Martin Luther and John Bunyan are familiar names in church history because of how they’ve encouraged the faith of Christians around the world and across time. But they also have something lesser known in common. Biographers speculate Luther and Bunyan may have had a religious subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) called scrupulosity. Luther struggled with insecurity about his salvation and was plagued daily with intrusive thoughts regarding particular sins, perpetually battling urges to blaspheme God. Similarly, Bunyan notes in his memoir, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, how he obsessed over any potentially sinful thought or action and continuously feared being destined to hell. This escalated to the point that he started to forgo activities he enjoyed like bell ringing and playing games, lest his enjoyment lead him to sin. This is how the International OCD Foundation defines scrupulosity: “[It involves] religious or moral obsessions. Scrupulous individuals are overly concerned that something they thought or did might be a sin or other violation of religious or moral doctrine.” The term “scrupulosity” was actually coined before “OCD.” According to OCD-UK, it was derived from the Latin word “scrupulum,” which is translated “a sharp rock,” implying a stabbing pain on the conscience. Scrupulosity still manifests in believers today, perhaps even among your church members. How can pastors and church leaders recognize and minister to a member wrestling with scrupulosity? Often, people with this struggle are difficult to identify due to their apparently thriving spiritual lives. I know because I was one of them. Outward Thriving As a high schooler, I read my Bible for an hour or more each day, even if it meant waking up at 4 a.m. to have enough time. I taught Sunday school, read dozens of theology books, and organized fundraisers for nonprofits. I memorized Ephesians from start to finish. I kept an alphabetized prayer journal with requests from dozens of people, some of whom I hardly knew. I paid for strangers’ groceries, and I started conversations with strangers at parks, school, or the airport to try to witness to them. None of this comes naturally to me—I’d rather stay hidden in the crowd anywhere I go. I don’t include this list to flaunt my spiritual track record but to highlight what was going on behind it. From the outside, I appeared to be thriving, but in reality, I struggled with a severe case of scrupulosity. From the outside, I appeared to be thriving, but in reality, I struggled with a severe case of scrupulosity. Scrupulosity can be jaw-droppingly deceptive. Spiritual disciplines are essential for growth, and we want to encourage one another to practice them. But there’s a difference between healthy spiritual practice and someone who’s struggling with OCD. Since the outward behaviors may be the same, we need to look below the surface to identify scrupulosity. Inward Struggling In Esther Smith’s book on intrusive thoughts, A Still and Quiet Mind, she lists the warning signs of someone struggling with scrupulosity: Doubts she’s truly saved Fears regarding specific sins, such as a fear of committing an unpardonable sin or grieving the Holy Spirit, or constant concern about whether certain thoughts or actions are sinful or not Intrusive thoughts related to blaspheming or angering God Fears related to specific verses in Scripture that talk about judgment, hell, or other difficult topics Since scrupulosity is a form of OCD, those who struggle with it experience intense anxiety and fear over something (their “obsession”), and they attempt to cope with that fear by developing habits to help relieve it (their “compulsion”), although the relief is only temporary. Common obsessions associated with scrupulosity, as listed by the OCD & Anxiety Center, are repetitive thoughts about having committed a sin, fear of offending God with one’s actions or attitude, fear of having blasphemous thoughts, fear of loss of impulse control, and fear of loss of salvation by sinning. Some compulsions to cope with these fears may be repetitive (or excessive) prayers, rereading text or prayers until it feels just right, repetitive (excessive) confession, and repeatedly asking the same questions to church leaders or family members (usually with a need for assurance of salvation or moral standing). The International OCD Foundation points out that a person with scrupulosity can often be identified by the way she obsessively fixates on one (sometimes trivial) area of her religious practice, while other more important areas may be completely ignored. For example, I became overly concerned about the sin of gluttony, to the point I was afraid to have a snack if I didn’t truly need it, which resulted in disordered eating habits. Even a brief teaching on gluttony would consume my thoughts, while sermons about critical doctrines of the faith took little hold in my mind. While there are some common indicators, scrupulosity can take different forms depending on the sufferer’s personality. Whereas I tried to cope with my anxiety by striving to measure up, I know others who tended toward doubt and despair because they recognized they couldn’t measure up. Verses like