Over the past twenty years, Evangelicals have spent vast amounts of time and energy trying to divine whether I was ever a Christian or I if am still a Christian. Their conclusions typically flow from their peculiar theological beliefs. Saved? Lost? Once saved, now lost? So many opinions about the state of my soul. You would think God would make sure these zealots and apologists are on the same page.
In this post, I want to address the claims made by those who believe once a person is saved they can never lose their salvation. God saved me at the age of fifteen at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio, and since that day I have been a born-again Christian — even if I don’t want to be. I’m in a no-divorce-for-any-reason marriage. No matter what I do or what God does, we are forever married. Even death cannot sever our marital bond. No matter what I say or do, I am still a Christian headed for Heaven after I die. While I find such claims absurd and downright stupid, many Evangelicals think otherwise, believing I will one day return to the fold or God will kill me early and take me to the Trump Hotel in the sky as some sort of punishment for being a “bad” Christian in this life.
Evangelicals tend to point to one or more of the following “proofs” for my continued salvation.
I capitalize God, Bible, Evangelical, Satan, etc., in my writing, and this is a subconscious sign that I am still a Christian.
The capitalization of these words is the result of fifty years in the Evangelical church, not because I am currently a Christian. In the case of the word “Evangelical” I capitalize it because it is, in my writing, anyway, a proper noun used to identify certain religious sects and believers, and not a generic word.
Even in my speech, when I say “I am” or “I’m,” I am showing that I still believe in the “I AM” — the God of the Christian Bible.
This claim is so absurd that I have nothing to say in response.
Even in my swearing, I profess that God is real.
God Dammit, Jesus H. Christ, J-E-S-U-S C-H-R-I-S-T. Hell, and other base utterances are proof that I still believe in God. Really? I mean, really? A better explanation is that I couldn’t swear for most of life. Under threats of God’s judgement, I refrained from swearing, choosing to use Baptist bywords instead. These days, instead of drinking the Bud Light of swearing, I choose to drink real, high alcohol content beer. No more crap, darn, freaking, or other bywords from me.
I talk about God all the time, and this shows I still think about and believe in the Christian deity.
I hate to break it to Evangelicals, but the only time God crosses my mind is when I am writing something for this site or giving an interview. Outside of that, God doesn’t enter my thoughts. I am more focused on living one more day; sometimes one more hour. The list of what matters to me continues to be pared down to what’s important: Polly, our six adult children and their significant others, our sixteen awesome grandchildren, and the friendships I have made over the years post-Jesus. While this blog deeply matters to me, I am aware that it is secondary to my family.
I was part of the Evangelical church for fifty of my almost sixty-nine years of life. How can I not write about that which played such a prominent part of my life? The difference is, of course, is that talking about God, Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible are intellectual exercises for me. That’s it. Sorry, but I am not “enlightened” when I read and study the Bible. I only use the Bible to advance the objective of this site: helping those who have questions and doubts about Christianity or who have already deconverted.
Silly stuff, right? This is what happens when Evangelicals refuse to accept my story at face value. Desperate to explain my storyline, they cook up stupid “proofs” for my continued salvation.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
What changes have you seen, if any, to the types of comment you receive to your posts over the many years you’ve been going? There’s been a huge advance in the quality of comment on dedicated atheist websites, where it’s more about taking the arguments and the evidence to apologists, but this is not really one of those sites, being more about the practical implications of being a nonbeliever living in a religious culture. Obviously there are the silly commenters like Revival Fires, but what about more general comments?
Blog comments have always been an important part of this site. Since December 2014, 53,000 comments have been left by readers. The stated goal of The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser has been to provide help to those who have questions and doubts about Christianity and those who have already left Christianity. While some posts are outliers to this goal, for the most part, I have stayed true to my goal: helping others navigate having questions about or leaving primarily Evangelical Christianity.
Over the years, millions of people have stopped by this site. People come and go, often without a word about why. Most readers never comment or send me an email, so I am uncertain as to how my writing has been received by them. As far as commenters are concerned, I do wonder why certain people stop commenting. Did I piss them off? Maybe. I suspect that the real reason is they may have found my writing not as helpful as it once was, or they disagree with my progressive, liberal, socialist, pacifist politics. Nothing I can do about that. I’m not going to change my beliefs for the sake of readership numbers. While the Orange Menace, President Donald Trump, has certainly amped up my political writing in recent years, I don’t think anyone would say this is a political blog.
This blog was a deconstruction/ex-evangelical site long before these words came into popular, everyday use. The other day, I stumbled upon a three-year-old social media post about me. The writer, a Christian, wanted to know if anyone had heard of an atheist named Bruce Gerencser. He wondered why I wasn’t part of the atheist mainstream, suggesting I must have done something “bad” to be marginalized by atheists.
I have contented myself to stay in my lane. I am not a big self-promoter, so I am not going to contact an atheist (or Christian) site or podcast to sell myself to them. I’ve been blogging since 2007, first as a barely-hanging-on liberal-leaning Evangelical Christian, and then, after deconverting in 2008, as an atheist. Over the years, I have been interviewed by blogs, websites, magazines, newspapers, and appeared on numerous podcasts, which you can access here. From time to time, journalists contact me for information about Evangelicalism in general, and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement. In all of this, I have not promoted myself one time. I rely on word of mouth and personal recommendations to spread the good news that “Bruce Gerencser Saves.” S&H Green Stamps (for older readers)? No, but I have helped “save” countless people from the clutches of Evangelical Christianity and other Fundamentalist religions. I know this because I hear from people thanking me for helping them deconstruct, deconvert, or move on to kinder, gentler forms of religious faith.
I have also been labeled a follower of Satan; an enemy of Christianity. Thousands of comments have been left by Evangelicals upset over something I wrote. The attacks, at times, have been brutal, so much so that I stopped blogging several times years ago. I have been blogging continuously now for almost thirteen years. On this iteration of my blog, I have written over 6,000 posts.
