Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Objections and Misconceptions

  • On an Apologetic for Doubt

    C. Michael Patton is hardly my favorite blogger, as you might have guessed by now. The reason I have him in my RSS feed is because the sorts of things he typically says are symptomatic of what is wrong with most of non-confessional “Calvinism.” What I’ve dealt with most from him, of course, is the subject of “doubt”. The subject of doubt, for some reason, seems to be a fascination with Mr. Patton. As one who is focused on the apologetic implications of theological stances, his “advice” on this subject often horrifies me. Case in point: “On Talking to …

  • One Less God?

    With the recent controversy over McFormtist’s recent post, I figured this video might be a good reminder that this subject is nothing new, nor does it lack a prior context. Ignoring this context does nothing to advance the discussion, nor does a simple mention of Roman references to Christians as “atheists” get to the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter is that the claim being expressed is, at base, an appeal to neutrality which we both do not and cannot accept – an insistence on the equal footing of all “gods” where the atheist is rejecting …

  • 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 …

  • 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 …

  • 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…

  • PZ Myers on “twisty” philosophy

    Beware! Presuppositionalists

    There are logical/philosophical arguments against presuppositionalism (there are good examples in the comments at Aron’s blog), but I guess I’m not a philosophical thinker in that same vein — they all seem to[sic] twisty and abstract for me, and I don’t really trust those kinds of rebuttals.

    Count the number of assertions from the field of philosophy to follow – not to mention the amazing assertions concerning what presup consists of. Quite intriguing to witness. If you like train wrecks. See how many mistakes you can find in just this short article.…

  • 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, …

  • Theistic Arguments and the Necessity of God

    There are many different types of necessity.

    Logical Necessity and the Ontological Argument

    A logically necessary entity exists in every possible world. (A “possible world” is just a logically possible state of affairs.) That is, there is no logically possible state of affairs in which a logically necessary entity does not exist.

    The ontological argument seeks to demonstrate, among other things, that God is a logically necessary entity. Since God is the greatest possible being, there is no logically possible state of affairs in which God does not exist. It is greater for God to exist in every possible …

  • 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 …