oddXian: Challenge the Consensus

The unique perspective and vantage point of over 150 Mulims praying in Indonesia on the BBC News Day in Pictures site(picture #5) provides a picture worth a thousand words. In the picture, each participant is bowed down with his face to the ground like slaves before a taskmaster. Having just completed a study of Islam and learned that Muslims believe Allah is not a personal God and is not personally knowable, one before whom even angels "flinch not" from executing his will, ... this picture illustrates that Muslims in fact preach and practice slavery rather than sonship. While as a father who requires obedience in my home, this picture is not representative of what I either expect or desire of my children, for there is on the one hand the obedience that comes from slaves (who serve primarily out of duty and fear) and then there is the obedience of children who while recognizing authority serve out of love, relationship, and respect. As the world has witnessed and recogni...

"God saves sinners—and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedaling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen." J. I. Packer, “Introductory Essay” to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (London: Banner of Truth, 1959), 4-5.

Tim Keller - What is the New Atheist Message? Here is the whole series - some of the greatest evangelical leaders of our day! Here is the intro - take a few minutes and watch it!

Terry Anderson argues that "religion will die". Here's a Christian response to his basic arguments: 1. There are signs that in the western world (including the US) religion is, indeed, beginning a long, slow – although accelerating – decline. Tim Keller's position ( The Reason for God ) that "the world is polarizing over religion" is better supported. As Kellar states: While the non-churchgoing population in the U.S. and Europe is steadily increasing, the number of americans answering 'no religious preferrence' to poll questions has skyrocketed (having doubled or even tripled in the last decade, and though there was a shift from a formally Christian foundation in U.S. universities to an overtly secular one; at the same time, certain churches with supposedly obsolete beliefs in the infallible Bible and miracles are growing in the U.S. and exploding in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Even in much of Europe, there is some growth in church attendanc...

...The Washington Post informed us that they have never received this many questions in advance, and they were "impressed!" One thing's for sure: based on the questions we have received thus far the web chat should prove to be interesting. See here for details. (Oct. 31, 1:00 p.m.)

Some may be interested in the Truth War Conference, Nov 21-22, in Durham, N.C. See http://www.reformationtruth.org/ for details

“The Council of Nicaea settled the question that Christ was God in 325, so he is 1700 years out of date," Sydney priest Anthony Robbie said. “The rest is a regurgitation of every discredited 19th-century liberal Protestant German cliche in the book.” The above quote is taken from Australian Priest Claims Jesus Was Not God . While the arguments of the priest are nothing new and while the quote that the Council of Nicaea "settled" the question that Christ was God invites questions from skeptics (i.e., while the Council spoke and testified, their statement does not "make" Christ God, but only affirms the truth that has been revealed); at the same time I find it interesting to see believers use the argument that an unbeliever is "1700 years out of date." An interesting twist, and while the date of one's belief is not the ultimate determiner of truth, it's interesting to see it effectively used "by believers" to discredit one whose posi...

The Web site of the Indian Space Research Organization — the body that launched the Chandrayaan — includes a verse from the Rig Veda, a sacred Hindu text that dates back some 4,000 years: “O Moon! We should be able to know you through our intellect,/ You enlighten us through the right path.” One is tempted, in all this, to dwell on the seeming contradiction between religion and science, between reason and superstition. Christians have for far too long tolerated the logical fallacy of generalization in the press and among non-Christian skeptics when it comes to the relationship between science and religion. Note in the above quote taken from a NY Times article , the author after addressing the anomalies between the Hindu faith and the Indians participating in a scientific event (sending an unmanned spacecraft to the moon) aserts or draws the conclusion that there is a "contradiction between religion and science" without any proof that just because one religion is at odds with...

"Now ... we have evidence that complex societies were indeed active in 10th and 9th centuries BCE and that brings us back to the debate about the historicity of the Hebrew Bible narratives related to this period," Levy said. While the evidence of complex societies in the time of Solomon will not quell the objections of all skeptics (for if a person is pre-inclined against the truth - any objection - will satisfy and be employed, and if one cannot be used they will look to another); at the same time this new evidence does refute one of the objections some have made!

CS announces a Facebook group . Consider joining as a means of letting others in your social networks know about our blog!

