Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
There are a lot of books that I buy that sit on my shelf years before I ever pick them up to read. However, last June I picked up a copy of selections from the Journal of John Wesley. I started reading it that night as I could not wait to get into the mind … Read More “Journal of John Wesley” »
The other day I was going to write a blog post on Justin Martyr’s First Apology. I was reading this early text and noticed that he divided up forms of prophecy as coming from the Father, Son or Spirit. I was going to blog on how even at this early stage, Christians were thinking in … Read More “Being Thorough” »
When I first became a Christian, I loved to debate atheists and people of other faiths. Any topic was open and I looked forward to the challenge. Looking back, it helped me to grow in my own faith but I have moved to a different spot. Obviously I am still interested in the conversation as … Read More “Limits of Conversation” »
What do Mormons believe? A good place to start is their Thirteen Articles of Faith. I would like to respond to them briefly here. 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. That almost sounds good, except it is clear that only the Father is … Read More “Mormons and The Thirteen Articles of Faith” »
I recently joined the Evangelical Philosophical Society. One of the benefits of this is a subscription to the journal Philosophia Christi. I just received my first issue (vol. 12 num. 1 2010) which includes the following articles: “Thomism and Noetic Sin, Transposed” by R.J. Snell “Forgiveness and Kierkegaard’s Agapeistic Ethic” by John B. Howell III … Read More “Philosophia Christi” »
A post on CNN’s Belief Blog asks how other Christians will respond to the plan to burn Qur’ans this Sept. 11. You can read the post here. What will we do? Is it enough to just inwardly disagree with this action? Is it enough even to openly criticize the pastor responsible? There are so many … Read More “Responding to the Qur’an Burning” »
I have recently been talking with someone about the Trinity. He asked me to draw the following diagram, where F is the Father, S is the Son and H is the Holy Spirit. He then asked me to identify Jesus in this diagram. If I picked Jesus as the circle, reflecting my belief that Jesus … Read More “Working Through The Trinity” »
I recently a great book on apologetics edited by Ravi Zacharias called Beyond Opinion. The book covers a wide variety of issues including atheism, postmodernism, science, Islam, Eastern religions and a number of others, all written by different authors. I found this book extremely refreshing. Each essay is not meant to be an exhaustive treatment … Read More “Beyond Opinion” »
Stephen Hawking is no doubt a brilliant man and an important scholar in the world of physics. In his new book, Hawking argues that there is no need of a God to explain the existence of the universe. You can read the article here. I appreciated the comments at the end of the article that … Read More “Stephen Hawking and a Godless Creation” »
Consistently the posts that I have written on the Gabriel Stone are some of the most popular of all my posts. This surprises me in a way as I think it is one of the least important things I have written on. First of all, the translation (or better reconstruction) by Israel Knohl are uncertain … Read More “Significance of the Gabriel Stone” »
One of the beliefs of Mormonism is that natives Americans are the descendants of Israelites. One of the problems of this is that there have been people in North America since long before these Israelites supposedly arrived. This article speaks of a 4,600 year old grave in Ontario, Canada. As someone from Ontario, I found … Read More “Mormons and the Natives” »
There is always a need for good solid apologetics training. That is one of the reasons for this blog. I am always looking to increase my own knowledge as well. That is why I am taking the apologetics certificate at Biola University. It is great material and quite reasonable cost-wise. You can even your work … Read More “Apologetics Certificate” »
Easter is the holiest time for Christians. It is also the weekend that an atheist group meets as you can read in this story. It does not bother me that they meet at Easter and their reasoning for that makes sense. What I find interesting is their opinion that atheism is experiencing a resurgence for … Read More “Atheists Gather on Easter Weekend” »
Every month, christianaudio.com offers free audiobook downloads by some of the best authors of yesterday and today. Normally there is only one download offered but for March 2010, two free audiobook downloads are offered. For March 2010 only, you can download for free Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship and John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus … Read More “Cost of Discipleship and Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die” »
My book Finding a New Land: From Canaan to the Resurrection is now available on Amazon. This was my M.A. thesis that I have revised for publication. In this book I tackle the issues of a lack of interest in the Old Testament in the afterlife and a lack of interest in the New Testament … Read More “Finding a New Land: From Canaan to the Resurrection” »
Volume 10 (2008-2009) of the McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry is now out. The articles (not including the reviews are: Who is the “Woman” in 1 Timothy 2? by John R. Master and Jonathan L. Master Penal Substitution in Perspective: Re:Evaluating the Articulation and Application of the Doctrine by Patrick Franklin Contemporary Images for … Read More “McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry” »
The oldest Hebrew inscription, dating from the 10th century BC (the time of King David) has now been deciphered. You can read about it here. This helps us to piece together what Israel was like in the most ancient times and helps create doubts about the minimalist theories that claim that Israel was a late … Read More “Oldest Hebrew Inscription” »
I am starting a series on the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am going through their beliefs as stated on their official web page. The first part deals with their understanding of the Restoration of Truth. At first glance, there is a fair bit that most Christians would … Read More “Mormons and the “Restoration of Truth”” »
I finally got around to reading G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. I have seen this book quoted about as much as any other book. Once you read the book, you understand why everyone quotes it. I had to keep interrupting my own reading to read sections to my wife as I was going through this book. Chesterton … Read More “Orthodoxy” »
For the last number of days I have been in New Orleans for the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). I have literally been surrounded by the top biblical scholars in the world. The people attending have been quite diverse. There are many professors, authors, students, Catholic priests, Orthodox priests, Jewish scholars, … Read More “SBL in Review” »
I just finished reading a book by Franz Cumont called The Mysteries of Mithra. Mithras was a popular mystery religion god that was contemporary with the beginning of Christianity. Because of this, people often look to Mithras as an influence on the story of Jesus. While this book is not intended to be apologetic, it … Read More “Mysteries of Mithra” »
