2013 Year in Review: Apologetics 315

Another year has flown by. And with the end of the year upon us, here is Apologetics 315's annual year-in-review post. Again there were over one million page views, over half a million visits, and over a quarter of a million unique visitors. Thanks for being one of them!

This year I interviewed 25 guests for the Apologetics 315 Interviews Podcast. Transcription of the interviews continues, with a team of transcribers that have been working diligently. An index of the transcripts can be found here.

This year we featured a number of debates, which can be excellent resources.
These included:
• William Lane Craig vs. Lawrence Krauss
• Norman Geisler vs. Paul Kurtz
• William Lane Craig vs. R.I.G. Hughes
• Brett Kunkle vs. Richard Greene
• Frank Turek vs. David Silverman
• Peter S. Williams vs. Christopher Norris
• Sean McDowell vs. James Corbett
• William Lane Craig vs. Alex Rosenberg

The Most-Visited Pages of 2012 were:

1. The Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio page
2. 16 Best Apologetics Podcasts
3. An Apologetics Reading Plan for Beginners
4. Recommended Apologetics Book Directory
5. Basic Logic Primer
6. William Lane Craig vs. Alex Rosenberg
7. How to Get Apologetics in Your Church
8. C.S. Lewis on Reasoning to Atheism
9. Christian Apologetics Blog Directory
10. Faith Has Its Reasons by Ken Boa

Now that list included a lot of posts that have been around for a few years. So here is the list of Top Ten New Posts for 2013:

1. William Lane Craig vs. Alex Rosenberg
2. The Gospel According to Bart Ehrman
3. 8 Issues That Do Not Make Or Break Christianity
4. Ravi Zacharias Interview Transcript
5. Free Logic Primer eBook Download
6. Book Review: The God Argument by AC Grayling
7. Top 10 Myths About the Resurrection
8. Ravi Zacharias on the Problem of Evil
9. 10 Basic Facts About the NT Canon
10. Why Telling Your Story is Not the Best Way to Share the Gospel

This year Apologetics 315 reviewed 46 apologetics books. I want to say a big thank you to the review team for their hard work in reading and reviewing so many great titles. Thanks goes out to J.W. Wartick, Jay L. Wyle, Mary Lou, Latter Day Inkling, Chad Gross, Dave Jenkins, Mark Eckel, Graham Veale, Luke Nix, Holly Ordway, David Rodriguez, Chris Putnam, Brenton Cook, Eugene A. Curry, G. Kyle Essary, Chad Gibbons, Bill McCall, David Field, Justin Mooney, and Mike A. Robinson.

We continue to feature apologetics oriented quotes each Sunday, sparking some great discussions. Along with the weekly quotes, Tuesdays continue to feature terminology helpful for those delving into the realm of apologetics.

There is more and more happening in the area of apologetics. Because of this, Friday's Apologetics Bonus Links offers readings a weekly rundown of all the best links from around the web. Included each week are great Kindle book deals as well.

In case you didn't realize it, all the Bonus Links are all drip-fed through the Ap315 Twitter Feed throughout the week. It's a good thing to follow, because I feature free or discounted books available on Kindle.

If you don't prefer the chatter of Twitter, you can get daily updates on the Facebook Page. If you're not yet a follower on Facebook, please follow. This helps others find apologetics resources who might not be aware of Apologetics 315. This year the Facebook group has grown to over 8,000.

The Apologetics 315 YouTube Channel still provides another means of checking out apologist interviews. Check it out and share with others.

This year Apologetics 315 has been pleased to promote the work of Tactical Faith, an organization that gets apologetics out there in a grass-roots kind of way. They call it Grassroots apologetics. If you want to support apologetics events, this is an organization to help.

I would like to thank my blogging friends that continue to be an encouragement to me: Chad Gross of Truthbomb Apologetics and Wintery Knight from Winteryknight.com.

I continue to head up Reasonable Faith Belfast, now in its fourth year. We had some great meetings during 2013, with various Skype guests, great discussion, and a growing number of defenders of the faith.

Apologetics 315 promoted numerous apologetics conferences in the US and in the UK. I was happy to be able to attend the C.S. Lewis Memorial Service in November at Westminster Abbey and meet up with some blogging friends and see about 7 people I had interviewed all in one day.

