Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Problem of Evil

  • Religionless Christianity and the Myth of Neutrality

    I will write in generalities here, not because I am afraid to enter the fray, and not because there are not a plethora of examples of the sort of thing I am referring to, but because those who have entered the fray tend to lose sight of the generalities here expressed, and because there are a plethora of examples of the sort of thing I am referring to. There is some fear that the grid I am supplying here may be misused and abused, but I hope rather to clarify those areas where it is being misused and abused through …

  • Why Should I Believe Christianity? by James N. Anderson

    It goes without saying that I’ll recommend pretty much anything written by James N. Anderson of Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC.

    Here’s my summary of his most recent book, Why Should I Believe Christianity?, available to members of Books At a Glance.

    (You may also be interested in the summary of A New Kind of Apologist edited by Sean McDowell.)

    Go ahead, sign up for an account! You know you want to.

     …

  • Peripatetic 24 – Resume Inflation

    Christmas, Apostasy, and Resume Inflation.…

  • Peripatetic 21 – Response to Brett Gallaher

    (Subtitle: What 3/4 of an MA in theology at Asbury buys)

    A response to his article, reposted here at the Huffington Post.

    Edit: For some reason, during an edit of this post, I inserted “Brian”, instead of “Brett” Gallaher. My apologies.…

  • No Tool In The Shed Sharp Enough

    It’s a curious thing, to me, witnessing atheists commenting on moral or ethic issues. Between the popular guys who appear on TV and the regular guys who may or may not appear on YouTube, the tone varies, depending on what the medium allows for or demands. But it’s not even so much the tone that keeps me watching or listening or reading. It’s the very clearly moral language they’re utilizing to disparage the audacity of Christians to allow their freely held ideas to breach the boundaries of their intellects, and, you know, to act in a way that reflects what …

  • The Creator/Creature Distinction and Objections

    In our last post we looked at the centrality of the Creator/creature distinction to Christian theology, and to our apologetic. With this post, I’d like to look at the importance of it in regards to objections offered and our response to them. These objections can come in a variety of forms – the so-called problem of evil, the supposed “evil god” objections, objections to Scriptural tenets, or what have you. At bottom, however, I’d advance the theory that they all boil down to a denial of God’s transcendence. Why do I say this?

    At bottom, every objection that is offered …

  • Evil as an Illusion

    To the average Westerner, the religious texts and teachings of the East often read like drug induced nonsense. At the same time, Eastern religions contain some insight in virtue of their very different approach to familiar topics.

    Take, for example, the problem of evil. As far as most atheists are concerned, this is the best weapon available against theism, and especially Christian theism. Of course, the problem of evil fails as an objection to the Christian faith due to the unbeliever’s inability to fashion an argument against the premise that ‘God has a morally sufficient reason for the evil He …

  • Theology Still Matters

    Even in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy, such as the Aurora shootings (Alan’s comments about whether comments on it should still be going on aside), there are common themes in responses to tragedy, and what answers you have to give concerning it. As Dr. White is fond of saying – and I’m fond of repeating – theology matters, and your theology determines your apologetic. I had this story linked to me, earlier this evening. It sounds truly remarkable, and I appreciate that he related this story. What I didn’t appreciate, however, was the answer he had to give …

  • Book Recommendation: Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God

    4. What a folly and boldness is there in sin, since an eternal God is offended thereby! All sin is aggravated by God’s eternity. The blackness of the heathen idolatry was in changing the glory of the incorruptible God (Rom_1:23); erecting resemblances of him contrary to his immortal nature; as if the eternal God, whose life is as unlimited as eternity, were like those creatures whose beings are measured by the short ell of time, which are of a corruptible nature, and daily passing on to corruption; they could not really deprive God of his glory and immortality, but they

    …

  • The Second Paragraph of The Fire That Consumes

    “In the public square, fire and brimstone are definitely out of vogue. Hell shows up in conversation often enough, but generally as an expletive rather than as a serious subject. Hell is not unique in this regard – the same can be said of Jesus Christ. More troubling than hell’s absence from secular society is its general disappearance from many Christian pulpits. Interestingly, although nearly all evangelical pastors and teachers firmly believe that Jesus will ‘come to judge the living and the dead,’ a considerable number of them cannot remember when they last preached or taught on the subject. Might

    …