As one who loves books I always want to encourage other believers to read. I also like to stimulate people to begin building good solid biblical libraries. In that spirit I offer the following five recommendations for your enjoyment. 1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, updated by C. J. Lovik, illustrations by Mike Wimmer. This new edition of Part One of Bunyan’s classic allegorical tale is superbly done, with Lovik’s updates being kept to a sensible minimum without dumbing-down …
Category: Apologetics
Many people have maybe heard of what is called presuppositional apologetics but have little idea what it actually is. This situation is made worse because some defenders of the Faith are labeled presuppositional but, in fact, aren’t. So how should I describe it? The first thing I would say is that although I personally have few problems with it, “presuppositionalism” is not perhaps the best name for the approach. A more preferable title would be something like “theological apologetics.” Nevertheless, …
A review of The Bible Among The Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature, by John W. Oswalt, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. The author of this book is well known for his scholarly two volume Commentary on Isaiah in the Word series. This book is meant more for a more popular audience, but is valuable for scholars, pastors and the general reader. From the books published in the past year I would put this one near the top of the …
What a great idea! Dr Bart Ehrman is the main agent provocateur against the truth and reliability of the Bible. Often his arguments are very one-sided and misleading, yet his books always become bestsellers. This site, The Ehrman Project features materials from top scholars to challenge and correct Ehrman’s propaganda. Thanks to those who put it all together. …
Atheist Delusions is divided into four parts. The first two chapters comprise part one, which deals with the present day. Part two comprises chapters 3 through 9 and examines the past, especially the world of the early church. Part three continues looking into history but with special emphasis on the outworking and impact of Christian teachings. Finally, part four appraises the alternative value-system of the New Atheists and its likely aftermath in our culture. In the first half of this …
A Review of David Bentley Hart, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies, Yale University Press, xiv + 253 pages, 2009. To recommend a book by an Eastern Orthodox theologian I would have to be thoroughly impressed by its content and its long-term worth. Since both of these personal criteria are well met by the title under review I am happy to declare my full endorsement of its main thesis. The author is one of the best polemicists …
1. The Making of Man In the pagan mythologies, we find that man is often formed both from an earthy element such as clay, and a divine element; something from a deity. Thus, man is semi-divine in ANE cosmologies, though one should recall how this “spark of divinity” is greatly diminished when these gods are in view. Of course, in the case of the biblical account man is not divine; he is not in any way made out of God’s …
The Laws of “Logic and Reasoning” Gary is very committed, at least verbally, to the use of logic and reason. He tells us; “Logic is logic. Math is math. It does not depend on any worldview.” Naturally, he is embarrassingly wrong. The laws of logic are not physical and he must therefore explain immaterial laws of logic within his worldview. The way one views reality makes an enormous difference to how much of that reality one can explain. But putting …
The “Laws of Nature” According to Gary, our atheist friend, the uniformity of nature is the answer to everything. How then does evolutionary naturalism, the kind that asserts things like, “I don’t believe in anything beyond the natural order of the universe” explain the world and our existence in it on that basis? To begin answering that question we could do worse than examining the statement above. For the average naturalist/materialist the “natural order of the universe” means that “Nature” …
Faith and Reason Since the time of Thomas Aquinas it has been common to see “faith” as something that is needed to grasp those divine disclosures not attainable through reason alone. This dichotomy has been seized upon by the world as it seeks to snip away at any form of knowledge which cannot pass under their yoke of “science and reason.” But Aquinas’s version of faith is not biblically supported. According to Hebrews 11:1 biblical faith does not hold on …
