Fear and Trembling

I have now made more than 300 posts on this blog.  That's a milestone for 2009.  There have been 3,232 visits this year and 5,549 page-views. Since Fear and Trembling’s inception in February of 2007, there have been 8,079 visits from 5,079 visitors and 12,675 page-views. (As per Google Analytics) I will try to hit 400 in 2010. Thanks for reading!

Justin Taylor has done a fabulous job of compiling numerous Bible Reading plans here and here . I hope you will take advantage of these as we ring in the new year. I recommend the M’Cheyne plan as I have used it before. I found it to be extremely helpful. I cannot decide for certain which plan to use this year. I make take my time. I may just read a chapter a day from the Old Testament and a chapter a day from the New Testament in the Reformation Study Bible , including all of the notes. Should help me “dive deeper.” Happy New Year!!

William Cowper was one of the most popular poets and hymn-writers of the 18th Century. He is credited by some as the fore-father of English Romantic poetry, inspiring work by William Wordsworth, among others. Cowper was born in 1731. He was a contemporary of John Wesley, George Whitefield, and William Wilberforce. He struggled with depression. Some believe he suffered from manic-depression (bipolar psychosis) due to the alternating periods of emotional highs and lows evident in his life. After a major depression at age 21, he attempted suicide. At age 28, he had another breakdown caused mainly by the threat of a public examination before Parliament. They were to see if he could be appointed to a government position. He was committed to an insane asylum after more failed suicide attempts. He became a Christian during his stay in the asylum when he picked up a Bible placed there and read Romans 3:25, where Christ’s sacrifice for us is highlighted. Cowper later wrote, “I saw the su...

Why is X Used when it Replaces Christ in Christmas? from R.C. Sproul Merry Christmas everyone!

I have recently shared much of my experience growing up in an evangelical church . I had many experiences, both good and bad, but by and large the experience was positive. I was raised Christian, and I am Christian today. Does this mean I am biased? Yes, but that does not mean I am wrong . The strength or weakness of an argument should be evaluated independent of the circumstances of the person giving the argument. Besides, we are all biased in some way or another, if we are honest with ourselves. The accusation that “you believe only because of your circumstances” goes both ways. After all, we all have faced and are facing circumstances that shape our views. I am an intelligent adult. I am not now a “product of my raising.” I am a Christian by choice, and my religion is my own. I like the way Cornelius Van Till addresses concerns on bias here . I urge you to review the arguments I give critically on their own merits. Let them stand for themselves.

Follow this link to a great statement of the gospel for those of us who struggle with sin.  Here's an excerpt: When the major stress in pulpit and curriculum shifts from "Christ outside of me, dying for me" to "Christ inside of me, improving me," the upshot is always the same: many broken, sad ex-Christians who despair of being able to live the Christian life as the Bible describes it. So they do what is really a sane thing to do -- they leave. The way it looks to them is that "the message of Christianity has broken them on the rack." To put it bluntly, it feels better to have some earthly happiness as a pagan and then be damned than it feels to be trying every day as a Christian to do something that is one continuous failure -- and then be damned anyway...What the "sad alumni" need to hear (perhaps for the first time) is that Christian failures are going to walk into heaven, be welcomed into heaven, leap into heaven like a calf leaping ou...

A Christianity Today article piqued my interest: “The Missionary Who Wouldn't Retire: Lesslie Newbigin, born 100 years ago today, launched a new career at age 66 by calling Western churches to act like they were in the mission field,” by Krish Kandiah posted 12/08/2009 10:07AM. I wrestle often on this blog and others who argue that religion is a matter of “faith,” or personal preference. This “faith” is supposedly opposed to reason and science, which present objective, verifiable facts. This notion escapes me. I present reasoned arguments for the faith that do not precede from unverifiable assumptions (see this series of posts  for an example). I present a Jesus who acted in history, a history that is verifiable in the same way the most important decisions in our culture are: eye-witness testimony and historical witness (see here ). This is in line with Newbigin’s recommendations as expressed in the article: [Newbigin] challenges the post-Enlightenment separation between s...

