Apologetics


Apologia Report (updated here each week): This page, a perpetually updated source for "last week's" email version of Apologia Report, is offered here free of charge giving you a taste of this valuable resource. Apologia Report summarizes and reviews hundreds of magazines, journals, and news publications to identify the most valuable resources to aid Christians as they encounter competing truth claims (mostly regarding cults and new religious movements) and seek to wisely respond. Apologia Report places summaries and source information in the hands of Christian leaders worldwide to enhance the impact of their ministries. Link to subscription information provided.
Adams on Actualism and Presentism Dr. William Lane Craig: Robert Adams has defended an argument against the pre-existence of singular propositions about oneself on the grounds that it would have been possible for them to have existed even if one had never existed, which is absurd. But the crucial assumption underlying this reasoning, namely, that the only histories of a world which are possible at any time are continuations of that history up to that time, is false, as shown by the illustration of time travel. Furthermore, if Adams were correct, fatalism would follow. The failure of Adams's argument has important implications for the Molinist doctrine of divine middle knowledge.
Advice to Christian Philosophers Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Apologetics and Evangelism Jimmy Williams: A brief analysis of the relationship of faith and understanding in evangelism, and a look a several ineffective approaches and seven aggressive steps to effective evangelism.
Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? Jimmy Williams: A brief summary of factors determining whether the manuscript evidence for the Old and New Testament books is sound, or highly embellished and corrupted over time and transmission. How reliable are the texts of both Testaments we now have?
Barrow and Tipler on the Anthropic Principle vs. Divine Design Dr. William Lane Craig: Barrow and Tipler's attempt to stave off the inference to divine design by appealing to the Weak Anthropic Principle is demonstrably logically fallacious unless one conjoins to it the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. But there is no reason for such a postulate. Their misgivings about the alternative of divine design are shown to be of little significance.
The Battle of Ideas The Real Issue, September/October 1994: Mike Duggins asks, "How many lives do your ideas touch each year?" He encourages readers to expand their influence on the campus. He gives specific suggestions to increase opportunities to exert positive influence for Jesus Christ.
Beyond Blind Faith Paul E. Little: Is there a man in human history who claimed to be God and backed up those claims? Has any man ever conquered death and risen from the dead? This article looks at the claims and life of Jesus Christ. Who was he? What did he do?
A Blindfolded Watchmaker: The Arrival of the Fittest Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Dr. William Lane Craig: It has been argued on the basis of Paul's testimony that Jesus's resurrection body was spiritual in the sense of being unextended, immaterial, intangible, and so forth. But neither the argument appealing to the nature of Paul's Damascus Road experience nor the argument from Paul's doctrine of the resurrection body supports such a conclusion. On the contrary, Paul's information serves to confirm the gospels' narratives of Jesus's bodily resurrection. Not only is the gospels? physicalism well-founded, but it is also, like Paul's doctrine, a nuanced physicalism.
Building Bridges for the Gospel John Studebaker: In order to effectively communicate the gospel, it is important to build bridges to lost people where they are, by seeking to understand them and share the gospel in a way that is meaningful to THEM rather than to US.
But I Worship God My Own Way. The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 1): Chapter 1 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "Can't I Just Experience God in Nature?" and "Isn't Everyone a Child of God?"
Can't I Just Live a Good Moral Life? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 4): Chapter 4 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "How could God condemn anyone?" "Isn't man basically good?" "What about some who's never heard?"
The Case for Life After Death Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): If life after death cannot be proved scientifically, is it then intellectually irresponsible to accept it? Only if you assume that it is intellectually irresponsible to accept anything that cannot be proved scientifically.
The Caused Beginning of the Universe A Response to Quentin Smith: Quentin Smith has recently argued that (I) the universe began to exist and (II) its beginning was uncaused. In support of (II), he argues that (i) there is no reason to think that the beginning was caused by God and (ii) it is unreasonable to think so. I dispute both claims. His case for (i) misconstrues the causal principle, appeals to false analogies of ex nihilo creation, fails to show how the origin of the universe ex nihilo is naturally plausible, and reduces to triviality by construing causality as predictability in principle. His case for (ii) ignores important epistemological questions and fails to show either that vacuum fluctuation models are empirically plausible or that they support his second claim.
