It should come as no surprise to anyone who is at all paying attention to the culture around us that we can no longer assume that the people we interact with subscribe to a Judeo/Christian worldview. In fact, an increasing percentage of the populace is hostile to such a view. This begs the question of church leaders, "what are you doing to get your people grounded in the … [Read more...]
Why Pornography Harms
On this blog we have often talked about the same sex marriage controversy and how it poses a threat to both religious liberty and the family unit. However, the elephant in the room that is rarely publicly discussed in evangelical circles is pornography, an evil that arguably poses just as much threat (if not a bigger threat) to the family unit. A 2008 study of 813 college … [Read more...]
The 5th Wave: I Am The Battlefield
“I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running, not staying, but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity’s last war, then I am the battlefield.” - Yancey's favorite quote from The 5th Wave Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave … [Read more...]
A Defense of the Minimal Facts: Part 1
I was recently sent an article by Matthew Ferguson of Adversus Apologetica where he attempts to knock down the minimal facts approach. Looking through the article, I was largely unimpressed. For those interested, it can be found here: The minimal facts approach is used by Gary Habermas and Mike Licona. This strategy take facts that even liberal scholarship acknowledges and … [Read more...]
The Cognitive Dissonance Of Evil
The Problem of Evil and Suffering In defending the truth of the Christian worldview, I often come across atheists who point to the supposed incompatibility of a loving God with the existence of evil and suffering. Many defenders of Christianity will move directly to explain to the atheist that without an eternal, unchanging standard, there is no objective morality, thus there … [Read more...]
Is Intelligent Design A Circular Argument? A Response to Matt Dillahunty
On Sunday night, I called into the Atheist Experience, an atheist TV show based out of Austin, Texas. It is a weekly call in program, airing every Sunday at 4:30 till 5:30pm Central and can be viewed on ustream. The recording of my discussion with Matt Dillahunty from Sunday night (I am the first and longest caller) can still be found online (mp3; video). It is unfortunate … [Read more...]
Tips For Studying The Bible
As Christians, we have a lot of questions that we don’t always know how to investigate on our own, and we’re grateful when somebody will come in and give us the quick answer. But if you’ve raised kids, you know that when your kids have a question and ask you to sort something out for them, they come away with one kind of knowledge. When you allow your kids to work through, and … [Read more...]
Is The Ontological Argument Valid? – Conclusion
[I continue (Part 1 and Part 2) my assessment of the ontological argument by looking at modal versions of it and finally a conclusion.] These modes of being (necessity and contingency) have led to a resurgence of the ontological argument by modern philosophers. Norman Malcolm (1911- ) has attempted to make the persuasive force for the ontological argument more transparent by … [Read more...]
Five Ontological Arguments
I find it difficult to critique something if you have not read the argument (assuming, for example, it is in a textual or narrative form) in its designated context. We moderns may struggle with a plethora of classical problems that contained phenomena, terms and language that don't quite mean the same as they used to. For instance, those who have read the Republic will find it … [Read more...]
Atheism And Evil In The Name Of God
Evil in the Name of God I recently saw an animated short created by an atheist on YouTube. In this video, a bunch of theists were trying to tell an atheist about God. But then the theists began to threaten each other with weapons and argue over whose religion was right! Not surprisingly, the atheist character came out as the level-headed one as he tried to calm everyone … [Read more...]