Category: Worldview
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Without God and Without Hope: An Atheist on the Connecticut School Shootings
Atheist Matt Oxley comments on Christian responses to the shooting in Connecticut as follows:
Despite how angry this makes me, how silly and offensive I find these notions, suddenly I find myself envious of people with some form of a god to comfort them and answer their questions, even if those answers are shallow and ignorant, because I am simply without any answers that can even begin to make sense of this. Answers like this seem almost blissful.
Note that Matt is angry at the application of Christian tenets to tragic events. As I mentioned in my debate with Matt, …
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Listen to Chris Bolt on Backpack Radio this Sunday, December 16
Lord willing, Vocab Malone will be interviewing me on Backpack Radio this Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 6PM on KPXQ-AM in Phoenix, Arizona. You can live stream the program from this website – http://www.kpxq1360.com – or catch the recording when it goes up on this website – http://backpack.podbean.com. Make sure to tune in, and don’t forget to check out other episodes of Backpack Radio!…
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Why I Believe
I was in an conversation in our chat room the other day with an atheist – one that I thought was a total waste of time, until a friend of mine suggested I review my side of the conversation and encouraged me to post it as a synopsis of why I am a Christian, and what our method of apologetics “looks like” to the outside world.
The result is the attached PDF. Hopefully it will be of some benefit to you as you think about why it is that you believe, and how to best share that with others.Why …
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Lutherans, and Muslims, and TAG! Oh My!
On yesterday’s Dividing Line (September 11, 2012) a caller (37 minute mark) asks Dr. White some questions about “apologetic frameworks.” You may find the program here – http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=5229. As usual I recommend listening to the program in its entirety, but I want to mention two links related to the aforementioned discussion.
The first link is to a post where I tried to squeeze Martin Luther into a presuppositionalist framework. I don’t actually think he fits into that category, but it was worth a shot. You may find the post here – https://choosinghats.org/2010/10/happy-reformation-day-from-choosing-hats-2.
The second is the article I …
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (10 of 10)
I began this series with the claim that covenantal (or more popularly, “presuppositional”) apologetics are on the rise. I noted that I don’t have hard evidence that there are any more people now who know what presuppositional apologetics are than there were people who knew what they were ten years ago. However, I have spent a fair amount of time familiarizing myself with the method and its practitioners and feel confident in asserting that there are. My stated goal in writing this series was to provide an explanation of the aforementioned phenomenon. The series consists of my observations regarding why …
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A Brief History of Covenantal Apologetics
From In Antithesis, Vol. 1 No. 1 September, 2011
The covenantal apologetic method is that method of defending the faith prescribed and described in Scripture. In order to avoid an obvious anachronism one might more properly speak of Scripture setting forth the foundation for the method which would later become known as “covenantal apologetics.”
Some of the texts of Scripture traditionally used to support the contention above include Proverbs and other wisdom literature, Acts 17, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 1, Colossians 1, and Ephesians 2, though many other texts appear in the relevant literature.
Rudimentary versions of covenantal apologetics …
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The Recent Rise of Covenantal Apologetics (6 of 10)
One of the largest contributing factors to the recent rise of covenantal apologetics is, oddly enough, the response of its anti-Christian critics.
Just in the last year or two, podcast after atheistic podcast has trumpeted everything from mere disdain for to the utter defeat of presuppositional apologetics. Podcasts that come to mind are Fundamentally Flawed, Skepticule Record, and Reasonable Doubts. There are others. Militant atheists are also mouthy atheists. On the one hand, they want to dismissively scoff at covenantal apologetics, making up some of the worst puns on “presuppositionalism” you have ever heard. On the other …
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Initial Thoughts on the Virtues of External Critique
Internal Critique
Internal critique is the method whereby a particular position is examined upon the basis of its own presuppositions. Presuppositions are the most basic tenets of a particular position or worldview. Assuming an internal critique is positively successful, the position in question will espouse tenets fully consistent with its presuppositions. Insofar as the critique is negatively successful, the position in question is found wanting due to inconsistencies, arbitrariness, contradictions, and the like.
External Critique
Rather than examining a position upon the basis of its own presuppositions, external critique examines said position in virtue of the presuppositions or derivative tenets …
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Christian Books on Homosexuality
A few people asked me about books on homosexuality. Here are three that I recommend:
The classic work on this topic is The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics by Robert A.J. Gagnon.
James R. White & Jeffrey D. Niell wrote what is probably my favorite treatment of it, The Same Sex Controversy.
Finally, Homosexuality: A Biblical View by Greg L. Bahnsen is available online for free.…
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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 …