Mark 3:29—“Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness”—perpetually haunted them as blasphemous intrusive thoughts relentlessly circulated through their minds. How to Help Parents and church leaders tend to assume these struggles indicate weak faith or wrong theology. That can be a piece of the puzzle, but it’s rarely the whole picture when it comes to OCD. Like many others I know who struggle with scrupulosity, I grew up in a gospel-centered, Bible-teaching church, so I wasn’t necessarily being misled by legalistic teaching (although that can certainly spur on a case of scrupulosity). Instead, OCD filtered the truth I heard and twisted it. When scrupulosity affected me most, it was actually harmful to receive praise for my devotion and example. I depended on that praise, but it only poured more fuel on the fire of my scrupulosity. It made me feel trapped, like if I didn’t keep up my spiritual disciplines and service, I wouldn’t be this “super Christian” anymore—and that had become my identity. Additionally, I had a friend who suffered from despair over fearing she’d committed the unforgivable sin. Well-meaning people shared Bible passages to comfort her, but that brought an onslaught of shame because her paralyzing fears didn’t go away with Scripture’s truth like others expected they would. What both of us needed in these situations was someone to offer compassion. We needed someone who entrusted our hearts to the Lord and listened—asking us to tell her more, praying for us, and not immediately trying to fix us. Talking about how he’d spend an hour with someone struggling with doubt, Francis Schaeffer said, “I will spend the first fifty-five minutes asking them questions and finding out what is troubling their heart and mind, and then, in the last five minutes, I will share something of the truth.” This is what we need. Sometimes this person should be a licensed counselor, and that was who helped me. When OCD is involved, there can be major biological factors at play that need professional help. The outwardly pious, content, and joyful church member can be struggling just as much as the cynical, depressed, and withdrawn one. The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) offers helpful resources on scrupulosity and OCD, and CCEF-affiliated biblical counseling centers can be monumental in helping a person understand his brain, learn effective tools for calming his anxiety, and find freedom from the tyranny of compulsions. The moral of the story is that the outwardly pious, content, and joyful church member can be struggling just as much as the cynical, depressed, and withdrawn one. Let’s pray for the Spirit’s help to see our brothers and sisters who are suffering, even if they don’t appear to be.

C. S. Lewis never had the opportunity to share his thoughts on Marvel’s 1994 comic adaptation of The Screwtape Letters, but he did say much of the criticism of comics in his day was overblown. He wrote in a 1960 letter, I wonder do we blame T.V. and the Comics too much? . . . It annoys me when parents who read nothing but the newspapers themselves . . . complain of their children reading the Comics! Upon my soul I think the children’s diet is healthier than their parents’. In Lewis’s mind, newspapers are more inclined to corrosive propaganda than comic books or other popular fiction. In An Experiment in Criticism, he rebuffed those who begin their artistic engagement from a skeptical standpoint. “The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender,” he writes. Surrender can’t coexist with skepticism. “You cannot be armed to the teeth and surrendered at the same moment.” There’s no indication Lewis personally enjoyed comic books, but he opposed snobbery that cut Christians off from pop culture. We engage with popular cultural media, including comic books, because they help us escape our myopic vantage point. Comic books can help those who engage with them rightly to gain new insight into prevailing worldviews, preparing us to communicate with non-Christians. Christianity and Comics: Stories We Tell About Heaven and Hell by scholar Blair Davis reminds readers of theology’s reach into the broader culture, for both good and ill. In this book, he explores how Christianity has been understood, and often misunderstood, by the surrounding culture. Consider the Medium Davis tracks how comic book artists, writers, and publishers engage with Christian themes. Most often, he describes the major comic book publishers like Marvel and DC using Christianity as a source of story inspiration. The X-Men confront the ancient Apocalypse and his four Horsemen. Faith imagery echoes through storylines like Daredevil’s “Born Again” and Batman’s “Holy Terror.” The quality of these representations of Christianity has varied, which has contributed to a largely binary approach to the medium among Christians. When comic books emerged, some Christians capitalized on the medium for educational and evangelistic purposes. Others, however, organized events to destroy the material that “caused the downfall of many youthful readers,” according to a boy participating in a 1948 comic book burning (58). We see the tendency of Christians to either adopt culture unquestioningly or