We've seen many articles similar to this, where social engineers try to convince the public that there is a genetic excuse for wickedness. A recent "scientific study" is making its rounds on the internet in an effort to sway public opinion in favor of wicked, perverted bahavior. The shameless headline reads, " Gene linked to transsexuality identified ". But the further one reads into the actual article, we see that the study backtracks from the absolute conclusion stated in the headline. "In the largest genetic study involving transsexuals to date, researchers in Australia said they found that transexuality may be linked to the androgen receptor (AR) gene - which is known to modify the effect of the male sex hormone testosterone." Such a statement is quite a backtrack from the conclusiveness of the headline, and the reason for the backtracking becomes clearer when the data collected in the study is examined. "The longer AR gene was found in 55.4 ...

But I suggest that social science data point to a different conclusion than do the new atheist anecdotes of hypocritical and vile believers. A psychologist's response to Maher's Religulous: here .

... a friend just forwarded this to me from Spurgeon We are all Christians." "Why, we belong to a Christian nation; are we not born Christians?" "Surely we must be all right; we have always attended our parish church, is not that enough?" "Our parents were always godly; we were born into the church, were we not? Did they not take us up in their arms when we were little, and make us members of Christ? What more do we lack?" This is the common talk. There is no Christian practice, there is no Christian habit, but what has been, or will be before long, imitated by people who have no vital godliness whatever. A man may appear much like a Christian, and yet possess no vital godliness! Walk through the British Museum, and you will see all the orders of animals standing in their various places, and exhibiting themselves with the utmost possible propriety. The rhinoceros demurely retains the position in which he was set at first; the eagle soars not through t...

Lastly, thank you once again to everyone who has ... blogged about it,... Ariane Sherine, guardian.co.uk You're Welcome!!! See here .

The following quotes taken from here . In Dawkins' view, there is a battle taking place in Britain between the forces of reason, and religious fundamentalism and it is far from won. The God Delusion's stated aim was to "convert" readers to atheism - but he admits that as a proselytising tool it has broadly failed. In fact, Dawkins has been described as "the biggest recruiter for creationism in this country". Critics accuse him of an imaginative failure when it comes to human nature's susceptibility to the comfort of irrational thought.

Here's a link to some free transcripts and podcasts of classes taught at Covenant Theological Seminary on issues related to Aologetics and Outreach. (Other subjects are offered as well.)

By the Providence of God, I stumbled upon this amazing work. From the site: "Reasoning with Jehovah's Witnesses" originated in the fall of 1984 as my attempt, through an independent Bible study, to personally reinforce the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. I was an active Jehovah's Witness at the time. The study is a collection of 800 Bible verses that objectively and soundly refute the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, in favor of orthodox, conservative, Biblical Christianity. It also includes, in the Preface, my personal story: how I got into Jehovah's Witnesses, and why I left. I hope you find this on-line version of my study to be helpful either during your personal exodus from the Watchtower Society, or in your ongoing apologetic dialog with Jehovah's Witnesses. Kevin Quick ( kevin@kevinquick.com ) By popular demand, I'm now making available a PDF (Adobe Acrobat) version of my study, a free download, for off-line read...

The movie takes a page right out of the New Atheist handbook. The basics go like this: Religion is absurd and religious adherents are suffering from a mental disorder. Religion causes all the death and destruction in the world. Religions teach an end times, and now have the ability to make this a self-fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, we need to end religion to ensure the safety of the human race. He concludes the movie saying, “Religion must die in order for mankind to live.” Maher’s tutelage under the likes of Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris is evident. But Maher is not as intelligent as Dawkins or as witty a wordsmith as Hitchens. If all the village atheists around the world formed their own village, he’d be the village atheist of the village. More here

\\ "Render unto Caesar" - but honor the Lord... Relevant post by Tom Ascol: McCain or Obama?

The Calvinist's idea of an actual as opposed to an imagined point of contact is not just some useless notion. It is the only intelligible point of contact possible. The non-Christian holds that pure chance and absolute fate are equally ultimate and mutually correlative limiting concepts or heuristic principles which man uses to explain the fact that we have learned much about the world, that there is order in the world, a uniformity, while there is also continual change and development. But the non-Christian's "explanation" is no explanation at all. To say "it just happens" as an explanation of an event is really to say, "There is no explanation that I know of." I want to bring to the reader's attention and suggest the (re-)reading of Van Til's "My Credo" . It's a great read for those who have never done so and a delightful reunion for those who have previously known it.

