Capital Punishment
The Bible regularly supports capital punishment; it nowhere suggests that capital punishment is inappropriate. In the Old Testament, there are many mentions of valid capital punishment (Gen. 9:6…
Agent Causation and Free Will
Of course, "free will" can be used in various senses. If someone wants to use the phrase to refer to the obvious fact that we do what we desire to do (i.e. "compatibilism"), I can't imagine any…
Just War
Just war theory is not so much a theory as a set of questions we should ask about any war. I think the questions are good questions. But they almost never lead to a consensus. Those who favor a war…
Transcendental Truths
Good questions. I'll have to take them bit by bit. Your comments in brackets, mine outside them. >Is it that the postmoderns see that all knowledge must be interpreted and therefore has subjective…
What is truth?
Pilate asked, "What is truth?" prior to condemning Christ (John 18:38; 19:16). This, of course, includes a multitude of things of which there is not time, space, or adequate knowledge or wisdom for…
Evolution and the Bible
Christians actually hold a variety of views on this subject. A few believe that we evolved from lower life forms, but that God sovereignly directed and controlled this evolution. The difference…
Are We Really Here?
At my age, it's good to see the old "chestnuts" from Intro to Philosophy are still in vogue - the "brain-in-the-vat" conundrum, as well as The Problem of Other Minds , mentioned in your follow up…
Ending the Evolution Debate
In my opinion, Scripture does not tell us how old the earth is. I am not convinced that Scripture teaches that a literal 6-day 24-hour creation is the obvious first choice. I don't think that the…
The Effects of Darwinism
Darwin's publication of The Origin of Species was extremely significant for Bible-believing Christians, and somewhat less so for unbelievers and academics. The book was written at a time when the…
Truth and Actions
You're right in saying that your friend is engaged in a kind of contradiction. Of course "forcing your beliefs" is a rhetorical expression. We live in a relatively free country, where nobody has a…
What is Religion?
There are many relationships between reason, revelation, faith and grace. Perhaps it will help to begin with brief definitions of each. Reason is that sense by which we engage in logical/rational…
Disproving Evolution
You may be knocking your head against a wall in trying to "disprove" evolution to a biology professor -- unless that professor has expressed a willingness to reconsider his stance. The reason is…
Autonomous Presuppositions?
The point you made to your atheist correspondent is a sound one, but of course there is more to be said, as you surmised. How do we arrive at our presupposition without using autonomous reason? We…
What is Relativism?
Relativism is a view that truth is relative and not absolute. It maintains that truth varies from person to person, time to time, and there are no absolutes. Well, there are absolutes and there are…
Philosophical Materialism
A materialist is someone who believes that the material universe is the only thing that exists. A materialist denies that any spiritual realm exists which is not part of the material universe.
Scholarly Unbelief
Unbelief is a very personal thing, and every unbeliever is going to give you his own reasons for his unbelief. But at the root of it all, the fundamental reason that any scholar rejects Christ is the…