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    Science: No Safe Haven 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on July 25th 2008 02:28 PM

    Answering the “New” Atheists—Science: No Safe Haven
    Greg Koukl

    Infamous New Atheist Christopher Hitchens recently debated Privileged Planet author Jay Wesley Richards at Stanford on the existence of God. In the middle of Richards’s opening remarks, Hitchens cut him off with a pair of questions.

    “Do you believe Jesus Christ was born of a virgin?” he interrupted. “Do you believe he was resurrected from the dead?” Richards assented to both. Hitchens shrugged. “I rest my case,” he said dismissively. “This is an honest guy, who has just made it very clear science has nothing to do with his world view.”

    It was a remarkable non sequitur from a brilliant ...
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    ARTICLE: Just the Facts, Ma'am 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on March 12th 2008 05:43 PM

    Just the Facts, Ma’am by Greg Koukl

    There is an old TV show you may have heard of, but probably have never seen unless you are over fifty or watch reruns that are half a century old. It was an austere LAPD police drama called “Dragnet.”
    Though the program has been largely forgotten, two lines from the show have not. The first is, “The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” The second is, “Just the facts, Ma’am,” detective Joe Friday’s trademark request of whomever he questioned as a witness.
    Just the Facts, Ma’am is an easy tactic to use. It requires no cleverness or deft maneuvering. Only two things are necessary. First is the awareness that many challenges to Christianity are based on bad information. ...
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    ARTICLE: Must We Believe Jesus is God? 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on February 7th 2008 01:04 PM

    Must We Believe Jesus is God?

    Gregory Koukl

    If you believe in Christ but reject His unique deity, you might have a very nice religion, but can you call it Christianity?


    Must a person believe that Christ is God in order to be saved? I don't think it is necessary for you to be aware of that doctrine and hold to it before you can become a Christian and receive forgiveness. But I think that you have to know some doctrine in order to be a Christian, in order to receive God's gift of salvation. I think it is a very fundamental and basic doctrine that you need to know. Basically, you need to know your need and God's provision in Jesus, and then respond to that by trusting Jesus for your salvation. ...
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    ARTICLE: Who Are You to Say? 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on December 13th 2007 01:15 PM

    Who Are You to Say?
    Greg Koukl

    Today I was thinking about a concept that came up in conversation, a challenge raised to Christians who offer their point of view. The challenge is: "Who are you to say?"
    This question it comes up in one of two contexts. The first one is secular. You'll hear it quite frequently when another person disagrees with your point of view, especially a moral one. They immediately challenge you with, "Who are you to say?"
    Taken at face value this is an attack on you. It's a response that focuses on the person, not the argument. Instead of dealing with a person's point, you attack the individual in some way. This is called an ad hominem, a type of informal ...
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    ARTICLE: Ground Rules for a Mormon Visit 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on November 5th 2007 12:37 PM

    Ground Rules for a Mormon Visit
    Greg Koukl

    Driving to the studio today I passed two young men in white shirts and bicycle helmets pedaling down the road, going from community to community LDS, Mormons on their missionary rounds. It triggered a thought I want to pass on to you because there are times when young men like that will be knocking at your door.

    Much could be said about how to respond to them. One thing I have noticed is frequently they are glad to share with you their point of view, but they’re very quick to take offense if you actually offer up a challenge to their ideas. They’ll object if you want to have a principled discussion about what is true using your information from your Bible or other ...
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    ARTICLE: Christianity Is No "Leap of Faith" 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on October 10th 2007 12:49 PM

    Christianity Is No Leap of Faith
    Greg Koukl

    I noticed something stunning a few years back while paging through Frederick Coppleston’s landmark work, A History of Philosophy, for a class. Virtually every major thinker in the history of western civilization since Aristotle was a deeply committed Christian theist.

    The list is impressive: Irenaeus, Eusebius, Augustine, John Duns Scotus, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Rene Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz. It isn’t until the Enlightenment that God and the Bible are not a standard part of the philosophic equation.

    For 18 centuries, those who thought deeply and carefully about reality did so with the conviction that God was ...
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    ARTICLE: Evil As Evidence for God 

    by
    STR Ambassador
    Published on September 7th 2007 04:56 PM

    As a Christian ambassador, your biggest challenge may be making sense of the problem of evil. Surprisingly, though, evil is actually evidence for God, not against Him.


    Evil as Evidence for God by Greg Koukl

    The wave of best-selling atheist books has forced followers of Christ to confront an age-old objection: the problem evil, considered by some to be the strongest evidence against the existence of God.
    I actually think it proves just the opposite. The entire objection hinges on the observation that true evil exists "out there" as an objective feature of the world. Therein lies the problem for the atheist.

