Misguided compassion for pest animals
An email exchange with a bleeding heart apologist for the moral equivalence of animals and humans.
A showcase of Christian hatred and secular tolerance
A continuation of an exchange on homosexuality, reposted from Facebook.
What does the Lord say about homosexuality?
A response to a friend’s questions on Facebook.
Has God predestined most people to hell?
Does the Bible imply that God is more glorified in his wrath and justice than his love and mercy?
Biblical reasons to doubt Justin Taylor’s doubts about the creation days being 24-hour periods
Justin Taylor questions the calendar-day interpretation. I question in turn.
Does the Bible teach any kind of free will?
Given how hotly debated a topic it is, you would assume it does…wouldn’t you?
Is there a relevant difference between causing and permitting evil?
An exchange with Arminian theologian Roger Olson.
Unreflective assumptions about free will
Suppose everyone automatically assumes they have the power of contrary choice. What follows?
Skeptical naivete about ancient near-Eastern history
Should we even expect accounts of ancient events to reflect historical fact?
Water and spirit
An exchange demonstrating that it does not, and cannot, refer to baptism.
Why God can’t be evil
An exceptionally tardy response to Stephen Law’s inept challenge.
Some thoughts on angelology
In no particular order.
Wibbling, wuv, and outwage
A response to some fairly representative “progressive” comments about the rod in Proverbs.
The importance of emphasis
A brief reflection on how differently the faithful and the faithless construe the same commands.
“Who is my neighbor?”
Pro-choice Christians like to criticize people like me by suggesting that atheists are good Samaritans to women with unwanted pregnancies. To deny them abortion, is to be the uncompassionate priest or Levite who crosses on the other side of the road. The tragic irony is that they have utterly missed the precise point of the parable.
Free and cheap resources for understanding the OT in its socio-religious context
A few links for people who aren’t satisfied with “exegesis” that has the serpent in Eden being a snake, or the gods in Psalm 82 being men.
How Arminian groupies betray their theology
Tut tut.
The incoherent love of Jerry Walls
An example of the muddled thinking about God’s love that passes for good theology in some circles.
Thorny problems with Calvinism #3: double predestination makes God a moral monster
In which I defend the most despised doctrine in Christianity.
Thorny problems with Calvinism #2: the unfairness of election
In which I ask how a God who decides to save only some people can be worthy of worship.
Thorny problems with Calvinism #1: the pettiness of self-glorification
In which I ask how a God who seeks his own glory can be worthy of worship.
Do we have a duty to re-ensoul vampires?
Or, why people should stop treating Joss Whedon as smarter than he is.
Are pictures of Jesus idolatry? Part 1: exegesis
Thinking so is an understandably venerable Reformed tradition which strikes me as naive and legalistic on several levels. Here, I look at the context of the second commandment to exegete the limitations of its meaning.
Spotting real prophecies
If prophecy continues, and someone tells you they have received a word from the Lord, how can you tell if they’re for real, or just full of it?
Why Molinist/Arminian intuitions about God and evil must be false
A simple parallel argument to clarify my previous posts.
Why can’t God interfere with our free will?
After all, we do it all the time.
The Molinist/Arminian ideal of fatherhood
If God is the “author” of sin under Calvinism, what does that make him under Molinism/Arminianism?
2 rough alternative arguments that spiritual gifts continue
Independent lines of evidence seem to converge on a continuationist position.
Infallibility, canon & private judgment
Why appealing to infallible tradition gets you nowhere at all.
A simple argument for using wine in the Lord’s supper
A syllogism any church member can follow when deciding how to vote.
Can we have a non-alcoholic Lord’s supper?
Short answer: no.
Another deconversion story
Warning: while grown-ups will find this an unintentionally comical demonstration of how deeply apostates think before abandoning their faith, Christian children below the age of 8 may want to steer clear.
Why you shouldn’t rely on YouTube for your understanding of the Trinity
If you think that God can be described in terms of “hyperdimensions”, and that this explains why the Trinity is beyond our ken, you need to read this article.
Is Roger Olson actually a Calvinist double agent?
It almost seems more plausible than thinking that such a theological lightweight could become so popular.
Breaking it off with Scripturalism
Infatuation with Scripturalism is like a teenage crush…but can’t a man marry his high school sweetheart?
3 reasons to recover the pronunciations of biblical names
Don’t you hate it when people keep pronouncing your name wrong?
The wolves are guarding the sheep pen
Roman Catholicism is not a Christian denomination, and Protestant apologists of all people should be conversant with the reasons why.
3 reasons why Christianity + prayer to the saints = pagan polytheism
Unfortunate for Roman Catholic claims about being the One True Church that Christ Founded.
Christianity and LGBTQ* is a two-way street
The church continues to respond poorly to LGBTQ* issues, both by failing to love LGBTQ* people rightly, and by failing to interact savvily with secular LGBTQ* activism. But there is plenty of blame to go around.
Was the universe made just for us?
Ace apologist Tim McGrew thinks the idea sits awkwardly with Christian theology; I respectfully beg to differ.
True Reason
★★★★☆ A decisive demolition of New Atheism’s “monopoly on reason”.
Sodomites demand right to temporary slaves; courts agree
It’s satire. But…not really.
Why Christians should not use the word “homophobia”
Overlooking the Orwellian use of language in the culture wars is like overlooking the use of defective ammo in real wars.
Is Yahweh made in man’s image?
If he is, why do nearly all (presumably man-made) religions line up against Christianity on many key doctrines?
Why doesn’t God just do whatever it takes to make people believe in him?
In which I point out four faulty presuppositions behind a common atheistic question.
Nepotism
Is nepotism always as bad as many people assume?
Sam Harris’ Moral Landscape, challenged
A refutation of Sam Harris’ book, The Moral Landscape, in 956 words.
5 reasons to seriously doubt the story the papacy likes to tell about its origins
A cursory description of some of the very widely-accepted historical facts that puts to shame Rome’s story about Peter inaugurating an unbroken succession of bishops in Rome.
What’s the big deal with killing babies anyway?
I mean, really? God does it all the time!