There are the following milestones this month:

1. The kernbeisser.ch website has been around for 10 years
2. The interpretation of the letter to the Romans was completed after 5 years
3. The hawfinch (german: Kernbeisser) has emigrated!

Kernbeisser.ch

This website has been around for 10 years. A milestone. The first article was published on February 8, 2014:

The website is growing

After the first contribution, more followed. Over 400 contributions are now available in 3 languages. All contributions appear in topic groups, because in my opinion no topic can be done justice with a single contribution. In addition, smaller, focused articles help to ensure that individual aspects of a topic can be better absorbed by the reader.

Last but not least, there are often very specific questions, views or opinions that people have that cannot be addressed with “scientific” work. My aim is to set people free, to encourage them to set out on their own journey. This often works better if you look at topics not only theologically, but also from a human or cultural perspective. No one lives in a sterile environment and no one can escape the spirit of the times.

The name Kernbeisser

The Kernbeisser website has been around for 10 years. However, the name Kernbeisser has been around since 2003, when I wrote my first posts under this pseudonym on the jesus.ch and livenet.ch forums. That is the origin of the name. I chose the name because it sums up what is important to me: Not getting stuck on superficialities, but daring to engage in a real debate. Bite the bullet, so to speak.

When thousands of my posts on jesus.ch disappeared, I realized that having my own platform would make more sense. There I was also able to group topics more easily, realize a sensible structure and add further functions as required. A few professions that I had acquired up to that point stood me in good stead. Although everything remained and remains completely imperfect, progress was finally being made.

Choice of topic

What I write is my choice, limited only by my time and my financial means. Articles and videos are largely produced in spare time. I do this work because it’s important, not because I can make a living from it. That’s why I practise letting go and am happy about other people and websites, through which completely different aspects of faith are taken up and deepened. Time and again, people decide to support the Kernbeisser project financially. This helps in a tangible way and makes us grateful. Because without investment, there is no result. Thank you for your support!

On this website I only share what has become important to me over time. I’m putting myself out there on this website and in the videos because it makes a difference. Because many people are on the way to a better or new understanding. You are looking for. I want them to find something that helps. I share my understanding, as do many others. It seems important to set accents here and there so that we can think about it further.

Believing authentically

Many people, especially those from an evangelical background, are looking for a new approach to faith. They are looking for a different and more critical approach to their own faith culture. They often have specific questions that are not discussed in their own communities – where they are often even taboo. This constricts and excludes. I know this from my own experience and meet people all the time who have had similar experiences.

The question then is how to deal positively with questions of life and faith? If you don’t have the right environment, it’s easy to lose your faith, your trust in God. You turn away from your own community. Churches are emptying out, free churches are feeling the same and are often just something like instantaneous heaters where people appear briefly and then quietly disappear again. There is a lack of authentic reference to faith. This is often perceived as a lack of authentic relevance to life. Being a Christian and being human belong together, otherwise you only adhere to one ideology. If you want to shape your life in a coherent way, if you want to live out congruence, you are looking for suitable forms of expression. If these are no longer found in one’s own tradition, one detaches oneself from it and searches further. In my opinion, this is a normal process, but today it is happening to a particularly large number of people at the same time and previous forms of community are proving to be fragile. We are in a time of upheaval.

Today I describe myself as post-evangelical or even post-denominational. I am no longer bound by previous structures and am wondering specifically how things will continue. Such questions are asked in many places. And if you are already on your way, reorganizing some topics, understanding them anew, what should and may that look like? This requires courageous decisions not only to allow openness and debate, but also to consciously encourage them.

I don’t feel the need to be right, but I do try to explain why I have come to this or that opinion in a comprehensible way. Life and faith processes need to be taken seriously. It is in the exchange and joint learning (not: teaching) that knowledge grows. I therefore advocate an open and curious learning culture and often wish that this had also been an issue in the faith communities in which I was active. Unfortunately, that wasn’t it for me. Others have the same experience, which is regularly reported back to me here on this website.

It’s not about the right doctrine

Some readers may think that I am only interested in preaching “correct doctrine”. Far from it. That is just as one-sidedly wrong as the view of some others that I am a false teacher. This is also just black and white thinking that doesn’t lead anywhere. It is not about “the right doctrine”, as if there were only one selection of “right” views, to be sharply distinguished from all other “wrong” views. This does not help.

Perhaps it is a need to get rid of mental baggage and unhealthy ideas. I can understand that. However, I don’t think that the world is black and white, or that it’s all about a “right doctrine” that you can mentally retire on.

Anyone who pleads for a “correct doctrine” is slipping very close to legal thinking. The latter causes extreme suffering for many people. Every week, people write to me in comment columns, in e-mails or in other ways to denounce me, accuse me of heresy and are not clear about either what they themselves think or what I am saying here. They live in a different world that is often characterized by self-righteousness and exclusion. Such reactions are no longer published. These reactions have nothing to do with what the prophets, Jesus or the apostles taught.

So why does it work? That’s a good question. Paul, for example, prays for the believers that they may know God correctly (Eph 1:17). It is by no means the case that believers “automatically” have a correct understanding. The apostle often refers to practical things, such as the ability to discern, to recognize what is important (Phil 1:9-11), or that we may understand what God’s will is (Col 1:9-11). Paul talks about things as processes, not as a list of laws and requirements. Knowledge is alive. Faith is alive. Aliveness means that it develops, constantly realigns itself, unfolds and deals with the reality of a complex world.

Letter to the Romans

Another milestone is the completion of an interpretation of the letter to the Romans in February 2024. The first article was published in December 2018:

The letter to the Romans provides a foundation for today’s church. The letter was worked through step by step for about 5 years. There is a lot to discover. The interpretation is by no means comprehensive, but it shows Paul’s concerns for the church in Rome. It is the foundation for the church from all nations.

When Paul wrote this letter, it was probably simply read aloud. You won’t have needed more than one evening for this. However, since we live 2000 years later, we are no longer familiar with the context and many terms are no longer known, it is helpful to take a closer look at the letter.

It is a milestone on this website because it provides a coherent building block for an examination of the content of faith. I know that many have adopted this series of interpretations and are also studying through the letter to the Romans.

Emigration

Another milestone concerns myself. The hawfinch (german: Kernbeisser) has emigrated! I moved from Switzerland to the Netherlands in February 2024. This marks the end of an important and long period and also opens a new chapter. It will be a while before I’m set up again. I have high hopes for this step. Among other things, I hope to be able to free up more time for the Kernbeisser project. There are still many topics that have not yet received any attention.

Thank you very much!

The beginning was modest. I am grateful for 10 years in which this work grew steadily and many discussions took place. This work and website will not appeal to everyone. It was created with a very specific target group in mind. It’s what I can contribute. If it has helped you, I’m delighted. All of the topics dealt with here stem from our own disputes. My argument is certainly not your argument. Sometimes, however, there are overlaps and an astonished “What, you too?” in conversation. May it serve as an encouragement to you. Many thanks for any feedback.