Friday, October 31, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (10/17 - 10/24)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• 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 transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Everyone Has A Worldview…What’s Yours? (Video / Quiz)


Does God Exist? How Did Everything Begin? Who Am I? Why Am I Here? What Happens After I Die? Cabbages and puppies don’t think about this stuff…but people do. Reflecting on the big questions in life is part of what makes us human. Everyone Has A Worldview…What’s Yours? Take the Quiz at www.impact360.org/worldviewquiz

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Dialectic

Dialectic: A process of thinking or argument that involves contradictions and their resolution, sometimes in the form of questions and opposing answers. The term has been used very differently by different philosophers. Plato thought of dialectic as the highest form of reasoning. Aristotle and later medieval philosophers tended to think of dialectic as a formal method of disputation. Immanuel Kant developed a "transcendental dialectic" that attempted to reveal the contradictions into which uncritical reason falls. G. W. F. Hegel developed a dialectical logic, which he saw as providing the formal structure of history as well, seen as the progressive unfolding of the Absolute. This historical dialectic was taken over by Karl Marx and put to use in his dialectical materialism.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 35.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (10/17 - 10/24)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• 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 transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

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

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Terminology Tuesday: Jainism

Jainism: One of the religions of India, distinguished from Hinduism by its refusal to accept the Brahmanic Vedas as authoritative. Jainism grew out of the teachings of Mahavira, a fifth-century B.C. contemporary of Gautama (the Buddha). It is distinguished by its emphasis on asceticism and commitment to the principle of harmlessness.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 63.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Book Review: The Bible Among the Myths

It is quite common to hear or see people include the Bible as just another piece of ancient near east mythology that may be rejected as having no applicability to reality. John Oswalt decided to investigate this claim and address it directly in his book The Bible Among The Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? (promo video). This book comes to me by recommendation of several people, and the introduction alone sparked great excitement to dig in quickly and deeply. This review will be a chapter-by-chapter summary and will include some of my concluding thoughts.

Part 1: The Bible and Myth
Chapter 1: The Bible In Its World
Oswalt begins by providing the historical context. He takes the reader quickly through Greek philosophy, which was based on the idea that something cannot be and not be at the same time (the law of non-contradiction). The Greek philosophers struggled (and lost) for acceptance of this radical idea in their culture. At roughly the same time the Hebrew idea of a single God, who created the universe, (an idea also unique among cultures of the time) was under attack in the mind of the very people who carried the tradition because of the rising military powers, which affirmed contradicting theologies, that eventually overtook the nature of Israel. However, this "set the stage" for Jesus Christ to come on the scene and bring these two culturally independent yet correct understandings of reality together into one consistent worldview that is now known as "Christianity." A single God, who created the universe, is the metaphysical foundation for the law of non-contradiction that his creation (and the rest of reality, for that matter) adheres to. The Christian worldview was necessary for logic and science to fully develop and fully function (seemingly) independently.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (10/03 - 10/10)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• 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 transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

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

Thursday, October 09, 2014

Read Along: Chapter Ten—Going to Our Own Mars Hill

Today we conclude our Read Along with Apologetics 315 project, ending with chapter ten of The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Ten, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

Sunday, October 05, 2014

Sunday Quote: Johannes Kepler on Jesus Christ

"I believe only and alone in the service of Jesus Christ. In him is all refuge and solace."

- Johannes Kepler (Discoverer of the laws of planetary motion)

Saturday, October 04, 2014

Book Review: The Bible Tells Me So by Peter Enns

Peter Enns is an apologist. His apologetics program went public in 2005 with the publication of Inspiration & Incarnation. In it he sought to defend against what he saw as an inadequate doctrine of inspiration in evangelicalism. At first, it was largely well received. Then it wasn’t well received. Then Enns lost his job.[1] This inspired Enns to further his apologetic pursuits more openly. In 2012 he published The Evolution of Adam, where he sought to remove evolution as an obstacle for Christian belief. I disagreed more with his method than his conclusions, but appreciated his honesty in addressing the topic.[2] Outside of these two books, the project has continued at various conferences and counterpoint exchanges.[3]

The Bible Tells Me So continues the apologetic subset of his writings. Whereas other works have been aimed at academics or at least a well-read laity, TBTMS is aimed at the mass public.[4] From the start, Enns paints his position as a via media between two extremes.

On the one hand are those who read the Bible as an “unerring rulebook,” a “heavenly instruction manual,” or “Truth downloaded from Heaven.”[5] For Enns, this position is untenable. He suggests that if Christians read early biblical stories as they do non-biblical literature, they would seem like folktales or something from the “Syfy channel.” Furthermore, he asks how someone, in our day, can condone Old Testament ritual laws of sacrifice? He even says that some laws are “just plain weird.”[6] He states that some biblical stories are “barbaric” and “hard to defend as the Word of God in civil adult conversation.”[7]

Friday, October 03, 2014

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (09/26 - 10/03)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• 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 transcriptionIf so, contact Ap315 here.

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

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Read Along: Chapter Nine—Acting on the Truth

Today we begin Chapter Nine of the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Nine, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

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