[For background, see here .] Here’s an excerpt from Sproul’s comments : The Manhattan Declaration confuses common grace and special grace by combining them. While I would march with the bishop of Rome and an Orthodox prelate to resist the slaughter of innocents in the womb, I could never ground that cobelligerency on the assumption that we share a common faith and a unified understanding of the gospel.

I wanted to take the chance to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. And to thank God for His many blessing in Christ! II think the most interesting things have been said by Al Mohler , who asks how an atheist can celebrate Thanksgiving, and Mark D. Roberts , who reminds us who to thank.

I am going to try a new approach to comments on this blog, especially those who elect to remain anonymous. I plan to take Carl Trueman’s approach : I have been asked by several people over recent years whether Christians should respond if they are criticized or defamed on the web. The answer is simple: for myself, I do not believe that it is appropriate that I spend my time defending my name… As a Christian, I am not meant to engage in self-justification any more than self-promotion; I am called rather to defend the name of Christ; and, to be honest, I have yet to see a criticism of me, true or untrue, to which I could justifiably respond on the grounds that it was Christ’s honor, and not simply my ego, which was being damaged… Hitting back in anger at those who, justly or unjustly, do not like me and for some reason think the world needs to know what they think of me is no part of my God-given vocation. God will look after my reputation if needs be; He has given me other work to d...

I was raised in a fundamentalist Baptist church. That means several things, good and bad. I can’t dance. At all. I am horrible at poker. No practice. I’m pretty good at Rook, though. When growing up an “adult beverage” meant coffee. After all, it was hot and you could burn yourself if you spilled it. Gospel quartet music makes me smile. My heart sings! I like to pretend I am a bass like George Younce, but I’m really a baritone. I placed my faith in Christ when I was seven. I did not yet know just how selfish my own heart was, but my faith was real. I turned from my sin to Christ. I understood that “Christ died for our sins…” (1 Corinthians 15:3b). God has never let me go. He has taught me to repent, forgive and love. He’s still teaching me today. I’ve understood the meaning of “penal substitutionary atonement” since I was in the fifth grade. That was about the time I learned the meaning of omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, spirit, love, truth and some other attributes of God...

See here. Read a powerfull little article by "Dad Rod" over at Ligonier.

Today is the anniversary of the day when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the church door at Wittenberg . That was arguably the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. There are some great give-aways and promotions on the web to celebrate: The Listener’s Bible is giving away a free mp3 download of Luther’s “Here I Stand” speech . (Offer ends Nov. 1.) Ligonier Minsitries advertizes a special price on case quanitities of "The Holiness of God" by R. C. Sproul. The chapter in this book called “The Insanity of Luther” is worth the price of a whole case, and you would have some left over for friends. And what better way to celebrate than with study of some current issues on justification by faith: Find Christianity Today’s “Not All Evangelicals and Catholics Together” here . Find links to a Michael Scott Horton review of N. T. Wright’s theories on justification here .

I have cited several forms of the cosmological argument for God’s existence on this blog . One effective form of this argument comes from philosopher Norman Geisler. This argument begins from an undeniable premise: I exist. This is not always assumed to be true by modern philosophy. Geisler argues that God exists because I exist. Here’ s a rough outline: 1. Some things undeniably exist (e.g., I cannot deny my own existence). 2. My nonexistence is possible. 3. Whatever has the possibility not to exist is currently caused to exist by another. 4. There cannot be an infinite regress of current causes of existence. 5. Therefore, a first uncaused cause of my current existence exists. 6. This uncaused cause must be infinite, unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-perfect. 7. This infinitely perfect Being is appropriately called “God.” 8. Therefore, God exists. 9. This God who exists is identical to the God described in the Christian Scriptures. 10. Therefore, the ...

I recently read the Kindle for iPhone Edition of Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian . This is an excellent book written at a popular level to help Christians see that they “make a difference in this world by being different from this world; they don’t make a difference by being the same” (Location 284). That makes sense. If you want to change something, you have to make it different in some way. If what you want to change is a culture / people group / nation, you have to create a different culture within it. One excerpt: Ironically, the more we Christians pursue worldly relevance, the more we’ll render ourselves irrelevant to the world around us. There’s an irrelevance to pursuing relevance … To be truly relevant, you have to say things that are unfashionable eternal, not trendy. It’s the timeless things that are most relevant to most people, and we dare not forget this fact in our pursuit of relevance. (Location 405) There is another way to look at this. A subject’s relevanc...

