The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and its Evidential Value, Part 1

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Apostle Paul, Book of Acts, Christianity, Early Church, Galatians, Gospel, historical apologetics, https://jonathanmclatchie.com/, Jonathan McLatchie, Sir George Lyttelton
An argument for Christianity that seldom receives adequate attention is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) on the road to Damascus. There exist three accounts of Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts — in chapters 9, 22, and 26. The argument from Paul’s conversion has been laid out in most detail by Sir George Lyttelton (1709-1773), in his book Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul. The book is now in the public domain, and a free PDF copy can be obtained at this link. So strong and convincing is the argument from Paul’s conversion that Lyttelton wrote at the beginning of his book, addressing his friend Gilbert West [1], In a late conversation we had together upon the subject of the Christian religion, I…
Read More

Why It’s Okay to Doubt Your Faith, Part 2

Apologetics, Arguments for God, Christianity, defend the faith, Doubt, Gospel, https://smartfaith.me, introduction to apologetics, Miguel Rodriguez, new believers, Skeptics, Theology and Christian Apologetics, young believers
[Editor’s Note: In “Why It’s Okay to Doubt Your Faith, part 1” Miguel Rodriguez raised the question of how should we handle our doubts. He proposes we do Christian apologetics. He then defines “apologetics,” and points out how doubt can be a sign of a living faith. Doubt can be healthy. In this second installment, Miguel offers more practical advice on how to turn your doubt and questions into learning and spiritual growth through Christian apologetics]. Some Arguments for the Truth of Christianity Today, like in Biblical times, apologist makes use of a multidisciplinary knowledge like cosmology, philosophy, ethics, biology, history and more. Some of those popular classical arguments are: The Kalam Cosmological Argument: Seeks to show that the universe is not eternal, that necessarily had to have a beginning. The…
Read More

Why It’s Okay to Doubt Your Christian Faith

Apologetics, arguments for God Categories: Theology and Christian Apologetics, Christianity, defend the faith, Doubt, Gospel, https://smartfaith.me, introduction to apologetics, Miguel Rodriguez, new believers, Skeptics, Theology and Christian Apologetics, young believers
“Why is there evil and suffering in this world?” “No one naturally can resurrect from the dead after three days. It\’s impossible.” “The Bible was written by fallible men thousands of years ago, how can I be sure that what I have is what was written?” “How can I know that Christianity is the one true religion when there are thousands of other religions?” Odds are, you don’t have an answer to these sorts of questions, or worse, they seem persuasive . . . compelling. You feel some sort of shame to admit this. You have been a Christian for some time now but never knew the answers to these fundamental questions. Now you’re second guessing. And why not? You already tried to ask your parents, your pastor and/or Bible…
Read More

How to Raise Kids to Research Like a Pro

Amy Davison, Apologetics, Christianity, Discernment, Gospel, MamaBearApologetics.com, Parenting, Research, Theology and Christian Apologetics
If you hang around parents long enough you’ll find that there are certain “mommy moments” that we moms all share. Kid running down the street naked? Check (mostly for boy moms…). An embarrassing family secret shared with the entire elevator by your darling little chatterbox? You betcha. And it’s practically a Christian mom rite-of-passage that just when we’re about to switch out the light, your little Einstein suddenly goes final-jeopardy-mode with some obscure theological concept. Sure it’s probably a stalling technique, but one of the blessings we have as moms is pointing them back to the truth of Christ, even as we wrestle them into bed. The thing is, just giving answers is not enough. Someday they’re going to get hit with a challenge and we aren’t going to be there to…
Read More

Christianity and Abortion, Part 2: The Early Church’s View of Abortion

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, Church History, conception, ethics, FreeThinkingMinistries.com, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Peter Rasor, prochoice, prolife, Sanctity of Life
In Part 1 of this series on abortion, we discussed that abortion has been practiced for millennia. It is nothing new although the means of destroying a child in the womb have varied. We also briefly looked at why abortion has been a human preoccupation throughout history. For philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, they firmly believed it was to ensure that the best progeny would be born and eventually be leaders of the state. It was also because they feared possible overpopulation. For these reasons and several others, they thought abortion was justified. Contrary to these pro-abortion views was the Christian view. Throughout the history of the church, abortion has been viewed as a wicked, sinful act, specifically because it was considered murder (i.e., the unjustified taking of an innocent life).…
Read More

