Natural-ly There Is A Problem With Evil

Alex McElroy, Apologetics, Atheism, atheist, Christianity, responding to the problem of evil, the problem of evil, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Alex McElroy One of the most difficult issues to reconcile in life is the presence of evil. This is the case whether one has a theistic, agnostic or atheistic worldview. The existence of evil is undeniable both in our witness and experience but is evil objective in nature or merely an apparition. Even atheist J.L. Mackie recognized a dilemma. In one book, he writes, “There are no objective values.”[1] Elsewhere, he writes, “We might well argue…that objective, intrinsically prescriptive features, supervenient upon natural ones, constitute so odd a cluster of qualities and relations that they are most unlikely to have arisen in the ordinary course of events, without an all-powerful god to create them.”[2] This poses a problem for the naturalist or the atheist because whatever evil does exist…
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Putting God on Trial

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Atheism, atheist, Christianity, evil, God, responding to the problem of evil, Skeptics, Suffering, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Al Serrato “I can’t believe in a God who would allow so much evil and suffering in the world.” Have you encountered this challenge? Most anyone who has tried to defend the Christian worldview surely has. The person bringing this challenge will often claim to be atheist, but when you dig in a bit this challenger is more often someone who knows there is a creator but who is deeply offended by the world, and angry at the God who set all this – the carnage, the anguish, the pain – in motion. In my last post, I restated the traditional Christian response to this problem of evil.  God did not create the evil that surrounds us because evil is not a thing.  Evil is a departure- a deviation-…
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How I Got into Apologetics (And How You Can Too!)

Apologetics, Books, Christian apologetics books, Christianity, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning I am often asked, “how did you get into apologetics?” For some believers, they’ll get interested in apologetics because of a crisis of faith. They’ll have intellectual hurdles that come up that they have to overcome. For me, I never was plagued with doubts. While I spent several years of my life as an atheist, I had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit. As I walked with God, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit was a real and regular experience. After coming to faith, I felt burdened to share my faith. I would share my testimony with anyone who would give me the time of day and led several of my friends to Christ. (And even a handful of strangers.) I felt, for the most part,…
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Jesus: The Greater Moses

Apologetics, Christianity, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus the Only Way, JesusIsNotAFakeNews, Moses, New Testament, Old Testament, Ryan Leasure, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Ryan Leasure An untrained eye might miss it, but the Old Testament, properly read, points to Jesus. From Genesis forward, we see reference after reference to a coming Messiah who would one day crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Certainly the covenants with both Abraham (Gen. 12, 15, 17) and David (2 Sam. 7) point to a coming Messiah, but it’s another covenant mediator I want to draw our attention to — Moses. Outside of Abraham, Moses is probably the most significant figure in the Old Testament, because it was through Moses that God gave his Law to the nation of Israel. As special as Moses was, though, God promised Israel that he would send another prophet who was going to be just as, if not more, significant than…
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How Jeremiah 29:11 is Far Better When You Properly Interpret It

Apologetics, Bellator Christi, Bible, Brian Chilton, Christianity, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 29:11, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Brian Chilton Certain verses in the Bible have become so popularized that they are often removed from their context. In so doing, the biblical passage loses the impact that it holds. Worse yet, the text may be given a message that it never intended to carry. Jeremiah 29:11 is one such example. The verse is a promise of God which states, “For I know the plans I have for you’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jer. 29:11, CSB). The verse has been often misapplied as it has become a staple for graduation Hallmark cards, plaques, and knick-knacks. For some, the verse holds a promise that God will never allow the person to suffer bad experiences or…
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Living In A Post-Truth Culture

1. Does Truth Exist?, Apologetics, Bob Perry, Christianity, Culture, Post-Truth Culture, Postmodern Relativism, relativism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, True Horizon, truth
By Bob Perry I’ve made the case that truth, goodness, and beauty are objective features of the world we live in. Hopefully, you’ve found that to be interesting. But please don’t think this is just an esoteric triviality. It’s not. We are living in a post-truth culture. But it’s a place where the objective nature of truth, goodness, and beauty are deeply relevant. Our view of objective truth affects everything about how we live our lives. It’s the antidote to moral relativism. Truth matters. And understanding the profundity of that simple fact will revolutionize the way you interact with our world. Here’s why. The Assumptions of the Culture Consider the three topics I’ve been talking about. And think about how you’re used to hearing about them: Truth — “That may be true for you, but…
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Does The “Legacy of Slavery” Explain Black Women’s 72% Out-Of-Wedlock Birth Rate?

abortion, Bible, Black women, Christianity, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, pro-life, Racial divisions, Sin, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Wintery Knight
By Wintery Knight James White asks: does the Bible apply to black women? I don’t like Calvinist theologian James White at all, but at least he’s willing to defend the moral teachings of the Bible against the woke identity politics that is taking over Christian churches. A few months ago, he tweeted something very controversial (see above), and got into a lot of hot water with fake Christians. In this post, I’ll explain why he is right. So, as you can see above, James is concerned that black women are having so many abortions, and he thinks that the solution to this is to encourage black women to take the Bible’s advice on sexual morality. Shocking, I know. If you read the replies to his tweet on Twitter, you’ll see millions and…
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The Problem of Evil

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Christian Apologetics, Skeptics, the problem of evil, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Al Serrato One of the most common challenges to the Christian worldview is the problem of evil. We see evil all around us; we need to do little more than pick up a newspaper or watch the nightly news to have our sensibilities assaulted with countless acts of senseless violence and suffering. Many are man-made and some a product of an indifferent Mother Nature; whatever the source, at times, it feels as if the world is awash in wickedness. How, the challenger entreats, can your good and loving God create such things? Why did he imbue man with such capacity for wickedness? The Christian responds that God did not create evil. No, they claim, evil is the product of man’s twisted free will. How well does this claim hold…
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The Christmas Story – Beyond Apologetics

Apologetics, ApologeticsGuy, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Story, Mikel del Rosario, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Mikel Del Rosario Experiencing the Christmas Story Every December, I see a couple of approaches to Jesus’ birth on Christian blogs: Articles that approach the Christmas story from the perspective of “How Jesus came to Earth,” looking at it in light of what the Gospels tell about who Jesus turns out to be. Or, you get an apologetics approach that engages naturalistic objections to miracles like the virgin birth. If you’re like me, you’ve often talked about the possibility of miracles or the historicity of the Bible around Christmas time. But what we don’t often realize, is that we can get so distracted by historical or philosophical questions in our 21st-century context, that we can miss out on what the Gospel authors are saying through the infancy narratives. Beyond Apologetics This year, I want…
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Why Do Christians Tend to Align With “Conservative” Economics?

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture, Economics, Faithful Thinkers, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Luke Nix, Politics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Luke Nix Introduction A while back, I saw an intriguing question on social media from a person who is in the middle of a worldview transition. This person is concerned about why so many Christians follow conservative economic theories and not more liberal ones. As I have thought about the question more and more, I have noticed not just a viable answer but also an apologetic opportunity in addressing this concern. Here is the question in the questioner’s own words and how I would respond: The Question: “I am going through a transition… From an atheist to someone who may not be Christian but does believe in a higher power. My background is economics, and I am struggling with the fact that Christianity has aligned its self so heavily…
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