About a year ago while I was at Harvard, talking with one of the students I regularly mentored, it happened that two of his friends walked by and stopped to say hello. We began to talk about their perspective on life and it quickly became clear that they were staunch atheists with a strong aversion to Christianity. Out of curiosity I asked them, “So, what’s your biggest … [Read more...]
Five Ways To Answer A Question
Christians seem to have a poor reputation for answering questions. Would you like to know why people don't listen to our answers? And do you want some ideas for changing this situation? Then this post is for you! Let's start by understanding the problem a little better. There are at least three reasons why people are not always interested in our answers: For one, sometimes … [Read more...]
Is God A Mystery?
Many people think that God is basically mysterious. This is both a pop sentiment, like, "OMG! God is like, so, you know, mysterious! I mean, God is GOD, so that's BIG!" And it seems to be the careful explanation of sophisticated thinkers. For instance, a famous hymn by William Cowper begins with the stanza: God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His … [Read more...]
The Devil’s Delusion by David Berlinski – A Book Review
Bias. In order to undercut an unpleasant argument, just claim that prejudicial self-interest blinds another person from seeing the error of their ways. So what to make of Dr. Berlinksi, with a Ph.D. from Princeton and time spent as a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics and molecular biology at Columbia University, who opens his critique of the New Atheists by claiming: Here it … [Read more...]
The Main Problem with the Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
The parable of the blind men and the elephant "has crossed between many religious traditions and is part of Jain, Buddhist, Sufi and Hindu lore." One version goes like this: "A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said: 'It is like a … [Read more...]
Tactics by Greg Koukl: A Book Review
Want more friends? Better conversations? Frequent, life-changing spiritual encounters? But wait, there’s more! What if you could also avoid dead-end discussions, pointless arguments, and go-nowhere debates? Then you should be interested in Tactics, a book by Greg Koukl, the president of Stand to Reason Ministries. The fact is that many Christians feel intimidated by … [Read more...]
Were Jesus’ Disciples Gullible?
One of the common attacks on the reliability of the Bible, and the New Testament in particular, is the idea that “people back then were a lot more gullible about things like miracles and people rising from the dead.” A commenter on a BBC internet thread put it like this, “Were the disciples just gullible? Aren't the followers of all religious leaders?” Or as Rudolph Bultmann … [Read more...]
Why Are Christians So Crazy?
Depending on where you grow up or currently live, it is possible that all or nearly all the Christians that you know strike you as crazy. For instance, they might: Be opposed to science Be hypocritical Make racist or sexist comments … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Reason for God by Tim Keller
The Reason for God, by Tim Keller, is an outstanding response to the biggest questions of our day. Tim Keller is the highly regarded pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a church with weekly attendance around 5,000. Redeemer has planted dozens of other churches and is generally considered to be one of the most influential churches in America. From the first … [Read more...]
Come to the Mission America Coalition’s Annual Conference! October 29-31 in Denver!
What do Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, and The Reason for God by Tim Keller have in common? Certainly, each of these books have been incredible bestsellers, inspiring millions to know and follow Jesus. But they are also books on apologetics. That is, they provide logical reasons and documented evidence that Christianity is really, … [Read more...]