• Welcome to Christianity Haven, thank you for visiting! If you have not already, we invite you to create an account and join in on the many discussions we have! 

    • Please be aware that when registering you must not register while using a VPN. Any registrations made using a VPN will be rejected.
    • Additionally, registration emails are not being sent out which is an issue that is being worked on. Your registration may go into an approval queue for admin approval. We work to send manual emails to the email on file, so please ensure the email you use is one you can readily access! 

Search results

  1. H

    Seminary President removed from job

    To me the two most serious things were * In 2003 when he was president of a different seminary he counseled a student who had been raped at the school not to report it. The fact that he was president makes it a coverup. Events like that in the past have still gotten Penn State and the Catholic...
  2. H

    "What if Christianity is Wrong?"

    In my opinion Christianity is the best way to live. Currently enlightened agnostics share many of the same ideals, but I doubt that would continue for long without Christianity to sustain it. I see a lot of people who seem to think that the only purpose of Christianity is to save us from hell...
  3. H

    Justification

    That's not the major problem with the citation. From context, this was hyperbole to make a point. Look at the next verse. It's obvious that it wasn't really true that no one called on God, since the prophet clearly did. Quite likely others did as well.
  4. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    I agree. I never suggested "ready for" as an appropriate description of sexual ethics. I was responding to your statement. If our Sunday School actually dealt with these issues, I'd say something like what you have here.
  5. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    Yes, actually. I've taught that age grounp in Sunday School for years. I've talked with enough teenagers in our church to be pretty sure that our 13 year olds aren't ready yet. If you mean not old enough in the sense of they don't understand what it means and aren't old enough to make...
  6. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    I think there are more than two options. We're not stuck with either the 1st Cent or nothing. As you point out, there were problems with the ancient customs as well. Indeed there were significant differences between the OT and 1st Cent Judaism (which is what Paul represents): * While technically...
  7. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    Unfortunately no exegesis is going to settle things, because the real question goes beyond specific passages to how we treat Paul’s letters. The passages that might involve premarital intercourse aren’t actually specific teachings. He doesn’t say “I have it from the Lord …” on this topic...
  8. H

    Trump repaid Cohen for hush money

    Oh, come on. The media likes scandals. They overplayed Hillary's email even worse.
  9. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    I don't believe Ruth is saying that we know better than God. There are certainly differences between the 1st Cent and 20th that could affect how God would want us to treat sex. However I'd prefer not to make a public case for extra-marital intercourse. I doubt CH would want that. But one could...
  10. H

    Trump repaid Cohen for hush money

    This whole issue is clearly a side-show. My sense is that the investigation of Cohen isn't primarily for this, nor is this anywhere near the top concern about Trump. It does show how Trump works. But so far it doesn't sound like anything illegal.
  11. H

    Trump repaid Cohen for hush money

    Did you notice, this was part of a larger payment. The implication seems to be that there are more cases like this.
  12. H

    Justification

    God operates through means. This includes preaching, teaching, and other things. I don't believe anyone is claiming that baptism is magic. It's just like other means by which God helps us.
  13. H

    Could it all be a fraud?

    No. All religions aren't alike. I see some common directions. But removing everything specific and just trying to follow the common content isn't a good thing. In "Mere Christianity", Lewis made the same comment for Christianity. He intended to document a common core, but if you want to be a...
  14. H

    Could it all be a fraud?

    I should note that the threat of hell seems to be losing its power to motivate. There are probably both good and bad reasons for that. If Christianity is going to continue, I think it has to be more than the only way to avoid hell. I think it has to be a community called by Jesus to play a...
  15. H

    Could it all be a fraud?

    The question you raise is important for the future of Christianity I think. I’m going to suggest that something like a liberal view on this may be the only one that fits the evidence. The OT prophets and Jesus both said that what matters is to worship the one, true God and treat others right...
  16. H

    Truth

    It's true, when I think of myself in front of the power that created the universe, it's kind of scary. But he loves us and Jesus died for us. That's what we should be thinking of. As Luther said, sin boldly.
  17. H

    Could it all be a fraud?

    I never felt it necessary to prove that everyone else is wrong. But polytheism seems particularly unlikely as an ultimate power, except when viewed as symbolic. But most people with that view think there's a single ultimate power, so they're kind of monotheists. The others are variants of...
  18. H

    Justification

    The main Biblical reference to baptism with the Holy Spirit is Luke 3:16. This may well be connected with Acts 2:33. Indeed Acts 1:5 seems to make the connection explicit. This need not, however, imply that either Luke or Jesus had in mind two separate baptisms. Acts 2:38 suggests that normal...
  19. H

    Could it all be a fraud?

    Ehrman wrote a book defending Jesus' existence, when he got tired of people assuming he denied it. That book ("Did Jesus Exist"?) seems like it sets a minimum on what you can reasonably conclude, short of conspiracy theory. It's not just the Bible. We have other works from the end of the period...
  20. H

    Premarital Sex, is it every right?

    This is sort of interesting. Surveys suggest that most Christians actually act as if they believe this. But I'm not aware of any serious attempt to build a sexual ethic that allows it, not any church that would endorse such an ethic. So it's never been clear to me whether the large number of...
Top Bottom