In the early days of this site, the comment section was flooded with comments from butthurt IFB adherents, including pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. These folks have largely stopped commenting, leading me to claim victory! 🙂 Not really. I suspect they either became bored, or, unable to successfully challenge my claims, moved on to easier targets for their sermons, proof-texts, and shallow, contradictory apologetics.
Geoff mentioned the evolving and improved content and comments on some atheist sites, and I agree with him. The online atheist community is changing. Out goes the old guard, and in comes a new batch of atheists to hopefully lead the community forward. Shows such as The Atheist Experience and Talk Heathen are mere shadows of what they once were; other sites such as Almost Ian, the DZ Debates (Justin), The Bible Guy, Mythvision, Harmonic Atheist, Jon Cohen, and the various shows on Jimmy Snow’s network, The Line, to name a few. Whether these content creators have long-term success remains to be seen.
I continue to wonder why so many atheist readers come and go. Do they get what they need from me and move on, or do they find my writing boring? I don’t know, outside of the fact that I know some atheists stopped frequenting this site because of what they perceived from me was an unwarranted friendliness towards religion. Some atheists have even suggested that I am a “secret Christian.” None of these claims is true, as the vitriol dumped on my head by God’s chosen ones surely shows.
I am not sure what more I can do to attract more commenters. Typically, the people who comment are regular, long-term readers, with a few new readers’ comments sprinkled in. Gone are the long running arguments and debates over this or that religious belief or practice. Why this is no longer the case remains unclear to me. The comment section has a friendlier tone these days, more like friends getting together on a Friday night at the local pub.Usually it’s bottom feeders such as Dr. David Tee, Revival Fires, and others who provide entertainment, but none of them is up to the task of cogently defending the “faith once delivered to the saints.” These folks are little more than monkeys who fling shit at those they disagree with. No real arguments or defenses of Christianity. Instead, they resort to personal attacks and character assassination. Such people are the price you pay for having a public blog.
Over the years, the comment policy has changed, moving from a wild, wild west format to more of a controlled environment where every commenter is given at least one opportunity to say whatever they want to me. Whether they get a second comment depends on how well they play with others. I am much more likely to ban or block someone today than I was years ago. After you have heard the same Bible nonsense and personal attacks over and over and over again, it’s easy to say to yourself “I don’t want to hear this drivel any more.”
Recently, I have thought about loosening up the comment policy, but I fear that doing so might run off commenters who prefer the walled garden approach I currently use. I know I can’t please everyone, but your thoughts on this matter would be helpful.
Here’s the comment policy that has been in effect for the past four years:
All commenters are expected to use a functioning email address. The use of a fake or non-functioning email address will result in your comment being deleted.
Pseudonyms are permitted. Please use the same pseudonym with every comment.
All first-time comments and comments with more than one HTML link are moderated.
Before commenting, please read the ABOUT page to acquaint yourself with my background. You might also want to read the Dear Evangelical page.
Evangelical commenters will be given one opportunity to say whatever they want. One, not two, three, or ten. Just one. Quote the Bible. Preach the sermon God has laid upon your heart. Put in a good word for Jesus. Deconstruct my life. Call me names, attack my family. You have one opportunity to impress readers with your John Holmes-like Bible prowess. After that, the following rules apply:
The following type of comments will not be approved after your first comment:
Any comment that is not on point with what the post is about
Any comment that denigrates or marginalizes abuse victims
Any comment that attacks LGBTQ people
Unsolicited medical advice of any kind (and I mean ANY)
Any comment that disparages my wife, children, or grandchildren
Please be advised that personal threats of violence or stalking will be reported to your service provider and law enforcement.
I write about issues that might not be child-friendly. Please be aware of this. I also use profanity from time to time, and I allow the use of profanity in the comment section. Any butt-hurt comment about language will be ignored, and if warranted, ridiculed.
The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser is not a democracy where anyone has a right to say whatever they want. This is my personal blog and I reserve the right to approve or not approve any comment. When a comment or a commenter is abusive towards the community of people who read this blog, I reserve the right to ban the commenter.
If you can be respectful, decent, and thoughtful, your comment will always be approved. Unfortunately, there are many people — Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians in particular — who have a hard time playing well with others. They often use a passive-aggressive approach towards me and the non-Christian people who frequent this blog. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated and will result in a permanent ban.
This blog is also not a place for hardcore atheists to preach the gospel of atheism. While I am an atheist, many of the people who read this blog are not. Frank, honest, open, and passionate discussion about religion, Christianity, and Evangelicalism is encouraged and welcome. However, I do expect atheists not to attack, badger, or denigrate people who still believe in God. If you are respectful, decent, and thoughtful, you will be fine.
My writing is direct and pointed and so is my response to comments. Please do not confuse my directness and pointedness with me attacking you or your religion. This is a grown-up blog, so crying that I offended you or “attacked” your religion will fall on deaf ears.
If you can play by these rules, I hope you will become a part of our community and join the discussion.
— end of comment policy
Do you see something in the comment policy that you think should be changed or done away with? Or is there something you would like to see added to policy? Please share your ideas with me in comment section.
In closing, I can’t help but note how my declining health has affected this site. I was once known as a prodigious blogger, writing several posts a day. Sadly, I can no longer put out like I once did — yes, there’s a sex joke lurking in that line. I have really struggled with this issue, wondering if it is time for me to stop writing. My friends, acquaintances, and family continue to encourage me to keep writing, but when you have multiple days when you can’t even get out of bed, it’s hard to find the energy and stamina to write a text message, let alone a blog post. That said, I still try. I still push myself, even when I want to curl up on the couch and be left alone My sleep is so disturbed these days, that I sleep when I can, usually in short one- to two-hour blocks. Yesterday, I never made it out of bed, spending the day fitfully sleeping while family gathered at our home to celebrate the best mother ever. I had slept for six hours straight, but that was due to only getting a total of five hours sleep over the previous three days. This, of course, has severely messed up my schedule, forcing me to live in the moment instead of on a schedule. I can’t say I have adapted well to my new reality. I’m too old for this shit, but no one asked me, so I take every day as it comes.
