Posts Tagged ‘ Deconstruction ’

Truth Quest 2025: Doubt & Deconstruction: How Do I Keep My Faith?

The annual Truth Quest Youth Apologetics Conference in Prescott, AZ, happened again! The theme this year was “Light & Truth”. It was Friday and Saturday, March 28-29, 2025, and I was blessed and able to change it up this year and give a presentation on Doubt & Deconstruction.

The extra blessing this time was my helpful panel for QnA discussion. Abi Marshall from Cornerstone Church and both Noah Ulrich and Freddy Garcia from Quad City Church filled out the panel.

Below are the video, my presentation, and the notes. (As usual, I mostly stuck to notes, but not completely.)

(Oh, and my hat states, “Be Nicene. It’s that simple.” with the chi rho symbol making the “p” in simple. It can be found at the More Than Cake store.)

TQ25 – Workshop: Doubt & Deconstruction: How can I keep my faith?

(Recording from the event by the host: https://youtu.be/BnuptZ6b-IQ?si=wOammWbBKAZG4CED)

My presentation (slides): https://prezi.com/view/QVKTOsS1vJ48wTehlPbg/

Doubt can be scary.

  • Doubt is called the enemy of faith.
    • Jesus said that if we have faith and DO NOT DOUBT, we could command a mountain to be thrown into the sea (Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23).
    • James said to ask for wisdom without doubting or be like one tossed on the sea, unstable in our thinking (1:5-8).
  • Many preachers and teachers have said to never ask questions, just have faith.
    • Doubt is often associated with fear, and John says there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18).

Yet,

  • Jude said to have mercy on those who doubt (1:22), and even some who followed Jesus after the resurrection had doubts (Matthew 28:17).
  • King David asked where God was (Psalm 22), or the other psalmists who wondered if God was truly helping (ex: Psalms 74, 77, 79, 88), yet they still reached out for God.

What about people who doubted in the Bible?

  • Abraham – Was not sure he could have children in his old age (even trying to make it happen.)
  • Moses – Doubted he could be used by God.
  • Elijah – Doubted he could be kept safe, even after defeating 450 priests of Baal miraculously.
  • Mary?
    • Was not sure how she could have a child without a husband. (Luke 1:34)
    • May have doubted Jesus’ sanity (Mark 3:21)
    • Mary Magdalene – Doubted Jesus’ resurrection
  • John the Baptist – Was imprisoned and had doubts that Jesus was the coming Promised One.
  • Thomas – Doubted Jesus was really resurrected.
  • John Mark – Doubted he could be useful or safe when sharing the gospel (and then wrote the Gospel of Mark).

What is “deconstruction”?

Many if not most who deconstruct their faith begin with doubts.

• Doubts that the Bible is reliable.
• Doubts that Jesus said/did the things in the Bible.
• Doubts about how Christians treat others.

Most of the prominent people who deconstructed said it was usually one of four things:

  • Christians avoiding talking about difficult things, including Bible passages and Christian history;
  • Christians being unscientific or anti-scientific;
  • Christians not loving neighbors through accepting LGBT, other faiths, or immigrants;
  • and pastors, teachers, and others abusing power, making “it all about them,” or spiritually abusing others.

When it comes to defining deconstruction, Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett, in chapter 1 of their book The Deconstruction of Christianity, argue that there is not a clear definition, finding as many as eleven definitions in their research.

Deconstruction broadly can be understood as moving away from historical Christian teachings and often to de-converting, or it can be understood as the process of re-examining the beliefs you grew up with (p. 10).

We should be careful, though, as most who proclaim their deconstruction publicly have fallen away from the faith, but even Alisa Childers explained in her first two books (Another Gospel and Live Your Truth & Other Lies) that she went through a deconstruction due to her pastor (at the time) but came out stronger.

It helps to know that deconstruction has its roots in the teachings of French philosopher Jacques Derrida. He argued that words do not have inherent meanings, so everything should be questioned, especially in literature, philosophy, and political institutions. The only context of words is what we make of them.

