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Tag: Evangelicalism

Why Can’t Atheists Keep Their Atheism to Themselves, Respecting the Beliefs of Others?

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change your mind

On weekends, I typically listen to podcasts by content creators such as The Line (including Matt Dillahunty and Jimmy Snow), Paulogia, The Atheist Experience, Talk Heathen, Skeptic Generation, SciManDan, MisterDeity, Rationality Rules (Stephen Woodford), Gutsick Gibbon, Genetically Modified Skeptic, Allegedly Ian, Forrest Valkai, Dan McClellan, Bart Ehrman, Alex O’Connor, Religion for Breakfast, and Justin (The Deconstruction Zone).

Many of these programs are call-in shows that encourage Christians to call in and defend their faith or answer questions about various teachings of the Bible. The answers upchucked by many of these Evangelical zealots are usually shallow, contradictory, and, at times, heretical. These defenders of the faith attend church multiple times a week, hearing the Word of God taught and preached. Some of the people who call in are pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and college professors. Sadly, many of their arguments and explanations are just as bad as people with no Bible college or seminary training. Some of these preachers need to quit preaching and go back to college to get a real education. Of course, a “real” education can and does lead to a loss of faith.

It is not uncommon for those who call these shows to complain about all the atheist programming on YouTube and TikTok. “Can’t you just keep your beliefs to yourself? Why do you have to cause people to doubt (or lose) their faith? Of course, when I put the shoe on the other foot and apply the same standard to Evangelicals, they stupidly think that only atheists should keep their mouths shut; that Evangelicals are commanded by God to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. However, what is good for the proverbial goose is good for the gander.

One apologist bitterly moaned and complained that atheists were using the Internet to target children. Guilty, as charged, though most social media providers have rules that prohibit young children from using their services. If your eight-year-old son is watching The Atheist Experience on Sundays, that’s on you, parents. Or you might question why your children are watching atheist programs like the ones mentioned above. If Christian children are watching atheist shows, it is a sign that they are not getting the answers they need from their parents, pastors, and churches. Children are Internet savvy. They know that the answers to their questions are a few clicks away. I have had numerous Christian teenagers and young adults contact me. I have had a few youthful readers send me questions to answer for a Christian school project of theirs. I always politely and honestly answer their questions, planting seeds that I hope will sprout and grow in time. I don’t press, push, or evangelize. I’m content to answer their questions, hoping that they develop rational, skeptical thinking skills.

I have been repeatedly asked over the years to stop publicly telling my story; that I was causing people to lose their faith. Here’s what I know: if the mere telling of my story directly causes Evangelical Christians to deconvert, their faith was on shallow ground to begin with. Many people already have one foot out the church door before they stumble upon my content. Regardless, I have no intention to stop telling my story or critiquing Evangelical Christianity.

Unlike many Evangelical churches, questions are always welcome on this site. I will do my best to answer them, and if I can’t, I will point questioners to authors and websites that can. More times than I can count, I have recommended readers read one or more books by Dr. Bart Ehrman. I know that doing so is the cure for Christian Fundamentalism and Bible inerrancy. Sadly, most people whom I recommend Ehrman to refuse to read his books. Why? Their pastors warned them about reading Bart’s books lest they lose their faith. It is a shallow faith, indeed, if one book can cause you to lose it. No single book caused me to deconvert. It took numerous books and podcasts to lead me out of the doors of the church. I suspect many of the readers of this blog will say the same thing.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Bus Driver Tara Glan Accused of Sexually Assaulting Disabled Girl

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tara glan

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Tara Glan, a bus driver and youth leader for Ray of Hope Church in Taylor, Pennsylvania, stands accused of sexually assaulting a disabled girl.

The Times-Tribune reports:

Lackawanna County detectives charged a Scranton man Thursday with engaging in sexual activity with a mentally disabled woman while transporting her in a church van.

In April, the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office launched an investigation based on cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited children alleging Tara Glan had sex with a mentally disabled woman for about two years beginning when she was 16.

Glan was a van driver for the Ray of Hope Church in Taylor at the time of the alleged illegal sexual activity. He also ran church youth groups there, according to a criminal complaint.