    Bowling and Badness
    Think of it this way. How do you ...
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  • Recent Articles

    GPiper

    NSM Evotional 05/23/2013



    A Glory Seed Devotional
    When what you do is not enough

    “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!" The LORD is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:22-26 NLT, emphasis mine)

    Have you ever did something then afterwards had the “gut wrenching” feeling that it wasn’t enough? Remember the story of the young rich man who walked away from Jesus because he couldn’t do as Jesus had asked him? Remember Peter’s remarks about... read more
    GPiper Today, 08:34 AM
    ApologiaPhoenix

    Passed On What I Received

    Is there an authentic tradition of an earthly Jesus?

    The link can be found here

    The text is as follows:

    Did Paul receive a creed from another, or was it something else? Let's talk about it on Deeper Waters.

    The point has been argued that when Paul says he passed on what he received in 1 Cor. 15, that that is the language that is used in Galatians 1 and Galatians 1 refers to a divine revelation. This leads us to the conclusion that Paul is not passing a creed that he has received, but sharing a revelation he has had of a divine and heavenly Jesus that later got turned into an earthly one.

    Yes. That really is what is being argued.

    So what are we to make... read more
    ApologiaPhoenix Yesterday, 12:18 PM
    GPiper

    NSM Evotional 05/22/2013



    A Glory Seed Devotional
    Moses, you, and the un-consumable burning bush

    One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. "This is amazing," Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it." When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" "Here I am!" Moses replied. "Do not come... read more
    GPiper Yesterday, 08:00 AM
    ApologiaPhoenix

    The Brother of the Lord

    Does this show the existence of Jesus?

    The link can be found here

    The text is as follows:

    Is James really a brother to a historical figure? Let's talk about it on Deeper Waters.

    Yesterday, I wrote about the problem of internet atheists and gave the Christ-myth as an example. I can anticipate that someone will ask me about the claims of Richard Carrier. I figured it would be good to look at some of the claims that are made against Jesus being a real historical figure and for a start, thought that I'd look at the passage that talks about James being the brother of the Lord.

    Now if James is a brother to someone, it would be self-evident that that person either now exists... read more
    ApologiaPhoenix May 21st 2013, 10:21 AM
    GPiper

    NSM Evotional 05/21/2013



    A Glory Seed Devotional
    A strong and trustworthy anchor for your soul

    This morning in my prayer journal I wrote, “LORD, my imagination is filled with junk like that. I am struggling hard against the pull of “powers and principalities of this world” but they are (at least right now) becoming stronger and stronger. I can’t pull myself up and as hard as I try I cannot envision any hope I know the songs they are singing are not right but they seem so right. Please Father God drown them out with your songs of HOPE and PEACE. PLEASE!”

    I share those words with you not to get your sympathy but to grab your attention not to me or my situation nor to what I wrote I want you to focus on the ever present... read more
    GPiper May 21st 2013, 08:19 AM
    ApologiaPhoenix

    Why I Ignore Most Internet Atheists

    Including a number on here.

    The link can be found here

    The text is as follows:

    Why is it sometimes best to just not bother? Let's talk about it on Deeper Waters.

    Before leaping into the meat of this post, let's make a few clarifications.

    No. Not every atheist is an internet atheist. I refer to a general type of person by this. If you are on the internet and an atheist and are highly informed and can show it and have done your homework on what you and I both believe, then I do not consider you an internet atheist.

    Yes. I realize too many Christians are just as ignorant. If you think I've been silent on this matter, then you haven't been reading my blog... read more
    ApologiaPhoenix May 20th 2013, 11:10 AM
    GPiper

    NSM Evotional 05/20/2013



    A Glory Seed Devotional
    Stay Vertical

    With my two artificial hips and extremely fragile femurs one of my greatest fears over the winter months is slipping and falling on ice and snow now that there is no more ice and snow I still fear falling in the yard or riding my bike. One of my favorite sayings throughout the year is “Stay Vertical!” In other words don’t fall!

    However, my fear of falling goes beyond physically falling and injuring myself it “falls” into my spiritual life as well. It was Paul who said, “We have all fallen short of the Glory of God.” In his letter to Titus he STRONGLY reminds us to stay “upright” (stay vertical) “in the present age” because just as in his days there... read more
    GPiper May 20th 2013, 08:39 AM
    ApologiaPhoenix

    An Unbelievable? Podcast

    What can we learn from our friends across the pond?

    The link can be found here

    The text is as follows:

    What's coming up on the Deeper Waters podcast? Let's talk about it today on Deeper Waters.

    I actually just finished the interview for the Deeper Waters podcast about half an hour or so ago. This time, I interviewed Justin Brierley of Unbelievable? and talked with him about the show Unbelievable? and about the conference of the same name happening annually in the U.K.

    Unbelievable? has been one of my favorite shows since I've started listening. Justin Brierley is a wonderful host/moderator who brings on excellent guests and who manages to remain quite neutral in his... read more
    ApologiaPhoenix May 17th 2013, 12:28 PM