Monthly Archives: June 2019

Was It Necessary for Christ to Die?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) Was the atonement of Christ necessary? In an ultimate sense, it was not necessary for the Father to send the Son in that it was not necessary for God to save sinners. It is God who shows mercy on whom He wills to show mercy (Romans 9:15). We see the freedom of God in saving others or not in 2 Peter 2:4 where it says, “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits … Read More »

The Similarity of Human DNA and Chimp DNA: It’s Not So Special After All

By L. Alfred James Believe it or not, aluminum was once classified as a precious metal. It was believed to be so special, that bars of aluminum were exhibited at a huge international exposition (the Exposition Universelle) in 1855. Because it was assumed to be so rare, one ounce of aluminum actually cost more than an ounce of gold. (Imagine what you could have bought with a case of Reynolds Wrap!) Aluminum was a hot commodity. But in 50 years things changed dramatically. First, it was realized that aluminum is … Read More »

Jesus, the Son of God

By Elysia McColley One of the most important beliefs of the entire Christian faith is that Jesus is the Son of God. This belief is so central to Christian ethics, theology, and apologetics that all points of doctrine can disintegrate without it. When confronted with the idea that maybe Jesus was not the Son of God, Christians can become defensive and shut down any dialogue with the person that disagrees. The issue at stake here isn’t that we want to defend our faith; 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared … Read More »

The Significance of the Word ‘Lord’ When Applied to Christ

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) In apologetics, understanding biblical doctrine is very important. We need to understand what we are defending. A key element within Christian theology is the teaching that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh (John 1:1, 14, Philippians 2:5-8). Knowing what the Bible says about the deity of Christ is important on various levels since there are many who deny that the Bible teaches this doctrine in the first place. Apart from the fact that it is rather easy to demonstrate that the bible does … Read More »

Commercial Logic: It Makes For Bad Science

By L. ALfred James You’re watching television. A commercial for a moisturizing lotion comes on. It shows a beautiful woman with perfect skin. Chances are a million to one that she did not get her perfect skin by using that exact product (in fact, she probably uses a ton of other products). But the skincare company is hoping you will not think about this. Then another commercial comes on. This one shows a young man with a perfect physique using exercise equipment. Again, chances are a million to one that … Read More »

Was the Bible Corrupted? Part 3: The Septuagint

By Elysia McColley Read “Was the Bible Corrupted? Part 1: Abrogation” Imagine that your family’s ancestry is Scottish, but you have lived your entire life in the United States. You only speak English, and the English that you speak is a different dialect than the English that many Scots speak. You decide one day that you want to connect more with your heritage, so you and your family take a trip to Scotland. When you arrive, you are surprised to realize that in addition to different dialects of English, there … Read More »

If God Knows All Things Then Why Does He Get Angry?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) It is true that God knows all things (1 John 3:20), and as such, nothing is a surprise to him. Nevertheless, if God knew from all eternity that Bob would commit some sin in the future, it is not at all inconsistent for God to reveal his displeasure the moment Bob performs the sin within space, time, and history. God can know something will occur in the future, and then reveal his attitude towards it in the present. Christian theism teaches that God is … Read More »

Willful Neglect: Intellectual Suicide

By L. ALfred James In the spirit of the old game show What’s My Line? I have a mystery-guest I would like to you to think about. I would like you to figure out if this mystery guest is a relatively good and decent person, or if he is a relatively bad person. That is, if you had to pick, would you say he is good or would you say he is bad? Moreover, I want you to base your decision solely on the information that I provide here. Don’t … Read More »