Welcome to Berean Test! My name is Vince Wright. I have been following Jesus since August 2010 and my love for Christ grows each passing day, I have a passion for apologetics, philosophy, logic, critical thinking, and of course, Jesus Christ!
What Is This Website About?
The Berean Test is about applying critical thinking skills to compare lyrical content from popular Christian artists against the Bible for accuracy. The name “Berean Test” comes from the book of Acts, describing the care in which the Bereans handled the Gospel message preached by the Apostle Paul.
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11, NASB, emphasis mine)
With the Bible as my reliable source of objective truth, I intend to thoroughly analyze every jot and tittle, read things in context, and become a student of each song I review. Through this rigorous process, and using my evaluation criteria, I will analyze the Biblical accuracy of Christian music or secular music that might have Christian significance.
I also provide resources on sites I frequent to research Scripture for reviews, similar websites to The Berean Test, and links to make an informed decision about artist theology.
My reviews are my own opinion and should not be taken as Gospel, but thoughts worth considering. I recognize that God can use anything, but that doesn’t absolve my duty to think critically about the music we listen to. I aim to remain objective, but acknowledge that I have biases that alter my objectivity.
Why Does This Website Exist?
This website exists for one main purpose: to glorify God in everything I write on this website. I hope that through my critical examination of lyrical content, this site may be a blessing to those who wish to be good Bereans, rebuking unbiblical content and uplifting Godly music.
My Testimony
I grew up in a Christian home. When I became a teenager, I started to live for myself, doing whatever my wicked heart desired. Though I called myself a Christian, it was because I believed that God existed and that Jesus died for my sins. I had no idea what that meant. Nobody explained it to me and I did not have the courage to ask my parents or my pastor.
After high school and college, I became interested in the question “what is truth?” Though I had briefly examined several worldviews (Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, pantheism, panentheism, atheistic views, etc.), it wasn’t until I read the words of Jesus in John 14:6 that I stumbled upon something that caught my attention. Jesus was not just claiming to have the truth, but claimed to be the Truth! So, I started to learn as much as I could about the Jesus that I grew up with. After 6 months of research and an unforgettable personal encounter with Jesus, on August 2010, while driving to my then fiancee’s house, I gave my life to Christ, clocking in at 55 MPH in a 40 MPH zone!
After surrendering my life to Jesus, my life began to change. Many things I once loved to do, I started to hate. Many things I once hated, I started to love. I never once thought I would start a website where I critically examine Christian music to determine if it’s Biblical! I am nowhere perfect, but I am a better man, husband, and father because of Jesus! He is radically changing my life. To God be the glory and the praise!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or contact me.
With love in Christ,
-Vince Wright
Interviews
I’ve been interviewed by several different podcasts and YouTube channels, including:
Statement of Faith
- BIBLE: I believe the Bible, consisting of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety, is the only divinely inspired, inerrant, objectively true, and authoritative written Word of God. God is the all-encompassing, invariable authority of faith, belief, and practice. The divine inspiration of Scripture extends to each word of the original manuscripts, but not to the various translations of Scripture. Nonetheless, we believe that translations such as the KJV, NASB, and ESV faithfully represent the original manuscripts and are the authoritative Word of God, ‘profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Bible should be interpreted literally, grammatically, contextually, and historically. (Genesis 1-3, Deuteronomy 29:29, John 10:35, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, and 2 Peter 1:21)
- GOD: I believe in only one God, the Creator, who is infinite, personal, eternally existing in three persons, and who is revealed to us in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 45:22, Matthew 28:19, John 4:24, John 5:26, 1 Corinthians 8:4, and Colossians 1:16-19)
- JESUS CHRIST: I believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son who has neither beginning nor end. He was conceived in the flesh by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully man. Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and arose bodily on the third day. He ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father as our only mediator, high priest, and advocate. (Matthew 1:23-25, John 1:1, John 14:3, Acts 4:12, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 1 Corinthians 15:20, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 4:14-16, and 1 Peter 2:22)
- HOLY SPIRIT: I believe the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. He is a person, not a force. The Holy Spirit’s ministries include convicting all people of sin; calling, regenerating, indwelling and baptizing believers into the Body of Christ; setting them apart to a holy life; and teaching, keeping and empowering them day by day. The Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to each believer according to His will. There are diversities of gifts, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Christian for the building up of the church. (John 3:5-8, Acts 1:8, Acts 5:3-4, Acts 16:7-14, 1 Corinthians 2:9-2, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 12:3-13, 1 Corinthians 12:28-31, 1 Corinthians 13:8-11, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 5:18, and Hebrews 2:3-4)
