The CAA is participating in Apologetics 315's weekly Read Along program. We are reading "The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World" by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. See the first announcement on the CAA Facebook page. These are my initial thoughts: This "context" topic has come up recently in my own circle of apologetics … [Read more...]
Why Does God Allow Evil?
Day of Evil The 9/11 terrorist attacks kicked off a change in the overall tone of conversations about religion. Outspoken “New Atheists” like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and the late Christopher Hitchens gained a huge following from people who were critical of the Judeo-Christian conception God. Why Does God Allow Evil? Besides just slamming religion in general, … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 14
"Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock." Exodus 2:16-17 When we last looked at the life of Moses he was sitting by a well in the land of Midian. What must have been going … [Read more...]
Are Atheists Smarter Than Christians?
Well, there has certainly been a lot of controversy over an undergraduate psychology assignment given at The Ohio State University. A student anonymously submitted the following question to the people at Campus Reform which was actually on his homework assignment. Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125. Which of the following statements would you expect to be … [Read more...]
Blows and Blowback
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield was a contented, tenured English professor at Syracuse University specializing in Queer Theory and Gay and Lesbian Studies when she set out to write a book on the Religious Right. Why did they hate her and her gay and lesbian community? she wanted to know. An intelligent, thirty-six year old lesbian who considered herself a fine, moral human being, … [Read more...]
New Testament: Reliable or Myth? South Caroliners Mark Your Calendars for August 13th!
Is the New Testament reliable or is it just a bunch of man-made myths? That is the question I am going to be tackling in South Carolina in just a couple weeks’ time! There will be time for you, the audience, to ask questions after my presentation. The event will take place on Wednesday August 13th at 7pm in EDT at the BCM Ministry Building at Winthrop University: 620 Oakland … [Read more...]
A Clear Look at History Cracks the "Josephus Mirror Code"
Earlier this month, I started a series of responses to another blog author posting a note on our Ratio Christi at Germanna Community college Facebook page. The comment was a promo for his book entitled, The Josephus Mirror Code and the author is Paul Amatucci.[1] His note was a multi leveled attack on the authenticity and the historicity of the life of Jesus and the gospel … [Read more...]
Challenging Eyewitnesses of the Resurrection
Last year I wrote a post regarding the irony of rejecting the eyewitness accounts to Jesus' resurrection. I received the following challenge that attempts to undermine the reliability of eyewitnesses and the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since the Christian faith is grounded on this unique event in history (1 Corinthians 15), the challenge must be addressed. Here … [Read more...]
Sufism – Mystical Islam (Part 1)
INTRODUCTION Sufism is the mystical or esoteric school of thought in Islam. The Arabic word for Sufism is 'tasawuff'. A practitioner of Sufism is called a Sufi or a Dervish. The following quotations reveal the various understandings of Sufism. … [Read more...]
Naturalness of Theism
I believe you have a mind of your own. I believe a bottle of water can only spinning in one direction at any give time. I believe a bottle of water cannot be full and empty at the same time. I believe that an unsupported bottle of water falls. These beliefs I hold implicitly without cognitive reflection. These beliefs spontaneously develop without special cultural … [Read more...]