Good morning friends,
Quote of the week:
Now the true soldiers of Christ must always be prepared to do battle for the truth, and must never, so far as lies with them, allow false convictions to creep in. – Origen
Now, here are your weekly links:
- Complete Guide to Nail Anatomy with all Parts, Names & Diagrams – after recent toe injuries leading to toenail issues, a friend and I were thinking how our toenails regenerate after injury, and what exactly is in there. Pretty amazing. Evolution got about a dozen things perfectly balanced. Yeah, right… This is design for sure!: https://humanbodypartsanatomy.com/nail-anatomy/
- Why This Nihilist Professor Couldn’t Escape God | J. Budziszewski Testimony – YouTube – Dr. J. Budziszewski wrote a Yale dissertation arguing that morality is invented and free will is an illusion. Then he radically changed his mind. In this conversation, we talk about the story of how a devout young Christian became a nihilist and how God brought him back. He describes himself not as a theoretical atheist but a “practical atheist”, that is, someone who conceded God might exist but lived as though He couldn’t possibly matter. He explains why his loss of faith had almost nothing to do with intellectual arguments and everything to do with pride, social pressure, and sins he didn’t want to repent of, and why he now believes that beneath the “smokescreen” objections he raised, he knew the whole time that God was real. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w52USVw6t4
- The Sexual Ethics of Jesus and His People – by Wes McAdams – With all of that said, the apostle Paul took the position that it is not up to the church to police the sexual ethics of those outside the church (see 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). It is our job to hold other disciples accountable, but it is not our job to hold people in the world accountable for their sex life. If you have accepted Jesus’ offer to be his disciple, then adopting his sexual ethic is part of that relationship. Being a disciple of Jesus means, in part, allowing Jesus to dictate our sexual behavior. Our emotions and desires cannot dictate the way we behave sexually. Just because we have a desire does not mean it is right to fulfill that desire. Like the early church, we must allow the Gospel story to shape our view of sexuality and dictate our sexual behavior.: https://www.radicallychristian.com/p/the-sexual-ethics-of-jesus-and-his-people
- Abortion Advocates Fail Biology – Christine Quinn confidently claimed something that left me stunned. In fact, what she stated was so utterly ridiculous that I thought I must have misheard her. But I hadn’t misheard her. She really said it. Not only that, it looked like she really believed what she said. Here’s what she said: “When a woman gets pregnant, that is not a human being inside of her.” This statement would be laughable if the consequences of such a statement weren’t so lethal. Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. And the false idea that pregnant women are not carrying distinct human beings inside them has helped justify the killing of approximately 3,000 human beings a day in the U.S.: https://www.str.org/w/abortion-advocates-fail-biology
- Research by Barna and Summit: Postmodernism and Secularism Influence Today’s Christians | Summit Ministries – 54% of practicing Christians-those who attend church at least monthly and consider their faith very important in their life-have non-biblical perspectives that come from postmodernism, and 29% take some key beliefs from secularism, according to a 2017 study by Barna Group and Summit Ministries.: https://www.summit.org/resources/articles/research-barna-summit-postmodernism-secularism-influence-todays-christians/
- List of Factors of Fine-Tuning of Intelligent Life in the Universe – The universe demonstrates a level of fine-tuning that is absolutely astonishing. As a matter is a mere happenstance, it is extremely implausible. The conditions under which any life may exist in the universe requires extreme precision. The conditions under which intelligence physical life may exist in the universe requires even more precision. Here, I detail the fine-tuning factors for intelligent life in the universe as compiled by astronomer, Hugh Ross, in his monumental work, Why the Universe Is the Way It Is. The list of fine-tuning factors for life in general in the universe is actually longer (too long, in fact) and is housed in another blog post. These are the factors of the fine-tuning of the galaxy, sun, earth, moon, and their combined system in supporting life. Hugh Ross has identified six different clusters of environmental necessities…: https://www.cltruth.com/2019/factors-fine-tuning-intelligent-life-universe/
