Ok, I know this one is a stretch, but stay with me here. The Magi who came from the East following the star of Bethlehem were disciples of Daniel, the Old Testament Prophet. How do we know this? Because we read that Daniel stayed behind when the Babylonian/Persian captivity was over. We also know that Daniel was leading a school of mystics during the reign of Nebuchadnezzer and continued to teach disciples under the Persian rulers. This is why those… Read more
December 16, 2019
Did the Magi Bring Jesus A Gift From Buddha?
December 16, 2019 By Keith Giles
17 Comments
December 13, 2019
More Christmas Presence
December 13, 2019 By Keith Giles
3 Comments
Even though Jesus was not born on December 25th, this is the time of year that many people celebrate the birth of Christ by going into debt to purchase expense gifts that [somehow] demonstrate their love for friends and family. This is not a post about the evils of commercialism or materialism. Promise. Instead, I want to take some time to consider the implication of the Incarnation of Christ, which is supposed to be what everyone is celebrating this time… Read more
December 12, 2019
The Inevitable Death of Evangelical Christianity
December 12, 2019 By Keith Giles
137 Comments
Whenever I read the surveys from Christianity Today, or Baptist News, or The Christian Post about how young people are leaving the American Church in droves, or how politics in the pulpit is driving the next generation away from the faith, or how Evangelicals are slowly growing older and more irrelevant to their communities, I must confess I give a little cheer. Why? Because all of these signs point to one inevitable conclusion: The Evangelical Christian Church is a dinosaur… Read more
December 11, 2019
The Slow Motion Second Coming of Christ
December 11, 2019 By Keith Giles
8 Comments
There is more of Christ in the world right now than there was when Jesus walked the earth almost two-thousand years ago. Don’t believe me? It’s true. Jesus, who promised never to leave us or forsake us, poured out his Spirit on all flesh – men and women, young and old, Jew and Gentile – and he even made a startling statement before he went away: “It is better for you if I go away…” [John 16:7] But most… Read more
December 6, 2019
Filthy Rags VS Pregnant Faith
December 6, 2019 By Keith Giles
3 Comments
Recently, as I was expounding on the evils of “Worm Theology” and refuting the idea that we are all “wretched” and “worthless” creatures in God’s eyes, someone asked me what I thought about the verse that says: “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” [Isaiah 66:6] First of all, I need to point out what this verse is NOT saying: It is NOT saying that we [as human beings]… Read more
December 6, 2019
Where Was God In The Holocaust?
December 6, 2019 By Keith Giles
12 Comments
In the current season of the Netflix series, “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee”, Jerry Seinfeld hosts outspoken atheist Ricky Gervais on the show. In this two-part episode, Gervais makes a joke that goes something like this: “A man who survived the Holocaust dies and goes to Heaven. When he gets there he tells God a joke about the Holocaust and God says, “That wasn’t funny”, to which the man replies: “I guess you had to be there.” And, as brilliant… Read more
December 3, 2019
An Obituary For The American Church
December 3, 2019 By Keith Giles
27 Comments
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved woman, The American Church, who has been with us for many years. Although, no one knows for sure how old she was since her birth records were lost long ago during a contentious Wednesday night business meeting and ice cream social. She will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as ‘God Bless America’, ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ and ‘God helps those who help themselves’. The American Church lived by simple,… Read more
November 29, 2019
Saved By Zero?
November 29, 2019 By Keith Giles
7 Comments
I had an interesting dream the other night that was a combination of philosophy, theology and mathematics. I’ll do my best to communicate this in blog form but it might be something that works better as a live presentation or dialog. Let me know if this makes sense or not. The philosopher Xeno had a theory which worked on paper (in theory) but was not possible to recreate in the real world. In essence, Xeno proved mathematically that… Read more
November 27, 2019
God Didn’t Write The Bible. We Did.
November 27, 2019 By Keith Giles
31 Comments
When it comes to the Bible, you have to decide whether or not you believe that God wrote the Bible and people helped, or that we wrote the Bible and God helped, sometimes. Growing up I was told that God wrote the Bible and people helped. This view was reinforced by pastors who held up that book and called it “The Word of God”, even though it was quite obviously the words of Moses, and Joshua, and David and Jeremiah,… Read more
November 22, 2019
Did Jesus Need To Fail In Order To Save Us?
November 22, 2019 By Keith Giles
1 Comment
For those who embrace the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory [PSA], the Gospel message seems to hinge upon the need for Jesus to be rejected. In fact, they believe that Jesus NEEDED to die and, in fact, if Jesus didn’t die on the cross then no one would have been forgiven of their sins. But, let’s take a step back for a moment and consider what would have happened if Jesus wasn’t rejected. What if when Jesus told everyone… Read more
get the latest from
Keith Giles
Sign up for our newsletter
Browse Our Archives
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Progressive Christian