This gets applied to religion when we begin to question the meanings of biblical texts and role of the Church. Most people have never heard of Derrida, but they apply his methods when they begin to have doubts about what is true (usually based on how they feel.)

Let’s start with a simple syllogism:

Premise 1: Words do not have inherent meaning.
Premise 2: If no one agrees on the meaning, then I can decide what everything means.
Conclusion: I decide what is right and wrong based on my own definitions.

What is wrong with this argument?

[Why argue there is no meaning to then apply some meaning?]
[If there is no inherent meaning, then nothing is true. Yet people get upset when we define things the way they don’t like.]

The biggest issue is that this thinking uses Christian definitions of right and wrong while claiming there is no absolute right and wrong. Then, it is argued that Christians are those who are wrong based on derived definitions (that may change at any moment), and the Christians should accept the changing definitions as true.

“Let everyone decide what is right for them, and if you don’t then you’re wrong!”

[Judges 21:25b]

If these are all true, then it can be argued that, if God exists, He also changes with society. Or God can be whatever we want Him to be.

This is already seen in our culture.

If there is no absolute truth (a statement that refutes itself by having an absolute), then everyone can do what they want. But if there is absolute truth, then it must be discovered and applied.
If there is no absolute truth, how can anyone apply their truths to others? But if there is absolute truth, then it must be true for everyone.

Therefore, deconstruction is dangerous, because it removes meaning to be filled with whatever makes us feel better. We might use the ideas of some other people, but we don’t have to use the ideas of the original writers, including of the Bible.

“Who cares what the original intent was, this is how I see it.”

What keeps this logic from being turned around on the person deconstructing or transitioning or having some epiphany?
Deconstruction is dangerous because it makes personal circumstances and feelings general reality, feeding personal bias rather than seeking actual truth.

This then leads to falling into several logical fallacies:

  • Hasty generalization: applying to the whole from a small sample.
  • Strawman: claiming Christians believe certain things based on new definitions than the actual definitions historically used.
  • Ad hominem: attacking Christians for being horrible because of how others have acted.
  • Appeal to Authority: claiming authority that is not necessarily recognized, in this case personal experience as a greater authority than thousands of years of teachings and understandings.
  • And many more.
  • And to be fair, it is easy to fall into many fallacies when refuting those who fall away from Christianity.
    • For example, when it is claimed that all who deconstruct fall away (hasty generalization), that those who deconstruct just want to enjoy their sin and cause harm to others (potentially strawman and/or ad hominem), or that we have to believe because the Church has taught this for 2000 years (potentially appeal to authority.)
  • Because of these issues and problems, Childers and Barnett argue for saving deconstruction for those who fall away from the Christian faith.
  • What should I do?
    • Their suggestion is to say Christians go through “Reformation” rather than deconstruction.
    • Doubt is like pain. It is a warning of danger: Watch out for lies!
    • Don’t Lie or Avoid!
      • There is value in Derrida’s and the deconstructed people’s view of examining beliefs and definitions. Words do have meaning, but meanings can and do change. (Consider the word “gay” changing.)
    • Church hurt is real. It should be dealt with.
    • Abuses are real. People in power should be disciplined or removed for abusing power. Those who spiritually, emotionally, or physically abuse others should be removed from power, possibly even sent to prison.
    • Doubts are real. Sometimes from ignorance and sometimes from zeal for God, people avoid discussing certain topics.
  • We must be willing to tackle the hard problems with charity, love, and compassion in a reasonable manner.
  • There are passages that seem problematic, possibly contradicting or inconsistent.
    • To claim they have never been talked about or addressed is either a lie or a sign of laziness in research. The Bible has been attacked for 2000 years, yet it continually withstands the attacks, either because they were weak attacks or refuted.
    • No, the Bible does not support polygamy when it discusses all the men who married multiple women. It does not support chattel slavery (like seen in the colonies and nation of America in the 1600-1800s), as stealing people and treating them like animals or worse is specifically condemned.
  • There are words that change meanings, but intent in meaning matters.
    • It’s true that the word “homosexuality” was invented in Germany in the 1860s and not put into an English translation of the Bible until the Revised Standard Version of 1946 used it in 1 Corinthians 6:9. Yet, the original meaning of both “homosexual” and “arsenokoitai” (the Greek term Paul wrote) is the same.
    • It’s true that the King James Bible and others mention unicorns and dragons, words that mean “animals with one horn” and “scaly lizards” in a general sense. (The original 1828 Webster’s Dictionary even saying “unicorn” often refers to a rhinoceros, and consider the Komodo dragon also known as the monitor lizard.)
  • The Bible was not compiled at Nicaea and then translated and retranslated over and over throughout the centuries.
    • The Council of Nicaea primarily was to resolve the Arianism debate and set a standard date for Easter (not a pagan holiday) amongst some other items. We have manuscripts going back to the 2nd Century for the New Testament (possibly the 1st Century, but either way within 100 years of the writers) and before the time of Christ for the Old Testament (showing they were written before His life on Earth) that show the same texts as manuscript copies from the past 1000 years. Nearly all the changes are minor spelling differences or word order, nothing affecting doctrine. Modern translations look at all available manuscripts (families) to be as close to the original as possible. Translations also deal with language drift and changes. (“Nice” originally meant something quite opposite to today.)
  • People have done horrible things in the name of God and the Church.
    • This can be a reason for doubts, but if it is the only reason that is foolish. People have done horrible things for all sorts of reasons. We don’t avoid all restaurants for some bad service at one restaurant. We don’t avoid YouTube or TikTok because of some bad videos people made. Remember, atheists have done horrible things, people in other religions have done horrible things. We should focus on what the founder of Christianity called for (no, it was not Paul). If we can love the teachings but not the followers, then actually look at the teachings.

