Against Nothingness

So, this news is making big waves right now.  I have seen numerous blog posts and comments, facebook 'likes', and even received personal email linking this story because it "makes one think."  In a nutshell, Anne Rice is leaving "Christianity" because she refuses to be anti: gay, feminist, science, and democrat.  She also cannot be a part of this "quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group." But, her faith in Christ is still central  to her life. You can follow the link in the article to Anne Rice's facebook page, where you can scan her status updates and read her words for yourself, complete with over 2000 comments that I have no interest in scanning.  So, here's what I think.   1. People get frustrated with the church every day.  Some stay, some go.  But, when someone famous does it, we all sit up and take notice.  If the known fact that the church in the west has been, on average, declining ...

Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, ... Lest we should see where we are,  Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good. - September 1, 1939. W.H. Auden I think I see this trend in movies.  I just watched Inception  last night and, I have to say, I was disappointed.  This movie 'successfully' replaces plot with confusion, character with fast paced action, and story development/pacing with a droning, explosion punctuated, base line that almost never stops.   Don't get me wrong though, it was entertaining.  It just wasn't meaningful.  All the while, I am watching blogs, especially Christian ones, try to make this movie profound.  It is not.  What questions does it really ask?  What part of reality does it confront the viewer with in a way that forces one to at least avert one's eyes, if not deal with it? Oh yes, it loo...

David I Rudel, Who Really Goes To Hell? The Gospel You've Never Heard: What a Protestant Bible Written by Jews say about God's work through Christ (a book for those in church and those offended by it) .  Biblical Heresy Press, 2009. 188 pgs.  First of all, I think this book gets the award for longest title... seriously.  Sadly, in terms of style, the title is a precursor of things to come; I guess that's what you get when a mathematician does theology.  In terms of content, however, there is much more positive to say.  But first, a summary.  In this book Rudel takes on the "modern gospel message" in all its minimalistic glory, claiming that this is not the message of Jesus, nor his apostles, nor Paul, nor anyone else in Scripture.  If your curious, the modern gospel message is basically this: Believe in Jesus and you will get in to heaven.  In the face of this slogan, Rudel begins by spending 4 chapters asking difficult questions (like, if this...

Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on John . Zondervan, 2010. 363 pgs. Swindoll begins his book by explaining his own love for the bible, and for the study of the bible. As such, he is 'forever searching' for books resources which "make the complicated simple and easy to understand, that offer insightful comments and word pictures that enable me to see the relevance of sacred truth in light of my twenty-first century world, and that drive those truths home to my heart in ways I do not easily forget." Finding these kinds of books is rare, says Swindoll, and therefore he has decided to be part of the solution.  Thus stands the reason for this series.  Swindoll has, with commendable alacrity, accomplished precisely that which he set out to do, no more and no less.  In other words, this book is a collection of sermons which take the reader through the book of John. For myself, we have just finished 6 months of preaching from the gospel of John at BAC.  Therefore, I hav...

Well this is late, and its over.  So, after a week of thinking about, writing about, and reviewing apologetics, what do I have to say? Most enjoyable of the books I reviewed:   Atheist Delusions Most Informative book: Beyond Opinion Blog Insights: - I like having a theme like this, it makes me write more by focusing my subject.  - Writing two posts a day is hard (at least, it is given that this blog is my free time), and if I ever attempt that much again I will have some of them ready in advance.  Otherwise I will do 1 a day.  - I am never sure how much to write.  I could go on for a long time, but I doubt anyone reads some of my long posts as it is, let alone any 5000 word essays I might care to share.  Apologetics Insights: Not to much to say here that I haven't said in some other post during this week. I would only add that questioning Christianity is worth doing.   So, any recommendations for future theme weeks?  Thi...