Suggestions are welcome. You know what to do!
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I don’t believe that it’s because people are admitting defeat when they don’t take the time to counter every single thing you believe and say on here.
Joel doesn’t think that when Evangelicals say “we are just going to have to agree to disagree” that they are admitting defeat; that I can’t expect Evangelicals to counter every single thing I believe or write. I don’t think I have ever demanded believers challenge every belief or post of mine. However, those who can and do should expect me to respond to their pronouncements. Those who know me know me know I rarely leave comments from apologists and zealots unchallenged. People come to this site for different reasons. Evangelicals looking for debate/argument/response will likely get a one from me. Their problem, of course, is that they always get more than they bargained for, mainly because they either don’t know who I am or they marginalize or ignore my ministerial experience. Thus when they pompously roll out this or that argument, they are surprised when I push back; surprised I know the Bible inside and out, often better than they do. Backed into a corner, apologists often surrender, saying, “we are just going to have to agree to disagree.”
I think alot of it has to do with the fact that you seem very set in your beliefs and that even if someone were to point out reasons for believing otherwise (huff, puff, run-on sentence!) in a thousand ways, it would still somehow not be enough.
I am an agnostic atheist. I am open to evidence for the Christian God. I am not set in my ways at all. So far, Evangelicals have repeatedly used lame, worn-out arguments for God, Christianity, and the Bible in their attempts to evangelize me. Or “Philbros” will show up with their fancy philosophical arguments, none of which lead from A GOD to THE GOD — the God of the Protestant Christian Bible.
No, the problem is that I am not “ignorant of their devices.” Evangelicals seem to forget that I was one of them for fifty years; that I was a pastor for twenty-five years. I’m not Joe Blow American who has never read the Bible through one time. I spent the prime of my life reading and studying the Bible, preaching 4,000 sermons. The issue, then, is that I likely know more about the Bible than they do; that I am well versed in EVERY argument used by Evangelicals to proselytize people.
God knows exactly what I need to believe in him, yet all he seems to send me are Evangelicals who think C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, William Lane Craig, Josh McDowell, Gary Habermas, and countless other authors who keep regurgitating the same, old apologetical arguments are giants in the faith. Sigh. (Please read Why I Use the Word “Sigh.”)
What I’m saying here, is that it looks like your will is set in one direction, and people honestly don’t have the free time or energy to begin at the very beginning, from start to finish, to go through everything point by point.
Then don’t bother to comment on this site. Don’t start what you can’t finish, my Mom told me a time or two. Granted, I don’t like to give in, but I’m an honorable man, willing to admit my misunderstanding or defeat. I can’t remember the last time I had a debate/discussion/argument with an Evangelical that has led to a satisfactory conclusion. Usually Evangelicals cower under my overwhelming charm, sexual attraction, and knowledge of all things Evangelicals (and I haven’t found conservative Catholics, Muslims, and Mormons to be much better).
Have I ever thrown in the towel? Sure. A writer must know “when to hold ’em (cards) and when to fold ’em.” Years ago, as my long- time readers will remember, I would argue and debate until blood was drawn. I finally realized that I needed to live for another day; hoping that I will have another opportunity to engage a believer sometime in the future.
I have dealt with many brutish, nasty commenters over the years; almost always Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church members and pastors. These folks will not stop until they cause psychological harm. Unable to make cogent arguments for their beliefs, these so-called Christians turn to personal attacks and violence. Typically, I try to end such discussions before they reach this point.
As far as Philbros are concerned, I typically give them a short leash. I have noticed that Philbros don’t like talking about the Bible, so I try to get them to discuss the Bible as soon as I can. Often, they will cut and run when I force them to defend the Bible. If they refuse to move on from philosophical arguments, I typically draw the discussions to an end. No one that I know of has ever been brought to faith in Christ by philosophical arguments. Doesn’t the Bible say in Colossians 2:8, “Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Christ?” Evidently, Philbros have never read this verse.
Joel has forgotten what the Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15
but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.
Besides, alot of people aren’t into the whole debating thing to death in order to ” be right”, so they just decide to tip their hat politely, and give you your space. Hence, the ” we’ll just have to agree to disagree” and move on.
Wait a minute. Who is it that comments on my site? Evangelicals. Am I forcing them to comment? Of course not. No, the issue here is that Evangelicals are used to being the king of the hill. They are used to dominating theological arguments. However, since the Internet came into being, their arguments are openly challenged and repudiated. Not used to ass-whippings, Evangelical apologists tend to get angry, claim I’m being mean to them, or they run off to social media or their blogs to whine about that evil atheist Bruce Gerencser.
Isn’t that what you say you want? To just be left alone to do your own thing without people arguing with you?
Yet, they don’t leave me alone, Joel. Thousands of comments, emails, and social media messages later, I can tell you that scores of Evangelicals have no intention of leaving me alone or agreeing to disagree.
if I write something, I hope people will read it. And if they read it, I hope they will comment. And . . . if they comment, they should expect people to respond to them. That’s how blogs work.
It’s not admitting defeat at all. People have reasons for believing that go much deeper than emotional experience.
Keep telling yourself that, Joel. You sound a lot like Donald Trump, who still refuses to admit he lost the 2020 election. Rare is the Evangelical who will actually engage my writing or read any of the books I suggest to them. You see, they aren’t interested in discussion or debate. Filled with the Holy Ghost, Evangelicals stop by this site to rebuke, condemn, and evangelize. When I won’t let Evangelicals have their way with me, they typically run to the house of faith, lose their tempers, or serve up the “agree to disagree” excuse.
Personal experiences are not evidence for anything, Joel. Surely, you know this. I have no way of knowing whether someone’s personal experience is true. I live in a world where evidence and facts matter. I want to believe as many true things as possible. When a believer shares his testimony with me, it will not do what he thinks it will. How could I possibly know if he is telling the truth? Anyone who has ever attended an Evangelical testimony meeting knows that lying/exaggeration is expected. I’ve heard countless testimonies over the years, including more than few that were exaggerations or bald-faced lies.
