Category Archives: Apologetics

Biblical rationale for apologetics

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Here are a few reasons, drawn from Scripture, why Christians should engage in apologetics:-

  1. Apologetics is a biblical command, 1 Peter 3:15.
  2. Christians are to contend for the faith, Jude 3.
  3. Christians are to pull down strongholds that stand against Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4.
  4. Christians are to eliminate doubts in the mind of the convert, 2 Corinthians 10:5.
  5. Christians are to give a reason for their hope in Christ, 1 Peter 3:15.
  6. False doctrines and ideas should be addressed, Titus 1:9-11.
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Religion as ‘wish-fulfilment’

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It was Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) who first popularised the notion that religious belief is merely the projection of human longing, the objectification of a false idea that people wish to be true.  ‘God’ is, according to this view, an entirely human invention, ‘a dream of the human soul’, brought into being to give comfort along life’s difficult and dark path.

Religious people are unaware of this.  They think that the God they have imagined has some objective existence. …

God, evolution, and natural evil

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One of the most significant objections to the theory of evolution is the moral one: if there is an all-wise God, why would he use a process that involves so much waste, suffering and death?

Biology, says, Denis Alexander, is a ‘package deal’. For every ‘plus’ that we might see as positive for life and well-being, there is a ‘minus’. For example: mutations are essential for biodiversity, and yet mutations also cause cancer and genetic diseases.…

Why an atheist says, ‘We must rekindle our religion’

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According to Richard Dawkins, religion is ‘the root of all evil’, and the teaching of religion to children is tantamount to ‘child abuse’.  Not to be outdone, Christopher Hitchens declares that ‘religion poisons everything’.

Now, I do not hold a brief to defend either the truth or the goodness of religion generally.  We must distinguish between what is good, what is neutral, and what is actually evil in religion.

But we should not assume that the blanket condemnation of all religions by Dawkins et al is condoned by all atheists.…

Bias confirmation

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‘Bias confirmation’ refers to the tendency that people have to notice evidence that seems to confirm their existing beliefs, and to ignore or discount contradictory evidence.  It amounts to unconscious ‘cherry-picking’ from the available evidence, and can lie behind expressions such as, “There – I told you so!  Now will you believe me?”

To a lesser or greater extent, we are all prone to bias confirmation.  We cannot objectively and rationally evaluate all the sense experiences that come our way, and yet we need quick and easy ways of making sense of things, and of fitting them into our existing world views.…

The television mind

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It would be easy to moan about the negative impact that television has had on our ability to think.

So here goes.

Despite the impact of computer technology, television continues the shape the way people think, feel and behave.  And in some ways the impact of TV may be greater even than schools, families and churches.

Many people get their news, and have their opinions moulded by, television (rather than by books and newspapers).

This creates a peculiar climate for Christian apologetics. …

Out of the mouth of…Christopher Hitchens

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Noted atheist (anti-theist, really) Christopher Hitchens was once interviewed by Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell.

The following exchange was enlightening:-

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book [God Is Not Great] is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

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Does religion lead to violence?

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I’ve been listening to another of Premier Radio’s Unbelievable podcasts.

This one featured a debate between atheist Ed Turner (a lawyer) and Christian Meic Pearse (a historian).

The focus of discussion was Pearse’s recent book The Gods of War (IVP 2007).  His contention is that while religion can play a significant part in armed conflict, that point is often over-stated, and the main factors leading to warfare are cultural and economic.

The debate was, as is usual for this show, thoughtful and civilised. …

Apologetics and World View

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I’ve been pondering recently some of the limitations of evidentialist apologetics.  The problems become readily apparent when unsympathetic sceptics (Hitchens, Dawkins, Atkins et al) insist that apologists provide detailed and irrefutable evidence for this or that Christian claim (everything from the existence of God, say, to the reality of ‘miracles’).  But it seems that the a priori commitments of convinced atheists are such that no evidence would satisfy them.  They are either unable or unwilling to imagine their way into thinking about things from a theistic perspective.…

Science and scientism

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A scientific outlook becomes ‘scientism’ when it adopts the view that the scientific method is the only reliable way of knowing.  ‘Scientism’ leaves no room for other ways of knowing, including theological approaches.

There are, however, several limitations to scientism:-

1.  It is self-defeating.  The assumption that the scientific method is the only way of knowing cannot itself be derived scientifically.  It is internally inconsistent and must itself start with an act of faith.

2. …