Christianity and Abortion, Part 1: A Brief History of Abortion in Antiquity

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, Church History, conception, ethics, FreeThinkingMinistries.com, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Peter Rasor, prochoice, prolife, Sanctity of Life
It is always a temptation in an industrial and technological society such as America to fall into what C.S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery.” This is the belief that the present ideas and practices are superior to, or could never have been imagined by, those who went before us. This is no less true concerning the practice of abortion. Many believe abortion is a relatively new idea and that those who preceded our advanced age could never have imagined having the means to abort a human person in the womb. They did not, after all, have the biological and medical knowledge we have today. Right? Nothing could be further from the truth. Abortion, or some equivalent practice, is just about as old as humanity. Those in antiquity may not have had…
Read More

Why I Left The Word Of Faith Movement

Apologetics, Brian Huffling, BrianHuffling.com, charismatic movemement, Christianity, ClassicalTheology, Gospel, Health and Wealth, Televangelism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Word Faith Movement
When I was about fourteen I started listening to teachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Jerry Savelle, and Creflo Dollar. I had grown up going to church, albeit a very liberal church, but these guys were different than what I was used to. They had passion, zeal, and spoke with power and authority. They taught very differently than what I had heard before, but they used Scripture to back everything up (well, and some direct revelation from God, so they said). They taught that Jesus had secured our physical healing for this life, that we had power over sickness and the devil, that we could transform our finances through our faith, and that we could even use faith the way God does—the God kind of faith. I really enjoyed…
Read More

From Peter to the Christian Apologist

1 Peter 3:15-16, Apologetics, biblical apologetics, Christian Living, Christianity, Dan Hodges, Gospel, Isaiah, persecution, St. Peter, Theology and Christian Apologetics
To the Christian Apologist, 1 Peter 3:15-16 is a ‘mandate’ passage, used to demonstrate the reason we all study and become proficient with apologetics. “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV) The REAL Reason for doing Apologetics We tend to focus, however, on verses 15 and 16 and forget to consider the “lead in” context. The real reason we SHOULD do apologetics is actually shown in the second half of verse 14 and the first…
Read More

Should Christianity Be Taught In Public Schools?

1st Amendment, Apologetics, Christianity, freedom of religion, Gospel, Her Faith Inspires, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, online Christian courses, separation of church and state, Shanda Fulbright, State Religion, Theocracy
My sixth grader ran through the front door sounding slightly short of breath. “My teacher is teaching a unit on world religions,” he huffed. “He’s going to teach us about Islam, Christianity, Egyptian gods and who knows what else!” As a fifth grade teacher I was aware of the California standards for fifth grade but this surprised me. World religions was part of the sixth grade standards? Low and behold, written into the California content standards for sixth grade social studies is the requirement for students to learn “ancient civilizations, religion, slavery, and delving into Hammurabi’s laws, sections of the Torah (first five books of the Bible), and Confucius.”[1] My surprise wasn’t because I was worried about him learning opposing worldviews. I was surprised the curriculum took the students deep…
Read More

Defending the Deity of Jesus in John 1

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, bellatorchristi.com, Christianity, Deity of Christ, Gospel, Gospel of John, Greek, Justin Angelos, Koine Categories: Does God Exist?
John 1:1 is one of the most important verses in the Gospel of St. John to understand grammatically in English but more importantly in Greek. “In the Beginning was the word and the word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1) Εν αρχή ἧν ὁ λόγος και ὁ λόγος ἧν προς τον θεόν και θεός ἧν ὁ λόγος[i][ii] The reason is this verse is always under attack by various non-Christian religious groups and even faiths who claim to be Christian but, do not accept Jesus Christ as God the Son (The second person of the Trinity). The two words I want to focus on is “God” and “Word” or Θεός ἧν ὁ Λόγος (Theos hēn hŏ logos). What I am going to focus on is the grammatical…
Read More