This year Apologetics 315 has received support from its 501(c)(3) tax-deductible status. This has been a tremendous help, and thank you to those who have donated or become supporters. Find out how you can support here, as it's not too late to make end-of-year donations.

Please pray for 2014 to be another good year. God bless, and thanks for reading!

—Brian Auten

Terminology Tuesday: Resurrection/Assumption/Revivification

Resurrection is the raising up of a dead man in the space-time universe to glory and immortality. Assumption is the taking of someone bodily out of this world into heaven. Revivification is the return of a dead man to the mortal life. 2 Kings 2:1-12 describes the assumption of Elijah into heaven. John 11:1-44 describes the revivification of Lazarus by Jesus. Note the differences between the two events and Jesus' resurrection.1

1. William Lane Craig, On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook,  2010), p. 256.

Free: Essential Apologetics PowerPoint Series

In partnership with The PowerPoint Apologist, Apologetics 315 is offering a series of 12 Free PowerPoint presentations, released monthly. These cover 12 essential topics in apologetics. These are free to download, modify, and use for your own apologetics presentations. (However, please retain the final two slides featuring the PowerPoint Apologist and Apologetics 315 resources.)

The twelfth in the series explores Christianity for each person:
"Why Christianity?—In My World"
Download it here. Slideshare here.
Enjoy.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (12/20 - 12/27)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel - 2.99
• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel - 2.99
• The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel - 1.99
• Tactics by Greg Koukl - 2.99
• The Big Book of Bible Answers by Ron Rhodes - 3.03
• Biblical Inerrancy: The Historical Evidence by Norman Geisler - 2.99

WEEKLY LINKS:
• C.S. Lewis on Miracles
• Horus Ruins Christmas
• The Bible Is Offensive
• Jesus of Testimony the Movie
• Risen Jesus - Mike Licona's New Website
• Why Switchfoot won’t sing Christian songs
• Did Jesus really teach that it is wrong to judge others?
• How can I be sure God exists? William Lane Craig on Fox News
• Watch Stephen Meyer and Eric Metaxas at the Union League Club

Apologetics 315 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Would you support us monthly?

• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcription? If so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Merry Christmas from Apologetics 315!

Apologetics 315 will be taking a break the rest of this week from regular posting, and will resume blogging on Friday, December 27th with Bonus Links. In the meantime, enjoy this video.

Enjoy a Happy Christmas with family and friends.

Terminology Tuesday: Reductionism

Reductionism: An attempt to explain some domain or field by showing that it can be derived from or redescribed in the language of some more basic domain or field. A physicalist, for example, may attempt a reductionistic account of the mind by showing that such entities as thoughts and perception can be reduced to physiological states of the brain. In science a successful reduction requires one to show how the laws of one domain can be derived from the laws of some more fundamental domain. Reductionism often is linked to an attitude that seeks to view the explained or "reduced" field or objects as unreal.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 100.

A Reasonable Response: Apologetics Learning ‘With’ and ‘Beyond’ William Lane Craig by Joe Gorra

Various images and ideas often dominate people's perceptions about Biola University's research professor of philosophy, William Lane Craig. Perhaps he is mostly know as debater, or Bill as lecturer, or Bill as philosophy and theology scholar, or Bill as apologist, etc. After ten years of directly serving Bill's research needs in any of the above areas, here’s what I have come to realize: to understand what animates Bill Craig in his work is to understand the role that asking questions and answering them has in all of his scholarly and public engagements. And not just asking and answering from any and all standpoints, but with the Christian tradition before his mind; as someone who is seeking to faithfully represent and steward that tradition through his life and witness in the world.

James Beilby on Apologetic Success

"Apologetic success, however, is neither strictly a matter of the quality of one's arguments nor the apparent response of your interlocutor...apologetic success is best understood as faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In our apologetic endeavors, we are called to be faithful to Christ in at least three senses. First, what we say should accurately represent who Jesus is, what he taught and, specifically, the good news he brought to the world. Second, the way we do our apologetics should augment our arguments, not detract from them. We must defend Christ in a way that fits with Christ's message. Finally, we must be faithful to God's purposes in specific situations. In some cases, apologetics appropriately and naturally leads to an offer for a person to commit her life to Christ, but in the vast majority of cases, our apologetic endeavors are a small step in a person's long and winding journey that one hopes will culminate in relationship with Jesus Christ."

