Ronnie W. Rogers, “Taking every thought captive…”

Like it or not, the time in which we live demands that we as Christians be able to give some reasons for our belief in the truthfulness of Christianity and the Scripture.  For example, Christians must be able to answer questions like are the disciples reliable resources?  Are miracles possible? How can we test the reliability of ancient documents?  Was Jesus merely a good man or teacher?  Is there any evidence for believing in the resurrection?

Evidence for the trustworthiness of the Scripture and the claims of Christ and the Apostles are essential for speaking to our culture.

Richard Carpenter presented a superb paper in The Roundtable in Ideology entitled “The Case for Christ.”  It is a succinct treasury of evidence for the trustworthiness of the claims of the Scripture and Christ.  If you want to be equipped to answer some of the toughest questions concerning your Christian faith, then read this.

Case for Christ RT 2008

According to Darwin Day Celebration, there were 729 events scheduled in 45 countries for Darwin Day 2009, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

In response to the celebration of Darwin Day at the University of Oklahoma, and their invitation to Richard Dawkins to speak, Trinity Baptist Church collaborated with others in order to provide an opportunity for Academic Freedom. 

The response involved hosting a conference at our church, “Designed For Faith”, a   presentation at OU by John West and Casey Luskin, both from the Discovery Institute, and a debate at OU between Intelligent Design theorist William Dembski and Darwinian philosopher and historian of science Michael Ruse, as well as producing some printed information.

Now this kind of endeavor by a church occasions the query from Christians, should churches be involved in challenging “scientific claims” or exposing the weaknesses of Darwinism and the bias of state education?  Many in academia have no question, but rather state emphatically, the church should not be involved since that is mixing religion and science and/or violating separation of church and state; in other words, the churches should mind their own business and leave educating young people to the public school and university system.

Should churches be involved in such issues?  My answer is emphatically and unequivocally YES!  Consider the following: (more…)

Rarely do I find a succinct, clear presentation of two somewhat esoteric worldviews like “Nihilism” and “Existentialism”.  However, Christoph Koehler did just that in his Round Table presentation on these topics; consequently, I thought I would blog his presentation for you.Now, I know that some of you are thinking what do nihilism and existentialism have to do with real life.  Well, I think if you will read this summary, you will find some ideas in them that you hear in various forums in the real world.  For example, the vacuousness of naturalism, which is the dominant metaphysic in academia today, is revealed in his section on nihilism.  The reason you may not even be aware of the prevalence of naturalism in normal conversations, lectures, and pronouncements is that its presence is quite often obfuscated by the gauzy disguise of scientific jargon.

Check it out!
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Recently, Page Lynn presented a paper on the environment in The Ethics Round Table. From which, I suggested four guidelines to The Round Table to assist us in thinking and acting christianly about environmental issues and our involvement. Following are those four suggestions. For a fuller discussion of this issue I recommend Cornwall Alliance web site, or sign up for the Round Table next year. (more…)

“There is a God” is the title of an excellent new book by the internationally known former atheist, Antony Flew. The book chronicles his journey into and from atheism over his long and influential life. Years ago I remember Norman Geisler saying that Antony Flew was the most formidable debater for atheism.

Well, I have learned—actually been reminded of—some things from this former atheist, which I think are worth mentioning. (more…)

Science is often presented as, or understood to be, so objective that there is very little if any bias, and if there is any it will soon be found out and decisively dealt with.  The objectivity of science is portrayed as towering above other means of knowing.  Frequently, in one form or another, I have heard the argument that, “science is the best or only real source or test of truth”.  I have heard this mantra taught in university classrooms, articulated via the airwaves, and mentioned countless times by college students that I come in contact with.  Science as the final arbitrator of truth is based in large measure on its supposed unbiased objectivity. 

