This is the title of a book by Greg Koukl. The author suggests a number of ways in which the Christian, in seeking to commend her or her faith to others, might guide the conversation. In other words, the book covers not the ‘what’ of Christian apologetics, but rather the ‘how’. Recognising that the person who seeks to commend Jesus to others needs (a) knowledge, (b) wisdom, and (c) character, Koukl focuses mainly on the second of these.…
The church in Thessalonica – a model church in many ways, 1:3f.
There were some problems. See v11. Some of them ‘toadying up’ to the more well-to-do (Acts 17:5 hints at the cultural background).
Any vision for the church will need a way of dealing with problems like this:-
Paul had already offered a milder admonition, 1 Thess 4:11f.
‘Stepping out of line’ – military terminology.
Apostolic authority means ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’: that is, with his own authority.…
…and I (sort of) agree with him!
In the course of a wide-ranging interview with Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable show, Tom Wright explained why he’s uncomfortable with the word ‘miracle’, as popularly understood. ‘Let’s give up the word “miracle”,’ he said,
…The word comes from an Epicurean or deistic worldview which envisages a God who is outside the process and occasionally reaches in, does something funny, and then pushes off again. That’s not what the New Testament is talking about.
At last, in chapter 6 of God or Godless?, we have a real problem to debate.
Atheist John Loftus regards this as completely cut-and-dried: in several places in the Old Testament, the biblical God commanded genocide. He cites the following texts: Joshua 6:16-25; Deuteronomy 2:4-34; 7:1-6; Numbers 31:7-18. Since there can be no possible justification for this genocide, John thinks that apologists either have to concede that they never took place, or they have to argue that they did take place, but were mistaken in thinking that it was God who had commanded them. …
We’re up to chapter 5 of God or Godless, by John Loftus (atheist) and Randal Rauser (Christian).
Randal seeks to support his contention by pointing out that some scientists have a quasi-religious outlook on the cosmos. The natural world is their God, and the scientific method their dogma. But this religious impulse should be directed at the Creator, rather than the creation.
John, in his opening statement, pretty much reverses the original assertion by saying, in effect, “religion is no substitute for science.” …
This is the strange theory advanced by John Loftus in chapter 4 of God or Godless?.
I call it ‘strange’ because I had not come across it before. I hastily looked up the passage he cites (Exodus 22:29-30) to see what I had been missing all these years. We read:
…‘You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The first-born of your sons you shall give to me.
This is the topic of debate in chapter 3 of God or Godless?
Randal Rouser opens by imagining the mind-set of someone who tortures and kills people for fun. He imagines the character denying that what he does is evil, because (on the assumption that there is no God) morality is a purely subjective concept, with no objective basis for deciding whose morality is right and whose is wrong.
John Loftus, in his opener, says that the title of the chapter assumes that there is one God, whereas there are multiple concepts of God, with their own moralities. …
In chapter 2 of God or Godless? John Loftus asserts that the biblical concept of God evolved over time from polytheism to monotheism. He infers from this that there is no unified teaching about God in the Bible, and that the choice of one (Yahweh rather than Baal, say) is more or less a historical accident.
John’s argument is full of sweeping statements, right from the start. When he says, “biblical scholars long ago acknowledged…”, he should have said, “Some biblical scholars think…”.…
This is the first topic debated by Randal Rauser (a Christian) and John W. Loftus (an atheist) in their book God or Godless?
John Loftus concedes that if there is no God, then life has no intrinsic purpose and we have to either (a) muddle along in a purposeless existence, or (b) construct some kind of purpose for ourselves.
Yes, I agree with that. If it were proven to me that God did not exist, life would either become meaningless for me, or I would have to construct some kind of meaning.…
This is the title of a recent (2013) book of written debates by John W. Loftus (an atheist) and Randal Rauser (a Christian).
Twenty topics are covered in all, half chosen by one protagonist and half by the other. For each topic there is an opening statement of about 800 words from each person, rebuttals of about 150 words, and closing statements of 50 words.
It’s an interesting approach, although not without its weaknesses and limitations:-