We have now been told by Senators Biden and Obama that people, particularly those making six figures, will be "patriotic" if they "jump in" and "spread [their] wealth around" Senator Biden told us that Christianity requires us to "help those who need help the most." To this, we may as Christians say Amen and Amen. However, it does not appear that Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama are practicing what they preach. Before these two TELL us what to do with our money, it is worth looking at what THEY actually HAVE DONE with their own. Charitable giving for Senators Obama and Biden is nothing short of pathetic. Before getting in to the numbers, I should say that charitable giving nationwide (2-3%) is not good either and though it's higher for committed Christians (same is true of Canada: study ) we (and I mean WE) too are not giving out of our abundance what our fellow Christians overseas are out-giving us out of their scarcity: see link1 and link2 ...

The Christian Hope: Reasons Believers Have to Rejoice 1. Our Position Justification by faith provides believers a reason to rejoice others do not share. Peace is a valued possession and some have it while others don't. As Paul writes ...... "Therefore, since WE have been justified through faith, WE have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Some may only say "There's PROBABLY no God", but that's not a settled peace. Some suggest they have peace but it's only because of intoxication rather than reality. Some experience peace for awhile, but as soon as they sin, peace is gone and they are left to cover up or make up, but tey continue messing up. Then there are the self righteous who trust they are fine and even better than others, but are not. They are deceived and while they boast to themselves and others, will be found to have used the wrong standard and do not measure up to the right one, finding themselves not even as righteous as they ...

The following quotes are taken from World Magazine Article A Chemist and God . The article refers to Henry Schaeffer, who is a professor at the University of Georgia and is quoted as "in the top 10 of all researchers cited in recent years in chemistry publications" From teaching Molecular Quantum Mechanics at the University of Georgia to studying the Bible during mid-week church fellowships, Schaefer sees cohesion between "secular" science and his Christian faith. In Schaefer's view, a natural nexus exists between Christianity and science: "In many respects [Christians] are not different than anybody else in science, but we do have a deep-seated trust that God is a God of order and that by following rational methods we will find truth in the scientific sense." Those scientists who speak definitively about how the universe began, though, are going beyond science: "When you read or hear anything about the birth of the universe, someone is making i...

Audio Recordings: COMING SOON!

What is Truth: Confronting Postmodernism with Christianity Introduction (Groothius): What is Truth? (John 18:37-38) When Pontius Pilate interrogated Jesus before his crucifixion, Jesus proclaimed that "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (John 18:37). To this, Pilate replied "What is truth?" and immediately left Jesus to address the Jews who wanted Christ crucified (v. 38). Francis Bacon once wrote about Pilate. He asked, “What is truth?' but “would not stay for an answer." Although we have no record of any reply by Jesus, Christians affirm that Pilate was staring Truth in the face, for Jesus had earlier said to Thomas, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). For Pilate and his world (quite postmodern in many ways), there are only different interpretations, religions, personal and cultural constructions, pragmatic concerns, political and economic interests, but there is no unified body of Truth by which or through w...

All is Vanity: Confronting Naturalism with the Biblical Worldview I. Introduction A. Quick review: Particularly with naturalists (or modernists or atheists or secular humanists, etc.), we must convince them that they are not neutral or “just following the facts.” We must show them that behind their conclusions lie a web of presuppositions about the world; they too hold basic beliefs that govern their interpretation of the world. Email to someone: “It helps to realize that there is no such thing as philosophical neutrality. As one historian has said, "Religion must always be judged on the basis of another religion." The choice is not between belief and non-belief or faith and non-faith. The choice is which faith (objects of faith); that is, which worldview provides an adequate foundation for reality? You can't turn away from one without jumping into or appealing to the presuppositions of another (Hinduism, naturalism, existentialism, nihilism, Christianity, etc.). ...

Mind-Splitting (Credit given to Nancy Pearcey & others) How the West Lost its Mind and the Church Lost its Place “Christians do not promote values, because we hold that Christianity is objectively true, not merely private preference. Nor do we teach facts in the modern sense, because that means “value-free” science – free from any religious framework. What Christianity offers is a unified, integrated truth that stands in complete contrast to the two-level concept of truth in the secular world.” -- Nancy Pearcey. I. Introduction: Today, as a culture, the West is stuck in between Modernism and Post-Modernism. We are stuck in between a public atheism where only atheistic assumptions, methods, explanations are accepted in and a private agnosticism, where, if we even care, we dare not challenge anyone’s ‘private’ view of truth or religion or morality. We sharply distinguish between facts and values; reason and faith; science and religion; truth and personal opinion. We are oper...