The Aristophrenium

Proclaiming the truth of the gospel and the centrality of Christ in all things

Monday

11

February 2013

0

COMMENTS

Implications of divine revelation

Written by , Posted in Bibliology, Theology

I have been having a discussion today regarding the nature of Scripture and our relationship to it, a discussion sparked by a story about “a young Korean girl [who] claims that Jesus took her to hell, and told her to draw what she saw.” [1] I am sharing this because it strikes me as a rather important issue. (Names have been changed, except mine.) DAVID: Because it is given a religious gloss, the girl will probably not receive the psychological evaluation she possibly needs. Those were some disturbing notions and pictures. STEVEN: Wait, she’s crazy because she believes the Bible? DAVID: Well, let us perhaps first qualify that term. Since she claimed that the one and holy Son of God himself revealed to her these visions of hell, it follows that she must believe in an open canon—to which her vision must now be added, as it is also divine [...]

[continue reading]

Monday

11

February 2013

23

COMMENTS

Evolution vs. evolutionism: One of these precludes a Savior.

Written by , Posted in Apologetics, Creation/Evolution, Origins of Life

Back in September of 2012 it was reported that Paul C. Broun, U.S. representative for the 10th congressional district in Georgia, had made a very curious claim during a campaign speech at the 2012 Sportsman’s Banquet in Hartwell, Georgia, a claim which garnered him a great deal of critical attention. “All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang theory,” Broun proclaimed, “all that is lies straight from the pit of hell.” And it’s lies to try to keep me, and all the folks who were taught that, from understanding that they need a Savior. You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don’t believe that the Earth’s but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That’s [...]

[continue reading]

Monday

4

February 2013

0

COMMENTS

Friday

1

February 2013

1

COMMENTS

Putting the conflict in perspective

Written by , Posted in Apologetics, Creation/Evolution

The following is excerpted from Origins: Christian Perspectives On Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design, 2nd ed. (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2011): Debate the Weather? To illustrate why the debate about origins isn’t simply a matter of science versus religion, imagine living in a culture where there is a similar debate about the weather. The Bible clearly teaches that God governs the weather. Many Bible passages proclaim that God causes rain and drought (see Deut. 11:14-17; 1 Kings 8:35-36; Job 5:10; 37:6; Jer. 14:22). Writers of Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and Jeremiah refer specifically to storehouses of rain and snow (see Deut. 28:12, 24; Ps. 135:7; Jer. 10:13). What causes the rain? Most of us were taught that water evaporates from the ground level, rises to where the air is cooler, and condenses into water droplets that form clouds. We learned how cold fronts and warm fronts and low pressure systems bring [...]

[continue reading]

Tuesday

29

January 2013

0

COMMENTS

The unpaid bills of the church

Written by , Posted in Apologetics

I have to agree with Nick Peters. Like him, I too wish I had a nickel for every person I have met who said they used to be a Christian. And yes, a great many of these so-called ex-Christians constitute the main opponents I come across, too. “These people fight Christianity with a vengeance,” Peters observed, “and I suspect it’s because they think they were duped by their church and have a strong vendetta against it. “And in many cases, I think their church did dupe them.” You know what I often read from them? I get the message that they were told they should just have faith. They were denied the right to ask questions. They were told they needed to walk the line or get out. They were treated as if they were the problem. Very rarely do I hear the account of a minister who says “That’s [...]

[continue reading]

Tuesday

22

January 2013

0

COMMENTS

A misguided attempt to critique Walton

Written by , Posted in Creation/Evolution, Origins of Life

So this is admittedly a bit late. I realize that. But it was not until just this afternoon that my attention was directed to this critical article by Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute which I was led to believe addressed John Walton’s book The Lost World of Genesis One (IVP Academic, 2009). [1] Had I known about this article sooner I would have responded to it sooner. Better late than never? I suppose there is a sense in which Luskin did address Walton’s book, but that is only technically true. The fact of the matter is that Luskin admitted right from the first paragraph that since he has no expertise “in ancient Hebrew language or biblical hermeneutics” he therefore had “no intention of expressing an opinion on Walton’s basic thesis about how to interpret Genesis 1.” Fair enough, so what then was the purpose of his writing? Evidently it [...]