- Nature & Scripture: The Inspirational Design of DNA – DNA design is elegant, ingenious, and optimally designed for its role in the cell as a molecular-scale information storage system. Biochemists believe that DNA approaches the theoretical maximum in terms of its digital storage capacity. There are several key structural features of DNA that are responsible for its optimal data storage properties. Emerging data indicates that the components that make up the nucleotides appear to have been chosen carefully with every detail of DNA’s structure critically factored into this molecule information-storage role. The components must give the DNA maximum stability while still allowing for protein binding to occur…: https://natureandscripture.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-inspirational-design-of-dna.html?m=1
- Was America Founded on Christian Principles? There seems to be an ever growing movement in America to blur historical facts concerning our nation’s beginnings. This trend coexists with other movements to try and explain our origins as an evolutionary stroke of luck, or by pure chance. What is the truth? Have you ever read Thomas Jefferson’s letter concerning the separation of church and state? How much history do you remember? I grew up learning that America was founded on Christian principles by a group of men who believed in the Judeo Christian God, and wanted to create an environment where all men and women could be free to pursue their dreams. They expressed that we all have certain “inalienable rights given to us by our creator, and among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and were willing to die for these principles. These principles were held dearly by men who desired to live and practice their faith in freedom. They expressed these principles within our founding documents, as well as on buildings. Local municipalities also joined this expression of our Christian roots…: https://justmy2-cents.blogspot.com/2016/05/was-america-founded-on-christian.html
- Naturalism of the Gaps – Christian Apologist – Atheists and agnostics often turn to scientism and naturalism to explain phenomena in the environment to the purposeful exclusion of anything supernatural. Scientism is the belief that we should believe only in what can be proven scientifically, while naturalism is the belief that physical events only have physical causes (Craig, 2011). I call this “Naturalism of the gaps” to mimic the often received charge of “God of the gaps,” which atheists and agnostics claim we fill gaps in our knowledge with God. The intention of this blog is to offer reasons to reject naturalism and scientism.: https://christian-apologist.com/2019/12/17/naturalism-of-the-gaps/
- Why Romans 7:18 Needs a Translation Update – The Good Book Blog – Biola University – I recently led a class session on how to interpret the second half of Romans 7. During the early part of the discussion, I presented four approaches to the overall interpretation of Romans 7:14-25 and asked students to inductively attempt to make arguments for each of the four positions from the passage itself. At one point in the discussion, I asked the students to contrast arguments for the view that Paul is talking about himself (as representative of regenerate Christians’ struggle with sin) with the position that the struggler is someone who is unregenerate (…not a born-again Christian). The last time I did this in class, though, one student pointed to the following verse as an argument for the unregenerate view: “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Rom. 7:18 ESV; cf. CSB, italics mine). That is, the student suggested, this phrase indicates that the struggler of Romans 7 is unregenerate because the struggler does not have the “ability” to do what he wants to do—and once someone is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (regenerate), he or she has the power to do what is good. This is exactly the kind of observation I was hoping students would make, but I found myself in the rather awkward position of having to point out that “ability” is absent from the Greek text. In Greek, the text reads, “For the wanting is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (τὸ γὰρ θέλειν παράκειταί μοι, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι τὸ καλὸν οὔ). Note that NAS is the only modern translation to render it in a more literal way. Perhaps (perhaps…) someone could argue that inability is implied by the contrast with the desire to do good, but such an interpretation is certainly not explicit. So, I asked, why are we adding it in? Other recent translations have also incorporated the inability concept into their translations using the word “cannot” (NRS, NIV, NET, NLT), though most (apart from ESV and CSB) don’t use the specific word “ability.”: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2021/why-romans-7-18-needs-a-translation-update
- Why Would God Make Me a Lesbian? – YouTube – Addressing a controversial issue about whether God is the cause of homosexuality in people and whether loving someone of the same sex is a sin.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShB2Y6A5Kc