Century of Cruelty: Making Sense or Our Era Nancy Pearcey: For making sense of any of the modern ideologies, nothing works better than identifying its view of creation. One's view of ultimate origins shapes the rest of one's thinking, as Nancy Pearcey shows in this catalog of worldviews, published in Boundless (December 1999 ) and based on her new book "How Now Shall We Live?" (coauthored by Chuck Colson).
Character Deficiency Syndrome Garry Nation: The Hebrew words for "fool" as developed in Proverbs indicate four progressive stages into moral and spiritual depravity: The Simple or Naive fool, the Self Confident fool, the Committed fool, and the Scornful fool.
Christian Apologetics: This introduction to Christian apologetics, rather than delving into specific arguments for the faith, examines the need to think well and develop logic skills. It is important to be able to answer the charge of elitism that is often leveled at Christianity today, and this essay concludes with some cogent statements making a case for Christianity.
The Christian Canon Don Closson: This essay gives the reader an introduction to how the Bible came to include the books it currently recognizes as canonical.
Christianity and the Scientific Enterprise (I) Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Connecting With the Divine Marilyn Adamson: An article that discusses Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and New Age; their main characteristics and perspectives on God, humanity and salvation.
Craig, William Lane Theologian, Philosopher: Research Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology. This site features several of Dr. Craig's publications in philosophy and theology, as well as his speaking schedule, curriculum vitae, and resource center.
Creation and Big Bang Cosmology Dr. William Lane Craig: Recent discussions have raised the issue of the metaphysical implications of standard Big Bang cosmology. Grunbaum's argument that the causal principle cannot be applied to the origin of the universe rests on a pseudo-dilemma, since the cause could act neither before nor after t=0, but at t=0. Levy-Leblond's advocacy of a remetrication of cosmic time to push the singularity to - involves various conceptual difficulties and is in any case unavailing, since the universe's beginning is not eliminated. Maddox's aversion to the possible metaphysical implications of the standard model evinces a narrow scientism. Standard Big Bang cosmogeny does therefore seem to have those metaphysical implications which some have found so discomfiting.
The Creation-date Controversy The Real Issue, September/October 1994: Dr. Hugh Ross discusses the question "Does the Genesis creation account force a wedge between faith and science?" Millions of devoted Christians find themselves painfully torn in the controversy surrounding the age of the earth.
Darwin's Black Box Dr. Ray Bohlin: Michael Behe's book Darwin's Black Box was hailed by Christianity Today as 1996's Book of the Year, with good reason. This is the first book suggesting Intelligent Design that has received such serious attention from the scientific community. Dr. Ray Bohlin, with a background in molecular biology, reviews this book from a perspective as a creationist and scientist.
Darwinism and Theism Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Darwinism's Rules of Reasoning Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Darwinism: Philosophical Preference, Scientific Inference, and ? Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Darwinism: Science or Philosophy A Symposium: The proceedings of a symposium entitled "Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference?" held on the campus of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA, on March 26-28, 1992.
Defending the Faith Christian Apologetics in a Non-Christian World: A report on the 1995 Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting compiled by Probe Staff. Included are "Defending the Faith Philosophically" by Dr. J. P. Moreland, Talbot Seminary; "Defending the Faith Historically" by Dr. Gary Habermas, Liberty University; "Defending the Faith Scientifically" by Dr. Charles Thaxton Charles University, Prague, The Czech Republic; "Defending the Faith Theologically" by Dr. Thomas C. Oden, Drew University Theological School; and summary by Dr. Ray Bohlin.
The Disciples' Inspection of the Empty Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: There are three alternatives concerning the relation of Luke and John's stories of the disciples' inspection of Jesus's empty tomb: (1) Luke is dependent upon John, (2) John is dependent upon Luke, or (3) Luke and John are dependent upon a common tradition. (1) is not a plausible hypothesis because in light of Luke 24:24, a later scribe borrowing from John would have had another disciple accompany Peter. (2) is not plausible in view of the non-Lukan elements in 24:12 which are characteristic of Johannine tradition. Moreover, good grounds exist for positing pre-Lukan tradition. (3) is most plausible in view of its ability to explain all the relevant data, the improbability of Luke's dependence on John, and the improbability of John's dependence on Luke.
