oddXian: Challenge the Consensus

If you have the time - wow... This was supposed to be included in the Dawkins series - The Root of all Evil? - got cut...hmmm... Good analysis over on A Fool's Heart: Answering the Village Atheist .

link here Don't know that I agree with the totality of his diagrams...but it is an interesting idea...

Will God deny the kingdom to a person for just ONE LITTLE SIN / Violation / mistake? That's a question raised so often to Christians. Note first, how even in asking the question, often there's an attempt to lessen, minimize or do away with the problem itself. Next, understand there's an entire world of evil wrapped up in EVERY "little" sin. You've seen the commercials advertising candy or gum or a breathmint where the object containing peppermint or cinnamin appears rather indescript at first but then an EXPLOSION occurs when it reaches the mouth. The SAME is true on one level with the evil that is wrapped up in EVERY "little" sin, for what at first appears somewhat safe and undisruptive, when it is caried out and scrutinized for what it really is, is found to be like the poisonous venom found in a baby rattler, which is able to kill, is deadly even though its quantity is smally and it looks quite harmless. In every sin, no matter how small, there...

good post from the CalvinDude click for more ...the claim was made that God would torture people throughout eternity, and this was morally wrong. Leaving aside the issue of whether justice is torture, the argument is based on several misconceptions of Hell. This primarily comes from various analogies that the Catholic Church came up with through the Middle Ages, views such as Dante’s Inferno, and other extra-Biblical “scare tactics” used by overzealous “evangelists.” The result is that the Biblical concept of Hell has become twisted, Hollywood-ized, and morphed into something out of a Stephen King horror novel rather than the simple concepts discussed in Scripture.

There are signs perhaps of a brighter future and better days for Christians in America! Christians are beginning to get better at presenting and defending their position and arguments. Take a look ... ...beyond the subjects discussed, to the arguments and what is said in the following articles: Public official to call for revamped policy on Christmas decorations in New York City Southern Baptist Leader: Evangelicals Unlikely to Vote for Romney All is NOT gloom and despair on the horizon. :)

Observation reveals that failure to search for truth forms a significant hindrance to finding truth for many. Failure to search for truth can be found in many forms: from failure to search altogether, to adopting the views of others without significant inquiry, to adopting the views of others without inquiry into their findings, to being content to simply argue one's position repetatively without further inquiry, to inquiring further but remaining in or continuing down paths opposed to the truth, to conducting even fuller and continuing inquiry even into the truth itself but with commitment to false presuppositions or blinded by predispositions. Even the time and energies of the most highly proclaimed naysayers would be better spent continuing in their personal search for truth than making proclamations (no matter how sought after, publicized, desired, or received) while remaining apart from the truth, in which solid discovery (including revelation, foundations, commitments, dispos...

Ray Comfort has written an article based on the argument of incredulity. While the article presents nothing new from the argument side, as far as things to think about and things to be thankful for, it's worth the read! Meet Joe Average .

some quotes from this article The distinction between law and gospel is not a distinction between a false and a true way of salvation. Rather, it is a distinction between two messages, one that supposedly consists exclusively of commands, threats, and therefore terrors, the other that consists exclusively of promises and comforts. Although I believe that we are saved entirely by God’s grace and not by works, I do not believe that there are two entirely different messages of God in Scripture, one exclusively of command (“law”) and the other exclusively of promise (“gospel”). In Scripture itself, commands and promises are typically found together. With God’s promises come commands to repent of sin and believe the promise. The commands, typically, are not merely announcements of judgment, but God’s gracious opportunities to repent of sin and believe in him. As the Psalmist says, “be gracious to me through your law,” Psm. 119:29. .... We should be reminded of course that there is also an o...

If the church conforming to the world is bad enough, then how much moreso (in our day) when the world begins to instruct and train up the church? Take a look at And Justice for All: Embracing Sexual and Gender Diversity within the Faith Community . Not only is the world looking to those who preach but do not uphold the truths of Scripture to side with them, but the world now seeks to use them to spread their own message within the church as the message of the church. Note what the Lord says to Jeremiah: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter WORTHY, NOT WORTHLESS words, you will be my spokesman. LET THIS PEOPLE TURN TO YOU, BUT YOU MUST NOT TURN TO THEM." (Jer 15:19-20) All the more reason for people today to be students of the word and exercise discernment, and not just take what other people say ...as biblical truth.

A good article by Gary DeMar . The list of atheistic quotations alone gives great insight into the worldview of the chief proponents of atheism. Whatever one thinks of the quotes, at least these atheists are honest and consistent, though they never give any account for their basic presuppositions. As Richard Lewontin admits, the atheist worldview exists “because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism” . “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” ( Colossians 2:8 )

Christians are often confronted with the problem of evil. If God is all-good, then how can He allow evil things to happen? There are varied answers to the question, oft debated and discussed. However, how does the atheist answer the same problem from a naturalistic/materialistic perspective? ...... Firstly, the problem needs to be properly framed. And the first key question is whether evil, from a materialist sense, actually exists? If we deny the existence of evil, then we deny the need for any moral conduct, since morality at the very least describes acts of right and wrong, or, good and evil personified. The universal existence of moral code, varied as it may be, and a universal sense of how we ought to behave, exists without question. It may differ from society to society, but every society is morally governed in some sense. I think it is therefore safe to conclude that if determination of right from wrong exists, then good and evil does exist. We can further justify the existence ...

