Church Fathers

I remember Garner Ted Armstrong, who believed in what others call “soul sleep,” offering a “$10,000 cashier’s check” to anyone who could find in the Bible a reference to “going to heaven” when we die. Of course, he never surrendered that money, because the Bible nowhere says the words, “We go to heaven when we die,” or anything else equally explicit. The problem with this challenge is the assumption that every Christian teaching must be stated plainly in the Bible for anyone to simply read and understand and believe. [Read More]

How often I’ve heard growing up: “Don’t interpret the Bible! Let the Bible interpret the Bible!” This is not unique to my background. It’s a common refrain in Fundamentalist Christian circles. Yet few seem to catch the irony that, amongst all who say this, there are so many different, contradictory beliefs about what Scripture means. The statement is absurd on its face, of course. The Bible interprets the Bible? That’s like saying a book reads itself. [Read More]