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8 Most Controversial Topics In The Church Today

...from endorsing or promoting a certain political party or candidate. Many applauded the executive order, claiming that it granted churches greater religious freedom, but others said that backing with a political party is not something a church should do. 8. Alcohol Can Christians have alcohol? This subject spark a flurry of debate inside the church. Many Christians believe that because the Bible forbids drunkenness and urges Christ-followers to be sober-minded, Christians should avoid alcohol, taverns, and anything associated with drinking. Other churchgoers, on the other hand, believe that moderate alcohol consumption is not a sin. These Christians typically...

Was the omniscience of God a developed idea?

...Or do we retroactively place our current theology of God on God? Consider the Garden of Eden: '[T]he Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”'  (Gen. 3:8-10) Now today we make it into a rhetorical question, but was this always so? In this story, God is spoken of almost in a physical-bodily sense as walking in the garden, since "they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden" as he moved about, and then tried to hide themselves from his view! Next think of the tower of Babel - "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built" (Gen 11:5) - Did he not just know already? Also this story...

Was there death before the Fall?

...It is often said and believed by many that our souls are immortal - that God gave us a spirit/soul that cannot die when he created us, and that death was not even a concept or reality before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Despite this idea being a fairly "recent" concept (in terms of history and theology), and it stemming from Greek philosophy, it's also not supported by the Biblical text - especially in Genesis. Lets look at the creation account in Gen 2:7— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. The word "being" in that verse, or "sou...

God before ages becomes an infant!

...I saw a beautifully sung a capella song the other day of Facebook. It was about the Nativity, the incarnation of Christ. One of the lines in the song really struck me, the profound nature of what God did summed up in a single sentence: Glorify, with the angels and the shepherds, Him who by His own will has become a newborn child, yet is our God before all ages.   Let that sink in for a moment before reading this excerpt from one of John Chrysostom's sermons on Christmas (something else I saw shared on Facebook which I think sums up this day in better words than I could muster): "What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wo...

The Author of Life Knew Death For Our Sake!

...veness of sin and new birth. Through “the water of rebirth” we receive the “renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) that gives new life, and, as Peter says, “as an appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Peter 3:21). Baptism brings about forgiveness and displays our repentance over our former life. Similarly, it is through the partaking of the Eucharist that we take on the eternal life that Jesus gives, to become a “partaker of the Lord’s immortality” as Clement of Alexandria wrote, and to make a reality the eating of the bread of life and being sustained by “every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3). Just as Jesus t...

Lent Day 26: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60

...beings” since he wrestled not against ‘flesh and blood’ “but against opposing demons” as Athanasius learned from those who visited him during these times. At other times, demons would make appearances to try and bring fear and to shake his trust in Christ, or they would cause all the hyenas nearby to come and surround Anthony. But, not fearing the Evil One and having his mind set on Christ, he rebuked them and commanded they leave in the name of the Lord if they were sent by demons, which they did and he was then left alone. Anthony visits the other monks Some time later, the other monks enquired of Anthony and wanted him to come and visit them, so...