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…
The Trinity or the Truth?
I'm afraid that you will indeed find that many academic reference works oppose the doctrine of the Trinity. This is often true because many of these reference works are written by people who are more…
Non-Violent Resistance to Evil
Generally, the idea of non-resistance to evil is based on passages such as Matthew 5:39: "do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also"; and…
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…
Natural Law and General Revelation
Natural law is essentially the moral content of general revelation. Natural law THEORY consists of various views of how to extract and use that moral content. Natural law theorists differ somewhat…
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…
Does the death penalty deter crime?
If it helps any I am a former police detective and I never worked a murder committed by someone that was already tried, sentenced, executed, and buried for his previous crimes. I know this is blunt…
Pop Culture
These kinds of questions are largely wisdom issues. There is a mixture of good and bad in most things in this fallen world where God has decided to let us live, and wisdom helps us know how to…
Men not in Leadership
I wish I knew why specifically men were not fulfilling their duties in the church, community and home, but I'm afraid I don't. Probably, there are many different answers to this question. In my own…
Evil and God?
Though evil has been "ordained" by God, the fallen creatures (fallen angels and humans) "author" it. John Calvin stated: . . . the Lord had declared that "everything that he had made . . . was…
Soldier, Civilian
Briefly, the distinction between "civilian" and "military" is not made in Scripture itself. It is a distinction that we have made to honor the general biblical principle of the sanctity of life. That…
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…
You Say You Want a Revolution.
The Bible does contain a number of commands that we are to submit to those who are in authority (Rom. 13:1-6; Tit. 3:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:12-17), and it provides several examples of people who have…
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.