—James Beilby

1. Beilby, James K. Thinking About Christian Apologetics. Pages 22-23. [HT: TruthBomb]

Book Review: Hume's Abject Failure by John Earman

In Hume’s Abject Failure, John Earman (henceforth JE) levels several complaints against Hume’s argument against miracles, of which I will focus on only one: Hume’s treatment of inductive reasoning.[i] JE takes some pains to stress that his critique derives from what he sees as objective flaws in Hume’s argument and not from an antipathy to Hume’s conclusions.[ii] JE poses a couple of criteria for an adequate epistemology—criteria which, he feels, Hume’s account of induction cannot meet.[iii]

JE argues that the most reasonable reading of Hume’s argument against miracles is as follows. Say we have seen a long succession of some event A occurring. Further stipulate that in all known instances of A, it turns out that A was also B. On JE’s reading of Hume, this makes the statement ‘All As are Bs’ a presumptive law of nature.[iv] This yields the conclusion that we should assign the likelihood that the next A will also be a B to 1. In other words, we should possess absolute certainty that the next occurrence will not be a violation of our presumed law of nature. Put into Bayesian terms[v], this can be expressed as follows:[vi]

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (12/13 - 12/20)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• Black Friday Kindle Deals
• The Goldilocks Enigma by Paul Davies - 2.99
• Reasons for Belief: Easy-to-Understand Answers to 10 Essential Questions by Norman Geisler - 2.99

WEEKLY LINKS:
• The Windmills of the Mormon Mind
• Around the Web#11: Suffering and Evil
• Defend the Faith Conference - Jan 2014
• Summer Seminar 2014 - Rivendell Institute
• J.P. Moreland on the Resurrection of Jesus
• The Argument from Maths in Seven Quick Points
• Agnostic Thomas Nagel on Why There is Anything
• Video: Christ in a World of Religions by Craig Hazen
• A Christmas gift for atheists -- five reasons why God exists
• A Brief Sample of Archaeology Corroborating the Claims of the New Testament
• Article: 65 Apologetics Questions Every Christian Parent Needs to Learn to Answer

Apologetics 315 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Would you support us monthly?

• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcription? If so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Terminology Tuesday: Realism

Realism: The belief that there are real entities that exist independently of human knowers. There are many types of realism, depending on the scope of the theory and the contrasting antirealist position. [...] Realism (and its rival antirealism) can also be restricted to particular regions. Thus one can be a realist (or antirealist) about unobservable scientific entities such as quarks or abstract logical entities such as sets and numbers.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 99.

Apologist Interview: Tony Brown

Today's interview is with Tony Brown, Pastor of Sunbridge Road Mission. As a former Jehovah’s Witness, Tony conducts seminars/workshops in churches and is an outreach advisor and blog contributor for UK Partnerships for Christ, a ministry reaching out to Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. He talks about his journey in and out of the JWs, the beliefs of JWs, the Watchtower Society, advice for Christians speaking with cult members, and more.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (37 min)

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

Book Review: Agents Under Fire by Angus Menuge

This reviewer has long been interested in the discussions about the existence of agents. Since the teleological argument depends on the existence of design being a legitimate concept, and that being dependent upon the existence of agents, Angus Menuge's book Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science was quite appealing. This reviewer balked at the price on Amazon, but it was given as a gift, and this reviewer was ecstatic delve into it immediately. The book is 215 pages divided into eight densely packed chapters. This review is designed to be a chapter-by-chapter summary to prepare the reader to tackle this challenging text.

Preface
Dr. Menuge begins the preface of the book by stating that his purpose behind writing Agents Under Fire is to defend the existence of agency (a non-natural entity capable of reasoning and purposing). He explains that this is a pivotal question in debates about intelligent design, for if there is no agency then there is no agents to design anything (to compare the "designs" in nature to)- design even is an illegitimate concept and should be completely discarded.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (12/06 - 12/13)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• Black Friday Kindle Deals
• The Goldilocks Enigma by Paul Davies - 2.99

WEEKLY LINKS:
• Apologetics
• An army of tent makers
• 12 Facts in Defence of Christmas
• Jesus Argued Reductio Ad Absurdum
• The Conflicting Genealogies of Jesus
• If God Exists And Is All-Powerful, Then Why Evil?
• The Case for the Reliability of the Old Testament
• The Case for the Eyewitness Status of the Gospel Authors
• If God, Why Evil? Live-Streaming Event Tue. Dec. 10 w/ Frank Turek
• Article: C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason by Jay W. Richards
• How Ancient Eyewitness Testimony Became the New Testament Gospel Record

Apologetics 315 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Would you support us monthly?

• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcription? If so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Terminology Tuesday: Consequentialism

Consequentialism: An ethical theory that sees the ethical goodness or wrongness of an act as determined by the nonmoral consequences of the act, such as the amount of pleasure or pain the act produces. A good example is utilitarianism, which claims that the morally right act is the one that produces the best consequences for all who will be affected. Consequentialist theories are contrasted with deontological theories, which hold that rightness and wrongness are not completely determined by consequences.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 27-28.

John Stott on the Role of Knowledge in the Christian Life

“Knowledge is indispensable to Christian life and service. If we do not use the mind that God has given us, we condemn ourselves to spiritual superficiality and cut ourselves off from many of the riches of God's grace.”

—John Stott
Your Mind Matters – The Place of the Mind in the Christian Life

Book Review: The Philosophy of History: Naturalism and Religion by James Stroud

With a title like The Philosophy of History: Naturalism and Religion, it is not surprising to find that the theses James Stroud defends in this book pertain to historiography and the impact of historical method on the assessment of religious claims. But what is surprising about a book with this title and focus is its similarity to the myriad introductory works of apologetics available today, which present an accessible treatment of common apologetic issues, ranging from the origins of the universe and the grounding of morality to the historical Jesus.

Stroud has two central theses in The Philosophy of History, one of which gets more attention than the other. His primary thesis is the claim that naturalism should not be assumed a priori in historical and scientific studies; an “open” methodology which allows for both natural and supernatural explanations should be employed instead of the currently popular “closed” methodology wherein only naturalistic explanations are tolerated. Stroud also defends a secondary thesis, which claims that there is a greater overlap or unity between science and history than is often recognized. In particular, he argues that certain “past singularities” (one-time historical events) such as the origin of the universe, of life, and of humanity, are, though often classified as matters of ‘origins science’, equally at home under the umbrella of history. Stroud repeatedly makes statements like “Origins science is really ‘history’ (or history as a weak science[1]…)”[2] and “…the historian is more capable of addressing questions of origin science with philosophy as an aid than the operation scientist.”[3] “Moreover,” he says, “weaker sciences such as anthropology and sociology as well as linguistics all fall under the much larger umbrella of ‘history.’”[4] This second thesis receives the most attention in the fourth chapter, “What about History?” Though interesting, this point apparently lacks methodological import, for as Stroud ventures into historical and scientific issues later in the book, they are treated in pretty much exactly the same way that they have typically been treated in recent discussion, even to the point of employing unaltered or mostly unaltered versions of arguments used by William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Gary Habermas, and others.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/29 - 12/06)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• Black Friday Kindle Deals
• Atheism Remix by Al Mohler - 2.99
• The Goldilocks Enigma by Paul Davies - 2.99

WEEKLY LINKS:
• Awe
• Douglas Wilson on Atheism
• Defend the Faith Conference: January 2014
• "If God Cannot Change, Why Should We Pray?"
• The Fine Tuning Argument in 12 Quick Points
• How Teaching Answers Fails Christian Students
• The Scriptural Case for Apologetics: 7 Quick Points
• Reflective Thinking: The Noble Art of Rhetorical Persuasion, Part 1
• How Can an Introvert Engage Others in Discussions About God? (Video)
• Did the divinity of Jesus emerge slowly after many years of embellishments?
• Bible Secrets Revealed?: A Response to the New History Channel Series (Part 3)
• Establishing the Reliability of the Old Testament: A Trustworthy Process of Transmission

Apologetics 315 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Would you support us monthly?

• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcription? If so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Peter J. Williams Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Peter J. Williams. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello. This is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today's interview is with Peter J. Williams, the warden of Tyndale House Cambridge. He was educated at Cambridge University, where he received his M.A., M.Phil, and PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible. Peter is an excellent communicator and competent to speak to a variety of Biblical issues, including the text of the Old and New Testament, moral objections to the Old Testament, and the reliability of the Gospels.

The purpose of this interview is to discuss the reliability of the Gospels, look briefly at Old Testament morality, and get Peter's advice on the subject of apologetics.

Thanks for joining me for this interview, Peter.

