Feb 7, 2020 | Apologetics
In my previous post I argued that the transformed life of converted sinners is a profound defense of the truth of the Christian faith. We can’t see God, like the wind, but the evidence of his reality, like the wind, can be seen in the effects of his Spirit in the lives of his people. I mentioned that Romans 12 gives us an explanation as to how this works itself out in practice, and will explain that here. Paul spent 11 chapters giving us a detailed explanation about the meaning of redemptive history, then transitions with a declaration of the mind-blowing (in modern parlance) nature of it all (11:33-36). Then he transitions to how we are to live in light of it all:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(more…)
Feb 1, 2020 | Apologetics
I was praying recently, and said something to God like, it’s difficult to believe what we can’t see, but . . . . I can’t help but believe it! And for many of the reasons I argue here. Then something different came to mind, an apologetic I don’t believe I have ever appealed to: changed lives. Evangelical Christians, a description I embrace for myself, are familiar with Christians using their testimony as a means of sharing the reality of their faith with others. I’ve always shied away from this as an apologetic, as a defense for the truth of Christianity, because it seems subjective, and I want to root that defense in the objective, in things that are real and substantive, like evidence, Scripture, history, archaeology, logic, philosophy, etc. What came to my mind is a saying of Jesus from John 3, and I realized just how powerful is the evidence God has given us for his existence and spiritual reality in the lives of his people:
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
(more…)
Jan 4, 2020 | Apologetics
In a previous post I argued that it is much easier to believe in Christianity than the alternatives, and discussed three ways we can judge a religion or worldview’s claim to truth. I argued that absolute certainty is impossible, so our goal should be beyond-a-reasonable-doubt certainty. The three ways (apologetics methods) bring us well beyond reasonable doubt for Christianity, and help us to compare it to the alternatives. Here are some examples of how these methods help us do that. (more…)
Dec 25, 2019 | Apologetics
Christmas is upon us again, and for those of us who’ve experienced more than a few, it kind of loses its wonder after a while. It shouldn’t. If what Christmas celebrates actually happened, if it is actually true, then it is the most profound event in all of history, by far. We need to ask ourselves why we should believe this preposterous history in the first place. It is certainly preposterous on its face. God becoming man? Seriously? You have to be kidding. Nope! The incarnation, God becoming man, makes perfect sense in the context of the Christian message: God himself saves his people from their sin (Matt. 1:21). He accomplished it by becoming one of us, and paying the price for us in our place. God himself, in Christ, fulfilled for us, all that he demanded of us. No wonder so many find it hard to believe! (more…)
Dec 21, 2019 | Apologetics
This assertion is completely counter intuitive to secularists, and unfortunately hard for many Christians to believe. But the more you know about the claims for the truth of Christianity, and those of the alternatives, the more you can’t help but believe that Christianity is true. Some explanation of reality has to be true, has to be the way things actually are. Contrary to the silly COEXIST bumper stickers on cars of people signaling how tolerant they are, every religion can’t be true. They all make contradictory claims, so the most basic law of logic, the law of non-contradiction, holds: a thing cannot both be A and not-A at the same time and in the same sense. Aristotle said “that without the principle of non-contradiction we could not know anything that we do know.” Put another way, religion and worldviews are not like ice cream, simply a personal preference. If we don’t believe in Christianity, we have to believe in something else. (more…)
Dec 17, 2019 | Apologetics
My middle son and I are reading Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life together. Peterson has become a cultural phenomenon, and one the secular left hates. That alone is enough to take him seriously, but from the little I’d read and heard, it seems he wants to help men become men, and take responsibility for their lives. This alone is enough the have the alphabet people clamoring for his head. Although he is not a Christian, he takes seriously the cultural tradition of the West that includes the contribution of plenty of dead white men, not so popular today among his fellow academics. But I was compelled to write because of something secular academics do that drives me nuts: They sneak evolution as a creative power into their prose. I will give a couple examples, and once you see this hopefully it will forever drive you nuts too. I’ll also briefly explain why this is so important. (more…)
Recent Comments