I was recently reading a discussion on Facebook about the various passages in the Bible that are used by atheists to claim that the God of the Bible is immoral. All sorts of claims swirled around. Jesus commanded us to murder children. God was a premeditated murderer. For the most part, it was a group of atheists ganging up on one or two theists, and unfortunately the only … [Read more...]
Undesigned Coincidences: Part 1
Nearly everyone has a concept of what it means for historical claims to be confirmed by a new discovery. Tablets unearthed at Kültepe in the late 19th century reveal that there was, as the Old Testament had said, a vast Hittite empire in the time of Abraham. An Arabic manuscript turns out to contain the Diatessaron of Tatian, settling once and for all the question of whether … [Read more...]
Solving The Problem of Pluralization
In this part of my series on Incarnational Apologetics, I want to explore the four key problems: Secularization Pluralization Privatization Polarization Today's video post picks up with a discussion of Pluralization. To be certain, there are many positive qualities found in Pluralization. Art / Architecture Language Culture People Food But, as I discuss in the … [Read more...]
Do Apologists Employ the "Humpty Dumpty" Defense?
When Alice meets Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass, she finds that he uses words very creatively. In fact, a word means exactly what Humpty wants it to mean, no more and no less. Christian apologists are sometimes accused of employing a “Humpty Dumpty Defense” by our opponents. This particularly is seen with faith, which is understood as a form of loyalty to a … [Read more...]
Strange Bedfellow
In a recent New York Time article, Thomas Nagel offers a brief but robust explanation why a purely physical explanation of the universe will not work. This may not seem, at first glance, to be a big issue. However, if it is true that the universe is only physical, then there can be no human mind/soul and certainly no god. Here is the kicker: Dr. Nagel is an atheist. And, he … [Read more...]
Slideshow: What Best Explains Jesus’ Empty Tomb?
There is little to no debate among both Christian and non-Christian historians on the facts of Jesus’ empty tomb. By contrast, there is widespread debate as to what best explains those facts. The historical facts of Jesus’ death and empty tomb are these: Jesus was murdered and buried. Three days afterward, his body went missing. Accounts of Jesus’ appearance to both his … [Read more...]
The Danger of Overstating Conclusions
Have you ever played the electronic game 20 Questions? If you haven't, this is what it is: You think of an object and the computer will ask you "yes/no" questions until it narrows down what you are thinking about. If you answer 20 questions, and it can't figure out what you're thinking about, you win. I've tried it a few times, and I've been able to stump it a couple. :) What … [Read more...]
In The Cultural Apologetic Box?
If you are anything like me, you never really fit into a box. People try to put you in a box, and you search for the box you should fit into. This is what we do in Western culture; we identify people by their boxes. I am a Myers Briggs ESTJ, a senior engineering design technologist with an associate in theology and an MA in apologetics, an Australian with an American wife, a … [Read more...]
Solving The Problem of Secularization
Having defined 4 key epistemologies in my previous video posts on Rationalism, Agnosticism, Experientialism, and Pragmatism. It is a good time to remind new readers that the focus of this series is to develop a healthy Incarnational Apologetic which I define as follows. Incarnational Apologetics is not to convince others that the Church is “relevant” NOR to persuade them of … [Read more...]
Opinions vs. Truth-Claims
This post is more of an addendum to my post "Positive vs. Negative Arguments". Please check out that post for more context. Opinions reflect feelings and may or may not be true. If one claims that their thoughts are simply "opinions" (not claiming to actually be truth- even though it might be) then they have no responsibility to provide a reasoned defense of the … [Read more...]