Meet Robot Jesus

Culture CrossExamined, exploitation, idolatry, John Ferrer, Robot Jesus, Satan, Smart phone app, theology
Have you talked with Jesus yet today? No, I’m not talking about your morning prayers. I’m talking about the new Text-With-Jesus app. This is a downloadable smartphone app that will put you in a text-message conversation with an AI simulation of Jesus, and other biblical characters. You’re basically talking to a robot programmed to say things that you’d expect to hear from Jesus, or Jonah, or Moses, or Matthew, or even Satan himself. The app is free, but for $2.99 you can purchase access to the Satan-character and converse with an AI version of Lucifer himself. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that the grace-based (free) version features Jesus, but you have to sell a little bit of your soul to talk to the prince of darkness. Is this APP…
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Is teaching kids about God child abuse?

Apologetics for Parents, critical thinking, Education, https://shandafulbright.com/, indoctrination, logic, online Christian courses, Richard Dawkins, Shanda Fulbright, theology
People always tell me not to look at the comment section of a social media post. I didn’t listen. We just promoted the new kid’s curriculum Let’s Get Real: Examining the Evidence for God, based on Turek and Geisler’s best seller:  I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. I anticipated backlash. I know the drill. You post something about God and the evidence that points to His existence and suddenly every atheist saddles up behind their keyboard to tell you why you’re wrong. What I didn’t expect was to be accused of child abuse. Is teaching kids about God child-abuse? This isn’t a new accusation against Christians. In Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, he asserts that religious indoctrination is child abuse. However, Nicholas Humphrey, a neuropsychologist from Cambridge…
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Kepler’s Pursuit of a Mathematical Cosmology

Andrew McDiarmid, astronomy, Center for Science and Culture, Colorado Christian University, cosmology, Discovery Institute, Faith & Science, Harmonices Mundi, ID The Future, Johannes Kepler, mathematics, Melissa Cain Travis, Mysterium Cosmographicum, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, Podcast, science history, theology, Thinking God’s Thoughts, Tycho Brahe
Dr. Travis tracks the progression of Kepler’s ideas to show how he became a key figure in the transition from ancient astronomy to a true celestial physics. Source
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Dangerous Homefront, part 2: NT Prooftexts we Know and Love

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, New Testament, prooftext, theology
In part 1 of this series, we looked at a few Old Testament passages that people often misinterpret. In part 2 we shift to the New Testament. It’s worth noting that sometimes the error is just an innocent mistake. It’s not always from bad intentions, or false teachers, or heretical theology. Sometimes there are malicious forces at work here, but often it’s just well-meaning people getting confused about what the Bible says. The list of verses below is just a sample of commonly misinterpreted texts. There are many more too choose from, but I’m willing to bet that if you are a church-goer you’ve heard at least one of these misinterpretations before. Matthew 7:1 Judge not, lest ye be judged. This is perhaps the most quoted verse of Scripture surpassing…
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Dangerous Homefront, part 1: OT Prooftexts we Know and Love

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, prooftext, theology
Years ago, on a trip to Washington DC I found myself going through a few different airports and learning a life lesson along the way. The flights led me through several security checks. I had no problem with the baggage scans and the metal detectors till I got to LaGuardia airport in New York. I was stopped. I had forgotten about a small pocketknife on my key-chain. Not being a terrorist, or John Wick, I don’t think of a one-inch blade as a weapon. My pocketknife was confiscated. It was no big loss, but it was enough to teach me something. One airport let that pocketknife slip by unnoticed. But in New York they spotted it instantly. In New York they knew the threat of terrorism. Their sensitivities were keen,…
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Mind, Brain, Soul: What’s the Difference? Find Out at the 2023 Westminster Conference

brain, Center for Science and Culture, Darwin Day in America, Faith & Science, faith and science, free will, John West, materialists, Michael Denton, Michael Egnor, mind, Neuroscience & Mind, physiology, Redeeming Science, Sam Harris, sexuality, society, soul, Stony Brook University, The Miracle of Man, theology, Vern Poythress, Westminster Conference on Science and Faith, Westminster Theological Seminary
Sam Harris has said that “You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.” Source
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Watch: “Cosmic Mind, Divine Action, and Design-Engaged Theology”

Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Center for Science and Culture, Charles Taliaferro, conferences, cosmic history, Discovery Institute, Events, Faith & Science, faith and science, human soul, Intelligent Design, J.P. Moreland, Joshua Farris, Michael Egnor, philosophy, soul, Stephen Meyer, The Creation of Self, theology
“The event examined intelligent design and its implications for science-engaged theology. Collectively, it made the case for a God who cares." Source
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5 Fatal Flaws in Transgender Ideology

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture, Culture CrossExamined, drag, ideology, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, LGBTQ, marriage, Politics, theology, trandsgender, Transgender, Transphobic
Many people who support transgender surgery and cross-sex hormones may be well-intentioned, but the transgender ideology behind those intentions is fraught with fatal flaws. Here are just five of many. Contrary to transgender ideology: 1. The Design of the Body Proves There are Only Two Genders Transgender advocates insist there are multiple genders. However, the design of the human body shows there are only two genders. Humans can either produce sperm or eggs. There is no third reproductive output in humans or mammals. Of course, there are humans who cannot produce either due to biological deficiencies, but that is an incapacity, not a thirdcapacity to produce something else. Thus, the claim that there are more than two genders can only be entertained if one detaches the concept of gender from biological…
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Why is God’s Word so Hard to Understand?

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Bible study, Christianity, Crossexamined community, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, theology
The following question comes from one our Crossexamined Community members. “Why did God allow the Bible to be written in a way that gives Christians an opportunity to misunderstand it?” This question intrigues me because it’s a universal problem. Everyone who’s ever tried to dig into the Bible has found it difficult, sometimes, to understand what God is saying. And some passages are so difficult that theologians across Church history can’t agree on what they mean. Of course we could all benefit from learning how to interpret the Bible correctly. Sometimes we struggle over a passage and it would be easy to understand if we just knew some basic principles for interpretation. But, even if you had the best education and years of practice, there are still some passages that…
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Is the God of the OT the Same God of the NT?

Apologetics, Atheism, biblical contradictions, Bobby Conway, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, NT God, One Minute Apologist, OT God, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
There’s no shortage of accusations claiming the Bible depicts a vision of two Gods: the grumpy, moody, and often volatile, curmudgeon like God of the Old Testament, and the mushy, judge free, glorified sugar daddy God of the New Testament. Is this the case? Does the Bible present a clash of the God’s? The malevolent God of the Old Testament and the benevolent God of the New Testament? Or does God suffer from a bad case of bi-bolar disorder, is he the first mental health patient, exhibiting fits of schizophrenia, or some sort of split personality disorder? Not quite. Progressive Revelation What the Bible presents is a God who reveals himself in both Testaments through progressive revelation. As the story unfolds, the revealed nature of God crystalizes, elucidating in greater…
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