Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Convos, Observations, and Quotes

  • Do you wear clothes with mixed fabric types?

    This is one of those FAQs asked to Christians who, as the bible teaches, believe that the definition of marriage only allows for a union between one man and one woman.  Christians will have to continually articulate why they believe this, especially in the current climate.

    The question asked assumes a lack of coherency  in Scripture when it comes to how God’s people should live. What’s really being asked is this

    “If both homosexuality and wearing clothes with mixed fabric types in the bible are condemned in the OT, why is one still wrong and not the other.”

    Now, aside …

  • The Tyranny of Death

    Death is a tyrant.

    Only one, however, has ever experienced the entirety of the curse of death. Everyone else will experience it in part, or never cease to experience it. The fullness of that tyranny rests its claws upon only one; He upon whom the wrath of God, and all the terrible and righteous fury that implies, was poured, and who bore it for the sake of His elect. Christ, our Lord and King.

    The first death, the promise of Adam’s curse, attends us all. This is a pittance, a vapor, in comparison to that of the second. It is …

  • A Conversation About Categories

    There are particular buzzwords in the air these days. Of course, there are buzzwords in the air every day – and always have been. One of the hot-buttons these days is “transgender”. With the media circus surrounding Bruce Jenner, it is in an impossible glare. The media’s feeding frenzies know no bounds, and the level of rhetoric and sheer hyperbole is shocking, even to a jaded student of mass media narrative creation.

    The problem is, the left is in a pickle when it comes to “transgender” – much as it is in a pickle concerning “bisexuals.” With the latter, on …

  • The Theological Bases

    The other day, I posted a reply to Andrew, at “Entertaining Christianity.” He has since responded. We’ve chatted a bit privately, as well, but my time constraints tend to curtail things, occasionally.

    Essentially, I think there’s a bit of miscommunication on his part about what, exactly, the problems were with his post. As I pointed out to him, that could very well be due to our rather different backgrounds, theologically speaking. From our conversation, I gathered that he was confused by what I meant by “omnibenevolence” in the context I used it in. As others have pointed out, …

  • Irrationality is not a Response

    I encountered a rather unfortunate blog post today. Upon examining it, and the posts it links to, I think it would be helpful to respond to, albeit briefly.

    First, just to get it out of the way – why on earth would you use such appalling language when dealing, at least putatively, with Christian doctrine? (Let alone any other time.) It is, quite simply, outrageous on any level.

    Second, while I’m sure Jon Stewart (and his devoted fans) are quite convinced that he is the epitome of the witty bon mot – he quite typically fails, rather spectacularly, in …

  • To My Friends At Erskine

    What I say does not necessarily represent Erskine. I’m speaking as a Christian who is a student  at Erskine, and is interpreting Erskine’s statement, individually.

    I am aware of the variety of emotions that are being experienced due to Erskine’s statement on human sexuality. Everyone is angry. Just look at all of the capital letters and the exclamatory remarks.

    Eventually I want to strictly address some of the arguments given on both sides, but for now I believe it is necessary to introduce my thoughts.

    I think the more pressing issue is the emotions (or passions) that are tied up …

  • Love is Love and Other Tautologies

    Love is love, right? That’s the tagline for the modern movement which seeks to redefine what, precisely, love is. There are a multitude of problems with this idea, of course, but let’s take one specific instance.

    It begins, predictably, with “love has no gender.” It proceeds to “love has no race.” Next, “love has no disability.” Next up is “love has no age.” We’ll get back to that in a minute. Next up is “love has no religion.” It ends with “love has no labels.”

    There’s a problem with this progression, though. The video is subtitled “Love has no Labels” …

  • Mr. White, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Black IX

    It’s been a while! We will, however, pick up from where we left off in this exchange, and examine Mr. Black’s reply to Mr. Grey.

    “Well,” says Mr. Black, “this is great news indeed. I knew that the modernists were willing with us to start from human experience as the final reference point in all research. I knew that they were willing with us to start from Chance as the source of facts, in order then to manufacture such facts of nature and of history as the law of non-contradiction, based on Chance, will allow. I also knew that the

  • Jeremiah 31 and Newness

    Most Covenantal discussions revolve around what, precisely, is new about the New Covenant.  Much ink has been spilled, and literary armies have marched forth to battle on the strength of this one word.  A newer entrant to the lists has their own opinion on the matter, and believes that the newness consists in a complete distinction from the old.  As one adherent of New Covenant Theology stated to me in conversation, the difference lies in “newness” and “not like”.  In a sense, this is true. What we bring to bear on these words, presuppositionally, will determine what we think they …

  • Second Timothy 2 and Unbelief

    I recently encountered a comment on 2Tim which asserted that this passage precludes “protracted arguments with unbelievers.” The verse cited as proof of this was 2 Timothy 2:14. Unfortunately, there was no argument accompanying this statement. The additional statement was made that “We have zero evidence that Jesus and the apostles spent protracted time dealing with unbelievers.” I’d like to deal with these comments to follow.

    Firstly, let’s look at the passage. Obviously, 2 Timothy is written to Timothy, a young pastor at Ephesus, and protege of Paul. The entire middle section of the second chapter concerns practical instructions for …