condemn it without serious consideration. We see the tendency of Christians to either adopt culture unquestioningly or condemn it without serious consideration. For example, advocates of using comic books evangelistically seemed to give little thought to the medium’s appropriateness for the task. Does the flimsy nature of a comic book convey the right tone when communicating an everlasting message? Can you recontextualize the written Word of God as illustrated pictures with conversation bubbles? As with the use of numerous technologies in churches today, there may be well-thought-out methodologies, but pragmatism often drives the discussion. Comic books that rely on Christian themes sometimes present shallow versions of Christianity, which often rely on theological misinterpretations. Theological Misinterpretation Christianity and Comics undermines the notion that the United States is no longer influenced by faith. Davis writes, “The influx of new titles using religion as the basis for their storytelling, whether they reinforce Christian beliefs or tear them down, are a sign of the continuing influence Christianity has on Western civilization” (251). While it’s clear vestiges of the Christian faith still serve as starting points for many comic books, most aren’t reinforcing or tearing down; they’re misinterpreting. While it’s clear vestiges of the Christian faith still serve as starting points for many comic books, most aren’t reinforcing or tearing down; they’re misinterpreting. That’s not a new phenomenon. From their earliest days, comics perpetuated poor theology. Satan became a comic fixture in the 1950s but had been around since the beginning of the medium. “The devil could even be considered one of the first supervillains to appear regularly in comics throughout the 1940s, alongside Lex Luthor and the Joker,” Davis writes (23). But the supernatural adversary was often bested by decidedly natural means. One devilish scheme was thwarted “by a group of young children who beat Satan up with a barrage of stones, bottles, and tiny fists” (27). That caricature may be far removed from the prowling lion “looking for anyone he can devour,” but those who oppose the Devil in comics are just as confused. In an early 1940s Pep Comics issue, Brother Sunbeam, a glowing monk riding a mule, confronts Satan. “Give up your evil plotting against man, for you are doomed to failure. Man is essentially good!” (22). In this telling, salvation is assured by man’s goodness, not by Christ’s sacrifice. As the book progresses chronologically from the 1940s to the modern era, much of the comic engagement with faith takes a more biting edge, particularly with independent publications. Writers and artists explored their struggles and doubts through the characters on the page. Eventually, many characters and storylines become intentionally blasphemous. Doctrinal Distortions More recently, Preacher, published by DC and adapted into an AMC television show, depicts a warped view of God. Jesse Custer, a small-town minister, loses his faith but gains godlike power. In the final confrontation, God confesses he created the world because he was lonely. “Men had to choose to love me,” God says. “I was alone. I wanted to be loved” (225). Preacher creator Garth Ennis says that as a young child, he was told that God loves us “and if we loved him back . . . and did right by him, then he would reward us” (224). Ennis learned of a God who gives rewards in exchange for love instead of the God who has eternally existed in perfect triune love and graciously extends that love to those created in his image. Davis records other comic creators sharing how their exposure to “organized religion” influenced their characters and storylines. Some may have misunderstood what they heard as small children, but many were likely taught well-intentioned but bad theology. Christianity and Comics is at its best when dealing with the comics part of the title. Davis admits his limitations, specifying his entry point is “as a comic scholar, not as someone trained in religious studies” (9). His theological insights are limited and left-leaning, but the book does allow the reader to see ways Christians have engaged poorly with comics and the consequences of sharing sloppy theology. We never know when the next DC or Marvel creator will be listening to our attempted explanations of God and his character. It could be their theological villain origin story.

Don Carson continues his teaching from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:1–28, expounding on the significant effects of apostasy on the church. Discernment is crucial for churches, as dangerous false prophets deceive many with both overt wickedness and subtle deception. We also need to accurately interpret biblical prophecy and respond to persecution with bold gospel preaching and holiness.

Slang seems to be funny in pretty much every single era in which it is used. And it is especially funny after the slang terms of one generation go out of style and are then co-opted, replaced, and made light of by future generations. Think of all the slang terms of the past that seem […] The post 10 Popular Antebellum Slang Terms That’ll Make You Laugh appeared first on Listverse.

