Category: Bad Arguments
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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 …
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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 …
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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
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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 …
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Standing our Ground: But Not Because of Tradition
While it might be politic to cite the opinion of someone whose idea of things is, at least superficially, similar to our own, that doesn’t negate the requirement to examine that opinion with an eye toward the presuppositional commitments of the one expressing it. When we, as Reformed believers, committed to Sola Scriptura, look at a subject like the current push for “gay marriage” – what sort of things are we taking for granted when we take that look? I refer, of course, to the columnist Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, who recently wrote an article entitled “Why so many Christians won’t …
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On Proper Analysis – Scott Terry and VanTillianFire
The author, Aaron Dale, at the blog “Van Tillian Fire,” has written a critique of my much-critiqued “Dear Sye” post. For reasons unbeknownst to me, he neglected to read the post of the following day, “The Shattered Stained Glass Window”, as well as the post “A Necessary Distinction.” Why is this important, you ask? It is important because these were written several months ago – and written specifically to provide specifics about issues I left unstated, or merely referred to in general terms in the initial post. Why did I leave them unstated? I left them …
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Wherein Bruce Gerencser Combats The Vast Evangelical Conspiracy
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The Haberdashery of Bruce Gerencser
I have been watching, with interest, the stream of attempted rebuttal flowing from Bruce’s virtual pen today. We began the day with the assertion that yesterday’s post was a “deconstruction” of Bruce’s story. I found that odd, myself. Especially since I am the author of the post, after all. When you intentionally include such sentences as “See, Bruce doesn’t need to inflate his resume” or, ” I don’t have any concern with rewriting his story”, or even ” What is actually relevant is whether your resume has any bearing on what you actually have to say.” Now, I understand …
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When your resume is irrelevant – your testimonial does the trick
I got a Google Alert this morning for the term “presuppositionalism.” Of course, as is usually the case, it was an atheist using the term. In this case, however, it was actually irrelevant to the entire post, as far as the author, Bruce Gerencser, is concerned. The only reference to it was a wikipedia link. I’m actually fairly sure he isn’t especially familiar with it, and that itself is unimportant. What interested me was his resume, and his testimonial. You see, the author is a pastor, and a former Calvinist pastor, to boot. Of course, he was a former … -
Peripatetic 30 – Simplicity, Systematic Theology, and Sanctification
Recorded in mid-March; covers the relationship between Divine Simplicity and Systematic Theology, and goes through Ephesians 6 to emphasize the unity of the Christian life and the apologetic task. Additionally, as major examples, addresses practically all of the same subjects recently addressed on the blog, and gives a theological background for my recent comments about a variety of issues, as well as expanding on the previous episode.…