Benjamin L. Corey's Blog, page 17

No, This Isn’t All Part Of God’s Plan (So Let’s Stop Blaming It On Him)

Lately I’ve been thinking about life. A lot. I’ve also been thinking about the the line we tell people when they’re going through sad chapters in life: “Well, this is all part of God’s plan.” But is it, really? Is all this part of God’s plan? Looking back at the times people have said this [Read More...]

Why Matthew 18 (Usually) Does Not Apply When Challenging Dangerous Religious Leaders

It’s true– I’ve publicly and strongly disagreed with some well-known Christian leaders. It’s also true that some of them have very publicly disagreed with me. In those exchanges however, I will frequently find some voices on the internet posing this question: “Did you go and talk to them privately first as instructed by Matthew 18, [Read More...]

The Serious Problems With Using Ecclesiastes 3 To Justify Christian Support of War & Violence

I’ve heard a lot of reasoning over the years regarding Christian support of things like war, violence, and gun slinging. I’ve seen the Bible bent into a giant pretzel, watched folks do theological gymnastics, and I’ve seen the teachings of Jesus on the matter outright dismissed– over, and over again. I thought I had addressed all of [Read More...]

John MacArthur: The People of the Hispanic World “Don’t Know Christ.”

John MacArthur, the Calvinist teacher who previously argued Christian parents should turn their gay children “over to Satan,” has some new thoughts on who is in and who is out: and most Hispanics don’t make the cut. In the lead up to a conference later this month in the Dominican Republic, John MacArthur has put [Read More...]

10 Ways To Love Yourself Better (So That You’ll Be Able To Love Others Better)

The other day I wrote a post about why the second greatest commandment presupposes we love ourselves, in addition to loving others. I have been pondering tangible ways to take this from the theoretical to the practical, and thus have compiled 10 suggestions as to how we can better love ourselves, so that we can [Read More...]

You Can’t Be Christian If You’re Not Caring For The Poor

People often falsely assume that the word Christian has a clear, singular, meaning but that’s not necessarily true. There’s “Christian,” which refers to a particular religion of over 41,000 different denominations or sects who disagree on what Christian means. Then there’s “Christian” which can refer to a nationalistic religion prevalent in America. And then there’s [Read More...]

40 Life Lessons I Learned Before My 40th Birthday

It’s April 26, 2016, which means one thing: I turn 40 years old today! And, I’ve gotta admit: I did some living in my first 40. I’ve lived around the world, traveled to as many countries as years I’ve been alive, earned six college degrees, wrote a few books, raised me some kids, and between [Read More...]

Loving Yourself: The Biblical Command We Tend To Forget

Love yourself. It sounds kinda selfish and self-centered on the surface, I know. And if it were, it would surely be a most unattractive trait. I believe that Christianity is a religion about love– most notably, loving God and loving our neighbors. However, I think we’re too quick to forget to extend the same to [Read More...]

The Disgusting Hypocrisy of the Anti-Trans Bathroom Movement

So listen– I’ve been thinking about this whole movement to make peeing while trans illegal, and I have a few thoughts. The basic premise is this: Individuals who are transgender need to use the public restroom that corresponds to their actual gender (not their sex, which is different). They need to do this for their [Read More...]

Things I’d Do Differently, If I Could Do Seminary Over Again

I have finished the race. After spending 8 years in seminary between Gordon-Conwell and Fuller Theological Seminary, last Friday I successfully defended my dissertation in Pasadena. Coming back in the room after the committee deliberated, and then being called “Dr. Corey” for the first time, was an emotional experience for me. It was a great [Read More...]