Our response should always be the same:
No one can have 100% assurance of anything in this life (at least from a scientific point of view.)
It’s okay to say, “I don’t know” or “Let me look into that.”
Have mercy on those who doubt (Jude 1:22). Love others and listen to them (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 1:19-20 & 2:8). Be honest (Luke 8:15). Seek truth (John 4:23) not “my truth” (Romans 2:8).

Bibliography:

  • Childers, Alisa and Tim Barnett. The Deconstruction of Christianity: What it is, why it’s destructive, and how to respond. Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2023.
  • Lawlor, Leonard, “Jacques Derrida”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), accessed March 7, 2025, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/derrida/
  • WebstersDictionary1828.com, s.v. “unicorn,” accessed March 7, 2025, https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/unicorn.
2025
04/06
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Sermon: De-Contexting Jesus – John 11:11-16

I preached again! And once again, I was covering for Brother Paul in Paulden, AZ.

There is no video this time (unless you are okay looking up my nose most of the time!), but I did upload the audio recording.

I also joined in the solidarity day with Canadian churches by taking some time to discuss biblical sexuality (and understanding biblical context) in response to the nee Canadian law, Bill C-4 – Conversion Therapy ban.

De-Contexting Jesus: John 11:11-16

Waking the Dead

Know how parents or the cranky neighbor next door (or you?) complain about loud kids, “Their being so loud they could wake the dead?”

I have been thinking about so many people – churches, preachers, even people who have nothing to do with Christianity – who make bold claims about what Scripture says, about how Christians should act.

Tend to be the liberal-minded – “We understand better what was really meant back then: Jesus never spoke about homosexuality! People don’t really come back from the dead! We find new spiritual life and change, even in our bodies, if we were born the wrong way!”

Or even, like people like Bart Ehrman (author of Misquoting Jesus and other works attempting to tear down Christianity), they say we don’t understand what Jesus really meant, and it was exaggerated, anyway.

I have been thinking about so many people – churches, preachers, so-called prophets and apostles – who make bold claims about what Scripture says, about what Christians should be able to do.