PW: It's a pleasure.

Terminology Tuesday: Order of Being/Order of Knowing

Order of Being/Order of Knowing: Medieval distinction between the ontological order and the epistemological order. For example, Thomas Aquinas believed that God is the ground of existence for all other beings. Hence, in the order of being (ontology), God is primary. However, humans come to know finite objects through their senses first and must infer the existence of God from God's effects. Thus, in the order of knowing (epistemology), finite objects precede God.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 86.

Chuck Colson on Grassroots Apologetics

"If our culture is to be transformed, it will happen from the bottom up—from ordinary believers practicing apologetics over the backyard fence or around the barbecue grill."

—Chuck Colson

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/22 - 11/29)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• Black Friday Kindle Deals

WEEKLY LINKS:
• My Debt to C.S. Lewis
• Saints and Sceptics in Larne
• How to “Un-Create” an Atheist
• Christmas Apologetic Resources
• Quote of the Week: C. S. Lewis
• Reaching Those Who Are Disinterested
• Was Jesus resurrected from the dead?
• November 22, 2013: Honoring C.S. Lewis
• Jesus Valued Evidence and So Should You
• "Arguments" a Free Logic Textbook Download
• C.S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason
• William Lane Craig on C.S. Lewis (Video)
• The Importance of Christian Translators
• Do Faith and Science Conflict? Video Debate
• 11 Best Apologetics Twitter Feeds to Follow
• Does Causality Apply Outside Space and Time?
• Interview : Dr. Michael J. Behe : Intelligent Design
• Thought of the Day: Audio Snippets by Uncle Screwtape
• Why Christian Case Makers Need to Learn a New Language
• How Skeptics Use a Partial Truth to Tell a Complete Lie
• Remembering C. S. Lewis 50 Years after His Death, Part 2
• Understanding and Answering Islam - Atlanta - January 2014
• Bible Secrets Revealed: A Response to the New History Channel Series (Part 2)

Apologetics 315 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Would you support us monthly?

• Shopping via Amazon? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315.
Canada here. UK here.

• Would you like to help with interview transcription? If so, contact Ap315 here.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Black Friday Kindle Deals

Below are some Kindle ebook deals that may be of interest to those shopping on Amazon. Please comment below if you happen to find others that appear during the holiday weekend.
Enjoy.

Basic Christianity by John Stott (3.60)

Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg (4.64)
Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey (3.99)
In Defense of the Bible by Steven Cowan (4.64)
Five Views on Apologetics ($2.99)
If God Is Good: Why Do We Hurt? by Randy Alcorn (1.99)
The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel (3.79)
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (5.99)
The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel (1.99)
The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel (5.98)
The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel (5.12)
The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel (1.99)
The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens (5.98)
Evidence for the Existence of God by James Kelly (2.99)
More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (5.24)
Theology for Beginners by F.J. Sheed (3.49)
Why People Don't Believe by Paul Chamberlain (2.99)

Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (3.79)

Four Views on the Apostle Paul ($2.99)

Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism ($2.99)

Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament ($2.99)

Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology ($2.99)

Two Views on Women in Ministry ($2.99)

Three Views on Creation and Evolution ($2.99)

Five Views on Law and Gospel ($2.99)
Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? (four views) (5.98)
Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven (3.99)

Donald Johnson Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Donald Johnson. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today's interview is with Donald J. Johnson. He's President of Don Johnson Evangelistic Ministries, and has served in vocational ministry since 1993, including five years an inner city youth worker, and six as a college-career pastor. You can hear him speak with skeptics on his radio broadcast and podcast, The Don Johnson Show. He's also author of the soon-to-be-released book, How to Talk to a Skeptic: An Easy-to-Follow Guide for Natural Conversations and Effective Apologetics.

The purpose of today's interview is to learn a bit more about Don and his ministry, discuss his strategies for speaking with skeptics and get his advice for apologists. Well, thanks for joining me for today's interview, Don.

DJ: Yeah, very—you're very welcome, Brian. I appreciate it. I'm honored to be on.

Video: Is Jesus Really the Only Way to Heaven?

Enjoy this video by Chad Gross (Truthbomb Apologetics) on the topic: Is Jesus Really the Only Way to Heaven? It's a good, concise case in against pluralism (footnotes can be found here) and a great example of an apologetics sermon in a Sunday morning service (at Faith Christian Fellowship, Williamsport, MD). For more resources, check out Truthbomb Apologetics here. Enjoy.

