27Jul 2020 by Post

Christian Naivety is Harming the Church’s Engagement with Today’s Culture

Christianity, ChristianMomThoughts, Christians, Culture, Discernment, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Natasha Crain, Politics, society, theology
By Natasha Crain I had no idea my last article, “5 Ways Christians are Getting Swept into a Secular Worldview in This Culture Moment,” would resonate with so many—it’s been liked and shared over 250,000 times to date (!). Although I no longer leave comments open on my site (I just don’t have the time to moderate and respond), I had the opportunity to observe a flurry of conversation threads on social media related to what I had written. Those conversations threads generated all kinds of ideas for future articles, but the one that pressed on me most over the last few weeks was this one. As I considered the types of pushback I received from some fellow believers (not skeptics!), I started to realize that their comments had little to…
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25Jul 2020 by Post

God is the Good

Apologetics, Bellator Christi, Bible, Brian Chilton, Christianity, God, God is the Good, Good, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Brian Chilton At our church, we often say, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.” But do we really contemplate what that means? What is the good? What does it mean to say that God is good? Around 420 BC, the famed Greek philosopher Socrates conversed with a gentleman named Glaucon about the nature of goodness and justice. Socrates held that an objective standard of the Good existed which transcends personal opinion and belief. Plato, Socrates’s student, analyzed their conversation in his book The Republic. Plato likened the Good to the sun as both provided individuals clarity of sight. As the sun allows one to see in the visible realm, the Good allows one to see in the realm of rationality and metaphysical truths. Like…
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18Jul 2020 by Post

Why We Can’t Know If The Universe Created Itself

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Atheism, beginning of the universe, Christianity, Creation, God, Theology and Christian Apologetics, universe
By Al Serrato In the beginning, was… not the Word …. but the singularity event occurring in absolute nothingness and timelessness that spontaneously created all we see in the universe around us.  So said physicist Stephen Hawking anyway, in his popular book The Grand Design, where he explained that spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing. It is not necessary to invoke God; he concluded, “to light the fuse to set the universe going.” “All it takes is gravity and the existence of, well, multiple other universes.”  Soundbites like these can be disturbing for people of faith. More to the point, they can provide false comfort to those who prefer to suppress their innate knowledge of God. In a recent conversation with a skeptic who…
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15Jul 2020 by Post

How Jesus “Emptied Himself”

Apologetics, Christianity, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Deity, JesusIsNotFakeNews, Ryan Leasure, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Ryan Leasure Few biblical texts receive as much attention as Philippians 2:5-8. It reads: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Theologians have spilt much ink over this text. After all, it’s a rich Christological text which proclaims significant truths about the nature of Christ. But far and away, the most controversial part is the phrase “but emptied himself.” What does this statement mean? The Dilemma Does this mean that Jesus…
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11Jul 2020 by Post

An Intro to Arguments for God’s Existence

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, Doubts, Evidence, existence of God, faith, God’s existence, J. Brian Huffling, Questions, Reasons, Skeptics, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By J. Brian Huffling Does God exist? This has been one of the most asked questions in history with the most profound implications. As Norman Geisler used to say, our view of God’s existence is most important since it determines what we think about everything else. There are many arguments for God’s existence. This article will examine the standard classical proofs with typical objections and evaluations. The proofs for God are varied and different, but they can be classified as either a posteriori or a priori. The former means the proofs are based on (or after/post) experience, while the latter are allegedly not based on experience, but prior/apart from it. A posteriori proofs are empirical in nature and take it that we can trust our senses. A priori proofs start…
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04Jul 2020 by Post

The Best Kind of Love

Apologetics, christ, Christianity, Culture CrossExamined, Free Thinking Ministries, free will, God, Gospel, If God why Evil, Jesus, Love, the problem of evil, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Tim Stratton
By Tim Stratton Question: Dear Dr. Stratton, In your interview with Jorge Gil on Cross Examined’s Hope One, you attempted to answer “all the problems of evil” by appealing to love. In fact, you said that “the best kind of love requires libertarian free will.”  Surely this is false, for I can think of a counter-example that clearly shows this to be false. After all, the members of the Trinity are the epitome of perfect love and they do not have libertarian free will. They cannot do otherwise. They must love by necessity. So how can “the best kind of love” require libertarian free will? – Phillip Tim’s Response I am thankful for your question, Phillip! When I read it I could have kicked myself for not providing this vital clarification…
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29Jun 2020 by Post

Without Training, The Church Will Create More Jon Steingards

Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Church, Doubts, Erik Manning, Evidence, Is Jesus Alive, Jon Steingards, objections, skepticism, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning Recently Jon Steingard made headlines after he announced over Instagram that he had lost his faith. Steingard was the lead vocalist of the Christian music group Hawk Nelson, which became popular in the early 2000s. Since they had so many fans, this obviously sent shockwaves over social media. In the post, Steingard gives several reasons why he no longer believes. He does ask some challenging questions when he writes, “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world? Can he not do anything about it? Does he choose not to? Is the evil in the world a result of his desire to give us free will? OK then, what about famine and disease and floods and all the suffering that isn’t caused by humans and our free will?” Philosophers call this…
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24Jun 2020 by Post

3 Unhelpful Things in the Race Conversation That Need to Stop NOW

All Lives Matter, Apologetics, Black Lives Matter, Christianity, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, Justice, Race, Race Conversation, Racism, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Timothy Fox
Race and injustice are difficult topics to discuss. And while the church must talk about it, I’ve seen a lot of harmful missteps along the way. Here are three unhelpful things that people are doing in the race conversation that needs to stop. Now. Warning: This might be too spicy for some people. Read with caution. 1) Speaking to or for an entire group of people Indeed, each group of people across all shape, color, and size have unique experiences and perspectives. There may be certain types of injustices that face specific people. But attempting to speak to or for an entire group of people is unhelpful. I’ve seen so many White Jesuses on social media trying to bear every sin white people have ever committed. Stop it. Get over yourself. Quit pandering.…
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22Jun 2020 by Post

Is Homosexual Behavior Consistent With The Bible’s Teachings?

Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Homosexual Behavior, Homosexuality, Homosexuality and the Bible, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Wintery Knight
By Wintery Knight Here’s a post from Christian writer Terrell Clemmons about efforts by gay activists to redefine Christianity so that it is consistent with homosexual behavior. This particular post is focused on Matthew Vines. She writes: In March 2012, two years after having set out to confront homophobia in the church, Matthew presented the results of his “thousands of hours of research” in an hour-long talk titled “The Gay Debate.” The upshot of it was this: “The Bible does not condemn loving gay relationships. It never addresses the issues of same-sex orientation or loving same-sex relationships, and the few verses that some cite to support homophobia have nothing to do with LGBT people.” The video went viral (more than three quarter million views to date) and Matthew has been disseminating the…
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20Jun 2020 by Post

The Word Of Truth

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, God, Jason Jimenez, Skeptics, Stand Strong Ministries, The Word of Truth, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, truth, Word of God
By Jason Jimenez The Bible has been bashed, terrorized, and burned more than any other book of antiquity!  It has faced enormous challenges of its literal expression as well as the debates over its validity and accuracy from God.  And yet, despite the growing hostility of the Bible, it still remains the most translated, bought, and read book in all of history! The word bible literally means book, which comes from the ancient Greek Papyrus plant, biblos.  Of course, the Bible is not just any book…it is the Word of Truth!  R.A. Torrey explains the Bible as “a revelation of the mind and will and character and being of an infinitely great, perfectly wise and absolutely holy God. God, Himself, is the Author of this revelation. But to whom is the revelation made? To…
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