Apologetics to the Glory of God

Month: October 2009

  • Happy Reformation Day From Choosing Hats!

    On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg and sparked the Protestant Reformation of which John Calvin was also a part.

    “That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead, the memory of which he constantly renews and occasionally enlarges, that all to a man being aware that there is a God, and that he is their …

  • An Extremely Enjoyable Apologetic Encounter

    The debate was over but the air was still thick with tension. After shaking hands and chatting for a moment, my opponent and I attempted to step down from the platform we had been on but were blocked by a handful of people. After expressions of “thank you” and “you are welcome” to a few faculty members and an elderly lady asking us what we would do if the September 11th attacks were to happen where we lived my opponent and I parted company.

    One of the first people to stop me on the floor to talk to me was …

  • Where To Start

    When it comes to disagreements about the existence of God people usually want to proceed without ever setting down a clear set of rules by which to make a case. We often assume that we are all thinking along the same lines as to what the rules are when it comes to discussions about God and truth and knowledge and other such subjects. This assumption is unfortunate because Christians and non-Christians “play” by a different set of rules. The amount of literature written about the subject of the existence of God could fill libraries, yet if we searched through all …

  • Collision Questions

    Pastor John Piper recently asked Doug Wilson a series of questions about the movie Collision. You may read them and view the video and/or listen to the audio of the exchange Here

    I know people who have already received their copies of the movie. Whether he intends to or not, Wilson is bringing a great deal of attention to the presuppositionalist method. Consider purchasing the movie if you have not done so already, and have some friends over to watch it with you. I know I will!…

  • Applying Paul

    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
    Prov 1:7 (ESV)

    Recognizing God for who He is and giving Him due reverence as Lord is the beginning of knowledge, not the end of it. This is very different from what most people think today. Even some Christians think that if we just start with what we already know without God, we can show people that God really does exist. From there, we can tell people about who God is. This does not match the verse though. A knowledge of God does not come …

  • A Different Set of Rules

    Imagine you are at a friend’s house playing a game of pool. Your friend begins the game by breaking, but not a single ball goes into a pocket. Now it is your turn. You step up, adjust your pool stick just right, and sink a striped ball into a side pocket. You call solids but your friend objects.

    “Huh? You can’t be solids. You sank a striped, so you are stripes.”

    “Nope. It doesn’t go by what kind of ball you sink first. Being the first to sink a ball just means that you get to choose first, not that …

  • Beware of Philosophy!

    It is not uncommon to find people who are afraid of philosophy. Philosophy makes people question things. When people question things they start believing new things. It can be dangerous to believe new things. Besides, philosophers are weird. They stand out from the crowd. They are picky about what they say and write and do. Philosophers look at the world in a different way from most other people.

    Christians are often afraid of philosophy. The reason for this is that they take their beliefs so seriously. It is sinful to question God and His Word, and philosophy can lead people …

  • Not Overly Surprising

    A few months ago a close relative of mine visited a church gathering. The person who “preached” that day is a well known evidentialist apologist. If I wrote the name of the person the majority of the readers would undoubtedly know this person.

    So what happened? Well, according to my close relative, the Bible was never opened during the entire course of the “sermon”. I told her that I was not surprised.

    One’s apologetic is generally indicative of and affects one’s view of Scripture. Evidentialism is grounded in philosophy. If we are to compare it to presuppositionalism, the chart might …

  • Why The Bible Is Necessary For Apologetics: A Brief Reflection On 1 Peter 3.15

    Introduction

    The study of defending the Christian faith has recently become extremely popular. Bookstores are filled with manuals on how Christians can defend their faith. Usually the books present “facts” from secular writings. The Big Bang Theory, Ancient Greek philosophy, Near Death Experiences, selections from secular Roman historians and even liberal theology are used to try and show unbelievers that Christianity is reasonable. Christians are encouraged to look at these “facts” with unbelievers in a “neutral” way as though God does not exist or the Bible is not His Word. I find this odd.

    When we are looking for help …

  • New Book On The Theology Of John Frame

    Click here to read a post by Jeff Downs at AOMin concerning an exciting new 1232 page book Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John Frame with contributions from some familiar names in theology and apologetics.

    These are exciting times!…