Terminology Tuesday: Causation

Causation: The fundamental kind of relation expressed by such terms as produce, originate, and bring about. The items related (cause and effect) may be persons, objects, states of affairs or events. Aristotle recognized four types of causality: efficient, final, formal and material. David Hume famously tried to analyze causality as a constant conjunction between different types of events. Philosophers such as Thomas Reid have argued for a fundamental type of causation known as "agent causality," in which persons (not merely events occurring in persons) bring about effects. Important philosophical disputes in this area include debates about determinism (Are all events causally determined, or do persons sometimes possess free will?) and about the principle of sufficient reason, which in some forms holds that all events (at least of a certain type) or all contingent substances must have a cause. This principle plays a key role in cosmological, or first cause, arguments for God's existence.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 22.

Free: Essential Apologetics PowerPoint Series

In partnership with The PowerPoint Apologist, Apologetics 315 is offering a series of 12 Free PowerPoint presentations, released monthly. These cover 12 essential topics in apologetics. These are free to download, modify, and use for your own apologetics presentations. (However, please retain the final two slides featuring the PowerPoint Apologist and Apologetics 315 resources.)

The eleventh in the series explores the Problem of Pluralism:
"Why Christianity?—In A Pluralistic World"
Download it here. Slideshare here.
Enjoy.

William Lane Craig on a Universe Without God

"If there is no God, then man and the universe are doomed. Like prisoners condemned to death, we await our unavoidable execution. There is no God, and there is no immortality. And what is the consequence of this? It means that life itself is absurd. It means that the life we have is without ultimate significance, value, or purpose.”

—William Lane Craig
Reasonable Faith

Book Review: Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy by Richard Swinburne

In Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy, Richard Swinburne makes the case for the veracity of the Christian revelation. He does this by proposing four criteria that any purported revelation must pass, and then mounts a case for the Christian revelation successfully meeting those criteria—and doing so better than rival theistic revelations.

Assumptions and a priori probabilities. As with all of his books, Swinburne presupposes conclusions arrived at in earlier works. Here he is not concerned so much with merely assessing the Christian religion in a worldview vacuum, but rather assumes that there is at least some significant prior probability that the God of classical theism exists.[i] Given that God exists and that he is perfectly good, it is likely that he would give us a revelation. This expectation means that the evidence required for us to justifiably believe in a revelation is less than it would otherwise be (that is, if we did not already have some evidence that there is a God who would be likely to give such a revelation).

The C.S. Lewis Memorial at Westminster Abbey

On 22nd November 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of C.S. Lewis’s death, Westminster Abbey unveiled a memorial stone to Lewis in Poets’ Corner. Here are some photos from the event, which was part of a two-day conference in commemoration of the life and impact of C.S. Lewis.
A few links and resources:

• C.S. Lewis books
• Apologetics 315 resources on C.S. Lewis
• Lewis in Poet’s Corner website

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/15 - 11/22)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.

KINDLE DEALS:
• A to Z with C.S. Lewis by Lou Markos - .99
• Basic Christianity by John Stott - 3.60
• The Case for Easter by Lee Strobel - 1.99
• The Case for Christmas by Lee Strobel - 1.99
• That's a Great Question: What to Say When Your Faith Is Questioned - 2.51
• "If God Is Good: Why Do We Hurt?" Randy Alcorn - 1.99
• What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution - 1.99
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg - 4.99
• How Do You Know You're Not Wrong? by Paul Copan - 3.03

WEEKLY LINKS:
• Where Did Evil Come From?
• Undesigned Coincidences: Part 6
• Apologist Interview Transcript Index
• Lee Strobel on Evangelism and Apologetics
• Debunking 'Bible Secrets' Television Shows
• The Path to Becoming a “One Dollar” Apologist
• C.S. Lewis in Poets Corner this Thursday and Friday
• Morality and the Old Testament Law: Seven Quick Points
• Chad Meister: can atheists make sense of morality?
• 10 C.S. Lewis Quotes That Show He Was Ahead of His Time
• Remembering C. S. Lewis 50 Years after His Death, Part 1
• Defend the Faith Conference - January 2014: New Orleans
• What are the arguments for the historicity of the empty tomb?
• Are We Ready to Deny Objective Morality? 3 Implications of Doing So…
• Why Shouldn’t We Trust the Non-Canonical Gospels Attributed to Thomas?
• Rev Prof Alister McGrath accepts Professorship at Oxford University
• History Channel’s Bible Secrets Revealed (Episode I: Lost in Translation)
• Bible Secrets Revealed? A Response to the New History Channel Series (Part 1)

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Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus: Video by Michael Licona

Enjoy this video featuring New Testament historian Michael Licona on the topic:  Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus. Other resources by Mike Licona can be found at his website: www.risenjesus.com. Enjoy.

