C.S. Lewis's famous Liar/Lunatic/Lord trilemma has been criticized for leaving out a fourth option: Legend. There are historical and textual reasons to doubt the legend hypothesis, but I believe it fails even apart from that external evidence. It's vanishingly unlikely to be true, based upon merely the New Testament documents themselves. … [Read more...]
Intolerance and Piers Morgan's Recommendation to Amend the Bible
In the course of his interview with Pastor Rick Warren, Piers Morgan expressed an idea that is becoming increasingly common: “The Bible and the Constitution were well-intentioned, but they are basically inherently flawed,” Morgan said. “Hence the need to amend it.” “My point to you about gay rights, for example, it's time for an amendment to the Bible,” he said. … [Read more...]
You're only an atheist because you were raised in an atheist home.
Contributed by Matthew Clayton of Loving Christ with Your Mind. One time, if I remember correctly, for my brother's stagecraft class, he had an assignment to make a birdhouse and it seems as though one of the requirements was that it be painted. I believe he was busy (I don't know the situation's exact details) so he asked my sisters if they'd like to paint it. And, of course, … [Read more...]
Science vs. God on the Stossel Show
On December 13, an episode of the Stossel show titled "Science vs. God" aired on the Fox Business Channel. John Stossel opens the show asking questions and making statements about the origin of the universe, the origin of life, evolution vs. intelligent design, and whether or not God is involved. Three segments of interest to Christian apologists would be the opening panel … [Read more...]
Flew, Dawkins And God
In “There is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind”, the British philosophy professor, late Antony Flew, shared his reasons for converting from atheism to deism. “We must follow the argument wherever it leads”, a principle that Plato attributed to Socrates, was the norm to which Flew followed (Flew 2007: 46). With increasing evidences of the … [Read more...]
Luke's orderly birth narrative for the healthy skeptic
Below is my summary of the sermon, He Came to Us: Knowing we are skeptics, preached by Jim Applegate out of Luke 1. It is the third part in a four part series of the significance of Christmas in each Gospel, with the theme of "He Came to Us" throughout the series. Part 1 (Matthew) | Part 2 (Mark) | Part 4 (John) Luke 1: 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a … [Read more...]
Materialism, Atheism, and the Denial of Freewill
If we start with an impoverished worldview – one that fails to embrace all of reality’s nuances – it means that we have a faulty worldview and that our conclusions will be skewed. The atheist starts out with the presupposition or worldview that there is no spiritual reality, just matter and energy – what you see is what you get. Accordingly, thinking and choosing must also be … [Read more...]
Proselytism: So simple, even some atheists get it!
Disclaimer.(1) These days, it seems proselytism (2) is such a touchy subject. I often hear skeptics and atheists complaining about religious people trying to convince others of their beliefs. But, is it really proselytism that is the problem, or is it the sharing of your religion (often called evangelism in Christianity) that is their concern? If we give it a moments thought – … [Read more...]
Review: David Fitzgerald's Nailed
Last year, I met popular skeptic and Christ-myth proponent David Fitzgerald at a debate and agreed to read and review his book Nailed. I read it almost immediately, but never got around to reviewing it. After reconnecting with him recently, I agreed again to review it and then dialogue with him a little about the book. … [Read more...]
Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman – Book Review
Questioning Evangelism Looking for a short read that's insightful and practical? Check out a very accessible book called Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. I almost put this on the required reading list for my "Practicing Apologetics and Evangelism" class at Western Seminary, but I ended up leaving it off, thinking the course load was already pretty tough. In hindsight, I … [Read more...]