“There are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamt of in one’s imagination.”
Says who? Gawd, I sure hope some of my dreams never come true. I could end up divorced and in prison. 🙂 As far as Heaven is concerned, such a place does not exist. I have seen no compelling evidence for the existence of Heaven (or Hell). My days on this earth are short. I am confident that nothing awaits me after death. Evangelicals talk a great line, but when it comes to the afterlife, I have found their arguments or proof texts sorely lacking. I am content to live in the here and now, knowing that I will one day soon be no more. That’s life. I can’t imagine what Evangelicals could say that would ever convince me to return to the “one true faith.” By all means try, but it’s been years since I have heard a new argument for core Evangelical beliefs and practices. Instead, all I get is warmed-over arguments and proof texts. I enjoy the back and forth with Evangelicals, but they are delusional if they think I will ever return to the fold. Been there, done that . . . I want a refund.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
How do you afford to feed all those cats? Does the SPCA help out?
First, we do not receive help feeding the cats from anyone, including the Humane Society. There are several non-kill cat shelters in our area, but they are over-capacity. So, for the past twenty years, we have fed every stray/feral cat that has frequented our backyard. We have also fed wandering indoor cats, raccoons, possums, skunks, deer, squirrels, and a plethora of birds, including hawks and woodpeckers.
Second, we feel we have a moral duty to care for the “least of these.” We also have four inside cats that were once stay/feral cats. We have cared for countless animals — domesticated and wild — over the years. This year (so far), only one cat, Fluffy — a longhaired black cat –has had kittens. Two of her young’uns died not long after birth. Currently, we have a six-week-old black kitten hanging out with the big cats. The kitten should be weaned in about two weeks, though I noticed he/she was eating dry food today.
Third, the Bible says that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We spent fifty years of our lives giving thousands of dollars to “God.” We learned that he had a poor rate of return. Many of us have discretionary income. We choose to spend this money in a variety of ways. I am not inclined to question how people spend their money. Each to their own, right? I remember when we bought our first new car. We have largely driven older cars, and in our early years, we drove automobiles best described as clunkers and rust buckets. I did all our repair work, which gave me plenty to do over the years. Now that I am a broken-down crippled man, I am forced to pay for mechanical services. I miss the days of leaning over the front of a car, working on it as my pants slide down, revealing the Grand Canyon. The good old days, I suppose.
We have purchased four new cars over the past twenty years. Our latest vehicle is a 2020 Ford Edge, with 120,000 miles. We don’t plan to buy another new car, hoping this car will be our last one before we die. Of course that could quickly change if I get a hankering for another car, even though I can no longer drive. I drove for the last time in 2020. My nerve pain and reaction times are such that I am no longer a safe to driver.
Bruce, you pivoted from cats to cars. What gives? Hang on, I’m planning to land this plane soon. 🙂 After we bought our first new car, I mentioned it on this site. Several readers decided to lecture me about the cost effectiveness of buying a new car; that we were being wasteful with our money. This angered me, but I said little. I learned long ago that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. For my partner and I, having driven cars that embarrassed our kids when we picked them up for school, we were thrilled to own a car that wasn’t always a threat to break down or have a flat tire. Simply put, we bought new cars because we wanted to. Isn’t that the reason any of us do the things we do?
We feed and care for cats because it is important for us to do so. If we don’t care for these abandoned animals, who will? It’s a matter of morality, for us. How could we in good conscience leave a cat (or cats) begging at our back door for food and water? We cannot and will not turn them away. In caring for cats and wildlife, we are teaching our grandchildren to be kind to animals, even spiders, snakes, and ants. Two weeks ago, I awoke to Bethany wanting to tell me what she proudly did a few moments before. Somehow, a snake slithered into our utility room. Instead of hollering DAD! Bethany picked the snake up and put it outside. Way to go girl, though I would like to have seen it to make sure it wasn’t poisonous.
Yes, it requires a financial commitment from us to care for our backyard friends, but we are more than willing to pay for their feeding and care. It feels good to look out the back door as see “our” cats; happy and thriving, despite the assholes who left them to their own devices. If we had homeless humans camping in our yard, we would care for them too. You see, we may be godless, degenerate sinners, but we love and care for both animals and humans. No need for God. All one needs is kindness and compassion.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Why have you stayed on the topic of God/Jesus for so long? It seems like you’ve never really fully left Jesus. At least, thats what it seems like.
This seems more like an accusation than it does a question, but I will assume good faith, and answer accordingly.
I have spent my entire life talking and writing about God, Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity. In 2007, I started blogging, and the following year I deconverted, walking away from Evangelical Christianity after fifty years.
Joel seems to think I should have stopped talking about Jesus after I left Christianity; that since I am no longer a Christian, I have nothing meaningful to say about the faith once delivered to the saints. Let’s suppose I spent my life as a career military officer. General Bruce, I like the ring of that. After a long career in the Army, I retired. Would anyone expect me not to talk about the military or my service any more? Would I be expected to “move on”? Of course not.
So it is with me. Christianity made a deep, lasting impression on me, especially Evangelicalism and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement. It is what I know. I can’t excise the first fifty years of my life. Sorry, but that’s not how life works.
What I have to share is a lived life, and I suspect that’s what upsets Evangelicals so much. I lived, practiced and believed the teachings of the Bible — fallibly, yet sincerely. There was nothing in my life that suggested I was anything but a committed follower of Jesus. Yet, I did insult to the spirit of grace and trampled under my feet the blood of the covenant. I spit in the face of Jesus, rejecting his atoning work on the cross.
It is this rejection of faith many Evangelicals can’t or won’t understand. How dare I reject he who has made such differences in their lives. How dare I reject that which they devote their lives to. How dare I live without being constrained by the teachings of the Bible. And it is my defiance that pisses off so many Evangelicals, so much so that they turn to violence and character assassination. Just today, a local Evangelical man named Daniel Gray wrote a letter to the editor of the Defiance Crescent-News, saying that I never was a pastor; that he can’t find anyone who says I was a pastor anywhere. (I pastored three local churches in Montpelier, Fayette, and West Unity, respectively.) This, of course, is an unadulterated lie. This same man said several years ago that that I was being investigated by the State of Ohio for performing “illegal” weddings. This, too, was an ugly lie.
