Hello there! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matthew J. Distefano and I am an author and Christian theologian. I’m also happily married to a wonderful woman named Lyndsay, and have one daughter, Elyse. If you know me on Facebook, you are probably aware that I write a lot. And I do. I try to publish at least one article per week, in addition to constantly working on a manuscript (or two!). Furthermore, I post a lot of... Read more
“If all are saved, then why follow Jesus?” has to be one of my least favorite inquiries, and for a litany of reasons. But primarily, it is because this question seems to assume that if there is no eternal hell awaiting us should we fail to choose Jesus as “personal lord and savior” in this life, then Jesus is not worth following. As if our primary concern as Christians should be the afterlife, rather than ushering in the at-hand kingdom... Read more
Here we are, as a species, teetering on the edge of ruin. We’ve flattened Syria with our implements of death. We’re obliterating each other all throughout Africa, the Middle East, in Southeast Asia, and so very many other places. North Koreans are living in a dystopian society that looks akin to something George Orwell dreamt up. Women are oppressed far and wide. So too are folks who identify as LGBTQ. So too are racial and religious minorities. Stock markets are... Read more
“Make America Great Again.” We all know the line. And we all know who coined it. But what does it mean? More specifically, what does it mean according to Evangelical Christianity, considering it is they who had the biggest hand in electing Mr. Trump as our next President? Well, I guess over the next 4 years at least, we are going to find out. We will find out if the United States of America focuses on what are considered traditionally... Read more
Over the course of our lives, we will likely undergo a variety of changes, which can come in a wide array of forms. Some of us will move all over the map, like nomads, sojourning from one place to another. Others will go from having zero children to five in a matter of a decade. Sadly, some of us will witness the untimely deaths of our loved ones; will face personal health or financial issues, or all of the above.... Read more
The charge of Marcionism is often leveled toward anyone who says that “God is just like Jesus,” who rejects the violence depicted in the Old Testament, and who insists that Christianity is centered on the ideas of peace and reconciliation. This accusation is a form of the straw man logical fallacy, in which someone’s position is misrepresented in order to make it easier to attack and refute. To understand why the charge of Marcionism is fallacious, let’s begin by taking... Read more
This episode of The Love Cast, Jamal interviews new Quoir Author Matthew Distefano about his upbringing in a conservative religious environment and how this led to anxiety, fear, and ultimately to a season of atheism for him. Matt also describes how he was awakened to the reality of a benevolent, peaceful, and non-violent God. On November 7th, Matt’s newest book titled: ‘From the Blood of Abel’ will be released via Quoir publishing. This book explores the roots of human violence... Read more
Theopedia defines dispensationalism as a “theological system that teaches biblical history is best understood in light of a number of successive administrations of God’s dealings with mankind, which it calls ‘dispensations.’” There are seven in all: the dispensation of innocence (Creation → Adam’s fall), of conscience (Adam → Noah), of government (Noah → Abraham), of patriarchal rule (Abraham → Moses), of Mosaic Law (Moses → Christ), of grace (the Church age), and of a millennial kingdom (yet to come). According to... Read more
If you spend more than 20 minutes with me, either in person or on social media, you will no doubt pick up on the fact that I am an unabashed Universalist. I have no qualms about this. But what this specifically means may or may not be understood by a good number of those I encounter. Proof of this can be found in the machinegun style questioning that often gets thrown my way, as if each round that is pumped... Read more
I grew up in the Evangelical church, so I’m fairly familiar with all of the standard doctrines: Pretribulation rapture, eternal conscious torment, penal substitution atonement, retributive eschatology, yada yada yada. What I never realized during my time in these staunchly conservative fundamentalist churches, however, is that the gist of what was taught is the same as what was taught by many of Jesus’ interlocutors—i.e. the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. In this article, we will discuss three of the more prominent... Read more
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