- Ways for Christians to Respond to Boghossian-style “Street Epistemology” – Christian Apologist – “Street epistemology” is the “application of epistemology (the study of knowledge) outside of formal academic contexts.” According to its advocates, it’s a “fun and effective way to talk to people about what’s ‘really true.’” It “helps” people reflect on the reliability of the methods used to arrive at their deeply held beliefs by identifying, understanding, and challenging “belief claims” with probing questions (Streetepistemology.com). Especially popular is to question “faith” and “feelings” as SE advocates consider neither valid. This approach was popularized by an atheist named Peter Boghossion, who is a full-time faculty member at Portland State University in its philosophy department and national speaker for the Center for Inquiry. Advocates often take to the streets to question Christians on why they believe in the hopes that seeds of doubt will be planted in their minds. Sadly, many Christians (captured on the atheists’ Go Pro cameras) are unable to well articulate their positions. These responses encourage street epistemology advocates.: https://christian-apologist.com/2018/06/26/ways-for-christians-to-respond-to-boghassion-style-street-epistemology/
- Talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Start Here (Tim Barnett) – Common Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses Refuted: https://www.str.org/w/talking-to-jehovah-s-witnesses-start-here
- What Happens to Our Pets When They Die? A commonly asked question…: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-happens-to-pets-when-they-die/
- Is It Arrogant To Claim That Jesus Is The Only Way? When a person raises this challenge, they need to consider the real possibility that they are not concerned with restoring a relationship with their Creator for eternity, but that they are concerned with their own desires for the few decades of this life only, many of which are likely contradictory to God’s moral nature. If a person is most concerned with restoring their relationship with God for eternity, they will gladly do so on God’s terms even if those terms do not align with their own short-sighted desires. It is only necessary that God provides one option for those who truly seek Him because that one option will be sufficient and embraced no matter the cost to a few short decades in this imperfect world. If God did not provide any way to Him, that would be intolerant and arrogant. However, He has provided one way to Him: Jesus Christ. The facts that one way is available and that we can choose to accept it or reject it means that God has given us two options. It is time for us to deny ourselves (including any possible arrogance that we have), take up our cross and follow Christ- we must surrender our desires to the commitment to truth. We are blessed that a way of restoration to God has been provided, even if there is only one way, there is still a way. This way is available to all who wish to be humble and not arrogant (the very claim they are complaining about) and accept their brokenness and the way that was provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. : https://lukenixblog.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-it-arrogant-to-claim-that-jesus-is.html
- Is abandonment or desertion a valid reason for divorce and remarriage? | GotQuestions.org – It is our view that someone who is involuntarily divorced-that is, one who is a victim of desertion-can remarry. The phrase is not bound in 1 Corinthians 7:15 seems to give that type of freedom. Even so, the person seeking remarriage should do so with great caution. There should be time to heal from the trauma of the broken relationship, to analyze all that contributed to the breakup, and to seek God’s will for the future.: https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-abandonment.html
- How to Communicate the Evidence for Christianity | Cold Case Christianity – Have you ever had a discussion with someone you passionately disagreed with? Have they ever told you, “If you show me the evidence, then maybe I’ll agree with you”? I’ve had conversations where, even after giving more than enough evidence to support my point, the person with whom I was talking still disagreed with me. It’s easy in those moments to feel like they’re just being stubborn, simply refusing to see the truth, or not being intellectually honest. Now, there may be times when the other person is willfully refusing to believe the truth. But can I suggest it may be more a matter of how we are communicating the evidence?: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/how-to-communicate-the-evidence-for-christianity/
- 5 Ways That Pastors Can Introduce Apologetics Into Their Ministry | Hope’s Reason: https://www.stephenjbedard.com/5-ways-that-pastors-can-introduce-apologetics-into-their-ministry/
- 5 Misconceptions about Heaven and Hell (and 5 Truths) | Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/articles/5-misconceptions-about-heaven-and-hell-and-5-truths/
- Why Aren’t Christians More Confident to Share Their Faith? | Jonathan Morrow – YouTube – All throughout the Bible, we see Jesus sharing the Good News and making disciples. He tells Christians to do the same! So why aren’t Christians more confident to share their faith? In this episode of Impact Answers, author and speaker Jonathan Morrow explains that when we know why we believe what we believe, we’ll have more confidence to share our faith. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JKX8DHOeqA