Divine Foreknowledge and Newcomb's Paradox Dr. William Lane Craig: Newcomb's Paradox provides an illuminating non-theological illustration of the problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. We are to imagine a being with great predictive powers and to suppose we are confronted with two boxes, B1 and B2. B1 contains $1,000; B2 contains either $1,000,000 or nothing. We may choose either B2 alone or B1 and B2 together. If the being predicts that you choose both boxes, he does not put anything in B2; if he predicts that you choose B2 only, he puts $1,000,000 in B2. What should you choose? A proper construction of the pay-off matrix for the decision vindicates the one-box choice. If this is correct, then those who claim that God?s knowledge is counterfactually dependent on future contingents foreknown by Him are likewise vindicated.
Divine Timelessness and Necessary Existence William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that if God is temporal, He is essentially temporal; and that since He is a necessary being, time therefore exists necessarily, but that since time is in fact contingent, God is therefore atemporal. Leftow's arguments for time's contingency are, however, ineffective against the Newtonian, who holds that time and space are emanative effects of God's being. An untenable reductionism vitiates Leftow's claim that God cannot be temporal, yet non-spatial. Leftow's argument that God cannot be contingently temporal is undermined by the coherence of suggested scenarios illustrating such a state of affairs.
Do All Paths Lead to the Same Destination? Keith E. Johnson: Is it possible that Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, etc. represent differing, yet valid, paths to the same destination? This article examines arguments for and against the claim that all paths lead to the same destination.
Do You Believe in Evolution? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 7): Chapter 7 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "How can I believe in a literal Adam and Eve?" "Isn't the world millions of years old?"
Does God Exist? A Debate Between Dr. William Lane Craig & Dr. Corey Washington: The transcript of a debate on the existence of God, between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington, which took place on 9 February 1995 at the University of Washington, before an audience well over 1500 people.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Opening Argument: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's opening argument.
Does God Exist? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Douglas M. Jesseph: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Second Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's second rebuttal..
Does God Exist? Question and Answer Session: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is the question and answer session
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Third Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's third rebuttal..
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's First Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's first rebuttal.
Doubts About Darwinism Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Easter Ads Every Student's Choice: Every Student's Choice--Easter ads
Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History by Edwin Yamauchi: That the Easter faith in the Resurrection of Christ is the core of Christianity can hardly be denied. Whether that conviction is rooted in myth, in hallucination, or in history has often been debated. Some have maintained that the Resurrection of Christ is a myth patterned after the prototypes of dying and rising fertility gods. Others argue that subjective visions of the risen Christ were sufficient to convince the disciples that their leader was not dead. Even those who do not doubt the historicity of Christ's life and death differ as to how the Resurrection may be viewed historically. Let us examine the evidences for these alternatives.
Eleven Theses First Things, January 1996: The author reflects upon what constitutes a distinctly Christian university. He proposes eleven guidelines as fundamental conditions for Christian higher education.
Evangelism Toolbox: Visit the Evangelism Toolbox for some of the world's best evangelistic resources from many groups, in many languages, and in many formats.
Evidence for the Resurrection by Josh McDowell: For centuries many of the world's distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity as being irrational, superstitious, and absurd. Many have chosen simply to ignore the central issue of the resurrection. Other have tried to explain it away through various theories. But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.
Explosion of Life Real Issue, March/April 1997: A scientist reveals details of the Cambrian explosion, a biological puzzle that confounds the Darwinists.
Foreword The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Foreword): Foreword by Josh McDowell to Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs.
From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed Once More Examination of James Robinson's Proposed Resurrection Appearance Trajectories: James Robinson argues that parallel trajectories, springing from primitive Christian experiences of post-resurrection appearances of Christ as a luminous bodily form, issued in the second-century Gnostic understanding of the appearance as unembodied radiance and in the second-century orthodox view of the appearances as nonluminous physical encounter. Craig examines his four arguments in support of these hypothesized trajectories and finds them unconvincing. Them is no mason to think that the primitive experiences always involved luminosity or that if they did, this was taken to imply non-physicality. Nor does the evidence support the view that Gnostics rejected corporal or even physical resurrection appearances of Christ.
From Relativism and Skepticism to Truth and Certainty Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
The Gay '90's: A Response to the Gay Activist Movement Critical Issues: Volume 1, Issue 3: Richard Rotondi documents the troubling agenda of gay activists. He explains why homosexuals are not a disadvantaged minority group and granting special class status and advantages is not necessary and would, in fact, hurt true disadvantaged minorities.