[continue reading]

Sunday

20

January 2013

0

COMMENTS

Churches For Apologetics: A Petition.

Written by , Posted in Apologetics, Christian activism, Education, Witnessing

The leadership and overall community of the Christian Apologetics Alliance [1] are highly motivated to encourage and equip the church in defending the faith using the tools available through Christian apologetics. It is their desire to see local churches everywhere creating and fostering a safe environment of questioning and learning in which members of Christ’s body are enabled and empowered to confront the hard questions that target the faith and consequently grow in strength, knowledge, and confidence. Apologetics in the church is no less important and relevant today than it was over 150 years ago when Wilberforce noted the following: [2] In an age in which infidelity abounds, do we observe them [parents] carefully instructing their children in the principles of faith which they profess? Or do they furnish their children with arguments for the defense of that faith? They would blush on their child’s birth to think him inadequate [...]

[continue reading]

Monday

24

December 2012

0

COMMENTS

Christmas: A “festivus” for all of us

Written by , Posted in Society & Culture

End of year celebrations. Cries of Happy Holidays. People in the streets wearing Santa hats, reindeer antlers or elf-ears. Carollers singing about magical snowmen, a red-nosed reindeer and a jolly-fat guy in a red suit who squeezes down chimneys, pilfering milk and cookies, stuffing stockings and sneaking a pash with your mother. Snow-filled, feel-good, luke warm, b-grade family movies showing in cinemas or being re-run on TV for the umpteenth dozen time. Crazed, 3am zombie shoppers, milling through malls. Variations of egg-nog recipes; decorated ginger-bread houses. Candy canes; tinsel; baubles; and fake, plastic trees. Roast turkeys; roast geese. Wishes on stars and sneaking kisses under mistletoe. Outlandish, homespun woollen green and red sweaters. Fastidious – and bordering on obsessive-compulsive – displays of lights on houses and roof tops and trees. Oddly-shaped gifts; magnificently wrapped gifts; poorly wrapped gifts; unwrapped gifts! Family feuds; carols by candlelight; Kris Kringles and office parties. [...]

[continue reading]

Sunday

25

November 2012

0

COMMENTS

Taking Back the Season—For the Gospel

Written by , Posted in Christology, Religion, Theology, Witnessing

It is one month to go until Christmas. In preparation for that, I wrote this for my church’s December newsletter. I am reposting it here on The Aristophrenium for the benefit of all the brethren. Christians seem to have all sorts of attitudes when it comes to Christmas. Many lament the secularization and commercialization of the holiday, and do their best to “put Christ back in Christmas.” Others try to dissociate themselves from the holiday altogether, citing its association with non-Biblical traditions as reason for doing so. Others just want to go about celebrating the holiday as usual, singing Christmas hymns, buying presents for loved ones and taking time out to be with them. I will argue that the one thing that is missing from all of these perspectives is the missional focus. Christmas is a time when we remember God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus, as this coming [...]

[continue reading]

Tuesday

20

November 2012

0

COMMENTS

God is sovereign, your life is not.

Written by , Posted in Anthropology, Eschatology

I am involved in a number of small Bible study groups with my local church during the week, one of which is about discipling men by the gospel to become spiritual leaders in the church and their own families, and obviously this involves taking a hard look at Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus. Sometimes the fruit of prayerful study is new insights being revealed by the Spirit of all grace, and one such insight hit me recently while reading from 1 Timothy, chapter 6, and verses 13 to 16: I charge you before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession before Pontius Pilate, to obey this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ—whose appearing the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time. He alone [...]

[continue reading]
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Most Popular Posts

Honor Roll

Index

Abortion Acts 17 Apologetics apologetics argument for atheism Atheism Atonement Biblical issues Calvinism Christmas Christology David Wood Dearborn Easter evangelism evolution exegesis free will Genesis 1 gospel grace gratuitous evil Greg Koukl homosexuality Intelligent Design Islam James White Jesus John MacArthur John Walton marriage morality Nabeel Qureshi Negeen Mayel Paul Rezkalla postmodernism presuppositionalism pro-choice pro-life problem of evil Richard Dawkins salvation Same-sex Marriage Sexuality soteriology video

Categories

AristoVault

Meta

Christian Apologetics Alliance