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THEOLOGY, SCIENCE & APOLOGETICS
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The Olivet Discourse Prophecy, and its Evidential Value
The text contains multiple concrete features that find striking correspondence in the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Moreover, Jesus does not make a vague, general, prophecy about an event to happen in the undated future, but he puts a specific time limit on it – it was to happen before his generation passed away.
Liar, Lunatic, or Lord? Reviving C.S. Lewis’ Trilemma (Revised & Expanded)
An argument for Christianity that seldom receives adequate attention is the Christological Trilemma, most popularly associated with C.S. Lewis, though also developed by other authors preceding him such as G.K. Chesterton. In this essay, I shall give a survey of the Christological Trilemma, while supplying additional nuances to the argument as traditionally formulated.
Let’s Educate “Professor” Dave Farina on Evolution and Design
Rather than engaging with these points or acknowledging correction, Farina chose to simply drop them entirely, focusing instead only on those items which he thought he could rebut. This is particularly frustrating since many of the 320,000 viewers of his video will not have bothered to look back on my original article series to see how many of his earlier points Farina subtly drops entirely from his response – points that, as I showed in my previous series, were straightforwardly wrong.
The Fine-Grained Historicity of Acts
The coincidences reviewed in this essay and in the preceding one span multiple facets of Paul’s ministry – his travels, imprisonments, companions, financial circumstances, and numerous incidental personal relationships. If Acts is anchored in genuine historical memory, this is precisely what should be expected. The accounts bear the texture of authentic reportage.
On Richard Carrier’s Confused Engagement with Undesigned Coincidences
There is a peculiar intellectual paralysis that often sets in when someone speaks with an air of academic authority and is introduced as having a doctorate after their name. Arguments that would, in other contexts, be immediately recognized as plainly absurd if uttered by an anonymous skeptic on the internet, suddenly become “serious scholarship” upon being delivered by someone with a formal credential.
On Undesigned Coincidences: A Reply to Dan McClellan
One of the most powerful tools in persuasion, irrespective of the credibility of what you are saying, is confidence. Assertions delivered with certainty and rhetorical force can often sound very convincing to an untrained audience. For the uninitiated, confidence is very easily, and subconsciously, taken as a proxy for competence.
On the Historicity of the Feeding of the Five Thousand: A Reply to John Nelson
Careful scholarly critique is often very valuable in helping one to refine and better nuance arguments and discover potential vulnerabilities. In the present case, however, the attempted rebuttals offered by John Nelson illuminate the robustness of the arguments rather than their weaknesses.
The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and its Evidential Value (Revised & Expanded)
An argument for Christianity that seldom receives adequate attention is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) on the road to Damascus. There exist three accounts of Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts — in chapters 9, 22, and 26. In this essay, I shall lay out in detail why Paul’s Damascus road conversion constitutes powerful evidence of the truth of Christianity.
To a Pro-Intelligent Design Paper, Biologist Jerry Coyne Reacts with Question-Begging
To avoid begging the question, Coyne must provide a justification, independent of the predictions of evolutionary theory, for believing that (a) an organism much simpler than M. genitalium is viable; (b) that complex enzymes could have evolved gradually from simpler proteins; and (c) that enzymes and coenzymes could have coevolved via rudimentary precursors.