In Defense of the Christian Faith

The Case for Christ debuted in theaters back in April. Immediately, it received an A+ Cinema score that first weekend, a title that Cinema gives to only two exceptional movies per year. That critically acclaimed movie releases to DVD this week (August 15). I read the blockbuster book The Case for Christ for the first time about 10 years ago – my first introduction to the field of apologetics, the defense of the Christian faith – and it left me wanting more. I am so happy to see that book translated into a movie! Here are my thoughts. Based on a true story, the film begins with atheist Lee Strobel’s (Mike Vogel) investigative reporting earning him a promotion as the legal editor at the Chicago Tribune in the ‘80s. Soaring on that success, it seemed everything in Lee’s life was going perfectly… that is, until his wife, Leslie (Erika Christensen) became a Christian due to a traumatic event in her life. This was completely against everything Lee believed as an atheist. Thinki...

Answers in Genesis is hosting the World Religions Conference next week, July 24-27, in Florence, Kentucky. Speakers include Ken Ham, Ron Rhodes, Todd Friel, and Emeal (“E.Z.”) Zwayne (President of Living Waters ), among others. Details can be  found here . Of this event, Answers in Genesis CEO Ken Ham says, More than ever, Christians need to know what other religions believe and then learn how to reach the lost souls mired in them. This unique conference will reveal how and why so many religions have become so prominent today and show where they differ from Christianity in various ways, from what they teach about origins to what they believe about having a relationship with God. —Ken Ham, AiG President Each ticket includes discounts on products at the event and a "7-day pass to both the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum ." One of the conferences speakers, Ron Rhodes, teaches cult apologetics at well-known seminaries. In His book, Reasoning From the Scriptures with ...

When I first heard that October Baby was coming to theaters, I knew it was a movie that I had to see. But if you’re like me, and were unable to make it to the theater to see it, you will be happy to know that release date for the DVD is September 11. Recently, I finally had the chance to watch this highly anticipated film, and here are my thoughts… The story behind October Baby is loosely based on the true story of abortion survivor Gianna Jessen . It is the story of nineteen-year-old Hannah Lawson who finds out that her personal struggles and physical sickness are the result of being an abortion survivor. Here is the film’s synopsis: As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience. After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah's difficult birth. This revelation is nothin...

From the Youtube Description: Based upon the Gold Medallion award-winning best-seller, The Case for Christ documents Lee Strobel's journey from atheism to faith through his two-year investigation of the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. Strobel, the former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, draws upon his investigative skills to examine the historical accuracy of the Gospels, the personal claims of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. Is there evidence to confirm that Jesus of Nazareth was, indeed, the son of God and the savior of the world? This remarkable film features interviews with 10 leading Biblical scholars from North America and England, cutting-edge apologetics, and a compelling original music score. You can watch the full version below... Enjoy! Hat Tip: The Poached Egg

I first heard about Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced "cha-vi-jin") a few year ago when I was introduced to the, then, new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian church ; I had been watching their show "The Coral Ridge Hour" (now "Truth In Action Ministries") every Saturday night and I enjoyed hearing what founder Dr. D. James Kennedy had to say. I particularly enjoyed his take on Christian apologetics. When Dr. Kennedy passed away, I heard that there was a new pastor coming in, but that there was some schism in the church over his "newer" approach to things as he began to merge his church with Coral Ridge's. In the book "Jesus + Nothing = Everything," pastor Tullian takes you on his spiritual journey into the Word of God; the book is an exposé of the book of Colossians, the portion of the Bible that God used to set this pastor free from the bondage that threatened to keep him hostage during that troubling time in his life. The ma...

Today's quote from C.S. Lewis is some serious food for thought.... 

Today's featured video comes from On The Box , a production of Living Waters . Join Ray Comfort and special guest Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason   as they talk about some apologetics tactics that anyone can employ. The video pretty much speaks for itself, so watch and enjoy!  

