If you really want to empower your kids, start by rejecting the binary framework that frames every disagremeent as the truth vs. “a lie”. People can disagree with you without “lying”. Yet, this book goes through a long list of conservative evangelical bogeymen (e.g. naturalism skepticism, postmodernism, Marxism, feminism, progressive Christianity) while framing each opposing […]
apologetics
“Put Your Damn Bible Down”? How Sean McDowell spreads Misinformation About Progressive Christians
Evangelical Christians like Sean McDowell claim that progressive Christians undermine truth. And yet, McDowell’s own interaction with progressive Christianity is characterized by strawmanning, hasty generalization, cherry-picking, and other tools of misinformation. You can’t serve truth by promoting falsehood. ?
Are We In a Post-Truth Culture? My Response to an Evangelical Talking-Point
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Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History: A Review
John Dickson. Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History. Zondervan, 2021, 328 pp. Historian Howard Zinn observes, “all history, while recalling the past, serves some present interest.” Anyone who has spent time on the interweb talking to skeptics and atheists has likely encountered Christian history told from the […]
Reflecting on the Nature of Hell in a Bathroom Warning Sign
The other day, I noticed this sign on the bathroom wall at work. Theologians can find theology in just about anything and this sign is a great example. I’m going to talk about the sign in a minute, but first I want to talk about sin and punishment. There are two popular basic views when […]
An Interview with Canadian Catholic
Today, I was interviewed by the Canadian Catholic YouTube channel on a wide-ranging (if not dizzying) number of topics from hell to James White to gay marriage to John Loftus. ?
Why It is OK for a Christian Apologist to have Doubts: A Response to James White
James White recently criticized apologist Mike Licona for saying he was 80% certain that Christianity was true. White went on to suggest that you shouldn’t be an apologist unless you are certain. In this video, I offer a reply. ?
9.5 Theses for Christian Apologetics on Reformation Day
This Reformation Day, in honor of Luther’s 95 Theses I present 9.5 Theses for Christian apologetics. Okay, it’s actually 10 theses, but the 10th one is really short. 1. Too often, Christian apologists conflate their partisan interpretations of Christianity with the defense of the faith simpliciter. You are welcome to defend young earth creationism or […]
The Fallacies of Conservative Christian Apologetics
When I was growing up, the Christian apologists I read often claimed that biblical scholars and archaeologists who arrived at results at odds with conservative evangelical orthodoxy were driven by “naturalistic assumptions”. While there was a kernel of truth in the warning, for the most part, it was false. Often, these scholars were devout Christian […]
Strawmanning Atheists: A Critique of Frank Turek
Frank Turek claims that atheists “steal from God.” In this video, I explain how Turek’s argument is based on a strawman of atheistic and a very uncharitable metaphorical framing of atheism conceptual reflection in terms of criminal theft. ?
The Treatment of the Canaanites is Unique and Unrepeatable? Rebutting a Popular Genocide Apologetic
One of the common gambits of the Christian apologists who defend the Canaanite genocide is to insist that the narrative does not provide a general justification for genocide because the circumstances were “unique and unrepeatable”. (For example, that is a description I have heard Paul Copan use on different occasions.) The statement seems to have […]
Atheists “Stealing” From God And Other Apologetic Mistakes
A few years ago, Christian apologist Frank Turek authored a popular book called Stealing from God in which he argued … Well, let’s just let the promotional blurb do the work for us, shall we? “If you think atheists have reason, evidence, and science on their side, think again! Award-winning author Dr. Frank Turek (I […]
Frank Turek on the Slaughter of the Canaanites. And My Response.
The perfectly awful apologetic defense of the Canaanite slaughter in this clip concisely captures why I wrote Jesus Loves Canaanites. Let’s begin with the video (it’s only six minutes). I’ll then post my commentary below. ? The video begins with a question posed by the moderator of what appears to be an in-church training event. […]
A Brief Word on Apologetics, Debate, and Mental Illness
A clinically depressed atheist who commits suicide is not an excuse to talk about the “emptiness” of an atheistic worldview. A schizophrenic Christian who harms someone else is not an excuse to talk about the “danger” of divine command ethics. Don’t exploit mental illness. ?
