Reviews

White Fragility , Robin DiAngelo's 2018 volume subtitled, "Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism," has become the anti-racist Bible for a large reader bloc, and for good reason. DiAngelo is both witty and articulate. Her basic ideological arc is that all white people are racist, whether they want to be or not, and whether they know it or not. One of her primary corollaries is that it is impossible for non-white minorities to be racist, period. This is based

PSYCHONIX: Mind Over Matter, by Mike Burnette, is a blend of interesting, well-developed characters, and exciting, intriguing action. It is a many layered novel, with unexpected twists and turns. If you like science fiction, espionage, psychology, war stories, philosophy, and many other topics, you will find plenty to attract and keep your attention. Readers with philosophical leanings will be drawn into the musings of the characters who wonder about the nature of reality. An

“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

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

With the release of , the “Skywalker Saga” is officially complete (for better or worse), and we can now examine all nine episodes as a completed whole. (Spoilers ahead!) While all of the movies carry similar themes, such as hope, the importance of family, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil, I think there is one concept that rises above the rest: redemption .  Quickly defined, redemption is the act of making up for one’s past wrongs. The greater the wrongs committed,

Spoiler Alert!  The Book of Eli is about to celebrate its ten year anniversary on January 11, 2020. If you have yet to see this awesome flick, then I hope this article encourages you to finally watch this R-rated "Christian movie" about what would happen if the world was devoid of The Bible (watch the original trailer here ). This movie deserves its "R" rating based on extreme amounts of violence and language. However, what should we expect in a world which does not have a

Spoilers to follow (you've been warned)! The 40+ year Star Wars franchise has finally drawn the story of the powerful Skywalker family to a close. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker served a powerful end to the story first started with A New Hope in 1977. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I absolutely loved Episode IX. It connected all three trilogies and provided a satisfying "passing of the torch" to a new generation of heroes, in particular Rey. There were even ref

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILER ALERT!!! A long time ago . . . . Ever since I was a four-year-old, Star Wars has been a central part of my life. As a young boy I would pretend I had the power of the force and I would always have a lightsaber on my belt (usually my dad’s flashlight). Much has changed now that Disney owns the Star Wars franchise. I loved Disney’s first attempt with Episode VII: The Force Awakens  and I thought  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was brill

Last week I reviewed So the Next Generation Will Know by Sean McDowell and J. Warner Wallace . Now I have an interview with Sean giving some additional insight about the book. Enjoy! What were your motivations for writing So the Next Generation Will Know ? My three kids: Scottie, Shauna, and Shane. I wrote this book largely to research and think deeply about how to pass on my faith to my own kids. My hope is that it will both encourage and offer some practical steps for o

You’ve probably seen the statistics and heard the concerns. Young people are leaving the church in greater numbers than ever. While the youth of every generation share many common characteristics, this generation - dubbed - faces new and unique challenges thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and easy access to the Internet. Young Christians are constantly bombarded with differing ideas and worldviews, all that are competing with the faith of their parents. It’s easy to giv

Recently, Peter Atterton, a professor of philosophy at San Diego State University, published an article in The New York Times entitled " A God Problem : Perfect. All-powerful. All-knowing. The idea of the deity most Westerners accept is actually not coherent. " Given the title, I was excited to read what this philosopher was sharing with the masses since this issue is one of the main foci in my PhD dissertation. After reading it, however, my excitement transformed into sever

J. P. Moreland is one of the most prominent Christian thinkers of our time and I’ve been greatly impacted by his works, such as and . In his latest popular-level work, (Crossway, 2018) , Moreland addresses one of the most dangerous ideologies facing our culture and church. But the true danger of scientism is not that is necessarily being argued for, it is simply to be true. So Moreland’s task in this book is not just to refute scientism but to first expose it and how it h

One of the most popular and intriguing arguments in favour of God's existence is the Kalām Cosmological Argument (KCA). For the past several years, the KCA has fascinated me, so much so that I wrote my doctoral dissertation on it, spent my post-doctoral research on it, and wrote an academic book on it. The book is titled The Kalām Cosmological Argument: A Reassessment , and in it I do two things. First, I offer a fresh look at the historical background of the KCA by explori

Actor Harry Lennix might not be a household name, although he is easily recognizable. Lennix played Commander Lock in  The Matrix  trilogy and General Calvin Swanwick in  The Man of Steel  and  Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice . He also co-stars as Harold Cooper, the FBI director of a secret task force in my favorite TV series of all time —  The Blacklist ! I have enjoyed characters played by Lennix but knew nothing else about him. This has recently changed, however, and

Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!! Spoiler Alert!!! Seriously, if you have not yet seen the movie, Avengers: Infinity War , stop reading this and go to the movie theatre and buy a ticket! Then come back and read this article. Consider yourself warned! Marvel Studios has devoted the past decade to developing many of my favorite childhood comics into fantastic movies. They started with Iron man, Thor, and Captain America, and then went on to develop other stars and co-stars withi

“ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. ” - Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) “ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. ” - Ephesians 6:4 (ESV) “ But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. ” - Joshua 24:15 (ESV) As a Christian father, I take these verses very seriously. I want my children to follow Jesus and to have a robust Christian worldview. And as an ap

Evidence that Demands a Verdict has been a staple of any Christian apologetics library for over forty years. I first became aware of this monumental work when I was just beginning my apologetics journey. I discovered the earlier edition of the book titled “The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict” while browsing the local Christian bookstore, which at the time had almost no apologetics material and immediately I knew this book was going to give me an apologetics breakthroug

I've waited for this book for a long time. I’ve been listening to Greg Koukl  - one of my personal apologetics heroes - on the Stand to Reason podcast for years and he would occasionally mention this book he was working on, (originally entitled ). I had been (not so) patiently waiting for it ever since. In a sense, I felt like I've read the book before since it contains ideas Greg weaves throughout all of his podcasts and talks. But now we have a full survey of the Christia