The internet has made pornography more accessible and harder to avoid than ever before. For many Christians, internet porn has become an addiction that feels impossible to overcome. However, through God’s grace and power, freedom from this addiction is possible. Here is a 9,000 word guide on how the Bible can help someone defeat an internet porn addiction. Understand that pornography is sinful and destructive The Bible is clear that pornography is a sin. Jesus said that “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Pornography encourages lust…
Author: Kristal Wheatley
The JEDP theory is an approach to the authorship of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) which asserts that the Torah was not written by Moses, as tradition states, but rather by four different source documents which were later compiled together into the Torah we have today. The four source documents are: J – The Yahwist (Jehovist) source, focused on using the name Yahweh (Jehovah) for God. Written c. 950 BCE. E – The Elohist source, focused on using the name Elohim for God. Written c. 850 BCE. D -…
John the Baptist’s statement “He must increase, but I must decrease” in John 3:30 provides significant insight into his understanding of his own role in God’s plan versus Jesus Christ’s role. To properly understand the meaning behind this verse, it’s important to examine the context and purpose of John the Baptist’s ministry as the forerunner to Christ. First, John the Baptist was the last great prophet of the Old Testament era. He came in the spirit of Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6) to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. His primary purpose was to call people to repentance in…
Dispensational premillennialism is a theological framework for understanding the overall story of the Bible. It sees biblical history divided into different “dispensations” or periods of time in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different biblical covenants. Within this system, dispensational premillennialism holds to a futurist interpretation of biblical prophecy and sees a future restoration of ethnic Israel to the Promised Land. It also teaches that after the Rapture of the church, Christ will return to establish a literal 1,000 year millennial kingdom on earth centered in Jerusalem. Some key aspects of dispensational premillennialism include: A literal…
Baptism is a sacrament in the Catholic Church that initiates a person into the Christian faith. It is the first of three sacraments of initiation, the other two being confirmation and Eucharist. Through baptism, a person is freed from original sin, reborn as a child of God, and incorporated into the Church. The Catholic understanding of baptism is based on Scripture, tradition, and teachings of the Church. Scriptural Basis Several key passages in Scripture form the basis for the Catholic theology of baptism: Matthew 28:19 – Jesus commands the apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…
In 1 Peter 2:5, the apostle Peter refers to believers in Christ as “living stones” being built into a “spiritual house.” This metaphor provides insight into the nature and purpose of the church, the body of Christ. The passage reads: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 ESV) Here are a few key things to understand about this “spiritual house”: 1. It refers to the church, the body of believers Throughout his first epistle, Peter uses…
Spiritualism is the belief that the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living through mediums. The Church of Spiritualism is a religious organization that promotes this belief and provides a community for spiritualist practitioners. Here is an overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of the Church of Spiritualism. History of the Church of Spiritualism The Spiritualist movement emerged in the 1840s in upstate New York. It began with the Fox sisters – Margaretta, Leah, and Kate – who claimed to communicate with spirits through rappings and knockings. As Spiritualism spread across the United States and Europe, many…
Father’s Day is a secular holiday that is celebrated in many countries around the world to honor fathers and fatherhood. In the United States, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. The origins of Father’s Day can be traced back to the early 20th century, when Sonora Smart Dodd, inspired by the recently established Mother’s Day, conceived the idea of a day to celebrate fathers. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington in 1910 after receiving support from churches and the YMCA. For Christians, the question arises whether or not Father’s Day should be celebrated,…
The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient Jewish religious manuscripts that were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the Dead Sea in modern-day Israel and Jordan. They consist of thousands of manuscript fragments written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and include copies of books from the Hebrew Bible as well as extra-biblical documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls represent the oldest known biblical manuscripts, dating over a thousand years earlier than previously known manuscripts. As such, they provide invaluable insight into the textual history of the Bible and the religious ideas circulating in Judaism before, during, and after the time…
Reputation is an important concept that the Bible discusses in various ways. At a basic level, the Bible makes clear that having a good reputation is desirable, while having a bad reputation can create many problems. As Proverbs 22:1 states, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” Here are some of the key things the Bible says about reputation: 1. A good reputation comes from living wisely and righteously. The book of Proverbs, in particular, connects having a good reputation to living a wise and righteous life. Proverbs…