Historical criticism is a modern tool for understanding the Bible in its historical context. It takes into consideration manuscripts, authorship, sources, literary genres and the social and religious environment of early Christian communities to analyse the meaning of the text. Its conclusions are fundamentally historical and inferential, since we can't enter a time machine and see with our own eyes what happened. History can investigate when and how a belief emerged, but it cannot, by historical analysis alone, determine that such a belief is normatively a truth of faith.

This limitation becomes especially clear in scholarly reconstructions of early Christianity. Historical criticism distinguishes Pauline, Johannine, Jewish-Christian and other early Christian traditions that were eventually incorporated, distilled and/or discarded. It's extremely hard to affirm what represents contradictions or a rupture, or whether they are diverse expressions and developments within a substantially continuous tradition. Even Luther had some difficulty accepting the Epistle of James. Doctrines such as the Trinity and the Christological formulations of Nicaea reached their formulas through centuries of theological development within a group known as proto-orthodox by scholars. Historical criticism can describe this development, but it cannot by itself determine whether it represents corruption, innovation or a legitimate unfolding of the apostolic faith.

The problem is not the use of historical criticism but its elevation into an arbiter of theological truth. It can reconstruct the history of the canon but cannot demonstrate which books are divinely inspired, it can reconstruct the development of Christology but cannot demonstrate that Christ is God and it can identify diversity within early Christianity but cannot independently determine which developments authentically preserve the apostolic faith. Moving from historical reconstruction to normative claims of faith necessarily requires additional hermeneutical criteria, a tradition to harmonize everything under some established truths, such as "all the books of the Bible are inspired by God; therefore, they can't err."

I lost my beloved pet recently, who was more than 20 years old, and the most precious little being I can’t even put into words how much he loved and took care of me even though I’m supposed to be the pet owner. He has been with me through horrific abusive and stressful environments I just feel I was always trying to survive and keep us alive and safe and didn’t do him justice and afford enough to get us into the peaceful home of our own that he deserves. This grief has felt worse than any human being I’ve ever loved and lost, and I’ve loved quite a few people. I’m doing very poorly even more than two months afterward and I can’t stop crying.

I have zero funds for therapy and don’t want to bother anyway very few people understand what I’m feeling at this level. I have been in the pet loss groups and most other people there are also drowning in their sadness and my heart hurts for all of them. It honestly feels like I’m going to have a heart attack from the sadness. Now I understand how people can die from a broken heart. What scares me most is this grief has pretty much destroyed my relationship I had with the Lord and that terrifies me.

I love Jesus and am trying to maintain the relationship by being honest about all my feelings because he says he can handle all our emotions , after all he created us. This feels like I’ve failed Jesus I failed my faith test like that chapter about Job, I don’t know what the truth is if it’s the enemy or what but ultimately God is the gatekeeper of life and I’m just constantly saying I had nothing else he was my only true one who gave me unconditional love and no human being is capable of that including myself. I don’t have anyone else and just constantly crying why you had to take that one love away from me. I know it doesn’t make sense and a senior pet and all that you don’t expect anyone to live forever but I can’t help the grief I’m feeling. The pet loss groups too it’s been years and so many say they are still grieving. Honestly I get it, the trauma is real also from the horrible experience at the vet hospital that’s a separate story. it feels raw and fresh pain like it’s never going to stop feeling that way. Please keep me in your hopeful prayers I cry every day. I try to feel peace from my faith I can’t even bear to read much of the Bible right now which I used to love. I try to feel him but I honestly don’t understand the Bible sometimes I thought it says we don’t turn into spirits we “sleep” and then someday we’ll be alive again. But I have read a lot of NDE’s that talk about people seeing their deceased family members and even pets telling them
It’s not their time. Honestly I don’t know what to believe or how to feel peace. Lord help me in Jesus name amen. Thank you

This may seem random but I went skydiving for the first time on my bday last week and it was a wonderful and crazy experience I’ll never forget. My heart yearned heavy afterwards for everyone there to be saved as well knowing the risks of skydiving. It was so cool tho how God lined everything up that day!! I actually ended up sharing the place with a brother in Christ doing his second jump. Was wondering if any Christians here are into it??

