Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 4

Links Mentioned on the 8/12/16 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Guest Host Alan Shlemon: Teaching Christians in Egypt (0:00)

Questions:

1. Is Seventh Day Adventism orthodox Christianity? (0:17)

Seventh Day Adventism ��� Articles from CARM
How Does the Old Testament Law Apply to Christians Today?
Think of the Mosaic Covenant Like a State Law
The Law and the Christian
The Law of Moses and the Law of Christ
40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law  
A series of posts by Justin Taylor on the above book

2. Could the Genesis 1 account be about functional rather than material creation? (0:32)

Acts Points to a Physical Resurrection by Amy Hall (Christ was raised with a physical body.)
1 Corinthians 15 ��� "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.... But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?' You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.... is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body." (We will each be raised as Christ was raised, with a physical body. More on this in the rest of the chapter.)

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Challenge Response: Christians Who Benefit from Science Are Hypocritical

Here's my response to this week's challenge:

 

Links Mentioned on the 8/10/16 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Guest Host: Alan Shlemon

Guest: Abdu Murray ��� Water That Satisfies the Muslim's Thirst

Abdu Murray of RZIM
A New Kind of Apologist ��� Chapter by Abdu Murray: "Water That Satisfies the Muslim's Thirst"
Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews by Abdu Murray
Previous podcast interview with Abdu Murray on Grand Central Question
EmbraceTheTruth.org
The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification by Gordon Nickel
The Ambassador's Guide to Islam by Alan Shlemon

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Atheists Can't Have Their Cake and Eat It Too

The question of the so-called Canaanite ���genocide��� is a difficult one to answer. It's difficult to answer for a few reasons. First, there is no sound bite response. In fact, I have a 50-minute talk devoted to addressing this one subject, and still much more could be said. Second, any adequate response requires laying out the historical and theological context. However, many who raise the challenge are biblically illiterate and have no interest in even attempting to understand the context. Third, any rational response may not be emotionally satisfying. There is something deeply disturbing about these accounts, and the apologist can���t just wave a magic wand to make it go away. Even though a response may not be emotionally satisfying, that doesn���t mean it���s not a reasonable response to the challenge.

Rather than rehearse my response to this challenge, I want to make an observation about the challenge. Many atheists have cited the killing of the Canaanites in the Old Testament to charge God with being a genocidal monster. Christians have rightly pointed out that the conquest of the land of Canaan was an act of judgment on a very wicked society. In fact, the Canaanites engaged in idolatry, incest, temple prostitution, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, child sacrifice, witchcraft, and sorcery (Lev. 18:20-30). For instance, the Canaanites worshiped the underworld god Molech. Molech was represented as an upright, bull-headed brass idol with a human body. The Canaanite people would heat the idol to hundreds of degrees and then place one of their children in its glowing hot arms. The child would burn to death. So this was judgment, not genocide.

Despite the horrors the Canaanites were committing, many atheists complain that God was immoral for stopping them. Yet, the most common challenge raised against the existence of God is the problem of evil. If God exists, why is there so much evil in the world? Why doesn���t God do something about the wickedness in the world? Why doesn���t God intervene?

At this point, there is a obvious inconsistency. They say, ���God must not exist since He doesn���t intervene to stop wicked people.��� But then when He does intervene in history to punish the wicked, they call Him a moral monster. The atheist cannot have it both ways. On the one hand, the atheist will complain about God because He is doesn���t intervene to stop evil in the world���the problem of evil. On the other hand, he complains about God because He intervenes to stop evil in the world���the killing of the Canaanites. I���m sorry, but you can���t have your cake and eat it too. 

Here is a short clip where I walk through this observation.

You can see the entire talk here. 

Challenge: Christians Who Benefit from Science Are Hypocritical

In this week���s challenge, Christians are accused of teaching that ���science and progress is wicked���:

As a Christian, you are taught to largely disregard science and progress as it comes from the minds of fallen and sinful men. Instead, the bible which is seen as ���god���s word��� is held up as the only truth. Thus, when scientific discoveries contradict biblical myths, the Christian is expected to ignore the scientific view in place of stories they themselves would consider mythical if espoused by other faiths. At the same time, Christians are quite happy to reap the benefits of scientific discovery when it suits them. It���s genuinely comical to see Christians using the internet, a product of science and technology, to try and undermine the importance of science. Christians also own computers, drive cars, visit the doctor, use mobile phones and then turn around and say that science and progress is wicked and that man���s wisdom is ���foolish.���

How would you respond to this challenge? What is the Christian view of science? How does science fit into a Christian worldview? Why don���t Christians have a problem with technology? Do Christians ���undermine the importance of science���? Tell us what you think in the comments below, then come back on Thursday to hear what Tim has to say.

[Explore past challenges here and here.]

Talk to Alan this Tuesday

Alan Shlemon is hosting the podcast live this week, Tuesday 4-6 p.m. PT.  

Ask your question. Share a piece of your mind. Call with your question or comment at (855) 243-9975, outside the U.S. (562) 424-8229. The broadcast is live Tuesday 4-6 p.m. P.T. ��� commentary and your calls. He'll also talk to Abdu Murray about witnessing to Muslims.  

Listen live online. 

The program is two hours now, and one hour podcast episodes are posted on Wednesday and Friday.

How Should I Talk to My Gay Friend about the Bible and Homosexuality?

Alan shares a loving, tactful approach if you want to bring up your Christian beliefs to your gay friend.

