19Mar 2025 by Post

4 Good Things That Go Bad When They Are Idolized

Apologetics, Big Eva, big evangelical, Christianity, Church Life, Deconstruction, Deconversion, Ecclesiology, false gospel, Hillary Ferrer, idolatry, MamaBearApologetics.com, pastoral theology, pop Christianity, pop culture, popular heresies, Theology and Christian Apologetics
In recent years, Joshua Harris  announced that he and his wife are separating AND that he is no longer a Christian. In case you missed the whole I kissed Dating Goodbye craze in the late 1990’s, let me summarize: Joshua Harris was a prominent voice in purity culture (which Amy Davison has been blogging about here and here.)  In his early 20’s, he wrote a book advocating for “courtship” instead of “dating.” This change in perspective would supposedly allow young men and women to avoid emotional ties that would hinder their future marital happiness. There’s too much to go into here. In short, what started as one young man’s dating advice got turned into the 67th book of the Bible for many youth groups. People are desperate for answers. In the wake of Harris’ announcement, many are pointing…
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18Nov 2024 by Post

Did the Idols of the Old Testament Actually Have Power?

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, BellatoriChristi.com, Christianity, Daniel Sloan, False Gods, Gospel, idolatry, Idols, paganism, polytheism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, World Religions
One of the questions that people ask when they read through the Old Testament is “did those little statues that people worshipped actually have any power behind them?” Many scholars agree that people believed that the idols themselves did not hold power but instead represented the pagan gods. The Old Testament itself has two major views on idolatry, one located in the prophets and another located in Deuteronomy. Idolatry in the Prophets The prophets identify idolatry as a major issue within both Israel and Judah during their time and argue that idolatry is worthless.[i] For example, in Isaiah 41, Isaiah 44, and Jeremiah 10, the prophets make it clear that idolatry is useless and meaningless. It holds no power because the idols themselves are created and the gods that they…
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13Nov 2023 by Post

Is Your Church a Personality Cult? Part 1

celebrity culture, church growth movement, Culture CrossExamined, exploitation, idolatry, intelligentchristianfaith.com, John Ferrer, leadership, narcissism, personality cult, practical theology, theology
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 spot. When people call a religious group a “cult” it usually means one of two things. TWO TYPES OF CULTSType 1: Theological Cult – heretical theology deviating from core orthodox teachings of that religion. These cults spring from a parent-religion. Ex., Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses are cult offshoots of Christianity. Type 2: Sociological Cult – socially and psychologically dangerous practices like authoritarian and manipulative leadership, social isolation, abuse, threats, blackmail, “mind-control” etc. These may or may…
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25Sep 2023 by Post

Meet Robot Jesus

Culture CrossExamined, exploitation, idolatry, John Ferrer, Robot Jesus, Satan, Smart phone app, theology
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 things that you’d expect to hear from Jesus, or Jonah, or Moses, or Matthew, or even Satan himself. The app is free, but for $2.99 you can purchase access to the Satan-character and converse with an AI version of Lucifer himself. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the grace-based (free) version features Jesus, but you have to sell a little bit of your soul to talk to the prince of darkness. Is this APP…
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03Jul 2023 by Post

A Trendy New Breathing and Meditation Technique… and it’s Odd.

cultural apologetics, Culture CrossExamined, idolatry, meditative breathing, Melissa Dougherty, mysticism, New Age, spirituality, Theology and Christian Apologetics, witality breathwork, World Religions
I was scrolling through the Gram one day, and since I look up a lot of New Age things, the almighty algorithm put in front of my face something it thought I would enjoy. My eyes fell upon people rolling around, screaming, laughing hysterically, crying, convulsing, and rocking back and forth. I, no kidding, thought I was watching something from a Holy Spirit night at Bethel Church or something. It took me a hot second to realize that I was looking at a growing trend called Witality Breathwork. Growing Trend As time went on, I saw this strange practice pop up all over America, including in my own hometown. Immediately, I wanted to investigate, so I looked into actually going to the conference to observe, so I emailed them asking…
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