Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 155
December 3, 2012
How Far Should One Pursue an Argument? (Video)
December 2, 2012
Links Mentioned on the Show
The following are links that were either mentioned on this week's show or inspired by it, as posted live on the @STRtweets Twitter feed:
Donate to Stand to Reason and receive a free copy of Jesus iWitness
Nativity car magnets
Christmas Card Captions by Greg Koukl
Justin Taylor's blog
The Life and Death Debate: Moral Issues of Our Time by Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland
End of Life Ethics: A Primer by Melinda Penner
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
SALT Conference 2013 – January 19–20 in Montgomery, Alabama
Listen to today's show or download any show for free.
November 30, 2012
The First Advent Candle
I love Advent (I love Lent, too) because it disciplines me to focus on the true meaning of the Christmas season - the coming of our Savior to save us from our sins. It's one of those liturgical practices that sadly have become less common I guess because they lost meaning for many people. But I think it's a valuable practice to resurrect to put us in a spiritual posture to appreciate more of the significance of Christmas.
I find that Christmas day has much more significance for me when it's the culmination of weeks of preparation rather than the goal line of a busy month. Advent draws our attention to our need for a Savior, the deepest desire of our hearts fulfilled in Immanuel. It focuses on waiting - Israel waiting for their deliverance, our personal waiting for salvation, and waiting for Jesus' return, the culmination of all hope in Him. Jesus is the answer to all that waiting, all that desire, and we celebrate the fulfillment of hope on Christmas.
Many families and churches light candles on advent wreaths, read Scripture, and sing Christmas carols that focus attention on this universal feature of the human condition. The first candle is lit this Sunday.
Isaiah 40
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD’S hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Mark D. Roberts discusses this first week of Advent. And he has provided an Advent calendar ( and other resources) you can follow day by day to prepare for Christmas in the way that matters most.
Tolerance
Tolerance is a concept that has been so completely redefined, that it's very difficult to help people see the difference. A caller to the program recently, a non-Christian, asked why religious people can't be tolerant of secular people like secular people are to Christians. Now, what he meant by this wasn't classical tolerance - show respect for the individual whose ideas you disagree with. He was asking why Christians don't "live and let live" and try to persuade others with different convictions. Essentially, he was asking why Christians can't be moral and religious relativists, just like much of society.
Greg's uses "taking the roof off" tactic in the discussion, and hopefully the caller will continue to think about the discussion and see the difference between true tolerance and what he's asking about. Here's the clip from the program.
November 29, 2012
The Chasm between Muslims and Christians
I cited Samuel Zwemer, the famous 20th century missionary
to Muslims, in the recent Solid Ground
article that Greg and I co-wrote about the Insider Movement. But I wanted to
include the full quote here because he explains one of the main reasons why the Insider Movement can’t work: the chasm between Muslims and Christians is unbridgeable.
Islam is an anti-Christian religion. Zwemer writes the following in his
article, “The Chasm” in The Moslem World,
published in 1919.
The yawning chasm between the devout Moslem and the devout
Christian, between the orthodox Moslem and the orthodox Christian is a problem
that faces every colporteur and Bible woman, every teacher and preacher. It is
real and deep. The chasm cannot be bridged by rickety planks of compromise. Syncretism
would be equivalent to surrender; for Islam thrives only by its denial of the authority
of the Scriptures, the Deity of our Lord, the blessedness of the Holy Trinity,
the cruciality and significance of the Cross, (nay, its very historicity) and
the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ as King and Saviour. And this denial is
accompanied by the assertion of the authority of another book, the Koran, the
eclipse of Christ’s glory by another prophet, even Mohammed, and the
substitution of another path to holiness and forgiveness than the way of the
Cross. These denials and assertions are imbedded in the Koran and are the
orthodox belief of ninety per cent of the people. On every one of these points the true Moslem stands arrayed in armor against the missionary and the Truth, of which he is the custodian and the preacher.