- HUMAN RACE: I believe that both men and women were created in the image of God to enjoy a personal relationship with Him. As a result of deliberate disobedience, they fell from their sinless state and they and all their descendants became sinners. Consequently, they cannot save themselves and apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ, they are condemned to a place of eternal torment. (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:7, Matthew 5:20-48, John 3:16-18, John 3:36, Romans 2:6-16, Romans 5:12-21, Romans 6:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, and Revelation 20:13-15)
- SALVATION: I believe we are saved solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone. This salvation was purchased by the substitutionary death and shed blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of every person and is offered to everyone as a free gift. The person who has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior enjoys the assurance of salvation. We believe that at death believers enter eternal glory and that unbelievers enter eternal torment. (John 1:12, John 3:16, John 10:28, Acts 16:31, Acts 20:20-21, Romans 3:28, Romans 10:9, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Philippians 1:6)
- SANCTIFICATION: I believe that every believer has been sanctified, set apart with a perfect standing before God. As believers yield themselves to the Holy Spirit, they will experience spiritual growth in holiness, but they will not experience perfection in conduct. Future rewards are determined by a believer’s obedience to the Lord. (Hebrews 10:10, Philippians 3:12, Romans 6:13-19, and 1 Corinthians 3:8)
- CHURCH: I believe that Christ is the Head of the Church, which is His Body. All who have trusted in Him as Savior are members of this Body. Christians should commit themselves to worship, instruction, fellowship, stewardship, and service in a local church. The church is responsible to represent Jesus Christ in the world through godly living and evangelism. All believers are commanded to participate in two church ordinances: believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 26:26-29, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 3:6-10, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 5:23-27, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Hebrews 10:25, 1 Peter 2:9-10, and 1 John 4:17)
- SATAN: I believe that Satan was created as an angelic being. He became the author of sin, our adversary and accuser, and deceiver of the nations. He will finally be overcome by the Lord Jesus Christ and suffer eternal punishment in the lake of fire. (Genesis 3:1, Job 1:6-12, Matthew 4:3-11, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 3:8, 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9-10, and Revelation 20:10)
- GOSPEL: I believe that the Gospel is the most important message that Jesus taught. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, Matthew 24:14, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 4:43, and Luke 16:16) is that, while we were sinners deserving eternal separation from God (Matthew 18:7-9, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Romans 6:23, Jude 1:7, and Revelation 14:11), Jesus paid the penalty for our lawbreaking through substitutionary atonement on the cross (Isaiah 53:1-12, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, and 1 Corinthians 6:20) and rose again on the third day (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Through repentance of sins and trust in Jesus (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15, Luke 24:47, Acts 3:19-21, Acts 20:21, and 2 Timothy 2:25-26), we will spend eternity with Him (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 5:24, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 6:22-23, and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
- THE SECOND COMING: I believe in the personal, visible, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. This includes the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, and the eternal blessing of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked (John 14:3, Acts 1:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 19:11-16, and Revelation 20:1-15).
- MARRIAGE, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY: I believe that God has established marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman. The Bible defines gender as either male or female with distinct roles and features that complement each other by God’s sovereign design, and that God doesn’t make mistakes in his will or design for our lives. It is sinful to deviate from God’s design for sex and marriage (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:26-27, and Ephesians 5:31).
- MISSIONS: I believe that God has given the Church a great commission to make disciples of all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8, and 2 Corinthians 5:20).
- SPIRITUAL GIFTS: I believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts, and that these gifts are given to empower believers for the edification of the Church and the advancement of the Gospel. Believers should seek to develop and utilize their spiritual gifts for the glory of God and the benefit of others (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, and 1 Peter 4:10-11).
- THE FINAL STATE: I believe in the bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46, John 5:28-29, Revelation 20:5-6, and Revelation 20:11-15).
Updates:
05/10/2023 – Added 11-15. Thanks to Steve MacDonald for suggesting it and James Brackett for helping me with the edits!
04/27/2022 – Added an “Interviews” section, which contains links to other people who have interviewed me on my work. Also, slightly modified the language to paragraph 5 within “What Is This Website About?”.
04/07/2022 – Moved the Statement of Faith page into this one. Thanks to James Brackett for helping me with the edits!