16May 2020 by Post

There’s More Than One Way To “Trust The Science”

Apologetics, Bob Perry, Christianity, faith, Philosophy of Science, science, scientists, Theology and Christian Apologetics, True Horizon
I have made the case before that scientism is a dangerous belief system. And the COVID-19 Pandemic has done nothing but prove the point. In their response to the virus, many in power exhort us to “trust the science.” Listen to the doctors. Their wisdom should guide the trajectory of our collective futures. But accepting that view greatly depends on your understanding of what science is … and whose science you’re trusting. The truth is that science never provides answers to anything. Scientists do. And that means we not only have to know what branch of science they’re representing, we also have to trust the scientists’ judgment. Our leaders can make decisions using science as a tool. But we accept those decisions on other grounds. That’s because science is not the arbiter of anything.…
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13May 2020 by Post

The Redefinition of Love—Resulting From the Loss of Truth

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, God, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Love, morality, objective morality, Politics, Redefinition of Love, Rich Hoyer, Right and Wrong, society
By Rich Hoyer Most people agree that we should love one another. But what does it mean to love others? Love can’t mean what our culture says it means.  It can’t be untethered from a transcendent moral standard (i.e., God’s word and natural Law) and left to be defined subjectively by our feelings, to be molded and fashioned into whatever shape current societal trends bend it. The average person in the US today is a Popular Secularist[1] and has accepted the Popular Secularist definition of love. When most people speak of love today, to speak of “loving others” means something like, “I want you to have whatever you want; to exist in whatever state you think will make you happy.” Love is now defined in terms of the core Popular Secularist…
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11May 2020 by Post

Three Actions You Can Take to Address Emotional Doubt

Apologetics, christian, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, Doubts, Jeremy Linn, Reasons, Theology and Christian Apologetics, TwinCitiesApologetics
By Jeremy Linn A few weeks ago, my ministry had a Livestream discussion on the topic of doubt. I thought it would be a great idea to pull in the principles that came from the discussion into a short, sharable source. To explain the principles we covered, I’m going to bring in my own struggle with doubt, and trace through the principles to see how they can help my own struggle with doubt. My doubt is the following: When I get close to death, I’m not sure if I will really be confident that God is real and that heaven exists. The first thing to filter this doubt through is the question – Does this doubt have a primarily intellectual nature or an emotional nature? Identifying the nature of the…
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09May 2020 by Post

When Is “Good” Good Enough?

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Christianity, God's Holiness, Goodness, Gospel, men, Sin, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, To be good
By Al Serrato Your son walks in test paper in hand. You glance over and wince, seeing the big “60” in red ink at the top. “Don’t worry,” he says, “I did good on this test.” You ignore the faulty grammar. One problem at a time, you think, mulling over in your mind just how long you will ground him. “No, really,” he persists, “you should have seen the other scores. Mine was really good!” “Good,” you think out loud, “how can you call a sixty good?” “Check it out,” he calls out over his shoulder as he walks away, “you’ll see.” He’s seems confident, and he may have a point, so you call the teacher. After all, without knowing more about the class and the test, how can you…
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06May 2020 by Post

Secularism, COVID-19, & the “Non-Essential” Church

Christianity, Church, COVID-19, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, Laws, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politicis, Rich Hoyer, Secularism, society, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Many have asked the question, “Why are churches considered ‘non-essential’ during the Coronavirus shutdown and places like restaurants considered ‘essential’? Why are churches closed while grocery stores and restaurants remain open (at least for carry-out orders)?” The insinuation is NOT that food isn’t necessary, but the focus of the inquiry is on why churches are not considered ‘essential.’ After all, if social distancing is practiced in the church building and if surfaces are sanitized, how is being around people in a church building any different than being around a few hundred people in the Walmart or Meijer or the grocery store (especially since most church gatherings in the US number 100 people or less)? Part of the answer lies in worldview analysis. Everyone, whether a person realizes it or not,…
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04May 2020 by Post

The Separation Doctrine Between Church And State

Christianity, Church, Culture, Jason Jimenez, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, society, Stand Strong Ministries, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Jason Jiménez In 1830, upon arriving to North America from France, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “The religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things.  In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions.  But in America, I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.”[1] The Constitution of North Carolina (1776) proclaims: “…all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.”[2] It is astonishing to think that despite all the evidence indicating our nation was…
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02May 2020 by Post

Why Religious Freedom Should Matter to Absolutely Everyone

Apologetics, ApologeticsGuy, Christianity, Culture, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Mikel del Rosario, Politics, Religious Freedom, society, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Mikel Del Rosario Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Society Why should religious freedom matter to everyone? Because the value we put on religious liberty shows how much we really care about freedom. If you’re going to be able to work for the common good—with people from all sorts of backgrounds—the law has got to protect your freedom to live by your convictions. But what is religious freedom? Religious freedom is a civil right that comes from God, not the government. Why should it matter even to people who aren’t religious? Because religious freedom upholds freedom of conscience for both religious and non-religious people. What is Religious Freedom? Religious freedom is a civil right that doesn’t ultimately come from the government. The founders of our nation knew this. All they…
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29Apr 2020 by Post

EPS Panel Discussion On Divine Simplicity

Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Divine Simplicity, God, J. Brian Huffling, Richard Howe, Stephen Davis, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, william lane craig
By J. Brian Huffling In November of 2018, I was on a panel with Richard Howe, Stephen Davis, and William Lane Craig at an Evangelical Philosophical Society session hosted by the American Academy of Religion. The topic was “Divine Simplicity.” It can be viewed here. Howe argued for why it is true, Davis argued why it is not necessary, Craig leveled various critiques of it, and I defended it. (You can read this article for a discussion of what divine simplicity is.) Craig brought up the same basic objections in our panel as he did with Bishop Barron in January of 2018 on another panel on the same topic. I have addressed several of those objections in a previous post but would like to elaborate further on some of those objections, as well as address some of his points…
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27Apr 2020 by Post

6 Ways Atheism Is A Science-Stopper

Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, faith, Faithful Thinkers, God, Intellectual Faith, Luke Nix, Philosophy of Science, science, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Luke Nix Introduction: Science vs. Christianity? It is commonly claimed that Christianity is a science-stopper. What is usually put forth to justify this claim is that many Christians are content to look at nature and say, “God did it,” without looking further to discover how God did whatever “it” happens to be. For many Christians, questions about the origin and function of the natural world end with that answer. However, for many others, while they recognize that God did indeed do something, they seek diligently to discover how God did it. Christianity does not stop science, a lack of curiosity or concern (not necessarily a bad thing if those are not a person’s passion or pursuit) is what could stop science if no Christian exists who possesses that curiosity. Individual Christians can choose…
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25Apr 2020 by Post

What COVID-19 Reveals About Us: Four Categories of People Surfaced from the Pandemic

Bellator Christi, Brian Chilton, Christianity, Christians, COVID-19, Culture, life, society, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Brian Chilton COVID-19 has brought great panic across the globe due to the rapidity of its transmission and the danger it poses to seniors and those with compromised immune systems. However, COVID-19 has done more than just bring panic. It has also catalyzed several truths about American people, revealing a more troubling underbelly of the American way of life. COVID-19 may prove to be a sociologist’s dream as it has shown what we as American people are like, what we are truly like when a crisis transpires. Because of the virus, comments on social media reveal four types of responses to the COVID-19 crisis. The comments begin to repeat over time. From the overlapping discussions, we can discover four categories of people. As a caveat, this information merely comes…
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