As historians evaluate the sources available for the resurrection of Jesus, a critical question is the dating of the sources. In relation to early testimony, historian David Hacket Fisher says, “An historian must not merely provide good relevant evidence but the best relevant evidence. And the best relevant evidence, all things being equal, is evidence which is most nearly … [Read more...]
The Relationship Between Science and Philosophy
How far can science take us and at what point does philosophy and metaphysics take over? Here is the general process of science and philosophy. METHOD. Science’s modus operandi is to observe the data while philosophy is examining the data and reasoning through it. MATERIAL. Science’s materials are facts. There are certain data that provide empiricalfact to work with. … [Read more...]
Why is apologetics so important?
All the polls in the past few years show a rapid increase in those who have left their religion, and a rapid decrease in church attendance. Robert Putnam and David Campbell presented research showing "young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate (30 to 40 percent have no religion today, versus 5 to 10 percent a … [Read more...]
Did Jesus Have A Wife? : A Caution to Media Sensationalism
A year or so ago I contributed to the mass evangelical out-pour concerning the 70 book of Revelation tablets. The BBC had jumped the gun, Daily Mail had jumped the gun, Glenn Beck had jumped the gun, and I jumped the gun. This is great I thought! After all, I am a Biblical Studies student and a Christian. What could be better than, perhaps, the greatest archaeological discovery … [Read more...]
Is Abortion Justifiable in the Hard Cases? Part II
As I have previously shown, abortions because of fetal disability or deformity cannot be morally justified. But now we’ll look at another hard case, the cases of rape and incest. … [Read more...]
The Problem of Good
Recently I found myself in the midst of a very difficult situation where evil appeared to triumph over good. I found myself asking the same questions many of us ask. How can a good God, the God I believe in, allow suffering and evil? Is He really good? Is He really there? Every fiber in my being cried out against the wrongness of my personal suffering and was heightened by … [Read more...]
Fallacy Friday: The Genetic Fallacy
A fallacy related to the one we looked at last week (the Ad Hominem fallacy) is the genetic fallacy. One commits the genetic fallacy if one argues that a proposition is false on the basis of where the idea originated from. Like the ad hominem, this fallacy invokes a kind of psychological transference where one transfers one’s disapproval of the source of an idea to the content … [Read more...]
The Poached Egg Podcast: ‘Who Made God?’ with Dr. Edgar Andrews
It’s a special privilege for me to have as my guest this week, physicist and theologian, Dr. Edgar Andrews from the UK. Dr. Andrews is the author of Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything , which has been described as, “Thought-provoking, witty, extremely readable, and ultimately devastating in his critique of evolutionary atheism--demonstrating that a right … [Read more...]
Who is the Angel of the Lord?
Throughout the Old Testament, we routinely encounter the mysterious character who goes by the title "The angel of the Lord." By looking at the numerous appearances of this individual, we can piece together clues as to His identity. The first time the angel of the Lord is introduced, he makes an appearance to Hagar, the servant of Abraham's wife Sarai. In Genesis 16:7-13, we … [Read more...]
A Response to Dan Barker's Pagan Christianity
Recently I was listening to a debate between Dinesh D’Souza and Dan Barker on whether or not religion is the problem with the world. Barker made several comments that I wanted to respond to, not because they were profound or compelling to answer the main question of the debate, but because they so clearly epitomized the problem with many of the New Atheists and their acolytes. … [Read more...]