I just stumbled on a Face Book application that allows a person to ‘donate’ his or her birthday to a cause in order to raise money. I ‘took the plunge,’ as my birth date is October 22. I would like to support Operation Christmas Child . I went on a trip to Lima, Peru , last year to help distribute shoebox gifts to children. You can read my stories from the trip by clicking the label “Operation Christmas Child” to the right in the sidebar. Please take the chance to pack a shoebox gift for National Collection Week this year, November 16-23. Drop off locations can be found by entering your zip code here. Also, a $7 donation will pay the shipping on someone else’s shoebox, and we get several boxes each year at our collection center that need the ‘scholarship.’ You can donate by following the instructions at the Face Book Causes link here  or by following the appropriate links here . Then children were brought to [Jesus] that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The discipl...

Two of my favorite modern parables are printed below. The first is one of my favorites not because I agree with its conclusions, but because I admire the way its point is made. From Anthony Flew: Let us begin with a parable. It is a parable developed from a tale told by John Wisdom in his haunting and revolutionary article "Gods." Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer says, "Some gardener must tend this plot." The other disagrees, "There is no gardener." So they pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. "But perhaps he is an invisible gardener." So they set up a barbed-wire fence. They electrify it. They patrol with bloodhounds. (For they remember how H. G. Well's The Invisible Man could be both smelt and touched though he could not be seen.) But no shrieks ever suggest that some intruder has received a shock. No movement...

Links from Justin Taylor's blog question whether everyone believed the earth was flat during the Middle Ages.

The Reformation Study Bible is now available as an application for the iPhone . This is the best format and interface for a Bible program I have purchased. It beats Mantis and Olive Tree, although both of those are very good. Its most useful function is the readily accessible daily Bible reading plan. It’s a ‘must have.’

Thanks to In Light of the Gospel for a link to Redeemer Presbyterian’s new Church Planting Blog . I just wish I could add it to my Google Reader account. Bummer. Interesting that Keller spoke at a Willow Creek conference this past summer (see here for more). I missed that one. I didn’t know Presbyterians had it in them.

One of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther: If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. (from Letter 99, Paragraph 13. Erika Bullmann Flores, Tr. from: Dr. Martin Luther's Saemmtliche Schriften Dr. Johann Georg Walch Ed. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, N.D.), Vol. 15, cols. 2585-2590.) Are we daring enough to live  this? 

Justin Taylor weights in on the conquest of Canaan here . This is a careful and sober analysis.

Follow the conversation between Charles Simeon and John Wesley here .

God establishes reason, and without Him, we have no reason to be reasonable. We reason by the laws of logic combined with facts we observe. For example, the Law of Non-contradiction, that A cannot be both A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship. These abstract, conceptual principles must be accounted for if any discussion on any topic is to take place. Only God can account for these laws. His thinking upholds ours. If the laws of logic are based on human thinking, then we have to realize that people are different and the laws may differ from person to person. They are no longer absolute. Some particular examples follow. If the laws of logic are just social conventions, then they are not absolute, and they can be ignored at will. My social network is, after all, different from yours. How do we avoid the conclusion that all of our thinking is not the result of mere instinctive reactions to our environment? Since our environments are all different, we would all reach dif...

Just by telling me that I am a miserable, great sinner you are placing a sword and a weapon into my hand with which I can decisively overcome you; yea, with your own weapon I can kill and floor you. For if you tell me that I am a poor sinner, I, on the other hand, can tell you that Christ dies for sinners and is their Intercessor… You remind me of the boundless, great faithfulness and benefaction of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The burden of my sins and all the trouble and misery that were to oppress me eternally He very gladly took upon His shoulders and suffered the bitter death on the cross for them. To Him I direct you. You may accuse and condemn Him. Let me rest in peace, for on His shoulders, not on mine, lie all my sins and the sins of all the world. Martin Luther

