The Problem of Pain
If God is good and all-powerful, why is there pain and suffering in the world? Does God want His people to be filled with joy? Bauman speaks on author C.S. Lewis' beliefs of pain and suffering. He further describes how the goodness, power and love of God is often displayed in the suffering of His people.
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist 1
Frank Turek of CrossExamined.org gives a two-part crash course of his book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (co-written by Norm Geisler), which looks at 12 specific areas of evidence for why Christianity is true. In these lectures, however, Mr. Turek focuses in on the four most crucial questions: 1. Does truth exist? 2. Does God exist? 3. Are miracles possible? and 4. Is the New Testament true?
Part one is an examination of the first two questions, beginning with the existence of truth. After defining truth, Mr. Turek then looks at the Law of Non-Contradiction, the Roadrunner Tactic, and objections to absolute truth. Moving on to the existence of God, he notes the differences between theism, pantheism, and atheism, pointing out that only one can be true. He concludes with an in-depth look at the cosmological argument, the teleological argument (including the anthropic principle), and the moral argument for the existence of a theistic God.
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist 2
Continuing from part one, Frank Turek (CrossExamined.org) examines questions three and four—Are miracles possible? and Is the New Testament true?—in his evaluation of the validity of Christianity. He starts with a summary of part one, showing what can be known about God through the use of the cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments and therefore which beliefs are false because of their contradictions to these truths. Next, Mr. Turek examines the definition of “worldview” more closely, looking at what is required for one to be feasible, concluding that only theism meets these requirements. He then looks at the possibility of miracles and the reliability of the New Testament in order to determine which version of theism is true. Though pressed for time, he is able to give sufficient evidence for his claims, as well as much for listeners to ponder.
Evil and Suffering 1
The number one question that students have for God often leaves them (and us) speechless. John provides clear teaching on a tough question. This is one of the most impacting talks that John gives.
Can We Be Good without God? (via Boundless)
I've been asked to speak today on the question, "Can we be good without God?" To answer, I'm tempted to tell you my own story. Years ago when I rejected God, I also rejected the distinction between good and evil. Then again, I was an extreme case. Someone who asks "Can we be good without God?" isn't trying to be extreme; he's looking for a halfway house. So instead of telling you my story, I'll try to lay out the logic of the matter...
No God, No Good
At a conference concerning the teaching of moral values in the public schools, a justifiably well-known philosopher from an eastern university asserted that the moral virtues were (1) those values without which we humans do not flourish because they are rooted in human nature, and (2) those values that enjoy a consensus that spans culture, country and century, something like the Tao described at the end of C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man. That moral values described or derived in either of these two ways are not truly moral and are not truly absolutes. As the following analysis will demonstrate, one must not contend that human nature and human flourishing yield moral absolutes, properly so-called, because such a theory fails to account for...
Greatness and Wretchedness (via Equip)
In the realm of philosophy, Blaise Pascal (1623–62) is perhaps best remembered for his wager argument. In his Pensées (thoughts), however, Pascal offered several lines of apologetic reasoning, including what has been termed his anthropological argument. This argument makes the case for Christianity by pointing out that any viable worldview must successfully explain the seemingly paradoxical nature of the human condition. The seeming paradox is that human beings exhibit qualities of both greatness and wretchedness. Pascal argues that Christianity offers the best explanation for this condition based on its teachings that human beings are created in the image of God, yet original sin has tainted their nature. Pascal realized that it is...
Apologetics, Truth, and Humility (via Equip)
Recently when I was discussing philosophy with an earnest undergraduate student, she informed me that she rejected the idea that she could know "the truth" because this would condemn everyone who disagreed with her. Since philosophers have traditionally exulted in winning arguments instead of eliminating them, I asked why she shunned victory in favor of terminal agnosticism. She explained, "If I claim to know the truth, then I must also claim that whoever disagrees with me is wrong, and that would make me intolerably arrogant." This student was suffering from a case of dislocated humility. Instead of being rightly humble about her ability always to know truly or infallibly, she was instead humble over the mere possibility of discovering the truth. She identified the very idea of possessing truth with pride. I suggested...
The Ultimate Question of Origins (via Leadership U)
The absolute origin of the universe, of all matter and energy, even of physical space and time themselves, in the Big Bang singularity contradicts the perennial naturalistic assumption that the universe has always existed. One after another, models designed to avert the initial cosmological singularity--the Steady State model, the Oscillating model, Vacuum Fluctuation models -- have come and gone. Current quantum gravity models, such as the Hartle-Hawking model and the Vilenkin model, must appeal to the physically unintelligible and metaphysically dubious device of "imaginary time" to avoid the universe's beginning. The contingency implied by an absolute beginning ex nihilo points to a transcendent cause of the universe beyond space and time. Philosophical objections to a cause of the universe fail to carry conviction.
The Teleological Argument and the Anthropic Principle (via Leadership U)
The discovery during our generation of the so-called anthropic coincidences in the initial conditions of the universe has breathed new life into the teleological argument. Use of the Anthropic Principle to nullify our wonder at these coincidences is logically fallacious unless conjoined with the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. There are no reasons to believe that such an Ensemble exists nor that, if it does, it has the properties necessary for the Anthropic Principle to function. Typical objections to the alternative hypothesis of divine design are not probative.
The Resurrection of Theism (via Leadership U)
Back in the mid-1960's Time magazine ran a cover story for which the magazine's cover was completely black, except for three words emblazoned against the dark background in bright, red letters: "IS GOD DEAD?" The article described the then current "Death-of-God" movement in American theology. But, to paraphrase Mark Twain, it seemed that the news of God's death was premature. At the same time that theologians were writing God's obituary, philosophers were re-discovering His vitality. Just a few years after its "Death-of-God" issue, Time carried a story with a similar red on black cover, only this time the title read...
The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe (via Leadership U)
The kalam cosmological argument, by showing that the universe began to exist, demonstrates that the world is not a necessary being and, therefore, not self-explanatory with respect to its existence. Two philosophical arguments and two scientific confirmations are presented in support of the beginning of the universe. Since whatever begins to exist has a cause, there must exist a transcendent cause of the universe.
Creation and Big Bang Cosmology (via Leadership U)
Several years ago popular science writer Robert Jastrow ruffled scientific feathers by asserting in his little book "God and the Astronomers" [(1978), pp. 113-116] that many cosmologists have a deep-seated aversion to the possible metaphysical and, indeed, theological implications of classical Big Bang cosmogeny. Recent correspondence to the British science magazine Nature seems to bear out this judgment [Maddox (1989), Lévy-Leblond (1989), Grünbaum (1990)]. J. Maddox eagerly anticipates the downfall of the Big Bang model because in it creationists have "ample justification" for their theistic creed; J.-M. Lévy-Leblond seeks instead to subvert the metaphysical implications of the Big Bang theory by a remetrication of cosmic time so as to push the origin of the universe back to infinity, where "it seems to belong"; A. Grünbaum sees no exigency for such a device, since the conception of a cause of the initial cosmological singularity is self-contradictory and the question of what caused the universe's origin therefore a "pseudo-problem." In reflecting on this dispute...
Six Enemies of Apologetic Engagement (via Leadership U)
The evangelical world today suffers from apologetic anemia. Despite the fact that holy Scripture calls believers to give a reason for the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15; see also Jude 3), we sadly lack a public voice for truth and reason in the marketplace of ideas. We do not have a strong intellectual presence in popular or academic culture (although some areas, such as philosophy, are more influenced by evangelicals than others). The reasons for this anemia are multidimensional and complex.
