On Undesigned Coincidences: A Reply to Dan McClellan

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, biblical apologetics, can we trust the Bible, Christianity, Gospel, Jonathan McLatchie, JonathanMclatchie.com, Lydia McGrew, Undesigned Coincidences, Wes Huff
Dan McClellan, a Biblical scholar with a specialty in the Hebrew Bible, and popular social media content creator, recently responded to a clip of my friend and colleague, Wesley Huff, on undesigned coincidences as a marker of historicity in the gospel accounts. Wesley Huff subsequently posted a statement on his community page on YouTube, linking to my previous response to John Nelson, which deals with many of the same concerns raised by McClellan. This prompted McClellan to publish another video offering a rebuttal to my engagement with Nelson’s (and by extension his) concerns in my essay. I do not know why the critics of undesigned coincidences always seem to want to engage with those examples pertaining to the feeding of the five thousand. Literally every critical treatment of the topic thus far has focused on those. There are…
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What a Straw Man Argument is and What is Not.

Apologetics, Calvinism, Christianity, determinism, free will, FreeThinkingMinistries.com, Gospel, logic, Molinism, Phil Kallberg, Straw Man Fallacy, Theology and Christian Apologetics
[Editor’s Note: in November 2025, at the Evangelical Philosophical Society meeting in Boston Massachusetts, Tim Stratton and Phil Kallberg presented a coauthored essay, “Is Divine Determinism a Different Gospel?”. You can see it here or listen to here. The provocative essay – critiquing a major brand of historic Christian thought: Calvinism – evoked some controversy. Phil responds here to one of the critiques.] I’m inspired to write this both for the accusations of “straw manning” that came from Tim’s and my essay at the 2025 EPS, and due to examples that I have seen. While no one accused me of this directly (all the interactions I had with people in relation to the essay were positive, even when they were pushing back), I heard through the grapevine that some people…
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5 Ways to Know You Are Judging Rightly

Amy Davison, Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, Discernment, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, logic, MamaBearApologetics.com, Parenting, reason
It was the only way I knew how to explain my love of Fixer Upper to my bewildered husband. Since the show aired, I would plunk myself down, yell in frustration (who picks a midcentury modern over a classic Victorian, I mean, come on!?), and bask in the beauty of the big reveal. Yes, I loved the shiplap, but like other Christian fans, what I enjoyed most was having a show featuring a Christian couple who truly loved each other. What Christian fans weren’t expecting was to watch the designing duo green-light the normalization of homosexuality when they partnered with HBO for the newest reality, Back to the Frontier. The fallout gave fans everywhere a front row seat to a Christian accountability meeting, and they had a lot to say. “Christians shouldn’t judge (Matthew 7:1)!” “…All…
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A Christian at Islamic College: What I Saw Beneath the Surface

4TimOrr.substack.com, Antisemitism, Apocalypse, Apologetics, Christianity, Gospel, Islam, Islamism, Jihad, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, October 7th, Palestine, Shia, Tim Orr
I never set out to become a witness to the West’s unraveling. I was just a minister seeking to show God’s love to people. In short, I simply loved Muslims—deeply and sincerely—and believed that the surest way to honor that calling was to study Islam from within its own intellectual world. That conviction led me to Islamic College in London. I was excited that I was going to learn under Muslim scholars. So, I wasn’t seeking conflict or controversy. Far from it. Instead, I was pursuing what I saw as a ministry of respect and understanding. Shifting Cultural Currents For several years, the professors supported my work. Classmates welcomed my questions, and I completed an M.A. in Islamic Studies believing I had formed genuine friendships. Yet even then, during my…
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From Substack to the Arizona Supreme Court: Why This Case Matters to Every State Employee

Apologetics, Arizona State, Arizona Supreme Court, Christianity, Critical race theory, DEI, DrOwenAnderson.substack.com, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Mandatory Training, Queer Theory, Religious Discrimination
What began more than three years ago as a Substack post is now headed to the Arizona Supreme Court. That fact alone should give Arizonans pause, not because of me, but because of what Arizona State University is arguing the law allows it to do. The controversy began with a required ASU employee training called Inclusive Communities. On its face, that title sounds unobjectionable. Having worked at ASU for over two decades as a philosophy professor, I have seen many trainings and ideological fashions come and go. Universities, after all, are places where leftist ideas circulate freely and enforce a chilling effect on the few conservatives that slip through the DEI filter. The ASU email announcing the required training read: “The training accelerates continuing efforts to encourage meaningful change at…
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Top 10 Ways Reality Supports the Christian Worldview + Proof of a Propaganda War