Original post This is an excellent book. In it, Wright takes on some of the tough questions about Christianity. However, unlike so many apologetics books, Wright does not limit himself to those questions which detractors of Christianity would ask.  He also explores issues such as the Cross, salvation, and the end times.  Again, I wouldn't change my original review.  Wright is insightful, honest, and provocative in just the right mix.  Read and Enjoy.   This post is part of Christian Apologetics Week.  You can find the introduction here , with links to all the posts. 

Question for you: Would it be easier to read this blog if the posts were black writing on a white background? Would you suggest that or any other color scheme or background changes?

Do Not Worry "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life..." Thus begins one of Jesus hardest teachings; or at least, one of His teachings that I have found the hardest.  How can I not worry? I know that, theologically speaking, the more I trust God the less I should worry, and that anxiety in the face of life is in itself a sign of lack of trust.  Knowing that and living it out are two very different things.  So much so, that I think I often get confused.   The Narrow and Wide Gates As a Christian I am called to rest in the peace of Christ and trust in God.  I am encouraged to care about righteousness and justice, to hunger and thirst for them, to desire and seek God, and cry out to Him "How long, Oh Lord?" in the face of injustice.  This is Jesus' remedy for anxiety.   As a member of western consumer society, I am told to rest in the peace of material things and trust in myself.  I am encouraged to ignore injustice and unrighteousn...

Slavoj Zizek and John Millbank, ed. Creston Davis. The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic? Mit Press: 2009. 416 pgs.  In The Monstrosity of Christ  Millbank attempts to do what Hart does not, as per my last book review.  He attempts to dialogue with a serious atheist of our age: Slavoj Zizek.  The two of them are billed, by the editor, as having an intellectual encounter the equivalent of "ultimate fighting" as they seek to grapple with the very definition of Christianity.  Zizek is a renowned philosopher, militant marxist, dialectic materialist, and atheist.  Millbank is a neo-orthodox and leading anglo-catholic theologian.   In part 1, Zizek presents his reading of Christianity, which seemed to be incredibly weak.  He apparently has used very limited sources to draw some unique, but in my opinion erroneous, conclusions about Christianity, Jesus, and Paul.   In Part 2, Millbank takes on this interpretation and counters with...

There will be 2 more book reviews, obviously, so this list does not include those, or any other books featured in this week's set of reviews. General areas of knowledge which, while not apologetics directly, will help a great deal: History, especially Christian history and modern history (Charles Taylor Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity  is quite good, though a long read.   The Story of Christianity parts 1 and 2 by Justo Gonzalez are readable textbooks on Christian history, which is the most thorough place to look for such things).  Philosophy ( Philosophy and the Christian Faith by Colin Brown is an excellent place to start; then hit the original source material).  General Apologetics:  Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli Anything by C.S. Lewis, most notably: Miracles and The Problem of Pain Orthodoxy and What's Wrong With the World  by G.K. Chesterton Richard Swinburne's work is quite g...

David Bentley Hart, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enemies . Yale University Press, 2009. 272 pgs.  Recent years have seen a flurry of books slamming Christianity coming from the pens of such eminent court jesters as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennet, and others.  Such books as "The God Delusion" can be seen prominently displayed at Chapters and Barns & Noble.  In the face of such "Tireless Tractarians" Hart offers this book as a polemical riposte, and he does so with a style and grace stunning in both content and quality.  First and foremost, Hart is a pleasure to read.  He writes long, nearly poetic, sentences, using precise vocabulary and hard hitting polemics.  He pulls no punches, saying of the new atheist tribe: "atheism which consists of vacuous arguments afloat on oceans of historical ignorance, made turbulent by storms of strident self-righteousness, is as contemptible as any other fo...

The Problem: Hypocriscy You cannot read a book on evangelism or apologetics, listen to a sermon about speaking to our culture, or here yet one more teacher elucidate the 'problems' of post-modernity without hearing an opinion on the number one obstacle to the gospel in our culture.  Consensus seems to be that a huge problem is the generally low opinion our culture has of Christians.  This encompasses a broad spectrum of criticisms: Christians are hate mongers, they are judgmental, they are stupid, bigoted, and so on.  I think, though, that the biggest complain is that Christians are hypocrites. * Side-note: Scott McKnight has done an interesting series going through the book Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites and Other Lies You've Been Told .  You can find his first post  here , and then click on the "filed under link" at the bottom of the post to find the rest. They are filled with interesting statistics providing a more accurate pictu...