Welcome to part 8 of the Resurrection series. You can find all preceding parts here. Today, we will be talking about the objection that Jesus' resurrection was in non-bodily form. To discredit the miracle of the Resurrection, however, many today claim that Jesus’ appearances were in non-bodily form; consequently, when the Scriptures mention the bodily resurrection of Jesus, critics claim that it is an embellishment added in as the events about Jesus were fading into the past. To answer this charge, let’s examine the Scriptures first. Throughout his epistles, Paul preached a bodily resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:4, Paul states (in the creed), “He was buried… he was raised,” signifying that “what goes down must come up.” Paul mentions this four additional times in that same chapter. Philippians 3:21 also mentions the bodily Resurrection of Jesus: “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able eve...

Welcome to part five of our resurrection series. Please see all preceding parts before reading this one to get a better understanding of what is being discussed. Today, we will talk about the psychological objection to the Resurrection -- the idea that the disciples had some sort of disorder which caused them to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Some like to claim that the disciples experienced some psychological event, and therefore they claim that they saw the risen Christ. Let’s define some of these terms. Illusions are a distorted perception of something, hallucinations are “false perception[s] of something that is not there” (page 105), and delusions are false beliefs when there is evidence to the contrary. For the sake of argument, lets look at each of these as they would apply to the disciples, using an illustration. Suppose a widow’s husband has just died. A delusion would be for her to deny that her husband has just died despite the fact that he did – the...

Welcome to part four of the Resurrection series. Please see part 1 , part 2 , and part 3 of the series for a better understanding of what is being discussed. In this post, we will look at four opposing theories to the Resurrection.  Despite the evidence for the Resurrection, there are numerous opposing theories. The first of these is the theory that the disciples’ claims to the Resurrection are all legendary; legends crept in over time and distorted the truth. However, the Resurrection story originated from the disciples. If skeptics wish to accuse them of lying or hallucinating, they may since the disciples themselves made the claim. But there is no evidence for the assumption that legend crept in after the disciples. But even if we suppose that legend did creep in to the Resurrection account, it is important to realize that Paul believed in Jesus separate from the disciples’ testimonies (as a matter of fact, he didn’t go up to Jerusalem for three years after his conversion, d...

Those of you who have been following the last few posts in the series "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus" , know that I draw my material heavily from the book by the same title co-authored by historian Michael Licona. Here is a short video in which he explains why the Resurrection is the only thing that fits the facts portrayed in the New Testament of Jesus' death and resurrection. Happy Resurrection Day! :)

Reason Rally 2012 -- it's probably something you've heard about if you are into Christian apologetics at all (and even if you happen to be a non-believer, you have probably heard of it). It's a rally that wishes to promote "science, secularism, and reason," and it includes such speakers as Richard Dawkins , PZ Myers, and Lawrence Krauss, to name a few. The rally will be held on March 24, the weekend after St. Patrick's Day. But with this celebration of reason comes a challenge to Christianity: the atheistic appeal to "reason" that purports that Christianity is irrational. But is that really true? And is atheism really a rational point of view? Enter True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism , a new ebook which released yesterday. I have the privilege of reviewing this excellent work. The book --- written by thirteen authors, including Dr. William Lane Craig, Sean McDowell and members of the Christian Apologetics Alliance...

Dear Readers: I am very excited to inform you that today is the official release date for the ebook, True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism , a book created by several members of the Christian Apologetics Alliance in direct response to the secular Reason Rally that will be held on March 24. I am in the process of reviewing this excellent work, and I highly recommend that you get a copy for yourselves. Whether you're a Christian or a non-believer, this book has some really good arguments demonstrating that Christianity is reasonable and that, while atheists are capable of reasoning, they often do it irrationally despite their claim to reason. Briefly, the book description is as follows: Thirteen authors have teamed up to discuss what the New Atheists mean by reason, where they succeed at it, and how much more reasonable Christianity is at its best than the New Atheism is at its best. Be on the lookout for a review here on the DCFblog ! ...

