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.

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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)

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.

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).

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/08 - 11/15)

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
• Paul Meets Muhammad: A Christian-Muslim Debate on the Resurrection by Mike Licona - 3.99

WEEKLY LINKS:
• Born Atheist?
• Well, Who Made God, Then?
• Every Doubt is a Leap of Faith
• SALT 2014 – Apologetics Conference
• The Role of Apologetics in the Church
• Book Review: The Making of An Atheist
• Atheism, Evolution and Worldview Consistency
• News from CSNTM: Chester Beatty Papyri On-line
• Why Must the Cause of the Universe Be Personal?
• Lowercase ‘g’ exposes the emotional aversion to God
• CS Lewis: 25 Percent Apologist, 100 Percent Effective
• Resurrection Apologetics: Starting with Paul’s Letters
• The Late Agnostic Charles Templeton on Jesus of Nazareth
• The Moral Argument for God’s Existence: 12 Quick Thoughts
• A Brief Sample of Old Testament Archaeological Corroboration

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: Necessity

Necessity: One of the family of modal properties, along with possibility and impossibility, attributed to propositions, beings and properties. A being possesses a property by necessity if there is no possible world in which that being could exist without having that property. A property that is possessed by necessity is also said to be an essence of the object that possesses it since its presence is essential to that object.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 80.

Amy Orr-Ewing on the Goal of Apologetics

"Apologetics seeks to present the Gospel to people that are not believers in a way that really connects with their questions and their issues about the Christian faith—and to do that in a way that hopefully brings them to be able to see Jesus and come to know Him for themselves."

—Amy Orr-Ewing
[From her interview with Apologetics315 here.]

Book Review: Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?

Do historical matters matter to faith?  Editors James K. Hoffmeier and Dennis R. Magary answer yes with a collection of 22 essays by respected scholars in the fields of Old and New Testament studies, archaeology, theology and church history.  They state that their goal with their book is to “help address some of the questions raised about the historicity, accuracy, and inerrancy of the Bible” (22).  Postmodern literary approaches treat Biblical narratives as fiction (19).   This has led to a minimalist-maximalist historiography debate and a skeptical mood toward much of the history of the Bible (19). The writers offer evidence to support the reliability of that history in Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith?

Given the size of the tome (560 pages), this review will only highlight a few of the essays in each of its four sections, beginning with Graham Cole’s The Peril of a ‘Historyless’ Systematic Theology.  As the author puts it, “God is no mere organizing idea to help us find our way about” (68).  Rather, he is a God who stepped into this world and, therefore, into its history in the person of Jesus.  Theology is connected to a real Christ who performed a real deed (62).  Therefore, theology cannot be separated from history.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (11/01 - 11/08)

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
• Why the Universe Is the Way It Is - 3.99
• "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
WEEKLY LINKS:
• Common
• Bad Design Debunked in a Fish
• Undesigned Coincidences: Part 5
• Let Them Call Themselves Atheists
• John Lennox in Ballymena and Armagh
• Free Course — Josh McDowell Conference
• J.P. Moreland: Faith is built on reason
• Is the Size of the Universe Evidence for Atheism?
• J. P. Moreland’s Story About God Healing an Amputee
• How and where do I start learning which religion is true?
• C S Lewis Symposium and Commemoration - Westminster Abbey
• A basic case for the pro-life position by Scott Klusendorf
• Why Shouldn’t We Trust the Non-Canonical Gospels Attributed to Peter?
• Does a commitment to naturalism undermine rational thought and textual meaning?
• Faithful Guide To Philosophy 1: Philosophy & Faith - Peter S. Williams - Video

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.

Apologetics Toolkit: Tips for Lifelong Learning #05

This continues the Apologetics Toolkit series on: Tips for Lifelong Learning. The goal here is to provide a sort of "apologetics toolkit" -- habits, tips, and tools the Christian apologist can use to continue to grow, learn, and develop.

Tool #05: Learn Through Teaching

The Problem: You think you know the subject. Your study it. You are familiar with it. You are immersed in it. But only when you attempt to teach the subject will you realize where you fall short. Everything changes when it is time to teach what you think you know. The fact is that deeper learning requires elements of teaching what you are learning.

Terminology Tuesday: Solipsism

Solipsism: The doctrine that a person has a direct awareness only of his or her own conscious state and is in some way cut off from the reality of other things. The extreme form of solipsism is ontological solipsism, which denies the reality of anything outside one's own mind. The denials that a person can know the external world or other minds can be viewed as forms of epistemological solipsism.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 109.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (10/25 - 11/01)

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
WEEKLY LINKS:
• Tools
• Are the Gospels Eyewitness Accounts? (Video)
• How the Early Church Sought to Resolve Textual Variants
• How to Be a One Dollar Apologist in the Second Half of Life
• Salt - Apologetics Conference - Montgomery, AL Tactical Faith
• There is no such thing as a religiously neutral intellectual endeavor
• Mike Licona explains the As, Bs, Cs, Ds and Es of New Testament reliability

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.

Apologetics Toolkit: Tips for Lifelong Learning #04

This continues the Apologetics Toolkit series on: Tips for Lifelong Learning. The goal here is to provide a sort of "apologetics toolkit" -- habits, tips, and tools the Christian apologist can use to continue to grow, learn, and develop.

Tool #04: Increase Your Reading Speed

The Problems: You love to read. And you have a stack of books you would love to read. New books come out. You buy them. You add them to the stack. Meanwhile, you crawl at a snail's pace through your current book. The problem is both a slow pace in reading and a backlog of books. This tool for increasing reading speed will help deal with both problems.