Below, you’ll find a list of the top ten most-viewed posts from this year. Take a look, and see if you missed any of them the first time around.
What’s interesting about this year is that there was move away from more culturally controversial topics (sexuality, bioethics, etc.—topics that have tended to dominate the most-viewed lists in the past) and toward more theological and Christian-community-related apologetics topics. I’m not sure what this means (if anything) about trends among Christians, but perhaps it indicates that Christians are focusing in on defending the basics and building up the Church.
- Verses for Your Conversations with Mormons – “As I was reviewing a very basic list of verses for conversations with Mormons that I compiled a while back, I thought you might find it useful, as well. It’s in no way comprehensive, but it could give you a good place to start, serving as a rough outline for your discussion.”
- Doing Church Biblically Can Be Messy – “Biblical living is not about doing things the easy way. It can be easy, but many times it isn’t. Instead of choosing either of these easy routes, the pastor chose the biblical route, the more messy, difficult, and uncomfortable route. He chose to uphold biblical standards of sexuality and do his best to show love and compassion.”
- Our Verseless Bibles – “Let me offer you a warning that will vastly improve your ability to understand Scripture, if you heed it. It’s an insight for every person who has ever asked, ’How does this verse apply to my life?’ Here it is: There are no verses in the Bible. Nope. Not a one. At least, not in the original, and that’s the Bible that matters.”
- Who Is the God of Mormonism? – “One thing you’ll discover as you’re talking with your Mormon (LDS) friends is that though we use the same terms, we often mean very different things. Mormons have different definitions of gospel, repentance, salvation, grace, Hell, and nearly every term you’ll be using in your conversation.... The term ’God’ is no exception to this. In fact, it’s the most foundational difference between Christian and LDS theology.”
- Should Followers of Christ Observe the Torah? – "A great deal of the New Testament is devoted to the question of the Christian’s relationship to the Mosaic Law in the Torah, but if the questions I receive from people are any indication, there’s an increasing amount of confusion among Christians on this topic.”
- How Apologetics Can Address the Six Reasons Why Young People Leave the Church – “If the church would begin to take the life of the mind more seriously and equip its young people to understand and defend their faith, we could meet these challenges head on.... Let me give you one or two practical resources to help address each of these challenges.”
- Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen and yet Believe – “We’re told that Thomas demanded evidence and the other disciples didn’t. Moreover, we should denounce the reasonable faith of the former and imitate the blind faith of the latter. After all, Jesus said, ’Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’ (Jn. 20:29). So, it is argued, the kind of faith endorsed by the Bible is baseless and unwarranted. Ironically, this text actually teaches the exact opposite of what Dawkins and others believe. This is fairly easy to demonstrate.”
- If We Lose the Meaning of “Justice,” We Lose the Gospel – “Our ability to explain the gospel to people in our culture depends on our culture’s ability to understand the concept of justice. Because of this, over the years I’ve become concerned about a drift in the meaning of the word ’justice’—even in Christian circles, among respected friends I usually agree with—as the term ’social justice’ is increasingly embraced and used.”
- A Long-Term Plan to Know Your Bible – “Years ago, I read St. Patrick’s Confession (written in the fifth century), and I was amazed and inspired by the way bits of Scripture just poured out of him in nearly every sentence. He clearly knew the Bible so well that it had become part of his language—part of him.... I’ve been working towards this kind of knowledge of the Bible ever since. Does this vision motivate you, as well? You won’t get there overnight, but if you’re willing to be patient and purposeful about a long-term plan, it’s not out of reach for you.”
- A Parent’s Guide to the 5 Skeptics Who Want to Shame Your Kids for Being Christian – “Those who contact me typically wield the tool of shaming to make their point—something highly ironic given how much skeptics talk about the importance of evidence.... Kids need to understand these emotion-laden shaming attempts they’ll encounter. Like so much else, this is something parents can and should prepare them for. Here are the five most common skeptics who want to shame your kids for being Christian.”