One of the most frequently cited and debated arguments for the existence of God is the Kalam Cosmological Argument. I have not written on the argument before because there is simply so much good material on it out there that I don't think I can add anything new. I have, however, run into numerous people with questions on the argument recently, and felt the need to finally get … [Read more...]
Jesus' Birth: How undesigned coincidences give evidence for the truth of the Gospel accounts
There are many charges raised against the historicity of the birth narratives of Jesus Christ. These run the gamut from objections based upon alleged contradictions to inconsistencies in the genealogies to incredulity over the possibility of a virgin birth. Rather than make a case to rebut each of these objections in turn, here I will focus upon using undesigned coincidences to … [Read more...]
The Issue at the Heart of the Abortion Debate
I'm going to make what may initially seem to be contentious statements, so read the post to contextualize: If the unborn is not a person, then abortion is morally permissible, and it doesn't matter what you do with the unborn. If the unborn is a person, then abortion is morally impermissible, and the unborn must be protected. … [Read more...]
On the statement that "we are all atheists"
"We are all atheists to other religions, we [atheists] just take it one step further." The phrase initially has some kind of shock value, and then it gets you thinking. As a Christian, it may have you thinking, "Wow, I never thought of it that way... maybe there is something to this 'atheism' thing." As an atheist, it may have you saying "Yeah, you Christians are just as … [Read more...]
Was Jesus Married? A survey of responses (Updated)
Update 10/16: The gospel of Jesus' wife: a very modern fake by Andrew Brown of The Guardian. There has been a bit of an uproar about a 4th Century Coptic Manuscript which purportedly provides evidence that Jesus had a wife. Well, here are some great responses to the discovery. Reality Check: The "Jesus' Wife" Coptic Fragment- Daniel Wallace, an influential NT scholar, … [Read more...]
The Presumption of Pluralism
Everyone has their own truth. What's true for you is true for you, what's true for me is true for me. All religious backgrounds have a piece of the puzzle. All roads lead to the same goal. God is big enough to work through all people's faiths. Pluralism is rampant in our society. People want to affirm everyone's belief. Tolerance is the buzzword. Few want to talk about the … [Read more...]
Arguing for Deism?
One curious objection I have seen and heard to arguments for the existence of God is that these arguments apply to deism, not Christianity. For example, Michael, an atheist blogger, writes, “Note that these are effectively arguments for deism, not Christianity!” about the Moral Argument (here). The objection seems to be that an argument for the existence of God (such as the … [Read more...]