Tim Chastain, 1951-2019 After a lifetime of scholarly and deeply personal exploration of his Christian faith, Tim Chastain started the Jesus Without Baggage blog in 2013 and posted articles regularly until his passing in June 2019. The blog was a … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
When I was a child, we lived in Central Florida not too far from Cape Canaveral. On May 5, 1961 we were all marched out onto the school playground and looked to the east. Then we saw it! A very … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Flat-earthers believe they know precisely how the continents are configured on a flat plane. And it is quite different from the way global-earthers envision the continents. Globalists understand the earth to be a sphere, of course, with the arctic to … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
What is most distinctive about what flat-earthers believe is what the don’t believe. Flat-earthers do not believe the earth is a sphere (globe) but, rather, is flat. Some think the earth is flat and square following Revelation 7: And after … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
As a child, I was a convinced flat-earther because of a lady in our fundamentalist church, and she believed it because of the Bible. Revelation 7 clearly says: And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Originally posted on Jesus Without Baggage: Recently, a reader asked an excellent question. This is our discussion, but I have not used their real name. Joe wrote: I’ve talked with you in the past. The other day, my 3 year…| Jesus Without Baggage
I do not believe in biblical inerrancy. I think inerrancy is a very harmful belief, and I often demonstrate the errors of the assumption, or presupposition, of inerrancy. Of course, I get a lot of push-back from inerrantists and (though … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Since I often challenge the concept of biblical inerrancy, I receive a lot of feedback from inerrantists. But often that feedback reveals false assumptions inerrantists make about me—assumptions that are sometimes the very opposite of what I believe. Here are … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Many of you already know LacedUpLutheran. He comments on my blog from time to time. I really–I mean REALLY–like this post. Thanks, Matthew.| Jesus Without Baggage
I graduated high school in 1969. It was the summer of Woodstock, but I knew nothing about it at the time. I spent my summer working for a burger chain, preparing for college in the fall, and having a series … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
While 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is the queen of all ‘proofs’ of biblical inerrancy, I would say that certain words of Jesus come in second. And, since Jesus is central to all believers, how can we ignore his words if they … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
For me, this is perhaps one of the best books I have ever read—and I have read a LOT of books! On page 4, Pete sets the stage by stating that the Bible is not a divine instruction manual or … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Many say the foundational passage of the New Testament is John 3:16. Even young children can quote it: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Previously, I introduced the metaphor of the Father’s House, and we will now look at it further. I believe the love of the Father extends to everyone, and I like to think of all of us being in the Father’s … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Originally posted on Jesus Without Baggage: updated 2-18-19 A central point of the message about Jesus is that the Father sent him to bring about a change in our situation whereby we are rescued from a life of alienation and…| Jesus Without Baggage
Sometimes I get the objection from inerrantists that ‘God would not leave us a defective Bible’. This assumes, of course, that God has somehow given us a ‘Bible’ in the first place. It diminishes the contributions of the individual writers … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Earlier we discussed that Angry God is a foundational harmful belief because it gives rise to other misguided, harmful beliefs. We can say the same about Inerrancy and for the same reason. In fact, the two are closely connected. Inerrancy leads … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
Pete Enns is perhaps my favorite writer and blogger, and I am happy to share this article with you today. Pete says… I was taught in seminary and graduate school, as were many others of my generation and several before … Continue reading →| Jesus Without Baggage
To subscribers: For some reason, the regular reblog feature would not work on the article today, though it worked earlier when I did not mean for it to. Perhaps that is the reason–it was alre…| Jesus Without Baggage
A person recently asked for sample letters to convince an anti-gay Christian that they were wrong. I don’t think that is likely to help, so I submitted this… Dear Uncle Luke, I think yo…| Jesus Without Baggage
