As most are aware by this time, Dallas Willard passed away last Wednesday. Dallas Willard was a Professor of Philosophy at USC, The University of Southern California, for 47 years. He began as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy in 1965 and moved through the ranks from assistant to associate to full professor. He retired last [...]
Keller and THE PROBLEM (RJS)
Mar 21, 2013 @ 5:36 By 26 Comments
We do not live in the Garden of Eden (Utopia, Shangri La, Paradise — you name it). Most of us would agree that it is self evident that something is fundamentally wrong with the world we currently occupy. The 20th century, with genocide, war, greed, injustice, and selfishness, has disabused the optimistic view of the [...]
Doubt, The Reformation, and Sola Fide (RJS)
Mar 19, 2013 @ 5:34 By 20 Comments
Lord I believe; help thou my unbelief. I took part in a scholarly discussion recently – not in a Christian context. In the course of this discussion it was suggested that the Reformation insistence on confessed faith, and more importantly on faith as the path to salvation (sole fide), created an understanding of doubt as [...]
The Historic Christian Faith (RJS)
Mar 5, 2013 @ 5:23 By 22 Comments
Following Tim Keller in The Reason for God we have now presented and discussed seven of the biggest objections raised against the Christian faith. None of these objections are fatal to the historic Christian faith when examined objectively. But this is not enough Keller says — it is time to go beyond doubts and questions [...]
Evolution Isn’t the Problem (RJS)
Feb 28, 2013 @ 5:26 By 92 Comments
The science and faith discussion floats around a number of different issues. They intertwine with each other and can’t be separated completely. Yet one thread runs through and holds together the whole – ontological naturalism, the idea that it is irrational to believe in anything beyond the material world. This issue came up again in [...]
I Believe in Genesis (RJS)
Feb 19, 2013 @ 5:14 By 21 Comments
As most who read this blog know by now I am a Professor of Chemistry and thus (take a deep breath) a scientist… We all know, or have heard repeated over and over … Science has Disproved Christianity… the elite and intelligent know it … it is only a matter of time before average Americans [...]
(In)Justice in Jesus’s Name (RJS)
Feb 7, 2013 @ 5:18 By 13 Comments
In Chapter Four of The Reason for God Tim Keller broaches a topic I have found a real stumbling block over the years: If the Christian story is true why has the Church been responsible for so much pain and injustice both large and small? We must address the behavior of Christians both individual and [...]
Absolute Truth is the Enemy of Freedom (RJS)
Feb 5, 2013 @ 5:30 By 18 Comments
Christianity is a Straightjacket — belief in absolute truth is an enemy of freedom—it endangers our civic freedom because it divides rather than unites—it stifles creativity and growth— “Christianity looks like an enemy of social cohesion, cultural adaptability, and even authentic personhood.”(p. 37) So run the complaints of many in our educated skeptical age. Tim [...]
How Could a Good God Allow Suffering? (RJS)
Jan 29, 2013 @ 5:30 By 128 Comments
Chapter 2 of Tim Keller’s book The Reason for God broaches the problem of pain. Given the pain and suffering in the world – either God is not good or God does not exist. This argument has many variations but there is an underlying thread of continuity. Certainly there is a great deal of pain [...]
All Religion is Culturally Conditioned Truth (RJS)
Jan 24, 2013 @ 5:27 By 42 Comments
Tim Keller has spoken on a number of different occasions about his book The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Many of these are now available on the internet through YouTube and on other sites. As I work through his book I will link to a number of these videos as appropriate. [...]
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