Are you fit to lead the flock? Imagine you live in the first century and you’re a shepherd. You are leading your flock to the water when lo and behold, you notice a wolf is coming. Being the good shepherd, you approach the wolf and say, … [Read more...]
Fallacy Friday: Assessing Arguments
In last week’s post, Fallacy Friday: What is an Argument?, we established that an argumentis a set of reasons (or premises) offered in support of a conclusion. We noted that arguments always have two components: premises and conclusions. We also observed that premises sometimes can be implicit or unstated. Of course knowing what an argument is, in and of itself, does not help … [Read more...]
Joshua the Highpriest as a Foreshadow of Christ
Previously on this blog, I have highlighted the types and foreshadows of Christ which are found in the Old Testament Scriptures with respect to the Abraham affair and the Passover celebration. In this post, I want to consider yet another remarkable Old Testament foreshadowing of Christ, this time from the book of Zechariah. Let’s take a look at the sixth chapter in this … [Read more...]
Theism and the Causal Principle: A response to DasAmericanAtheist
For whatever reason, the following YouTube video caught my attention annoyance. Perhaps it is because this person is speaking so close to his webcam that his face nearly fills out the entire screen forcing the viewer to constantly gaze upon his John Travoltesque chin and/or that being so close to the camera gives the feeling that he is literally in-your-face to go along with … [Read more...]
Conundrum: You want to get into apologetics but don’t have a degree – pt2
This is part two of my series on helping out the GED Apologist. For the first post, click here. 6. Enroll in certificate programs This is probably one of the best things an aspiring Apologist can do and I can personally testify as to how much I've benefited from going this route. I've either completed these programs, currently working on them, or will most likely do them in … [Read more...]
Apologetics Misunderstood: It Is All About Evangelism (Part One)
By Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi Recently a minister asked me how Ratio Christi was different from other college ministries. I explained that we focused on apologetics—equipping students and faculty with the philosophical, historical, and scientific evidence for why Christianity is true. His next statement shocked me. He said, “So you are not focused on evangelism … [Read more...]
Good Arguments for God's Existence – The Cosmological Argument (Leibniz) – pt.2
In the field of philosophy, one of the greatest accomplishments of this great Christian man, is the Cosmological Argument for God's existence, based upon finding a sufficient explanation for the universe. It proceeds in this fashion: Everything that exists has an explanation, either in the necessity of it's own nature, or in an external cause. If the universe has an … [Read more...]
J.T.'s underwhelming critique of Christianity: Part One
Critiques of the Christian worldview are a dime-a-dozen in the vast expanse of the internet. The majority of them are deep on rhetoric, insult, and wow-factor presentation while being incredibly shallow on substance, critical thinking, and sound argumentation. As a lay apologist, I frequently come across various critiques and refutations of Christianity in one form or another … [Read more...]
9/11 – Two Worldviews, Two Responses
On this day, eleven years ago, this nation was struck with a terrible act of evil. I don't have to recount the events - if you don't know the story of 9/11, you must be living in a cave. Last year I published a post on 9/11 and religious pluralism, but this year I want to focus on two worldviews, the atheistic worldview the Christian worldview, and their responses to 9/11. … [Read more...]
“See to it that No One Takes You Captive through Philosophy”
What ought Christians do with philosophy? Isn’t this contrary to theology and explicitly warned of in the Bible? This is particularly poignant in the letter to the Colossians 2.8. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementry principles of the world, rather than according to … [Read more...]