Question 148 from Emma, United Kingdom

Can you lose your salvation? How can we be sure that Jesus won’t turn to us on Judgement Day and say “I never knew you”?

The short answer is that in almost every branch of Christian theology, there are no guarantees about salvation, unless a person is living a life marked by Christian discipleship.

In terms of believers losing their salvation, the Bible and later Christian teaching place great store on ‘perseverance’. The Apostle Paul famously described his own quest for perfection when he said: (more…)

Question 147, from Justin, United Kingdom

What is the biblical perspective on escapist activities, such as watching TV, going to the movies or attending theatre? Is there any point to them? If they aren’t directly glorifying God, why should we spend time and money on them?

‘Leisure time’, as something enjoyed by everyone not just the wealthy is a fairly recent phenomenon. In Biblical times, when the majority of the population lived at a ‘subsistence level’ as farmers, herdsmen, fishermen and so on, ‘leisure’ wasn’t really a problem. In fact, it has been said that the idea of a Sabbath day of rest was unique in antiquity in relieving people of the necessity and expectation of working every day.
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Occasionally some of the positive comments from readers get posted on here, plus there are one or two other things worth mentioning about how people use the site…
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In July 2008, an article was posted on freelance theology relating to the popular (and controversial) American preacher Todd Bentley. At the time, ‘revivalist’ meetings in Lakeland, Florida were being televised regularly in the UK on Christian cable channel GodTV, and both the preacher and his message were the subject of much debate in the Christian press.

However, since then there have been two significant developments. The main one as far as many commentators are concerned is a very public scandal.But from a theological point of view, there have been events as well. (more…)

This was a short talk given by Jon the freelance theologian to the young people in a church in Cardiff, Wales. It was written in short bullet points and notes, which are reporduced here.

Why Jesus should be at the centre…

Jesus was there in creation and was the means by which the world was created
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Question 146, from Carol, United Kingdom
Why is there such as difference in God’s attitude to mankind between the Old and New Testament? e.g. If God gave everyone a free will why did he then override this and harden Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus so that he wouldn’t release the Israelites from Egypt?

There are two big questions here based on two very big assumptions. The first is the assumption that there is a major difference between the way God is depicted as acting towards human beings in the Old Testament compared to the New. The second assumption is that human beings have free will, which God ignored when God chose to ‘harden Pharaoh’s heart’.
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Question 145, from EJ, United Kingdom
I have a friend who thinks he is gay but is worried about his beliefs with Jesus. What does the Bible say about being gay and what is your personal opinion?

Homosexuality was among one of the first topics addressed on freelance theology, back when this website started out; you can read that original article here. However, some additional comments may be helpful, particularly in relation to what the Bible says about homosexuality, which is the focus of this question.

There are a number of things to mention before looking at what the Bible ‘says’ or doesn’t say about homosexuality. The first important point to make is (more…)

Question 144, from Robert S
What happens to your soul when you die? Do our souls leave our body, and stay in Hades? And when Jesus returns, then will the believers’ dead souls be taken to heaven first, and then the living join them?

There has been some debate about what happens to the soul in Christian theology over the centuries, partly because there has been a tendency to view the soul as almost like an ‘inhabitant’ of the body. This is an idea found more in Greek philosophy, which separates body and soul as two quite distinct entities. However, the Jewish view of human nature is much more ‘holistic’, in that body and soul are seen as indivisible, and it is that belief which appears to inform the New Testament emphasis on the resurrection being a physical, bodily event.

However, (more…)

Question 143, from Phil, Germany

I was interested to read what you wrote about the Welsh Revival. There seems to be a general reluctance in Christians to get involved with politics and social issues which you mention. Do you think that if those in the revival had been more involved in politics, the First World War could have been avoided. Or were those in the revival so far removed from politics of the day - in class, education and social and financial power - that it would have been impossible?

NB – In this previous freelance theology article, brief references are made to the shortening of the revival by two profound events. These were the First World War, and the rise of Socialism, which took hold in the mining communities of South Wales in particular in the first few decades of the 20th century.

Realistically it is impossible to state one way or the other the effects of the Welsh Revival, had it impacted significantly among the political class. Given that Wales was mostly regarded as a primitive provincial backwater, it’s very unlikely that even had the revival profoundly changed the outlook of those in power in Wales, that the First World War would have been prevented.

It is perhaps simplistic to look at the ‘Great War’ and the rise of Socialist politics as the reasons why the Welsh Revival faltered. Certainly these were key external factors. But there were a number of internal factors to contend with too.
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Jon the freelance theologian preached this address at the 10th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service for Fair Do’s Ltd, Cardiff’s premier fair trade shop, on 4 October 2008.

A few years ago my friend Nick, who told us why he is thankful for Fair Do’s earlier, was interviewing various people about why they were involved in fair trade. It was for some academic paper; I have to admit I don’t know the details. Having talked to Nick, I wasn’t sure he knew the details either, but I agreed to do an interview.

So we sat and we chatted about fair trade, and I explained how and why I would identify my faith as an integral reason for being passionate about fair trade. Now I realise not everyone here would identify themselves as a Christian, and if you aren’t thank you for coming and celebrating with us anyway, but for me, and many of us at Fair Do’s our faith and our commitment to fair trade are intertwined.

Fair trade meshes with the Christian story for many reasons. (more…)