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September 21, 2015
In storytelling, every tale is told within an overarching framework. Settings, events, characters are critical in storytelling and plot development. The best writers create tension, foreshadowing, plot twists, and characterizations that not only entertain, but also make sense within the world the writer has established. It’s how it all fits together and progresses towards a meaningful, if not surprising, ending that makes a great story. Bad stories, on the other hand, result when the story’s world violates its own principles, or when the protagonist defies his or her own nature.
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September 14, 2015
Imagine if there was one argument for the truth of Christianity so convincing that everyone who heard it immediately embraced the gospel. Imagine evidence so persuasive that all you had to do was share it with your unsaved friend, and she’d instantly leave her unbelief behind. Imagine a proof that could overcome all obstacles to Christian faith.
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September 7, 2015
A number of Christians have found my attachment to St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430) peculiar. Some probably think St. Augustine belongs exclusively to the Roman Catholic Church, and perhaps they mistakenly assume that no Protestant can genuinely appreciate a Catholic saint. But what these Christians fail to realize is that Augustine is as historically and theologically important to Protestants as he is to Catholics (agreeing with Westminster Seminary theologian Carl Trueman’s assessment).
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September 1, 2015
This quote from distinguished World War II historian Stephen E. Ambrose conveys a powerful message about the use of moral and military might by the United States of America during the Second World War. At the time, America was seen as an exceptional nation that liberated millions of people and yet, unlike the Soviet Union, didn’t seek to take advantage of the vanquished nations. In fact, America spent billions of dollars to help rebuild both Western Europe and Japan.
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August 24, 2015
Are Christians well known for their careful thinking, or does faith do damage to reason? While skeptics sometimes question whether historic Christianity comports with a vigorous logical outlook on life and the world, the truth of the matter is that many advancements in the area of logic have come from the work of Christian scholars.
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August 17, 2015
Do you know that it’s possible to engage in a vigorous argument without your face turning red, your jugular vein popping out, or raising your voice? Lots of people think of arguments solely in terms of verbal fights, but there is another kind.
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August 11, 2015
Since knowing the point is absolutely essential in thinking through an argument, losing sight of the point is logically disastrous. In fact, one of the biggest obstacles to careful thinking is distraction. Anything logically irrelevant to the central point of the argument provides no support for that conclusion. The problem of irrelevance is that it tends to throw the reader or listener off track, and thus the point is hidden or lost.
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August 3, 2015
In part one of this series, we imagined a scenario where you find yourself on an airplane conversing with a quantum physicist. You want to dialogue about science-faith questions, but the discussion could go several different ways—or even shut down quickly depending on the level of expertise you bring to the table. I asked you to consider your audience, how you relate to that person, and how that relationship can impact your discussion. Do you have the knowledge to keep up with a conversation about quantum mechanics? Are you better equipped in a different field, like philosophy or theology? Or are you an Average Joe, fueled by a love of the truth and, perhaps, an interest in apologetics?
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July 27, 2015
Imagine you’re on an airplane and in the course of casual introductions, you discover the gentleman sitting next to you is a quantum physicist. You share some thoughts about the compatibility between the record of nature and the words of the Bible—but it isn’t long before you realize that you’re in way over your head. The physicist’s questions exceed your ability to offer ready answers. What’s your next move?
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July 20, 2015
Jewish scholar and radio talk show host Dennis Prager often says, “Clarity is more important than agreement.” And when it comes to reasoning, clarity carries its own persuasive power. Clutter and excessive complexity in an argument frequently stand in the way of the argument’s understandability and credibility.
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July 13, 2015
Learning to think for oneself is one of the most important intellectual duties in life. Truth needs to be pursued and apprehended by each individual person. And one of the great benefits of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) is that human beings have been given the faculties to hunt and gather the truth.
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July 6, 2015
With the NBA playoffs having just finished, it’s a good time to mention one of the conspiracy theories that was making the rounds a few years ago. According to many sports fans at the time, the NBA’s league officials were conspiring to get the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics to play in the NBA Finals. Why had they allegedly done this? Big money, of course! The vast TV audience that this marquee NBA matchup would attract would pay great financial dividends to the league. In other words, in the NBA the fix was in!
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June 29, 2015
Christian families are constantly interacting with all sorts of entertainment: books, music, video games, television, and movies. In part 1 of this series, we discussed worldview analysis as a foundational principle of evaluating the media we consume. Now we will examine some additional considerations.
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June 22, 2015
When I was in seminary, I had a side job as a movie reviewer for a major Christian periodical. For two years I spent nearly every Friday night sitting in arthouse theaters watching a lot of really bad films. Then, I’d quickly cobble together a review for which I was paid an astounding $25, plus the cost of a theater ticket and mileage. I reviewed such “blockbusters” as Romeo Is Bleeding and Cobb. Some films were laced with over 80 f-words. How do I know this? I had to count them!
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June 15, 2015
Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out opens this week. The film’s fanciful premise invites moviegoers to “meet the little voices in your head”—specifically, our emotions, personified as Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. RTB editor Maureen Moser and I sat down to talk about emotions, their importance, and the role they play in our minds and hearts. (This article might contain spoilers.)
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June 8, 2015
Before I came on staff at Reasons to Believe (RTB), I spent almost ten years teaching courses in logic, philosophy, and world religions at public colleges in Southern California. The logic courses were definitely some of my favorites to teach. Students often felt wary of taking such an abstract course, but by the end of the semester most of them felt empowered by learning to think carefully and critically about life’s most important issues. Logic is a course that can actually change lives.
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