Some Bible scholars believe that the Book of Jonah is a fictional tale written purely for teaching purposes by its original author. They argue that the original author never meant for the story to be taken as real history. While it may be impossible to know just based on the contents of the book itself, … Continue reading Is the Story of Jonah Fictional?
Post Author: Bill Pratt I was discussing Hawking’s recent book with a regular blog commenter who mentioned that Hawking’s ideas on the creation of the universe were new and that he hadn’t had time to look into them. This got me thinking about whether Hawking really was on to some new formulation of physics that … Continue reading Is Hawking’s Theory about the Creation of the Universe New?
Post Author: Bill Pratt In my frequent conversations with non-Christians, I hear the following kinds of statements: “I can’t believe what the Bible authors wrote because they were religiously motivated.” The idea seems to be that if you are religious, you will not be able to tell the truth about historical events. You will twist … Continue reading Are Religious People Unable to Get History Right?
Traditional scholarship holds that Daniel was written in the sixth century BC and is historically reliable, but many modern biblical scholars hold that Daniel was written in the second century BC and is pious fiction. Let’s take a look at some of the evidence offered for the second century date and responses to that evidence … Continue reading #4 Post of 2016 – When Was the Book of Daniel Written?
In John 3:5, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” There has historically been much scholarly debate over the phrase “born of water and the Spirit.” Was Jesus referring to two births or one birth? Was he … Continue reading What Does “Born of Water and Spirit” Mean in John 3:5?
Traditional scholarship holds that Daniel was written in the sixth century BC and is historically reliable, but many modern biblical scholars hold that Daniel was written in the second century BC and is pious fiction. Let’s take a look at some of the evidence offered for the second century date and responses to that evidence … Continue reading When Was the Book of Daniel Written?
David Oderberg, in his book Real Essentialism (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 11), describes the metaphysical system that derives from Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and their students. This system is the closest thing to explaining our common sense knowledge of the world around us that I have ever seen. It is sometimes called classical Christian … Continue reading What Is Real Essentialism?
Post Author: Bill Pratt I don’t expect this argument will work with a science-worshiping atheist, but I do think it will work for people who are into the New Age or Buddhism, or who otherwise are aware of the transcendent qualities of the world around them. I just finished the Steve Jobs biography, and I … Continue reading What Is the Argument from Desire?
Post Author: Bill Pratt As we’ve discussed before on the blog, there are two kinds of inheritance for Christians: 1) entrance into heaven and 2) reigning (rewards) in heaven. Many evangelicals mistakenly interpret all New Testament (NT) passages about the believer’s inheritance as referring to entrance into heaven, when this is clearly not the case … Continue reading What Does the Old Testament Teach about the Inheritance of the Saints?
Post Author: Bill Pratt It is impossible to ground a theory about the source of objective moral values and duties without recourse to metaphysics. Philosopher David Oderberg reminds us that it is “impossible to know how the world ought to go, more specifically how one ought to act (or what makes a state of affairs … Continue reading What Are Sam Harris’s Metaphysical Presuppositions?