Apologetics and Evidence

How do People Begin Believing in False Religions and False Teachings ?   I have written on the topic of  Barriers to the Gospel , which I encourage you to read, but what is it that  initially  tickles the ears of those who are opposed to it? Where does deception begin? We know that someone is not born opposed, but opposition in one’s life seems to grow stronger in many cases.  I find that barriers to the gospel are  nurtured  into a personal defense for not believing, versus the idea that barriers are the  seed  which began it all . I don’t think we should confuse these categories because it can be quite helpful to understand the flow of things for our discussions in apologetics and evangelism.    A bonsai tree begins its life as a seed like all trees begin, but this tree is different. It grew and was nurtured in a manner that defies a natural path. This is like how barriers to the gospel are nurtured. Much time and work took place ...

If you‘ve never heard the word,   chiasm  (or, chiasmus ) , it is a literary device to help people remember the subject material written in literature. It is like an outline that forms an “X.” with the first point being related to the last, and the second being related to the second to the last, and so on, until you reach the pinnacle, which is the very center of the X. Matthew 19:30 is a small example of a chiasm:   “But many who are first will be last,  and many who are last will be first.”   These clauses above would be the top left and the bottom left of the letter “X,” which is where the word, Chiasm, comes from: The Greek letter, “ Chi ” (pronounced like " key "). The three churches in the center of the chiasm of the seven letters to the churches in the Revelation are the main focus of this article (and perhaps in the seven churches themselves). This is what we are really supposed to examine in the chiasm. The first two churches in Revelation 2 are from th...

An idea often presented is that all sins are the same through the eyes of God. The problem with this is that it goes much deeper than that. Let’s examine the word of God… James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (NIV). The phrase “all sins are the same” likely came from this verse. The question of whether all sins are the same or not lies in the usage of the word, “sin.”   James explains that  if you are a Law breaker  (meaning, if you break one of the 613 commandments found in the Law of Moses),  then you have sinned against God, thereby placing yourself in need of salvation . Jesus even takes these commands further and says that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, then you are guilty of adultery (breaking the 7 th  Commandment; See Matthew 5:28). Again, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus explains that murder (breaking the 6 th  Commandment) gets the same results as being ang...

Have you ever had moments in your Christian walk when you were wondering why something was happening to you and perhaps you almost felt like you were being hammered on, like an anvil? I think that our own experiences can often make us wonder why such things happen to us. Why do bad things happen to Christians? [1] I think that there is a large, but often unseen difference between what we might see as “bad,” or even “evil,” and suffering. Sometimes, not everything we might see as bad, is actually bad or evil. For instance, going to the dentist, or having lifesaving surgery. We go through those things because they bring about a greater good. If they were bad or evil, then how could good come from them. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not saying that God cannot use evil for good… In Genesis 50:20, we find the reasoning of Joseph: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” The question is, was what...