Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Doctrine

  • 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…

  • 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

    …

  • 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

    …

  • Admitting the Possibility

    (4:50) “Please pray for us? It seems to me as though Joshua’s prayer leading up to this debate, and my prayer, are a bit different. I’ll let you follow his posts so that you can check that out. My prayer for the upcoming debate is not that what I think is the truth will in fact be made out to be true. Because I quite frankly admit the possibility that I might be wrong about this; I don’t think that I am, and I think that the Scripture is clearly in support of the position that I’ll be advancing. But

    …

  • The FAQ Section: A Reminder

    This is just a friendly reminder to new site commenters as well as visitors to our chat channel. As it says in the comment section, please make sure you have read through the FAQ section before making a comment, or asking a question in the chat channel. Obviously, we haven’t addressed every objection there is – but we do have at least a general context given there for most objections, and their general categories, which should inform our mutual discussion.

    This section can be visited by clicking the “FAQ” tab up top – if there is a subject that you’d …

  • In the Vein of “Everything you ever learned was wrong”

    There are the Jehovah’s Witness claims that the entire Christian church has always been wrong about, well, almost everything. Except for those few ECFs they could massage into some sort of superficial agreement, of course. Mormonism likewise asserts that all churches ceased to be true churches rather quickly following Christ’s ascension. Islam, with it’s idea of scriptural supercessionism and their revisionist version of what the Scriptures actually are, or taught, have a similar view of Christianity as a whole. It’s much the same with any other warmed-over historical error – be they large, as the wholesale replacement religions seen above …