What We Have Learned

We believe that humanity does NOT and CANNOT understand God: His nature, His power, His will, His character, or His personality. He is, in the truest sense, an “alien” or “unknown” God (Acts 17:23), completely outside of our reality, our nature, our perception, our understanding and even our imagination.

And the Bible itself supports this belief. Jesus's Nazarene dwelling and social status, His teachings, actions and even His death were NOTHING what the people expected of their "Messiah". Even his own disciples were baffled and bewildered, often talking amongst themselves saying "We don't understand" and asking "What does he mean by that?" or "Why is He doing that?".

So, if those who walked with Jesus couldn’t fully understand Him, then how can we, two thousand years later, understand Him by reading their letters? We can’t.

“O wonder beyond wonders, rapture, power, and amazement is it, that one can say nothing at all about the gospel, nor even conceive of it, nor compare it with anything.” 

Marcion of Sinope (85 A.D.-160 A.D.)

The church often calls God “all-powerful”, “all-loving” and “all-knowing”. Yet at the same time, it places limits on Him; saying that God "tries" to do things or that He has “regrets” (Genesis 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:11). But both ideas imply weakness. To “try” means the possibility of failure; to “regret” means you didn’t know the outcome ahead of time. Either way, the result is the same: a god who tries and regrets cannot be all-powerful or all-knowing.

But Jesus revealed something very different. He spoke of a God who doesn't “try” but instead, does. Not “attempting” but completing; not “striving” but finishing, just as He declared on the cross... “It is finished” (John 19:30). One of the clearest examples of this is Jesus’ mission itself. When He came into the world, He did not merely "try" to save humanity, He DID. Nothing and no one held Him back. And He will do it again when He returns.

Now of course, from our limited perspective, there are things that can appear as if God has boundaries or limitations. And as to why these things exist, no one knows. But still, we think we are closer to the truth by admitting “we don’t know” than by saying “God can’t” or “God tried but failed.”

We believe Jesus came to do more than just die for our sin. Right at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus declared that He came to give us "Good News". What is this "Good News"? Contrary to what had been taught about God up to that point, including every god in every other religion, this God, the one who Jesus called His "Father", actually loves us and wants all of us to be with Him.

Jesus further described His Father as not being judgmental, jealous, vengeful or cruel as is the description of all other gods. This God does not have "favorites". This God does not demand worship or repayment for things as a quid pro quo. This God unconditionally loves us, defends us against the accuser (the devil) and is going to SAVE us, literally, all of us. The "Good News" message was this: "It is going to be ok. You are safe!" 

Contrary to the first line of a popular, Christian, New York Times Best-Selling book, the truth is... IT IS ABOUT YOU!

How can we say this? Because Jesus said so. 

Jesus was sent here to earth for US. Not for Himself or God. His message and sacrifice attest to this, that He was sent for you and me.

Therefore, we believe that any lessening or diminishment of this amazing teaching is an attack from the evil one.

Jesus promised that the "Spirit of Truth" would live in us, remind us of His words, teach us new things, and guide us into ALL truth (John 14:17, 14:26, 16:12–13). The writer of 1 John even says that the Spirit makes outside instruction unnecessary because the Spirit itself will teach you (1 John 2:27).

Yet many religious leaders reject this in practice. While they will say the Spirit dwells in us, they still insist we need them to interpret God for us and be our intercessor, claiming we are too corrupt or incapable. But if that were true, why would Jesus give us the Spirit at all?

Therefore, we believe Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit because He knew human leaders would mislead us as “blind guides”, whether they meant well or not. We believe that the Holy Spirit is our real teacher and our guide into all truth. Not religious authorities or even the Bible.

The idea that God "demands" or "needs" worship goes against the very nature of love itself. Jesus taught us that love is selfless, sacrificial, doesn't need recognition or praise and is not a quid pro quo, meaning of course that "If you do for me, I'll do for you".

It is also worth noting that if a human father were to demand such worship from his children, as still happens in some parts of the world, most of us would be disgusted with such a father and call that abuse, not love. And yet, many churches teach that this is exactly what God expects from us. We don’t buy that.

What we do believe though is that when the time comes where we do worship God in heaven, it won't be this forced, regimented act as described in the bible. It will be something that we will WANT to do as a response to God's love for us, not a requirement.

The church often claims that God uses evil to highlight His goodness or suffering to show His mercy. But that makes God sound dualistic, like He needs an opposite in order to be known. We reject that. Evil is not God’s tool; it is the enemy’s.

Yes, we believe God can bring good out of a bad situation, but that is not the same as saying He needs bad things in order to accomplish good. Truth works the same way: it does not need a lie to exist. But a lie can only exist because truth came first. For instance “2+2=4” is true by it's nature, it doesn’t need a falsehood to validate it. But without that truth, the statement “2+2=5” wouldn’t register as false or even exist because lies are parasitic on truth. In the same way, God, being the origin of all truth, must therefore be a standalone, self-generating and self-sufficient entity whose actions and identity are not predicated on something else already existing.

But we do understand that this still doesn't answer one of the biggest questions...

Why does God allow suffering at all? And the truth is, we don’t know. We wish we did. But we refuse to accept ridiculous answers like: “God is testing you,” “God is punishing you,” or “God needs you to prove yourself.” And the idea that God needs to “do evil so that good may result,” is something that even Paul himself calls foolish in Romans 3:8.

So ultimately, at Backtrackers, we believe that God is all-loving, all good and that “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1John 1:5)

The church teaches that faith is a gift from God, something He gives to some but not others, while at the same time making salvation dependent on it. But if that were true, it means God is unfair, giving eternal life only to those He “chose” to endow with faith. 