God and the Initial Cosmological Singularity A Reply to Quentin Smith: Quentin Smith contends (i) an atheistic interpretation of the Big Bang is better justified than a theistic interpretation because the latter is inconsistent with the standard Big Bang model and (ii) his atheistic interpretation offers a coherent and plausible account of the origin of the universe. But Smith's argument for (i) is multiply flawed, depending on premisses which are false or at least mootable and a key invalid inference. Smith's attempt to demonstrate the plausibility of the atheistic interpretation on the basis of its greater simplicity is based on false parallels between God and the initial cosmological singularity. Smith's effort to prove that the atheist's contention that the universe came into being uncaused out of absolutely nothing is coherent rests upon a confusion between inconceivability and unimaginability and assumes without argument that the causal principle could not be a metaphysically necessary a posteriori truth. In any case, there are good grounds for taking the principle to be a metaphysically necessary, synthetic, a priori truth, in which case the atheistic interpretation is incoherent.
God, Time, and Eternity Dr. William Lane Craig: Is God's eternity to be construed as timeless or temporal? Given that the universe began to exist, a relational view of time suggests that time also began to exist. God's existence "prior to" or sans creation would not entail the existence of time if God in such a state is changeless. But if God sustains real relations with the world, the co-existence of God and the world imply that God is temporal subsequent to the moment of creation. Given the superiority of a relational over a non-relational (Newtonian) view of time, God ought to be considered as timeless sans creation and temporal subsequent to creation.
Graham Oppy on the Kalam Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Graham Oppy has attempted to re-support J. L. Mackie's objections to the kalam cosmological argument, to which I responded in my article "Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument." Oppy's attempt to defend the possibility of the existence of an actual infinite is vitiated by his conflation of narrowly and broadly logical possibility. Oppy's attempt to defend the possibility of the formation of an actual infinite by successive addition founders on misinterpretations. Oppy's objections to the premiss that whatever begins to exist has a cause and to God's being that cause are based on modal confusions.
Great Beginnings: UT Origins Conference Opens Doors to Dialogue Real Issue, March/April 1997: A Summary of the Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise conference in which Michael Ruse, Phil Johnson and others discuss methodological naturalism.
The Guard at the Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: Matthew's story of the guard at the tomb of Jesus is widely regarded as an apologetic legend. Although some of the reasons given in support of this judgement are not weighty, two are more serious: (1) the story is found only in Matthew, and (2) the story presupposes that Jesus predicted his resurrection and that only the Jewish leaders understood those predictions. But the absence of the story from the other gospels may be due to their lack of interest in Jewish-Christian polemics. There are no good reasons to deny that Jesus predicted his resurrection, in which case the second objection becomes basically an argument from silence. On the positive side, the historicity of the story is supported by two considerations: (1) as an apologetic, the story is not a fail-safe answer to the charge of body-snatching, and (2) a reconstruction of the history of tradition lying behind Jewish-Christian polemic makes the fictitiousness of the guard unlikely.
Heaven Here and Now and Why Good Things Happen to Bad People Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus: An examination of both Pauline and gospel material leads to eight lines of evidence in support of the conclusion that Jesus's tomb was discovered empty: (1) Paul's testimony implies the historicity of the empty tomb, (2) the presence of the empty tomb pericope in the pre-Markan passion story supports its historicity, (3) the use of 'on the first day of the week' instead of 'on the third day' points to the primitiveness of the tradition, (4) the narrative is theologically unadorned and non-apologetic, (5) the discovery of the tomb by women is highly probable, (6) the investigation of the empty tomb by the disciples is historically probable, (7) it would have been impossible for the disciples to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty, (8) the Jewish polemic presupposes the empty tomb.
The Homosexual Movement: A Response by the Ramsey Colloquium First Things, March 1994: No abstract available for this article
Homosexual Theology Kerby Anderson: An answer to several arguments offered by pro-gay theologians: the sin of Sodom, Mosaic law, New Testament passages, and "God Made Me Gay."
How Incomplete Is the Fossil Record Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
I'd Like to Know God, but Why do I Need Jesus? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 3): Chapter 3 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "Why did Jesus die?" "Why should it make any difference to me?"
The Incompleteness of Scientific Naturalism Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: Is there anything that can happen in the world that would indicate unmistakably that God had acted? The existence of computational problems for which discovering the solution is intractable, but for which checking the solution once it is in hand is tractable, raises the possibility of being able to detect divine action with full empirical certainty. (Note, this paper was written in 1992 before quantum computation became widely discussed. If it were being written today, it would need to take this development into account.