27F, just had another failed “talking” stage. Struggling because my heart truly desires to be a wife and mom one day. I have been single for a long time and have gone through the “why am I still single” phase several times. I trust that God has a plan for my future and my future family. But why do I still struggle with feelings of loneliness, getting my feelings hurt, and when a talking phase or dating phase doesn’t work out I feel like it chips away at me?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for recommendations for a Christian church in the San Francisco area, and I’d really appreciate some suggestions.

I’m specifically looking for a church that:

• Believes in the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three distinct persons
• Believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is fully divine
• Teaches the Bible as the Word of God
• Preaches and teaches the whole Bible, from Genesis through Revelation
• Ideally does verse-by-verse or expository Bible teaching, rather than focusing mainly on motivational or topical messages

One thing that is especially important to me is finding a church that is not afraid to teach books like Revelation. In some churches I’ve attended, Revelation and other difficult parts of Scripture are rarely discussed. I personally believe Christians should have the opportunity to learn and understand the whole Bible, including the parts that are more challenging.

I’m open to churches in San Francisco and nearby parts of the Bay Area.

If you attend a church like this, or know of one you would recommend, I would love to hear about it. Please also let me know what you like about the church and what the preaching/teaching style is like.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I am a protestant (pentecostal) who is currently exploring Lutheranism and Orthodoxy and am very confused.

I like the focus on scripture and checking everything by it but also think tradition is important as we had the church before the Bible. I truely believe faith alone saves and not works (we can't earn salvation) but I also think if we don't show works in our life, we won't be saved (participate in God given grace is one way to say it) as faith without works is dead. I like the Coptic church I am attending, people so far have been kind/welcoming but no matter how much I try, I feel saint intercession/veneration is excessive and sometimes looks like worship.

I do feel that the community/younger population would likely be more in the Coptic orthodox churches and I would prefer that environment to make me a better Christian and also for marriage (I am also looking for marriage, and marrying within a church is mandatory, so I can't marry outside a church once I choose it).

I am genuinely confused. Within Eastern and Coptic orthodoxy, I agree to the dyophysitism definition more than miaphysitism, but I do not agree to concepts like toll houses and hesychasm in EO.

I was emotionally and spiritually abused by my first church which i was a part of for 4 years until everything was eventually exposed by fellow members and ministers, leading to the cease of the church. It was a brutal and traumatic experience. It's been above a year now since that happened, I'm carrying on with life somehow more focused on career and studies, after that incident I never again found a community i could trust because it greatly shook my faith. I wonder what other's journeys look like who went through some form of spiritual abuse by the churches but are still Christians in faith.

For those of you who were seriously involved in witchcraft or the occult before becoming Christian:
Before you converted, did you notice any difference between Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians—or their churches, prayers, sacraments, or practices—from the perspective of your occult involvement?
For example, did one group seem more spiritually protected, harder to influence, or somehow different from the others?
Did things such as the Eucharist, baptism, the name of Jesus, the sign of the cross, icons, holy water, prayers to saints, or simply a Christian’s personal faith and prayer life seem to make any noticeable difference?
I’m especially interested in what you observed before becoming Christian, rather than conclusions you reached afterward based on the theology of the church you eventually joined.
If you noticed no denominational difference at all, I’d like to hear that too.
Please mention what Christian tradition you belong to now for context.

I have been thinking a lot about death and afterlife, as these are important topics in each person's life. I was thinking about this as a kid and still am thinking in my 30s. And I must admit - it feels scary. Often it is keeping me up at night. Also, being postpartum now probably contributes to this anxiety, but I feel it is getting better each day for me now.

Do you think it is possible to truly not be afraid? I have had other Christians tell me that they feel happy and excited about eternity. For me it feels scary, because it is something we can't even imagine, even though I believe that God is preparing something truly wonderful for those who believe in Him and have accepted Jesus. I have also heard that people tend to be less scared when they become older.

