Separate fact from fiction in popular Christian beliefs. Examine commonly held traditions and teachings to discover which have genuine historical and scriptural support.

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Course Content

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Is the "Tower of the Flock" in Micah 4:8 Historically and Scripturally Accurate or a Myth?
Does the Lack of Uniformity Among Spirit-filled Christians Imply That Specific Doctrinal Practices Don't Matter?
Did the early Christians believe in a flat earth?
Do ancient flood stories prove the Bible copied from other sources?
Are Generational Curses Biblical or Part of the Historic Faith?
Free Course Guide

What This Free Course Covers

This free course brings together five question-and-answer lessons on popular Christian claims that need to be tested carefully. The lessons ask whether familiar stories and teachings are supported by Scripture, early Christian writings, early Jewish sources, or other primary sources.

Topics include the “Tower of the Flock” story connected with Micah 4:8 and Bethlehem, the claim that differing practices among Spirit-filled Christians mean doctrine does not matter, early Christian comments on the shape of the earth, ancient flood stories and whether they prove Genesis borrowed from earlier sources, and the modern teaching of generational curses. Across the course, the emphasis is not on dismissing every tradition, but on asking what evidence is actually available.

Students will see how the lessons distinguish Scripture from later speculation, how they use early Christian sources, and why attractive stories should not be treated as true simply because they are often repeated.

Primary sources Christian myths Scripture and tradition Apostolic teaching Early Christian writings Discernment Ancient history Flood accounts Doctrinal testing

What You Will Study

  • Why the “Tower of the Flock” story connected with Micah 4:8 is treated as unsupported by early Christian and early Jewish sources
  • How to test claims about Bible-times customs by asking for primary sources rather than repeated hearsay
  • Why disagreement among Christians is not presented as proof that doctrine and practice do not matter
  • How John 16:12-13 and Jude 1:3 are used in the course’s discussion of apostolic teaching and unity
  • What the lesson says early Christian writers believed about the earth as a globe, along with one noted exception
  • How ancient flood accounts are compared with Genesis without assuming the Bible copied from them
  • Why the generational curses teaching is rejected as absent from the New Testament and from biblical terminology

Questions This Course Helps Answer

  • Is the “Tower of the Flock” in Micah 4:8 connected to sacrificial lambs born near Bethlehem?
  • Do early Christian or early Jewish writings mention newborn lambs being wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in mangers?
  • How can Christians evaluate popular stories about ancient Jewish or biblical customs?
  • Does a lack of uniformity among sincere Christians mean a doctrine or practice does not matter?
  • Was Jesus’ promise that the Spirit would guide into all truth addressed to every later individual Christian in the same way?
  • How does the course understand the unity of the apostles and the early church?
  • Did early Christians believe the earth was flat?
  • Were ancient educated Christians aware of the idea of a spherical earth?
  • Does the existence of older flood stories prove Genesis borrowed from them?
  • Can multiple accounts of a major event point to a shared historical event rather than literary copying?
  • What differences does the course note between Genesis and stories such as Gilgamesh or other Mesopotamian flood accounts?
  • Are generational curses taught in the New Testament?

Lesson-by-Lesson Guide

Is the "Tower of the Flock" in Micah 4:8 Historically and Scripturally Accurate or a Myth?

This lesson examines the claim that shepherds near Bethlehem used the “Tower of the Flock” for sacrificial lambs that were wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in mangers. The lesson says the story is not supported by Scripture, early Christian writings, or early Jewish sources, and uses it as a warning about repeated claims with no primary source.

  • What is the “Tower of the Flock” story connected with Micah 4:8?
  • Do early Christian or early Jewish writings support this Bethlehem lamb tradition?
  • Why are primary sources important when evaluating claims about Bible-times customs?
  • How can repeated Sunday school or commentary claims become accepted without evidence?

Does the Lack of Uniformity Among Spirit-filled Christians Imply That Specific Doctrinal Practices Don't Matter?

This lesson responds to the argument that if Spirit-filled Christians disagree on practices, God must not care about those practices. It points to Jude 1:3, John 16:12-13, the apostles’ unity, and the early church’s effort to hold to what the apostles handed down.

  • Does Christian disagreement prove that doctrine and practice do not matter?
  • How does the lesson interpret Jesus’ promise that the Spirit would guide into all truth?
  • Why does the lesson connect apostolic unity with the Holy Spirit’s guidance?
  • What role do handed-down apostolic teachings play in the course’s answer?

Did the early Christians believe in a flat earth?

This lesson addresses flat earth claims and asks what early Christians said about secular learning and the shape of the earth. It says many educated people in the ancient world, including several early Christian writers, spoke of the earth as round or spherical, while also noting that not every early Christian writer agreed.

  • Did early Christian writers teach that the earth was flat?
  • Were ancient people aware of arguments for a round earth before modern times?
  • How does the lesson describe the relationship between Christians and secular science?
  • Which early Christian writer is noted as rejecting the idea of a round earth?

Do ancient flood stories prove the Bible copied from other sources?

This lesson considers ancient flood stories, including Mesopotamian accounts, and asks whether their similarities to Genesis prove biblical borrowing. The lesson argues that similar accounts can also point to a shared historical event, and it stresses differences between Genesis and other flood traditions.

  • Do older written flood stories prove that Genesis copied from them?
  • Can multiple accounts describe the same event without one copying the other?
  • What similarities and differences does the lesson see between Genesis and other flood accounts?
  • Why does the course distinguish the date a story was written down from the age of the account itself?

Are Generational Curses Biblical or Part of the Historic Faith?

This short lesson defines the modern teaching of generational curses as the idea that ancestral sin can remain as a curse needing present repentance or deliverance. It rejects the doctrine because the term does not appear in Scripture and the teaching is not found in the New Testament.

  • What is meant by the doctrine of generational curses?
  • Does the New Testament teach Christians to break generational curses?
  • Does the term “generational curses” appear in the Bible?
  • Why does the lesson treat the absence of New Testament support as decisive?

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Commonly Believed Christian Myths

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  • 5 Lessons
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