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September 17, 2019
Advancements in science, technology, and medicine over the last century or so have benefitted virtually all people. Scientific progress has lengthened human life spans and improved quality of life. These great strides prompt a provocative question: Why does science work? That is, why is the scientific enterprise so effective in delivering critical, reliable information about the natural world that can inform and benefit humankind?
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Science & Faith
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Science
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Philosophy of Science
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September 10, 2019
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother. Following a youth and an early career steeped in debauchery and ambition, Augustine experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity when he turned from his pagan beliefs. His classic book Confessions details his conversion story and, to this day, remains a perennial bestseller.
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Church History
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History of Christianity
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Christian History
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Historical Figures
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Famous Christians
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Augustine
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September 3, 2019
Poets, playwrights, philosophers, and psychologists all take their turns offering insights on the “human condition.” They seek to explain the basic nature, identity, struggle, and aspirations of human beings. In fact, all philosophies and religions try to define and explain humanity’s underlying condition. But do any of them succeed?
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Blaise Pascal
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Human Uniqueness
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Anthropology
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August 27, 2019
On my Facebook and Twitter pages I have a weekly segment called Wednesday Wisdom, where I provide quotes from great thinkers in various fields. One topic I return to often is education, for I view my central calling in life as that of a teacher. One of my favorite educational reformers is E. D. Hirsch, Jr. His books have influenced my general view of education in America, and I have used them in the education of my own children.
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Learning
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Education
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Books
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Bible
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August 20, 2019
Recently someone asked me how you can know if you have had a successful apologetics encounter. My immediate answer was that defending the faith (Greek: apologia) is never easy and one must trust in God’s grace for the results. Ultimately, I believe that only God by his extraordinary grace can instill a desire for himself in a human being.
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August 13, 2019
Virtually every human being seeks to find an overarching purpose in life. As part of this common pursuit, people naturally attach themselves to belief systems, values, causes, interests, and even physical things in order to give their lives meaning and fulfillment. Philosophers talk about the idea of worldview, which is understood as a person’s big-picture view of reality and consists of a cluster of beliefs about such critically important realities as God, the world, knowledge, values, and beauty. This purpose-seeking characteristic and need to grasp reality seems to set humans apart from the animals.
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Worldviews
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Image of God
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C.S. Lewis
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Augustine
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August 6, 2019
What role does persuasion play in communicating Christian truth to people?
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Rhetoric & Debate
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Logic
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Apologetics
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July 30, 2019
Science-minded people today may find it surprising to learn that a person who lived 1,600 years ago offers sensible insights on creation, but such is the case with Augustine of Hippo (354–430). St. Augustine is arguably the most influential Christian thinker outside the biblical authors. According to historical theologians he has influenced Protestant theology nearly as much as Catholic theology in his overall prodigious imprint on Western Christendom.
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Creation
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Cosmology
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Christian History
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Augustine
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July 23, 2019
What is the best Christian book of all time? (Outside of the Bible, of course.) And how could something as grand as that claim ever be determined? Well, scholars are typically never afraid to take on big challenges.
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Christianity
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Christian Literature
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Books
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Learning
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C.S. Lewis
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Augustine
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July 16, 2019
One of the central thinkers of modern American evangelicalism, Norman L. Geisler (1932–2019), died recently. He was a Christian philosopher, apologist, theologian, educator, and debater. He was also one of the most prolific Christian writers ever—having authored, coauthored, or edited some 127 books.1 Geisler received degrees from Tyndale College and Wheaton College and his doctoral degree in philosophy from Loyola University of Chicago. He had a long, distinguished career and ministry.
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People of Faith
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Learning
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Famous Christians
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Apologetics
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July 9, 2019
Life is full of big questions. And one of the most common is this: Does the universe have a purpose?
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Logic
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Worldviews
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Science & Faith
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Fallacies
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Critical Thinking
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July 2, 2019
Answering people’s questions is an important task in the apologetics enterprise. But defending the Christian faith often involves first explaining what historic Christianity teaches. This is why today’s Christian apologists need to recognize that the field of apologetics was seen historically as a branch of theology. Thus, skilled apologists must demonstrate a grasp of theology, doctrine, and history.
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Saved by Grace
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Salvation
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Theology
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June 25, 2019
Can quantum science, the laws of logic, and the Christian faith coexist? Yes, they can. In fact, Christian thinkers have historically made many significant contributions to the study and development of both science and logic.1
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Critical Thinking
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Particle Physics
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Physics
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Logic
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June 18, 2019
Do the experimental results of the incredibly small and unusual quantum world undermine our traditional understanding of reason and the laws of logic? In part 1 of this three-part series I described a social media dialogue I had with a scientist on why the results of quantum mechanics (QM) need not be interpreted to invalidate the law of noncontradiction (LNC). Here’s a summary of what I briefly argued:
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Particle Physics
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Logic
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Physics
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Critical Thinking
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June 11, 2019
Having worked at science-faith apologetics organization Reasons to Believe for more than 20 years, I’ve observed that scientists and philosophers often think differently about the world. With the types of specialized training in their academic backgrounds, scientists and philosophers tend to ask different kinds of questions about reality and truth. Unfortunately, they also have a tendency to talk past one other. Recently, I had a social media interaction with a scientist about whether the findings of quantum mechanics invalidate the logical law of noncontradiction.
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Physics
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Particle Physics
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Logic
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Critical Thinking
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June 4, 2019
How are Christians to view systems of thought that are rooted in pagan or secular beliefs? Are non-Christian belief systems so filled with error that Christians can learn nothing from them? Are they so foreign that they only corrupt Christian truth?
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