The Indispensability of Theological Meta-Ethical Foundations for Morality William Lane Craig: Theism and naturalism are contrasted with respect to furnishing an adequate foundation for the moral life. It is shown that on a theistic worldview an adequate foundation exists for the affirmation of objective moral values, moral duties, and moral accountability. By contrast, naturalism fails in all three respects. Insofar as we believe that moral values and duties do exist, we therefore have good grounds for believing that God exists. Moreover, a practical argument for believing in God is offered on the basis of moral accountability.
The Intellectual and Spiritual Crisis of the University Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Introduction by Roy Abraham Varghese Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Is God Unconstitutional The Real Issue, Introductory Issue: Dr. Phillip E. Johnson brings his acute legal mind to the many issues surrounding Darwinism. He exposes the deeply philosophical bias for faith in evolution held by the theory's advocates.
Is God Unconstitutional? (Part 2) The Real Issue, November/December 1994: Dr. Phillip E. Johnson brings his acute legal mind to the many issues surrounding Darwinism. He concludes his exposition of the deeply philosophical bias for faith in evolution held by the theory's advocates.
Is Science a Threat or Help to Faith? The Real Issue, November/December 1994: Dr. J. P. Moreland responds to the question "How are we to understand the relationship between science and Christianity?"
Jesus the Christ Leadership University Special Focus: Leadership University exists to explore the truths about Jesus Christ and the Christian worldview. This special focus pages explores the biblical and historical Jesus, personal stories of those who have accepted Christ's claims, and asks the question "Would You Like To Know Christ Personally?"
Laws, Causes, and Facts: A Response to Michael Ruse Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Marxism as the Ideology of Our Age Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Message from Hubert Yockey Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Message from Nobel Laureate Sir John Eccles Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Message from Professor Robert Jastrow Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Middle Knowledge and Christian Exclusivism Dr. William Lane Craig: David Hunt has criticized a middle knowledge perspective on Christian exclusivism on evangelistic and metaphysical grounds. He argues that from a middle knowledge perspective attempts to evangelize another person are either futile or superfluous and that an omnibenevolent God would have created a post-mortem state of the blessed without ever creating any of the damned. Hunt?s evangelistic objection is unfounded because by our evangelistic efforts we may bring it about that people are saved who otherwise would not have been saved. Hunt?s metaphysical objection errs in thinking that God judges people on the basis of what they would do rather than what they in fact do.
Morality Apart From God Ray Cotton: Is God necessary for ethical systems? Some modern philosophers argue He isn?t, but Ray Cotton insists that there is no point to morality without God.
The Necessity for Christianity Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Neo-Darwinism: What is at Stake? Real Issue, March/April 1997: An examination of the cultural implications of neo-Darwinism and creationism.
"No Other Name" A Middle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ: The conviction of the New Testament writers was that there is no salvation apart from Jesus. This orthodox doctrine is widely rejected today because God's condemnation of persons in other world religions seems incompatible with various attributes of God. Analysis reveals the real problem to involve certain counterfactuals of freedom, e.g., why did not God create a world in which all people would freely believe in Christ and be saved? Such questions presuppose that God possesses middle knowledge. But it can be shown that no inconsistency exists between God's having middle knowledge and certain persons' being damned; on the contrary it can be positively shown that these two notions are compatible.
On Creation and Big Bang Cosmology A Response to Grunbaum: In response to my article "Creation and Big Bang Cosmology" Adolf Grunbaum argues against God's being a simultaneous cause of the Big Bang and against the inference that the Big Bang had a cause. His critique of simultaneous causation, once validly formulated, is based on an obviously false premiss, namely, that in order for simultaneous causation to be possible we must have a generally accepted criterion for discerning such causes. His most important reason for rejecting the causal inference with respect to the Big Bang is predicated on a B-Theory of time, which I find good reasons to reject.
On the Argument for Divine Timelessness from the Incompleteness of Temporal Life William Lane Craig: A promising argument for divine timelessness is that temporal life is possessed only moment by moment, which is incompatible with the existence of a perfect being. Since the argument is based on the experience of time's passage, it cannot be circumvented by appeal to a tenseless theory of time. Neither can the argument be subverted by appeals to a temporal deity's possession of a specious present of infinite duration. Nonetheless, because the argument concerns one's experience of time's passage rather than the objective reality of temporal becoming itself, it is considerably weakened by the fact that an omniscient being possessing perfect memory and foreknowledge, need not find such experience to be an imperfection.
