Many militant atheists will say, “Christianity screws up everything,” citing warfare, slavery, the Crusades and intolerance. Christians will generally respond in three different ways: “Christianity is about Christ and not about individual Christians. I am deeply sorry about what people who have called themselves ‘Christian’ have done. However, I’m here to tell you about … [Read more...]
Brief chat in a video store
Continuing in my ongoing theme of exploring conversational successes and failures I have a little ditty of an anecdote to share of my own interaction with somebody. I was meandering through our local video store looking for a movie to rent and as I did so I overheard two of the coworkers bantering with each other. The subject of religion came up and the one employee made it … [Read more...]
Reason #5 Christianity is Unique: It is Respectable
How do the founders of the world's religions compare with Jesus of Nazareth? Is Jesus Christ unique when compared with Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, and Joseph Smith? (Part 5 of 5) In the last installment of this series "5 Reasons the Christian Worldview is Unique", today we will be examining the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth, when compared with the other founders of the … [Read more...]
Docetism: Jesus The Illusionist
A Docetist argues that Christ Jesus only seemed to be (Gk. δοκέω - dokeō) human. He appeared to be a Jewish man but he did not possess a true corporal earthly body. Swayed by Gnosticism, that assumes the material creation is innately evil, it is foolish and shameful, according to a gnostic docetist, to think that Logos, who was in form of God, would take upon Himself an … [Read more...]
In Defense of the Empty Tomb
Was the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth found empty three days after he was crucified? If not, then Christianity is the biggest lie and the biggest waste of time in history. While the historicity of the empty tomb does not, by itself, constitute a convincing argument for the Resurrection, it plays an indispensable role as Jesus could not have risen from the dead if his tomb was not … [Read more...]
Philosophy in the Abortion Issue, Part I
Science can be a wonderful tool in the pro-life advocate’s arsenal. However, science can’t dictate morality, it can only inform morality. Science can tell us that something we are harming or killing is human; science can’t tell us that it’s wrong to kill that human. So while we can demonstrate scientifically that the unborn are living human organisms from fertilization, we must … [Read more...]
Breaking down the moral argument
I harp on about the moral argument for theism, some think. That’s only because I think it’s an under-appreciated argument that has a lot more going for it than most of its critics believe. Here I want to lay out a simple version of the argument, explain why I think it works and how to defend it. A very simple version of the moral argument, probably the most common that I see, … [Read more...]
C.S. Lewis and the Myth of Creation (Part 1)
This is Part 1 of 3 Posts on C.S. Lewis' view of Creation, Genesis 1, and Evolutionary Theory. It is the contention of this writer that one of Lewis' most overlooked theological aspects was his view on how Genesis 1 operated on a theological and mythical level. This is an exploration of his views on the topic and will conclude that Lewis' own views actually denounced reading … [Read more...]
Defending Which Faith?
Discussions involving religion are never that easy to navigate, which is why I don't initiate them. That being said, when they do occur, and an unsubstantiated remark comes out of nowhere, I find it absolutely necessary to respond - though in the most gracious and considerate way possible, without taking away from the truth that has to be made clear. In Cebu City, in the … [Read more...]
Edification Apologetics
Within the discipline of Christian apologetics, there are several sub-disciplines, philosophy being among them. Apologetics can be done in an “offensive” way (where arguments are presented for Christianity’s truth) and in a “defensive” way (where a defense of Christianity is made against anti-Christian arguments and objections). However, another method I am interested in serves … [Read more...]