The ontological argument has fascinated philosophers for centuries in attempting to prove God’s existence from the concept of God. The argument does not appeal to any facts of experience, but solely on the implications of conceiving of God a priori. This differs from other a posteriori arguments for God’s existence such as the cosmological (creation), teleology (design), or … [Read more...]
Review: “O” God – A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality
Summer is here! If you’re looking for some light reading that helps you understand where a lot of people are coming from when they think about spirituality, check out the book by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterret that’s been getting a lot of press recently: “O” God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality. Even though this was published in 2009, it’s still as relevant as … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 12
Did pharaoh's daughter find baby Moses in an ark of bulrushes in the reeds by the bank of the river and raise him as her son? Did Moses become the leader of the slave nation of Israel? Did Moses lead Israel out of Egypt in a great exodus after humiliating the pharaoh through miracles of God? During my investigation into the claims of theism more than 40 years ago, … [Read more...]
What Is Faith Really?
I have been interested in reading the reaction to the debate between Dr. Tim McGrew and Dr. Peter Boghossian. I listened to the debate, and one thing struck me as particularly odd. There was a lot of time spent from the side of Dr. Boghossian discussing what he believes the majority of Christians in the 21st century mean when they refer to faith. However, I don’t believe that … [Read more...]
Paul – Apostle or Fraud (Part 8)
“Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.” Acts 14:27-28 Saul (Paul) and Barnabas returned to Antioch of Syria after many months on a journey that began with the Holy Spirt saying, “Now separate to Me … [Read more...]
The Argument of the Shadows
In June, 2002, in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attack, 25-year-old Pat Tillman abruptly left a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals and enlisted in the US Army. He declined all interview requests, asking to be looked upon as any other soldier. Nevertheless, the news turned him into a national phenom overnight. Two years later, he was shot and … [Read more...]
What Does the Bible Teach About the Nature of the Soul?
The Biblical authors used two words currently translated as “soul”: “nephesh” (neh’-fesh) in the Old Testament and “psuche” (psoo-khay’) in the New Testament. These Hebrew and Greek words are used to describe many characteristics of animals and humans other than their soulish nature, so for the most part, they typically don’t tell us much about the nature of the soul. There … [Read more...]
Is Believing in Absolute Truth Narrow-Minded or Intolerant?
Introduction The objection of Christians being intolerant or narrow-minded is one of the more popular charges thrown down when discussing some of the moral issues of our day. Christians in many cases, are painted with broad strokes to be the "horse with blinders on its eyes, limiting its vision of the world; or that of an ostrich with its head buried in the sand, completely … [Read more...]
ISLAM – RELIGIOUS PRACTICES (PART 3)
6. Islamic Head Dress: Seen as a sign of female oppression by outsiders and a few insiders too, the headdress of Muslim women make them stand out. "The (really) rough rule of thumb for where these headdresses are popular is Hijab: Roughly used everywhere in some form. Many times a generic word for head covering. Al-Amira: A hijab found in Arabic countries and those … [Read more...]
Book Review: Walton's The Lost World of Genesis One
“Creations' debate game changer” is my four words review of John H. Walton’s 192-paged InterVarsity Press published book The Lost World of Genesis One (2009). Noting that the Old Testament was not written to us but for us, Walton returns us to the lost and forgotten ancient Jews to whom the Testament was written. He thus invites us to decipher ancient Near East cosmology as … [Read more...]