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...

Mormons  and  Jehovah’s Witnesses  (JWs) both teach that a person is saved by their faith  plus  their works. I want to look at this and dissect it in such a manner that is easy to understand, usable in witnessing, and simply memorable for everyone. I think the most helpful way to tackle this is to look at the James passage, because rarely does anyone have an objection that Paul is talking about faith, since in Ephesians 2:9 he specifically says, “not by works, lest anyone could boast.” But now to James 2:14-26:   14 “What good is it, my brothers, if  someone  says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But  someone  will say, “You have fait...

Mormonism teaches that those who are married in a temple can be married for eternity. In Doctrine and Covenants 132:15–20, we find the following:   15 Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word , and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead , and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. 16 Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. 17 For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God for...