- The Cain’s-Wife Mystery | iApologia – So, here’s my guess: I think he married a sister. Now, you may ask, did he even have a sister? Sure. Adam and Eve had other kids too. In Genesis 5:3-5 it says “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth … and he begat sons and daughters …” However, doesn’t this seem immoral? Plus, doesn’t the Bible teach against marrying kin? Well, let’s put it in perspective. Adam married his own rib! I think marrying your own sister seems less drastic. Plus, there was no law against incest at that time. I don’t think there would have been a genetic problem with that either. Lastly, it is the only answer to the very simple problem: who else would you marry if you were the only family on earth?: https://iapologia.com/the-cains-wife-mystery-iapologia/
- 5 Terrible Reasons Your Kids May Think They Can Outgrow Christianity – Natasha Crain – atheism is quickly on the rise in America, and young people are increasingly coming to believe the claims by Dawkins and others that religion is something to leave behind once you’re sophisticated enough to see the truth about reality. With that in mind, we should be asking ourselves: What on Earth would lead a kid to believe Christianity is something to be outgrown? Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of reasons why this happens, and much of the time it’s rooted in either the lack of effort many parents put into discipling their kids or their lack of direction (i.e., they may be putting in effort, but not the necessary kind of effort given today’s challenges). Here are some reasons that stand out to me…: https://natashacrain.com/5-terrible-reasons-your-kids-may-think-they-can-outgrow-christianity/
- What is the meaning of “redeeming the time” in Ephesians 5:16? | GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/redeeming-the-time.html
- The Civility Handbook: A Guide For All Americans – this book looks really good. Could be useful in apologetics as well as politics!: https://civilityhandbook.com/
- The Frustrating Fallacy of Friendship Evangelism | Cold Case Christianity: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/the-frustrating-fallacy-of-friendship-evangelism/
- Is Our Body Perfectly Designed? Stuart Burgess – YouTube – Stuart Burgess, an award-winning engineer, argues that biological systems surpass even the best human engineering. As detailed in his book, the human body exhibits “Ultimate Engineering” that operates at near-perfect physical limits. Using examples like synovial fluid, the human foot, and the heart, Burgess explains how biological performance far exceeds human technology and cannot be explained by evolutionary processes. Intelligent design better accounts for such complexity. He recounts the high-stakes responsibility of designing a spacecraft’s solar array to illustrate how complex engineering requires innovation, precision, and coordination. Addressing a common objection, Burgess argues that imperfections in health are due to external factors or misuse, not flawed design. Biology’s manifest perfection and efficiency point to an intelligent creator rather than evolutionary processes. The talk took place at the 2026 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith presented by Discovery Institute’s Center on Science & Culture.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvURLZ4sZpo
- (note this link is from someone challenging Stephen Meyer, so not a full supporter perspective) AI Model Collapse: New Evidence For God? – YouTube – Stephen C. Meyer has a PhD from Cambridge in the philosophy of science, and he thinks AI just handed him his strongest argument yet. I spent years pushing back on him. Today I laid three traps. Watch what he does with the third one. Subscribe if you want science with evidence, not speculation. Meyer is a philosopher of science and director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute. His argument: every large language model is trained on text produced by conscious agents, and when you query its own outputs iteratively, it collapses into incoherence. That dependency, he says, is a tell. AI can recombine information. It cannot originate it. And that distinction points, in his view, to something minds do that matter alone cannot explain. I push back on all of it. We go after the Oklo reactor, a natural nuclear fission reactor that ran for millions of years in Africa two billion years ago with no human input whatsoever. I ask whether that breaks his information-from-mind argument. He sees the trap before I spring it, concedes the point where concession is honest, and explains exactly where the threshold lies. We also get into the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and Vilenkin’s admission that quantum cosmology may require a mind predating the universe, the junk DNA prediction that Meyer’s team made in the ’90s before the ENCODE project confirmed it, and why beauty in physics can lead a field astray.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPka0_lkbBY
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:21-22
Blessings to you all