It should come as no surprise to anyone who is at all paying attention to the culture around us that we can no longer assume that the people we interact with subscribe to a Judeo/Christian worldview. In fact, an increasing percentage of the populace is hostile to such a view. This begs the question of church leaders, "what are you doing to get your people grounded in the … [Read more...]
Love and apologetics
A few days ago I retweeted this: If your theology doesn't make you love people more, it's wrong. — Tullian Tchividjian (@PastorTullian) March 7, 2014 For my friends who are involved in Christian apologetics, I would rephrase this to say that "if your apologetic doesn't make you love people more, it's wrong." There are two reasons that I say this. The first reason is that love … [Read more...]
Dealing with Apparent Failure in Apologetics
It is my guess that just about everyone who is interested in Christian apologetics is aware of 1 Peter 3:15 in which Peter encourages believers to be ready to make a defense (apology) to everyone who asks about our hope. Yet, when we make that defense, not everyone responds to the claims of the Gospel. Admittedly, sometimes the lack of response is because of a poor … [Read more...]
Standing in the Light – Four Considerations for Defending the Faith
While driving, I had a chance to listen to an Apologetics 315 podcast featuring an interview with Peter Kreeft. If you have not subscribed to the Apologetics 315 podcasts, I strongly suggest that you do so if you have any interest in Christian apologetics. Brian Auten does an outstanding job of interviewing apologists in a way that is informative yet avoids technical … [Read more...]
At the core of doubt
In the story of Peter walking on the water, Matthew records Jesus' response when Peter became frightened and started to sink. Jesus said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) This phrase has often been interpreted as a rebuke of all doubt. The understanding is that Jesus is telling Peter that it was wrong to doubt, the inference being that all doubt is … [Read more...]
What CSI Tells Us About Our Desire for Truth
I recently read a post by Jill Carattini of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. In the post she discusses the reason for the popularity of forensic criminal science dramas on television such as CSI, NCIS and Bones. The shows center around the desire to find out what really happened to the victim and to bring the murderer to justice. The investigators are driven to solve … [Read more...]
Homeland Security for the Church – The Need to Defend the Faith
For my generation and our progeny, the church cannot start from the position that people want religion and are shopping around to determine what religion is right or best. We cannot take for granted that people in the community feel a need for God. The popularity of the writings of Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins is evidence enough of hostility in our … [Read more...]
What Nehemiah can tell us about apologetics in the church
I have heard that there are those in the church who do not feel that apologetics should be part of the discipleship process for believers. While I find it hard to believe that anyone would articulate such a position, I must admit that for a large part of my Christian experience, there was very little content that taught me how to answer the questions that arise from those who … [Read more...]
Confessions of a functional atheist
One of the accusations against Christians is that we have a psychological need to believe a fantasy. In other words, the atheist thinks that we make up a belief in God to provide comfort against the unknown. Our belief in God is like whistling as we pass through the graveyard. It doesn't provide any real benefit but it makes us feel better. Honesty requires that I get … [Read more...]
That pesky sense of oughtness
Science has done an admirable job of exploring and describing the processes and functions of the things I see around me. I am not an astrophysicist but because of advances in science, it is possible for me to know more about the composition and operation of stars than the best scientist of several hundred years ago. We have made tremendous progress in our understanding of the … [Read more...]