The Hunger Games and Philosophy provides an excellent springboard from which to dive into some key themes in this incredibly popular trilogy. In "Who is Peeta Mellark? The Problem of Identity in Panem," Nicolas Michaud uses Peeta's post-torture persona to look at the problem of personal identity. I will do my best to adequately represent her argument, as well as provide a … [Read more...]
The Argument of Tears
A typical crowd of tourists, seniors, and schoolchildren on field trips was mulling around the large lobby of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. when a young man, wearing full military dress and carrying a cello, walked toward a chair curiously placed in the center of the large room and sat down. He took up his bow in one hand, stretched his … [Read more...]
Free-will and choice confusion
I'm writing this article as a plea for Christians and skeptics alike, but especially theologians and apologists, to use the term 'free will' more carefully. I hear mistakes and mis-speaks so often that it has become one of my pet-peeves. I'm also hoping that providing a bit of detail on the distinction will positively impact our theological and apologetics discussion. This … [Read more...]
Christian Hypocrites
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: Often the biggest (if not one of the biggest) hindrance to people becoming Christian or turning to God (“converting”) is people who call themselves Christians. This is of course, a great difficulty. Some may call … [Read more...]
Does the Old Testament Teach Two Comings of the Messiah?
Introduction Jewish people and even some skeptics like to assert that Christians are the ones who have come up with two act play about the coming of the Messiah. In other words, since Jesus failed at the messianic task, Christians then had no choice but to make up a second coming of Jesus. I already have a post called “Was Jesus a Failed Prophet?” here. While there is much … [Read more...]
Prophecy
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: Introduction The skeptical issue in our culture mostly enters into the religious dialogue in the following way: “In the case of God, who isn’t some physical object but a divine being, what kind of evidence should … [Read more...]
The Necessity Of God And The Death of Philosophy
I saw this image on Facebook the other day (states "God isn't an option, He's a necessity"). As a Christian I accept this because it is a part of the truth of Christianity (and consequently, reality). But the unbeliever doesn't tend to accept it or even appreciate the significance of this statement...especially if they claim to know anything (even as minimal as that they … [Read more...]
The Case for the Reliability of the Old Testament (Bible Insert)
We’ve been investigating the case for the reliability of the Old Testament by examining the process of transmission, the verification of archaeology and the appearance of fulfilled prophecy in the text. The ancient scribes employed a trustworthy system of checks and balances as they copied the original texts, and the accuracy of transmission process was successfully tested with … [Read more...]
Jesus’ Divine Incarnation
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: Jesus’ often references his divinity throughout the gospels. One of the clearest examples of this is when he healed a man on the Sabbath in John 5. When the Pharisees accosted him for this, he claimed that unlike … [Read more...]
Creation Ex Materia?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”[i] From this and other passages, the Bible tells us that God created all things ex nihilo (out of nothing) and orthodox Christianity has always interpreted these verses this way. In other words, God did not use any pre-existing material, but rather the space/time universe came into being simply by divine fiat. But, … [Read more...]