Rare is the Evangelical that can accept me on my own terms. Because they can’t make my story fit in their peculiar religious box, they reject what I say out of hand. Yet, millions of readers over the past twenty years have thought differently. They value my writing, though in dark, depressed moments I wonder why. They find encouragement and help from my words, even though they don’t always agree with me. More than a few people thank me for being instrumental in their deconversions.
And this upsets many Evangelicals. Not only did I deconvert, I am leading other people down a path that leads to Hell. Why can’t I just mind my own business, and move on? Of course, lost on these folks is the fact that they, themselves, do not mind their own business. They routinely evangelize and proselytize, whether non-Christians want to hear it or not. Believing they have a mandate from God, Evangelicals fan out across the Internet, putting a word in for Jesus (or Trump) everywhere they go.
And that’s fine. You know, that First Amendment thing. Evangelicals are free to witness and preach, both privately and publicly. Why should it not be the same for non-Christians, especially atheists?
Joel has been reading my blog for some time, yet he fails to understand why I do what I do. That’s not my fault. My motivations are clear to anyone who is paying attention.
Evangelicalism is not neutral. As one of the largest sects in the United States , Evangelicalism has a lot of influence on our culture. None of us can escape this influence. Our current president, arguably the worst ever, was put into office by Evangelical voters. Evangelicals now hold some of the highest, most important political offices in the land. And what are they doing with this power? They are using it to take back America for God. They are using it to enshrine Christianity as the state’s official religion. Worse, they are the people primarily behind Project 2025.
And dare we ignore who has been behind the raging culture wars for the past forty-plus years? Evangelical Christians. As as father of six children and grandfather to sixteen grandchildren, do I not have a vested interest in their future, especially when I see the United States running headlong into fascism, Christian Nationalism, and an Evangelical form of theocracy? Silence is not an option for me, nor is it for many of the people who read this blog.
So, to Joel’s false claim that I have never left Jesus, with a British accent I say, poppycock. There can be no question, except for the deliberately blind, that I am no longer a Christian; that the reason I continue to share my story and critique Evangelical Christianity is because it is a threat to social progress and the future of the United States.
I intend to “stay on the topic of God/Jesus” for as long as Evangelicals drag the dead carcass of Jesus into the public square, touting him as some sort of panacea for the ills of society. I intend to stay the course as long as Evangelicals publicly promote irrational beliefs, especially when demanding everyone believe as they do under threat of eternal fire and brimstone.
When the Joels of the world retire to their houses of worship to incessantly talk about God/Jesus/Bible/Sin/Salvation, I will shutter this blog. Until then, I intend to speak my mind, as is the right of every American—though fascist Donald Trump, with Evangelical approval, is trying to limit the free speech of those who disagree with him.
This is a battle of worldviews; a battle for the soul of our country. As long as Evangelicals demand Christianity be the state’s religion and the Bible the law of the land, they should expect pushback from me.
Unless Joel and his merry band of Evangelicals intends to cede the battlefield, I intend to stand my ground—even when I can no longer physically stand.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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It’s been awhile since I’ve solicited questions from readers. Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything, and I mean anything. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, young earth creationist, atheist, agnostic, anti-theist, humanist, Evangelical, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB), Catholic, Orthodox, Charismatic, Mormon, mainline Christian, pagan, complementarian, trad wife, chronic pain sufferer, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Progressive, socialist, communist, MAGA, Christian Nationalist, White Nationalist, or a Bud Light drinker, this is your opportunity to ask me a question. Whatever labels you wear, ask away.
No question is out of bounds. I am even waiving the comment rules for this exercise. I plan to also clear the moderation/banned list so these miscreants, I mean fellow biped, have an opportunity to ask questions too. This is a limited time offer.
If you have sent me a question in the past that I have not answered, please submit it again. I’ll do my best to answer it.
Please leave your questions in the comment section below, email me your question, or leave it in a voice mail or text at 567-210-1145.
I look forward to receiving your thoughtful comments and answering them.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Several years ago, Neal asked, Bruce, are you certain Christianity is false?
Neal shared with me his thoughts about the validity of religion in general, saying that while he believes Christianity is false, he has been unable to “completely dismiss Christianity wholesale.” Neal goes on to say, “I want to be able to do so, but I am not sure what to with this lingering doubt it is remotely possible.”
Evangelicals will seize on Neal’s doubts as a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is still working on him, and that his doubts are God saying, “Neal, trust me. By faith, believe what the Bible says is true.” Some Evangelicals, hoping to capitalize on Neal’s lingering doubts, might try to use Pascal’s Wager to draw him into the fold. What if you are wrong, Neal? Wouldn’t it be better to believe (get saved) and be wrong than to not believe and find out after death that Christianity was indeed true? Evangelicals, via Pascal’s Wager, attempt to use fear of being wrong to motivate someone such as Neal to choose Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Of course, Pascal’s Wager doesn’t work, because if Neal really wants to be certain, he would have to embrace every religion’s god or gods. If the goal is to cover all your bases, then Pascal’s Wager requires seekers to be promiscuous in their beliefs, worship, and devotion. Christians, of course, want people such as Neal to only consider their God. Perhaps, the real question is why the Christian God, and not any other God?
There is, perhaps, a far different reason for Neal’s niggling doubts, and that would be what I call an Evangelical/Christian/Fundamentalist hangover. Vestiges of past beliefs lie buried in our memories, and it is these memories that cause fear and doubt. Every Evangelical-turned-atheist has had, at one time or the other, the thought, What if I am wrong? What if the Christian God really is the one true God and the Bible is his Word? What if there is a Heaven and a Hell, and where we spend eternity depends of whether we are saved/born-again?
