General

Thankful to Whom?

By L. Alfred James I have observed a very strange thing under the sun. Many agnostics and outright atheists regularly talk about how “grateful” they feel for their lives, their career, or their family. They say things like, “I feel very thankful for this,” or “I’m extremely grateful.” I’ve seen numerous interviews with Hollywood celebrities who openly profess atheism but who, at the same time, use this kind of language. In fact, the arch-atheist himself, Richard Dawkins, has done the exact same thing: When I lie on my back and … Read More »

God Would Not Command the Destruction of the Canaanites Would He?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) The love of God is greatly misunderstood by many both within the church and from without. A common descriptor of the God of the Bible is that he is “All-Loving”, and while this is true, there needs to be proper biblical distinctions put in place. In 1 John 4:8 we are told that “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” However, a wider reading of scripture with regards to the attributes of God will quickly teach us that … Read More »

You Already Worship Something

By L. Alfred James I have an important question for you. In fact, this is one of the most important questions you will ever think about in your entire life. Ready? Here it is: What makes your life meaningful? It’s such a simple question that it is easy to misunderstand it. And most people do exactly that. They don’t really understand what is being asked. I’m not asking, what makes you happy? If I were, you might respond by telling me about puppies, rainbows, or peanut butter cup ice cream. … Read More »

The Reliability of the New Testament

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) It is standard fair within apologetics for skeptics to attack the reliability of the Bible, more specifically the New Testament. This makes sense given that the New Testament records the central facts of the Christian faith (i.e. the Resurrection of Jesus). This means that within apologetics, the Christian must be able to defend the integrity of the Bible as God’s Word, as well as be able to demonstrate to the unbeliever’s irrational skepticism that the New Testament is indeed a reliable and accurate record … Read More »

Do You Have Any Evidence That God Loves You?

By L. Alfred James One of the most important things I’ve ever learned in my entire life is this: If people believe that you care about them, they will be receptive to what you have to say. But if they don’t think you care about them, they won’t take you seriously. It doesn’t matter if you explain the most profound secrets of the universe to them. If you don’t exhibit concern for them as human beings, they won’t give you a hearing. They will probably be polite to you, but … Read More »

Does the Soul Exist?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) The question of the existence of the soul is an important one. Indeed, a central debate between the Christian theist and the materialistic physicalist is whether “consciousness is a brain state or a mental, immaterial state reflective of an immaterial soul?” If it can be demonstrated that man is not simply composed of physical material, but rather is a body soul composite, the evidence for man’s immaterial consciousness or soul would be a good foundation upon which one can infer the existence of God, … Read More »

Can We Really Love A Silent God?

By L. Alfred James Newsflash: Two adults cannot have a very deep relationship if they never exchange words. Okay, that’s probably not really a newsflash since it’s extremely obvious. In fact, it’s so obvious that we virtually never think about it. But this obvious fact has huge implications for our understanding of God. Words are the only medium that can adequately express the thoughts, feelings, and choices of a human being. Without words, a relationship between two people cannot be very fulfilling. Consider the short anecdote that Bob Kauflin tells … Read More »

Is God A Person?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) When answering the question “Is God a Person”, it is important that we define our terms. What is a “person?” And what differentiates between something that is personal and impersonal? When speaking of God, we need to clarify that unlike many philosophical and religious views of eastern thought, God is personal, he is relational. On Christianity, God is not an impersonal force but an active being who engages in relationship with his creation. When we speak of “personhood” we are pointing to things like … Read More »

Recent Examples of the Bibles Cultural Impact

By L. Alfred James In the past few weeks, we’ve surveyed attempts throughout history to create a modern nation without the use of any kind of scripture. In France (in the 1700s), the result was 40,000 deaths and the arrest of two percent of the adult population. In communist countries (in the 1900s), the result was even more devastating: Approximately 100 million people were killed by communist regimes, regimes who had the best of intentions—they wanted to create a fair society. It is not hard to understand how this could … Read More »

God Exists and You Know It!

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) Imagine God revealed that everybody knows that He exists and is without excuse for believing in him. If God himself told you this, would you believe it? Any professing Christian would not hesitate to believe this if God Himself revealed it to them, right? Of course, if God knows all things then He would be in a position to know that all men have a knowledge of Him as God. Now suppose God revealed to you that all men know him and are without … Read More »