However, while science, particularly the scientific method, is an excellent way of studying and hypothesizing about empirical data within its legitimate domain, it does have domanial limitations, and it is not without inherent limitations and biases that can and do result in breaches of ethics, distortions of facts, and hyper-claims. Consider the following: (more…)

Recently, we invited and hosted Dr. William Dembski to speak on Intelligent Design (ID) at The University of Oklahoma.  In preparation for his coming, some of our members produced a pamphlet that answered some of the most oft heard criticisms/objections to ID.

The answers are clear and concise.  For anyone wanting to better understand the ID position and not be misled by “religious evolutionist’s” misinformation and misrepresentation regarding ID, this article should prove quite helpful. (more…)

Ethical decisions are a part of everyday life, and it is incumbent upon Christians to make moral and ethical decisions based upon the teaching of Scripture.  Some of these decisions seem very easy; for example, murder, lying, and stealing are wrong, and truth telling, mercy and sacrifice are good. As clear as those seem to be, real life experiences, recorded in the Scripture or lived out today, can create some nuances that becloud the issue. 

For example, confusion can arise when a certain act that is condemned in Scripture has features similar to other acts that are not condemned and because of the similar features between that which is condemned and that which is not, the two acts are unjustifiably equated as being the same.  An example of this would be the difference in being a martyr and committing suicide. 

In The Round Table in Ethics, I have noticed a few things that tend to create confusion for Christians trying to understand and apply biblical ethics.  This primarily revolves around making similar acts identical and/or equating God’s commendation of some elements of an event with God’s implied approval of all the elements of the event even when those elements are without exception said to be sin everywhere they are explicitly mentioned in Scripture.  An example of this would be lying. 

Consequently around the third week of Ethics, I present something I call “Ethical Considerations and Clarifications”.  In this presentation I seek to address some distinctions that can be helpful in avoiding ethical dilemmas.  The issues addressed in this paper do not address every relevant issue, but only those that seem to present problems when considering various ethical issues in The Round Table. I address the relationship of similarities and dissimilarities, the difference between intrinsically good or evil acts and extrinsically good or evil acts, the Is Ought fallacy, the Sin of Omission, arguments from silence, and then I explain what a lie is. (more…)

It is undeniable that some Americans just wish Christians would disappear from the public square.  Since that is hopefully not going to happen, they spend most of their time and effort arguing that while it is ok to believe in Christ and the Bible, Evangelicals should not bring their faith into the public marketplace of ideas, e.g. politics, education, law….They do not mind our religious faith as long as it is a private faith, and only practiced alone with other like-minded people.

A study released May 7, 2007 by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research once again confirmed the bias against evangelicals that exists on university campuses.
“Among non-evangelical university faculty, 53 percent… said they held an unfavorable view of evangelical Christians while expressing positive feelings toward most other religious groups. One professor said he attributes the disdain for evangelicals to their Republican Party activism and their perceived opposition to science.

Gary Tobin, the institute’s director and chief pollster, said the results undoubtedly reveal “bias and prejudice” among the nation’s educational leaders. Tobin told The Washington Post, “If a majority of faculty said they did not feel warmly about Muslims or Jews or Latinos or African Americans, there would be an outcry.” He goes on to note, “No one would attempt to justify or explain those feelings. No one would say, ‘The reason they feel this way is because they don’t like the politics of blacks or the politics of Jews.’ That would be unthinkable.”  Tobin further found “that 71 percent of faculty members agreed with the statement: This country would be better off if Christian fundamentalists kept their religious beliefs out of politics.”¹ (more…)

1. http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25660 [↩]

As Christians we are often confronted with questions concerning the trustworthiness of Scripture.  For example, someone may say, “It must have mistakes since it was written by men” or ask “how can the Bible be accurate when there are so many translations?”  They may point out what they see, or have been told, are unresolvable problems like “how did Noah get and keep all those animals on the ark” or the differences in the various gospels account of events in Christ’s life.  They may say, “men determined what books would make up the Bible” which implies that the Bible is merely a human book.

The following is a list of books to help you learn the answers to such questions and be able to have a more mature understanding of the trustworthiness of the Scripture.  I have also included a book to help you learn how to study the Scripture.
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