John Calvin, a Sixteenth Century leader of the Protestant Reformation, is a well-known theologian. Calvin is well known for his teaching on divine election, the idea that God sovereignty chooses who will have faith in Christ. In many churches, Calvin is an arch villain who tried to stop evangelism. After all, if God chooses, why should we witness? That is John Calvin as many know him: the stern teacher of election. But what they probably do not know is that Calvin was the leader of one of the largest, most successful church-planting movements in history. Calvin became a Protestant in 1531 at age 22. He soon left his native Paris, France, because of persecution. Most of Calvin’s work was performed in his new home of Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin and The City Council of Geneva had many conflicts. At one point, Calvin was even run out of town. He was asked to return, and after a few years most of his reforms were accepted by The City Council in about 1554. Protestants from all over Europe f...

This is the second in a short series of posts that give arguments for God’s existence. These arguments complement each other. That is, one proves one aspect of God’s nature; another proves another aspect, and so on. My area of professional expertise is industrial engineering, also called “process engineering.” I have spent most of my life in the pursuit of process improvement. I have professionally applied myself to manufacturing processes in several industries. I have looked at ways to improve equipment, organization of jobs, the way human beings interact with machines, and the way humans interact with each other. The purpose of a manufacturing process is to produce quality products, when needed by customers, at minimal cost, in a safe manner. There is one thing I know: a process left to itself does not produce products like that. If we take our hands off the controls, neglect the equipment, or ignore the people doing the work, we get bad products, late shipments, high costs, and incr...

Thanks to In Light of the Gospel for posting a video introduction for Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham. This book is an excellent exploration of the historical evidence for the reliability of the New Testament Gospels. It contains up-to-date scholarly references and Bauckham’s own fresh approach. See an additional review of the book by Ben Witherington here . Witherington applies Backham’s research to various current historical issues here . Another review can be found here . Some endorsements and a less critical review can be found here . Background on Bauckham can be found here .

God’s existence has long been debated. Atheists and Christians alike argue forcefully for their position, but the argument I will give in this post is one of the arguments I find convincing. In fact, this argument has never been adequately answered. This post is my ‘spin’ on an argument put forth by both William Lane Craig and James Patrick Moreland , among others. God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. This is foundational for a popular argument for God’s existence. Reason demonstrates that something in the past must have always existed. It is not possible to count to the end of the series of real numbers. You can always count one more. It is an infinite series of discrete things. You can’t count to the end of a series like that. It has no end. There is always one more. Let’s assume the common understanding of time as an example (please see the note at the bottom on time). It is just as impossible to reach the end of time as it is to count to the end of a series of real numb...

Bioenergy will be used to fuel a coal power plant . I sure hope this works. Reminds me of the Mad Max movie “ Beyond Thunderdome .”

I have followed with interest the news stories regarding the current ‘health care crisis.’ Some examples of the better articles are here , here , here , and here . Efforts to blame some group or the other abound. But I blame us. If we all lost some weight there would be a clear reduction in the health care costs currently experienced. The same is true for smoking, alcohol / drug abuse, high salt diets, not exercising, etc. One article makes it clear: If people would just do four things -- engage in regular physical activity, eat a healthy diet, not smoke and avoid becoming obese -- they could slash their risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke or cancer by 80%, a new report has found. But less than 10% of the 23,153 people in the multi-year study -- published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine -- actually lived their lives this way. Like it or not, our lifestyle choices are fueling the medical care crisis. It’s our fault. There must be some individual responsibility, o...

Today’s BreakPoint commentary by Prison Fellowship Mark Early tells a story that speaks clearly to the best answer to our crime problem. Here’s the conclusion: And as we go about doing what God commanded—visiting those in prison and sharing the good news—it won’t just make a difference in private attitudes, but in public safety. So that the next time [criminals and victims] meet, it can be across the pew instead of across the barrel of a pistol. BreakPoint links to related news stories here and here . It sounds trite, but we must share the gospel, or they may kill us .