Opinion: Homosexuality and the Moral Order; The Newtape File II;Jesus Through the Eyes of John Rawls First Things, April 1993: No abstract available for this article
The Origin And Creation Of The Universe A Response To Adolf Grunbaum: Adolf Grunbaum argues that the creation, as distinct from the origin, of the universe is a pseudo-problem. Grunbaum, however, seriously misconstrues the traditional argument for creation and his three groups of objections are therefore largely aimed at straw men or else misconceived. His objections to the scientific argument for creation are based on idiosyncratic definitions or deeper presuppositions which need to be surfaced and explored. He therefore falls short in his attempt to show that the question of creation is not a genuine philosophical problem.
The Other Way Out The Stories of John and Anne Paulk: "Can the homosexual be changed?" John and Anne Paulk share their personal stories as an answer to this question.
The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life Leadership University Special Focus: The Pathfinder's exploration of Mars, following on the heels of the Roswell anniversary, has turned our attention and imagination to space once more. The question of extraterrestrial life looms again as an issue of great interest. Underlying questions about the origin of the of the universe and its relation to the God of faith are being raised again with renewed vigor. Leadership University offers a special focus to discuss some questions relating to these issues.
Preface The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Preface): The preface to Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs.
The Princess and the Barbarian The Real Issue, September/October 1995: The Princess and the Barbarian is the prologue to George Gilder's book Men and Marriage. Gilder examines the fundamental tenets of marriage and family life, arguing that both are essential for men.
The Problem Of Miracles A Historical And Philosophical Perspective: Modern skepticism concerning the gospel miracles first asserted itself by denying the miraculous nature of the events. Soon, however, the historicity of the events themselves was denied. Behind this skepticism lay the broad conception of a Newtonian world-machine, the arguments of Spinoza against the possibility of miracles, and the arguments of Hume against the identification of miracles. Counterpoised to these attacks were the defenses of miracles written by Le Clerc, Clarke, Less, Paley, and others. An assessment of the debate shows that, contra the Newtonian conception, miracles should not be understood as violations of the laws of nature, but as naturally impossible events. Contra Spinoza, admission of miracles would not serve to subvert natural law, and the possibility that a miracle is a result of an unknown natural law is minimized when the miracles are numerous, various, momentous, and unique. Contra Hume, it is question-begging or invalid to claim that uniform experience is against miracles.
The Problem of Evil Rick Rood: The problem is discussed of how a good and powerful God could allow evil and suffering in His creation--both from a philosophical and religious perspective.
The Process, Described Properly, Generates Complexity in Good Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Against the second premiss of the kalam cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, J. L. Mackie objects that the arguments for it either assume an infinitely distant beginning point or fail to understand the nature of infinity. In fact, the argument does not assume any sort of beginning point, whereas Mackie himself commits the fallacy of composition. Mackie fails to show that infinite collections can be instantiated in the real world. Against the first premiss, that whatever begins to exist has a cause, Mackie objects that there is no good reason to accept a priori this premiss and that creatio ex nihilo is problematic. But Mackie does not refute the premiss and even admits its plausibility. One can resolve the conundrums of creatio ex nihilo by holding God to be timeless sans creation and temporal with creation.
The Psychology of Atheism Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Purtill on Fatalism and Truth Dr. William Lane Craig: Richard Purtill's recent contribution to the fatalism debate does not, I think, succeed in the author's intent of proving that the omnitemporality of truth implies fatalism, nor that the past is unchangeable in a non-trivial sense, nor that the consequences of his argument are not detrimental to logic and theology.
Reaching the World That Has Come to Us Rick Rood: This article discusses a Christian response to the presence of a half-million international university students in the U.S. each year.
Reason in the Balance The Real Issue, March/April 1995: An interview with Phil Johnson about his new book (July 1995), "Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law, and Education"
Regarding Functional Classes of Proteins to Be Highly Isolated Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
The Religion of the Blind Watchmaker The Real Issue, September/October 1992: Phillip Johnson has authored Darwin on Trial, contending theories of evolution are based on philosophical naturalism. Dr. Stephen Jay Gould responded to Johnson's book. This is Johnson's reply.
Reply to Arthur M. Shapiro: Tamed Tornadoes Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Reply to Leslie K. Johnson Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Reply to Michael J. Behe Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Reply to William A. Dembski Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Researching the "Rape Culture" of America The Real Issue, September/October 1995: Christina Hoff Sommers specializes in contemporary moral theory. This article was taken from her book" Who Stole Feminism?" Sommers represents one side of a vigorous debate among feminists over the future of feminism.
