Apologetics to the Glory of God

Choosing Hats

  • An Example of Begging the Question

    It is often helpful to have included in an apologetic arsenal a basic understanding of fallacies. One popularly used fallacy is called “Begging the Question”. It may be summed up in simple terms as merely assuming the same thing one is attempting to prove. Do not misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with an assumption or attempting to prove an assumption, but there is something wrong with setting forth a mere assumption as though it constitutes an argument; as though the assumption of the very thing someone is attempting to prove is itself the proof! An interesting illustration of this …

  • Happy TA-Day…I Mean T-Day…Happy Thanksgiving From Choosing Hats!

    Click here for an excellent post from Dr. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky about Thanksgiving and worldviews!…

  • Jeff Downs and Presuppositional Apologetics Resources

    Recall my post on the Groothuis review of Collision. Jeff Downs also mentioned the review in a post over at Alpha and Omega Ministries that is worth a read. Ever aware of presuppositional resources especially as provided by Westminster Theological Seminary he also provided links to some videos that I have not seen before, one of which I have reposted here.

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  • On Divine Simplicity and Malformed Arguments

    Reformed theology, as properly expressed, considers the doctrine of God’s unity not as the classical formulation used by Aquinas and the Scholastics, but as a unity of being; in which all attributes of God are distinct in their display, necessarily interrelated but not identical to each other, despite being differentiated expressions of God’s singular, essential nature. The Scholastics (following the lead of earlier writers) may be summed up as follows: “It is commonly said in theology that God’s attributes are God himself, as he has revealed himself to us… It was further asserted by the Scholastics that the whole essence …

  • When I Use a Word …

    ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’

    ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

    ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’

    For those of you who have read Alice in Wonderland, this exchange between Alice and Humpty Dumpty may ring a bell.  I know it rings a bell with me, because it has been “used” against me in many discussions/debates I have had about God, …

  • Anthropic Arguments and Assumptions

    If God is morally perfect then He must perform the morally best actions, but creating humans is not the morally best action. If this line of reasoning can be maintained then the mere fact that humans exist contradicts the claim that God exists.

    HT: urbanphilosophy.net

    Look at the assumption required for the second half of this sentence. “creating humans is not the morally best action”. Says who? By what standard? As usual, I think we can guess what that is.

    Walker suggests that God is morally culpable for creating human beings with defective natures (defective in comparison to God’s).

    Is …

  • Tu Quoque Argument Advanced as a Primer for the Presuppositionalist Response to Evidentialist Critiques of Method

    Arguments which cut both ways are not always self-refuting, but are significantly weakened by their hypocritical nature. The activities of traditional non-presuppositionalist apologists almost always fall prey to the same objections the proponents of the traditional method advance in their critiques of presuppositionalism.

    Just today I heard a professional apologist and philosopher argue that the Transcendental Argument for God, an argument utilized within the presuppositional method of apologetics, may more or less be dismissed because an unbeliever might quite easily claim that logic is something other than what the presuppositionalist needs to portray logic as in order to make his …

  • User Error and Insufficient Requirements

    In a conversation earlier today, the objection was made that God’s Word lacked sufficient clarity, since men were always arguing over what it meant. Second, the objection was made that if Scripture was sufficiently clear, we would not need teachers in order to properly understand it.

  • The Emptiness Of Internet Atheism

    Every now and then I get bored and run a search for something atheistic to read. As much as I would like to lay hold of a good book on atheism I find that there is little from adherents to the position that would be worth my time.

    Jeffrey Jay Lowder of www.infidels.org advertises for a book by J.L. Schellenberg called Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. Apparently the book presents an argument for nonbelief in God from nonbelief in God. The idea is presented that theistic evidence is so weak that people might reasonably not believe in God. Lowder …

  • Collision Gets A Bad Review

    While I have had Collision for some time now and have watched parts of it, I did not get to sit down and soak up the entirety of the movie until today. In my opinion, it was rather well done and fills a gap in the world of apologetics by seeking to engage the layperson in a way other apologetic presentations cannot. Of course, others may have extremely different opinions.

    Well known apologist Douglas Groothuis does not share my sentiments concerning the movie. He has written a less than positive review which may be found here – http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/11/colision-dvd-review.html Allow me …