Learn some cosmology
05 May 2012 4 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Cosmology, God, reason, religion, science, science and faith
I’ve always been interested in astronomy and cosmology, and sometimes wish I’d studied it. I find the universe fascinating and amazing to look at, think about and learn about.
Cosmology has also always been of interest to theists, as it seems to point to the existence of a creator God. The cosmological argument and, in particular, the teleological argument (see The universe points to God) have evolved over centuries based on the discoveries of cosmology. And therefore, of course, it is of interest to atheists, who wish to combat the arguments.
I want to introduce you to one atheist physicist with expertise in cosmology who I think you ought to know – an Aussie, Luke Barnes.
Is the idea of God incoherent?
09 Apr 2012 35 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christianity, God, making disciples, Philosophy, reason, religion
In philosophy, an idea is incoherent if it is self contradictory, and cannot even be properly defined.
There are many things about the idea of God that some atheists think are incoherent. Here is a brief summary and comment on seven arguments, all of which I have seen presented, sometimes by philosophers, as serious and telling objections to the idea and existence of God.
Does God prefer belief or obedience?
06 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Culture Tags: apologetics, Atheism, behaviour, christians, ethics, God, mission
“God Prefers Kind Atheists Over Hateful Christians” said the article and the photo, and it caught my attention as it caught many others’ (as it was aimed at doing).
Is it true?
Son of God, son of man
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Jesus Tags: Belief, christianity, God, Jesus, New Testament
It is the Thursday night before Good Friday. I was at a Tenebrae service, where Mark 14:61-64 was read out:
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death.
Arguments against God – oldies, but not goodies
03 Apr 2012 16 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christianity, God, religion
More arguments unbelievers often use against christians. These ones are common, but not very good, but at least they provide a little amusement.
Arguments against God – from science
30 Mar 2012 3 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christianity, God, science and faith
This post continues the series into preparing disciples of Jesus to stand against attacks on their faith, and specifically on arguments unbelievers often use against christians. I have seen every one of these arguments used in books or on the internet, even some that are clearly not very effective. Several arguments are based (loosely) on science.
Lawrence Krauss and creation from nothing
26 Mar 2012 9 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, God, reason, religion, science and faith
Creation out of nothing (ex nihilo) is one of the fundamentals of the christian faith. The Cosmological argument attempts to use the universe to show that God exists. The universe couldn’t cause itself to exist, the argument says, nor could it exist for no reason, so an external agent (what else but God?) must have caused it.
Despite various attempts to refute the argument, it remains a strong one, not least because of its basic common sense. But some atheists have argued that quantum physics shows that the universe could indeed have arisen out of nothing.
Arguments against God
11 Mar 2012 6 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Belief, christianity, God, making disciples, religion
We have been considering why believers may give up their faith and how we may train disciples to think better about their beliefs and so be better able to stand up against attacks. We have looked at some reasons to believe (and we will look at some more).
Now it is time to consider the arguments sceptics may use to attack christian belief – arguments against God, the Bible, Jesus and faith.
Apologetics for disciples
19 Feb 2012 4 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Belief, christianity, God, Jesus, making disciples
In Training disciples to stand I suggested that we need to develop our methods of evangelism and discipleship to include some apologetics. Young disciples need to be encouraged to better think through why they believe, and how to defend their belief against attack.
But what apologetics are important and relevant?
Who’s afraid of Yahweh?
07 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Doctrine Tags: apologetics, Atheism, Bible interpretation, christians, doctrine, ethics, God, Old Testament
It doesn’t take long before a thoughtful Bible reader comes across some rather odd and nasty things, especially in the Old Testament. And non-believers use the odd and nasty things as a weapon against christians: “How can you believe in a God who is genocidal?” they might say.
What are we to make of these things? Do they make it hard to maintain faith in Jesus? And how should we answer the critics?
Do christians believe for irrational reasons?
25 Jan 2012 6 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, Belief, christianity, doctrine, ethics, God, reason
These days, christians may have to face the common accusation that their belief is based on blind, reasonless faith, and not on evidence, and that therefore they should logically give up belief. “There’s no more evidence for the christian God than for Santa or Thor”, they may be told.
This can be a major source of doubt for some believers. But is the accusation fair?
Making disciples is a new game these days
12 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in Making disciples Tags: apologetics, behaviour, Belief, christians, God, Jesus, making disciples, reason
Jesus told his followers to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), and for two millennia they did just that, and now about a third of the world follows Jesus, nominally at least. But it’s getting much harder to make disciples in western societies these days, and it is becoming more common for apparently strong disciples to turn away from following Jesus.
I think this is a crucial matter, and I want to devote a number of posts to it. Today, I just want to scope the problem.
Resurrecting the trilemma
01 Jan 2012 5 Comments
in Jesus Tags: apologetics, christianity, God, Jesus, New Testament
In my last post (CS Lewis’ trilemma – not so effective now?), I discussed the much used argument, made famous by CS Lewis, that Jesus claimed to be divine, something a good and sane person would not do. Therefore Jesus must either have not been good, or not sane, or he was indeed divine.
The argument is now commonly met by the counter argument that Jesus never claimed to be divine, it was just something made up by his followers. Any attempt to use the New Testament to support the argument is met with scorn – why should we believe it?
But there is still a way to use the argument, we just have to be better prepared.
Barriers to belief
16 Nov 2011 3 Comments
in Apologetics Tags: apologetics, christianity, churches, God, Jesus, mission
Unlike America, christianity has never been very strong in Australia. Something like 70% believe in a god, and about 50% identify with a religion (40% christian, 10% other), but only around 10% attend church regularly. Most Aussies are not very interested in church. (This is perhaps understandable, with many good options available on Sundays: sport, the beach, barbecues, picnics or just relaxing, or even mowing the lawn.)
But an interesting new survey has studied the barriers to belief.
The future of the church
01 Sep 2011 4 Comments
in Church Tags: christianity, churches, God, western society
The church as an institution is losing ground in the western world. Most of us are pretty familiar with that. But what is its future? And what is the future of belief in God?
There are some interesting statistics on all this.
Fear vs love
10 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Doctrine Tags: bad news, christianity, God
Hell is being discussed lately, as a result of Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Some of the questions people are asking are “Should believers fear Hell – and God?” and “Without the threat of hell, would people be good?”
It is good these questions are being asked, but I think they miss the point for two reasons.
God is a great big alien being
07 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Doctrine Tags: christianity, God
Sometimes I think we forget.
We make pronouncements about God. Philosophical ones like whether God lives in time, or whether something is wrong because God says so, or he says so because he knows it is wrong. Theological ones like whether God chooses who will be saved and who will not. Ethical ones like whether God cares about the environment or not, and whether we should eat meat.
Do healing miracles convince non-believers?
16 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Apologetics Tags: God, Healing
Most of us have heard stories of people being healed after they were prayed for. They encourage our faith and encourage us to keep praying for those we know who need healing.
But are they also useful in helping non-believers to believe?
Worldwide belief in God
08 Jun 2011 1 Comment
Is belief in God dying out, in the western world at least? Some recent surveys give some answers, and some challenges for christians.
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