Answering Stephen Law’s Evil God Challenge

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, christian, ethics, Evil God, Gospel, John Ferrer, Moral Argument, naturalism, Philosophical Apologetics, Problem of Evil, Stephen Law, theism, www.IntelligentChristianFaith.com
If you’ve followed the problem of evil at the popular or academic level, then there’s a good chance you’ve come across the rather interesting objection from Stephen Law which he terms the “Evil God challenge.” In essence he contends that skeptics can reverse any efforts from theists to explain God’s goodness in spite of the facts of evil in the world. The conventional problem of evil claims that God doesn’t exist or probably doesn’t exist given the facts of evil (gratuitous evil, animal suffering, moral evil, etc.) in the world. While theists typically appeal to things like free and sublime unknown divine purposes to explain away these evils, the skeptic can counter that these evils are equally good evidence that there exists a maximally evil God. Free will is the accommodation that…
Read More

Not My Jesus: A List Of Christological Heresies

Apologetics, Christianity, christology, Church Councils, Creeds, Gospel, Heresy, Jesus, John Ferrer, Orthodoxy, Theological Apologetics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Trinity, www.IntelligentChristianFaith.com
Jesus Of Nazareth Is the most disputed character in history. Most of the world’s religions incorporate him into their teaching, whether as a morally perfect prophet (Islam), a divine manifestation (Baha’i), or a reincarnated god (Hinduism). Buddhists believe he is a grace-giving demigod or even a Buddha. Christian cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon Church readily incorporate Jesus as a partial divine, more than man but less than the full deity of Father God. Almost all of Judaism rejects Jesus as a false prophet, a mere mortal, and a failed messiah.[1] Meanwhile Atheists and skeptics tend to see Jesus as a liar or a lunatic. Mythicists debate his very existence with skeptical weapons set on eleven. Clearly, Jesus of Nazareth is a contentious character. So we should not be surprised…
Read More

Personally Prolife, Politically Prochoice: A Response

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, cultural apologetics, Gospel, John Ferrer, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, pro-choice, pro-life, Pro-Life Apologetics, www.IntelligentChristianFaith.com, “personally pro-life”, “politically pro-choice.”
Can we be pro-life personally but pro-choice politically? The quick answer to this loaded question is: No, we can’t really be pro-life personally if we are pro-choice politically. That’s because pro-lifers recognize that the child-in-utero is a human being, so the decision to abort isn’t a strictly personal decision at all, it’s an interpersonal decision. In that sense, it’s not a “private” decision (for just one person to decide). It’s a public decision (where at least 2 people are involved). Since abortion is an interpersonal act, it bears upon society and politics. Some people might not want to have an abortion, for themselves, but that does not qualify anyone as pro-life. Pro-choicers themselves recognize a “freedom to choose,” even when that includes choosing against abortion. In summary, if you are…
Read More