theology – Page 34 – Christian Life Coaching Franklin Tennessee

04Jan 2020 by Post

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…

23Dec 2019 by Post

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…

18Dec 2019 by Post

7 Legit Reasons Why So Many Kids are Bored by Church

Apologetics, Apologetics for Parents, Children, Christianity, Church, Kids in the Church, Natasha Crain, Parents, Sunday School, theology

By Natasha Crain Last Sunday, our church did its annual multilingual service, with three congregations—Mandarin-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and English-speaking—all coming together for worship. We had readings in multiple languages, and a sermon was given in Spanish with an English translator. There was no Sunday school this week, so kids joined their parents in adult church. When we informed our kids Sunday morning of what would be happening, there was a collective and passionate, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” (Honestly, I should have typed more o’s to reflect the true level of protest.) “PLEASE, let us stay home! We can do home church! Please, not THAT service! It’s SO BORING!” Apparently, they remembered it well from the prior year. We dragged them into the car in spite of the whining and endured their pleas all the way there. I’d…

16Dec 2019 by Post

Was the Deity of Christ A Legendary Development?

Apologetics, Christianity, Deity of Christ, Deity of Jesus, Evidence, Gospel, history, Jesus Christ, JesusIsNotAFakeNews, Paul, Ryan Leasure, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Ryan Leasure Skeptics of all stripes vehemently deny the deity of Christ. Besides their a priori commitment to philosophical naturalism, a major argument they put forth is that the earliest Christians didn’t believe Jesus was divine. Rather, this belief in his deity was a legendary development, as evidenced by the four Gospels. It’s the skeptics’ contention that the earliest Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) don’t teach a divine Jesus at all. Instead, they portray a very human Jesus. It’s not until the Gospel of John, written some sixty years after Jesus’ death, that we find a clear reference to Jesus’ divinity. The argument goes; these Gospels reflect what the earliest communities believed about Jesus. Thus, the earlier Gospels, which don’t portray the deity of Christ, suggest that the earliest communities didn’t believe in…

14Dec 2019 by Post

Was Jesus Married?

Apologetics, ApologeticsGuy, Christianity, Jesus, Mikel del Rosario, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Was Jesus Married?

By Mikel Del Rosario Every Christmas and Easter, I tend to get into conversations about Jesus with people who see Christianity differently. But I’ve also found that even Christians can ask questions raised by skeptics in the public square like, “Was Jesus married?” Often times, Christians find challenges to the Bible’s portrayal of Jesus in a popular book, movie, YouTube video, or somewhere online and wonder how to respond. Recently, the question of whether or not Jesus had a wife has come up again. So, was Jesus married? There is no ancient evidence that explicitly tells us that Jesus was married. But raising the question makes a good conspiracy theory. For example, think about popular conversations surrounding Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, and the alleged “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” fragment. Still,…

07Dec 2019 by Post

Berlinski: Evolution Toward Virtue and Progress?

Blueprint (book), children's table, cooperation, Culture & Ethics, David Berlinski, death camps, Evolution, ID The Future, Nazi Party, Nazis, Nicholas Christakis, Peter Robinson, Podcast, Pope Benedict XVI, progress, Regensburg address, religious thinking, theology

A new episode of ID the Future features the second part of a conversation between Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson and polymath David Berlinski, author of the newly released book Human Nature. Robinson asks Berlinski about a book by Nicholas Christakis, Blueprint, which argues that evolution has endowed us with a genetic makeup that drives human culture toward virtue and progress. Berlinski demurs, pointing to the horrors of the 20th century and noting that the virtues Christakis underscores, such as cooperativeness, can also be put to nefarious purposes. The Nazi Party, for instance, “was a marvelous engine of cooperation. All those Nazis cooperated with one another running death camps.” Download the podcast or listen to it here. Robinson also asks Berlinski about Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg address and the West’s relegating religious thinking,…

27Nov 2019 by Post

What a Non-Christian Taught Me about the Gospel

Apologetics, Christianity, Conversion, Dr. David Oldham, FreeThinking Ministries, Gospel, Non-Christian, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

A number of years ago, a young woman came to our church for counseling and talked to me. She poured out her story of disappointment with her husband’s unfaithfulness, his unwillingness to change, and the mess her life had become, not only because of him but also because of her own unwise choices. She felt she was in a hole and wanted to know how to get out and begin afresh. While she was sharing and I looked into her searching eyes, I was asking myself and God how he and the healing he alone could bring might fit into her life. I knew she needed Jesus and the forgiveness and hope he would give, but I struggled with how to tell her she needed him. How did “accepting Jesus…

25Nov 2019 by Post

Did Paul really change his tactics after Athens and begin to take a dim view of apologetics?

Acts, Apologetics, Christianity, Erik Manning, Greeks, IsJesusAlive, Jesus, Paul, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Erik Manning Some Christians have argued that apologetics is a waste of time. We aren’t supposed to be arguing with unbelievers; we’re just called to preach the simple gospel. If we’re faithful to do that, the Holy Spirit will supernaturally come to our aid — either in supernatural conviction, or performing signs and wonders through us that no one can gainsay. To support this view, these well-meaning believers will point to Paul’s so-called ‘failure’ in Athens. Paul debated with the thinkers of Mars Hill, using natural theology and quoting their own philosophers in order to persuade them of the truth of the gospel. Paul’s results were modest. Acts 17:32-34 reads: “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you…

16Nov 2019 by Post

A Review of Nancy Pearcey’s Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning

Apologetics, Christianity, Meaning, New Age spiritualism, SalvoMag.Com, Secularism, Terrell Clemmons, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Terrell Clemmons Nancy Pearcey knows the captivating power of secular ideas because she used to hold them herself. As a teenager, she rejected the religion of her childhood and embraced a host of “isms,” from moral relativism to scientific determinism to New Age spiritualism. But she persisted in her quest for truth, only to find that the biblical worldview offers far better and more complete answers to the real-world questions those philosophies attempted to address. For those of us who lack such intellectual stamina, her books serve as a tour of the long and winding journey by which she arrived at that conclusion. The Soul of Science, which she co-authored with Charles Thaxton in 1994, defied the deeply embedded cultural myth which said that faith and science occupy mutually…

13Nov 2019 by Post

The Works of Jesus in the Nicene Creed

Apologetics, ApologeticsGuy, Christianity, Cross, Evidence, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Mikel del Rosario, New Testament, Resurrection, The Nicene Creed, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Tomb

By Mikel Del Rosario Jesus: The Essential Works What are the essential truths Christians believing about the things Jesus did? As defenders of the faith, we need to know which beliefs about Jesus’ deeds are essential and why we should believe them. I had a conversation with my mentor Darrell Bock about this on an episode of the Table Podcast focusing on the works of Jesus mentioned in the Nicene Creed—a collaborative statement of essential Christian beliefs crafted in 325 AD. This creed was based on the Apostle’s Creed and various Scriptures. Early creeds are a good reminder that the essentials of the Christian faith were not just made up recently but actually go back to the earliest memories of Jesus and the teachings of his official spokespeople. Let me…

Category: theology