Let’s start with the video. Don’t worry, it’s only 52 seconds. 5 Reasons the Bible is reliable in one minute! VIDEO. pic.twitter.com/mX7VelC8VC — Sean McDowell (@Sean_McDowell) April 25, 2020 I think this kind of stuff does more harm than good. First off, most of Sean’s points pertain not to the Bible simpliciter but rather to […]
Bible
Biblicism Run Amok
Ever wonder what biblicism run amok looks like? For a great example, consider this quote from R. Albert Mohler in his essay in the book Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (hat tip to my student Rodney for the reference): “I do not allow any line of evidence from outside the Bible to nullify to the […]
Atheists on the Bible
Here’s one big problem that atheists have with the Bible: they assume the Bible functions as a set of instructions for how to go to heaven. And then they predictably criticize the Bible because, well, it isn’t that. But don’t blame the atheists: they get that idea from many Christians. Here’s another problem: atheists expect […]
Problems with the Bible that Aren’t Problems at All
The other day, I posted the following tweet: Atheists who dismiss the Bible as “iron age fables” should invest a month studying a single book of the Bible by reading a range of biblical commentaries, monographs, and articles on that book. They will come to appreciate that much more is going on than they realized, […]
A Logically Valid But Unsound Argument for Biblical Inerrancy
Here is my attempt to articulate a logical argument in support of inerrancy. By “inerrancy”, I refer here to the view that the affirmations of all human authors are true. I should stress that this is not a view I hold and I have little sympathy with this argument. But be that as it may, […]
If you’re going to say it is a sin for a woman to preach, you better be prepared to say more
This morning, I posted the following on Twitter: Here’s the problem with complementarianism in a nutshell. The historic justification has been that they are less intellectual & more emotionally unstable than men, but that’s clearly sexist. Women are no less well equipped than men to be profound teachers and leaders. So one might then retreat […]
What the Bible Says About Dogs (and why it matters)
Many Christians think the Bible is a handbook for all of life. In this video, I test that idea by considering what the Bible says about dogs. (Spoiler: it ain’t good.) So, must we choose between the Bible and our dogs?
Fundamentalist Biblical Interpretation: A Critique
Millions of conservative Protestant Christians (fundamentalists and evangelicals) believe that the Bible should be interpreted “literally where possible”. But is this a defensible interpretive principle? Does it even make sense? In this short lecture, I offer four objections to the Literal Where Possible Principle.
What’s Wrong with Young Earth Creationism?
A few weeks I appeared on the Skeptics and Seekers Podcast to debate young earth creationism. In preparation for the debate, I was asked to provide a written statement in response to a statement by co-host David Johnson. I have decided to repost my statement here. I thank David for the invitation to discuss young […]
Does the Existence of Several Biblical Canons Lead to One Big Problem?
Christians do not agree on the list of books that comprise the biblical canon. To be sure, they do agree on most of them. But nonetheless, there are several distinct biblical canons that disagree on the inclusion of so-called Deuterocanonical or Apocryphal books, as well as the proper form of books like Daniel and the Psalms. With […]
Talking hell, the Bible, biblical violence, and lots more with an atheist apologist
Remember Pinecreek Doug? If you don’t, you can get up to speed at “A street apologist puts me in my place” and “My Response to the Pinecreek-Doug-Dilemma.” Today, Doug had me on his show. He seems like a very nice fellow, but it also seemed to me that he had an inordinate and ultimately unhelpful focus […]
Four (or more) Steps to Making Sense of Biblical Violence
I was recently asked on Twitter how I deal with the problem of biblical violence, that is, the problem of God appearing to command and commend violent actions that appear to be evil. I responded with four points and while regular readers of this blog will likely recognize all four in my past writing, I […]
Taking the Bible Seriously (But not Literally) Word for Word
The Bible should be taken seriously word for word. That does not mean it should be taken literally word for word. In fact, not only are these two claims different from one another. They are fundamentally inconsistent with one another. In the Bible, we are dealing with a library of ancient texts written in three foreign […]
Is Islam more violent than Christianity? Is the Qur’an more violent than the Bible? Who decides?
The other day I tweeted a link to my 2014 review of God’s Not Dead. One fellow responded by saying that I was “nit-picking.” But alas, he then noted that Twitter is not a good medium to explain why. How ironic, I noted, that Twitter is sufficient to make a charge of nit-picking but not sufficient […]
