The Truth Project

A Good Place To Start

This collection of topics has been thoughtfully assembled as a starting point into the Truth Project — introducing you to a range of voices, ancient and modern, who have wrestled honestly with the big questions of faith. Whether you come with deep conviction, quiet doubt, or simply a growing curiosity, these resources offer a grounded entry point without telling you what to conclude.

Some Common Questions

These are the questions that tend to sit beneath the surface of faith — the ones people hesitate to ask out loud but can't quite stop thinking about.

What is God really like? At the heart of everything else is this foundational question: what is God actually like? The resources here draw from the insights of Bill Johnson on the character of God, Philo of Alexandria's approach to Scripture, Bradley Jersak's framing of Jesus as perfect theology, and Anthony E. Johnson's exploration of a love that is more expansive than we may have... 4 entries

What is God's plan for His creation? Is the story of creation heading somewhere good — for everyone? This cluster of resources, drawing on Origen, Bradley Jersak, Thomas Talbott, and Steve Gregg, invites you to consider whether God's ultimate intention for His creation is broader and more hopeful than traditional frameworks suggest. 4 entries

Why did Jesus die? The atonement sits at the centre of Christian faith, yet there is far more theological diversity on this question than most people realise. These resources from Bradley Jersak, David Aaron Regier, and Steve Gregg open up the conversation, questioning assumptions and offering fresh angles on one of Scripture's most important themes. 4 entries

Where did we get our common understanding of hell? Most people assume the church has always believed what they were taught about hell — but history tells a more complicated story. Steve Gregg, Jacob M. Wright, and Luke Kessler provide historical and theological context that may surprise you. 3 entries

Is God's judgment punitive or restorative? Does God punish to satisfy justice, or to bring about healing and reconciliation? Thomas Talbott, Tim Wray, Anthony E. Johnson, and Danny Silk each bring distinct perspectives to this question — one that fundamentally shapes how we understand both God and ourselves. 4 entries

What is the fire of God? Fire is one of Scripture's most vivid images, yet its meaning is often assumed rather than examined. Bradley Jersak, Tim Wray, Thomas Allin, and John Crowder explore whether the fire of God is better understood as purifying rather than merely punishing. 4 entries

Does hell last forever? Much of the traditional case for eternal conscious torment rests on specific Greek words — words that, on closer examination, may not mean what we think. Marvin Richardson Vincent, Thomas Talbott, and Gregory of Nyssa each contribute to a careful reconsideration of what Scripture actually says. 3 entries

Will God really restore everything? For many, universal restoration sounds too good to be true — or even theologically dangerous. Thomas Talbott, Luke Kessler, Thomas Allin, and John Crowder make the case that it is neither wishful thinking nor a departure from Scripture, but may in fact be its deepest thread. 4 entries

Does Scripture really teach that all will ultimately be saved? This question cuts to the heart of the matter. Bradley Jersak, Luke Kessler, and Tim Snavely explore the biblical language and logic around reconciliation, asking whether the scope of salvation in Scripture is as limited as we have often been led to believe. 3 entries

Early Church Fathers

What Did the Early Church Fathers Believe About…

God's ultimate intention for His creation Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius of Caesarea, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa each wrote with striking clarity about a God whose redemptive purpose extends to all of creation. Their words, often overlooked or filtered out of popular church history, are well worth hearing in full. 4 entries

God's judgment — is it punitive or restorative? Clement of Alexandria, Diodore Bishop of Tarsus, and John Crowder's survey of church history reveal that the early fathers largely understood divine judgment not as retribution for its own sake, but as a form of correction aimed at transformation and restoration. 3 entries

The fire of God Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac of Nineveh, and Clement of Alexandria each wrote about fire as an expression of God's purifying love — not as the instrument of endless torment, but as the means by which all that is not of God is ultimately consumed and refined. 4 entries

Incorrect translations

Words from Our English Bible That Have Been Incorrectly Translated, Leading to Much Confusion…

"Eternal" — Greek word aionios The word most often translated "eternal" or "everlasting" in relation to punishment is aionios, a word whose meaning in both classical and biblical Greek is far more nuanced than our English translations suggest. G. Campbell Morgan, Marvin Richardson Vincent, Thomas Talbott, and David Konstan each shed important light on what this word actually meant to its... 4 entries

"Punishment" — Greek word kolasis The Greek word kolasis, typically translated as "punishment," carries a meaning far more aligned with correction and remediation than with retributive penalty. Clement of Alexandria, William Barclay, Thomas Talbott, and Luke Kessler each explore what this word would have meant in its first-century context. 4 entries

"Perish" — Greek word apollumi The word apollumi, often rendered "perish" or "destroy," does not necessarily carry the connotation of annihilation that English readers naturally assume. W. E. Vine, Marvin Richardson Vincent, and Luke Kessler examine its actual usage across Scripture and wider Greek literature. 3 entries

"Hell" The English word "hell" is used to translate several very different Greek and Hebrew words — each with its own distinct meaning and context. Tim Wray and Luke Kessler walk through these distinctions, showing how the conflation of these words has significantly shaped (and distorted) our picture of what the biblical authors were actually saying. 3 entries