A blogger named MarkCC demonstrates a few common misunderstandings regarding Intelligent Design (ID). First we need to clarify some terms, as there is some jargon given in the post that the reader may not be familiar with. Specified Event – The phrase “Go Take Out the Trash” is a specified arrangement of letters. The jumbled letter sequence “smets qwoand nduams iba” is … [Read more...]
Why Does God Love Satan?
The question, “Does God love Satan?” seemingly yields diametrically conflicting answers from conservative Christian theologians. Some assert that God cannot love Satan. In contrast, others claim that God loves Satan. So does God love Satan or not? … [Read more...]
Should We Be Moral Relativists?
This is a short introductory essay to defend objective moral values. In philosophy, the term ‘objective,’ is defined as the existence of an object independent of human mind (mind-independency); “the object would “be there,” as it is, even if no subject perceived it.”1 In contrast, the term ‘relative’ refers to the perception of an object by the subject … [Read more...]
Skeptics Can’t Have It Both Ways
Former L.A. County District Attorney and agnostic Vince Bugliosi believes that the problem of evil is fatal to believing in Christianity. “I’m an agnostic only on the issue of whether there is a God, a supernatural being who created the universe. I’m not an agnostic on the Christian God… while God can be all-powerful or all-good, he cannot be both, since these are … [Read more...]
Amor Fati (Love of Fate) & The Christian Response
“Amor Fati” is a Latin phrase that means love of fate, wherein loss and suffering are to be accepted and considered as good or necessary facts of life. None of us are immune to pain. The Amor Fati of the Nietzschean consideration advises a love of one’s fate even in pain albeit without God. On the contrary, God does not assure Christians of a painless life. Instead the Bible … [Read more...]
Does God Save Those Who Never Heard Of Jesus Christ?
First, do people who probably have never heard about Jesus really exist? Yes, there are tribes, even to this day, who apparently live in isolation from the rest of the modern world.1 Second, is this isolated person a sinner? Yes! The Bible says no one is righteous (Psalm 14: 3; Romans 3: 10), so this isolated person is also a sinner in need of redemption. Third, should we … [Read more...]
What About God of the Gaps?
If you present the cosmological or design arguments to skeptics at least a few times, it’s extremely likely that you’ll hear the words “That’s a ‘God of the gaps’ argument.” This objection is rooted in the idea that because a number of things throughout human history have been wrongly attributed to the supernatural activity of God or gods, we can now safely dismiss God as a … [Read more...]
So What If Hitler Was A Christian? (Would Hitler’s Christianity Hurt Historic Christianity?)
The holocaust, masterminded by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime, devoured 11 million lives, among them were 6 million Jews, and the other 5 million comprising of people with mental and physical disabilities, communists, resistance fighters, Slavic people, homosexuals, priests, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and anarchists etc. The antagonists of Historic Christianity argue that Adolf … [Read more...]
Miracles and Science
I am privileged to be one of the general editors of the upcoming Dictionary of Christianity and Science (Zondervan, April 2017). Paul Copan, Tremper Longman, Michael Strauss, and I–along with our excellent team at Zondervan–have endeavored to create a reference work that tackles the most important terms, concepts, people, and debates at the intersection of Christianity and … [Read more...]
Analogies For The Blessed Trinity?
The doctrine of the blessed Trinity is very difficult to understand. A corporeal and finite human cannot absolutely comprehend an infinite and an incorporeal God. Hence, the human mind seeks analogies to aid in easing the comprehension of the Trinity, so that the Trinity does not remain a mystery or a logical paradox. But is there a viable analogy that best illustrates the … [Read more...]