On March 24, 2012, a rally celebrating "science, reason, and secularism" will be held in Washington D.C. According to the "About" page on the official website, the event, titled Reason Rally, "seeks to to unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide, while dispelling the negative opinions held by so much of American society... It will be the largest secular event in world history... The purpose of this particular rally will be to advance secularism (in the broadest sense of the word) in society." There is a lot of hype about this event on the secularist side. And rightly so; key speakers include Richard Dawkins (who refused to debate William Lane Craig ), Dan Brown, Lawrence Krauss (who, unlike Dawkins, actually  debated Dr. Craig last year ), David Silverman, and PZ Myers among others -- some of today's leading atheists and secularists. You can go to the official Reason Rally website for more information: www.ReasonRally.com . Fo...

I just finished watching the phenomenal movie 180 . The movie, a 33 minute film by Living Waters , shows a series of discussions Ray Comfort conducts with 8 pro-choice people who change their minds about abortion in a matter of seconds! What was it that got them to change their minds? The film releases today, September 26. My personal opinion of the movie is that it was very hard-hitting, yet compassionate towards pro-choice individuals as it got to the root of the issue -- that abortion and murder are synonymous -- while sharing that there is hope in Christ. Personally, while I thought the film was excellent, even as a staunchly pro-life advocate, I don't necessarily expect all supporters of abortion to change their minds after watching this film, but I do believe it will get them thinking -- which is, in my view, one step in the right direction. I applaud Ray's efforts; this is much needed in our culture today. Whether you're pro-life or pro-choice , this is a ...

On August 23, 2008, the DCF blog was born; It's hard to believe that I started this blog three years ago ! I plan to write up a special post highlighting the past year soon; but for now, check out last year's highlights . And.... I have an exciting announcement: In honor of this special occasion, I am giving away FIVE apologetics books to five different winners! Here is what's up for grabs: 1) The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell 2) More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell 3) I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler 4) Defending Your Faith: An Introduction To Apologetics by R.C. Sproul 5) Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions By Greg Koukl Here is how you can enter Mandatory entry : Follow this blog with Google Friend Connect for one (1) entry . If you do not have a Google account then please subscribe for email updates (see side bar). If you ...

The fourth of July is here again, and while we get an extended weekend and enjoy family time, it can be easy to forget just WHY we celebrate this day every year. So I just wanted to share a few quotes that summarize just what the big deal is about the fourth of July -- Independence Day: “It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” ~ Patrick Henry, May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is ...

For today's Inspiring Story on this Friday apologetics finds weekend, I am posting Lee Strobel's testimony. There have been some skeptics who claim that Lee is in it for the money, but when you consider his lifestyle prior to his conversion to Christianity and his background as a journalist, it is pretty easy to tell that this guy is genuine. I highly recommend his "Case" books (and in my opinion, he certainly makes a good "case" for Christianity). Lee has also recently come out with a new book titled "The Ambition: A Novel." You can visit his website here .

Recently,  an article came out stating that Richard Dawkins is a coward for refusing to debate Dr. William Lane Craig. According to the article, Dawkins received four requests from Dr. Craig via " The British Humanist Association, The Cambridge Debating Union, the Oxford Christian Union and Premier Radio," but he refused them all stating " that Prof Craig is not a figure worthy of his attention and has reportedly said that such a contest would 'look good' on his opponent’s CV but not on his own." One of Dawkin's colleagues is taking issue with this saying that  “The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part. “I notice that, by contrast, you are happy to discuss theological matters with television and radio presenters and other intellectual heavyweights like Pastor Ted Haggard of the National Association of Evangelicals and Pasto...

Back in January, I heard about an awesome documentary in the works entitled "Seekers of Truth." In this documentary, apologist Sean McDowell and several other prominent figures -- including Sandra Tanner, expert on Mormonism; Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason; and Brett Kunkle also of Stand to Reason; and Lenny Esposito of Come Reason Ministries --take 22 high-schoolers to Utah on a missions trip to learn about Mormonism and share their faith. One of the students included independent filmmaker and student of Sean McDowell,  Matt Champagne, who is responsible for this documentary!   Sean and the team recently returned from this trip, and another trailer was posted with a bit of extended footage (though it is basically the same as the original) AND the release date: JUNE 2011 !!! I am super excited about this documentary and I can't wait to see it! Here is the new trailer: What do you all think?