(A three-part series critiquing Brian McLaren's book, A New Kind of Christian) Brian McLaren relays a story of two individuals on a spiritual journey in an attempt to parallel his own experience as a pastor who has become disenchanted with Christianity. His own crisis of faith led him to two alternatives: either practice a version of Christianity that he had reservations … [Read more...]
The Pride of Claiming Christianity Is True for All People
How could I, as a white American living in 2013 be so pompous as claim to know that Christianity is true for all cultures, ethnicities, languages, places, and times? Recently I found myself struggling with this question. I feel guilty even thinking that I could be so prideful as to make that claim. At first glance, it's a valid concern. However, inspecting the underlying … [Read more...]
Eternal Cosmos Is Dead, Don’t Tell Stenger
A retired elementary particle physicist Victor J. Stenger, contrary to contemporary cosmology, still stands firm in a possibility of eternal universe. In his talk given on November 7th 2012 at the Boulder Socrates Café, “How Can Something Come From Nothing?”, Stenger echoed Bertrand Russell’s 1948’s objection rose in a debate with Frederick C. Copleston while discussing the … [Read more...]
When Christian Reform Met Classical Theory
Have you ever been called a “Flat-Earther,” or compared with the Catholic Church persecuting Galileo? Well, no matter how inaccurate these ad hominem attacks are, they still can be damaging. It is a foregone conclusion in many circles of Academia that Christian thought is the enemy of scientific rationality. However, I would love to ask the question, “Where did scientific … [Read more...]
Genocide and the God of the Old Testament
Many people take issue with the idea that God commanded the Jewish nation to initiate war against the Canaanites, ordering them to wipe them out and take their land for their own. Not only have some people rejected Christianity over this, but it has even spurred some Christians to leave the faith. Are the critics of the Old Testament and Christianity in general correct when … [Read more...]
Rabbis, Skeptics, and the Suffering Messiah
On the day of His resurrection, two disciples were dragging themselves, “faces downcast,” towards a village called Emmaus. They suddenly found that they were joined by another, but “they were kept from recognizing Him.” Not knowing that this was their Lord, they confessed their profound disappointment to Him: “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” … [Read more...]
How Do We Know What We Believe? A Response To Britt Nicole's "All This Time"
I was driving home from work one night and I turned on the radio just in time to catch the start of a song. While I normally do not listen to Christian radio stations, I was content to leave it there for a bit. Soon, Britt Nicole's "All This Time" began to play (at the time I didn't know the name of the song). I'll admit, it wasn't my cup of tea, but when the bridge came and … [Read more...]
Atheism: Insufficient Evidence For Belief in God?
A belief that atheism is true because of insufficient evidence for belief in God is feeble and unwarranted. Kai Nielsen, an atheist philosopher, correctly explained that “[t]o show that an argument is invalid or unsound is not to show that the conclusion of the argument is false”(Nielsen 1971: 143-4). … [Read more...]
Nazis, Eugenics and Relativism
I was reading an article last week and it hit a nerve! It might not seem like much but for me it was one article too many promoting injustice in a positive light. … [Read more...]
What We Can Learn from Sasha
A Review of The Grace Effect: How the Power of One Life Can Reverse the Corruption of Unbelief by Larry Alex Taunton Larry Taunton takes ideas seriously. The Founder and Executive Director of Fixed Point Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the public defense of the Christian faith, Taunton has personally engaged some of Christianity’s most imposing antagonists. The Grace … [Read more...]