This confusion appears to stem from the Bible itself. Paul claims in 1 Corinth 12, that faith is a Spirit-given gift and that not all people will receive the same gifts. Yet later in the same chapter and again in Chapter 14:1, he urges believers to “desire” the greater gifts and ask for them. Which is it? If God alone decides who gets what, then any pursuit is pointless. But if we are told to pursue them, then the "gift" cannot be fixed in the first place.

So at Backtrackers, we believe faith is not a gift. Because a gift is something that is given, not pursued or attained by any action of the receiver. Instead, we believe it is simply the default state you’re left in when you don’t know something that you wish you did. Faith can lean on hope or even bits of evidence which may bring comfort in difficult times. But it still never reaches certainty which is the ultimate goal.

But perhaps the biggest issue is how the church uses this confusion. Leaders often say God wants us to believe without proof, and they treat searching for evidence as weak or sinful. But if the Spirit’s role is to guide us into all truth, then seeking proof and truth isn’t rebellion, it's the fulfillment of a promise.

From the very beginning in the garden, knowledge has been treated as something dangerous and to be cautious of. In much of the Old Testament, the pursuit of knowledge wasn’t encouraged for ordinary people. It was reserved for priests, scribes, and rulers who were supposedly chosen by God. And the commoners were expected to obey them, no questions asked.

Jesus, incredibly, turned this upside down. He taught that EVERYONE, men AND women, old AND young, rich AND poor, has the right and even the ability to seek truth. He promised the Spirit of Truth to guide all people, not just their leaders, into knowledge and understanding (John 14:17, John 16:13). Far from warning us away, He encouraged the pursuit of wisdom and made it central to His teaching.

The attack on knowledge has always been the lie that ordinary people cannot be trusted to seek knowledge, not that knowledge in itself is harmful. At Backtrackers, we believe Jesus gave us the freedom to pursue knowledge, in all it's forms.

From the beginning of recorded civilization, women have been blamed as the cause of humanity’s downfall. From Genesis to folklore, religions have painted women as weak, gullible, emotionally unstable, or dangerous tempters who must be ruled over and controlled. This narrative has been used to justify callous and abusive treatment of women for thousands of years.

But when you look at Jesus, you see a very different picture. He repeatedly broke tradition by respecting women, teaching them, defending them, and even entrusting them with the first announcement of His resurrection. Where religion saw women as a problem, Jesus treated them as equals while rebuking those who tried to subdue them.

So at Backtrackers, we throw out all the accusations, stereotypes, roles and hierarchies as we believe that they are the teachings of men, not God. Jesus showed us that He has disciples of all sorts and can use anyone He chooses to do His work without the permission of culture, tradition and priests.

We find the idea that someone can "reject" God, as both the church and the Bible make it sound, to be unrealistic. We say this because logic says you can only reject that which you actually know. People can reject an idea of God, or a version of God they’ve been taught, but that is not the same as rejecting God Himself. Because if God exists beyond our reality and our comprehension, then no one can fully know Him. And if you can’t know Him, then you can’t reject Him.

This also applies to the so-called “unforgivable sin.” How could anyone commit it if no one even fully understands what the Holy Spirit is, or what it means to blaspheme against it? If the meaning is unclear to everyone, then it’s not something anyone could actually commit.

Most churches teach that salvation is only for those who accept Jesus. But we believe Jesus saved everyone, not just those who acknowledge Him. His forgiveness was never about our performance or qualifications but was freely given to all because of God’s love.

Now critics argue that if this were true, it would violate “free will,” but we see it differently. For instance, no one asks for permission before pulling a drowning person from the water or dragging someone from a burning building. YOU ACT! Because they almost certainly want to be saved. We believe God’s love works in a similar way: He knows our situation and what we would want, so He doesn’t need to wait for us to ask first. Like a loving father yanking his child out of the street before a car comes, He saves us even if we don’t yet realize we are in danger. 

For a deeper look at why we believe this and why eternal torment contradicts the "Good News" Jesus preached, check out our booklet: "Is Salvation For Everyone?".

“The truest measure of a hero is when that person lays down their life with the knowledge that those they save will never know” - The Outer Limits S1 E15 “The Voyage Home”

Just as we believe Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit because He knew what the church would become, we believe the same applies to the Bible.

There is no evidence Jesus ever wrote anything down. And the most likely reason is... He didn’t need to. He entrusted His words to the Spirit, where His message could not be corrupted. And unlike manuscripts that can be manipulated and used by those who have an agenda, as is seen in the Gospels where the devil uses Scripture to tempt Jesus, we believe that Jesus knew the safest place for His words was not on paper but in people; with everything He wrote on our hearts being trustworthy, loving, accessible, and protected for everyone.

That said, while we don’t hold the Bible to be 100% flawless, we do believe it contains some truth worth searching for. 

At Backtrackers, we do not ask for tithes or offerings. We believe that loving God with your resources means taking responsibility yourself; giving directly to those in need rather than handing money to an institution and hoping it’s used properly.

The Old Testament tithe was about supporting the Levites, but it quickly became corrupt and exploitative. Jesus opposed this system, and yet the practice continues today, where many church leaders live comfortably while those who are funding them may struggle. We believe this is unacceptable.

We’re not saying you shouldn’t support your church at all. Practical needs like shelter, water, and electricity all cost money, and it’s reasonable to help if you can. But turning generosity into a strict 10% requirement, often with added requests, is unreasonable and wrong.

God doesn’t need middlemen to funnel charity through. He has given us the discernment to direct it ourselves and history shows that when too much money is concentrated in one place, greed follows.

But if at any point you would like to support Backtrackers, the best way is to watch our YouTube videos or check out one of our low-cost booklets, like our upcoming "Truth About Tithing", where we explain the history, abuses and relevance of tithing today.