Do you ever wonder why people believe the things that they do? If you do not share those beliefs, then you might be inclined to assign nefarious or otherwise unsavory reasons for these beliefs. The psychology of religious thinking is of particular interest. Most religious people never actually see a miracle or anything transcendent invading the physical world. All that we can see is nature. It would seem almost like common sense to believe only what our eyes and ears report. Yet there is this impending desire to believe that…
Author: Jim Boucher
How To Avoid Being A Hack As A Christian Apologist
Christian apologetics is the practice of providing a defense of the Christian faith. This will be both positive and negative; providing evidence for God and interacting with the arguments of atheists. This effort is meant to win individuals to the faith and to adjust the cultural perception so that Christianity is a reasonable alternative. But this will also mean that how the apologist conducts herself as both a Christian and an intellectual will matter. She will have to learn how to avoid being a hack as a Christian apologist. When…
How Presuppositionalism Is Theistic Fizz; It Makes God A Programmed, Arational Belief
If I were to ask somebody why they believe in God, she might tell me that God is the most plausible explanation for the existence of the universe. She might say that if she were to concede her belief in God, then she would have to concede more than most people would be willing. The intellectual pricetag is too high. The presuppositional apologist might say something similar. The presuppositional apologist might say that all people, everywhere, presuppose that God exists and that this can be demonstrated by showing that God…
Assessing Graham Oppy’s Book, The Best Argument Against God
As Graham Oppy pointed out somewhere in The Best Argument Against God, there are thoughtful, reflective people on both sides of every argument. Unfortunately, most people (atheists and theists) are only familiar with shallow, popular level arguments and they often wield the deadly combination of arrogance and ignorance. This can lead to frustration on both sides, as both sides come to think that this is a problem exclusively with the other side. In truth, it is a problem with human beings, as most of us do not critically examine our…
Why Are Evangelicals Casting The Doctrine of Eternal, Conscious Torment Into The Lake of Fire?
I do not have any statistics. What I am saying is a bit experiential and anecdotal, but it seems that more evangelical Christians are becoming amenable to the doctrine of annihilationism. It does not seem to have the negative stigma around young people that it does to the older generation. This might be a testimony against annihilationism – those silly, emotional millennials are willing to compromise anything. But in the book Two Views of Hell: A Biblical And Theological Dialogue, Edward Fudge presented an alternative point of view, representing the…
When The Scientific Method Needs To Hand The Reins To Philosophers And Theologians
As children of the Christian thinker René Descartes, western minds are less likely to accept truths based on the qualifications of some authority figure, whether that authority figure is a bishop or the government. Instead, we pass truths through scrutiny. We ask for reasons to believe rather than a competent authority figure. From the Christian Enlightenment emerged the scientific method (developed by the Christian, Sir Francis Bacon). However, secular thinkers have a tendency to stretch the potency of the scientific method beyond its reach. There are still times when the…
Why We Should Re-Brand Young Earth Creationism As Neo-Ussherianism
Anybody who followed the 2016 Presidential election understands the importance of branding. Donald Trump branded himself as the every-man, the person who relates to the struggles of the American people. He branded Ted Cruz as Lyin’ Ted, and Hillary Clinton as Crooked Hillary (though admittedly, that one was already established). Subway brands its sandwiches as fresh, made right in front of the customer with fresh ingredients. Branding is about public perception and what people think of a point of view, product, or company. There are several reasons why we should…
Why Theologians Are Not Qualified To Assess The Theory of Evolution
A sophomore is somebody who has a fact or two memorized and yet feels cocksure about her conclusions. She will tell you very matter-of-factly her immovable conclusions about controversial issues that are hotly debates among scholars. Of course, one might be willing to excuse the twenty year old in her young zeal. She has simply misunderstood the field and is overstating her knowledge. However, unfortunately, scholars often make the same sort of mistake. They will smuggle conclusions about other disciplines under their scholarship in a different field. A scientist may…
How Presuppositionalists Suppress The Truth In False Piety
Piety is a virtue. It describes devotion to Christ and to righteousness. It means that everything in our lives is under submission to Jesus. Yet there are times when somebody seems a little too pious, whether out of arrogance or misguided naivety. Jesus often confronted false piety, especially in Matthew 23. We might see something like that when a kid condemns people who are watching the Super Bowl. Overzealous piety will be at its worst when it serves as a grounds for an argument. I am afraid that this may…
CS Lewis, Cosmic Fake News, And Atheistic Naturalism
It is difficult to hate CS Lewis. From his charming fiction to the personable presentation of his arguments, all of his writing provides a glimpse into his personality. He knew that if you want to write effectively, you have to let the audience get to know you. Now, decades after his death, laymen and scholars alike feel as though they know who CS Lewis was. He is more than an author of an old book. He is almost a mentor, and almost a friend. Even Christianity’s most vociferous critics, such…