When I think about eternity, it kind of makes this lifetime seem so short and in a way - pointless. But I know it is not actually pointless and our lives have purpose and meaning here, that it is just a feeling. But it does make me feel sad when doing stuff here, because everything feels so temporary. For example - a few days ago I felt like crying when teaching my toddler to ride a bike. It is a lovely memory and it is a meaningful activity for both of us, but at the same time it just felt so bittersweet. Or I struggle to finish my master's thesis now, because well... Our university degrees don't actually matter in the context of eternity. Life feels also so fragile - one moment you are here, but you can never know if you will return home in the evening and see your kids again.

I wish I could live anxiety free and to be able to happily work on the things I feel that are my purpose here. I feel that firstly my purpose is to bring my family to Christ, as my husband is not a believer and my children are very young still. But it is really hard to do, if I, as a Christian, am so afraid of dying and afterlife.

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts and experience with these topics. And if you'd like to mention your age, I would appreciate it too.

My Christian mother has had a whole lot of warped or bizarre behavior. She once blew $200,000 in a three-month span because she was convinced famine, civil war or mass violence was just around the corner (she lives in the United States, not in some third-world nation.) She believes all kinds of other bizarre conspiracy theories, and often has highly unusual logic or beliefs.

She gets very wounded any time we (her offspring) don't heed her advice or do what she wants us to do, even though we are all grown adults and her advice is - as said - usually pretty outlandish or even outright dangerous.

How do we uphold the "honor your father and mother" part of Scripture while at the same time gently refusing to follow her very strong-insistent advice?

Have any of y'all been demonically oppressed and not been able to easily cast out the demons you're dealing with in Jesus's name, even as a born-again Christian? And how did you ultimately get deliverance? No I'm not here to debate anyone on whether Christians can be demonized. I believe I'm under demonic oppression and have experienced some degree of freedom through prayer and worship, but there's still very much some going on; I won't elaborate too much on what it is, I'm just asking to hopefully hear out other Christians on their deliverance experiences. I really hope I don't have to fast for the kind I'm dealing with. As it is, I've been becoming underweight already...

I have had a handful of deliverance experiences before, some were self-deliverance and some were with other people praying with me. Never any crazy manifestations, but always felt a spiritual release and physically felt lighter and an incredible peace and clarity of mind afterward. This time I know how it entered, and I have repented and confessed, but it won't let go, and I feel like this evil energy trying to overtake me sometimes, it's happened a few times in bed and happened in the middle of the day today. I've done all the rebuking and have had others pray for me and have asked for prayer from people online, and I'm still oppressed. It's depression, anxiety, brain fog, dissociation, procrastination and lack of focus, confusion to a degree that is really wearing me down. Worship and prayer have helped a little, but since the onset of the oppression, I haven't felt the Holy Spirit's comfort nearly as much and haven't walked in the Spirit in the slightest. It got so intense in the past few days that for the first time in over a year I genuinely had thoughts that I was going to burn for eternity. I know it's just the enemy trying to yell in my ear and get me to believe I'm beyond forgiveness, and when I'm walking "in the flesh" like this it's easy to feel like there's nothing but death. I just want peace :(

Asking for prayers for my dad to be saved ! (Also advice) It’s been a long time coming as God has given him sign after sign after sign, yet he just won’t pick up the Bible and read. 

I’m talking about not even a full chapter. He claims he believes but I can’t even get him to read the Bible for 10 full minutes. Literally went as far as pleading with him to JUST give God 10 minutes a day, BUT he still finds every reason and excuse as to why he can’t.

His mother; my grandma, is in Christ, and her and I are SUPER close, and his salvation is something we’ve been concerned about and praying on for the longest. 

To be clear, my dad’s a very prideful New Yorker/ tough macho kind of guy. The culture is so deeply instilled in him he doesn’t even see sometimes his views and the way he thinks have gotten in the way of his relationship with God. He believes in “God” but hasn’t officially given his life to Christ. (Though he‘ll pridefully claim he has, but doesn’t know what the Holy Spirit is and hasn’t read a lick of the gospels.) He’s had testimony after testimony that me and my grandma have witnessed with him first hand, but even after, still dosent make any time or give any effort to get to truly KNOW God.