The Resurgence has an article on a church planted by a man who is quickly becoming one of my heroes: Tim Keller. He planted Redeemer Presbyterian Church , a body of believers in the heart of New York. His address to the Desiring God conference on The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World is an good treatment of the controversial subject of contextualization. You can find a good summary of his approach here . Some Tim Keller quotes to inspire discussion: Contextualization is not giving people what they want. It is giving God’s answers (which they probably do not want) to the questions they are asking and in forms they can comprehend. 'Contextualization' is unavoidable. You yourself have 'incarnated' Christianity into a culture. As soon as you choose a language to preach in and illustrations and humor--you've contextualized. You are 'closer' to some people and 'farther' from others. And it is also right to have a heart for a certain p...

“The fact that conversion and salvation are of God, is an humbling truth. It is because of its humbling character that men do not like it. To be told that God must save me if I am saved, and that I am in his hand, as clay is in the hands of the potter, "I do not like it" saith one. Well, I thought you would not; whoever dreamed you would?” - C.H. Spurgeon, qu. in Iain Murray, The Forgotten Spurgeon , Banner of Truth, 2nd edn, 1973, p 60. There are times when I have a deep revulsion for Christianity. It requires of me something that I find hard to give. I must despair of my own ability to earn my way, my own self-sufficiency. That is burdensome for an American. It goes against everything my culture values. I must abandon my view of myself as virtuous. I must be honest about not just my sins and failures, but also about the deep soul-sickness that afflicts me. The Recovery Movement calls my particular maladies “ character defects .” This is a good description. Things like selfi...

I am reading through Mathew Henry’s Treatise on Baptism . It’s a copy I have from a Presbyterian minister friend. I would like to hear your opinion on Henry’s Treastise and on the matter in general. I would like to have some debate. My paedobaptist friends should ‘smell blood in the water’ on this one. Now’s your chance. I’m coming around to the position, but still struggle a bit. Lutherans, now’s your chance to convince me. There is a Missouri-synod Lutheran Church here in town.

After an extended period of soul searching, I have decided to change religious denominations. I have long self-identified as a “ five-point Calvinist .” But I found myself avoiding the term in my Southern-Baptist home church because it was so often misunderstood. Recent conflicts in the SBC over Calvinism have left me even more disillusioned (see here and here ). I am simply tired of feeling like I must hide my beliefs in this area “under a bushel.” I am going to become a Presbyterian. I have become convinced over recent weeks that I can affirm the beliefs held by The Presbyterian Church in America as expressed here and here . I have not decided for certain, but I can see joining that church in the near future. This will begin an adventure, a whole-new phase of my Christian experience. I hope that you will hold me in your prayers.

Al Mohler’s blog recently linked to an article by Stephen Prothero titled “Post-Christian? Not even close.” Reminds me of a quote from a book I read a few weeks back: …Is skepticism or faith on the ascendency in the world today? The answer is Yes. The enemies are both right. Skepticism, fear, and anger toward traditional religion are growing in power and influence. But at the same time, robust, orthodox belief in the traditional faiths is growing as well… …each side should accept that both religious belief and skepticism are on the rise. Ahtiest Sam Harris and Religious Right leader Pat Robertson shouls each admit the fact that his particular tribe is strong and increasing in influence. This would eliminate the self-talk that is rampant in each camp, namely that it will soon be extinct, overrun by the opposition. Nothing like that is imminently possible. If we stopped saying such things to ourselves it might make everyone more civil and generous toward opposing views. ( The Reas...

Ligonier Ministries has a wonderful entry by Greg Bailey on John Calvin’s response to the plague. Here’s a quote referenced in the post: During Calvin's ministry, Geneva was terrorized by the plague on five occasions. During the first outbreak, in 1542, Calvin personally led visitations into plague-infected homes. Knowing that this effort likely carried a death sentence, the city fathers intervened to stop him because of their conviction that his leadership was indispensable. The pastors continued this heroic effort under Calvin's guidance, and they recounted the joy of multiple conversions. Many pastors lost their lives in this cause. Unknown to many, Calvin privately continued his own pastoral care in Geneva and other cities where the plague raged. Calvin's pastoral heart, already evidenced by the provision of hospitals for both citizens and immigrants, was further revealed as he collected the necessary resources to establish a separate hospital for plague victims. When ...