As I have read numerous books, articles and blogs on apologetics, I have come to a conclusion: there are two types of apologetics. The first type of apologetics is one that seems to be aimed at encouraging believers. All too often it is done by poking fun at and ridiculing other belief systems. There is … Read More “Two Types of Apologetics” »
A while back, some atheist organizations made the news with their provocative bus ad campaign. Now they are taking it to the next step as they start a new ad campaign in the subways. You can read about it here. I have one issue with this. In this article, atheists are counting the rise in … Read More “Atheists Take to the Subways” »
I recently joined the International Society of Christian Apologetics and today I received my first journal from this academic society. I am looking forward to reading it. JISCA Vol. 2 No. 1 2009 has the following articles: “Revelation and Reason in Cross-Cultural Apologetics and Missiology” by David J. Hesselgrave “Understanding ‘If Anyone Says to This … Read More “Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics” »
For the past couple of months I have been getting together with another pastor discussing a book that he suggested. That book is unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. I can not overstate what an important book this is. Using both statistical data and personal stories, … Read More “unChristian” »
Very often I encounter people who reject God with one reason being the Christian belief of hell. Most often this is based on a misunderstanding of hell. I think N.T. Wright does a great job of explaining the meaning of hell. It is worth watching. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vggzqXzEvZ0&feature=player_embedded]
I just read an excellent book by Mark D. Roberts called Can We Trust the Gospels? Technically, this is a “blook,” that is, a book that developed out of a number of blog posts. This is a great foundational book for the defense of the Christian faith. The bottom line in any criticism or support … Read More “Can We Trust the Gospels?” »
The free audiobook download from www.christianaudio.com for May 2009 is Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. I read this book years ago and it is an inspiring account of some people’s faithfulness and dedication to the Lord. It challenges us as to what we are willing to sacrifice for our faith in God. I look forward to … Read More “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” »
I finally got around to watching the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This was one of the most interesting documentaries that I have ever seen. There is of course much Michael Moore style rhetoric in the documentary. There are also some quick references to Planned Parenthood’s link to Nazi style eugenics that is more distracting … Read More “Expelled” »
I recently finished reading Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd’s The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Gospel Tradition. I must say that this is one of the best apologetic books that I have ever read. The author’s really interact with the material without getting bogged down in the … Read More “The Jesus Legend” »
I saw this link to Norman Geisler’s review of the Shack over at Apologetics 315. Geisler gives a pretty negative review of the Shack and seems to point at being heretical in many ways. I have to make two confessions: 1) I really enjoyed the Shack, it was funny, it was sad, it was moving … Read More “The Shack” »
I just finished Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. This book took me a lot longer to read than most books. It is not that the book is long (it is about 260 pages) but it is thick in content. I could only read one chapter at a time … Read More “Renovation of the Heart” »
One of the speakers we had at the September seminar for Arrow Leadership was Paul Borthwick. We read Paul’s book Six Dangerous Questions for that session. I also picked up his book How to Be a World Class Christian. We often hear about a world class musician or world class athlete. Why not a world … Read More “How to Be a World Class Christian” »
One of the arguments that I have heard against the virgin birth is that it is impossible for a complex being to be born without the genetic material from both the male and female. Science is demonstrating that it is indeed possible. For the second time in recent years it has been demonstrated that a … Read More “Virgin Birth and Biology” »
Academic journals have always been very important for scholars and leaders. The problem is that many of them are expensive and hard to find. With the Internet we now have a number of good quality journals that are available free and online. One such journal is the McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry. I have … Read More “McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry” »
I found a very neat quote from the early church father Ignatius that I thought was very appropriate for Christian leadership today. I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For … Read More “Advice from Ignatius” »
An article in the New York Timesrecently caused a stir as the discovery of the Gabriel Stone (it was actually discovered about eight years ago) has led some to suggest that it is a pre-Christian example of a messiah who dies and rises on the third day. This has had number of responses from both critics … Read More “Responding to the Gabriel Stone” »
For those of you interested in the recent Gabriel Stone discovery, CNN has an interesting video on it that you can find here. This video has a helpful but brief comment by New Testament scholar Ben Witherington. I plan to give a more detailed response to this discovery soon, but this will give people something … Read More “Gabriel Stone Video” »
One of the ways critical scholars have looked at the Pentateuch is to see it as a compilation of numerous sources over a long period of time (most often JEDP) rather than as a work primarily by Moses. While there may be some truth to the documentary hypothesis or some form of it, it is … Read More “A Rabbinic Response to the Documentary Hypothesis” »
One of the most influential voices in suggesting that Gnosticism was a parallel and equal contender with Orthodoxy in being true Christianity is Elaine Pagels. Pagels, along with many others, claim that history was written by the winners and that Gnosticism is only considered a heresy because Orthodoxy won the theological war. I found an … Read More “The Gospel According to Elaine Pagels” »
One of my favourite authors and scholars is N.T. Wright. He is more of a New Testament scholar and historian than an apologist, but his work often has an apologetic tone. He has some great sections in his book Resurrection of the Son of God where he argues that the resurrection of Jesus can be … Read More “The Wright Stuff” »
A year ago or so, I received a phone call at the church from a young couple looking to get married. They wanted to rent our church but they would supply their own minister. I asked what church they belonged to and they told me they were a part of the Community of Christ. I … Read More “Community of Christ” »