As long as these memories remain in our minds, they can make an appearance. These memories are the same as having thoughts about a girl we dated over forty years ago or thoughts about traumatic experiences in our past. I find such thoughts amusing. Here I am, married for forty-seven years, yet out of the blue, thoughts come to mind of a girl I dated for five months in 1975. Such is the nature of our minds and memories.
I no longer think the Bible is a God-inspired text
I no longer think the Bible is an inerrant text
I no longer think Jesus is God
I no longer think Jesus was virgin-born
I no longer think Jesus turned water into wine, walked on water, healed the sick, or raised the dead
I no longer think Jesus resurrected from the dead
I no longer think there is a Heaven or a Hell
I think the belief that God will torture all non-Christians in Hell for all eternity is repugnant, abhorrent, revolting, repulsive, repellent, disgusting, offensive, objectionable, cringeworthy, vile, foul, nasty, loathsome, sickening, nauseating, hateful, detestable, execrable, abominable, monstrous, appalling, insufferable, intolerable, unacceptable, contemptible, unsavory, and unpalatable
I think the Bible shows a progression of belief from polytheism to monotheism
I think the Bible teaches multiple plans of salvation
I think much of the history found in the Bible is fictional
I think the Bible God is an abhorrent, vile deity, one I would not worship even if I believed it existed
I think science best explains the natural world
I no longer think humans are sinners
I think humanism provides a moral and ethical basis for life
I see no evidence for the existence of the Christian God; thus I am an atheist
Today, I would add several more reasons to this list Christian:
There are no non-Biblical contemporary reports of Jesus’ miracles, his resurrection, and the events surrounding his death: the temple veil being rent in twain, dead people coming alive and walking the streets of Jerusalem.
Suffering, pain, and death experienced by humans and animals alike, are ever-present reminders that either the Christian God doesn’t exist or he is totally indifferent towards his creation.
Years ago, I wrote a post titled The Danger of Being in a Box and Why It Makes Sense When You Are in It. I wrote a sequel to this post titled What I Found When I Left the Box. In these widely-read posts, I talk about Christianity being a box, and as long as someone is in the box everything makes sense. Once outside of the box, however, things look different. Free to roam the wild, wonderful, dangerous streets of intellectual inquiry, I found evidence that suggested to me that Christianity was not what I thought it was; that the Bible was not what Christians claimed it was. Over time, I began to see that I had bought a false bill of goods; that Christianity was an ancient blood cult. Using critical thinking skills allowed me to dig through the “facts” of Christianity and conclude that Christianity, in totality, was built upon an irrational foundation of faith.
I explain my life this way: When it comes to the God question, I am an agnostic. I am confident that the extant Gods of human creation are false, but it is possible that someday a creator God of some sort might make itself known to us. I can confidently reject Christianity, having fully, completely, and thoroughly investigated its claims. While I am relatively certain that there is no God, I can’t say for certain, there is no God. As with all such questions, it’s all about probabilities. Is it possible a God exists who hasn’t made itself known to us? Sure, that’s within the realm of possibility; as is the belief that human existence is some sort of Westwood-like game simulation. However, the probability of the existence of such a God is so low that I do not waste time thinking about such things (outside of writing for this blog). I live my day-to-day life as an atheist. Thoughts of God never enter my mind, and I attempt to daily live my life according to the humanist ideal.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
ObstacleChick asked, “What did you learn about the Bible as a college student?” Specifically, ObstacleChick wants to know what I was taught about the origin of the Bible, the existence of “other” texts, and why the Apocrypha was excluded from the Protestant Bible. ObstacleChick also asked what I taught congregants about these things.
Most Evangelicals believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. The college I attended, Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan, believed the Bible was a divinely written, supernatural, one-of-a-kind book; a text by which all things were to be measured. My professors took one of two approaches to how the Bible came to be:
God dictated the exact words of the Bible to its authors.
God used fallible humans, with their cultures and experiences, to write the Bible, and supernaturally, through the Holy Spirit, made sure that what they wrote was exactly what he intended for them to write. (2 Peter 1:21)
Of course, appeals were made to the Bible itself to “prove” that the Bible was indeed what my professors claimed it was. In other words, the Bible was a supernatural book because it said it was; the Bible was inerrant because it said it was. There were no errors, mistakes, or contradictions in the Bible because its author, God, is incapable of making mistakes. This, of course, is classic circular reasoning.
These presuppositions were laws students were expected to obey without question. Questioning the nature of the Bible brought swift, certain expulsion. Midwestern was also King James-only, and only used certain Greek texts in its Greek classes. The premise upon which every class was taught was the belief that the Bible was inspired, inerrant, and infallible.
I can’t remember a time when one of my professors talked about non-canonical texts or variants. Many of my classes were little more than glorified Sunday school classes, a common problem found in Evangelical colleges to this day. The goal was to teach ministers-in-training how to properly preach and teach the Bible. The Bible, then, was viewed as a book of divine knowledge, an instruction manual for life.
The IFB church movement is inherently and proudly anti-Catholic. To many IFB preachers, the Catholic church is the great whore of Babylon described in Revelation 17; a false religion that will one day be used by the Antichrist to control the masses. Thus, the Apocrypha was rejected because of its inclusion in the Catholic Bible. It was not until much later that I learned the 1611 version of the King James Bible included the Apocrypha, and that many of the men who put together what is now the Bible were Catholics. Facts that didn’t fit the approved narrative were ignored or banned.
Most of the students at Midwestern came from Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches which had similar beliefs as those of the college. Thus, college classes reinforced beliefs students brought with them from home. The New International Version (NIV) came out in 1978, and students were not allowed to have a copy of it in their possession. Midwestern was a King James school — no corrupt, Satanic Bibles allowed. I remember having a discussion with the Greek professor’s son who was home on break from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. He had a brand spanking new copy of the NIV. I remember thinking of how “liberal” he was, and that if word got out about his use of the NIV it could cost his father his job. By the next academic year, the Greek professor was gone. Rumor had it he was dismissed because he refused to toe the party line on the King James Bible. (Keep in mind the Greek professor was Fundamentalist in every other way — and still is today — but his refusal to use only the King James Version of the Bible branded him as a heretic.)
