The Deconversion of Saruman: Five Lessons to Learn
There’s been a lot of chatter the last couple years over “de-conversion” stories. Of course, there is the story of well-known pastor and author Joshua Harris, as well as the Youtube comedians Rhett and Link.
I’ve written on this phenomenon myself in a number of places, including my recent book, The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity, as well as my my article, “The Power of De-conversion Stories: How Jen Hatmaker is Trying to Change Minds about the Bible.”
So, what exactly is de-conversion? In short, it’s when a person who is deeply committed to the Christian faith ends up leaving the Christian faith and abandoning their prior … Continue reading...
Is Deconstruction the Same as Deconversion? A Few Reflections on Reforming the Church
The last few years have been a rough stretch for the evangelical church. Plagued not only by a complex and intractable health crisis with COVID, the church has also faced an increasingly polarized cultural-political environment as well as numerous internal scandals involving abusive leadership.
Perhaps it is not surprising that this same period of time has seen a rise in so-called cases of deconversion—people who once claimed to be fairly run-of-the-mill evangelicals but then, for whatever reasons, decided this was not the life for them. And they walked away from the faith.
The high-profile cases of deconversion stories are well known: Rob Bell, Rhett and Link, Joshua Harris, etc. … Continue reading...
Does Grace Oppose Hard Work? My Upcoming Conversation with Jen Wilkin at the @TGC National Conference
So, today I am headed to Indianapolis for the TGC Women’s Conference (April 9-11), and the TGC National Conference (April 12-14). So excited to be in-person again, talking to real people.
I am speaking three times across the two conferences, so here’s the line-up:
1. Saturday, April 10, 4:30PM, I am doing a session entitled: “Can I Lose My Faith? Understanding Apostasy.” Over the last few years, I have been tackling this theme of apostasy, or “deconversion,” through my new commentary on Hebrews (which will be a book give away at the National Conference), as well as through several blog articles on deconversion in the evangelical world. I hope this … Continue reading...
The De-conversion of Saruman: Five Lessons to Learn
There’s been a lot of chatter the last couple years over “de-conversion” stories. Most recently, of course, is the story of well-known pastor and author Joshua Harris, as well as the Youtube comedians Rhett and Link.
I’ve written on this phenomenon myself in a number of places, including my recent book, The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity, as well as my my article, “The Power of De-conversion Stories: How Jen Hatmaker is Trying to Change Minds about the Bible.”
So, what exactly is de-conversion? In short, it’s when a person who is deeply committed to the Christian faith ends up leaving the Christian faith and abandoning their … Continue reading...