1. “The Word of God” is not the Bible; it’s Jesus (John 1:1; Revelation 19:13)
Spending 20 years with fundamentalists, I’ve probably heard the term “the Word of God” being used to refer to the Bible at least 9,340,589 times. However, the term “Word of God” in Scripture refers only to Jesus Himself, not the Bible. John 1:1 declares that the “Word” was with God and is God, while Revelation 19:13 reveals Jesus as the one called the “Word of God.” This distinction highlights that Jesus is the ultimate revelation or “Word” of God (with the Bible serving as a testimony about Him).
Continue Reading: What is the Word of God?
2. No one in the West is actually reading the Bible; you are reading a translation
When Western Christians read the Bible, they engage with a translation, not the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text. Translations always involve interpretive decisions, meaning the version you read always reflects someone’s theological beliefs and may differ significantly from the original context or intent.
With over 900 English translations of the Bible, each version reflects the translators’ theological biases and cultural context. For instance, decisions about translating key words like “baptize,” “church,” or “hell” often align with doctrinal beliefs, subtly shaping how readers understand Scripture.
Continue Reading: 9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Rely On Only One Single Bible Translation
3. “Spares the Rod Hates His Son” (Proverbs 13:24) has absolutely nothing to do with physically harming your children
The verse “spares the rod hates his son” has been misinterpreted by many fundamentalists as an endorsement of severe physical punishment, but in a biblical context, the “rod” symbolizes the very opposite of spanking or inflicting physical harm.
Continue Reading: What “Spares the Rod Hates His Son” (Proverbs 13:24) Really Means
4. “To be born again” doesn’t mean converting to Evangelical Protestantism
The phrase “born again” (as in “born again Evangelical”) could not have originally referred to “believing in Christ’s death and resurrection for your sins,” because when Jesus first used it in John 3:3, He was still alive, and Nicodemus had no knowledge that Jesus would later die.
Continue Reading: What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?
5. The Western Christian ideal of justice is often not biblical but Roman
Western Christianity often emphasizes retributive justice, influenced by Roman legal systems, rather than the Bible’s focus on restorative justice. In Scripture, God’s justice is about repairing relationships and restoring communities rather than punishment for its own sadistic sake.
Continue Reading: “Justice” According to Fundamentalism.
Continue Reading: Justice in the Ancient Near East.
Continue Reading: Why “God’s Justice Means He Must Burn You for a Billion Years” Is a Terrible Argument for Divine Justice.
6. Jesus never taught about “Hellfire”
Jesus didn’t speak of Hell in the Augustinian-Calvinist sense of eternal fiery torment. Instead, He referred to Gehenna (a physical valley outside Jerusalem). Likewise, the Lake of Fire (a Jewish nickname for the Dead Sea) symbolized a purifying judgment. These terms, in their original context, never meant “eternal torture” (as understood by many fundamentalists).
Continue Reading: What “Hell” Did Jesus Speak of? (Matthew 5:29)
Continue Reading: What is the Lake of Fire, Sulfur and Smoke in the Book of Revelation?
7. In the Bible, “Worship” didn’t refer to music and songs (‘praise’ did)
“Worship” (as in “Worship Night”) had nothing to do with music and singing but involved acts of sacrifice. “Praise,” on the other hand, is what Scripture associates with singing and music, reflecting joy and gratitude toward God.
Continue Reading: What Most Christians Get Wrong About “Worship”
8. In the Hebrew Bible, “Salvation” never referred to the afterlife
“Salvation” in the Hebrew Bible (which is the only Bible Jesus and His disciples had) primarily refers to deliverance from physical harm (danger, oppression, war, etc.) in the present life. Not once was it used in the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to the afterlife.
Continue Reading: The (Hebrew) Meaning of Salvation
9. The idea that one part of God needed to be tortured and die to appease the other part is not what biblical sacrifice is but a pagan concept
The Calvinistic notion that the Father had to kill the Son to satisfy the Father’s wrath or to “calm God down” stems from pagan sacrificial systems rather than biblical theology. In the Hebrew Scriptures, none of the sacrifices in Israel’s sacrificial system were used to appease an angry God so God could torture and kill the animal instead of its owner.
Continue Reading: What Many Christians Overlook Regarding Sacrifice in the Bible and Jesus’ Atonement
10. The Biblical Hebrew word “Hate” has nothing to do with modern emotional hatred
In Biblical Hebrew, “hate” has nothing to do with the physical feeling some people experience when they think of their political opponent, opposing football team, or their mother-in-law.
Continue Reading: Hebrew Word Study: Hate.
Continue Reading: The God of Calvinism Loves You But Also Hates You
Continue Reading: Did Jesus Really Die Because God Hates Us?