“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15 (ESV) The bathroom debate has resurrected some very old questions about women’s rights.[1] Once upon a time, women fought for separate bathrooms from men. The reasons were obvious. Privacy, modesty, prudence, and the unfortunate fact that […]
A disturbing trend is rising. People are calling for Trump’s assass1nation.[1] Political discourse has shifted from divisive and shrill, to radical and violent. Meanwhile, there have been four confirmed attempts on the president’s life, one of them missed by mere inches. This is getting out of hand. Ironically, the same people calling for violence […]
The following question comes from one our Crossexamined Community members. “Why did God allow the Bible to be written in a way that gives Christians an opportunity to misunderstand it?” – Vinnie B. This question intrigues me because it’s a universal problem. Every human being who’s ever tried to dig into Scripture has found it […]
In part one, we looked at how “cult” can refer to a group’s heretical theology (“theological cult”) or to its dangerous practices (“sociological cult). A personality cult is the second type, with personality-driven problems centering on central leader. To discuss the signs of a personality cult, we used the name named Al, as he sees […]
Imagine a porcupine. He’s waddling around with his long pointy quills. He’s harmless, even cute until he gets scared or offended. Then he becomes an angry pincushion. Now image this porcupine is giant-sized, like a dinosaur. He’s bumping into things, knocking things over, leaving huge piercing quills behind him as if marking his territory. People […]
Sometimes cults are easy to spot. Most everyone knows about the Jim Jones cult (People’s Temple), or David Koresh’s group in Waco, Texas (Branch Davidians). Those cults are easy to spot because doomsday theology and mass killing tend to make headlines. But some cults aren’t so easy to see. Personality cults can be hard to […]
Imagine a time in the not-too-distant future. Trying to compensate for a declining population, scientists use advanced technology to build a “race” of robots, giving them not only human appearance and abilities, but also increasing amounts of AI. Things work smoothly in the short run, as the robots’ nearly limitless energy for work transforms Earth […]
In part 1 of this series we looked at prooftexts from the Old Testament. In part 2 we looked at prooftexts from the New Testament. At this point you may be wondering, “So what’s the big deal?” People will misinterpret things, so what? What’s the Big Deal? Clearly, misinterpretation occurs often within the Church. Does […]
Have you talked with Jesus yet today? No, I’m not talking about your morning prayers. I’m talking about the new Text-With-Jesus app. This is a downloadable smartphone app that will put you in a text-message conversation with an AI simulation of Jesus, and other biblical characters. You’re basically talking to a robot programmed to say […]
In part 1 of this series, we looked at a few Old Testament passages that people often misinterpret. In part 2 we shift to the New Testament. It’s worth noting that sometimes the error is just an innocent mistake. It’s not always from bad intentions, or false teachers, or heretical theology. Sometimes there are malicious […]