Apologetics, Christian Apologetics, Christian Worldview, Christianity, Dr. Frank Turek, Evidence for Christianity, hasty generalization, logical fallacies, morality, philosophy, Podcast, religion, theology
 How do you make the case for Christianity? It seems that the burden of proof always falls on Christians, but there are certain aspects of reality that need to be explained regardless of your worldview (even atheism!). The question remains, which worldview fits the story of reality better than the others? In this evergreen podcast episode, Frank breaks down 10 aspects of reality that support the Christian worldview by answering questions like: What is the cosmological argument? How is the universe fine-tuned at three different levels? Why is atheism, not Christianity, at odds with science? Where do the laws of logic come from? Why doesn’t science say anything? Where does objective morality come from? How did Jesus Christ become the most influential person in human history? Why is it…
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Teaching Our Kids to Spot Empty Statements 

Apologetics, Christianity, critical thinking, Discernment, Division, Gospel, Hillary Morgan Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, MamaBearApologetics.com, messaging, narrative, rhetoric, Unity, Worldview
John and I were at the Iowa State Fair this weekend (in 2019). My husband loves all the fried food. Calories at the fair don’t count, right? Among our scheduled stops, we wanted to see a band that advertised itself as a mix between Stomp and Accapella. Sounds cool right? We sat down with whatever artery-clogging victual we had just purchased and as the band started to sing, John and I realized that they weren’t exactly what we had thought. They weren’t bad necessarily. They just sounded a whole lot like a group that you’d hear brought to a middle school to give some flowery feel-good generic message—which consequently is exactly what they did. The lead singer proudly proclaimed that they had decided to switch their focus from just music to making…
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What Does the Bible Say About Illegal Immigration? My Friendly Response to a Well-known Pentecostal Pastor

Apologetics, Border Patrol, Christianity, cultural apologetics, Gospel, government, ICE, illegal immigration, Immigrant, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, open borders, Politics, Race, Racism, Undocumented
The topic of immigration is boiling over these days. It’s complex and emotional, especially when it affects our communities and families. Recently, a well-known Puerto Rican Pentecostal pastor named Omar Lugo  presented a Facebook video and a written post on this issue, citing various Bible verses that discuss how we should treat foreigners. His approach seemed to suggest that human laws regarding immigration shouldn’t matter because divine laws are above them (without explaining how they directly contradict God’s law). While I share his concern for showing compassion, I believe his argument stems from biblical silence and fails to demonstrate that current immigration laws violate God’s law. The Argument from Silence in Biblical Interpretation Pastor Omar used passages like Leviticus 19:33-34, Exodus 22:21, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Zechariah 7:10, Matthew 25:35, Hebrews 13:2,…
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Stranger Things: Was Vecna a Victim?

Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, FreeThinkingMinistries.com, Gospel, Henry Creel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Netflix, Richard Eng, Stranger Things, Vecna
***This review of Stranger Things Season 5 contains major spoilers. Consider yourself warned. It’s a new year, and the end of an era. Stranger Things, the wildly successful Netflix show, has officially concluded. I watched the show as a fan but also as one who is interested in the underlying worldview. No piece of media is completely neutral. In fact, the arts are meant to be an imaginative exploration of ideas. In story, you don’t just observe beliefs, you inhabit them as an “insider.” If you are not familiar with the show, I would warn that it contains language, violence, and at times depictions of what I determine to be demonic. Season 4 was particularly demonic, and I almost stopped watching. But I was a youth pastor at the time,…
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Top 10 Podcast Episodes of 2025

Apologetics, Christianity, CrossExamined, Gospel, I don't have enough faith to be an atheist, Podcasts, Theology and Christian Apologetics
In 2025, we had unforgettable conversations with some of today’s leading apologists, archaeologists, pastors, theologians, philosophers, and Christian influencers who joined Frank to unpack today’s most compelling arguments and evidence for the Christian faith. From digs in the Middle East to Bible studies and political commentary, we covered a lot of ground and hopefully were able to help you answer some of the questions you’ve asked and encountered surrounding faith, freedom, and philosophy. We’ve kept up with the biggest news headlines and impact events, keeping you informed and engaged amidst the ongoing culture war from a Christian perspective. And then out of nowhere, we were hit with the most devastating tragedy, the martyrdom of our great friend Charlie Kirk–an event that not only shocked the nation, but by God’s grace,…
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