The detectives say the woman was not capable of giving consent. The alleged abuse took place between July 2021 and July 2023, according to the criminal complaint.

Glan, 22, of 844 Madison Ave., is facing felony charges of rape of a disabled person, forcing a disabled person to perform oral sex and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 21 before District Judge Paul Ware.

Investigators obtained a copy of the woman’s Independent Education Program plan, also known as an “IEP,” which indicated she had an intellectual disability rendering her incapable of consenting to sexual activity.

At 19, the woman still receives daily assistance and is under the supervision of others, officers said.

When interviewed, the woman said that, when she was 16, Glan was giving her a ride home in the church van when he pulled the vehicle over and told her to get in the backseat, and she complied.

When asked if she wanted to have sex, the victim told Glan “no,” according to the complaint.

The woman said Glan forced her to have sex even after she told him to stop. She also recalled Glan forcing her to perform oral sex on him.

The woman told police Glan had also assaulted her on New Year’s Eve at church, making her pull her pants down and forcing himself on her. When the woman told Glan he was hurting her, he stopped.

She said she had been alone with Glan at that event only because he had asked for her help in cleaning up the Sunday School classroom.

The woman estimated Glan had assaulted her about eight times.

She said she had stopped wanting to go to youth group but her mother forced her to go.

She told investigators Glan would give her a ride home from church in the van, dropping off all of the other riders before her and then sexually assaulting her.

On May 8, investigators interviewed Glan at Lackawanna County Prison. He admitted to having sex with the disabled woman at the church and in the church van.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Yyersson David Solarte Basto Accused of Sexually Assaulting Underage Girls

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Yersson-David-Solarte-Basto

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Yyersson David Solarte Basto, pastor of Iglesia Pentecostal Unida Latinoamericana Pentecostal Church in Sanford, Florida, stands accused of sexually assaulting two underage church girls.

MSN reports:

Yyersson David Solarte Basto, 33, a former pastor at Iglesia Pentecostal Unida Latinoamericana Pentecostal Church in Sanford, Florida, is being held without bond following his extradition from Virginia. 

He was arrested on May 7 while on a family trip to Prince William County, Virginia, and returned to Seminole County, where he is now booked at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility. 

Basto is facing charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation involving two underage girls, both of whom were members of his congregation.

….

The charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred at the Ipul Pentecostal Church, where Basto was a trusted community leader. Investigators believe Basto used his authority and position in the church to develop inappropriate relationships with the victims and commit the alleged abuse. Following the accusations, he was immediately removed from his pastoral role.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Southern Baptist Church Volunteer Reagan Gray Sentenced to Probation for Sexually Assaulting a Minor

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reagan gray

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Reagan Gray, a volunteer and worship team member at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkanas, and a public school teacher, recenty pleaded no contest to second-degree sexual assault. Gray was asoundingly sentenced to probation for her crimes. Worse, the judge refused to let the victim and his family provide impact statements to the court.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports:

Reagan Danielle Gray, a former middle school teacher and Immanuel Baptist Church praise team member, pleaded no contest Monday to second-degree sexual assault involving one of the congregation’s minors.

Originally charged with first-degree sexual assault, she accepted a plea agreement reducing the count and dismissing a separate count of fourth-degree sexual assault.

If the case had proceeded to trial, deputy prosecuting attorney Claire Maddox said the evidence would have shown that Gray had engaged in sexual contact with a minor while she was serving as a volunteer in the student ministry at Immanuel Baptist Church and that she had done so while holding “a position of trust or authority” over the minor.

After briefly questioning her, Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge LaTonya Honorable found her guilty, determining that Gray had “knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily” entered the no-contest plea.

She sentenced Gray to six years probation, assessed her $1,000 in fines plus court costs and ordered her to stay away from the victim.

Gray, 27, was also required to submit a DNA sample and to register as a sex offender. She’ll have to undergo random drug screens and drug treatment as deemed necessary by probations, the judge said.

Gray had been accused of sexually assaulting a high-school aged music ministry volunteer, beginning when he was 15 years old.

Prosecutors said the criminal conduct occurred from roughly Sept. 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021.

“Ms. Gray, let me say this. Keep in mind that actions that you do impact other people. Take this time to reflect on whatever decisions you made that landed you here and look for a way to repent, if you will, and change whatever course got you here,” Honorable said.

