Apologetics

How should we live? How should we think?  How should we vote?  Are these questions with objectively right or wrong answers? That is to say, is it true -- apart from human opinion -- that humanity ought to live, think, and even vote in a certain manner?  If it is not objectively right or wrong to live, think, or vote in a certain manner, then does anything really matter? Moreover, if it is objectively wrong to live, think, and vote in a certain manner -- how would we know? A

“I write for a specific sort of person. You value reason, science, and independent thinking. You question beliefs propped up by ‘faith’ without sufficient evidence. Maybe you would like your life to have a deeper purpose, but you cannot believe something based on a mere wish. Whether you are a student, an academic, or just a curious person, you want one thing: the . If you can relate, this book is for you” (Rasmussen).  In what promises to be one of the great Christian Apolog

Why does God allow all kinds of bad stuff?  That's the million-dollar question!  We can answer it in four steps. Step One We first need to recognize exactly WHY humanity exists. That is to say, what is the objective purpose of life? It stands to reason that if God created humanity on purpose and for a specific purpose, then there would be objective facts about humanity irrespective of the subjective opinions from humanity.  That's great, but how would we know such a thing? Ho

Updated : May 4, 2021 When we aren’t discussing theology, apologetics, and worldview, we’re probably talking about one of our favorite things in the universe: Star Wars ! We especially love finding ways to use Star Wars to discuss worldview issues. I’ve compiled a list of all of the resources we have on worldview and a galaxy far, far away, as well as some by friends and other ministries. So here it is— Star Wars and Worldview: the Greatest Guide in the Galaxy! Star Wars a

Whether one embraces Christian theism or not, it should be somewhat uncontroversial that a Christian worldview supplies satisfying answers to humanity’s deepest questions and longings. Is man determined by external forces, or may he chart his own path? Should he be held responsible, and to what extent? Does the complexity of nature hint at design, or is it the result of mindless naturalism? Is there a point to all of this? What happens when we die? A relevant worldview will h

Philosophy of science is a fascinating and complex field. The job requires one to philosophize about well-established scientific observations, patterns, theorems, theories, models, laws of nature, and more. A good philosopher of science will also philosophize about the standards of science and the standards of communicating science. And a brave philosopher of science will even attempt to hold scientists to these standards when they stray. Recently I’ve been reviewing the tra

Note from Tim Stratton: I first met Ross Hickling when we arrived for summer residency at Biola University. This US Marshall and I were both enrolled in the MACA program and were assigned as roommates. We also both went on to attain doctoral degrees from North-West University. This article was originally published on the Ratio Christi website ( ratiochristi.org ). Tracking Down a Fugitive I was confident that if we were patient enough, we would snag our fugitive in a mobi

Are you under a stay-at-home order? Consider thinking about the problem of evil (PoE). Here is a brief exercise. Suppose someone says the following to you: “God would never permit COVID-19. So, since there is COVID-19, there is no God.” How would you respond? Notice that this is an example of the PoE. But there are many versions of the PoE. So, your first step is to determine whether your interlocutor is expressing the emotional PoE or the intellectual PoE. If the former, t

Suppose you awoke tomorrow and the coronavirus pandemic had come to an end and all suffering had ceased. Not only are you no longer experiencing any suffering of any kind, but neither is anyone else. All suffering resulting from moral or natural evil — including COVID-19 – was nothing but a memory. Is there any reason to think that it would stay that way? To answer this question, take a short quiz: Question #1: Would you take this “suffering-free world” for granted? Would yo

The primary goal of  FreeThinking Ministries  is to equip the church to engage the culture. In my opinion, no one is doing that better than  MAVEN , an organization founded by Brett Kunkle focused on helping the next generation “know truth, pursue goodness, and create beauty” (to learn more about MAVEN,  click here ). FreeThinking Ministries is also devoted to bringing rational discussions about Christianity to college campuses. In my opinion, no one is doing that better than

The problem of evil is one of the most common arguments used by non-believers, atheists, agnostics, and seekers when trying to develop an intellectual argument against God. Trying to reconcile the cognitive dissonance of acknowledging evil while accepting the reality of an all-powerful (Omnipotent), all-knowing (Omniscient), and always present (Omnipresent) supreme being is seemingly untenable. Alvin Plantinga is considered by many one of the most influential Christian philos

Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2, NIV) Over the last few weeks, I have made some interesting sociocultural observations. For example, a local grocery store has limited the number of sanitizing wipes available for its customers and has offered to disinfect shopping carts for shoppers entering the building. A local soccer club has sent me an email message with instructions on how to deal with the coronavirus. The county

For such a bright guy, Richard Dawkins—famed evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist—sure makes a lot of controversial statements on Twitter . He's recently done it again, causing a firestorm because of a series of tweets on eugenics : In case you never learned about eugenics in school, here’s dictionary.com’s definition : “the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discou

Logic is the study of the principles or methods used to distinguish good reasoning from bad reasoning, or valid arguments from invalid arguments, or correct critical thinking from incorrect critical thinking. We are intimately aware of reasoning, since we engage in reasoning everyday. Consider, for example, the following reasoning or argument: If the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, then I should study and obey it. The Bible is the authoritative Word of God. Therefore

The Argument There are several versions of the moral argument for theism. One goes like this: If God does not exist, then objective morality does not exist. Objective morality exists. Therefore, God exists. (This argument is deductively valid by modus tollens .) The Dialectic Suppose a friend asks you why he should believe in God. You share the version above with him. Thus begins the dialectic. He accepts (1). However, he is like some of the college students in an introdu

"What sacred games shall we have to invent?" (Nietzsche, The Parable of the Madman, The Joyful Wisdom) "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Introduction In this article, I provide an argument from the objective meaning of human life to the existence of God. Working Assumptions and Definitions I assume a difference between objectivity and subjectivity. So

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher, mathematician, a metaphysician and an expert in logic who is recognized for his independent invention of the differential and integral calculus (imagine being able to include "I invented calculus" on your resume)! To put it bluntly, Leibniz was a smart dude! While it is impressive to be able to "invent calculus," in my opinion, the cherry on top of all of his accomplishments was his work in the field of apologetics. In fact

Introduction In this article, I argue that when considering the existence of God, it is unreasonable to bracket background evidence in the manner described below. First, this move is methodologically insufficient. Second, it is conceptually questionable. The Argument from Gratuitous Evil and the Bracketing Method The argument from gratuitous evil is usually articulated as a version of the probabilistic argument from evil against the existence of God. The argument can be a

Recently Tim Stratton wrote a response to the following question: "On the framework of Molinism, if there are multiple “logical moments” (not to be confused with chronological moments) prior to God’s creative decree, then would this not imply that God knows and does not know a truth simultaneously? If so, is this not a contradiction nullifying the entire idea of middle knowledge and Molinism?" Tim's response is good and worth reading ( click here ). Although I agree with eve

I’m no professional apologist by any means, but I’ve been around the scene long enough to have witnessed plenty of apologetics presentations. I’ve also seen many of the same mistakes being made by new apologists. Here are 4 critical tips to avoid common rookie mistakes: 1) Beware the curse of knowledge Too many new apologists rush into presentations without realizing that their listeners have probably never heard of cosmological constants or Hilbert’s Hotel. When crafting