Curious Christian

Was the Trinity invented at Nicaea?

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Matt Stone

on

2026-09-17

One of the common arguments I hear against the Trinity is that it was invented at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. There is a small grain of truth in this, but only if we are careful about what we mean by “invented”. The doctrine of the Trinity did…
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Relational Faith vs Propositional Faith: Believing or Following?

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Matt Stone

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2026-09-16

I’ve been thinking about why I tend to talk about Christian faith in such strongly relational terms. I suspect it has something to do with where I locate the centre of faith. For me, faith is ultimately about a person: Jesus. It is about trusting him, giving myself to him,…
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AI, Human Agency, and the Future of Local Community

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Matt Stone

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2026-09-15

I’ve been thinking about the AI arms race and the fears that come with it. There are the obvious concerns about AI becoming uncontrollable and potentially catastrophic, but there is another concern that I think gets less attention: what happens to human agency when enormous technological and economic power becomes…
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Why I Reject Both Calvinism and Open Theism

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Matt Stone

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2026-09-14

I reject both Calvinism and Open Theism because I think both begin with an assumption about God’s relationship with time that I don’t share. I affirm the classical Christian understanding that God is omniscient, eternal and sovereign, and I also believe that human beings make genuinely free choices. I don’t…
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Does 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Teach a Pre-Tribulation Rapture or the Second Coming?

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Matt Stone

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2026-09-11

When Christians talk about the “rapture,” 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is usually one of the first passages that comes up. Paul says that Christ will descend from heaven, the dead in Christ will rise, and believers who are still alive will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air.…
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THE CONVERGENCE OF FRINGE EXTREMISM – SOVEREIGN PSEUDOLAW AND RELIGIOUS MANDATES IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIA

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Matt Stone

on

2026-08-29

By Andrew Park The study of political radicalisation in modern Australia often suffers from a profound geographical and cultural disconnect. When urban academics and mainstream media outlets attempt to map the rise of anti-government movements, they routinely focus on visible, public-facing entry points. A recent feature in The Chronicle by…
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Why Do American Evangelicals Keep Tripping Up on the Trinity?

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Matt Stone

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2026-08-28

This morning I was reading about William Lane Craig’s rejection of the eternal begottenness of the Son. Dwelling on this, I was reminded of another recent controversy within American Evangelicalism: Eternal Functional Subordination. They represent very different conclusions, but both seem to rebalance the relationship between the immanent Trinity—who Father,…
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Is Buddhism Really an Atheistic Religion?

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Matt Stone

on

2026-08-26

I’m always a little bemused when atheists describe Buddhism as an atheistic religion. I understand the reasoning: Buddhism doesn’t centre on a creator God, and some forms of Buddhism can certainly be practised without belief in a personal deity. But I wonder whether “atheistic religion” is really adequate as a…
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Christian Nationalism: When Faith and National Identity Become Entangled

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Matt Stone

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2026-08-20

I’m seeing a lot of US conservatives trying to problematise the phrase “Christian nationalism.” It really isn’t that complicated. Christian nationalism belongs to the broader family of religious nationalism: ideologies that fuse religious and national identity. Think Islamism, Hindutva, or religious Zionism. The particular theology and politics differ, but the…
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If Jesus Is the Image of God, Why Doesn’t Theology Proper Start with Jesus?

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Matt Stone

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2026-08-13

I sometimes encounter an assumption, both among critics of Christianity and among Christians themselves, that the God of the Old Testament is fundamentally different from the God revealed by Jesus. Critics may point to the Old Testament’s violence and judgment as evidence that Christianity’s God is morally problematic, while some…
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