Reprinted with the gracious permission of Dr. Douglas Groothuis. This question was posed by the moderator at an early Republican presidential debate in 1999: “Who is your favorite political philosopher?” George W. Bush surprised, if not stunned, his fellow candidates, moderator, and audience when he tersely declared, “Jesus Christ, because he changed my life.” At the … [Read more...]
A Virgin Shall Conceive but Not According to the Rabbis
Arguably, Isaiah 7:14, prophesying a “virgin” giving birth, is the most contested verse in the Old Testament. Although Matthew unequivocally states that this prophecy was fulfilled by the birth of the Messiah, the Hebrew Scriptures seem to indicate that there was a fulfillment during the life of King Ahaz. Although this might seem like a contradiction, these two perspectives … [Read more...]
Open Forum Response: “Is it Possible to Come to Moral Decisions Using Logical Reasoning Alone?”
A Quick Introduction. Not long ago, I had the privilege of speaking to a Christian student group at Christopher Newport University. The topic for the evening was “The Problem of Evil and Suffering.” Much of material for the talk came from the piece I wrote on "The Three Faces of Evil and the Christian Response." This posting emerges from a question I received during the Q … [Read more...]
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
“You tell me that battling with monsters has made me a monster? Doing business with devils, what has that made you?” _________________________________________________________________________ Universal Pictures has already bought the film rights to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and no wonder: Laini Taylor's book has received exceptional critical accolades: New York Times … [Read more...]
Philosophy in the Abortion Issue, Part I
Science can be a wonderful tool in the pro-life advocate’s arsenal. However, science can’t dictate morality, it can only inform morality. Science can tell us that something we are harming or killing is human; science can’t tell us that it’s wrong to kill that human. So while we can demonstrate scientifically that the unborn are living human organisms from fertilization, we must … [Read more...]
Breaking down the moral argument
I harp on about the moral argument for theism, some think. That’s only because I think it’s an under-appreciated argument that has a lot more going for it than most of its critics believe. Here I want to lay out a simple version of the argument, explain why I think it works and how to defend it. A very simple version of the moral argument, probably the most common that I see, … [Read more...]
C.S. Lewis and the Myth of Creation (Part 1)
This is Part 1 of 3 Posts on C.S. Lewis' view of Creation, Genesis 1, and Evolutionary Theory. It is the contention of this writer that one of Lewis' most overlooked theological aspects was his view on how Genesis 1 operated on a theological and mythical level. This is an exploration of his views on the topic and will conclude that Lewis' own views actually denounced reading … [Read more...]
Is God A Mystery?
Many people think that God is basically mysterious. This is both a pop sentiment, like, "OMG! God is like, so, you know, mysterious! I mean, God is GOD, so that's BIG!" And it seems to be the careful explanation of sophisticated thinkers. For instance, a famous hymn by William Cowper begins with the stanza: God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His … [Read more...]
Responding to a Jewish Objection: “Is Belief in the Incarnation Idolatry?”
Introduction Over the years I have had the opportunity to have plenty of discussions with Jewish people about whether Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. As usual, the objection that to believe in Jesus as a divine figure as a deity is idolatry. For starters, I advise reading the book The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ” by Daniel Boyarin which shows that the belief … [Read more...]
Forsaken
Elyon, Elyon, my king, my lord Deliver me from this sword Why have you forsaken me In your eyes, forsaken me In your thoughts, in your heart, In your wrath, forsaken me … [Read more...]