In my last article, I addressed a recent controversy that broke about Israel’s conquest of the Canaanites. In that article, I began a defense of the literalist view of the war against Canaan; one that has recently reemerged in light of an interview that William Lane Craig did with Alex O’Connor, an atheist YouTuber. In that interview, Craig defends the literal view of the conquest based on two major premises: first, that the commands of God are always in alignment... Read more
Recently, an online debate flared up regarding the biblical conquest of the Canaanites, or what some have even called the Canaanite Genocide (according to the modern use of the word). The debate started when online atheist YouTuber, Alex O’Connor, interviewed Richard Dawkins. In that interview, O’Connor pressed Dawkins about why he doesn’t debate Christian apologists or philosophers, many of whom O’Connor seems friendly with. Dawkins, in typical pompous fashion, said that he doesn’t have time for such people, and, unprompted... Read more
In my last post on Deuteronomy Chapter 7, I discussed the three reasons the Bible gives for why God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites. Those reasons were: 1) to prevent the Israelites from intermarrying with pagan women, which 2) would lead to false beliefs about God, i.e., to idolatry, which 3) would, in turn, lead them to participate in abominable practices and behaviors. In this post, we will look at four warnings God gives to His people prior to... Read more
“This communion which the saints have with Christ doth not make them in any wise partakers of the substance of his Godhead, or to be equal with Christ in any respect: either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous.” (WCF 26.3) The First Temptation and Unbelief Do you remember the first temptation? It is the same temptation that comes at us still today. “You can be as God knowing good and evil.” How could Adam and Eve have known... Read more
In this episode of the Apologetics.com radio show, Dr. Harry Edwards, Lenny Esposito (vice-president of The Kirkwood Center) and I (Anthony) discussed the problem with adopting an attitude of worldview relativism in our culture. This episode was motivated by the comments and controversy surrounding Dr. Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University. Can a culture survive without any sense of a transcendent, universal and culturally irrelevant code of conduct? Or are all truth claims relative to persons and cultures, and,... Read more
One of the most contentious and vexing questions of biblical history is God’s ordering Israel to destroy the people of Canaan. This order to annihilate the Canaanites, and other nations within the land of Israel, is presented most clearly in Deuteronomy, chapter 7: When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites,... Read more
In my last three posts: here, here and here, I argued there are serious problems with the #HeGetsUs campaign. #HeGetsUs is a ministry run by a 501c3 called “Come Near.” One of the problems I see has to do with the nature of propaganda. But, before I address the problem of propaganda, either in a secular or Christian form, let me briefly address the organization itself. This is “Come Near’s” own description of the organization, taken directly from the #HeGetsUs... Read more
In my last post, I discussed what I believe to be the theological view of the group know as #HeGetsUs. Or, if this is not their view, they are at least presenting themselves in this way. Based on the Super Bowl commercials they have aired over the last two years, and their stated mission, it seems justified to categorize those involved with #HeGetsUs as “Culture Christians,” or, in Richard Niebuhr’s terminology, “Christ-of-Culture” Christians. In lieu of this approach to culture,... Read more
This week, I happened to read two different articles in my news feed about how to be happy. They both said the same thing. And it wasn’t anything groundbreaking. It was to be a part of healthy relationships and contribute to something greater than yourself. Having a cause that people believe is important will make them happy. The Cause of Advocacy on Campus As a university professor, I see how this is true among faculty and students. The secular university,... Read more
In my previous post, I argued that there were several fundamental problems with the #HeGetsUs Ad that aired during the Chiefs vs. 49’ers Super Bowl. Those problems were hermeneutical (interpretive), as well as aesthetic, conceptual and biblical. If the reader has not yet seen the Ad in question, see it here. In this article, I want to step back and look at a much larger and broader concern, namely, the problem of Culture Christianity and what we might call Christian... Read more
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