Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
Full Lecture MP3 Audio here (1hr)
Inference: In everyday usage, when people speak of an inference they sometimes mean a 'guess' based on the information they have, or the conclusion they have reached - again, based on other things they believe. For example, after reviewing the evidence a detective might say, 'The inference is that we should question Jones again about this case.' In our context, the usage is derived from logic, where it means the 'step' from reasons to conclusion, the 'move' from one to the other. Thus, if someone argues, 'Some people have solved their own unemployment problem by great ingenuity in searching for a job or by willingness to work for less so all the unemployed could do this', the inference is the move from 'some people have...' to 'all the unemployed could do this'. Though the reason presented in this argument has often been true, the inference to the argument's conclusion is much more questionable.1
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p. 240.
"When I began my career as a cosmologist some twenty years ago, I was a convinced atheist. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics."
Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
Time, Timelessness: Time refers to the relation of events within creation to each other. Generally events are viewed as forming a linear succession, leading to the idea of the "time line." But the succession of events might also by cyclical, resulting in time as a circle. The Bible presents time as a divinely created reality in which God historically works out the divine plan of salvation. Thus time begins "in the beginning" and moves linearly toward a future goal. Philosophers and theologians have debated how time and eternity are related, as well as the nature of the connection between God and time. Some thinkers assert that time and eternity are totally distinct, while others collapse them, in part as a reaction against viewing time itself being an entity. Theologians who assert that God is timeless maintain that God created time and therefore stands "above" the temporal flow. Others suggest that God travels with creation through time.1
William Lane Craig
various authors
Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
Imply/Implication: There is an everyday sense of these words which means roughly, 'suggests' or 'leads me to believe', as when the detective says, 'the evidence implies that Smith was present at the murder'. However, the word 'imply' is often used more strictly to mean 'if ... then ...' For example, if someone says, 'the presence of fire implies that there must be oxygen present', they could equally well say, 'if there is fire then oxygen must be present'. In general, to say that 'A implies B' is to say something like 'if A then B', either strictly as in the oxygen example or more loosely as in the detective example. To say that 'A entails B' is usually to say 'A implies B' in this strict usage of 'implies'.1(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 239-240.
Apologetics 315 wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas in 2014. May you enjoy a blessed Christmas with family and friends.
Inclusivism: A theory of salvation that suggests that although God saves people only on the merits of Christ, not all who are saved have consciously known of Jesus or heard the gospel. God saves those who, although they have not heard of Jesus, nevertheless respond to the best of their knowledge to the revelation of God available to them. This view stands in contrast to both exclusivism, which suggests that God saves only those who consciously respond to the presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to pluralism, which sees saving value in non-Christian religions.1
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