This is an audio interview by Knowing the Truth with Joe Carter, the co-author of How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator. As mentioned in a previous post, the book analyzes Jesus' use of rhetoric; the elements of logos, pathos, & ethos. Kevin Boling talks to Joe Carter about the book, which is worth getting if you are interested in communication and persuasion. More on rhetoric here.
In this talk, Dr. Henry F. Schaefer explores the place of theology in the origins of science and details the religious views of many prominent scientists.
If you have a list of your top 5 apologists to learn from, put philosopher and theologian Kenneth Samples on your list. His bio is here.
The Five Ways: The five rational arguments that Thomas Aquinas saw as pointing to the existence of God. The five arguments are (1) the argument from motion (all things in motion need a mover, but there must be something unmoved that begins other things in motion; God is this Unmoved Mover); (2) the cosmological argument (all effects must have causes, but there cannot be an infinite series of causes into the past; thus God is the first or Uncaused Cause); (3) the argument from contingency (all things exist in dependence on something else, that is, contingent; therefore there must be something that is absolutely independent, that is, necessary; this necessary being is God); (4) the argument from perfection (there appears to be an increasing degree of perfection among things; therefore there must be a being who is the height of perfection; this Being is God); and (5) the teleological argument (the observable design in the world suggests that there must be an intelligent designer - God).1
Here is an interview with apologist MaryJo Sharp of Confident Christianity. MaryJo answers questions about being a woman apologist, her recent debate on the resurrection, advice about apologetics, the launch of her new apologetics podcast, and more. Find her at her blog, on twitter, her web page, and Facebook.
"If you are reading in order to become a better reader, you cannot read just any book or article. You will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are well within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn."1
The Elusive God: Reorienting Religious Epistemology by Paul K. Moser is a philosophy book dealing the question of religious epistemology (theory of knowledge). It addresses the topic of God’s apparent hiddenness or concealment. That is, if God exists, it is not necessarily obvious that He exists. In light of this fact, the book looks at the question of evidence that shows God’s existence and examines the type of evidence one should expect from a God that is hidden. This review will survey the primary theme of the book and offer a brief synopsis of some of the secondary themes.
On November 30, 2009, Stephen Meyer & Richard Sternberg debated Donald Prothero & Michael Shermer on the topic: Has Evolutionary Theory Adequately Explained the Origins of Life? Read about the debate here, at the American Freedom Alliance website. (original audio page here)
Greg Koukl's excellent apologetics ministry Stand to Reason has featured their Top 20 Articles of 2009. Of course, don't forget STR's podcast here, and their video resources here. And pick up Tactics: A Gameplan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (one of Ap315's top 3 apologetics books of the year). Here's the list of the top 20 articles:
Philosopher Peter S. Williams (with Damaris) has had a number of good audios lately touching on the subject of classical rhetoric and how it applies to apologetics. These were happened upon after reading the excellent book How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator by Carter & Coleman, which touches on similar points (The book analyzes Jesus' use of rhetoric; the elements of logos, pathos, & ethos.)
Dr. Phil Fernandes defends the true Jesus of history and the veracity of the Bible. He refutes the claims of scholars, such as Bart Ehrman, who use well-known New Testament manuscript variants and controversial verses as an excuse to reject all biblical texts. Original video at the Institute of Biblical Defense.Middle Knowledge: The philosophical theory that God knows all possible events and all theoretical truths, as well as all actual events and truths. Middle knowledge suggests that God knows not only what humans actually do but also what humans would do under hypothetical circumstances. For example, in the case of persons who die without hearing the gospel message, God knows how they would have responded had they heard it. Some theologians conclude that based on this middle knowledge, God will save those who remained beyond the pale of the gospel in this life but would have accepted Christ had the message come to them.1
Apologist Frank Turek hosts this weekly call-in radio program on the American Family Radio network. Turek's website is CrossExamined.org, where you will find links to his blog, TV program, speaking schedule, resources, and more. You may also want to check out his debates with Christopher Hitchens #1 and #2. His excellent apologetics book is I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.
"Every man must do two things alone, he must do his own believing and his own dying."
Here are some helpful MP3s by Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church on a few different topics:
The Apologetics Resource Center (Arcapologetics.org) has a number of great apologetics resources you should browse. Of note is the Areopagus Journal, a bimonthly publication dedicated to apologetics issus. Download a FREE sample issue of Areopagus Journal here. (A subscription also makes a great Christmas gift). Also see their apologetics institute, articles, and audio.
Philosopher J.P. Moreland (books) presents this talk entitled: How Do We Know Christianity Is Right Out Of All The Religions? (from bethinking.org)
With Christmas approaching and fresh iPods flying off the shelves, it's time to stock them up with plenty of good apologetics content. (Apologetics 315 prefers the iPod Touch as it allows for faster playback of podcast feeds and has an external speaker) Here are 42 apologetics feeds that will keep your iTunes stocked for quite some time.Naturalism, Natural Theology: Naturalism sometimes refers to a form of atheism and materialism that maintains that the "natural" universe (composed of energy and matter and based on natural laws) is the sum total of reality, thereby negating human freedom, absolute values and, ultimately, existential meaning. As an ethical theory naturalism suggests that ethical judgments arise out of or are based in the universe itself or "the ways things naturally are." Natural theology maintains that humans can attain particular knowledge about God through human reason by observing the created order as one locus of divine revelation.1 Albert Mohler Radio Show |  Apologetics 315 |  Apologetics.com Radio Show |  CARM Radio Show |  Come Let Us Reason |
 Confident Christianity |  Defenders with William Lane Craig |  The Dividing Line with James White |  Phil Fernandes |  European Leadership Forum |
 I Didn't Know That |  ID The Future |  Issues, Etc. |  The John Ankerberg Show |  Just Thinking with Ravi Zacharias |
 Let My People Think with Ravi Zacharias |  Logical Fallacies 1 |  Logical Fallacies 2 |  More Than A Theory |  The Narrow Mind |
 Philosopher Peter S. Williams |  Please Convince Me |  Probe Ministries |  Reasonable Faith William Lane Craig |  Reflections with Ken Boa |
 Science News Flash |  The Skeptical Christian |  Stand to Reason with Greg Koukl |  Straight Thinking with Ken Samples |  The Cell's Design |
 Think Again with Randall Niles |  Unbelievable? with Justin Brierly |  Veritas Forum |  Why the Universe is the Way it Is |  Without a Doubt |
"The question about God is not merely a question about another entity but a question about the character of the universe as a whole. The rejection of the cosmological argument implicitly carries with it a commitment to a rival metaphysical view, such as pantheism or naturalism. Ultimately, the question is not, 'Can God's existence be proved?' but 'Which metaphysical view is most plausible?'"
John MacArthur explores 5 characteristics of willful unbelief in this sermon entitled: Unbelief Investigates a Miracle. This is well worth the listen. Get the Grace to You podcast feed here.
