In Unwind, Neil Shusterman gave us a brilliantly disturbing look at a culture in which parents can have teenage children “unwound” – a process which kills them as every part of their physical body is separated and given to someone else. Shusterman introduced some weighty concepts in Unwind: Do we have souls? Do people have intrinsic worth? What makes human life … [Read more...]
A Look at the New “Street Epistemology” Atheist Movement
Introduction I am about to read Peter Boghossian’s new book A Manuel for Creating Atheists which is just one more attempt to turn atheists into an army of evangelists. I recently went to the facebook page called “street epistemology” which happens to be an open group. By the way, my friend Tom Gilson has recently written a response to the book which is available on … [Read more...]
Creation Ex Materia? – Conclusion
Part 1 - Part 2 (I conclude my critique of creation ex materia) Fourth, we will address one inductive argument using scientific evidence for the beginning of the universe. In the middle of the nineteenth century, several physicists discovered the Second Law of Thermodynamics by noticing that all processes within a closed system tend toward a state of equilibrium.[i] This … [Read more...]
7 Tips on Engaging Skeptics Like Paul Did in Athens [Part 1]
Cultural Engagement Tips My studies at Dallas Theological Seminary have challenged me to think about practical lessons we can learn from Paul’s engagement in Acts 17. I recently had a conversation about this passage with my mentor, Dr. Darrell Bock, and I’ve discovered some cultural engagement tips that every defender of the faith should know. … [Read more...]
Answering the Atheists' "Extraordinary Claims" Gauntlet
Not too long ago, I was reading Michael Shermer’s preface to Peter Boghossian’s book, A Manual for Creating Atheists. In the preface, he criticizes belief in eternal life, Jesus, and God’s work of salvation as being extraordinary claims made by Bible believing Christians. He reminisced about how he used to be an evangelical Christian, but he found these claims unreasonable. … [Read more...]
Apologetics and Missions Go Hand in Hand?
Recently, in response to my blog, "What is Christianity without Apologetics and Missions?", I was asked why I believe churches are not able to connect apologetics and missions. My initial thought was how could churches not connect apologetics and missions and fulfill their purpose as the bride of Christ? Let me explain. … [Read more...]
Why a Christian Response Needs to Be Different Than a Mormon Response
Last week I had the opportunity to train a group of high school students in preparation for an upcoming Berkeley Missions trip. These students will spend the next eight weeks learning about the evidence supporting the Christian worldview and examining many of the most popular objections to Christianity. Since we were very early in the process, I began by asking the students to … [Read more...]
Neil Shusterman's Unwind: Cutting The Baby in Half
“In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn’t a perfect world.” Unwind is the first book in Neal Shusterman's critically acclaimed trilogy. The story takes place in a dystopic … [Read more...]
The Modern Missionaries of Evangelical Atheism
According to its website, The Unbelievers movie “follows renowned scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss across the globe as they speak publicly about the importance of science and reason in the modern world - encouraging others to cast off antiquated religious and politically motivated approaches toward important current issues.” Okay, so let's unpack that a bit and … [Read more...]
Rumors of my endorsement have been greatly exaggerated
It has been drawn to my attention that Peter Boghossian has posted a quotation from me regarding his book, A Manual for Creating Atheists, on the book’s page at Amazon.com. Unfortunately, the quotation has been taken out of context in a way that could give a misimpression regarding my opinion of the book. Seizing a stray clause from someone’s writings and packaging it as an … [Read more...]