Life is hard, understanding the bible can be even harder! We think the Gospel of John is a great place to start, but we want to help you on your whole journey with Jesus. So feel free to follow along on TikTok or YouTube, or reach out any time on our other socials to find someone to help with all those big questions!
Because it does! And that's okay.
The Bible isn't a single book that fell out of the sky; it is an ancient library written by dozens of authors over thousands of years. When it contradicts itself, we are often just seeing different voices wrestling with God from their own unique cultural and historical perspectives.
We haven't always done a great job of teaching people how to read ancient literary styles. But when we learn to read the Bible in its proper context, those contradictions and tensions actually add a much deeper, more inspiring meaning to what the original authors were trying to say.
If you want to learn how to do this, we highly recommend checking out the BibleProject (you can click the link just there or find them on YouTube).
Their "How to Read the Bible" series is an incredible place to start!
The short answer? He wasn't.
The ancient biblical authors were on a journey of discovering who God was, and their writings reflect their developing understanding at the time.
Jesus came to perfectly reveal what God has always been like. Jesus is the ultimate lens through which we must read the whole Bible.
There is so much more to this conversation than a quick paragraph can hold—but this is exactly the kind of question we love. Please bring questions like this to the table anytime!
We could try to prove it to you, but we'd rather discover it with you.
We could appeal to your sense of reason, weave a convincing philosophical argument, or break down humanity's ancient questions about origins, meaning, morality, and destiny.
But the greatest thing about questioning God's mysterious nearness, or feeling His absence, is the journey of discovery itself.
The questions you ask will ultimately shape how you view the world and find your place in it.
We want to encourage you to keep wrestling with those questions and to find a safe community to do it with.
Our hope is that one day, you wake up to the same beautiful realisation Jacob had in the Scriptures: "How awesome is this place! God was here and I did not even realize it." (Genesis 28:16)
We are so deeply sorry for the pain you’ve experienced. Too often, religion has been used as a tool for control, exclusion, and culture wars rather than a place of healing.
We aren't perfect, but we are actively working to build a community that looks like Jesus—one that leads with radical grace, judgment-free "with-ness," and generous foot-washing love.
We don’t do guilt trips, heavy-handed authority, or manufactured certainty.
You are welcome to take things as slowly as you need, sit in the back row, and just breathe. There is no pressure here.
Absolutely not! You don't need to sign a statement of faith to pull up a chair at our table.
We believe that belonging comes before believing or behaving.
Whether you are deeply grounded in your faith, deconstructing everything you thought you knew, or just exploring spirituality for the first time, your doubts and questions are welcome here.
We would much rather have a messy but honest conversation around a dinner table, than sit in a room full of people who think they already have it all figured out.
We'd love to read, study and pray together on the YouVersion Bible App.