Tag: Apologetics
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The Allure of Home
I investigate ways by which one can employ cultural methods to make the gospel appealing. I concentrate on one piece of culture and express a few ideas on how it can be used in the defense of the faith. Is the pandemic over yet? If we can count the fact that the U.S. has lifted COVID-19…
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A Christian Perspective on Guns
In respect of the gun control debate, there are both common goods and competing goods. The common goods are safety, a decrease in violence, and death reduction. The competing good is protecting the Second Amendment rights of the United States Constitution. However, I do not think these goods ought to be competing. In this post,…
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Don’t Follow Your Heart!
The culture today has moved over to complete relativism on a great number of things. Identity, morality, and purpose have all been divorced from objective reality and are based largely upon one’s feelings. But theprophet Jeremiah warned us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jeremiah 17:9). What did Jesus have to…
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Taking a Deeper Look at the Problem of Evil: The Cross
Finally, I end by covering the cross and our eschatological hope as Christians. Jesus agonized the nastiest evil that can be thrown at him: denial by his own adored people, in the streets of their capital city; abhorrence from the authorities in his own religion; unfairness at the hands of the Roman court; unfaithfulness…
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Taking a Deeper Look at the Problem of Evil: The Greater Good Principle
Concluding the free will theodicy, I will delicately move to the greater good principle or defense. I say “delicately” because this defense may not help a questioner much if they have been a victim of a seemingly very unwarranted evil, and/or if they are still carrying anger or bitterness. The principle supports certain evils…
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Taking a Deeper Look at the Problem of Evil: The Free Will Defense
My last post hinted at the one last, ethical, principle of Leibniz’s best-of-all-possible-worlds theodicy: God’s creation includes human free will (capacity of free will is shown in biblical examples like Deuteronomy 30:11-19, Isaiah 30:1 and Joshua 24:14-15). For Leibniz, this idea was just a principle of his theodicy. For Augustine, CS Lewis, and Alvin Plantinga…
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Taking a Deeper Look at the Problem of Evil: The Best of All Possible Worlds
From the last post, I want to move to the best of all possible worlds theodicy. One of the strengths of this theodicy is how straightforward and precise it is. It is also traditionally recognized as one of 18th-century philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s highly essential contributions to philosophy of religion. The place to start is…
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Is transgenderism appropriate for a Christian?
In respect of the growingly popular issues of transgenderism (just think of NCAA women’s swimming), what I subscribe to and will defend is the integrity and acceptance of God’s creation and intention of only two sexes, which decide gender identity. The competing good is a complex package of “sympathetic recognition of their lived reality, full…
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Stranger Than Fiction
I recently watched the movie Stranger Than Fiction. I thought it would be profitable to practice apologetic engagement using this form of popular culture, and an ideal opportunity to explore some apologetic themes found in the movie. Most literature has echoes of the biblical storyline since it’s the foundation of understanding life in this world. As…
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The Bible’s Buried Secrets? Part 2
Part 2: Detailed Discussion of the Historicity of the Exodus Regardless of what the Bible says, several Old Testament scholars and biblical archeologists now doubt the validity of the Exodus or deny it entirely. James K. Hoffmeier opines “With this overwhelming evidence within the Bible regarding the Egyptian sojourn, exodus, and wilderness episodes, evidence from…
Surrendered and Free 