Apologetics

“Those who think they know the Gospel best are frequently the most surprised by its true shape, content, boundaries, and purposes.” -Matthew Bates, The Gospel Precisely The purpose of apologetics as an outward defense of the Christian faith must be intimately tied to the Christian call to make disciples. This means that a proper apologetic must have as its foundation that same firm ground that Scripture gives for evangelism and discipleship.  This firm ground, known to us as

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, I hang out in atheist debate groups. These are among the top reasons why many Christians have "deconstructed" and are Christians no longer. 1. The Theory of Evolution 2. Santa Claus 3. Prejudice against homosexuality I don't think the church gives good answers on any of them. 1 and 3 were listed among the reasons why Rhett and Link "deconstructed." I honestly don't know why we perpetuate the Santa myth. How would you address these "Top 3" reasons f

The majority of my time seems to be spent arguing against deterministic world views and for the proposition that humans possess libertarian freedom. I then seek to demonstrate how human freedom in a libertarian sense is evidence pointing to the existence of God. In fact, I contend that the biblical view of God is the best explanation of this seemingly supernatural phenomena! Often, however, after I have made a case concluding, "Therefore, humans possess libertarian freedom,"

Each year my hometown does a big fundraiser for the non-profits based in the area. This year the Give Where You Live fundraising event will be held on Thursday, December 2, 2021, from midnight to midnight. We have a $10,000+ matching opportunity, so, for every dollar a person uses to support FTM, it magically becomes two dollars. If one person gives $10,000, it magically becomes $20,000! FreeThinking Ministries is devoted to equipping the Church to engage the culture. We als

Question Hey Dr. Stratton, I love your site and content. I am planning on reading your book soon. In the meantime I need your perspective on something. I love the MMA syllogism and the articles you’ve written on the subject of Molinism making the most sense of all the biblical data . But as someone who doesn’t hold to "once saved always saved" (due to my study of scripture), how can I reconcile the notion of "mere Molinism" with the warnings scripture gives of believers fall

In 2012 I was sitting next to Timothy Fox listening to Dr. R. Scott Smith teach about the philosophy of intentionality at Biola University. Smith was explaining that intentional states of consciousness entailed an awareness OF and ABOUT things. With "of-ness: and "about-ness" in mind, I started thinking of the laws of logic and about competing hypotheses. It soon occurred to me that if one cannot think of and about competing hypotheses, then it would be impossible for one

"My conclusions were both more sanguine and restricted than I had anticipated. I was surprised by the actual strength of the resurrection hypothesis." Over my short years of reading large texts on different subjects and in different genres, I’ve started to notice somewhat of a pattern or correlation: authors and scholars with humility tend to produce not only good books, but long books as well. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (RoJ) by Dr. Michael

As Christians we are called to share the Gospel with all people ( Matthew 28:16-20 ). Indeed, the Gospel is literally the "good news" -- the best news -- a person could ever hear. With this in mind, it is vital for all Christians to grasp exactly what the Gospel message is and also know how to articulate why this is good news. Sadly, I have found that a large percentage of self-professed Christians cannot clearly articulate this good news. Indeed, often times when I ask a ch

“Why would a loving God condemn people to Hell?” How many times have you or someone you know asked this question?  It seems like an obvious question.  We know what love is and we know what love is not (at least that is what we tell ourselves) and condemning a group of people to eternal punishment seems not only punitive, but unjustly so. In over a decade of youth ministry this question, above all else, is at the forefront of every Q&A session I ever held. Kids are desperate

Michael Huemer has established himself as one of today's leading philosophers on a variety of topics ranging from ethics, to political philosophy, to logical paradoxes, to epistemology. Skepticism and the Veil of Perception (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001) is concerned with this last topic. Huemer is concerned with rebutting skepticism in general and skepticism about the external world in particular. His solution is a version of direct realist foundationalism. The bo

Question Dr. Tim, You recently shared a Facebook post high-lightning the Apostle Paul's words in 1st Corinthians 10:15. It reads: "I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say." You then added the following: "Be a FreeThinker. Don’t let something or someone else causally determine your judgments!" Do you really want to trust your own judgements and not let God cause and determine all of your judgements? Being led by the Spirit means letting God lead your min

Circular reasoning is generally understood to be fallacious. The reason for this is that circular arguments assume what they purport to prove. At least one premise in a circular argument depends upon the truth of the conclusion, making the argument lose any justifying force. For in order to accept the relevant premise, one would have to already believe the conclusion. But if one already believes the conclusion then one has no need for the argument, and if one does not already

Question: Hello Dr. Stratton, I just finished reading the section about the Kalam Cosmological Argument in your article about various arguments for the existence of God. I have been doing some very serious soul searching the past few months and have been questioning the validity of my own non-belief. While I wasn't surprised to find plenty of attempts to prove God's existence (many of them quite ridiculous, such as Anselm's original ontological argument), I was shocked by th

As a theologian and apologist who regularly offers a cumulative case for the existence of God, I am often asked to disclose my favorite argument in my repertoire. Indeed, near the end of a good Q&A session, where all kinds of questions and objections are raised, I can count on someone asking me what I take to be the best argument. This is often the one question that "stumps" me.  Although I have made a commitment to " never be stumped by the same question twice ," this questi

Whenever I’m asked what I’m reading, my answer is always the same: TLC on repeat. At any given time, I will be reading something by J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, or G.K. Chesterton. Or, I’m reading something about them or their works. Recently, I completed by Michael Jahosky, which, as the title states, reflects on the gospel message within Tolkien’s created world. But more importantly, it also illustrates why imaginative works are so important to sharing the good news. While

It’s common for atheists to be a “Grinch” over the Holidays and exclaim that Jesus is just a “Santa Claus for adults!” When I hear that claim, I immediately respond with a question: “What do you mean by that?” If one means that children often believe in fictional fairy tales and adults believe in fact-based evidence, then I agree – Jesus is for adults (and actually people of all ages)! But I don’t think that’s the intent behind this claim. I believe the intent of the atheist

This year, I have the privilege of studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. While Scotland is now considered one of the more secular places on earth, it has a rich history of Christianity dating back to perhaps the early third century. So naturally, I made sure to enroll in Edinburgh University’s History of Christianity as a World Religion course. Readings for the course varied in time period, language, cultural context, and subject matter; they ranged from the diary of Perpet

A number of years ago, Christian astrophysicist and young earth creationist Dr. Jason Lisle wrote a book entitled The Ultimate Proof of Creation (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2009). The book is a creative introduction to presuppositional apologetics (hereafter PA) but from the perspective of the debate over origins. The aim of the book is to provide a defense of the Christian faith that is irrefutable. While this book review will be largely negative, let me take some time

A parable, according to Merriam Webster , is "a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle." Jesus was famous for teaching morality through the use of these tools. With that in mind, consider a thought experiment, a modern-day "parable," if you will:  A trained MMA fighter notices a suspected rapist/murderer was breaking into his neighbor's house to presumably rape and kill his neighbor's daughter who was home alone. What if the highly s

I was raised in a family and a community where religious beliefs were considered personal and virtually never discussed. I attended a Catholic grade school and continued with religion classes through high school. I was a good student and knew what I was supposed to believe – but no matter how hard I tried, I just could not convince myself that any of it was true. I had a long list of questions, but mostly kept those to myself. I was pretty sure that these doubts made me a bad