In a written statement afterwards, Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones said the conviction “ensures the defendant will be supervised by Arkansas Community Corrections, undergo a sex offender assessment and register as a sex offender, providing accountability and protection for the community.”

Gray’s attorney, John Ogles, declined to comment.

Immanuel, which was founded in 1892, has long been one of the state’s largest congregations and is affiliated with the 12.7-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Monday, there were several longtime Immanuel members or leaders present at the courthouse, some showing support for Gray, others appearing to simply observe the proceedings.

Former Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Beth Coulson, whose husband was a longtime Immanuel trustee, sat one row in front of Gray. At one point, she went into the hall and conferred with Gray’s defense attorney for roughly five minutes.

Coulson declined to comment.

In a written statement Monday afternoon, the victim’s parents addressed the abuse’s toll. Honorable had denied them the opportunity to do so in open court.

“The criminal process has concluded and we’re grateful that our son has one less painful load to carry. We believed we would have the opportunity to give victim impact statements. While that didn’t happen, it’s important to note that Judge Honorable acknowledged the trauma inflicted on our son — something that stands in stark contrast to the silence of so many others,” they said.

“What’s difficult to reconcile is how many adults repeatedly failed him — people with power, responsibility, or influence who looked the other way. Institutions that protected themselves. Systems that made justice harder than it should have been,” they said.

In a Sept. 7, 2023, letter, Immanuel’s lead pastor at the time, Steven Smith, had informed his congregation about “physical contact” between Gray and a minor, but had downplayed the seriousness of the incident, saying he’d been told “by the police” that the “reported level of physical contact did not rise to the level of criminal assault or abuse.”

Days later, the church’s discipleship content director, Courtney Reissig, submitted her resignation, voicing concerns about the “lack of transparency, accountability, and handling” of an “abuse situation.”

In an interview in December 2023, Reissig said Smith had initially been reluctant to alert the congregation, had minimized the seriousness of the accusations and had withheld key details when he finally informed people.

The victim’s parents, who had been longtime Immanuel Baptist members, expressed disappointment Monday at the lack of support that had been extended once the abuse came to light.

“Some of those people were in the courtroom today. Given the opportunity to stand in court with the victim, those charged with teaching, leading and protecting our son once again chose to sit idly by,” they said.

“Their continued silence speaks volumes. Their actions — or lack of them — continue to make a hard road even harder.

….

“And the burden of that failure is a weight our son will carry for the rest of his life,” they said.

“Our son, at great personal cost, chose a difficult and uncomfortable path by bravely speaking up when others wouldn’t. We hope his courage has made it harder for the defendant to ever harm another child,” they said.

Even as the church was portraying Gray’s conduct as non-criminal, federal and local law enforcement officials were interviewing Immanuel staffers and others about the case.

….

Honorable questioned whether they were entitled to make any statements.

Prosecutors maintained that they had that right, citing Arkansas law.

Under AR Code § 16-90-1112 (a) (1) “(b)efore imposing sentence, the court shall permit the victim to present a victim-impact statement concerning the effects of the crime on the victim, the circumstances surrounding the crime, the manner in which the crime was perpetrated.”

The statement can be in writing or under oath at the sentencing proceedings. The law also requires the sentencing court to “consider the victim-impact statement along with other factors.”

“I understand the language that’s in the statute,” Honorable told prosecutors after they directed her to it. “But anytime I am determining what evidence comes in, I have to give deference to what’s relevant, and I still don’t understand what the relevance of their testimony is in a negotiated plea.”

Honorable said she would not proceed as planned unless they agreed to do so “without victim impact statements,” and cut off the deputy prosecuting attorney when she attempted to point the judge, again, to the relevant statute.

“Ms. Maddox, I’m not going to repeat my interpretation of the statute, and I’m not going to repeat the options,” Honorable said.

In December, the victim filed a lawsuit against the Little Rock congregation, accusing it of negligence, negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent retention. The suit also names the congregation’s insurance company and other unnamed defendants.

It also lists Smith as a defendant, saying he had “reasonable cause to suspect” child maltreatment had occurred but waited to report it to authorities despite being a mandatory reporter.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Dear Jesus, Is It Ever Okay to Kill Infants?

