Christianity Archives

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 6: Toxic Christianity

May 10, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I am so excited to finally be writing the post we have all been waiting for since January. This week I finished Rick Warren’s evangelical Christian bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? I can’t wait to put it back on the shelf and let it gather dust, as it should. That way, it can’t hurt anybody.

“Here we go,” some people might be thinking. “What is it this time in this uplifting Christian book about finding your purpose that made this atheist so upset?”

I will tell you what.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 5: Throwing Your Life Away

April 26, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Just when you thought, or at least hoped, that I had forgotten about my series reacting to Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life, I’m posting about it yet again. On the bright side, we are nearly finished with this damaging book! This will be my reaction to Purpose Four out of five. This time, it’s all about serving God.

Lutherans vs. COVID

March 29, 2020December 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Last Saturday, I was planning to do a video chat with a friend, and she mentioned to me that she was busy on Sunday morning with virtual church. Until then, I hadn’t thought of what church-goers are doing in regards to church attendance, but it made me wonder. If I was still attending the church that I had gone to for twenty-one years, would I still have gone last Sunday? Would that church be partaking in the “sharing of the peace” and the excessive shaking of hands which has always struck me as unsanitary? Would they still be taking communion from a shared cup? I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 4: How to Brainwash Yourself

March 15, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I’m glad I’m reading The Purpose-Driven Life. It is teaching me to humble myself and put God first. It’s allowing me to get rid of my worries and let Jesus take the wheel. Most importantly, it’s teaching me simple ways to better my life, like being in constant conversation with God, memorizing Bible verses, and defeating temptation.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 3: Christians Only

March 1, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

The Purpose-Driven Life consists of six parts: one for each “purpose” as well as an introduction. Today we are looking at Part 3, which is Purpose #2: “You Were Formed for God’s Family.” In the past, I’ve taken each of the seven sub-sections (one for each day of the week) one at a time, but the chapters I read this week all bleed together, so I believe they can be looked at as a whole. They are:

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 2: Pleasuring God

February 9, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

This week, we’re returning to Rick Warren’s evangelical Christian bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life. In this post, we will specifically be looking at what harmful and even dangerous teachings are lurking in Part Two of the book: “You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure”.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 1: Life is God’s Game

January 26, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren has been a bestseller in the Christian world for decades. It was on the New York Times Bestseller List for over 90 weeks and sold 18 million copies in its first six years. It has over 215,000 ratings on Goodreads averaging 3.93 stars and over 2,400 ratings on Amazon averaging 4.7 stars.

Debunking Zeitgeist, The Movie That Made Me an Atheist

December 22, 2019December 21, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I remember sitting in class at Grove City College in the fall of 2015 and disagreeing with every single Christian point that the professor made. I didn’t really know about the word “atheist” then, and I didn’t exactly know what I was, but I knew I wasn’t a Christian. It was probably around this time when the events of this post took place, and when I first tried watching the famous Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate. It was also around this time that I first saw Zeitgeist: The Movie.

Why I Got Married at 22

December 15, 2019January 6, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

This month, I will be celebrating my twenty-fourth birthday, and last month I was celebrating my one-year marriage anniversary. That’s because I got married soon after graduating college, and I got engaged during college.

Book Review: Did Jesus Exist? by Bart Ehrman

December 8, 2019October 24, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

I’ve had an interest in religion and atheism for a long time, especially since I started writing on this blog three years ago. I’ve covered topics like evolution and creationism, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (the religion I was raised in), and a whole lot of thoughts and opinions on religion in general and the existence of God. While I’ve done plenty of research, it still shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I tend to have my own personal biases when looking at evidence for things like God or evolution.