Evan Minton's Blog, page 10

BOOK REVIEW: “Genesis For Normal People” by Peter Enns and Jared Byas

A good introductory level work to the book of Genesis. In this book, Enns and Byas talk about the overarching theme of the book of Genesis as a whole; it’s the story of Israel. Enns and Byas propose that Genesis was written in the exilic period or post-exhilic period (i.e when Israel was in Babylonian Captivity) with the purpose of showing them how, even though their ancestors routinely messed up, God was still fai...

Q&A: The History Of Apologetics

Peace of Christ, Mr.Minton. As you have described before (if I recall correctly), we are in a golden age of apologetics. However, I would like to ask about the era before the golden age. What was apologetics like before the 1930’s? What kind of arguments were used? Do you recommend the work of any ‘ancient’ apologists for aspiring apologists? 

Andro

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When I said we were in the golden age, I meant...

Unconditional Election and The Gospel of John

Introduction

The Gospel of John is a critical battlefield in the debate over biblical election. Calvinists and Arminians both find strong support for their respective views here. Arminians draw much attention to the passages which emphasize human responsibility. Calvinists point to passages which lay great emphasis on God’s sovereignty. In particular, Calvinists point to passages that express both necessary and sufficient conditions for coming to faith in Christ that are found throughout the ...

Some Brief Thoughts on Chris Bolt, Brian Knapp, and Truth

Introduction

In a recent episode of Revelationary on Air, presuppositional apologists Dr. Chris Bolt and Brian Knapp had some things to say about me. For those who are not aware, Dr. Bolt and myself have had a respectful but spirited ongoing dialogue regarding the differences between his presuppositionalism and my evidentialism. I offered a general critique of Greg Bahnsen’s presuppositional apologetics in a video entitled “What’s Wrong With Presuppositional Apologetics: A Response to Greg Ba...

Appointed to Eternal Life: A Closer Look at Acts 13:48

Introduction

When controversies about the nature of Biblical election arise, sooner or later Acts 13:48 comes up. A single word in this verse has generated a copious amount of literature and even more debate. A. W. Pink declares, “Every article of human ingenuity has been employed to blunt the sharp edge of this scripture and to explain away the obvious meaning of these words, but it has been employed in vain.” (A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God Revised Edition, Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth...

Who Does God Want to be Saved?

1 Timothy 2:4 Revisited

Introduction

In 1 Timothy 2:4, the apostle Paul declares that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Many Arminians see this verse as providing the strongest Biblical support for the belief that God wants everyone to believe and be saved. Realizing the difficulties that this would pose to the doctrines of unconditional election and limited atonement, Calvinists argue that Arminians have misunderstood this verse. They argue that ...

Not Willing That Any Should Perish

2 Peter 3:9 Revisited

Introduction

2 Peter 3:9 is one of the primary texts that Arminians use in support of their belief that God desires the salvation of all men. The reason is evident enough. The verse clearly says that God is not willing that any should perish. But Calvinists often challenge the Arminian reading, arguing that it misunderstands who the verse is referring to. In this essay, I will examine and evaluate the arguments Calvinists give for reading the verse in other ways. I wi...

BOOK REVIEW: “Undead: A Historical Investigation Into The Most Famous Miracle In History” – by Caleb Jackson

Caleb Jackson’s book “Undead” is a fantastic book on the resurrection of Jesus. Caleb’s case layout is as follows: 

1: Establish the historical facts to be explained. 2: Examine what explanation best accounts for those facts.  

Those facts to be explained are Jesus’ burial, empty tomb, postmortem apperances, and the origins of The Disciples belief. This books goes into a lot of depth and reads like a scholarly yet ac...

BOOK REVIEW: “Fix Your Eyes: How Our Study Of God Shapes Our Worship Of Him” by Amy Gannett

One of the things my ministry (Cerebral Faith) aims to do is to get Christians and non-Christians alike to “use the brains that God gave them” to cultivate an intellectually satisfying Christian worldivew. So many Christians are unable to give a defense for the reason for the hope that they have (1 Peter 3:15) and only a relative few are able to articulate even one good argument for the existence of God. Worse yet...

BOOK REVIEW: “God and Ultimate Origins” by Andrew Loke

This is probably the best book on the Cosmological Argument that I have read in a long time. It’s a scholarly book, so it is a bit technical, but it isn’t TOO technical. Andrew Loke starts the book with epistemological issues such as whether it’s even possible to come to an answer regarding ultimate origins, and whether philosophy should play any role or whether the task should be left solely to science. He shows h...