Choosing Hats
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“When Christian Ethics aren’t Christian Ethics”?: Response to Matt Oxley, Part 1
The title of the post I will be responding to is “When Christian Ethics aren’t Christian Ethics.” According to fundamentalist atheist Matt Oxley, “Christian Ethics” are, “Biblical Ethics and, more specifically, the ethics demonstrated in the New Testament and by the early Christian Church as described in the New Testament.” Presumably, Matt means sometimes what people call Christian ethics are not actually biblical, demonstrated in the New Testament, or by the early Christian Church as described in the New Testament.
Matt complains about a radio program he has been listening to and writes, “Stopping abortion, refusing homosexual equality, guarding capitalism, …
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A Brief Introduction to the New Perspective on Paul (NPP)
Every now and then I see some questions about this topic, and though the New Perspective on Paul isn’t very “new” anymore, it certainly isn’t dead either. I’ve posted a brief introduction to the topic below, from a paper I wrote on it years ago. Just to be clear, this post is not an endorsement of NPP, but an overview followed by a few possible objections.
The New Perspective on Paul
The New Perspective on Paul is the name given to a theological movement which questions long held assumptions in the Lutheran tradition of Pauline interpretation. The New Perspective on …
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Grudem’s Systematic Theology on iTunes
Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology is now available on the iTunes store … for free! There are 117 individual lectures spanning creation, providence, the Trinity, miracles, prayer, inerrancy, and more. Click here to be taken to the iTunes store to download this massive podcast.
BK…
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Public Display of Religion
Few things really irk me in this world. There’s waking up, missing church, missing the gym, slow internet connections – to name a couple. One thing in particular that always tends to turn the knob on my internal oven, and I’ve been seeing a lot of it lately, is the insistence by the non-religious that “private religion” is to be kept out of the public realm, or that religion is to be kept out of politics, etc. I understand that, particularly with regard to Christianity, there are some debates on what a Christian body politic would look like, but my …
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Covenantal Apologetics and ‘God of the Gaps’
Some opponents of covenantal apologetics contend the method relies upon so-called ‘God of the Gaps’ (GoG) argumentation. GoG is actually a form of the fallacious ‘Argument from Ignorance.’ But covenantal apologetics have nothing to do with GoG.
- GoG pertains to the natural world, whereas covenantal apologetics address topics well outside the narrow realm of naturalistic science.
- GoG arguments generally work in accord with natural theology, while covenantal apologetics preclude this use of natural theology, with arguments based instead upon the presupposition of the existence of God.
- GoG begins with alleged gaps in knowledge of the natural world. Covenantal apologetics do
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We’ve Got Mail: When does rational discourse come to an end?
…I was having a discussion with a friend, and he made the statement that using the Bible as one’s ultimate authority was self-referential and therefore invalid (like you’ve never heard this one). 🙂 I responded by explaining to him that his method of determining truth, autonomous reason, was circular and as it appealed to nothing higher than himself, arbitrary. What he said next floored me. He agreed that using his own reason as his ultimate authority was arbitrary. It did not concern him in the least. How do you reason with someone who (arbitrarily) says that their (arbitrary) reasoning is
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Prayer and the Apologist
One of the most powerful tools available to the Christian apologist is prayer.
When is the last time you prayed for one of your opponents?
God hears prayer, answers prayer, works through prayer.
God will also humble you through your prayers for another.
Apologists are inherently against a multitude of people in various senses. But let’s not lose focus of how we are for them.…
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Verificationism And Christianity
One of the many problems atheists have with Christianity involves the issue of Verificationism. They may say, “I can’t believe Christianity because it can’t be verified,” and some might include, “…scientifically.” Some may even say, “It’s not true unless it can be verified.” Greg Bahnsen has a chapter in Always Ready entitled, “The Problem of Religious Language,” wherein he deals with both Verificationism and Falsificationism. The summary of the problem is that any religious utterance cannot be considered “meaningful” unless it can be checked against real-world data. Any talk of God, for instance, must correspond to something observable in the …