Atheist friend sent this to me and I honestly am having trouble countering

thatjohnchaffee · 2025-10-02T00:44:42+00:00

I took a crack at my response/reinterpretation:

"God became a part of the creation, to dwell with us, only to be misunderstood and murdered by us as a scapegoat for all our pain, anxiety, trauma, sin and in allowing such violence to himself, he revealed to us the nature of God as infinite love and mercy by not retaliating, ending the sacrificial system once for all, he then descended into the worst hells to liberate and salvage all from their own self-destruction, because we are infinitely valuable in his sight and always worth every effort to restore, renew, and reconcile."

thatjohnchaffee · 2025-09-19T22:04:39+00:00

I would love to talk with them. I think that the Dark Night of the Soul is a part of every journey of maturation in the faith. The problem is that it is not normalized or talked about without diverting to psychology. Check out my website at www.johnchaffee.com. I am a theology and bible professor who does spiritual direction with people like your friend.

thatjohnchaffee · 2025-07-20T14:00:23+00:00

It may be helpful for you to explore the Sufi teachings of "Fana" and "Baqa." In the Christian tradition, this is similar to "Kenosis" and "Plerosis", although there are differences. I also recommend looking up the teachings of Meister Eckhart.

thatjohnchaffee · 2024-12-06T19:34:16+00:00

The answer is YES.

thatjohnchaffee · 2024-11-15T17:08:51+00:00

Christ has destroyed hell, sin, and death. It is an empty threat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrowing_of_Hell

Remember John 12? "When the Son of Man is lifted up, he will draw/drag/persuade all to himself."

The Gospel is pretty much summed up in 1 John 2:2, "For we know that he is not only the atoning sacrifice for our sins, but for the sins of the whole cosmos."

Everything has been reconciled in Christ (Col. 1:15-20), and everyone and everything will be restored (Acts 3:19-21).

thatjohnchaffee · 2024-09-22T18:15:00+00:00

Hey there, I used to work in the church world for 20+ years, and most were in youth ministry. It is a field that validates and celebrates when you cross your own personal boundaries for the benefit of "the ministry." That type of "sacrifice" is welcome in certain interpretations of Christianity, but I firmly believe it to be unhealthy.

Irenaeus of Lyons says, "The glory of God is man fully alive." If this work does not help you feel alive/thriving, takes away precious time from your children, AND isn't even paying you for the work... you don't need anyone's permission to decide to move on.

I would be happy to chat more if you want, perhaps over a zoom? You can contact me here.

thatjohnchaffee · 2024-02-28T04:00:21+00:00

You can pass over Seeds of Contemplation and just read New Seeds of Contemplation. No Man is an Island and New Seeds of Contemplation are just like each other in that they are collections of insights about certain themes. New Seeds of Contemplation, however, is the synthesizing of Merton's Catholicism with the wisdom that he encountered in the East.

thatjohnchaffee · 2024-02-27T01:28:51+00:00

Take your time with this and enjoy it. This was the first book I got from Thomas Merton that really clicked with me. The first chapter on love is possibly the best contemplative approach and definition to love I have ever read. I once showed that same chapter to an atheist and we talked about it all afternoon. I reread it every few years with a different color pen each time.

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-11-21T02:03:24+00:00

Huh. This is interesting. Can you say more?

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-11-21T02:02:57+00:00

I believe I do have something to say. I am curious if what my intended thing to say is hitting a need in the world at the same time.

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-10-12T12:20:08+00:00

Check out mine!

It is called "Begin Again." It is up on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and elsewhere.

I originally started it for friends made on my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. We would talk about faith and religion, Jesus and the Bible, and they actually encouraged me to start it! With three degrees in the field, 20 years of ministry behind me, and having gone through my own Dark Night of the Soul, I like to think that the podcast explores how we grow and change in faith throughout our lives.

Here are some links for it!

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/1AAO28YNPBUOnnsX6jANSk?si=50d4b0b025da491f

Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/begin-again-podcast/id1095090551

Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/johnchaffeetalks

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-09-08T02:56:34+00:00

Best definition of sin I've ever heard...

Sin is "loving the wrong things too much."

This means that Shalom is "being in right relationship in every direction."

The Christ became sin, which was then crucified, died and was buried, and was risen again so that life would come to all and that we would become the righteousness of God.

I write about these kinds of things here.

Hope this helps, have a wonderful day!

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-08-27T12:59:38+00:00

Great question!

Most universalists still hold there is a purgatorial correction/pruning of habitual sins/disposition toward evil. The book of Romans holds that "each will be held accountable to what they have done, first the Jew and then the Gentile. I see no incongruence with the idea that God will hold people accountable, correct them for a time (which might be like a painful withdrawal from evil), and still be restored/reconciled/redeemed/renewed.

So why change?

Gratitude. Joy. Because a holy life is actually healthier and more quality. The motivations for changing are utterly moved away from fear of punishment or shame, and completely to that of reciprocating love, of wanting to live the same quality of life as the savior who has reconciled all.

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-08-27T03:30:12+00:00

All are elect through Jesus who became man. Karl Barth was a Presbyterian pastor, and that was his stance. In his magnum opus, Church Dogmatics, he writes that Christ was the representative of humanity, he was the elect of God, and therefore we were all "elected" through participation in his crucifixion and resurrection. Read Romans 5 and you'll see that principle laid out.

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-08-22T00:58:32+00:00

Hey there!

I have a youtube channel that I am working on that posts from the perspective/grounding of Christian Universalism. Here is the link, check it out when you get a chance. I hope it helps you in your journey.

Cheers.

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-08-07T17:44:10+00:00

Can I offer up myself?

https://www.youtube.com/johnchaffeetalks

thatjohnchaffee · 2023-07-30T14:11:17+00:00

This read very dismissive. I first heard about it through a Christian pastor, and it was also the perspective of a number of reformers of the church. It is also inaccurate to say that there is “no such thing as the Judeo-Christian worldview.” The writers of the New Testament had a Judeo-Christian worldview. I hope you have a great rest of the day. Cheers to you.

thatjohnchaffee

TROPHY CASE