The editors of the excellent book, New Mormon Challenge, provide a nice summary of what doctrines Christians are asking Mormons to reconsider. There are many areas of commonality between Mormons and Christians, but there are also numerous, important areas of difference. Francis Beckwith, Carl Mosser, and Paul Owen ask for Mormons to focus on some key … Continue reading What Doctrines Are We Asking Mormons to Reconsider?
Post Author: Darrell (This post originally appeared on Darrell’s Thoughts and Reflections on Aug. 5, 2013 and is being reposted here for Tough Questions Answered readers.) I was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – aka The Mormon Church – for several years prior to converting to Christianity and becoming Orthodox. One … Continue reading . . . Of One Essence With The Father?
Post Author: Darrell Recently, my wife and several of her friends participated in The Women’s Only 5K Walk and Run to support the fight against Breast Cancer. It was a wonderful event with over 3000 participants, and my wife posted a very impressive time, finishing in the top 8%. As many of you know, she is a … Continue reading The Sacrament of The Women’s Only 5K Walk and Run?
I recently had a conversation with a Christian on Facebook regarding some of the passages in the Bible that refer to Mary. During the conversation, I referred to Mary as The Mother of God (Theotokos). This brought a rather stern reaction from him. He stated, “Mary isn’t the Mother of God. God is not born … Continue reading Was Mary the Mother of God?
Post Author: Bill Pratt I have previously written a post on why all religions cannot be true, but I wanted to revisit this topic and add another perspective. Religions are commonly composed of three parts: code, cult, and creed. Code is the moral code that a religion teaches. For Christianity, it would include “love your … Continue reading Are All Religions the Same?
Post Author: Darrell Many of those in the Protestant and Catholic traditions are familiar with the Penal Substitutionary Theory of the Atonement (hereafter referred to as Substitutionary Atonement). However, I have found many to be unfamiliar with the predominant atonement view held by those in the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is commonly called The Recapitulation … Continue reading What Is the Eastern Orthodox View of the Atonement?
Post Author: Darrell Over the past few years, I have heard several Christians I know utter statements such as, “I need to find out what job God wills for me to have.” or “I’m praying to find out who God wills for me to marry.” These statements are from people who believe that God has … Continue reading Does God Have a Perfect Will And A Permissive Will?
Post Author: Bill Pratt I just finished reading a book called Evolution by Donald Prothero, a paleontologist. The book’s main purpose is to chronicle the fossil evidence for the evolution of animal life. Prothero, as an expert in this field, seems to do a reasonable job of this throughout the book, although every tenth sentence … Continue reading Science as a Religion?
Post Author: Bill Pratt Imagine the following scenario: two people claim to know the same professional football player. The football player’s name is Alex and he plays in the NFL. The first person who knows Alex the football player describes him this way: He is 6′ 6″ tall, he weighs 305 lbs., he plays left … Continue reading Is the God of Christianity the Same as the God of Islam?
About Bill Pratt Why am I writing this blog? I am passionate about intellectually defending and explaining the Christian faith to all who will listen. I especially like to tackle tough questions that many folks have, but are afraid to ask. If you’ve ever wanted to dig into the Christian faith and seek answers that your friends, … Continue reading About Us