William Lane Craig was my teacher This was while I was doing my graduate work at Biola University. In this post, I’ll share an important lesson I learned from William Lane Craig about speaking the truth in love. I remember how he began our “Philosophical Issues for Apologists” course by saying he often signs his books with 2 Corinthians 10:5 as a subscript: We demolish … [Read more...]
Why the Hypothesis that God Raised Jesus from the Dead is the Best Explanation
Introduction When it comes to the Christian faith, there is no doctrine more important than the resurrection of Jesus. Biblical faith is not simply centered in ethical and religious teachings. Instead, it is founded on the person and work of Jesus. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, we as His followers are still dead in our sins (1Cor.15:7). Explanations try to show how … [Read more...]
Important Words for Postmodern Apologetics
We are living in a decidedly postmodern age. This does not mean the fundamentals of our faith must change to please culture, but it does mean that unless Christians change the way we communicate the unchanging Gospel, our mission to reach the lost will fail. D. Rodriguez makes this same point in his recent critique of Brian McLaren’s book, "A New Kind of Christian" To … [Read more...]
Step One of Using Pop Culture as a Community Apologist: The "Aha!" Moment
I am convinced that one of the easiest things to do as a Community Apologist is to use pop culture to demonstrate that everyone, everywhere (with the exception of the odd sociopath) has a moral intuition. And once people agree that this intuition exists, the conversation can then turn to why it exists and where it comes from. One of the commenters on my last post asked if I … [Read more...]
Frustrated Apologists
It can be frustrating talking about issues of apologetics with someone who does not believe. If not careful, the apologist can feel as if the source of his or her frustration is the person. This can lead to guilt rooted in the sense that the apologist cares more about arguments of apologetics than loving the person. Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. However, I … [Read more...]
A Brief Word on Apologetic Discretion
(This post originally appeared this time last year on Another Ascending Lark. Beach Reach, the trip that I mention in this post, is a trip where 700-ish Christians from colleges all over Texas head down to South Padre Island for spring break to minister and share the Gospel with 40,000+ unbelievers. Our main ministries are via free island transportation and free pancake … [Read more...]
The Transforming Power of Study
"Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 Anakainosis is the Greek word for renewal. And the Greek equivalent of "transformed" is metamorphoo. Properly understood, it implies a "changing form in keeping with … [Read more...]
Becoming an Ambassador, part 3
Third post in a series. Part one and part two. In this post I want to deal with the third leg of my metaphor for evangelism, knowledge. Again from Stand To Reason’s article on the ambassador model, at a minimum an ambassador “…must know the character, mind, and purposes of his king.” The scope and depth of subjects one could study is, candidly, staggering. Thus in this post I … [Read more...]
Consistency Among Disciplines
Every day thousands of scientists around the globe perform experiments and observations of the natural realm. They note a certain condition, make (or allow) a change, then note the new condition. Many times, the same experiment or observation is conducted repeatedly to be certain the results of the first (second or third) were not just "flukes." Scientists combine many of these … [Read more...]
Jesus and the Spiderman Fallacy
An atheist with whom I was in dialogue last week tried to support his disbelief in Jesus through the use of the “Spiderman fallacy”, which is a contrived argument that has been defined in the following way by Urban Dictionary: Archaeologists 1,000 years from now unearth a collection of Spiderman comics. From the background art, they can tell it takes place in New York City. … [Read more...]