One of the most tragic things in life is when a woman or a child dies during pregnancy or childbirth. Thankfully, technology has advanced to the point where the death rate from a pregnancy-related complication is extremely low. Less than 1% of pregnant women die from a pregnancy-related complication or in childbirth. [1] … [Read more...]
Did Jesus Claim to be Divine? (Answering Skepticism)
When Christians hear objections with regard to who Jesus claimed to be, they (without fail) whip out CS Lewis' famous trilemma of "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord". Based on Jesus' claims of being the "I AM" of the Old Testament and the "Son of Man" who was the divine figure referenced throughout Jewish apocryphal literature, in addition to the fact that Jesus accepted worship and … [Read more...]
Politics and Foundations
The other day I was in conversation with a friend who is quite involved in the political scene over here in The States. Every now and then she will forward me the latest "evidence" pointing toward the corruption of government in general. However, she had made a religious claim that she based on subjective evidence. I had asked her to support the assertion in a way that might be … [Read more...]
The Origin Of Hypostatic Union in Early Church History
God-inspired Scriptures (i.e., John 1:1,14; John 20:28, Philippians 2:6-7, Hebrew 1:3; 2:17; 4:15 et cetera) explicitly portrays Christ Jesus as being perfect in his Divinity and perfect in his Humanity (see Christ: Perfect Divine, Perfect Human). How Christ’s natures should be correctly understood saw numerous disputes. Looking at the origin of hypostatic union in the early … [Read more...]
Mismatching Scriptures or Where is it actually said?
(Some supposed contradictions in the Bible) Being a member of the Christian Apologetics Alliance has some benefits for it's challenges. Being compelled to write more makes you have to read more and more substantively. I've always come across portions of scripture that skeptics love to point out as parts that are errouneous and hence, you cannot trust the Bible. Well really, … [Read more...]
The Speeches in Acts: Are They Authentic?
Much of the book of Acts -- about 50% -- is comprised of speeches, discourses and letters. Among them, a total of eight speeches are given by Peter; a total of nine speeches delivered by Paul; there is Stephen's famous address before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:2-53); a brief address at the Jerusalem Council by James (Acts 15:13-21); the advice given to Paul by James and the … [Read more...]
Poached Conversations
Greg West at the Poached Egg website has graciously shared a story of his own personal failure in dialoguing about life's biggest questions. He described his story over Skype and I used the recording to pen this version of the story. He has reviewed it and confirmed its accuracy. The Story Dolores (not her real name) was a friend of Greg's. Though she and her husband were … [Read more...]
Revival: Christianity’s Fall and Rise of England!
The history of Western nations testifies what happens when this influence its Christian voice is silenced. It was silenced in early 18th century England. Indian Scholar Vishal Mangalwadi writes, In 1738, two centuries after the Reformation, Bishop Berkeley declared that religion and morality in Britain had collapsed “to a degree that was never before known in any Christian … [Read more...]
The fall and rise of the moral argument for theism
In light of the millennia of the history of philosophy that we have behind us, it was only recently – setting the last few decades aside – that the moral argument slipped out of the mainstream. In the first half of the twentieth century C. S. Lewis could refer to the moral argument with some confidence, and it may well have been the most common of the major arguments for God’s … [Read more...]
Straight From the Cloud of Witnesses: Paul at Mars' Hill
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us… -Hebrews 12:1 One of the great things about God is that He always has a contingency plan. Among these plans of His is a way to provide us with examples on how to … [Read more...]