I’ve often been accused of being one with Satan. Given that the satan—or, ha satan in Hebrew—can translate to “the accuser,” I find this deliciously ironic. Nevertheless, it seems to be some Christians’ favorite thing to say about me. Case in point, check out this “review” of my latest book “Heretic!”: “This is a demonic lie. It directly goes against the very words of Jesus and it is a Gospel of the spineless who are not willing to face the… Read more
April 18, 2018
The Heresy Hunters of “Come Sunday”
April 18, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
15 Comments
The other day, I watched the Netflix original film “Come Sunday,” which chronicles Bishop Carlton Pearson’s deconstruction out of Infernalism (the doctrine that states some humans will burn in hell for all eternity). My goal in this piece is not to offer a review or to drop spoiler bombs on y’all. (Just go watch the film. It’s great.) Rather, I wanted to discuss one specific thing that happened in the film and talk about why it annoyed me so much…. Read more
April 11, 2018
4 Heresies That Really Aren’t
April 11, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
26 Comments
Being called a heretic is not something I relish. It can be humorous, sure. But, for the most part, it’s nothing more than an annoying distraction that offers zero meat to the conversation. Take, for instance, what YouTube commenter—and all around super-Christian, I’m sure—AJ Velichko recently said about my latest book: “You’re a heretic Matthew and your book is going to lead people to hell. You need to REPENT and withdraw all of your books and ask God to undo… Read more
April 5, 2018
5 Reasons People Aren’t Drawn to Christ
April 5, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
90 Comments
The other day, I made a phallic joke on my Facebook page. It was generally well received. However, a few people didn’t like it. One person even went so far as to offer the following comment: “Wow. Is this all you guys could come up with to talk about? It’s honestly no wonder people aren’t drawn to Christ when this is the type of crap you choose to focus on. It’s insulting and completely anti-Christ.” Now, I will admit that… Read more
April 2, 2018
The Consequences of a Fear-Based Worldview
April 2, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
4 Comments
I used to live in fear. Fear of God. Fear of a Rapture that I may or may not be included in. Fear that my friends and family would one day be tormented for all eternity. Fear that I may be tortured as well. Fear. My fear was so palpable, even, that it drove me absolutely insane. I can, to this day, still recall the horrific nightmares that so often plagued my young and impressionable mind. I can recall being… Read more
March 28, 2018
Introducing “Heretic!” Out April 1
March 28, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
2 Comments
I wanted to take a moment to introduce my forthcoming book Heretic! An LGBTQ-Affirming, Divine-Violence Denying Christian Universalist’s Responses to Some of Evangelical Christianity’s Most Pressing Concerns. It comes out April 1 on Quoir Publishing (not an April fool’s joke), and can be purchased from Amazon and any other online retailers. It is a book that I’m really excited about, not only because I wrote it (duh!), but because throughout all of April, my royalties will be donated to… Read more
March 23, 2018
The Power of Palm Sunday
March 23, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
9 Comments
We all love power. We long for it, desire it, even covet it. Power gives us a sense of control, a sense of stability and permanence. It makes us feel like heroic conquerors, that we can stand over and against situations and people we don’t like, with our hands raised high like the champion boxers we think we are. And even when we ourselves cannot exert this power, we tend to turn toward those who can do it for us…. Read more
March 21, 2018
3 Questions for Annihilationists
March 21, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
23 Comments
As filmmaker Kevin Miller so poignantly points out in his documentary “Hellbound?” there are basically 3 positions Christians can take when it comes to eschatological matters: Infernalism, Annihilationism/Conditional Immortality, and Universalism. The reason for this is that the Bible, on the surface at least, includes passages that argue for all 3. In other words, there are passages that seem to suggest some humans will be tortured for time-everlasting (Infernalism), that some will perish entirely (Conditional Immortality), and that all will… Read more
March 17, 2018
The Myth of a Violent Jesus: Part 3, The Return
March 17, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
9 Comments
This will be the final installment of “The Myth of a Violent Jesus” series. Parts 1 and 2 can be found by clicking these links: Part 1: The Temple Incident Part 2: Swords In this final entry, we are going to discuss the mother of them all: The Return of Christ. We’ll conclude with a discussion about Jesus’ return because, well, a large number of Christians believe that if Jesus is violent at all, it will be on its fullest… Read more
March 12, 2018
The Myth of a Violent Jesus: Part 2, Swords
March 12, 2018 By Matthew Distefano
5 Comments
In Part 1, we briefly covered the so-called “cleansing of the Temple,” arguing for an interpretation that removes violence from Jesus. We’ll do something similar in this piece. Only we’ll be discussing those passages that, on the surface at least, seem to imply that Jesus not only condones violence, but commands it. The first passage comes from Matthew 10:34–36, and reads: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring… Read more
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