Category: Frequently Asked Questions
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (9 of 10)
In my previous post for this series I provided a list of covenantal apologetic links. As mentioned in that post, a number of sites were likely left out. Like the previous post, this post will no doubt leave much to be desired in terms of how exhaustive it is. There are now enough new covenantal apologetics books coming out that it is difficult to list them all in a post like this one.
Years ago books like Every Thought Captive and Apologetics to the Glory of God were, other than books by Cornelius Van Til, just about the only thing …
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (8 of 10)
(Links in this post are temporarily down.)
Today I met with another presuppositionalist for lunch. The Internet is where I first heard about him and wrote to him and eventually I was able to meet him in person. There have been at least a dozen other presuppositionalists I have met in like manner. I feared for my life in only about half of those meetings. The Internet has made it possible to have presuppositional discussions with people I would otherwise have never known exist.
“The Internet” is an obvious answer to the question of what major factors have …
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A Brief History of Covenantal Apologetics
From In Antithesis, Vol. 1 No. 1 September, 2011
The covenantal apologetic method is that method of defending the faith prescribed and described in Scripture. In order to avoid an obvious anachronism one might more properly speak of Scripture setting forth the foundation for the method which would later become known as “covenantal apologetics.”
Some of the texts of Scripture traditionally used to support the contention above include Proverbs and other wisdom literature, Acts 17, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 1, Colossians 1, and Ephesians 2, though many other texts appear in the relevant literature.
Rudimentary versions of covenantal apologetics …
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Christian Books on Homosexuality
A few people asked me about books on homosexuality. Here are three that I recommend:
The classic work on this topic is The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics by Robert A.J. Gagnon.
James R. White & Jeffrey D. Niell wrote what is probably my favorite treatment of it, The Same Sex Controversy.
Finally, Homosexuality: A Biblical View by Greg L. Bahnsen is available online for free.…
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Answering the Evidentialist Objection
Introduction
Oversimplification. The unbeliever, and the New Atheist in particular, thrive on it. The situation is no different when it comes to the strong demands for “evidence” in the context of apologetic debate. “Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence” was the plea Bertrand Russell planned to use when he came face to face with God. I suspect it did not go over well.
Yet the loudest non-Christian voices among us continue to parrot Russell’s silly sentiment. It has even been given a name. The “evidentialist objection.” It is quite frequently captured in the contention that Christians should immediately provide …
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Dear Atheists: Please Get Better Objections
Joe is an atheist who takes issue with my asking another commenter about supporting evidence for his claims. When I asked the other visitor, “what’s your evidence that only evidence matters?” Joe responded, “Sir, you may not be stupid, but this phrase is nonsense. YOU use evidence to support everything.”
Apparently Joe buys into the idea that only evidence matters, that everyone uses evidence to support everything, and even that every claim must be supported with evidence. But if every claim must be supported by evidence, then the claim, “every claim must be supported with evidence” must also be supported …
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Chris Bolt on the Skepticule Record Podcast
Atheist Paul Baird recently invited me to come on Skepticule for an informal discussion pertaining to a number of topics. I would like to thank Paul once again for a delightful time.
You may listen here – http://www.skepticule.co.uk/2012/07/skeprec-013-20120613.html…
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (1 of 10)
Years ago (oh how time flies!) I read a series of posts by Mark Dever called, “Where’d All These Calvinists Come From?” You may read the series here. Dever provides observations pertaining to the apparent recent growth of Calvinist(ic) theology amongst younger generations as famously pointed out by Collin Hansen here. Some believe these claims erroneous. Others consider them truthful, good news. Others true, but harmful. Whatever your opinion on the matter, I suspect that the “New Calvinism” just has to be an improvement upon “Ancient Pelagianism.” And who wouldn’t agree that it is better to be “Young, …
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The “Self-Attestation” of Scripture (Part 1)
People (and I mean believers and unbelievers alike) are generally confused about the so-called “self-attestation” of Scripture. Let’s think about the concept of self-attestation outside of the context of Scripture.
To “attest” is to declare that something is the case. For example, “The sky appears to be blue.”
Now consider another example, “This sentence appears on a website.” The sentence declares something to be the case. But its declaration is about itself. The sentence makes the claim that it appears on a website. In this sense it is self-attesting.
Or consider one more example, “This sentence is true.” The …