Mind, Brain, Soul: What’s the Difference? Find Out at the 2023 Westminster Conference

brain, Center for Science and Culture, Darwin Day in America, Faith & Science, faith and science, free will, John West, materialists, Michael Denton, Michael Egnor, mind, Neuroscience & Mind, physiology, Redeeming Science, Sam Harris, sexuality, society, soul, Stony Brook University, The Miracle of Man, theology, Vern Poythress, Westminster Conference on Science and Faith, Westminster Theological Seminary
Sam Harris has said that “You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.” Source
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Watch: “Cosmic Mind, Divine Action, and Design-Engaged Theology”

Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, Center for Science and Culture, Charles Taliaferro, conferences, cosmic history, Discovery Institute, Events, Faith & Science, faith and science, human soul, Intelligent Design, J.P. Moreland, Joshua Farris, Michael Egnor, philosophy, soul, Stephen Meyer, The Creation of Self, theology
“The event examined intelligent design and its implications for science-engaged theology. Collectively, it made the case for a God who cares." Source
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5 Fatal Flaws in Transgender Ideology

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture, Culture CrossExamined, drag, ideology, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, LGBTQ, marriage, Politics, theology, trandsgender, Transgender, Transphobic
Many people who support transgender surgery and cross-sex hormones may be well-intentioned, but the transgender ideology behind those intentions is fraught with fatal flaws. Here are just five of many. Contrary to transgender ideology: 1. The Design of the Body Proves There are Only Two Genders Transgender advocates insist there are multiple genders. However, the design of the human body shows there are only two genders. Humans can either produce sperm or eggs. There is no third reproductive output in humans or mammals. Of course, there are humans who cannot produce either due to biological deficiencies, but that is an incapacity, not a thirdcapacity to produce something else. Thus, the claim that there are more than two genders can only be entertained if one detaches the concept of gender from biological…
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Why is God’s Word so Hard to Understand?

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Bible study, Christianity, Crossexamined community, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, theology
The following question comes from one our Crossexamined Community members. “Why did God allow the Bible to be written in a way that gives Christians an opportunity to misunderstand it?” This question intrigues me because it’s a universal problem. Everyone who’s ever tried to dig into the Bible has found it difficult, sometimes, to understand what God is saying. And some passages are so difficult that theologians across Church history can’t agree on what they mean. Of course we could all benefit from learning how to interpret the Bible correctly. Sometimes we struggle over a passage and it would be easy to understand if we just knew some basic principles for interpretation. But, even if you had the best education and years of practice, there are still some passages that…
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Is the God of the OT the Same God of the NT?

Apologetics, Atheism, biblical contradictions, Bobby Conway, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, NT God, One Minute Apologist, OT God, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
There’s no shortage of accusations claiming the Bible depicts a vision of two Gods: the grumpy, moody, and often volatile, curmudgeon like God of the Old Testament, and the mushy, judge free, glorified sugar daddy God of the New Testament. Is this the case? Does the Bible present a clash of the God’s? The malevolent God of the Old Testament and the benevolent God of the New Testament? Or does God suffer from a bad case of bi-bolar disorder, is he the first mental health patient, exhibiting fits of schizophrenia, or some sort of split personality disorder? Not quite. Progressive Revelation What the Bible presents is a God who reveals himself in both Testaments through progressive revelation. As the story unfolds, the revealed nature of God crystalizes, elucidating in greater…
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The Resurrection of Jesus: The Evidential Contribution of Luke-Acts

Apologetics, Christianity is True, Easter, Evidence for Christianity, evidence for the Resurrection, Jesus Christ, Jonathan McLatchie, Luke-Acts, Resurrection, Resurrection of Jesus, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By: Jonathan McLatchie Any discussion of the evidence for the resurrection must first ascertain what the original apostolic witnesses claimed and whether those claims are best explained by the resurrection, or by some alternative hypothesis. The contemporary discussion of the case for the resurrection has largely focused around 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, a text believed by many scholars to represent an ancient creedal tradition that Paul had received from the Jerusalem apostles and which he passed on to the believers in Corinth.[i]  Paul’s words in verse 11 (“Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed”) also suggest that the message Paul presented to the Corinthians is the same as that proclaimed by the Jerusalem apostles. A popular criticism of this line of argument is that…
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Is it Hateful to Say Jesus is the Only Way?

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture CrossExamined, Exclusivism, Jesus Christ, Religious Pluralism, Ryan Leasure, RyanLeasure.com, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Ryan Leasure Is it hateful or arrogant to claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation? Charles Templeton thought so. He argued: “Christians are a small minority in the world. Approximately four out of every five people on the face of the earth believe in gods other than the Christian God. The more than five billion people who live on earth revere or worship more than three hundred gods. If one includes the animist or tribal religions, the number rises to more than three thousand. Are we to believe that only Christians are right?”[1] What are we to make of Templeton’s claims? Is it presumptuous to say that Jesus is the one true way of salvation? Or even worse, are Christians guilty of committing “absurd religious chauvinism” as some…
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Is Hell An Eternal Restraining Order?

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Atheism, Christianity, Cross, Hell, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Al Serrato Making sense of the existence of a place like Hell is a common struggle for the Christian apologist. Almost immediately, we are placed on the defensive, being asked to justify how a “loving” God could condemn any of his creation to a place of constant, and eternal, torment. I’ve often heard the challenge brought like this: “Isn’t God’s love for us like that of a parent? Can you imagine any loving parent ever wishing, or wanting, such extreme punishment for their own child?” The answer, of course, is no. No parent would delight in tormenting his children. And neither does God. But just as human parents must sometimes resort to court orders to keep their children away, so too does God employ the equivalent of an eternal…
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Scientism And Secularism

Apologetics, Christianity, Contradictions in the Gospels, Evidence for Christianity, Is the New Testament True?, Jonathan McLatchie, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Luke Nix All scientific research, discussion, and education is affected by a series of underlying beliefs that include what one grants as sources of knowledge. It is quite common in today’s culture for people to accept “scientism,” which limits sources of knowledge entirely to the sciences to the exclusion of any other claimed knowledge source or places all other sources of knowledge under the authority of the sciences.  Both of these philosophies stifle scientific discovery, places knowledge of anything outside of the natural realm beyond reach and erects seemingly impenetrable barriers in discussions about ultimate reality (including morality, beauty, and theology). This has serious implications in the sciences, education, politics, and basic everyday life. In his book “Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology” Christian philosopher…
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