Dan Cohn-Sherbock, a well-known rabbi of Reform Judaism, and Jewish theologian has given some of his reasons for rejecting the resurrection of Jesus. He says: “As a Jew and a rabbi, I could be convinced of Jesus’ resurrection, but I would set very high standards of what is required. It would not be enough to have a subjective experience of Jesus. If I heard voices or had a … [Read more...]
How To Witness To Mormon Missionaries
By far the most common way people come into contact with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons, is through speaking with two young well dressed men, wearing a little badge with Elder on it. These guys spend two years of their lives, usually when they are 18-19, in an allocated area by the LDS Church, working 6 and a half days a week, either … [Read more...]
Wars of Early Islam
Muslims often project Islam as the religion of peace. But can this be true in the light of the historical evidence in the form of wars during the early Islamic history? Let's evaluate. Mohammed migrated to Medina from Mecca in the year 622 A.D. This migration is called Hijra, and 622 is the first year of the Islamic calender. The first year of the Islamic calender does not … [Read more...]
Rethinking Nielsen’s World Without God
Imagine for a second that there is no God. Imagine God is dead. What would we expect our world to look like if God did not exist? Based on this idea a brilliant, young Irish economist by the name of Robert Nielsen has presented an interesting, but ultimately unpersuasive case in his article World Without God. Nielsen states that this argument is at the foundation of his … [Read more...]
Apologists, Christian Bookstores, and "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven"
This week was a bad week for fans of the book The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven. Alex Malarkey, son of author Kevin Malarkey, issued a brief but brutal retraction of the events that took place in The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, a book which has sold very well along with other books in the “heavenly tourism” genre. The publisher, Tyndale House, has agreed to take the book … [Read more...]
What Is the Value of Freethought?
What is a freethinker? By definition, a freethinker is a person who forms his or her ideas and opinions independently of authority or accepted views. The assumption is a freethinker is one who thinks critically about everything. This should include thinking critically about more than theology and dogma, but about naturalistic and atheist ideas as well. If a freethinker is … [Read more...]
What Happens When a Crisis of Faith Propels You on a Quest?
A Promo for Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus For something like 1500 years of Western Civilization, and going back another roughly 1500 prior to that in Jewish history, the Exodus narrative of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt was more or less accepted as a historical event. But today, mainstream archaeology says it probably didn’t happen. Yes, some artifacts have … [Read more...]
Scientific Mythologies: How Science And Science Fiction Forge New Religious Beliefs
James A. Herrick's Scientific Mythologies: How Science and Science Fiction Forge New Religious Beliefs offers a fascinating look at the interplay between fiction and reality. Sci-fi literature has had more of an impact on scientific research than one might expect. Rather than being a purely logical endeavor, science is sometimes fueled by - and often distorted by - what … [Read more...]
A List of My Recorded Interviews, Debates and Talks To-Date
Over the past couple of years, I have been privileged to have the opportunity to participate in a number of radio and podcast interviews and debates, as well as present a number of lectures on subjects of interest to Christians. Those that have been recorded lie scattered around the internet, and so I thought it would be a good idea to compile the links to these resources into … [Read more...]
The Stones Cry Out: A Review of The Interview
If Sony pictures wanted to stir up a buzz over a film, they could hardly have orchestrated a better series of events than the geo-political drama that played out ahead of The Interview: a mysterious cyberattack on Sony reportedly originating out of North Korea, followed by threats of violence against any theater that dared to show the film, followed by an abrupt Sony decision … [Read more...]