As Christmas is drawing near, the interest in talking about Jesus and Christianity is surely going to increase. It happens every year. Church attendance rises and radical articles begin to cover the Internet and even leading publications preaching the latest and most headline-worthy theory about who Jesus Christ was or was not. I don’t know about you, but it can be somewhat … [Read more...]
Answering Jewish Objections: “Jewish People Don’t Believe in a Suffering/Atoning Messiah”: Part Two
To See Part One, Click Here Peter uses Old Testament prophecy in Acts 3:18, where he declares: “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that this Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.” Where in the prophets are we told that God’s “Christ (or Messiah) should suffer”? Isaiah 53 is probably what Peter is alluding to. Probably the most explicit case for Isaiah … [Read more...]
The Cross and the Falsification of Islam
Sura 4:156-159 states: “Allah set a seal upon them owing to their unbelief, so they shall not believe except a few. And for their unbelief and for their having uttered against Marium a grievous calumny. And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so … [Read more...]
Why Apologists Need Artists
The imagination of the human mind is a fascinating thing. With it we formulate ideas grand and terrifying; we solve complex problems with creative solutions and dream up ways of executing great evil; we get lost in the visions of a good book or in the notes of a song or in the horrors of death and terror. Our imaginations are a great tool for good and evil, not to mention an … [Read more...]
Dracula Untold
Dracula Untold looks to do for Dracula what Maleficent did for its title character. What if there is more to Dracula than we thought? What if he is a hero (albeit a problematic one)? Dracula Untold suggests that he is just that – a misunderstood monster who has become what he is for love. And make no mistake, Vlad the Impaler is a monster. His childhood is tragic. He and 999 … [Read more...]
Godbuster: A Debate With Elliot George
This week I engaged in a radio debate with an atheist on Unbelievable on Premier Christian Radio (which you can listen to here). My interlocutor was a British atheist, a retired biology teacher who goes by the pseudonym Elliot George. In his book, Godbuster, George attempts to dismantle theistic belief. I knew when I saw the front cover that the book was unlikely to be … [Read more...]
Answering Jewish Objections: “Jewish People Don’t Believe in a Suffering/Atoning Messiah”: Part One
Introduction Over the years, I have had the chance to talk to several Jewish people about spiritual issues. A common Jewish objection that I continue to hear is that Jewish people don’t believe that a human can be sacrificed for sins. In other words, a human can’t atone for the sins of the Jewish people. First, let me give some background to the idea of atonement in Judaism. … [Read more...]
"Doth God Care For The Oxen?" – The Biblical View
John W. Loftus, in his recent book, attempted to make the case that the Bible does not value animals, and that the Bible and its authors would condone animal cruelty. The opposite is true. As I demonstrated in my recent debate with him, the Bible is very much concerned for the welfare of the animals, and Loftus’ view otherwise is founded in various misunderstandings regarding … [Read more...]
Who Do You Say That I Am? Not Michael!
The identity of Jesus is the most important question that we can wrestle with. Forget the age of the earth. Forget the dating of the Gospels. Who is Jesus? That is what we need to know. Every religion and philosophy has a different answer to that question. For the Jehovah's Witnesses, the answer is the archangel Michael. For Christians encountering that claim for the first … [Read more...]
Creating Christian Media
God has created a world in which there are things that are beautiful. There are things that are good, and there are things that are right. We live in a world where some things are indeed better than others. We live in a world that is defined by objective values even if many people do not want to affirm that reality. … [Read more...]