Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
I have to admit that I found it a bit difficult to write this article, because I neither wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings, nor poke holes into anyone’s core beliefs. There is no political or “racial” agenda involved in writing this, but still I hesitated because it is such a touchy subject. The only agenda …
A lot of bad things have been happening in the world recently and each day seems to be worse than the previous one. Where is this world headed? The quarantine and social distancing, brought on by the viral pandemic, have become not a protection, but a punishment of solitary confinement and fear. Governments have used …
“Why do some people raise their hands in Church?” This is a question or subject that comes up occasionally in general conversation and even from within my own family. For many, this ‘hand raising’ is rather odd if they attend conservative denominational church services. Although more common today than the middle of the last century …
This article is going to be a little weird — like me, I guess. We will cover a bit of background concerning the Roman government during New Testament times, but the last half of this discourse, although related, is a personal reflection from early in my adult life. So, let’s get started. Jesus’ life story …
Someone would be hard-pressed to imagine something more troubling or macabre than the taboo of eating human flesh. Now, in the animal kingdom, cannibalism is fairly common and found in more than fifteen hundred species, but this activity is rare in humans, just maybe not as rare as you might expect. Once, during a study …
A belief in ghosts is very common. Worldwide, more than half the population believe in ghosts or spirits of the dead. A lot of years ago, I did, too, although I never had any personal contact. Before a study of God’s word to guide me, I thought this belief was true, because that concept was …
Most Christians believe in something called a human soul that survives death. The questions of when and how a person obtains that soul, whatever it is, have been discussed and debated throughout Christian history. It is no different today, especially for those who are trying to determine abortion law. Although atheists don’t believe in God, …
My experiences with death started at a very early age. In New Orleans, where I was born, small children were not sheltered from the dying and death events of others, as they are in many places. For instance, I was a pallbearer at my grandmother’s funeral when I was twelve years old. I remember going …
The Church has changed a lot since the time Christ walked on earth, especially since the Bible came to be easily available to almost everyone. But there are a few things that haven’t changed much at all. Take the subject of sex, for example. We talk about sexual immorality as a problem and can look …
Someone asked me, the other day, if I believed that aliens were here. They weren’t talking about legal or illegal people from a foreign country living in the United States, but of intelligent beings, other than human, from outside the earth’s boundaries. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question and it is …