What do I (not) believe?

My thoughts on God and the Bible as of December 2025. Sometimes I feel like friends & family might wonder, but are afraid to ask me about it:

I believe Jesus existed. I believe people followed him. I believe people thought he was the Messiah. I believe he was crucified. But I doubt that he rose from the dead.

I doubt the existence of God of the Bible, but I am open to the idea of a God who created the universe.

I doubt that the Bible was inspired by God.

I believe Christianity can help people change for the better, but I doubt that the change has anything to do with the supernatural work of a Holy Spirit.

I believe the Book of Mormon can also help people change for the better, but I also doubt that book has anything to do with supernatural powers.

I still have an affection for the Jesus I thought I knew, but now I don’t believe he ever knew anything about me.

I remain very interested in the four gospels, along with many other books of the Bible.

I think the stories about Jesus can inspire people to do good things, but I also think some of the stories can inspire bad people to do bad things.

I don’t think the Bible was written without error and I don’t think it has been perfectly preserved.

I believe Christianity has had an overall positive impact on society over the course of its history, but sometimes it has had a negative impact, simply because people just make mistakes.

I don’t believe morality comes directly from the Bible nor from God. I think morality has evolved with us over time. I think moral standards evolved even within the Bible itself.

I don’t know how the universe was created but I doubt that it happened as described in the book of Genesis, especially not a literal six-day creation.

I am very doubtful that either heaven or hell exist.

I don’t believe in demons, angels & ghosts.

I believe the gospel of Mark was probably the first gospel to be written and was the backbone upon which the other gospel authors built their narratives.

I think Jesus probably didn’t say many of the things attributed to him in the gospels.

I believe Christian theology contains "plot holes" - for example, why would an all knowing all powerful all loving holy God knowingly create a world with so much "sin" and suffering?

I believe the ambiguity of the Old Testament prophecies opened the door for those scriptures to be generously applied to Jesus. Seems to me like many of the prophecies were not meant to foretell the future and were taken out of their original context by New Testament authors and church fathers.

The most valuable aspect of Christianity is the good people of the church(es) and the willingness of the people to love one another - and even love their enemies.

Personal trust in Christianity can either be gained or lost by its adherents, depending on the individual person and their life circumstances.

I began to lose my personal trust in Christianity about twenty years ago when I felt like the Holy Spirit had no supernatural effect on my life. Whether that was truly the case or not, I do not know, but I lost my faith nonetheless.

I don't pray anymore, but...

Yes, you can pray for me!

Some of the best friends I have had in my life are Christians who love me in spite of all my faults.

-matt