In the world of sports, it’s easy to focus on the winners—the ones who cross the finish line first and bask in their triumph. But there’s a different kind of heroism in those who come in last. Whether running a marathon or racing in the Kentucky Derby, these athletes embody a unique kind of victory […] The post 10 Celebrations of Last Place Finishers Who Didn’t Quit appeared first on Listverse.

Regardless of what federal courts say, Texas needs to remove illegal immigrants allowed into the country by the Biden-Harris administration, Rep. Chip Roy says. “We had six kids who died from fentanyl poisoning in the school district in which my family resides, southwest of Austin, Texas,” the Texas Republican told The Daily Signal at Erick Erickson’s The Gathering conference in Atlanta over the weekend. “I’ve talked to countless moms, countless dads, who’ve lost their children, lost loved ones,” Roy says. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, is trying to obscure her role as “border czar,” though she and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas are responsible for the border crisis, the Texas lawmaker says. “She has been trying to hide from the failures of the Biden administration by not trying to put herself out owning it,” Roy said, “when she, in fact, owns it as much as anybody, with the possible exception of Secretary Mayorkas, whom we impeached.” Listen to the full interview on “The Daily Signal Podcast” here: The post Kamala Harris ‘Owns It as Much as Anybody,’ Texas Lawmaker Says of Border Crisis appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The 2024 presidential election is less than three months away. The first debate between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, the current vice president, and Republican former President Donald Trump is set for Sept. 10, but you don’t have to wait until then to know where Harris stands on several major issues on the minds of conservative women this election.  When it comes to abortion, gender ideology, and parental rights, it’s hardly a secret where Harris stands. Actions speak louder than words, and the current vice president has made her policy positions on those issues clear time and again throughout her political career. Abortion In 2010, Harris was elected attorney general of California and served in the position until becoming a U.S. senator in 2017.  While state attorney general, Harris executed “a very extreme, unconstitutional, and explicitly pro-abortion agenda,” says Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative nonprofit law firm.   After California passed a law forcing pro-life centers to advertise abortion services, Harris sought to enforce the law against the centers.  “Alliance Defending Freedom had the privilege of representing a pro-life organization there in California challenging that law,” Kiefer explained. “As attorney general, [Harris] doubled down and defended the law, which we ultimately did win [the case] before the United States Supreme Court” in a 2018 ruling.   The case, according to Kiefer, is one “clear example of how [Harris is] willing to compel the speech of pro-life voices … and to attempt to use force of law to push that radical pro-abortion agenda.”  She calls Harris’ position on abortion “extreme,” pointing also to her support while serving in the Senate of “legislation that would force abortion on all 50 states through all trimesters of pregnancy.” Gender Ideology “I would say that the Biden-Harris administration has made radical gender ideology really a foundational policy position of their administration,” Kiefer says.   One of the Biden-Harris administration’s first actions in January 2021 was to release “new executive orders redefining biological sex in federal law to include gender identity,” the attorney said.  President Joe Biden and Harris went even further when their Department of Education issued changes to the definition of sex in Title IX to include gender identity and sexual orientation.  Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs. Biden’s changes to Title IX took effect Aug. 1 and swung the door wide open for men who “identify” as women to compete on female sports teams and enter female-only spaces in states that have not filed lawsuits against those changes. Federal courts have enjoined the changes in 26 states. Parental Rights The Biden-Harris administration has not only promoted gender ideology, but has advocated for it at the expense of parental rights, Kiefer says. “We’re seeing school districts across the country that are secretly socially transitioning children at school, behind their parents’ backs, and in violation of parental directions and parental wishes,” Kiefer says, calling this the “downstream effects” of the Biden administration’s “radical gender ideology” push.  “Kamala Harris as vice president has supported these policies, and we have no reason to believe that she would do anything else in a future potential administration,” she adds.  Kiefer joins the “Problematic Women” podcast for a bonus episode to discuss Harris’ record in California state government and as vice president.  Listen to the podcast below:  The post Kamala Harris’ Record on 3 Big Issues Women Care About appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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