Herodias Jared Wilson likens our time to a transition from Herod to Herodias (see here). He quotes Mark: “For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.” John makes a public claim, rooted in his worldview, that is “heard gladly” by Herod even while not taken to heart. Herodias, on the other…
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Apologetic Reads
Before I read Van Til I didn’t read apologetics very much. I did quite a bit of apologetics, but found reading it dull and not very useful. I couldn’t get through reams of logic or piles of evidence without the realization that the next time I met a teenager with questions I would have no chance of even remembering what I had read let alone maintaining the attention of my interlocutor. Being committed to a presuppositional method I now lap up contributions on the subject. Here are a few I have read recently:God Is by Doug Wilson is a read-in-an-hour-or-two rough-shod ride over the pages of Christopher Hitchen’s God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.…
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Baxter vs Hume
As I read Paul Russell’s, The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise, I continue to find excellent summaries of arguments for theism and Hume’s responses. Russell, it should be noted, is an avid atheist from Scottish Calvinist stock. Consequently, his analysis of Hume’s irreligious intentions reflect his own intentions. Nevertheless, anyone interested in the history of Apologetics would find Russell’s book to be an excellent survey of Hume’s contribution to the history of the discipline. The following is a summary of Hume’s engagement with apologist, Andrew Baxter. Andrew Baxter, in a defense of theism and in response to the atheism of Hobbes and Spinoza, argues that all powers found in nature must, of necessity, be caused by the power…
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Delineating Disciplines
What is the difference between Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Theology and Apologetics? Academicians, as a part time hobby, attempt to mark out territory. Students, on the other hand, usually don’t care about the boundaries and lump disciplines into one coherent stream. I’m afraid I am of the latter persuasion. Hence, my undergraduate degree was in Philosophical Theology and Apologetics and my graduate studies are in Philosophy of Religion. Through it all, I maintained an apologetic, and ministry, focus. My dual goals were to better root and establish believers in the Christian faith and better communicate the gospel in our culture. Okay, so my aims do not sound grandly philosophical and required the twisting of certain topics…
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Too Focused on Atheism #2
It strikes me as problematic that so much effort goes into defeating something that most people don’t hold to (approximately 4% of Americans are self-describes atheists). William Lane Craig, for example, concerns himself with a strong defense of theism followed by trying to support claims of the divinity of Jesus Christ. What troubles me is that most of his work goes into the former project. In his popular apologetics book, On Guard, Craig devotes a chapter to religious pluralism (actually it is only really about soteriology) during which he recounts a telling story: I often speak at major Canadian universities on the existence of God. I typically present a cumulative case climaxing in Jesus’ resurrection After one of my talks,…
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Too Focused on Atheism
Evangelicals are worried about atheism; Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, Dennett – new atheists But the number of people who count themselves as atheists is small. Just 4% according to some researchers. Perhaps more people would count themselves as “non-religious” (11%), but that figure may even include Christians who are fond of the saying, “Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.” If one is focused on the spread of the gospel in America there are far larger demographics to be concerned with. Catholics number just over 20%; there are more Mormons in the US than atheists and, since being here, I have met many more protestants who do not believe the gospel than atheists who…