Response to Arthur M. Shapiro Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: Arthur Shapiro faults creationists generally and Phillip Johnson in particular for thinking that Darwinism entails naturalism/atheism. Shapiro is right as far as he goes, but he doesn't go nearly far enough. The point is not whether Darwinism logically compels atheism, but whether Darwinism makes atheism that much more plausible. It does. Given Darwinism, there is no reason to think God had anything to do with biology, thus no reason to think that God has been active in creation, and thus no reason to think that God exists. One can remain a theist, of course, but such a theism then becomes a sheer believism, or what is sometimes called fideism.
Response to David L. Wilcox: Darwin Twisting in the Wind Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Response to Frederick Grinnell Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Response to K. John Morrow, Jr. Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Response to Leslie K. Johnson Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Response to Peter van Inwagen: The Problem of Language Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Response to William A. Dembski Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Robert Adams's New Anti-Molinist Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Robert Adams has presented a new argument to show the logical impossibility of divine middle knowledge of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom. However, Adams's reasoning is unsound because the notion of "explanatory priority" as it plays a role in the argument is either equivocal or not demonstrably transitive. Moreover, his argument contains a false (fatalistic) premiss.
Ruse "Gives Away the Store" The Real Issue, November/December 1994: Dr. Michael Ruse stunned his listeners at the 1993 annual AAAS meeting in Boston by announcing that he had recently come to view evolution as ultimately based on several unproven philosophical assumptions.
Same-Sex "Marriage" A Public Policy Analysis: Should America allow "Gay Rights" Activists to cross the last cultural frontier? This paper is a public policy analysis of the issue of gay "marriage."
Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversation First Things, November 1996: John F. Haught's book "Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversion" is reviewed by Stephen Barr. This book attempts to theologically refute the anti-Christian message behind the philosophy of scientific materialism. This book is not, however, add
Scientifice Evidence for the Existence of God The Real Issue, September/October 1994: Dr. Walter Bradley explores the overwhelming evidence from modern science for the existence of God. He considers three areas: 1) evidence for design in the universe; 2) the origin of the universe; and 3) the origin of life.
A Scientist Reflects on Religious Belief Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Should Peter Go to the Mission Field? Dr. William Lane Craig: In a recent article in Faith and Philosophy 8 (1991), pp. 380-89, William Hasker related the cases of a veteran missionary, Paul, and a prospective missionary, Peter, who were each reflecting upon the implications of a middle knowledge perspective on the exclusivity of salvation through Christ for their missionary tasks. Peter, in some confusion, wrote to Paul for advice concerning whether he should leave his successful pastorate for the foreign field. Paul's response to Peter's letter has been obtained and is here published.
Six Enemies Of Apologetic Engagement Douglas Groothuis: This paper briefly identifies six factors that illegitimately inhibit apologetic engagement today. If these barriers are removed, our apologetic witness may grow into what it should be in Christ.
Special Class Protections for Alleged Gays A Question of Orientation and Consequences: In recent years, self-alleged extremist homosexual, lesbian and bisexual activists and their supporters have launched a multi-pronged legislative offensive, on national, state and local government levels. Their goal? To secure for "gay sexual orientations" the same (plus additional) class advantages, protections and privileges under civil rights laws now enjoyed by legitimate, disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups. Tony Marco (America for Family Values) has crafted a comprehensive public policy analysis that was instrumental in the passage of Colorado's Amendment 2.
The Special Theory of Relativity and Theories of Divine Eternity Dr. William Lane Craig: Contemporary analyses of divine eternity often make explicit appeal to to the Special Theory of Relativity in support of the doctrine of divine timelessness. For example, two fundamental tenets of Leftow's theory, namely, (i) that temporal things exist both in time and in timeless eternity and (ii) that the timeless presence of all things to God in eternity is compatible with objective temporal becoming, depend essentially upon the legitimacy of the application of Einsteinian relativity to temporal events in relation to God. I argue that the first of these rests upon category mistakes, presupposes a reductionist view of time, and seems incompatible with a tensed theory of time. The second involves the same conceptual mistakes, but also hinges upon a particular interpretation of STR which, though widespread, is by no means the most plausible.