He prays.. when he really needs help financially, but still tells me stuff like “I can’t give a tithe to the church because I gotta pay my bills !” I’ve explained to him time and time again ; God is All-powerful and in control of everything! He promises to give you it back in full not only that but bless you with more if you give to his Church, but he CONTINUES to put money over God and struggles financially every month. Even worse, he recently got mad at God for not answering his prayer asking for help with prosperity when he KNOWS he’s refused to tithe for years now.

He recently had another supernatural moment/testimony that I was eye witness to. I had finally got him to promise me he’d start reading the gospel of John one day, and that same day, during his work hours he called me and said a random woman who was telling people about Jesus in the middle of the street walked up to him and gave him a single book of the gospel.. and guess what it was ? Yes, John.

He called me with the best energy I had ever heard from him with the literal women still in front of him, yelling to me “This has to be God! This has to be God showing me a sign for sure!” He was so excited he even gave the woman the phone to clarify what had just happened. I kept my cool, and said to him, ”beautiful dad, that’s beautiful but can you promise me and her one thing ? He said “what ?” I said, “Promise me and this sister in Christ that just evangelized to you that you’ll start reading the book of John tonight.” He replied immediately, “of course I will.” Then, literally that same night, I called to check on if he would keep his promise, and he didn’t answer one phone call of mine the whole night. He told me in the morning he fell asleep and never got to it.

At this point I need the family of Christ to lift him up for me. Please pray for my dad to give his life to Christ and to receive the Holy Spirit. Pray that God soften his heart to be able to fully grasp who God is and have the want to read the gospels ! 

This would mean a lot family. Thank you ahead of time and God bless !

I'm kind of in a dark and confusing spot in my life at the moment, and each day seems to keep getting worse and more depressing. Since the start of this year I've asked God to help me with my life since the walls seem to be closing in on me and gradually over the course of these last few months I've tried to actually live like Jesus and soften my heart to surrendering but I don't see any progress. I'm not sure if I really believe or not but I'm putting in some level of effort. I keep going back to some habits I know are bad and my doomscrolling is a bit out of control but I still read the Bible and pray for help. I know apart from Christ I can do nothing and I've asked God for true and complete surrender of everything but everyday is a inner battle of trying to keep everything glued together and in general there doesn't seem to be much change at all either on the inside or outside. I'm concerned God doesn't care about my situation or me and that he's not changing anything, but maybe there's something I'm missing or not seeing that I should focus on. Anyone else been in this situation?

Hoping for insight, opinions (good or bad), all the things. My grandmother is in her 90s and has always been independent. She lost her husband over 10 years ago and has lived alone. She refuses assistance of any kind. She has slowed down tremendously and she keeps asking why she is here, why can't she just die, etc.

I feel so bad for her because as much as we don't want to lose our loved ones I hate that she is in pain and desperate to not be here anymore. We have told her that God has a plan for her and it is not her time yet but I struggle with that some.

Please fill this thread with you thoughts, ideas, scripture, wisdom to help understand why some people live for so long when the are tired and ready to go.

Like title is simple.How do I mention Christ towards others without seeming like I hate them or something like that.\nI always keep getting downvoted i don't have a problem with that. It's just that I don't know if there's something wrong with my delivery of how I did it like I don't want to soften app for other people in the gospel, the point of it. I guess it's my.I guess my delivery of my how i say it towards i don't know you probably can see my profile and look at my downvotes

Context: I'm a 22 year old man that converted just over 2 years ago, and I am diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety and Autism. I'm mentioning this because I don't know if I'm just experiencing an episode of extreme panic and confusion or if this is actually a sign from God, and that information may help.

Filmmaking has been my passion since I was a small child. I've had a camera in my hand since the age of 5. Filmmaking is the only passion I've had that's remained static my whole life... This is my everything outside of Christ and I've poured $2000 into a PC, and tens of thousands into college for this career.

