Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Learn Apologetics

  • The Necessity of Eschatology for Apologetics (1)

    Decades of dispute over the timing of Christ’s return in relation to the millennium, tribulation, and other aspects of “the end times” have resulted in a general unbiblical apathy and agnosticism toward eschatology. Academic eschatology is narrowly defined as the “study of the last things” and relegated to the back of systematic theologies while its popular forms are dismissed as the substance of fanatical fringe groups on the outskirts of evangelicalism. Some express their eschatological apathy and agnosticism through clever jokes about being “pan-millennial” (“it will all pan out in the end”) or “pro-millennial” (“I’m for the millennium!”) while others …

  • 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…

  • 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, …

  • 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 …

  • T-Minus 3 Days and Counting

    I’m a real stickler for deadlines, schedules, and knowing when something is *supposed* to happen. While I can be disastrously disorganized in a plethora of ways, that is not one of them. That being said, I find it very interesting what I find myself up to in the days just prior to a debate. It’s not that I’m “burnt out” on Annihilationism right now or anything – this post is proof that I’m not, as you will see – it’s that I seem to be drawn to subjects that branch out from the subjects I’ve been repeatedly dealing with during …

  • God and Desire

    It was a bit of an eyebrow raiser – mostly due to the nonchalance of the entire affair – (albeit unsurprising, given prior statements he has made) to read Piper simply handing over 1 Tim. 2:4 to Arminianism. What’s also quite interesting is that the handoff is done with practically no exegetical attention paid to the surrounding verses, or seemingly, even an attempt to interact with the historic Reformed commentators on the subject.

    Put two texts together, and see what you see.

    “God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (eis

    …

  • Seen Elsewhere – On Comments

    A comment on this post I’d like to reply to.

    Dave,
    I rarely allow comments from adherents to unorthodox positions on one of my teaching posts – especially those comments with content covered by multiple entries in the FAQ, the site rules, or that have been answered elsewhere on the site. We have quite a different conception of the purpose for the comment section than most blogs do. Further, I prefer there be some apologetic benefit to engaging your comment – I saw none in that instance, as it seemed to be an assertion without argument that Reformed …

  • According to Knowledge

    It is often the case that personal ignorance is mistaken for Biblical mystery. It must be immediately stated that just because you haven’t learned something yet does not mean that it remains a mystery, or veiled. The term “revelation” refers to the disclosure of something formerly secret, or obscure. Often, the objector will assert that there is no fundamental difference between subjects such as women in ministry, election, or millenialism – or that the answer to any (or all) of these is simply mysterious – but this simply isn’t true. The Bible speaks with clarity on all that it speaks. …

  • The Warp and Weft of the Fabric of Faith

    Sola Scriptura is a beautiful thing to observe as it flows onto the page in an apologetic context. The system of theology which follows upon scripture alone is a marvel of consistent, doctrinal precision of expression and creates the most wonderful of tapestries. The warp and the weft of each thread of Scripture’s affirmations are woven together on the loom of the renewed mind to create a magnificent fabric of faith in flawless unity and diversity. As I sit here, even while engaging in a seemingly mundane task – assembling cross-examination questions – I’m again struck by the sheer beauty …

  • Forty Arabic Words

    وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا الْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِنْ شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا – Surah 4:157

    ζω δε ουκετι εγω ζη δε εν εμοι χριστος ο δε νυν ζω εν σαρκι εν πιστει ζω τη του υιου του θεου του αγαπησαντος με και παραδοντος εαυτον υπερ εμου – Gal 2:20

    As this video reminds us; there a billion people on this planet who denied that Christ ever died – due to 40 Arabic words.

    That they

    …