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herod killing children

Hey, Jesus,

You and your religion (Christianity) have a PR problem. Evangelicals claim that you wrote the Bible — remember, Jesus is God — so I conclude that you agree with and condone everything written in it. Your followers have cooked up all sorts of apologetical tricks to absolve you of culpability for the decidedly immoral behaviors attributed to you in the Bible. These fail, of course, because you are God, and as the sovereign God of the universe, you had and still have the power to change what happens on Earth and in the lives of its inhabitants. Again, apologists cook up all sorts of lame excuses for the violence and immorality attributed to you in the Bible, but the fact remains that you are God, and you have the power to change circumstances and outcomes. Your devoted followers claim humans have free will, making them culpable for what you commanded them to do. I have no doubt, Jesus, that if Abraham had murdered his son Isaac on your command, modern-day apologists would find ways to absolve you of all accountability. Awesome gig, Jesus. Much like the current American king, Donald Trump, you are free to issue executive orders without any concern for what might happen as a result of your orders.

Jesus, I heard countless stories in Sunday school about how much you love children. Countless American children have sung the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children”:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

I gotta wonder, Jesus, do you really love all the little children in the world? I have my doubts.

The book of Exodus records the Ten Plagues that you plagued Pharaoh and the Egyptians with. In Exodus 11:1-6, we find your tenth plague, Jesus. Do you remember what you did? I do:

The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterward, he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away. Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.” The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people. Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out through Egypt. Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill and all the firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again.

According to the book you wrote, Jesus, you killed the firstborn of every family except those who killed animals and put their blood over the doorposts of their homes. Uncounted Egyptian firstborn children were killed, along with the firstborn of every female slave and the firstborn of the livestock. Geez, Jesus, what did the animals ever do to you?

Throughout the Bible, Jesus, we find stories of God — that’s you, in case you need to be reminded — commanding the Israelites to murder the children, babies, and fetuses of their enemies. Your chosen ones sure were bloodthirsty killers. Imagine if they had followed your command to love your enemies, Jesus? Explain to me, Jesus, all the bloodshed recorded in the Bible with your command to slaughter their enemies, including children.

Even your birth was celebrated by Herod killing all the male children under the age of two. Couldn’t you do anything about this, Jesus? Evangelicals say you know everything and are everywhere. They say you know the end from the beginning. Nothing escapes you, yet it seems you were AWOL when Herod slaughtered the innocent ones.

Even in the New Testament, Jesus, you are portrayed in the book of Revelation as a blood-thirsty deity. More slaughter, more deaths of innocent children, babies, and fetuses. From cover to cover, Jesus, you are portrayed as a deity who uses the murder of children to punish and judge offending adults and nations. This confuses me, Jesus. I thought you didn’t punish people for bad behavior toward others; that each of us is accountable for our own sins.

So, I ask you, Jesus, is it ever okay to kill children?

I await your response, Jesus. And while I am waiting, you might want to consider what to say about the genocide your chosen people are perpetrating on the Palestinian people. The Israelis have murdered thousands of children in the name of protecting and controlling the land the Bible says you gave them centuries ago.

I ask you again, Jesus, why?

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Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Sounds of Fundamentalism: Honorary Doctorate Better Than an Earned Doctorate, Says Jesse Duplantis

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jesse duplantis

The Sounds of Fundamentalism is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section.  Let’s have some fun!

According to Evangelical con artist Jesse Duplantis, receving an honory doctorate is better than putting in the hard work necessary to earn a doctorate from an accredited institution. Duplantis, ever a liar for Jesus, said all he has to do is think something and God gives it to him. And that’s exactly what happened. Duplaintis had a thought about how nice it would be to have a doctorate from Oral Roberts University, and sure enough Oral, who said he saw an 800 foot Jesus, granted him an honorary doctorate in 2007.

Listen as Duplantis ‘splains why his doctorate from Oral Roberts is superior to the doctor you spent 7-10 years of your life earning.

Video Link

Please read IFB Doctorates: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Everyone’s a Doctor for my take on honoray doctorates.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Did Jesus Talk to Himself?

