General

Don’t Be Fooled by the Pretty Parables of Pluralism

By L. Alfred James Last week we dissected the intellectual attitude of those who compare the religions of the world to blind men groping around an elephant, or those who compare the religions of the world to multiple paths leading up a mountain. These parables are claiming that the religions in the world are all equally valid systems of truth and equally valid ways of having a relationship with God. The official name for this belief is called religious pluralism because it argues that there is no one single religion … Read More »

3 Things to Remember When Interpreting the Bible

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) The science of interpretation is called hermeneutics. When we are seeking to interpret what we are reading we are engaging in a hermeneutical procedure. Every person who seeks to read the Bible properly must utilize the proper tools of interpretation if we are to get at what the scriptures are intending to teach us. It is often because of a lack of understanding as to how we are to interpret the scriptures, or any piece of literature for that matter that people come to … Read More »

Don’t All Religions Lead to God?

By L. Alfred James You have probably heard the parable about the blind men and the elephant. It’s an ancient Sikh story with many variations. But the gist of it goes something like this: A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to their town, but none of them knew what kind of creature it was. Out of curiosity, they sought it out, and when they found it, they groped all about it. The first man, who was grasping the tail, said, … Read More »

COVID-19 and the End of the World

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) In light of current events surrounding the nation-wide or even world-wide pandemic COVID-19, emotions are running high along with the fear of uncertainty and rapidly changing information. Furthermore, social media is ablaze with all sorts of conspiracy theories and proclamation of doom and gloom and warnings of impending prophetic fulfillment of the end-times. There are many who see these current events as “signs of the times” and are drawing all sorts of unwarranted and ill-thought out conclusions with regards to what they think the … Read More »

Aren’t Religious Beliefs True Only For Those Who Believe Them?

By L. Alfred James We’ve just worked through a long series of blog posts designed to lead someone all the way from hardcore atheism to Christianity. We’ve seen several proofs for God’s existence and the truth of the Bible. We are finishing this series by dealing with some common questions and objections to Christianity. The first issue we will deal with is what is called religious pluralism. This is the idea that all religions are true for those who believe them. That is, a plurality of religions are true. This … Read More »

A Spiritually Sensitive Apologetic

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) Jesus often found himself in dispute over the Law with the religious leaders of his day. He had to constantly correct their misapprehensions and misinterpretations of the heart of the Law often times exposing their true legalistic and often sinful motives. This is hardly surprising to the believer who understands that in comparison to Jesus our works are but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). In the presence of pure holiness and righteousness we are like the prophet Isaiah who when confronted with the presence of … Read More »

The Case For Christianity: Putting It All Together

By L. Alfred James We are moving towards the end of a long series of blog posts that has provided an intellectual pathway for moving someone (or yourself) all the way from hardcore atheism to biblical Christianity. This week, as we begin bringing this series to a close, I’d like to lay out each one of the major stepping stones that have marked this pathway, hoping that you will see for yourself that the cumulative case for Christianity is extremely powerful. (By the way, everything I say here is an … Read More »

Why Did God Choose Faith As The Instrument Through Which We Are Saved?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) We need to remember that “faith” within the biblical context is “trust”. It is not a blind leap of belief based on irrationality or a lack of evidence. Within the Christian faith men are sinners all of which have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Because this is the state of man, he is unable to save himself since the requirements of God are perfection (Matthew 5:48) and no one is perfect. Furthermore, sin is equated with “debt” (Matthew 6:12) in … Read More »

Answering 3 Objections to Christianity

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) Science has disproven Christianity Science is a method of empirical investigation. How can an empirical methodology disprove an entire worldview system such as Christianity? Furthermore, empirical investigation is not separated from interpretation of empirical data. Science is a methodology and how the data of our empirical investigation is interpreted will depend upon the intellectual framework or worldview that one holds. Our worldview affects how we interpret data. This is why it is so important to recognize that “science” does not tell us anything, “scientists” … Read More »

Why Hume’s Argument Fails

By L. Alfred James We are currently in a series of blog posts that provide an intellectual pathway for moving someone (or yourself) all the way from hardcore atheism to biblical Christianity. We have recently seen that the case for the resurrection of Jesus is quite powerful and stands unrefuted. What I’d like to do this week is deal with one attempt at a refutation that is extremely popular among skeptics. It is simply known as David Hume’s argument against miracles. It is important to understand that Hume does not … Read More »