Equipping University

Non-theists have argued for years for several propositions that Christians have historically denied and have denied propositions that Christians affirm. Now, some Christians are joining them. Some argue that there is a second-chance after death for those who have never heard the gospel. Some argue that salvation can be attained through non-Christian religions like Islam or Buddhism. Beliefs about...

There is a wide range of answers to the question "Does God exist?" The spectrum of belief can rest anywhere between "There is no God" to "There probably is no God" to "God probably exists" to "The God of the Bible exists." Tim Keller wisely insists that we look at all the evidence given not as "proofs" but as "clues." A proof is able to stand alone with no room for disagreement. A true proof for t...

Our presuppositions determine how we view our world and how we live in that world. We interpret everything according to our worldview or presuppositions. It is wrong to think that facts are neutral (or "brute facts") because facts do not "speak for themselves." People do not evaluate facts apart from their biases or assumptions made beforehand (pre-assumptions, or presuppositions). Presuppositions...

The Bible declares that the man who hears Christ's words and rejects them for the superior value of his own - or other men's words - is a fool. A fool does not make God and His revelation the starting point of his thinking and will not submit to the Word of God or base his life upon its teachings and principles. The fool must be answered by revealing his foolishness. In an interaction with an athe...

If you begin your theodicy with the assumption about the centrality of man, you will never answer the problem of evil in a way that lines up with teachings and themes of Scripture. Scripture is not based upon nor does it proceed on this assumption. The Bible is not ultimately about man; it is obsessively concerned with God. Indeed, it is not overstatement to say that the "entire universe exists to...

D.A. Carson says that the distance between the biblical writers understanding of the problem of evil and our modern understanding is a good indication that "we have given ourselves to thinking great thoughts about human beings and small thoughts about God." Carson's response is correct and it is important. Our response to the problem of evil as we see it today is a good test of our knowledge and u...

Whatever the reason, all Christians must come face to face with the difficult question: "Where was/is God in all evil?" The act of providing an answer to that question is called a theodicy. This strange word comes from the Greek: theos (God) and dike (justice). A theodicy, in its attempts to offer the reason God has for allowing evil to exist in the world, defends the righteousness or justice of G...

The attack of the New Atheists is led by four men who have attained world-wide acclaim with the publication of their beliefs that God not only does not exist but those who believe that He does are a danger to all the sane and rational people in the world. These four men have been nicknamed "The Four Horsemen of New Atheism." They are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hit...