The recent return of A. N. Wilson to the faith has prompted much discussion (see here , here , here and here ). Here is a quote I appreciate: "My belief has come about in large measure because of the lives and examples of people I have known - not the famous, not saints, but friends and relations who have lived, and faced death, in the light of the Resurrection story, or in the quiet acceptance that they have a future after they die." – A. N. Wilson

Ben Witherington provides a detailed analysis of and response to Bart Erman’s “Jesus Interrupted” in his four posts here , here , here and here . [4/16: I forgot to mention this will be an ongoing series for Witherington. The next post is h ere .)

A song from the Easter Service at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I attended this morning: "Oh to see my name written in the wounds, for through your suffering I am free. Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live won through your selfless love! This is the power of the cross: Christ became sin for us. Took the blame, bore the wrath. We stand forgiven at the cross." - "The Power of the Cross" by Townend / Getty

Much has been said by leaders in the modern church about “felt needs” and the necessity of reaching the lost by an appeal to those “felt needs.” I will pretend to be a non-Christian for a minute. I will speak from the perspective of “ the mind set on the flesh .” My number one felt need at this point in my life is a Victory Red, 2009 Chevrolet ZR1 Corvette . Motor Trend Magazine’s article sold me on the idea. It’s hard to beat a 620 horsepower engine in a 3,324 pound car. Plus the typical Corvette suspension package and amenities. I guarantee that if your church buys me this Corvette, meeting the felt need of my heart, I will attend each and every Sunday morning for the rest of my life. I will constantly and enthusiastically tell everyone I meet about the great things happening at your church, and I will invite everyone I know to the church that is serious about meeting our felt needs. That church will be successful in the way that the modern church measures success: numerical growth....

I finished the book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan (Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook, 2008) . The book is a strong call to the kind of Christian discipleship that can change a person’s life and change our world for the better. (See also the website associated with this book for information and supplemental videos and other materials.) This book is a strong call to the life of obedience that necessarily follows faith in Christ. But anytime a strong call to discipleship and obedience is issued, it can be misunderstood. I wanted to post a quick look at the underlying assumption of the book: the grace of Almighty God as demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This grace is the righteousness of God that is earned for us in Jesus and credited to us through faith ( Romans 3:21-31 ). Our constant and consistent sin against a Holy God is a source of guilt and shame among Christians. Chan describes the problem and provides help: S...

I finished a book a few weeks ago by Michael Horton called Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 2008). The book is intended to diagnose and describe formidable problems facing the evangelical church in the U. S. In blogging terms, the book is a ‘rant,’ but it’s a powerful one. (Horton promises a “more constructive sequel “ to propose solutions (p. 27), and I look forward to that book.) Horton applies his keen, analytical mind in a devastating critique of a church that consumes a “regular diet” of “do more, try harder.” The book resonates with me as I have endured this many times. I have sat through sermon after sermon of “weekly calls to action” instead of the clear and simple statement of the gospel of salvation apart from my own works. (17) I have found much of what our Southern Baptist churches do to be vulnerable to Horton’s pointed criticism. He says of our theologically vacuous teaching that it “is not profound e...

I am going to break my own rule in this one instance and place a political quote on my blog. I do so only because I think this issue does have moral implications. You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. - Dr. Adrian Rogers, Pator, Bellevue Baptist Church, Lived 1931-2005

Thanks to Apologetics 315 for a link to the Plantinga – Dennett debate on God’s existence. An anonymous first-hand account of the same debate is found here. From that account: In my estimation, Plantinga won hands down because Dennett savagely mocked Plantinga rather than taking him seriously. Plantinga focused on the argument, and Dennett engaged in ridicule. It is safe to say that Dennett only made himself look bad along with those few nasty naturalists that were snickering at Plantinga. The Christians engaged in no analogous behavior. More engagements like this will only expand the ranks of Christian philosophers and increase the pace of academic philosophy's desecularization.