Warren Wiersbe, On Being A Servant of God . Baker Books, 1993.  "God's goal for our lives is not money but maturity, not happiness but holiness, not getting but giving.  God is at work making people more like His Son, and that's what Christian service is all about." (pg. 45) 4 points of advice for young workers: "1. Never take down a fence until you know why it was put up. 2. If you get too far ahead of the army, your soldiers may mistake you for the enemy. 3. Don't complain about the bottom rungs of the ladder; they helped to get you higher. 4. If you want to enjoy the rainbow, be prepared to endure the storm." (pg. 84-85) "Your heart grows by giving out, but your mind grows by taking in; and both are necessary to a happy and balanced life of service.... reading is only the key that opens the door to the vault.   Assimilating what you read, relating it to what you already know, and practicing it where you serve put the treasure to work pa...

Ravi Zacharias (General Editor), Beyond Opinion . Zondervan: 2007. 360 pgs.  In this book Ravi Zacharias, along with various other contributors, share from the breadth and riches of their apologetics experiences.  The book is divided up into four sections: addressing the difficult questions, addressing the questions behind the questions, internalizing the questions and answers, and living out the answers.  In each section, different authors offer high level essays on broad topics under the larger subheading. In doing so they show how intellectually sophisticated apologetics has become in a globalized culture, as well as just how many angles there are to take in one's apologetics journey.   This book was very interesting and very challenging.  While not all of the essays were difficult, the simple breadth of topics discussed necessitated more time spent reading and digesting the book.  For example, the first section moves through postmodernity t...

Another repeated, dictated by lack of time :) I promise, a new one tomorrow and the day after.  The original review is here . This book is a blend of classic apologetics material, in terms of answering some of the hard questions, with a different methodology of apologetics.  Keller asks us to always begin in doubt, both the skeptic and the Christian.  He makes the point that all doubts must also be doubted, as they are inevitably based on faith.  From there, he goes on to show how some of the most common questions people ask of Christianity are based on their own unsustainable faith claims.  This book is a kind of halfway point, offering some interesting suggestions and answers, while focusing on the questions as well.  It does not, however, actually get you very far towards defending the faith.  Instead, it focuses on knowing the source and basis of our questions, doubts, and faith.  Overall, this book provides a necessary step in the path o...

The Beginning My own interest in apologetics began at the same time as my interest in Christianity, and my faith in Christ.  I had my own questions and it was hearing them answered intelligently, and respectfully, that kick-started my faith journey.  Thus, the bedrock of my own experience with apologetics is that it can bring about life change, especially when exercised patiently and in conjunction with loving relationships.  My journey thence has been anything but smooth.  The truth is that I struggle with pride and, while apologetics do not necessarily make one prideful, it did bolster my   ego to  think  I had all the answers.  Two things helped this process: I have a good memory and I read very quickly.  So, while I started with C.S. Lewis (and have since gone back to him many times) I also started by practically memorizing  Evidence which Demands a Verdict  (Josh McDowell's original, before it became a multi-volume ...

Recently I prepared and led a training session with the youth at my church on evangelism and apologetics. I don't think I did a very good job, unfortunately. As I started I, of course, pulled out the ever trust and oh so common 1 Peter 3:15-16 . Always be ready; a go to passage for preachers everywhere. At this point, my seminary training kicked in, and I couldn't quite bring myself to proof text from hear on into some lesson. So, I looked at the broader context: 1 Peter 3:8-22 . What I quickly realized was that this whole section can be taken as instruction in terms of evangelism and apologetics. Peter begins, in verse 8-12, by exhorting the reader to live a certain way: "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For "Whoever desires to love life and see good ...