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atheist prayer

The Trinity poses interpretive problems for Evangelical Christians. Jesus is the second person of the Godhead — fully God, fully man. There was never a moment when Jesus walked upon the face of the earth that he was not God. This fact leads to contradictions and discrepancies when interpreting the gospel accounts recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In John 10, we find Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. In verse 41-42, Jesus prayed;

Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.

In Luke 23, we have the crucifixion of Jesus. In verses 34,46, Jesus prays:

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. . . Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

In the gospel of John, chapter 17, Jesus prays:

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,  since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you,  for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.  And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.  As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word,  that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

If God is a triune being, what are we to make of these prayers? If God, the Father, and God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit, are one, this necessarily means that Jesus is praying to himself. Outside of providing an example for his followers, there’s no possible reason for Jesus to pray. He’s the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows what he is going to pray before he prays and he knows what the answer will be before he utters a word. His earthly birth, life, and death were predetermined before the world began.

Of course, a better answer might be to say that Jesus was not God; that he was a son of God, a prophet, or itinerant Jewish preacher. As a human being, Jesus didn’t know what would happen in the future, so he was genuinely praying to discern the will of the Father.

Perhaps the best answer is that Jesus was known as the preacher-who-talks-to-himself. Or maybe people wondered if he was mentally ill or the eccentric son of a carpenter. Regardless, most first century people didn’t buy the notion that he was God incarnate. Jesus spent three years preaching that the kingdom is at hand. For all his preaching and miracles, most people rejected him, including members of his family. For all that Jesus allegedly did, he made very little impact on people during his lifetime.

When you see someone on a street corner or on a bus talking to themselves, what do you think? Should we view Jesus differently? I suspect that if some of us saw Jesus today “praying,” we would try to help him, as we would a drug addict or a homeless person.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce, God is Going to “Get” You for Leading People Astray

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youtube comment

Recently, I saw the above comment on a YouTube video. I have read similar comments countless times over the years; that I am leading people astray with my writing and videos and God is going to punish me in the afterlife for leading people, in Pied Piper-like fashion, to Hell.

According to this commenter, I need to understand that If I speak against the Bible and Jesus, I will not only lose my soul, I will also be eternally punished for leading people astray. This is yet another example of God meting out infinite punishment for finite behaviors. All I have ever done is tell my story and critique Evangelical Christianity. With all the things are going on in the world, you would think God would find better things to do than judge and punish people for things they say.

Not that I am worried. God is a myth, so I have no fear of being punished for my words and opinions. If you think otherwise, please share your evidence for the existence of God in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Did You Know Eating Catfish is a Sin?

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close up of a person holding a catfish
Photo by juliane Monari on Pexels.com

In the book of Leviticus, we find a dietary code God expects people to obey. Many Christians wrongly think that the law of God found in the Old Testament (Old Covenant) is no longer binding. Calling themselves New Testament Christians or New Covenant believers, these followers of Jesus think the Old Covenant no longer applies to them. Of course, when convenient, Christians will appeal to Old Testament proof texts to justify certain beliefs or moral standards, but most often they ignore or attempt to explain away laws that are, according to Matthew 5, still valid and in force.

Matthew 5: 17-20 states:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets. Instead he came to fulfill the law. Jesus goes on to say that not one letter or pen stroke of a letter will pass from the law until ALL is accomplished. Has ALL been accomplished? No. As long as Heaven and earth stand, the law of God is still in force. Those who will one day be called great in the kingdom of Heaven keep the law of God and teach others to do the same.

With this in mind, let’s look at God’s dietary code for eating fish:

These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcasses in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. (Leviticus 11:9-12)

Based on the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the triune God, it is a sin to eat fish that don’t have fins or scales. This means that it is a sin to eat fried catfish at the local Cracker Barrel. Polly and I would be bummed out if we were still Christians. We love fried catfish, hushpuppies (or corn bread), and Carolina slaw.

So, I ask readers who claim they are Bible believers — an oxymoron if there ever was one — do you eat fish without scales? Do you eat catfish? Or any of the other prohibited foods? Do you not fear God chastising you for eating all-you-can-eat catfish at the local fish fry? The Bible says that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If you really fear God, I implore you to immediately stop eating catfish lest God choke you to death. 🙂

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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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