Before I get started, let me take this quick moment to thank those who have voiced prayers for my wife and our family, as Kathy recovers from right thumb surgery. This posting is a revisiting of a subject I wrote on back in 2009 on the Real Issue blog. That posting and this one deal with the issue of the atonement as it relates to healing. The passage that is often … [Read more...]
The Apologist's Life of Worship
Introduction. Our family has had an interesting year filled with joys, frustrations, and wonderful moments of ministry. As one heavily entrenched with a passion to equip the body of Christ in the context of the defense of the faith, I have been reflecting upon the subject of worship in the life the apologist. What sparked this reflection is a church change that has … [Read more...]
Open Forum Response: “Is it Possible to Come to Moral Decisions Using Logical Reasoning Alone?”
A Quick Introduction. Not long ago, I had the privilege of speaking to a Christian student group at Christopher Newport University. The topic for the evening was “The Problem of Evil and Suffering.” Much of material for the talk came from the piece I wrote on "The Three Faces of Evil and the Christian Response." This posting emerges from a question I received during the Q … [Read more...]
“I Just Believe,” the Anti-Intellectual Faith Barrier to a Reasonable Faith
A few weeks ago following a worship service, I had an opportunity to speak with a potential member for our Ratio Christi club at the University of Mary Washington. The conversation moved from discussing Ratio Christ toward a discussion concerning her spiritual beliefs and convictions. Talk about a divine appointment. She was at church for the first time in a long time, and … [Read more...]
Responding to Cultural Buzzwords: Tolerance, Multiculturalism, and Relativism
Have you ever been placed in a situation where you have pointed out particular problems in our culture, only to have someone respond back with "Judge not, lest you be judged..."? In that encounter were you ever given the chance to finish it for them? In many cases, Christians are not given a chance. It is because we are told that "toleration" in a pluralistic, multicultural … [Read more...]
A Neighborhood Sidewalk Logic Lesson
My family and I live in a interesting setting when it comes to our housing. Back in 2003, we literally landed in a townhouse community where the neighborhood has ever reflected a transitional nature. How does it change? Families in renting or leasing scenarios either change residences due to not being able to pay the rent, been evicted because of negligence or not following … [Read more...]
Responses to Challenges from the New Atheists and 'Nones'
Over the last few months, I have been posting responses to some of the challenges coming from the (new) atheists and the "Nones" (those who profess no religious affiliation or faith). What I have done here is provided you with a listing of those responses from the Real Issue blog, so that you have a collection of them for your reference. By no means is this an exhaustive … [Read more...]
Who Really Holds the Crutch? Christianity or Atheism?
It was the 19th century atheist Ludwig Feurbach (1804-1872) who stated that "Religion is a dream of the human mind...in these days, illusion is sacred, truth profane." (Religion and Humanistic Atheism, xxxix). And of course who can forget the famous quote of Karl Marx (1818-1883) in response to his criticism of G. W. F. Hegel's "Philosophy of Right", "Religion is the sigh of … [Read more...]