"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" -- Psalm 14:1 (NIV) I believe that atheism is foolish. I read statements by the prominent "new atheists" like Hitchens and Dawkins and think, "how silly." Whether their arguments are philosophical, historical, or ethical, I find them to be far from sufficient to explain away …
Category: Apologetics
Spurgeon distorted
Apparently, the young-Earth organization Answers in Genesis doesn't want its readers to know that 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon had no problem with an Earth that is millions of years old. AiG is posting Spurgeon sermons on its web site, but has edited at least one sermon to remove references to an old Earth. A …
Fundamentalism and creationism
Young-Earth creationism isn't a necessary part of Christianity, even to those of us who have a very high view of the truthfulness and authority of the Bible. Here's another quote from The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, by Mark Noll: Despite widespread impressions to the contrary, [young-Earth] creationism was not a traditional belief of nineteenth-century …
Augustine: The Literal Meaning of Genesis
I recently finished The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll, and will be sharing a few insights and quotes from this important book. The first quote is a long one from St. Augustine of Hippo, from his work The Literal Meaning of Genesis, written in about AD 415. Usually, even a non-Christian knows …
Stegosaurus in Cambodian temple?
Does this carving at the Ta Prohm temple complex in Cambodia prove that dinosaurs of the genus Stegosaurus were still alive in Southeast Asian jungles only 1000 years ago? Some young-Earth creationists think so. An example of a web page dedicated to this is found at Bible.ca: Dinosaurs in ancient Cambodian temple -- Amazing evidence …
Bad arguments for Christianity
C. Michael Patton at Parchment and Pen has 14 Examples of Really Bad Apologetics. There are many good arguments (apologetics) for the truthfulness of Christianity: Historical evidence for the resurrection Historical evidence for the reliability of Scriptures Philosophical arguments for the existence of God, such as the cosmological argument Some of the bad arguments for …
Darwin’s birthday #2
What drives more scientists away from Christianity, evolution, or young-Earth creationism? I don't know the answer, but I suspect that both have significant roles. Some forms of evolutionary philosophy drive scientists (and others) away from Christianity. The New Atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, claim that evolution makes it intellectually feasible to be an atheist. To …
A sad story
I came across this sad, but very believable, comment on The Internet Monk today: When I was a kid I spent part of my time in a Christian private school. I remember they used to send my home with “archaeological evidence” of the ark being discovered in various places and I would spend hours at …
Screwtape addresses the New Atheists
In the tradition of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters: My dear fellow Brights, Beamers, Blazers, Brilliants, Gleamers, Incandescents, Resplendents, Radiants, Shimmerers, and Sparklers: Thank you all for being here tonight, and a special thanks to the Dixie Chicks for that heartwarming cover of “Imagine.” I choke up every time I hear those immortal words—“Imagine there’s …
All truth is God’s truth
Does the Bible take priority over science, or are science and scripture complementary? Here's the approach I take: All truth is God's truth. I'm not the first to use this phrase by any means, but I think it is a good summary of how I view the relationship between science and my Christian faith. Sometimes …
Darwin, evolution, and God
This may be new to some of you, but Charles Darwin did not reject God because of evolution, but because of other factors, such as anger over the death of his 10-year old daughter. Darwin was more of an agnostic than an atheist, and he certainly was no anti-God crusader like Richard Dawkins is today. …
Dr. Dino still in prison
Welcome to The GeoChristian. Out of over 1000 posts on my blog, this one on Dr. Dino is visited by more people than any other. The primary objective of The GeoChristian is to increase science literacy among Evangelical Christians, especially in the areas of the Earth and environmental sciences. I aim to discuss controversial topics …
Day-age time chart
One of the most prominent old-Earth creation organizations is Reasons to Believe, headed by astronomer Hugh Ross. Ross is an advocate of what is known as the day-age interpretation of Genesis 1-2. In the day-age theory, the days of Genesis 1 are not literal 24-hour days, but represent vastly longer periods of time. Ross advocates …
Mixed marriages and the age of the Earth
I received a letter from a friend with questions about the age of the Earth, and how to raise children in a family where one parent is an old-Earth creationist, and the other is a young-Earth creationist. Here is my response, with the name changed and some of the letter changed as well: Dear Joe, …
National Geographic — irresponsible dismissal of a valid historical document
I have been a reader and collector of National Geographic since childhood. I am able to overlook some of their biases, which lead from time to time to sloppy journalism on the part of the magazine, such as the Gospel of Judas fiasco. Here is another NG piece of sloppy/biased journalism regarding religion: the cover …
Continue reading National Geographic — irresponsible dismissal of a valid historical document
Spurgeon on science
Charles Spurgeon was one of the great preachers of the nineteenth century, and like many leading Evangelicals of that time, he had no problem with the idea of an old Earth. Today's Pyromaniac's blog has an excerpt from Spurgeon's book The Greatest Fight in the World. In this short section, Spurgeon attacks the scientists who …
Ten arguments for God’s existence
Theologically, I know that I believe in God because, by his grace, he has drawn me to himself. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. (John 6:44). I find apologetics (the rational defense of the faith), however, to be exceedingly useful, including the philosphical arguments for God's existence. …
The moral argument for God’s existence
There are four basic categories of philosophical arguments for God's existence. The one I find most compelling is the cosmological argument, which I have written about here and here. Gene Edward Veith (Cranach, another blog I read almost daily) points to a statement of the moral argument for God's existence by William Lane Craig: The …
The Bible Rocks — Review by Dr. Peter Enns
A good review of Young and Stearley's The Bible, Rocks, and Time by Dr. Peter Enns, professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, can be found here. I haven't finished the book yet, but agree with Dr. Enns that "despite this blunt assessment of young-Earth creationism, the authors’ treatment of their opponents’ views are …
Kentucky Creation Museum
Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, has a good review of the Kentucky Creation Museum. For the extremely patient, it is worth wading through the 100+ comments. Most of the commenters are old-Earth Christians. One of my comments was "Keep the faith. Toss the junk." Grace and Peace
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