In my posts and in my discussions about worldviews, I stress consistency. When I say "consistency," I'm talking about the beliefs within a worldview being logically compatible with each other and beliefs being compatible with the adherents' behaviors (see the Psychology Class Series). One of the "worldview tests" that Kenneth Samples discusses in his book on worldviews, A World … [Read more...]
Three Reasons Why Jesus is Qualified to be called the “Messiah”
Introduction Over the years I have been asked why Jewish people don’t think Jesus is the Messiah. From my own experience, when I have talked to Jewish people about the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah, there is a wide range of thought. For some Jewish people a personal Messiah is irrelevant. For others, it is said that in every generation there is a potential messiah or … [Read more...]
Four Essential Questions For Teaching From A Christian Worldview
Recently, I wrote about how and why we are failing our students. But, what does it mean to teach from a christian worldview? The foundation of the Christian worldview is the conviction that in Christ are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). In other words, Jesus has the best information about everything. To live out a Christian worldview is to “think … [Read more...]
Don’t be discouraged: Why don’t people listen?
(The following is based on a talk I gave two weeks ago to a Thinking Matters event and also at a church camp, which is why it’s not written like an essay or article. It was presented as the last in a series of talks on faith and reason.) If I’m right, then faith in God – belief that God is real and trust that God makes a difference through Christ – is reasonable. There really … [Read more...]
To Tell Truth From Error: The Church's Teaching Responsibility
We don't know how to tell truth from error, and it's time for the church to take responsibility. The Roman Catholic Church in New York is promoting Jesus Christ as "The Original Hipster." I saw that on the news not long ago, just a day after I found out an online poll by Prospect magazine had Richard Dawkins being named the world's top thinker.Neither of these speaks well for … [Read more...]
Debate Review: Gordon Stein vs. Greg Bahnsen
Advocates of the presuppositional approach to Christian Apologetics have long hailed the debate between Greg Bahnsen (the late Christian theologian and apologist, noted for his achievements in presuppositional apologetics and development of theonomy--a view of the Law for Christians, pictured left) and Gordon Stein (the late secularist noted for his links to Free Inquiry among … [Read more...]
The Search For Truth – Rationalism
In the ongoing effort to develop an Incarnational Apologetic to reach the post-modern person, it is important to understand four basic approaches in the search for truth. Rationalism Agnosticism Experientialism Pragmatism In this video post, I want to focus on Rationalism which is defined as follows: Rationalism is any system that stresses reason as the means of … [Read more...]
The Secret Garden: The Book of Nature and Religious Pluralism
At any given time, I am reading a non-fiction book and a work of fiction literature. I never choose one based on the other, but occasionally I am surprised by a marked correlation between the two. That very thing happened to me over the past two weeks as I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The End of Christianity by William A. Dembski. … [Read more...]
The Value of Existential Apologetics
As part of my exploration of new approaches to apologetics, I’ve been reading through Clifford Williams’ book Existential Reasons for Belief in God. So far, the hardest thing about understanding Williams’ thesis has been getting my head around the difference between an evidential argument for faith that uses needs as evidence of God and the existential argument for faith which … [Read more...]
Apologetic Character
“God is just an invention that humans created to deal with the harsh realities of the world.” A statement like that began several weeks of my college Sociology professor giving his apologetic for atheism. “If you believe in God, you need to leave it at the door. God is not welcomed in scientific inquiry.” As a psychology major and a Christian, it was difficult to know how to … [Read more...]