Christianity: It's Either Objectively True or Objectively False

Lately, I've begun to realize just how much relativism is ingrained in our culture, particularly when it comes to religion. In conversations with people about Christianity, I've found that sometimes I am literally unable to communicate the idea that I'm claiming Christianity is an objectively true description of reality. Unfortunately, I've even had a conversation or two like this with Christians.

But communicating this is what we must do if we're truly to communicate the Gospel, because the Gospel is centered on an objective event in history. As the Apostle Paul said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless." Often, by explaining the centrality of the historical death and resurrection of Christ, you can help someone to understand the objective nature of our claim���that is, the claim that Christianity is the kind of thing that is either objectively true or objectively false���because history is something most people understand as being objective.

There are consequences to misunderstanding the objective nature of Christianity. J. Warner Wallace describes one consequence like this:

I sometimes ask Christian students if they would be willing to follow me into the streets of the nearest big city to try to convince people that chocolate chip cookies are the best cookies in the world. Unsurprisingly, students aren���t usually excited about going. When asked, they quickly admit that it seems pointless to try to convince people of something as subjective as a personal opinion about cookies. They recognize that cookie preference is a matter of subjective opinion, rather than objective truth, and none of them are typically willing to go out of their way to argue for an opinion. I then ask students if they would be willing to follow me into a region of the city that is suffering from a Tuberculosis outbreak to convince those infected with TB to take the one known cure, Isoniazid. All the students I ask find this to be a worthy effort; they are willing to help for a cause such as this. They recognize the difference between the cookie and the cure. Cookies are a matter of subjective opinion, but cures are a matter of objective truth. If people suffering with TB don���t know about the cure, they���ll die. Personal opinions about Isoniazid are irrelevant. Some TB sufferers might, for example, prefer to take Ibuprofen. But the objective truth about TB and Isoniazid overshadows any opinion someone might hold about their favorite treatment. Cures are like that. When we are objectively convinced that a particular treatment is the exclusive cure for what is ailing us, we ignore our preferences and act quickly to save ourselves and share the truth with others.

There is a relationship between our categorization of Christian claims and our desire to share them with the world around us. Some of us hesitate to share the Gospel because (whether we care to admit it or not) we���ve come to see religious truth as a matter of subjective opinion rather than objective truth. We treat the Gospel more as a cookie than a cure.

The "true for you but not for me" view of religion is deeply ingrained in our culture, so we shouldn't be surprised that even Christians can be affected by this. We need to do more deliberate work to counteract this; we can't assume anyone (even a Christian) knows what we mean when we say Christianity is "true," and this understanding is crucial not only as a motivation for evangelism but also for the person's very relationship with God Himself, for how could anyone have a significant relationship with a God they think is only "true for them"?

Links Mentioned on the 8/05/16 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast, annotated with links that were either mentioned on the show or inspired by it:

Commentary: Is It Arrogant to Think We���re the Only Intelligent Life in the Universe? (0:00)

Why Would God Create a Massive Universe? by Amy Hall (quoting Matt Papa)
The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery by Jay Richards and Guillermo Gonzalez
Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee
Reasons to Believe
Hume Lake Christian Camps
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ��� Film

Questions:

1. How do I talk about homosexuality in a group of people who hold different worldviews and values? (0:22)

What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung
A Reformation the Church Doesn't Need ��� Part 1, Part 2
Worshipping Images of Ourselves by Amy Hall (quoting John Piper on why homosexuality is wrong)
Gay or Straight, We All Must Decide if We Love Jesus above All Else by Amy Hall
Be Willing to Submit to Our Good God on the Issue of Homosexuality by Amy Hall ��� A response to a young man who was struggling to make sense of the Bible���s view on homosexuality
Discuss it accurately, persuasively, and graciously

2. If I sin because of sin in me, then why am I held responsible? (0:34)

The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl

3. How can I respond to the New Apostolic Reformation movement? (0:46)

God���s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement by Doug Geivett and Holly Pivec
Greg's interview with Doug Geivett on the New Apostolic Reformation

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���6:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

Newsletters: Cultivating Confidence, the Orlando Shooting, and Theistic Evolution

In case you missed them on the website, here are Brett���s, Alan���s, and Tim���s July newsletters:

Staring Down Skepticism: How Two Students Cultivated Confidence in the Face of Skeptical Challenges by Brett Kunkle: ���Shane was thrilled. His girlfriend Francesca and he had just finished hours of conversation with their skeptical friends at a local restaurant.... A potentially faith-shattering skeptical encounter became a confidence-building, faith-affirming experience.... So what���s the difference between Shane and Francesca and the typical Christian student whose faith gets challenged? Training before the encounter.��� (Read more.)


Are Christians to Blame for the Orlando Shooting? by Alan Shlemon: ���Our response to homosexuals is not one of violence, vengeance, or malice. Rather, it is love. We���re called to love those who identify as LGBT. Love, biblically speaking, means that we care so much about them that we tell them about God���s message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-20). Since every human being has committed crimes against God, every one of us deserves to be punished. That means we are all destined to be separated from Him. God, however, offers to pardon anyone who turns from his rebellious life and submits his life to Him. That message of hope is what Christians are commanded to share with all people, whether it's the Muslim who fights for Allah or the one who identifies as LGBT.��� (Read more.)


Is Theistic Evolution a Contradiction in Terms? by Tim Barnett: ���On a recent episode of the Stand to Reason weekly podcast, a supporter of STR took issue with one of the ways Greg Koukl and I argue against theistic evolution. Specifically, the caller did not agree with our argument that some forms of theistic evolution are a contradiction in terms. What I���d like to do is model for you how I would respond.��� (Read more.)

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