Much has been written about the philosophical problems the existence of evil poses for the Christian faith. The philosophical question is simple: how can God be both all-powerful and all-good while allowing evil and suffering? I have attempted an answer to this intellectual question here , but I wanted to explore the personal side of it in this post. In my own life, many things have not worked out the way I had hoped. I have been quite disappointed. I’ve had childhood illness, watched my grandmother die of colon cancer when I was about 13, been through a painful broken engagement, been through a divorce, remarried only to struggle with infertility for several years, endured a devastating car wreck that has injured me permanently, watched my mother die a long and painful death at the hands of congestive heart failure, and wrestled with personal illness in adulthood. Above all, I have faced my own sins and failures with the pain that comes from regret and remorse. But my suffering ...

Thanks to Nightmares and Dreamscapes for the link to a video about the son of a Hamas leader who converted to Christianity .

Some conversations I’ve recently had over at The Atheist Experience made me think about some implications of certain of God’s attributes, namely His knowledge and His immutability. God is unchanging in His being, character (what theologians call His perfections), purposes, and promises. Yet God does act. He does feel emotions. And He acts and feels differently in response to different situations. God’s unchanging nature means that His knowledge does not change. He never learns new things or forgets things. He knows all things past, present and future, actual and possible, and knows them all equally vividly. This is why the universe follows logical laws . Logic helps us see how everything fits together (how facts interrelate). We can know it all fits together because God knows everything. There must be truth, and it must all logically inter-relate because it can be known in God’s mind vividly. In a sense, it can be know all at the same ‘time,’ so it must all be logical. God’s...

I was delighted to see the Steelers win the Superbowl last night. The last few minutes of the game were so exciting this year that it truly was super. The first football game I can remember seeing was when the Steelers won their first Superbowl against the Vikings. I have been a Steelers fan ever since. I can still see the faces of Bradshaw, Harris, Greene, Holmes, White, Greenwood, and others. Now I have a whole new set of faces. Steelers Superbowl victories are summarized here . As to Kurt Warner’s Christian witness, I would like to quote In Light of The Gospel : “Before the game, Warner won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, which honors a player’s volunteer and charity work. That kind of work will last much longer than the Super Bowl victories and records.” There is more than one way to win!

My friend LP over at Extra Nos has a great post on one form of the cosmological argument for God's existence. He lays it out quickly, carefully, and winsomely.

I’ve been doing a little reading on Quantum Mechanics lately (see here , here , and here for interesting articles). There are many abstract concepts that do not have any reality behind them: randomness, chance, and luck, for example. These have no bearing in the real world because they are abstract concepts used to describe things we cannot understand yet. If we knew the causal relationships, we would not need a concept of chance or probability. I have no reason to believe in chance or randomness in the concrete sense because I believe that all events have a cause. I may not be able to identify the cause yet, but I have no reason to believe in an uncased event. Chance has no existence. It is not a thing, no-thing, nothing. It cannot cause anything since it has no existence in reality. It has no being, and hence no power. It’s similar to the idea of a negative number. We can never find a negative number of tangible things. This is one of the first rules I learned as an engineering stud...

For the record, I think Rick Warren did good: (Quote of Inauguration prayer from Between Two Worlds ) Almighty God, our Father: Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one." And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made. Now today we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge point of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven. Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to ...

An interesting Christianity Today article discusses why Darwin rejected Christianity, and the facts may surprise you. It may have been more of an emotional reaction than an unbiased reflection on the facts.

Just my favorite quote from the “I Have A Dream Speech :” “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” (Compare Isaiah 40:4-5.) Amen, Dr. King. We miss you.

I have been spending more time commenting on other blogs that posting on my own lately. Here are a few things I have found in other places that have caught my interest. Between Two Worlds gives links to interviews and commentary on N. T. Wright’s response to John Piper . We also find brief commentary, and an interesting discussion in the comments. In a newsletter, Lee Strobel notes reasons not to give up on evangelism when we become discouraged . Also, the site announces Lee Strobel’s upcoming blog . Apologetics 315 gives links to Rev. Todd Wilken’s review of The Shack . This is a very level-headed review. Extra Nos gives a link to a Utube video in which Richard Dawkins attributes the appearance of complexity and design in the world to “luck” and a system that makes the “luck” hold out. Why did I run out of time to carefully comment on the above? Long comments I typed for other blogs. I engaged in a running argument with numerous atheists over at Unreasonable Faith . I thought I ...