Tend to be liberally-minded – “We understand more what was really meant back then: Jesus raised the dead, so we should be doing it even more! Jesus was sinless, and we are too! Jesus did amazing things, and we can do more!”

Or even, like people like “Pastors” Kenneth Copeland and Bill Johnson, we are Christs (anointed ones), we are little gods.

What does this have to do with today’s message?

Misquoting Jesus

[John 11:11-16]

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

“Lord, if he’s fallen asleep …”

Oh, Lazarus wasn’t that sick. He is resting and getting better.

The disciples misunderstood Jesus, even though He said something plain and in a context that should have made it plain. And how many times do people today take something Jesus said without looking at the context?

“Do not judge … See! Jesus said don’t judge, you evil hypocrite!”

“You will do greater things … See! We should all be raising the dead and performing signs and wonders!”

“This is my body … See! Jesus said!” Do the elements of communion literally become His body and blood? Catholics certainly say so. But so many others say “He spoke in euphemisms and metaphors. He was just a good teacher!”

It is so easy to rip things out of context to fit our needs.

Yet, “Lazarus has died.” Okay, “Lets die with him!”

They started to get the context: vv. 7-8 – “We’re going to Jerusalem.” “But, teacher! The Jews are trying to kill you!”

“Oh! We might be martyred!”

Now, we know that Thomas was right. All of the apostles and disciples were persecuted, and most of the apostles were indeed martyred. But in this moment, he probably is still thinking of his own glory more than the glory of Jesus.

Thomas and the disciples are trying to do good by Jesus, but they keep missing the greatest meaning. This happens even now.

In terms of the more liberal thinkers, they are following evolutionary thinking: we are later in time, so we understand better. Jesus did not really talk about these things, but even if He did, times have changed. The loving thing is to let people live how they believe they should!

As an example, today is a day that pastors across North America (maybe farther) are standing in solidarity with Canadian churches to preach about biblical sexuality. This is my little addition to that.

Canada just began enforcing a new law this past week, “Bill C-4: Conversion Therapy.” This bill makes conversion therapy illegal, defining conversion therapy as:

a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual; change a person’s gender identity to cisgender; change a person’s gender expression so that it conforms to the sex assigned to the person at birth; repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behavior; repress a person’s non-cisgender gender identity; or repress or reduce a person’s gender expression that does not conform to the sex assigned to the person at birth

Essentially, the way it is worded, in Canada, it is illegal to even call homosexuality, transgenderism, and any sex outside of marriage sin. How do we know this is not merely “slippery slope logic” and hyperbole?

The UK, New York, California, New Jersey, and Nevada have passed similar laws. Preachers and evangelists in the UK and New York, that I know of, have been arrested for hate speech and disrupting the peace for calling homosexuality a sin.

We hear people – pastors, theologians, politicians, everyday people – saying the New Testament never explicitly condemns homosexuality, it was just an OT law that was abolished.

Firstly, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 we read:

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

“neither the pornoi” – sexually immoral, the root of our word “pornography”

“nor malakoi” – soft, effeminate men “who catch” – “nor arsenokoitai” – males who penetrate men and boys.

Both of these terms are combined into our English translations to the word “homosexual.” So, yes, the NT talks about it, and in a few other places condemns all sorts of sexual and sensual acts outside of marriage.

And as for Jesus never having spoken on it, that means they do not believe truly is God – the Logos, the Word – the One who worked through Moses and the Prophets to write the OT. In effect, Jesus spoke on these through the OT, and He does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 7:21, James 1:17).

And Paul continued,

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

So, it is possible to change, in Christ. It is not merely trying to “pray the gay away.” It is conforming to Christ. (So, some conversion therapy is indeed not that good!)

Yet, clearly these are not the only ones.

Back to Context

Many who [claim to (have)] follow(ed) Christ, twist His words, as well.

Many people have “deconstructed their faith” in recent years, being seen as brave and open-minded by many in our world.

