John Crowder ☩

Religious myth buster #38 What we glibly call "repentance" is unbiblical. We are called to a life of complete transfiguration.** #religiousmyths **Repentance is a Latin word penance (poenitentia) which implies paying for your own sins. The prefix “re-” was added to get extra…

Religious myth buster #37 Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh (not just the Pentecostals). We don’t need another Pentecost. She never left. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #36 You don’t have a “spiritual life.” You have a life. Jesus is that Life. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #35 There is no obscure divine essence. There is only the relationality of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s essence is this relationship. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #34 Any “holiness” that doesn’t look like the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, etc.) is unholy. A clinical, juridical, wrathful view of holiness is one reason Pharisees are always angry (their “righteous indignation”…

Religious myth buster #33 Separation from God is a delusion. In Jesus Christ all things hold together. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #32 Sin is not a legal infraction to be punished but a sickness that needed healing by the Great Physician. We did not need retribution; we needed a whole new operating system. “What is to be found here is a place of healing, not a court of law – not calling…

Religious myth buster #31 We pitched in nothing to our salvation* (not even faith). Our only contribution was our sin: to damn and crucify the Son of God. #religiousmyths *Also, salvation is not a legal maneuver to get you out of hell. It is wholeness, relationship, adoption and…

Religious myth buster #30 We were not “born again“ by our own decision or experience. We do not enter into God through subjective feeling or human effort. We were born anew from the Virgin womb and the garden tomb. Jesus Christ is the renewal of the cosmos, the constitutive…

Religious myth buster #27 & 28 Telling Christians to abstain from alcohol is a doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1-5). Oh … and grape juice is not the Eucharist. #religiousmyths

“Every religion that preaches Vengeance for Sin is the religion of the Enemy and Avenger, and not of the Forgiver of Sin, and their God is Satan, named by the Divine Name.” —William Blake, To the Deists, from Jerusalem

Religious myth buster #26 The Christian life is not motivated by fear of punishment or thirst for reward. Such transactionalism is not the way of love. Love is its own reward. "Love needs no cause beyond itself, nor does it demand fruits; it is its own purpose. I love because I…

Religious myth buster #25 The incarnation was not merely a setup for the cross. The incarnation is a permanent project. Our God will always be human. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #24 No, Jesus did not talk about hell more than he talked about heaven. Plus αιώνιος κόλασις does not mean “eternal torment” unless you ignore Greek etymology and insist on a post-fifth-century Latin lens. #religiousmyths *No need to waste breath in the…

Religious myth buster #23 Scripture does not speak of a coming Antichrist. It speaks of the “spirit of antichrist” and “many” antichrists who have already come. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #22 God’s justice is restorative, not retributive. The “justice” of scripture is not based on Roman law or the American judicial system. Justice, justification, justify, etc. (the δικαιόω word group) is about deliverance, rescue, exodus, setting things back…

Religious myth buster #21 The Bible is not the Logos. Jesus is the Logos. Scripture is inspired, but only in the sense in which it testifies of Jesus Christ. Otherwise it is words out of context. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #20 Jesus is not less than the Father. #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #19 You aren’t saved by your faith. You’re saved by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The πίστις χριστοῦ (pistis Christou) language of the New Testament is not “faith in Christ,” but the “faith of Christ.” #religiousmyths

Religious myth buster #18 Jesus is not Republican or Democrat. The American Constitution is not Holy Scripture. Jesus does not have a U.S. social security card, birth certificate or voting ID. #religiousmyths