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January 7, 2020
We can all benefit from succinct, well-stated insights from people who have thought through theological ideas. I like to draw attention to these nuggets of wisdom on my Facebook and Twitter feeds in my weekly #ThursdayTheology segment. Today, we’ll consider several quotes from theologian John Jefferson Davis.
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Education
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Salvation
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Logic
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Trinity
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Theology
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Doctrine
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December 31, 2019
How important is reading in becoming an educated, wise, and thoughtful person? Many educators identify reading as the foundational discipline to all fields of study. For example, leading American educator E. D. Hirsch says, “We all know that reading is the most important academic skill.”1 Distinguished philosopher and educator Mortimer J. Adler summed it up as “reading is learning.”2
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Reflective Thinking
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Reading
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Reason
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Learning
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Education
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Books
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December 24, 2019
Only human beings read. The act of reading involves blending the sounds of letters to form words that symbolize ideas, objects, or entities (abstract or concrete). Interestingly, both religious and secular scientists in various disciplines today think that human exceptionalism—the idea that humans differ from animals in kind, not mere degree—is evidenced in part by our unique ability to think, speak, listen, write, and read.
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Christianity
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Education
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Reading
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Human Flourishing
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World Religions
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Reason
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Learning
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Image of God
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Human Uniqueness
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Christian Life
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Books
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Bible
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December 17, 2019
You may be familiar with my Facebook and Twitter pages, where I have a weekly segment called #ThursdayTheology. There I provide short, substantive quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. One of the most frequent sources is Alister McGrath.
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Faith & Reason
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People of Faith
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Faith
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Jesus Christ
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Incarnation
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Famous Scientists
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Doctrine
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Christianity
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Bible
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December 10, 2019
Modern science has dramatically changed the world for the better. All of us have benefitted from medical and technological advances. Because of that success, some people have concluded that science can answer all of humankind’s ultimate questions. This philosophy, called scientism (science is the only or best path to discovering truth), is to be differentiated from science (the study of the natural world through observation and experiment) and is reflected by such prominent secular scientists as Richard Dawkins, Peter Atkins, and Lawrence Krauss.
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Philosophy of Science
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Science & Faith
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Worldviews
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Science
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History of Science
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Faith & Reason
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Apologetics
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December 3, 2019
Frenchman Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was one of the founding fathers of the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century. A true Renaissance man, Pascal was an eminent mathematician, physicist, and logician, and an intuitive Christian thinker. As a Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist, Pascal provided a penetrating analysis of Christianity’s broader world-and-life view. He accomplished all of this before dying at the early age of 39.
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Faith
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Famous Scientists
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Historical Figures
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Church History
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Christianity
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Science & Faith
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History of Science
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Blaise Pascal
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Apologetics
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November 26, 2019
If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you know I have a weekly segment called Thursday Theology. I like to introduce people to important Christian thinkers; thus, I post thoughtful quotes there (and here) from various scholars. A theologian I appreciate and quote often is Peter Toon. Dr. Toon’s book Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity is the best contemporary book on the doctrine of the Trinity I have ever read.1 This book motivated me to want to help other Christians appreciate the critical importance of the Trinity.
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Jesus Christ
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Incarnation
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Resurrection
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Trinity
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Theology
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People of Faith
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Christianity's Dangerous Ideas
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Christianity
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Christian History
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November 19, 2019
Some of Western civilization’s greatest works of art are housed in the Vatican Museums. Museum benefactors say that part of their mission is to promote “evangelism through beauty.”1 Thus, they are expressing an aesthetic argument that can be made for God’s existence. One way to frame this argument is to reason that God’s existence provides the best explanation for the world’s beauty.
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Worldviews
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Image of God
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Argument from Beauty
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Philosophy
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God's Existence
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Christianity
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Abductive Reasoning
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November 12, 2019
If you have followed me on social media for a while, you know that I have a weekly segment called Thursday Theology, where I provide quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. A theologian I quote often is Michael Green. One of his apologetics books, Runaway World, had a big influence on me as a young Christian and whet my appetite for further apologetics study. I went on to read many of Green’s other books on theology and apologetics that helped ground me in the faith. He was very gracious in writing an endorsement of my book Classic Christian Thinkers: An Introduction even when he was soon to have heart surgery.
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Church History
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Jesus Christ
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Faith & Reason
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People of Faith
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Famous Christians
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Theology
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Incarnation
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Doctrine
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Christian History
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Bible
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Apologetics
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November 5, 2019
Christians correctly assume that apologetics impacts conversion. That’s why many Christian ministries, organizations, and individuals who are motivated by evangelism take the apologetics enterprise seriously. But just how does apologetics impact conversion? And which apologetics factors contribute to a person’s movement toward salvation in Christ?
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Historical Figures
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Famous Christians
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Church History
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Faith & Reason
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Christianity
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Christian History
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Augustine
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Apologetics
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October 29, 2019
How does the defense of the faith (apologetics) influence a person’s embracing the Christian faith (conversion)? In historic Christianity the apologetics enterprise is considered a branch of theology. Defenders of the faith have used apologetics as a vehicle to eliminate intellectual obstacles, thereby encouraging serious reflection on the truth of the Christian faith.
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Christian History
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Christianity
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Augustine
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Church History
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Historical Figures
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Faith & Reason
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October 22, 2019
How does the defense of the faith (apologetics) impact a person’s coming to embrace the faith (conversion)? As mentioned in part 1 of this four-part series, in historic Christianity the apologetics enterprise is often viewed as a tool to remove intellectual obstacles that may stand in the way of a person’s consideration and possible acceptance of the faith.
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Faith & Reason
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Christian Literature
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Historical Theology
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Christianity
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Augustine
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Apologetics
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October 15, 2019
In historic Christianity the field of apologetics (a reasoned defense of the faith) is considered a branch of theology. Apologetics often has a close connection to evangelism (communication of the gospel message) by attempting to remove intellectual obstacles that may stand in the way of a person embracing faith (conversion).
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Augustine
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Christian History
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History of Christianity
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Historical Figures
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Christianity
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October 8, 2019
On my Facebook and Twitter pages I have implemented a weekly segment called #WednesdayWisdom, where I provide quotes from significant scholars from various disciplines. Education is a subject that I return to often because I think evangelical Christians need help in learning how to love God with their minds. One of my favorite educational change agents and political philosophers is William “Bill” Bennett. His lectures and writings have influenced my views about how a nation should educate its citizenry and I have used some of his books to instruct my own children.
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Learning
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Books
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Reading
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Education
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October 1, 2019
On my Facebook and Twitter pages I have a weekly segment called Thursday Theology, where I provide quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. One historical theologian I quote often is Jaroslav Pelikan. Dr. Pelikan’s five-volume series The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine strongly influenced my thinking about Christian history and historical theology.
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Doctrine
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Church History
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Christian Life
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Creeds
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September 24, 2019
Throughout my professional career as both a college professor and a Christian scholar I have been asked thousands of questions. However, whenever I’m asked about suicide it always strikes an emotional chord deep within me. A close member of my family died by suicide more than 40 years ago when I was just a teenager. My wife also lost a member of her family in the same tragic way.
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Mental Health
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Pain and Suffering
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Christian Life
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Christian Issues
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