I carried the aforementioned beliefs from Midwestern into the ministry, and I wouldn’t question them for many years. I expected congregants to embrace without question the belief that the Bible was a God-inspired, inerrant, infallible text. At the churches I pastored, we were people of the BOOK! Questions and doubts were viewed as tools used by Satan to lead Christians astray and to render churches powerless. Alleged contradictions were “explained” and those that couldn’t be were relegated to the land of Trust God. He never makes mistakes.
It wasn’t until the late 1990s that I came to see that what I had been taught about the history and nature of the Bible was a lie; that all translations had errors, mistakes, and contradictions; that there were no such things as inerrant manuscripts. My exposure to higher textual criticism forced me to conclude that the Bible was very much a man-made book; a fallible book used by God to convey truth. I believed then that God could use human means to convey his truth, even if the Bible itself was fallible.
As far as the churches I pastored were concerned, I never said anything from the pulpit that would cause people to doubt that the Bible was the Word of God. Toward the end of my time in the ministry, I would mention variants in the Greek texts and why some Biblical texts might not say what we Christians have traditionally thought they said. No one seemed to have a problem with these admissions. As is often the case in Evangelical churches, congregants trusted me. They believed that whatever I told them from the pulpit was the Truth. Of course, the truth I was preaching was shaped and molded by my presuppositions about the Bible. Telling congregants the REAL truth would have resulted in conflict and loss of faith. Can’t have that! Remember, most people attend church so they can feel affirmed and have their felt needs met. No one wants a pastor who casts doubt on the Bible and its teachings. Congregants want cheerleaders, not truth-tellers.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Several years ago, an Evangelical pastor whom I have known for over forty years sent me some questions, the answers to which appear below. I found his questions sincere and honest, unlike many questions I receive from Evangelicals. Far too often, ulterior motivations lurk behind some questions, but I don’t sense that here. Hopefully, readers of this blog will find my answers helpful.
Bruce, do you ever feel like you’re wrong?
I am sixty-seven years old. I have been wrong more times than I can count. Over the past seventeen years, I have, on occasion, written about my wrongness, be it beliefs I held or decisions I made. As a pastor, my beliefs evolved over the course of the twenty-five years I spent in the ministry. One of the mistakes my critics make is picking a certain point in my life, and judging me from that moment in time. In doing so, they mistakenly or deliberately ignore what has come before and after. Yes, I entered the ministry as an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. Yes, I at one time was a Jack Hyles supporter. However, my beliefs and associations continued to evolve. By the time I left the ministry in 2005, my beliefs were, compared to those I entered the ministry with, quite liberal. I entered the ministry with a narrow, judgmental view of people who called themselves Christians. I believed that my little corner of the Evangelical tent was reserved for True Christians®. Twenty-five years later, the front door of the church I pastored said, “The church where the only label that matters is Christian.”
The same could be said of my evolution politically. For many years, I was a diehard Christian nationalist who only voted Republican. I listened to Rush Limbaugh every day. In 2000, for the first time, I voted for a Democrat. By the time I moved to my current home, I was a liberal and a democratic socialist.
And finally, the same could be said of my social beliefs. I entered the ministry as an anti-abortion, patriarchal homophobe. I pastored a Baptist church in southeast Ohio for eleven years. I was well-known for my public pronouncements against abortion, women’s rights, and homosexuality. Yet, three decades later, my views have dramatically changed. I am now considered a defender of choice, women’s rights, and LGBTQ people.
People who have never changed their minds about anything — a common trait among religious Fundamentalists — look at my journey and see a man who is unstable. I, on the other hand, see a man who is willing to change his mind when confronted or challenged with facts and evidence that render his beliefs untenable.
Intellectual and personal growth only comes when we are willing to admit we are wrong. Closed-minded Fundamentalism stunts our thinking. One need only visit an IFB church to see what happens when people shut themselves off from the world and refuse to investigate and challenge their beliefs.
So, yes, I have been wrong, and I have no doubt that I will continue to be wrong. A well-lived life is one where there is ongoing progress and maturity. If I regret anything, it is that I waited way too long to give in to my doubts and questions; that I waited way too long to expose myself to people who think differently from me; that I waited too long to admit to the love of my life and my children that I was wrong.
Bruce, have you ever hesitated at all in deciding to become an atheist?
The short answer is yes, especially when I first deconverted. For a time, my mind was plagued with thoughts and fears about being wrong and God throwing me into Hell. I feared God punishing me for disobedience. I lay in bed more than a few nights wondering, “What if I am wrong?”
Over time, my doubts and fears faded into the fabric of my life. It’s been years now since I had such thoughts.
Perhaps this pastor is asking me a different question, wondering if I was hesitant about publicly identifying as an atheist. I have never been one to hesitate when I am confident that I am right. I am not the type of person who hides who and what he is, even if it would make life easier for me if I did so. In this regard, my wife and I are as different as day and night. Now, I don’t go through the streets screaming, “I am an ATHEIST,” but I don’t shy away from the label. I have often warned people who have contacted me about their own questions and doubts to NOT look at my life as a pattern to follow. (Please see Count the Cost Before You Say I am an Atheist) Each of us must choose our own path. I don’t judge or criticize atheists who choose to keep their unbelief private. Each to his own.
When I started blogging in 2007, one question I asked myself was whether I wanted to write anonymously. I chose to use my real name, but there have been moments when I wondered if I made the right choice. I have been brutally attacked and threatened by Christian zealots. The pain these people inflict leaves deep, lasting scars. This blog will soon celebrate its tenth anniversary. Anyone who has ridden Bruce’s crazy train for years knows that me making it to ten years is surprising. On at least three other occasions over the years, I have stopped blogging and deleted all of my posts due to savage attacks from Christian Fundamentalists (and, at one time, Fundamentalist atheists).