Stephen Hawking, The Big Bang, and God (Part 1) The Real Issue, November/December 1994: Dr. "Fritz" Schaeffer makes comments on Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time."
Symposium: The End of Democracy? The Judicial Usurpation of Politics A Crisis of Legitimacy: The Supreme Court in recent decades has defined its own scope of power and then used it outside of the constitutional order. It is time to challenge the legitimacy of the Court's general direction and bring about a constitutional crisis.
Tachyons, Time Travel, and Divine Omniscience Dr. William Lane Craig: The problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom is parallel to the problems raised by tachyons and time travel. Both tachyons and time travel would seem to engender logically pernicious self-inhibiting situations. Solutions can be found parallel to the solution to theological fatalism; namely, backtracking counterfactuals are allowed such that past states are counterfactually dependent upon future states. The inquietude which this move occasions with respect to tachyons and time travel can be alleviated by a proper analysis of conditionship and personal power.
Teleological Principles in Biology: The Lesson of Immunology Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Theism and Darwinism: Can You Serve Two Masters at the Same Time? Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Timelessness and Creation William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that a temporal God could not be the creator of time and that therefore God should be conceived as timeless. Leftow's first argument, that there is no time at which a temporal God could act to create time fails because God could act at any time t to create t or, alternatively, could act at t in such a way as to be responsible for time existing prior to t. Leftow's second argument, that a temporal God could not have decided at any time t whether time should have a beginning or not fails because Leftow erroneously presupposes that in order for God to be responsible for times topological properties, there must have been a time at which He made such a decision.
Trial and Error: The ACLU and Religious Expression The Real Issue, March/April 1994: George Grant explores the ACLU's position against the Christian faith. He documents what he calls "their discriminatory intolerance" towards Christianity.
Valentine's Day Home Page Every Student's Choice: This is the home page for the ESC Valentine's Day Web site.
Wallace Matson and the Crude Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Wallace Matson objects to the second premiss of the "crude" cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, by pointing out that the natural number series shows the logical possibility of an infinite collection of things. The cosmological argument proves only that an infinite collection cannot be formed in a finite time. But the argument asserts the real, not the logical, impossibility of an actual infinite. Nor does it assume that time is finite: one cannot explain how one infinite collection (the series of events) can be formed by successive addition merely by superimposing another (the series of moments) upon it. Matson objects to the first premiss, that everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence, by asserting that if it were true, then God would also need a cause. But Matson misconstrues the premiss to state everything has a cause of its existence. The correct premiss does not imply a cause of God, since He did not begin to exist.
What Life is All About: The Triad Professor William Lively: This website is external to Leadership University. It explores what life is all about: Be Good for People, Do Not Be Deceived, Use Your Mind to the Best Possible Extent. These three issues seem like reasonable goals, but what does it mean "to be good for people"? What are the basic personal problems that cause us the most difficulty in our life? They are intimately associated with interpersonal relationships. If you know the answer, you can reason through the above Triad and see additional problems we face. Let's examine these problems more in depth.
What is Christianity? ESC Real Life: An Every Student's Choice--Real Life ad
What should Christians think about those with homosexual orientation? Stan Oakes: Stan Oakes responds to a college student who asks "Can Christians differ on an issue and still be Christians?" And, "How should Christians relate to those with homosexual orientations?"
Why I am a Christian Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Why Isn't the Evidence Clearer? Lou Whitworth: Sometimes unbelievers complain, "If God really exists, why isn't the evidence more plain and simple?" "Is God tricking us by making us hunt and search for answers?" They say, "Why isn't the evidence for the God of the Bible clearer?" That is, why isn't the evidence for the truth of the Scriptures so obvious and undeniable that virtually everyone would acknowledge it, repent, and accept Christ as personal savior? For the balance of this pamphlet, we'll be looking at this issue of the clarity of the evidence from several perspectives. We'll consider the scientific and historical perspectives on this question; we'll attempt to look at it from God's point of view and from our own human vantage point. Finally, we'll summarize the results of our analysis in light of God's grace and our human accountability.
Why Naturalism is an Assumption Necessary for Doing Science Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article
Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist Truth Journal, Volume 1 (1985): No abstract available for this article
Would You Like to Know God Personally?: The following four principles will help you discover how to know God personally and experience the abundant life He promised.
X Does Not Entail Y: The Rhetorical Uses of Conflating Levels of Logic Darwinism: Science or Philosophy: No abstract available for this article