Modern Christians may know that their ideal is having faith without any need for proof, but in their hearts they want good reasons to believe. For evangelicals, that tension is particularly intense: Their version of Christianity involves a very active, involved deity—but our world doesn’t show any signs of that Read more
In Alpha Course #12, its creators share how newly-converted Christians can make the most of the rest of their lives. But they’re not actually that great at it. Today, let’s check out their suggestions—and wonder together if, indeed, one could build a meaningful life out of them. (This post and Read more
For a year now, many Christians have been thrilled about the so-called ‘Quiet Revival‘. This is a revival they think is happening behind the scenes all over the Western world. Even better (from their viewpoint), it mostly involves Gen Z too, meaning that Christianity’s demographics death spiral is reversing! Unfortunately, Read more
A recent slew of changes to Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrines and practices has got people reeling in dizziness, and for good reason. It’s rare to see such a high-control religious group going this far to soften its weirder, more cultish aspects. But as we’ll see, they wouldn’t be doing it if Read more
Even before evangelicals realized they were in a full decline, they pushed hard on the idea of the offense of the gospel. This is the idea that somehow, their religion’s message massively offends normies. But ‘the gospel’ isn’t offensive at all. It’s evangelism that is offensive, and evangelicals have no Read more
Big-name Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leader Richard Land had some sad news to share with the flocks last month: Jerry Johnson, a die-hard SBC culture warrior who held important leadership roles within the denomination, had converted to Catholicism. More than that, though, Richard Land had some opinions about this conversion. Read more
Last time we met up, I showed you some popular Christian zingers they attribute to atheists. We talked about how these lists of zingers operate as a form of ingroup performance. Today, though, let’s pivot to one of the lists of zingers themselves. Let’s explore why its strawman “atheist arguments” Read more
Last week, while researching the post about the gap between behavior and ideals, I ran across a whole slew of stuff online about costly worship. Evangelicals sell this kind of sacrificial giving as a necessity for Jesusing perfectly. But it’s anything but. It’s just another adaptation to their ongoing decline, Read more
In the past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of time to think about this entire Shawn Bolz hypocrisy and harassment scandal. For years, I’ve known that dysfunctional authoritarian religious groups sprout way more hypocrisy than more functional groups can manage. I’ve also known that they tend to be way Read more
Not long ago, Ryan Burge revealed some of the major disaffiliation drivers in Christianity these days, with the top contender being hypocrisy. In other words, 42% of Christians who disaffiliated from Christianity cited hypocrisy as one of their major reasons for leaving the religion. In response to his tweet, loads Read more