Mar 13, 2020 | Apologetics
If that question doesn’t make you laugh, you haven’t thought about it enough. I listened to a podcast the other day on the cosmological argument. Simply, it is a philosophical argument for God’s existence that everything that comes to exist has a cause, that there must have been a first cause for all the things that exist, and that this first cause must itself be uncaused. The logic is unassailable, even though otherwise intelligent people claim that something can somehow come from nothing. That would have to be the case if matter and the universe were eternal, but Einstein, the Big Bang, and the second law of thermodynamics kind of put the kibosh on the Aristotelian notion of an eternal universe (also known as the Steady State theory). (more…)
Mar 8, 2020 | Parents and Family
I recently came across an article at The Public Discourse called “The Best Practices—and Benefits—of Religious Parenting.” Given I have some interest in the topic, I was curious to see what these best practices might be. We learn that religion in general has positive outcomes for parenting. In an increasingly secular culture, studies that prove the positive influence of religion are a good thing. But something was missing from these best practices that to me is, by far, the most important single factor of religious parenting: truth. Why would anyone want to raise their children in a religion that they don’t believe to be the truth? Probably because they don’t believe in truth, at least when it comes to religion. If it works, makes you happy, etc., that will do. Most Americans believe that just because something is true for you doesn’t mean it necessarily has to be true for me. Or put simply, true for you but not for me! Such a contention is ridiculous on the face of it, but many otherwise thoughtful and intelligent people actually believe this. (more…)
Mar 5, 2020 | Culture
It’s become a cliche that we live in a “post-Christian” culture. This is shown in obvious hostility to Christians and their faith, but more perniciously when Christianity and God are ignored as if they are completely irrelevant to existence. The latter provides the most danger to our faith at the same time it provides the many opportunities to help strengthen it. The recently ended NBC series The Good Place is an example of both. It’s kind of funny, really, that in a show purportedly about the afterlife that God was persona non grata. We watched every episode of all four seasons, and I’m pretty sure the divine being didn’t even make a cameo. We can conclude, then, that God is not relevant to life, death, or even what comes after death. That’s the danger, that people think such a view of reality is reasonable and plausible, and go along their merry way without a thought of the judgment to come. But it’s also a great opportunity because you see how shallow, weak, and hopeless such a view really is. Ultimately, the ending shows us just how clueless the writers are without God’s revelation to them in creation, Scripture, and Christ. (more…)
Feb 29, 2020 | Apologetics
In a universe without God, we come from a meaningless past, and are destined for a meaningless future; we came from chance for no reason at all with no purpose at all, and are hurdling through this eye blinking thing called life toward extinction. The question arises for the atheist: Can human beings find meaning between those two polls of meaninglessness? I ask because of a comment I made at at First Things on an article titled “Auschwitz and ‘Intrinsic Evil.'” An atheist challenged me, and linked to a blog post to better explain his position: “The Meaning of Meaning & Why Theism Can’t Make Life Matter.” I decided to reply here. The article starts thus:
It comes up constantly. Without a god, without an afterlife, how can life have any meaning?
(more…)
Feb 25, 2020 | Apologetics
God has revealed himself in creation, Scripture, and ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ. In previous posts about creation and the Bible, I argued the only plausible explanation for each is God. Jesus is the ultimate manifestation of God’s revelation of himself to his creatures. Regarding creation, Paul says that “God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” In Christ we see God’s more visible qualities. Creation only gives us limited knowledge of God. Read some history of philosophy to see how many speculative rat holes philosophers have gone down trying to figure that out. But we don’t have to speculate or guess what God is really like; we only need look to Jesus. There is a practical and the theological way to explain why God can be the only explanation for Jesus Chirst. (more…)
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