A little over two years ago I issued my Everlasting Hell Challenge, which asked Protestant Christians who base their theology on the Bible alone to demonstrate convincingly that the traditionalist evangelical view on hell and damnation is a much clearer teaching in Scripture than the idea that hell is not a place of everlasting torment…
Just because it's "orthodox" doesn't mean it's true
Author Archives: Drew Costen
Moderate Religion is Still Religion
While it’s obvious to most of us that religious fundamentalism and extremism are clearly harmful, many of us tend to overlook the fact that moderate religion will destroy your soul just as easily (be it a moderate form of the Muslim religion, a moderate form of the Christian religion, or any other moderate form of…
The Evangelical Abortion Inconsistency
If you’ve read many of my posts, you know by now that one of the most consistent traits of traditionalist Christians is that they’re not very consistent in their theological thinking. This is possibly no more obvious than in their views on the subject of abortion. Most evangelicals I know of, for instance, are extremely…
Theology is Theory
No matter what theological conclusions you might have come to over your lifetime, one of the most important factors to remember is that theology is just theory. Whether you believe in biblical literalism and inerrancy or a more figurative method of interpreting Scripture, whether you lean towards a pre-trib/pre-mil rapture or towards an amillennial eschatology,…
Smoke and Mirrors
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last little while, it’s that very little is actually what it seems. Often something that seems like a random detail is actually there to distract us from something bigger (or something huge will be staged to create support for something that people would otherwise protest). Of course…
Ye Shall Know Them by Their Fruits
I have had people of various religions and denominations try to convince me that their set of doctrines are the truth and that if I don’t follow their particular philosophy then I will come to a bad end (or at least not as good an end as I could). With so many different ideologies competing…
Stuff
As Tyler Durden put it in Fight Club (possibly the most important movie ever made), we’re “chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” And, even worse, “the things you own end up owning you.” He’s right. Very few, if any, of our possessions actually make us…
Slavery
I am a slave, and odds are high that you are too. We are slaves to a system that has come to dominate pretty much the entire world. I call this system “transactionalism.” It’s a way of life in which people will only do something for you if you do something for them, and vice…
Dialogue With an Evangelical – Part 2: The Bible
Everlasting torment in hell isn’t the only topic I’ve discussed with “Bob.” We’ve talked about all sorts of other theological and philosophical issues, one of my favorites being when we’ve talked about his thoughts on the Bible: Bob: The problem with most Christians today is that they just don’t follow the Bible any more. If…
We Are All Innocent
Those who know me well know that I don’t believe in free will, or at least that I think it’s the biggest misnomer there is, philosophically and theologically speaking. Every person alive is a victim of their genetics and past experiences. In other words, every choice we make is predetermined by our nurture and nature….
Dialogue With an Evangelical – Part 1: Hell
The following is a dialogue between myself and “Bob,” an Evangelical Christian, about the subject of hell: Bob: Hi, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. Me: Sure, why not? What’s up? Bob: If you were to die today, do you know for sure where you’d end up? Me: Creepy question,…
