In Defense of the Christian Faith

I am going to start something new on this blog, a new meme... It's called Inspiring Story. Each week, I'll feature an inspiring story. I know this is "off the beaten path" of apologetics, but one of my missions is to encourage and inspire my readers, so I figure I'll give it a go. Each week, you'll find one of my favorite stories featured. Many of these stories are about trusting in God, which, as many of you know, is a subject dear to my heart. Some are humorous, but most are sobering and challenging, while at the same time, encouraging. Sometimes we forget all the wonderful things that God has done for us or taught us, so I hope that by posting these inspiring stories, we can all be encouraged and be reminded of God's hand in our lives. I believe that telling of all that God has done in our lives is one way of sharing/defending our faith, while at the same time, offering evidence that miracles still do occur in everyday life, because God does exist and H...

In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only a bsolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute. ~ Francis Schaeffer

Note: Today’s WFW was rather interesting… I had written this post a while back, saved it on my computer, and forgot about it (never published it, either). All day yesterday, I had been thinking of what I could post today, but nothing seemed to come to mind or jump out at me in the Scriptures. Then, I was searching for something “non-WFW-related” in my computer archives, when I came across this would-be post. I began reading and editing it before I actually realized that it is again about faith! ;) I once read a good, apologetics book, which had some great information in it; however, in an effort to sort out an apparent contradiction, the author mixed up the truth of God's Word with his ideology when he briefly mentioned the difference between James' and Paul's interpretation of faith and works. He said that James was talking about justification before men, and Paul was talking about justification before God. At first glance, it may seem probable, but anyone who reads Ja...

Yes, I have the same theme for The Word for Wednesday this week... there is just sooo much in the Bible about faith, that it's impossible to miss it. I enjoyed myself so much last week that I decided to continue the topic. (And by the way, thanks to all who participated!) To recap, we've been talking about meditating on the Word of God to keep our faith cultivated. Jean commented on how John 4 goes along with this topic... "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." She *said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I ...

Is Evolution compatible with Christianity? This is an important question that I would ask to every person who believes in "theistic evolution." Whether or not the two are compatible, it brings out some important questions that are always ignored in an attempt to adhere to evolution, theistic or not. I once had some theistic evolutionists tell me that evolution is not the denial of God. I was stating that the atheist doesn't believe in God because of evolution, and the "theists" were claiming that evolution is not the issue. I beg to differ. In fact, I do not believe that there is such a thing as "theistic" evolution." For if you believe in God, you can't deny that He created the world by His power; He wrote that He did, so if you deny that, you're calling God a liar, and "no liar has the Truth in him," and "it is impossible for God to lie." It's an insult to the intelligence and creativity of God to suggest that He...

I found a rather interesting conversation on CARM's website. The author, Matt, describes it as follows: This discussion began after I entered an atheist vs. Christian debate room. I asked what kind of atheist one person was and stated that it takes faith to be an atheist. Of course, I said this to see what kind of a reaction I would get. The following conversation followed... Read the full article.

Actually, it's surprising how little argument they [atheists] offer. I hear all the time that atheism wins by default – in other words, if there aren't any good arguments for God, then atheism automatically wins. So many of these fellows don't offer any arguments for atheism; instead, they just try to shoot down the arguments for theism and say they win by default. In reality, however, the failure of arguments for God wouldn't do anything to establish that God does not exist. The claim that there is no God is a positive claim to knowledge and therefore requires justification. The failure of arguments for God would leave us, at best, with agnosticism, not atheism. ~ William Lane Craig I would like to add a little commentary to this, if I might: To elaborate further, to believe that God does not exist, the atheist would have to be all-knowing. He would have to know for certain that God was not hiding in a nook or cranny somewhere in the universe. Of course, it is imposs...

Starting today, I've decided to participate (for the first time) in Jean's meme, The Word For Wednesday . Whereas I realize that some may argue that this doesn't have anything to do with apologetics, I also maintain that this is my blog, so I shall proceed... A recurring theme in my church the last few months has been faith in God. Sometimes the concept of faith can seem hard to us, Christians, to understand, so I wanted to share some things that have helped me to understand it better. Many of these Scriptures are probably all too familar to most... My quest to understand faith better began with Mark 4:30-32 : Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? "It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; "but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under ...

I came across this cute blog, and I just had to share it... Amanda Goes to Church is an apologetics blog which features cute pictures that very creatively illustrate the point. The blog tackles such topics as: the reliability of the Bible, the veracity of the apostles witness, the resurrection, etc. While I normally browse thoroughly through websites before "endorsing," I found this blog to be very "captivating" in the sense that the graphics "draw" one into the concept and explain the message very clearly. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this blog and I plan to check back there often. Note: Featured Blog will be a regular, featured at the author's whim (no set date at this time). If you know of a good apologetics blog, let me know; I'll review it, and if I like it, you just might see your blog featured here! Keep checking back!

If one does away with the fact of the Resurrection, one also does away with the Cross, for both stand and fall together, and one would then have to find a new center for the whole message of the gospel. ~Hans Urs von Balthasar

Part 2: The Theft Theory This is the view that proposes the idea that the disciples stole Jesus' body from the tomb and that is why the tomb is empty. The Bible sheds some light on this subject: Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled wit the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and di as they were intructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. (Matt 28:11-15) History corroborates the fact that for some time after Jesus' resurrection, the Jews still held to this belief. Among these, Justin Martyr and Turtullian are examples. Jewish medieval literature also supports this ...