Rumors of my deconversion are greatly exaggerated.

I’ve had some folks I’ve worked with in the past speculate I’m walking away from faith. I heard it through the grapevine. Trust me, it’s not true. As if.

Some of y’all need to take a chill pill.

They’ve said that’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion. I’m not. I’m losing their fundamentalist version of it. And I’m glad to see it go.

So today, I want to say this plainly, calmly, and without apology. I may be over fundamentalism. But I’m not getting over Jesus.

1. What Will Happen in Churches When All the Baby Boomers Are Gone? (Church Answers)
2. The Coming Silver Tsunami: A Volunteer Crisis in Aging Congregations
3. The 2022 Data on the Southern Baptist Convention is Out (Ryan Burge)
4. Why Is the SBC Membership Declining? (Ryan Burge)

1. Dr. John Stott on annihilationism: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1232&context=pd
2. Three Christion Views of Hell (Dr. Preston Sprinkle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-DfzRSLFP8
3. Conditional Immortality (Dr. Preston Sprinkle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nemKBJoCoKI
4. Debate between Dr. Albert Mohler and Chris Date on annihilationism. Link: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable/podcasts/episodes/should-christians-rethink-hell-dr-al-mohler-amp-chris-date-debate-the-traditional-amp-conditionalist-concept-of-hell-replay
   • You might need to set up a free account to listen. I had to.
   • You can judge for yourself, but this debate was a bit of tipping point for me in taking a serious look at annihilationism as the arguments for it are far better than what are given against it, which mostly consists of doubling down on the fact the ECT is the traditional view wihtout much substantive arguments. I would encourage you to look for places where instead of dealing with the arguments for annihilationism, they are simply dismissed as not being "the normal reading of the text."
5. Kirk Cameron video on hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RflbA8Vt_Y
6. Ray Comfort's response to Kirk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1BAU7cdh8Y
7. Kirk Cameron's response to all the pushback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NrwM3Qy-5w
8. Kirk Cameron and a panel of experts talking through this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds3UbUsIaQs
9. This website is a repository of articles, videos, and publications on the topic: https://rethinkinghell.com

Some doctrinal positions require so much cherry-picking you’d think we were baking a pie. We’re all capable of it. That’s why sensitive topics deserve honest engagement with all the relevant texts—not just our favorites.

Because of the complexity of the biblical texts, and the theological whack-a-mole way conservatives handle it, I'm really not big mad about people who might disagree with me.

SHOW NOTES:

1. Danvers Statement on Biblical Complimentarianism: https://cbmw.org/about/the-danvers-statement/
2. Baptist Faith and Message 2000: https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
3. Who Killed Junia: https://juniaproject.com/who-killed-junia-part-one/
4. Junia, a Woman Apostle: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1561521
5. (BRILL) Two Minor Textual Variants in Romans 16:7"Tne variant is Ἰουνίαν (“Junia,” feminine)and the other Ἰουλίαν (“Julia”). It has become clear in recent decades, however,that only “Julia” is a genuine textual variant to the (unaccented) Ἰουνιαν; that the masculine form, “Junias,” is a non-existent name and must be discarded; and that the feminine form, “Junia,” must be restored in the text" (emphasis mine).Another quote from this article regarding the eventual change back to the femine version of Junia: "This change was long overdueand fully justified, for the Apostle Junias (male) was the creation of certainmale scholars – exegetes, lexicographers, and grammarians – and churchmenin Europe, Britain, and North America, who, as is apparent (and occasionallyon their own admission), found it difficult to admit that a woman in earliest Christianity could have been an apostle . . ."
6. Junia – A Woman Lost in Translation: The Name IOYNIAN in Romans 16:7 and its History of Interpretation"Both male interpretations lack evidence to support their existence. The female form, on the other hand, is widely attested outside of the New Testament and, consequently, is not just the wishful reading of female scholars like Brooten but the most natural reading of the text. In light of this evidence, there is not just no good reason to replace the known female name Junia for a hypothetical male name Junias, there is not even the slightest reason to even mention a male alternative to Junia."
7. Video: N.T. Wright on women in ministry
8. I find that a compelling argument against egalitarianism can be made from church history and the Global Church outside of the West. Gavin Ortlund makes a good case for that here. This point that keeps me from changing my position: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X-Q_ew-u-Zg