How To Avoid Indoctrinating Children With Mathematics And Christianity
The term indoctrination has a very negative stigma. When people hear that phrase, they will think of parents telling their children what to believe and how to think. They think of religious zealots who are just creating more clones of themselves to perpetuate their religion for generations. When those children get older, they will teach their children how to be clones as well. But the problem will have more latitude than mere cloning (as disturbing as that seems to be). They will suggest that providing children with a religious education…
Developing A Strong Family Bond When Granny Wants You Dead
When a parent sees that her daughter is pregnant, they might start to panic. Unwed pregnancy can often lead to poverty, as the child has to forego an education and work a minimum wage job to feed the baby. If a teenager is pregnant, she will have to make sacrifices that will very much impact the rest of her life. When she tells her life story, it will begin with a teenaged pregnancy. So, in all of her wisdom, her mother might suggest that the teenager simply avert these sacrifices…
Saving Christmas From Christological Contradictions
Thieves love Christmas. We sometimes hear stories about a green man who lives in the mountains and steals all of the Christmas presents just to take all of the joy out of this special holiday. Yet even if all of the Christmas presents are gone, Christians testify that there is a greater meaning. Christmas marks the anniversary of the day of the incarnation, when God became man to set the world right and call his people into himself. He promised that this world will be made new, that the lion…
Is Molinism Here, There, Or Anywhere In The Bible?
There is supposed to be a coherence between philosophical theology and exegetical theology. While exegetical theology is the practice of discerning truths from the text of Scripture, philosophical theology is the practice of thinking about the doctrines that are established by the text of Scripture and forming a cohesive model. The philosophical theologian will conduct his work within the framework of exegetical theology. When the theologian argues for Limited Atonement based on the efficacy of the cross, he will in effect be conducting philosophical theology. When the theologian argues for…
In Defense of The Babylon Bee
“Wipe that smile off your stupid face. Stop laughing, right now. It is not funny. This is serious.” Sometimes people take themselves far too seriously. Every issue that arises has to be alarming and enraging. There is no subtly or room for questions. We are in a cultural war and you are either with us or against us. That is the mindset that some people are in. In a day in which everybody is taking themselves and everything around them so seriously, a Christian satire website such as the Babylon…
Why ‘Who Created God?’ Is My Example of A Thoughtless Question
There are some sophisticated atheists out there. Intellectuals with beards who write books, engage with the nuances of the Christian faith, understand Calvinism, trinitarian theology, the gospel and the different interpretations of soteriology. These sophisticated atheists will roll their eyes when hear somebody spouting a one-liner from The God Delusion. They will repudiate the movement that is often referred to as New Atheism. As I pointed out in my article The Case Against New Atheism, the New Atheists are not sophisticated. In their style of argumentation, ignorance and behavior, they…
Expanding The Abortion Debate To Aliens And Robots
Choose life. For the stalkers out there, that is what my license plate says. The DMV had a number of options in my state that allowed drivers who are registering their vehicle to advertise a cause that they are passionate about and donate the proceeds to that cause by purchasing a distinct license plate. The proceeds for my license plate went to a pro-life pregnancy center. Life transcends every other social issue in the sense that slavery would transcend social issues. It should not be discussed in passing amongst trade,…
Why Is What We Believe In The Privacy of Our Mind So Important?
Christians share the gospel. During Jesus’ public ministry, he told men to repent and believe the gospel, because the Kingdom of God was near. But repentance is about changing your attitude. When somebody repents, she will change her mind about sin and about Christ, submitting herself to the gospel. It is something that happens internally, in the blink of an eye, and it is the free gift of God. When Christians share the gospel, there is a sense in which we want men to change their mind, knowing that if…
A Few of The Worst Arguments In Arminian Theology
Secularists are sometimes surprised when they learn about the long-standing intellectual tradition of the Christian church. There are thousands of books that have emerged containing our different philosophies, theological points of view, critical reviews, and rigorous intellectual content. Today, Christians owe much of the way that they think to these great philosophers and theologians. Arguments that were penned thousands of years ago are recited today on blogs, in modern books and on social media. While some of these arguments truly are insightful, others lack the muscle to withstand serious scrutiny.…
If Science Works And The Universe Is Rational, Then God Probably Exists
In the secular mind, there are two opposing forces in the world. Both have exhibited extreme power, and one is waning. Those powers are science and religion. Science has the power to spring mankind forward out of the clutches of ignorance, into a world of technology, convenience and intellectual wealth. On the other hand, religion stands as a baracade, holding the door to progress, shooting the horse upon which humanity rides. This narrative has unfortunately been embraced by many evangelicals who take a stance against science. While this narrative may…