I happened to be perusing the Internet recently (a very poor idea, I know) and came across the following meant-to-be-ridiculed scenario. “We are to fear God. We are to love God. There is no fear in love.” The idea is that the Bible is demanding a contradictory state of affairs, or something impossible to fulfill. This article shall demonstrate this is not a problem. The Bible … [Read more...]
Bethlehem Baby: Our Salvation and Peace; the Rabbis’ Headache
What do the Rabbis say about the birthplace of the Messiah? Do they acknowledge, along with the Gospel of Matthew, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David? After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the … [Read more...]
The Historian and Miracles
Received wisdom is that the historian can say nothing about miracles. This statement can take one of several different forms. For example, Bart Ehrman says of the Resurrection that "Historians can only establish what probably happened in the past, and by definition a miracle is the least probable occurrence. And so, by the very nature of the canons of historical research, we … [Read more...]
Some Thoughts on Hell
Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today - John Lennon (1) John Lennon asked us to imagine there’s no heaven. I’ve tried, but all I come up with is hell. Many things occur on this planet that demand judgment and punishment, but many go unpunished. If there is no certainty of punishment, there is … [Read more...]
Year of Biblical Mockery
Lately, Rachel Held Evans has released "A Year of Biblical Womanhood." What are we to make of this book? Let's talk about it. This book has been quite the talk lately and I’ve had an interest in it particularly since on Chick-Fil-A day, Evans came out with a post urging Christians to not participate and feeling like she was on the edge of apostasy because of this. This is an … [Read more...]
God and Santa Claus
Equating belief in God with belief in Santa seems to be popular among many atheists who have grown up in religious families but later abandoned their "childish" belief in God in the same way they gave up their belief in Santa Claus. It's so obvious that God is something you only believe in as a child but then later give up when you mature and become a rational, reasoning … [Read more...]
Tis the Season for Christian Reason
At least two times a year, you can count on the insecurity of some atheist organizations (like the Freedom from Religion Foundation) to be on full display. Nothing threatens these atheist’s worldview quite like the celebration of Jesus’ birth and resurrection, so to help ease their anxiety, they erect billboards and other such signage’s that are aimed at telling Christians how … [Read more...]
Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses
As any Christian apologist knows, there are vast differences between orthodox Christian and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) beliefs. The biggest difference that marks the Jehovah’s Witnesses (hereafter JW, or plural JWs) is their teachings on the nature of God. According to Dr. William Lane Craig from his “Defenders” (Series 1) podcasts the historic … [Read more...]
Problem Of Evil: Possibly Not A Convincing Case For Atheism
An English philosopher Michael Palmer boldly contended that there could be no amount of theological ingenuity to resolve “an irreducible incompatibility between scientific evidence [viz., “the theory of naturally selection that Darwin presents is one of unparalleled barbarity, impersonal and haphazard in form and subject only to the vagaries of environment”] and religious … [Read more...]
The Issue at the Heart of the Abortion Debate
I'm going to make what may initially seem to be contentious statements, so read the post to contextualize: If the unborn is not a person, then abortion is morally permissible, and it doesn't matter what you do with the unborn. If the unborn is a person, then abortion is morally impermissible, and the unborn must be protected. … [Read more...]