Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
~ Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791 ~

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Life After Christadelphianism, Six Years On

As you may have noticed, I haven't been as active on this blog lately. That trend is likely to continue and I think it represents a very positive and natural step in my personal journey from Christadelphian to Citizen of Earth. Anyone who has walked this path before will very likely resonate deeply with that sentiment.

When I look back over the past 6 years I can see a clear progression. Some readers may relate to this too. Early on I was very focused on doctrines, and truth. I still care a lot about truth, but I also care a lot about life, too. Some things don't fit neatly into facts and figures, and yet they matter a lot to me. Many issues that used to fill my thoughts daily have now almost disappeared from view, replaced by a much deeper appreciation of life and all that it entails.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

No, The Bible Does Not Predict A Russian Invasion

Everyone hold onto your hats and calm down. Christadelphians have been lecturing about Russia for much longer than I can remember and no doubt they will continue to preach fear and alarmism long into the future. I know I won't convince most of them that they have been misled, but for the few who are curious about why most scholars disagree with them, please read on.

The Bible is an ancient book and sometimes difficult to understand. It is therefore not surprising to find that there are often multiple interpretations held by various scholars and that modern research sometimes overturns widely-held ideas. This topic is one such example.

Friday, May 17, 2019

The Christadelphian Obsession With Death

Have you ever noticed just how obsessed many Christadelphians are with death? I recently drove past a Christadelphian hall which had a sign out the front advertising an upcoming lecture titled, "What happens when we die?"

Of course, like any rational human being, when I want to find out the answers to such scientific / medical questions I always seek out my local Christadelphian community and trust them to know the correct answers to all things about human biology and natural chemical processes. I jest. What I actually did was type the above lecture title into Google, which linked me to a science article with a handy graphic showing the various stages of bodily decomposition in slightly unnecessary detail.

But why are Christadelphians so obsessed with death?

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Was The Bible Written By God?

When faced with strong evidence from modern science that contradicts traditional Christadelphian interpretations of the Bible, many Christadelphians claim that the Bible was written by God - the very same god who created the universe - and thus it contains a superior understanding than anything science has discovered or even can discover.

But how did they, as fallible humans, reach the conclusion that the Bible was written by God? What if it wasn't?

This article explores some of the more common arguments for the claim that the Bible is the "Word of God".

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Science: What it is and why it matters

All readers will be familiar with science in some form. Most of us enjoy far better health than our distant ancestors, and have the prospect of a longer life, on average. You are reading this on a device only made possible by discoveries from the last 100 years. Through science, humanity has explored the far reaches of space as well as the very strange characteristics of matter at subatomic scales.

But I want to convince you that science is not merely a body of facts. It is not merely something engaged in during the working week by people who studied to become scientists. Perhaps most importantly for this audience, science is not a weapon of mass propaganda wielded by unbelieving apostates intent on robbing your children of a place in God's kingdom. Science is not your enemy. Science is simply a method or process by which we can understand the world and reality. You probably use this method all the time without realising it.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

I Was Free

When I was a young boy,
I was free to play in the rain.
I dreamed a thousand dreams,
and imagined who I could become.

But then they taught me about a God
who insisted I give up on my dreams
and follow his instead. Or was it theirs?