I already blogged about part 1 of the interview between two Christians and a Mormon on the Unbelievable radio program. I had some thoughts about the second half of the interview. In my view part 2 went downhill from part 1. They continued to treat each other with great respect but Dayton (the Mormon) started sidestepping major issues, avoiding giving straight answers and so on. … [Read more...]
Friday Fallacy: Affirming the Consequent
In my last Friday Fallacy post, I looked at the fallacy of denying the antecedent. There I discussed conditional statements, statements of the form “if P then Q”. Examples would be statements such as “if it is raining then the grass will be wet” or “if the US had not shot Bin Laden then he would still be alive”. I noted that conditionals have an “antecedent” and a … [Read more...]
Mark is the Gospel for outsiders
Carson Weitnauer lists Six Easy Ways to Add Apologetics to Your Sermons, fleshed out on his blog, Reasons for God: 1. Explain the historical context of the passage. 2. Compare and contrast Christianity with other worldviews and religions. 3. Ask questions. 4. Talk about clues. 5. Discuss the explanatory power of the Christian worldview. 6. Share a story about your doubt and … [Read more...]
Unbelievable radio interview – Mormonism
I recently enjoyed part 1 of a two part radio interview hosted by Justin Brierley over at the Unbelievable podcast. Brierley contributed the least to the dialogue and mostly facilitated the conversation between his two guests, Bobby Gilpin of the UK Partnership for Christ and Charles Dayton, a lifelong Mormon. I enjoyed it for several reasons, all of which highlight many of the … [Read more...]
My Testimony
My name is Richard Playford. I am a new Christian Apologetics Alliance contributor. For my first post, the editing team and I thought that it would be a good idea for me to post my testimony! I was raised in a fairly agnostic English family. We might go to Church once or twice a year at Christmas and things like that, but as a family we were not in any way committed … [Read more...]
Achilles Heel: Internet Arguments
This clever picture really breaks down the state of affairs when it comes to arguing over the internet, especially when it comes to the arguments between Christians and Atheists. … [Read more...]
Apologetics is Alive: People are Hungry for Answers
By Matthew Flannagan. Here in New Zealand, I am often told by evangelical leaders that we now live in a post-modern society, which has moved beyond “arguments” and that Apologetics is an outdated “modernist concept.” They say we need instead to “tell the story” so that people will see the "meta-narrative of scripture"—whatever exactly that means. Last night, Madeleine and I … [Read more...]
Fallacy Friday: Denying the Antecedent
This week I will look at the fallacy of denying the antecedent. Before I can elaborate exactly what is involved in this fallacy, it is important to introduce and analyse some valid arguments that are superficially similar. Modus Ponens One of the very first valid inferences one learns in logic is modus ponens. To use the well worn example that was repeated ad nauseam when I … [Read more...]
Jesus’ birth shows “God helps those who help themselves” is a lie.
My church, Redeemer Modesto, is doing a four-part Christmas series on Jesus’ birth, focusing on one Gospel each week, with the theme of “He Came to Us” throughout each sermon: 12/2: He Came to Us: In our brokenness. Matthew. 12/9: He Came to Us: To all of us. Mark. 12/16: He Came to Us: Knowing we are skeptics. Luke. 12/23: He Came to Us: For all eternity. John. I’m going to … [Read more...]
Apologetics: Fighting Last Year's Battles, Last Year's Way
I was privileged to lead the True Reason project earlier this year, which I undertook because I thought it would be good to show how weak New Atheist leaders are in reasoning, even as they try to feature it as their great strength. I think the book has probably done a lot of good. I hope so, anyway. But I am coming to see that it's a skirmish being fought on an old … [Read more...]