Really, most have de-contextualized Jesus or listened to those who have. Maybe they were in liberal churches or churches that shy away from biblical truth to be seen as hip and with it, to be “seeker sensitive”, even though Romans 3:11 reminds us that “no one understands; no one seeks for God” unless the Father (by the Holy Spirit) draws them in (John 6:44).

Many “pastors, prophets, and apostles” today claim special knowledge and new understanding about God and His Word.

Really, most have de-contextualized Jesus or listened to those who have. They claim passages about Him or said by Him as for themselves, even if the greater context completely contradicts their understanding.

Case in point, Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

So many people claim this verse as a life verse, even if they have had an easy life. The context is God telling Israel, “I am about to punish you for 70 years for disobeying me. I am disciplining you, but it is okay.” As many take it as, “God only wants good things for me!”

Normal people are not really the problem. It is the big names, the ones who continue to spread mis-truths and should know better.

Remember earlier I asked about complaining about people “being so loud they could wake the dead?

Like Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 13, these people are like noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. They distract and make enough noise to raise the dead! (Or claim they can, anyway.)

Jesus warned us these people would come before the end, and Paul repeated it in his letters to Timothy, such as in his encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:15 when he says “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

So what about everyone else?

Re-Contexting

In a world of deconstructing and de-contexting, we should be people who re-context.

We know in our passage today that Jesus had let Lazarus die so that Jesus and His Father could be glorified.

His disciples did not yet understand, and they spoke rashly, like we often do, too.

Firstly, Jesus reminds us that when we die, it is not the end. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.” We know that Jesus has defeated death through His death and resurrection. We know that, unlike woke culture that seeks to separate and shame, Jesus awakens us out of our sin and shame into unity with God.

We may misunderstand and take things out of context, but His grace is enough. His love is enough. Wake up to the truth of Christ, the Faithful One who shows us that He is the context of love, grace, and truth.

Secondly, we are reminded of our duty. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Christ has told us that we are to take up our cross and die to ourselves.

Is Christ more important than our own lives? Do we trust that He has overcome death and the grave? “If God is for me, what can flesh do to me?”

Is sharing the gospel something we are willing to lay our lives down for? Though others turn away, deconstruct, and de-contextualize, do we truly believe that these are the words of eternal life (John 6:66-68)?

We serve the God of the Universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Great I Am. Do we fear Him or those who twist His words? If God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?

Yes, we get it wrong sometimes. But we turn to the only righteous one, and we follow Him into the battle, even if we must die.

And die we must. Die to our fleshly desires and selfish wants.

We may never see anyone raised from the dead in this life, but we know the One who defeated death and came back. He may come in the next moment. He may not come for 10,000 years.

But Jesus has proven Himself faithful and trustworthy.

Come, let us go also, that we may die with Him.

For He has shown His light to awaken us to eternal life. Forget the sins of the past, and grab hold of the nail-scarred hands that lift us from the pit.

Let us all do our best to present ourselves to God as those approved, workers who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) Let us re-context Christ to this world and hasten His return.

Prayer

Lord, we have come before you a people who have misunderstood, misapplied, and misused your Word. We confess it to you now. We thank you and give you praise that have forgiven us through the cross of Christ.

Open our minds by Your Holy Spirit to understand Your Word. Give us a passion for the Scriptures, to read and study the Bible.

Embolden our hearts and spirits to proclaim Your Truth to this world. Give us a desire to share the gospel, to be ready in all seasons to give an answer to those who ask for a reason for the hope that is in us.

Give us peace and wisdom as we go into this world with all of its problems and challenges, dangers and attacks.

Help us to remain focused on You and Your Truth. Guide us in all wisdom and truth.

Help us to seek You and Your Kingdom first.

For you are worthy of all glory and honor and praise, and we declare our need for You. Show us Your glory, fill us with Your love, and guide us by Your Spirit. Conform us to the image of Your Son.

In the name of that Faithful Son, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen.

2022
01/16
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