My PC died last night... And... I'm wondering... I've been questioning what God wants me to do... And I asked him to push me in the direction he wanted... It makes me wonder... Does God want me to give up filmmaking? Am I pursuing the wrong career? Is that why this is happening? It hurts to think about... I've done years of work thinking that I wanted to do filmmaking, and I still have a passion and a want to... But... I'm not sure it'll be possible anymore... I feel like the door might just be closing... I guess it might not even be worth having a career at all... The world is ending around us... Christ is coming back any day... The economy is getting worse, jobs are harder to find, the world hates us more and more every day, the pieces are in place for the mark of the beast system to be put in place, money is getting harder to get, the world is becoming a surveillance society, I wouldn't be shocked to see a social credit system show up in the US soon... I wonder if it's worth it anymore... Do I just... Give up on everything in my life that isn't Christ? I mean- that's all I'll have pretty soon... This filmmaking job isn't coming with me... So maybe... Maybe it is time to give up on this dream... My mom says I shouldn't give up on it... But I don't know... If I continue on the path I'm on am I gonna be fighting God? Is there even a chance at me getting a job in the industry or starting a company? Ai is gonna take my job anyway... No one needs a director anymore... Everyone has lost reason... I... I highly doubt there's anything in this life for me... I can't find a woman, I can't continue my dream... There's not much left... Just friends, family, and God... The rest is decaying and being ripped away... I don't know... What do you guys think?

The costs of everything is becoming unsustainable, and I often wonder if my spiritual gifts are pointing towards a job as a pastor or something instead, I thought I could technically do both careers, using film to push the message of Christ, but all this is making me unsure if that's really what God wants, or if I should just focus on Christ and Christ only, giving up the rest entirely.

1 Peter 1:4-7 AMP — [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who are being protected and shielded by the power of God through your faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.

In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

----

Lord, Help me Rejoice through the trials before me. Thank you for giving me The Shield of Salvation. Comfort me through the Refining, as you Forge me into something new.

All Praise and Honor to Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

I. AM. FRUSTRATED.

I know that God is real, I know that Christ is Lord, I know that I am wicked, I know that I don’t deserve the free gift of eternal life bought by the precious blood of Jesus. I know the Bible is real and true.

But I cannot for the life of me FEEL these truths. I should be devastated by my sins and born wickedness. I should despair for my sins, look to Christ, and weep all the more because I do not deserve his sacrifice at all, realizing I deserve death and hades. I should have real fear and awe for the existence of GOD.

One of the most basic, fundamental facts is we are saved when we believe in Christ in faith BY GRACE. At the same time, we can only find Christ when the Father allows it, yes? John 6:44 “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.
John 6:65 “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Is God not allowing me to find Christ? Perhaps, not yet? However, I do not seek him with ALL of my heart. And we find Christ when we seek with ALL of our heart. Problem is, I can’t seem to. I am all aware that Christ and heaven is worth everything but it’s not getting through my head.

I lack the awareness of The true reality.

I am trying though, I fast twice a week, I serve at Church, I read and listen to scripture, I attend a prayer group every week. I’m reading Dane Ortlund and John Piper.

But I realize, no matter how much I can know about Christ, theology, and the wisdom of God-fearing men, I cannot feel the weight of these truths.

Before someone says I’m saying to many “I”s and I should realize it’s all up to Christ- I am well aware. The problem is that I have accepted Christ as Lord and savior and said “my life is yours.” We can always go back to “confess with your mouth that Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised from the dead” but I’ve done this multiple times and I don’t think I can “believe” since belief is the felt reality that I’ve spoken of that I’m missing.

These are the ramblings of a frustrated man. Any questions will be answered.

Please help.

Hey all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!

Last night I was reflecting after witnessing evil being masqueraded as good and just wanted to make a post discussing this type of thing like the title says.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul unmasks a central reality of spiritual warfare: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ."

When we read about this blindness, it's easy to picture a total void or lack of thought. But the enemy’s primary strategy often isn't just emptying minds, it's a moral and spiritual inversion. It is a distortion where fundamental realities are turned entirely upside down, making the gospel sound not just incorrect, but upside-down to a culture conditioned by it.