I wanted to highlight this compilation by Paul Manata - The Philosophy of the Christian Religion - an excellent online resource for the development of the well-considered Christian worldview. ...... From Paul: Introduction: This is comparable to a book on the Philosophy of Religion. There are a few differences between this "book" and other books. You will notice that there are no (well, just one or two) arguments against the positions I've listed. This is because this "book" is also meant to substitute as an apologetics "book" for the Christian faith, hence the offensive nature. Furthermore, this "book" is intended to present the Philosophy of Christianity from a Reformed perspective and also a presupposition approach to answering many of these questions (or, what I feel is in the same “vein” as presuppositional-esk answers). I also included some dated (or, stated in a non-analytical way) statements of Omniscience and Omnipotence, the reason...

Ed Thomas in his article No. Carolina courtroom oaths expanded beyond Bible provides something to think about. To some, it's simply a matter of religious freedom and expression (or "religious conscience and conviction") for laws to be changed allowing individuals to use whatever book is most sacred to them when being sworn in or taking oaths before a court. But the truth is, in the greater perspective, this is one more step toward the secularization of America. ...... For example, what's going to happen when someone comes in and says that "Harry Potter", or "The Little Engine that Could" or "Green Eggs and Ham" is the book they consider most sacred and want to use it? ... In effect, what is happening is legislation is giving up the standard (or ANY standard) and by doing so is leading down the path that suggests that an oath actually means nothing, the ultimate accountability is to the court, and that it's meaningless to call upon Go...

You won't believe this! Just when you think you've seen it all,Pluralism takes on a whole new meaning... In the June, 2007 issue of the Episcopal Voice, there's an article entitled "On being Christian and Muslim" which gives the story of the Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding who holds a Ph.D. in New Testament and claims to be BOTH Christian and Muslim. See for yourself, on page 9 . Whereas pluralism once meant MIXING or COMBINING supposed truth claims from various religions, it now has evolved to mean one can BE more than one religion at the same time! Where will the unbelieving mind stop? I suppose as long as the statement "for me...." (quoted so often is the article)is around, we've yet to see the end to which man (or woman in this case) will go.

What's the one thing the world despises more than an evangelical? What's the one thing the world hates more than the exclusive nature of the gospel? Answer: A CALVINISTIC EVANGELICAL and the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD ... for not only does a CALVINISTIC EVANGELICAL proclaim justification by grace through faith in Christ alone, but in keeping with the fact that justification is by grace alone, we not only acknowledge but proclaim the "SOVEREIGNTY" of God in salvation, which is something the world hates even more than the exclusive nature of the gospel, since exclusivity alone would not be a problem if the world could be the determiner of the exclusivity, but God as the author, giver, and provider of grace not only has determined the means by which grace is received, but the recipients of that same grace. (Acts 11:18, 13:48; Rom 9:15-16, 1 Thess 5:9, Jude 4, ) Note: Calvinists do not deny but recognize that human freedom and responsibility do not work in opposition to but alo...

Atheism has changed over the last 20 years. It used to be defined as a belief in the non-existence of God. Today, it is defined as a philosophy that finds the arguments for the existence of God to be insufficient. This change in definition is an attempt by the materialist to establish his worldview by default, rather than have to defend it. By doing so, the atheist can force the theist to try and prove the existence of a supernatural God by way of materialistic methods, and thus enabling the atheist to refer to any other method as “insufficient”. This can be seen in the following atheistic arguments that I’ve seen grow in popularity in recent times. These arguments assume a materialistic worldview, and attempt to shield the materialist from having to deal with the actual question “Does God Exist?” 1.) “Atheists believe in one less god than the Christian. We are all atheists when it comes to the existence of Zeus, Thor, or the flying spaghetti monster.” Aside from the inability to expla...

Another great post from a member of Puritanboard.com ! In response to this post . As in many spiritual and doctrinal things there is great imbalance in the spiritual warfare arena. On the one hand there is what is called “the spiritual warfare movement”, and on the other the conservative (I should probably say Reformed) “classic” approach to spiritual warfare. The former is exemplified by such as Frank Hammond’s Pigs In The Parlor , Don Basham’s Deliver Us From Evil , Benny Hinn, as well as the more conservative Merrill Unger of DTS, and many other non-Charismatics. There is a "Christian" here in my city who operates according to the Pigs In The Parlor schema and seeks to promote sanctification through exorcism. “I will cast out the spirit of smoking (or anger, lust, etc).” The latter approach, the “classic”, is seen in such as David Powlison (of CCEF) and his book, Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare (Baker 1995), and Frederick S. Leahy in his, Satan Cast Out:...

I participate in an online forum (puritanboard.com) that, among many other topics, discusses the elements and purpose of worship. The general tone on the site is counter to any type of environment matching the "Seeker Sensitive" or "Purpose Driven" models of worship. That is, a worship environment purposefully designed to appeal to folks that are "un-churched" or "seeking". The contention is that focusing on this aspect of worship reduces the "purity" of worship that God demands in Scripture - particularly focusing on the high holiness of the Old Testament requirements - which were Tabernacle/Temple focused and strictly regulated for the nation of Israel. See more here