Progressive Literalism: Student Guide — Description (4000 characters) What if the questions you were taught to fear are actually the beginning of your freedom? What if doubt isn’t the opposite of faith… but the doorway into a deeper one? For many Christians, the Bible was handed to us like a fragile object: don’t touch it too hard, don’t ask too much, don’t notice the seams, and whatever you do—don’t question the sacred cows. We were trained to confuse certainty with spirituality, obedience with silence, and faith with never being uncomfortable. But real life has a way of interrupting that kind of religion. You start noticing contradictions. You start seeing harmful interpretations. You start realizing that some “biblical truths” were actually fear-based control systems dressed up in church language. And eventually you face the question so many people carry quietly: If I’m honest about what I see… what happens to my faith? This Student Guide exists for that moment. Progressive Literalism is an eight-week journey for anyone who is ready to stop performing certainty and start building a faith that can hold truth, complexity, and real life. This isn’t about tearing everything down just to feel edgy. And it isn’t about keeping everything the same just to feel safe. It’s about something better: a Rebel Faith approach to Scripture that is honest, historically aware, spiritually mature, and rooted in the way of Jesus. Each week includes two parts designed to work together: Personal Reflection (to complete at home before class) This section prepares your heart. It begins with prayer, then Scripture readings, then a devotional that names the real emotional experience of questioning faith—fear, grief, anger, relief, and hope. The devotional does not “solve” everything. It sets the stage. It helps you notice what’s happening inside you so you can walk into class prepared—not with perfect answers, but with honest awareness. Group Session (to complete in class) This section builds community and deepens understanding. It includes prayer, Scripture readings, warm-up questions, a video lesson, and discussion questions designed to help you process and integrate what you’re learning. The video lessons do the deep dive: they challenge shallow certainty, confront harmful religious systems, and offer a wiser way of reading Scripture—without flattening it, weaponizing it, or turning it into a brittle rulebook. Over eight weeks, you’ll move through themes like: beginning with honest questions - what to do when Scripture doesn’t always agree with itself - understanding the Bible as a library of sacred writings - why context is not optional - how Scripture holds multiple voices in tension - why literalism is not the same as faithfulness - how to measure faith by fruit, wisdom, and love - and how to reconstruct a faith you can actually live inside This guide is for people who are tired of fake religion. It’s for people who still love God but can’t pretend anymore. It’s for people who want a faith that can survive adulthood. A faith that doesn’t require intellectual dishonesty. A faith that doesn’t depend on fear. A faith that tells the truth. You are not “backsliding” because you have questions. You are not broken because certainty no longer works. You are not alone because your faith is changing. You are growing. And if God is truly good, then honest questions cannot be a threat—because truth doesn’t fear being examined. Welcome to the journey.