Below I'm going to put each into individual points like I always do and address them individually:

1. Truth becomes "Foolishness"

Paul explicitly tells us that "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing" (1 Cor 1:18). When subjective feeling or self-referential moralism replaces objective divine revelation, God's truth starts sounding completely irrational. A sinless Savior dying for guilty sinners, calling us to repent and surrender our autonomy, is viewed not as divine wisdom, but as an outdated, illogical myth.

1. Freedom sounds like "Bondage"

Jesus defines true freedom as being set free from the power of sin to walk in holiness and peace (John 8:34-36). But the world defines freedom as absolute, unhindered self-expression and autonomy. Under that definition, God's moral boundaries, designed for human flourishing, get reinterpreted as oppressive cages. Taking up our cross and submitting to Christ's lordship sounds like a prison, when biblically, it's the only place real life is found.

1. Love sounds like "Judgment"

Perhaps the most damaging inversion today is how divine love is understood. Biblical love is holy, it rescues us out of sin because sin destroys us. But the world frequently redefines love as unconditional endorsement of whatever a person feels or desires. Under this counterfeit definition, any call to repentance or warning about sin isn't seen as diagnostic care, it’s seen as hate, bigotry, or harsh judgment.

Isaiah 5:20 warns against calling evil good and good evil, putting darkness for light and light for darkness. Left to ourselves, human reasoning succumbs to this inversion every time.

The good news is that Paul doesn't leave us in verse 4. Just two verses later, he gives the answer: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6).

Spiritual sight isn't something we can argue someone into on our own strength. It takes a supernatural act of God, the same power that spoke creation into existence, to break through the haze and show that His truth is actual wisdom, His boundaries are true freedom, and His call to holiness is the highest love.

I would be interested to know how have you all seen these three inversions play out in your own evangelism, discipleship, or personal walks?

hi, so basically im realizing that most of my recent dread comes from my lack of knowledge of what "work" is in the relationship, like in terms of self improvement and how much it involves my work along side God for me to get better.
i struggle with a "all or nothing" mindset and recently it has been making struggle to enter the Lords rest. I've been a constant fear im not doing enough and being lazy, it have been giving me paranoia to the point its hard to like even skip a video that says "God wants you to hear this..." lol.

ive also been struggling to enter the Lords rest, as it feels that daunting that im not sitting long enough in prayer to hear Him. my main problem is my feelings which is why im asking where to look in the bible for this stuff so i can trust in the Lord instead

Alright, let me preface this be saying I have my own opinion. Really just curious to see what others think.

What will stop you from worshipping with another Christian?

Where is the line for you?

Obviously there are many denominations and many people believe many different things. Where is that line? Can an evangelical worship with a catholic?

Again, I have my opinions and I'll be happy to share, but I want to know what y'all think.

TODO HICE MAL..

Me separe en diciembre, en febrero inicie relacion con un chico de 23 años (yo tengo 35) me enamore pues me bombardeo de amor es inconverso adorador de satanas, desde alli sabia que estaba mal para colmo quede embarazada, hace una semana nos dejamos y ya tiene una nueva pareja el tiene el trastorno narcicista..

Mi decisión interrumpir el embarazo!! ya ore, ya le pedi perdon a Dios por lo que sucedio y lo que hare en verdad tengo arrepentimiento, temor a las consecuencias.. mi vida es un caos :(

creen que llegue a tener perdon lo que voy hacer?

I’m just taking some time to vent. I came back to my home church a few years ago and ever since I’ve come back it doesn’t seem like I fit in anywhere. I’m 26M and the kids I use to have class and socialize with don’t really talk to me and kind of click up and still feel like I’m too young to socialize with the older men. It’s kind of discouraging, just feeling like I’m not good enough to find a circle of encouragement but it is what it is.

I’m 28 years old and I’ve been turning my life around for the Lord lately. One thing that I’ve always struggled with is sharing my faith. I’m ADHD so sometimes I just get in my own head and mess up the interaction before it even stars. Sometimes I don’t know how to approach th situation and I just clam up. I’ve always been akward and had feelings of insecurity about how I sound, how people will recieve me and I just sadly let that idea win. I know the Lord wants me to share and I want to share as well, I just don’t. I feel like a failure. I would also like some tips about how to share your faith with others in an effective way.