How do ex-Christians lose their faith? There are too many paths to count, but a primary way is to become disillusioned when they find out that the Bible isn’t what they thought it was. I wanted to outline some common arguments I hear from Christians-turned-atheists and why I think typical Christian apologetics fails to answer… Continue reading Apples Are Not Bananas, Theology Is Not History

The problem with trying to prove whether God exists is that God doesn’t exist, at least not in any way we can understand what it means to exist. God is the ground of all existence. Further, I’ve yet to come across an airtight argument for or against God. Every argument has flaws, holes and in… Continue reading There’s No Single Proof for God’s Existence

Why would a good God permit evil? Ultimately, I don’t think we can ever get to a proof of God’s existence through logic and the problem of evil in the world is the best argument against God. The problem of evil argues that the existence of an all-powerful and all-good God is incompatible with the… Continue reading Alvin Plantinga’s Free Will Defense

I didn’t intend to address the He Gets Us campaign here. It’s bad enough that every time I log into Reddit, I’m bombarded by He Gets Us promotions. But after their Superbowl commercial, I’ve gotten a few questions from friends about my thoughts on it. I’m a theological marketing guy – more accurately I’m a… Continue reading He Gets Us: Lost Opportunities

I remember one time I was reading Bart Ehrman’s book, Did Jesus Exist? and I left it on my coffee table when a friend came over. The friend was instantly ruffled by the book’s title, and no doubt, the name of the author. “Of course Jesus existed, what a waste of time!” I can understand… Continue reading Reading Bart Ehrman Will Not Turn You into An Atheist

We’ve been handed some strict ideas about the Bible that can sometimes stifle our approach to reading and interpretation. Specifically, many Christians approach scripture as a finished, infallible work that we simply take facts from. I prefer to think of scripture as part of a tradition that we constantly engage with while we listen for… Continue reading My Favorite Metaphors for Scripture

That title is provocative. But true. You see, we all read the bible differently. That is an inescapable fact, no matter how frustrating you find it to be. My more fundamentalist friends won’t like that. A lot of Christians would like to believe that there is one right interpretation. The Bible has one right answer… Continue reading I Read The Bible Differently Than You Do

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7, NSRV I’m a mystic. That is a… Continue reading Walls and Razor Wire are Never the Answer

As we continue into a new lectionary year focused on the Gospel of Mark, I wanted to dive into that book a little deeper than I normally do. Naturally, one of the first places I turned for an overview was Pete Enns and the Bible for Normal People podcast. I’m a big fan and listen… Continue reading Five Insights About the Gospel of Mark

One of my least favorite activities to witness is fundamentalists debating atheists on YouTube. Depending on who posted the video, it is always titled something like, “Biblical scholar destroys atheist,” or, “Physicist ruins Christianity.” And the arguments on both sides are usually based on some kind of literal interpretation of the Bible. The fundamentalist will… Continue reading Answering a Fool According to Their Folly