets a lot of opposition. I try to be like the Bereans, who were called “noble-minded” in the Bible.
Acts 17:10-11
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these Jews were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
When I’m presented with an idea, I like examining the Scriptures to see whether those things are so… And that gets me in trouble. A lot. I’ll apply to Christians something that Ronald Reagan once said:
“The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
It’s amazing how little the average Christian (even many pastors) know about what the Bible says. Take for instance the Book of Revelation and the context surrounding it. The vast majority of Christians have a VERY skewed view of what it means because they don’t consider the context.
Or Tithing…
Or Penal Substitutionary Atonement…
etc…
This website is a place for me to examine those doctrines (and many others) through the lens of the Scriptures to see “whether those things were so”. I’ve recently started a page that eventually will contain my statement of faith, but as of this edit (mid December 2021) it only contains a Creed in the mold of the Creeds of church history.
Oh, and if you were hoping for a little bit more about me personally, I’m married, I love shooting, designing, writing, and anything with cinnamon (especially cinnamon rolls).
As to my credentials, they won’t impress anyone. I have previously kept my “credentials” ambiguous, hoping that the ambiguity would prevent people from either (1) using an appeal to authority fallacy, or (2) dismissing what I write if they aren’t happy with my credentials, simply because they don’t know what they are. I’ve recently re-evaluated that.
The simple fact is that most of what I have learned has been the result of studying scripture and its context for decades (through books, academic papers, podcasts, online courses, etc.), not formal education. If that’s a deal-breaker for you, there’s no shortage of other websites you can go to. I source everything because the evidence is what matters, not what I say. I don’t want you to take my word for it, I want you to make up your mind based on the evidence.
I personally don’t trust someone’s education level because the “experts” can be wrong. I’ve heard scholars with multiple PhDs completely skew a passage to push an agenda, (*cough*feminism*cough*) and I’ve heard brilliant insights from Christians who never graduated high school. Don’t trust credentials alone. Instead, please weigh what any teacher says — including me — in light of the evidence, and the evidence alone.
(Scholars can be enormously helpful, and I don’t want to diminish their contributions. However, having a PhD is no guarantee of good exegesis or accurate theology. As proof, consider how many Christian teachers with PhDs disagree with each other; they can’t all be right.)
I hope this website and my research/ramblings help you grow closer to God and walk more closely with Him. That’s my prayer.
God Bless and have a wonderful week,
Berean Patriot