November 28, 2012
Thinking Is Hard, but It Gets Easier
Just a short word of encouragement about learning from resources that are hard. People will sometimes tell us that a book or DVD we suggested is too hard to understand. It's not surprising that the material may be challenging, but I think most people are capable of learning the things we recommend if they take the time. I truly think that much of the time it's not that the content is hard, it's that it's new categories and ideas that are unfamiliar, and that's hard. And in our normal daily lives, we don't have to think in unfamiliar ways very often.
When I started grad school in Philosophy, believe me, it was hard. I read things over and over. But then after a while, I realized that the things that seemed hard were familiar and easy. I got used to it, to the themes and terrain of the discipline. And I looked back on things that seemed hard as elementary. Now that I've been out of school for ten years, I kind of groan when I need to read something that is challenging because, once again, I'm not used to it . It takes discipline and effort.
Theology and philosophy are important topics to learn how to think, how to think about God and the world. But they're very useful tools and worth the effort. And most people really are capable of learning the terrain, it's just unfamiliar and takes some extra time initially. It gets easier and clearer, and the ideas and skills learned can help illuminate significant, fascinating things about God and Christianity. You really can learn it.
Christmas Preparation
I really like Advent, which begins Sunday, because it helps me keep the focus of the Christmas season and also puts me in a frame of mind that prepares for Christmas that seems to help me appreciate it when it comes, rather than be relieved that the hoopla is over. Christmas is such an important holiday I want it to mean something, I want to enjoy it, I want to absorb it, and keeping Advent seems to do that.
We have an Advent calendar we've been using since I was a child that a neighbor made for us that includes a daily Bible reading and a hymn. Now I've also added an app for my iPhone that seems terrific. The graphics are really nice and the daily devotion provides a good chance to spend five minutes focused on Scripture and the promise God was working up to fulfilling in the Incarnation. The theology isn't focused on one system but is intentionally general enough for Bible-believing Christians.
There are other traditions you can adopt as an individual or family to recognize Advent and prepare for Christmas - traditional Advent calendar, an Advent wreath and candle, devotions. Plan to take time in these weeks to pause and focus on the season. It's a reminder to prepare for Christmas, but also for Jesus' second coming when we hope to be found alert and ready.
November 27, 2012
"The Bible: Fast Forward" Is Finally Here!
It's finally here! "The Bible Fast Forward" DVD begins shipping next week.
The much-anticipated DVD version of one of STR's most popular resources has arrived. "The Bible: Fast Forward" has already given many Christians a better appreciation for the unity of the Bible and God's purpose in history. And with this new video format, seeing the Bible's big picture has never been easier. Now you can invite Greg Koukl into your living room or church to present, in his winsome manner, this comprehensive study on the overarching themes that tie Scripture together.
About the resource...
"The Bible: Fast Forward" gives a practical historical overview of the Old Testament, emphasizing the unfolding plan of salvation as God reveals it through His covenants with the nation of Israel, and the fulfillment of those covenants in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. You'll gain an understanding of how the central topical elements of the Christian story of reality play out historically from the Fall to the cross.
By the end of the DVD course you'll be able to:
Identify the unifying theme of the entire Bible
Chart the twelve main historical events of the nation of Israel, from the call of Abraham to the coming of Messiah
List the basic elements of the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and New Covenants and examine their relevance for Christians today
Show how the events, covenants, and promises of the Old Testament come to their perfect focus and fulfillment in Christ
Demonstrate that the Bible presents one cohesive plan of salvation
Challenge: Wouldn't Eternity Become Hell?
It's time once again for the challenge. You know how it works—we give you an objection to Christianity, then you get to think through the answer and take a shot at responding to it in the comments below. Toward the end of the week, we'll post our video response, and you can see how you did.
Today's challenge is a question sent in by a reader:
I had a young lawyer (an atheist) ask me why anyone would want to go to heaven. Why isn't 80 years of existence just enough? Wouldn't you become tired after a while? After you have seen everything, tasted all the great foods, met everyone in a deep and fulfilling way, and after you have gained all knowledge, wouldn't you just become Sisyphus? Wouldn't eternity become Hell?
Make sure you check back at the end of the week to hear Brett's response.
