Recently a friend asked me what it felt like to lose so much of my faith. I don't think I lost anything: instead, I feel like I've shed things that weren't mine to begin with. Let me tell you about my own encounter with Aslan.

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/shedding-my-dragon-skin/

I've always believed that Christians go to heaven when we die. It's a staple of many people's faith. Where did that doctrine come from, and what does the Bible say about heaven? Join me as I survey the various verses that talk about heaven.

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/am-i-going-to-heaven-when-i-die/

One of many articles discussing the Jewish doctrine of heaven can be found at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4848230/jewish/Heaven-and-the-Afterlife.htm and I quote this web page in this episode.

What's more important? Evangelicalism, or Christianity? Lately I've seen a lot of people defending the former at the expense of what I believe is Jesus' example of how we should live as a community of faith.

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/the-preservation-of-evangelicalism/

Jesus said we'd know a tree by its fruit, and perhaps we can also know a doctrine the same way. I grew up with an end-times doctrine that is widespread in the church, but which I now recognize is bearing a lot of bad fruit. Maybe it's time to recognize the harm.

You can also read this post at https://crucibleofthought.com/how-revelation-warped-my-theology/

I'm intrigued that for an institution so absolutely central to human life, the Bible has shockingly little information about the ideal marriage. Hardly any of the examples about marriage fit our modern Christian definition of "one man, one woman, for life, with the blessing of the church and the state."

You can find links to the sources mentioned in this episode on the Crucible of Thought blog at https://crucibleofthought.com/what-defines-biblical-marriage/

Too many Christians seem obsessed with power and control. But being oppressed was the very thing that helped the early church grow explosively. Are we pursing the wrong thing?

Good Faith podcast episode: https://thedispatch.com/podcast/goodfaith/learning-to-live-in-exile/

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/

Today's media systems use outrage as a currency to drive engagement. But is outrage a poison pill that is tearing us apart? I suggest there's a better way to exist in this modern social media world.

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/outrage-as-social-currency/

It's really hard when trusted people change dramatically. For the sake of our faith, often we don't really want to know why they changed. It might require us to change too.

You can also read this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/its-best-not-to-ask/

I've seen a lot of conservative Christians recently argue that gays cannot be saved, or cannot be Christian, specifically because of 1 Cor 6:9-10. What does that verse say, and is it relevant?

You can also listen to this episode at https://crucibleofthought.com/can-homosexuals-be-christian/

A Jewish pastor read a sermon written by AI to his congregation, and they thought it was human-written. Can a robot or AI ever replace a human pastor? Perhaps that's the wrong question. Do most Christians today even understand what a pastor is supposed to be?

Read the article about that sermon here: https://www.jpost.com/jpost-tech/business-and-innovation/article-729

You can also read this episode here: https://crucibleofthought.com/the-chatgpt-ai-pastor-of-the-future/