My life is pretty much an open book. I try to be open and honest, owning past mistakes and transgressions. Are there moments when I wish I had used a pseudonym instead of my real name? Sure, but it’s too late now to do so. The horse has left the proverbial barn. Even if I stopped blogging tomorrow, it would be impossible to erase my Internet footprint.
Bruce, was your transition difficult for you to accept?
I want to answer this question from two vantage points. First, was my transition from Christian to atheist hard for me to accept? Not at all. I have always believed truth matters. My life appears to my Evangelical critics to be one of a wanderer, a double-minded man (whom the Bible says is unstable in all his ways). My battle with depression is a sure sign to them that I am weak-kneed mentally. Perhaps, but I am the kind of person who is unafraid of changing his mind or being viewed as odd or different. In 2005, my late mother-in-law and I had an epic blow-up. I have written about this in the past. This blow-up, by the way, totally altered our relationship — for the better, from my perspective. Several days after our titanic battle, my mother-in-law called me. We talked about many things. During our conversation, Mom said, “Bruce, we always knew you were “different.” And she was right. I have always been the kind of person who follows the beat of my own drum, both as a Christian and an atheist. I do not doubt that my singular drum beating has caused me problems and affected the relationships I have with Polly, my children, and my extended family. I am who I am, and I have reached a place in life where I no longer apologize for being Bruce Gerencser.
Second, was my transition from a pastor to a commoner hard for me to accept? Absolutely. My entire life was wrapped up in Jesus and my calling to preach the gospel. The ministry was my life. I enjoyed being the hub around which everything turned. I enjoyed the work of the ministry, especially studying for and preaching sermons. To this day, I miss standing before people and saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” I miss the love and respect I received from congregants. I miss the place I had in the community due to my position as a minister.
Walking away from the ministry and Christianity meant abandoning my life’s calling; abandoning everything I held dear. Doing so meant, at the age of fifty, I had to answer countless questions that I hadn’t thought about in years. Fortunately, Polly walked hand in hand with me when I deconverted. I can only imagine how different our lives might have been had I become an atheist and Polly remained a Christian. I highly doubt our marriage would have survived.
Do I still miss certain aspects of the ministry? Sure. Fortunately, writing has become a ministry of sorts for me. This blog and its wonderful readers are my church. I digitally preach sermons, hoping that people find them encouraging and helpful. The traffic numbers suggest that a few people, anyway, love and appreciate the content of my post-Christian sermons. And all Loki’s people said, AMEN!
Bruce, do you wonder at all about any form of an afterlife?
I do not. I have come to accept that life is short, death is certain, and once we draw our last breath we cease to exist. There was a time, post-Jesus, when I hoped there was some sort of life beyond the grave. It’s hard to comprehend not existing. I have had numerous thoughts about non-existence; about going to bed at night and never waking up; of being alive one moment, and dead the next. I have thought about how life might be without Polly lying next to me; of not hearing the keys in the door and her voice ringing out, “I’m home.”
As much as I might want for there to be life after death, the facts tell me that no such thing exists. What evidence do we have for an afterlife? None, except the words in this or that religious text. I am no longer willing to build my life and future on what the Bible does and doesn’t say. This is a good spot for me to share the advice I give on the About page:
If you had one piece of advice to give me, what would it be?
You have one life. There is no heaven or hell. There is no afterlife. You have one life, it’s yours, and what you do with it is what matters most. Love and forgive those who matter to you and ignore those who add nothing to your life. Life is too short to spend time trying to make nice with those who will never make nice with you. Determine who are the people in your life that matter and give your time and devotion to them. Live each and every day to its fullest. You never know when death might come calling. Don’t waste time trying to be a jack of all trades, master of none. Find one or two things you like to do and do them well. Too many people spend way too much time doing things they will never be good at.
Here’s the conclusion of the matter. It’s your life and you best get to living it. Some day, sooner than you think, it will be over. Don’t let your dying days be ones of regret over what might have been.
I do my best to live by this statement. If, perchance, I learn after I die that there is an afterlife, fine by me. I have no worries about the existence of the Christian God and his Heaven/Hell. I am confident that the only Heaven and Hell is that which we make in this life. That said, is it possible that some sort of cosmic afterlife exists? Sure, but I am not counting on it. I am not going to waste this life in the hope that there is some sort of divine payoff after I die
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
What are the core fundamental beliefs of Baptists that are shared with these “non-denominational” churches? Also what separates Charismatics/Pentecostals from Baptists? They look mostly the same.
Nondenominational is Greek for Baptist. Theologically, there is little to no difference between nondenominational and Baptist churches. Go to a nondenominational church’s website, read their official doctrinal statement, and then compare it to the official beliefs of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Southern Baptist Convention. Any deviations are minor/insignificant. On secondary issues such as eschatology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, Calvinism, and Arminianism, there are differences of opinion, but none of which should cause the other to say, “You are not a real Christian.” Of course, there are always outliers, especially when you reach the outlands of Evangelicalism. I knew Calvinists who believed that Arminians were lost or Pentecostals who thought that you had to speak in tongues to be saved. All these exceptions do is prove the rule.
I should note, in passing, that many Charismatic churches are nondenominational. While their services may resemble a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, their core doctrines are as Baptist as any of the churches I pastored. Word of Faith churches and prosperity churches are an exception to this observation. Quite frankly, most of these churches are either heterodox or downright heretical.
There’s a difference between Charismatic churches and Pentecostal congregations, though that line has blurred somewhat over the years. I have attended numerous Charismatic and Pentecostal church services. I even preached for several Charismatic/Pentecostal churches. I generally found that Pentecostal churches were deeply influenced by the holiness movement, and many of them were appalled by what they saw in Charismatic assemblies. Charismatics seem to have no guardrails. “If God is moving, who are we to object?” the thinking goes. What started with speaking in tongues, has turned into all sorts of crazy, including raising the dead, hysterical laughing, and gold fillings magically growing in mouths. Just go to YouTube and search for Charismatic church services for evidence of my claims. Lots of cray-cray.
Sameness is in the eye of the beholder. I admit I have a sharply critical eye, so I tend to spot differences that casual church attendees might not see easily.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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