Douglas Jacoby Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Douglas Jacoby. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello. This is Brian of Apologetics 315. Today's interview is with Christian apologist, Douglas Jacoby. Douglas is adjunct professor at Lincoln Christian University and author of a number of books including Compelling Evidence for God and the Bible: Finding Truth in the Age of Doubt, A Quick Overview of the Bible: Understanding How All the Pieces Fit Together, Genesis, Science & History: A Faith-Building Look at the Opening Chapters of Genesis, and Your Bible Questions Answered: Clear, Concise, and Compelling. He speaks extensively on a wide range of apologetic topics, and in this interview, I'll be asking him about the historical reliability of the Scriptures, his debates, and his advice for those doing apologetics.
Well, thanks for speaking with me today, Douglas.

DJ: You're very welcome. Thank you for having me.

BA: Well, Douglas, would you mind telling our listeners a bit more about yourself and your ministry.

DJ: I'd love to. I came to faith in Christ when I was a freshman at Duke University. I'm very grateful to complete strangers who took a chance on me, just willing to share their faith, and not being intimidated. I'm so glad they did, and it just took me a few weeks. I was already seeking, but I had lots of questions which I think eventually fed into my passion for apologetics.

Terminology Tuesday: Taoism

Taoism: An ancient philosophical and religious worldview developed in China. The term derives from the Chinese word tao, meaning "the way." Taoists believe that there is an underlying metaphysical and ethical structure to the cosmos and that humans who understand this can order their lives rightly. However, this structure, or tao, is ineffable, and thus our knowledge of it is not propositional in character. The most famous Taoist philosophers were Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 113.

Undesigned Coincidences Series by Tim McGrew

In this series of posts at the Christian Apologetics Alliance website, Dr. Tim McGrew explores the topic of Undesigned Coincidences in the New Testament. Citing numerous examples, McGrew notes the cumulative case that can be made for the reliability of the scriptures by looking at textual evidence by various authors. Also check out the classic work of the same name by J.J. Blunt. And be sure to visit the Library of Historical Apologetics for more classical apologetic works. Here are links to the series articles:

• Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Part 6

Enjoy.

C.S. Lewis on Progress

"We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."

—C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity pp. 28-29

Review: The Coherence of Theism by Richard Swinburne

Introduction. In The Coherence of Theism (henceforth CoT), Richard Swinburne is concerned with examining whether the central doctrines of classical theism[1] are coherent (that is, free from contradiction). It is important to understand what this limited goal means for the theist/atheist debate. If the atheist can convincingly claim that theism is incoherent, then the game is over: theism cannot be true. For the theist to show that theism is coherent is only a partial victory. Then theism is in some sense possibly true. Further grounds would have to be given to show that it is in fact true. [2]

Part I: Religious Language. In Part I, Swinburne sketches various criteria for coherence. The basic means for testing whether or not some proposition is (in)coherent is to ‘unpack’[3] the concept and see what results. This is necessary because while some contradictions are explicit (The author of Hamlet did not write Hamlet) many others are implicit. Swinburne closes out this section by tackling a handful of topics, including ways in which theology involves ‘mundane’ uses of words (i.e., theological terms are defined using words that are close to their more pedestrian, ‘every day’ usages) and more ‘analogical’ or ‘stretched’ uses of words. Even when theology is using words in more mundane ways, the properties involved (e.g., power, goodness) may involve those properties occurring in unfamiliar combinations[4]. Swinburne helpfully notes that this occurs not only in theology, but also in science.[5] Using non-religious examples, Swinburne illustrates how mundane language implies only similarities, not absolute sameness. Although myself and my desk are alike in some ways (we both are composed of matter, have weight, occupy space) we are very different in other ways (I am made of flesh and bone, can lose weight through diet and exercise, and breathe—none of which apply to my desk).