Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog

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Apologetics Course Offered in the Twin Cities

09/01/2010 - Alan Kurschner

If you live in the Twin Cities area, sign up for Introduction to Apologetics that will be taught by Justin John Daeley. It will begin October 7th, meeting on Thursdays for eight weeks, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Click here for more information.

Also, this fall, I am teaching Biblical Interpretation. And starting in January, I will be teaching Basics of Biblical Greek and Intermediate Greek. Click here to be alerted to their announcements.

13:10:27 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

2010 God and Culture Conference on Apologetics

08/21/2010 - Tur8infan

The 2010 God and Culture Conference on Apologetics was held today, Saturday, August 21, 2010, at the Oakbrooke Bible Church, in Waterford, Michigan. Thanks to some speedy recording and uploading, the audio from the conference is already available. As you will note, Dr. White spoke during two of the sessions.

Enjoy!

-TurretinFan

(Official Website)

15:07:53 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Apologetics Teaching in the Black Hills

08/19/2010 - Jamin Hubner

Registration is now open for JBI at the Black Hills/Rapid City location! Lord willing, I will be teaching Introduction to Apologetics, beginning October 5th, 2010. Like all Jesus Bible Institute courses, there are 8 sessions, once a week in the evening for two hours (total of 16 lectures). Unlike most college courses, this 3-credit equivalent is a fraction of the cost ($200 instead of $1,000+). So, if you're a Christian who doesn't have a lot of time or money, but wants to know all about the defense of the faith, the nature of truth, and learn all kinds of things about the Bible, theology, and various religions, this is your chance. As my favorite camper salesman says, "it'll be a hoot."

So get the word out! And in fact, I'll give you a free signed copy of my book Light Up the Darkness if you get anyone to register for this course. Given geography, the number of readers on this blog, and the nature of the economy, the odds of this happening are about 0/0. But I figured I'd make a deal anyway.

I'm praying this course and the new JBI location will be honoring to God and His kingdom. Solid college-level courses on Christian apologetics (regardless of the price tag) are a serious rarity, but it is my goal to provide such teaching, even as I struggle to find an economical place to live in the Black Hills (how we all know housing is a blessing!). Believers, laypeople, and Christian leaders of all kinds need to have training in a day and age where error drenches our senses.

12:28:42 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Definitions of Apologetics

08/18/2010 - Jamin Hubner

Here is a list of definitions of the word "apologetics" from both presuppositional and classical/evidential apologists:

Presuppositional Apologists

“Christian apologetics is, at root, a biblical discipline.” Richard Gaffin Jr. in K. Scott Oliphint and Lane G. Tipton, eds. Revelation and Reason: New Essays in Reformed Apologetics (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing, 2007), 1.

“Apologetics is about inviting people to look into the face of this absolute, personal God. It dares them to see him for who he is and what he means for the world.” Thom E. Notaro in Revelation and Reason, 157.

“We may define it as the discipline that teaches Christians how to give a reason for their hope.” John Frame. Apologetics to the Glory of God (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 1994), 1.

“Apologetics is the vindication of the presence of Christ as his church against the various forms of the non-Christian philosophy of life that constantly attempt to invade and intrude that presence.” William D. Dennison in Revelation and Reason, 203.

“Apologetics is a way of doing theology, a way of doing evangelism, a way of doing philosophy.” Greg Bahnsen in Van Til’s Apologetic (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1998), 44-45.

“Apologetics may be defined as persuading people to think through their worldviews, abandon their false beliefs, and embrace Jesus, all while defending the truths of the gospel.” Jamin Hubner, Light Up the Darkness (BookSurge, 2008), 119.

Classical/Evidential Apologists

“Apologetics is the reasoned defense of the Christian religion.” R.C. Sproul, John Gerstner, and Arthur Lindsley. Classical Apologetics (Zondervan, 1984), 13.

“Apologetics…is that branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith.” William Lane Craig. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics (Crossway, 2008), 15.

"Apologetics is the discipline of defending Christianity as true, rational, and pertinent to life." William Lane Craig. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision (Colorado Springs:David C. Cook, 2010)

“Apologetics is directed primarily for those who do not believe so that they may have a reason to believe.” Norman Geisler. “An Apologetic for Apologetics.” http://www.normangeisler.net/apologetic.html

“At its essence, apologetics is the art and science of Christian persuasion: communicating the relevance, coherence, and reasonableness of the Christian Gospel to skeptics, cultural influencers, and critical thinkers across the globe.” Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. http://www.rzim.org/initiatives.aspx

“Apologetics is the attempt to ally reason to faith, to defend faith with reason’s weapon.” Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith (Ignatius Press, 2009), 32.

09:24:06 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Albert Mohler on the Battle over Inerrancy

08/17/2010 - Tur8infan

Albert Mohler has provided an article updating the battle over innerancy, and mentioning the work of Peter Enns and Kenton Sparks, who stand opposed to the Biblical and historical doctrine of innerancy. (link to article) It's an interesting article to read. The one thing I don't like is that one might get the idea that the battle over innerancy is only 50 years old. It goes much farther back, with folks like the Manichaeans alleging errors in the Old Testament Scriptures.

You can sense some irritation in Augustine's response:

If the Manichees were willing to discuss the hidden meaning of these words in a spirit of reverent inquiry rather than of captious fault-finding, then they would of course not be Manichees, but as they asked it would be given them, as they sought they would find, as they knocked it would be opened up to them. The fact is, you see, people who have a genuine religious interest in learning put far more questions about this text than these irrelegious wretches; but the difference between them is that the former seek in order to find, while the latter are at no pains at all to do anything except not to find what they are seeking.

- Augustine, On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees, Book II, Chapter 2, Section 3

The same applies to the irreligious wretches who today seek to find fault. The Manichaeans came and went, and Biologos will come and go as well. But there will always be those who will seek to find fault with the Word of God. We must always be ready to give an answer to them.

-TurretinFan

05:36:11 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Upcoming Debates and Resources

08/14/2010 - James White

Ever feel like time is speeding up on you, and you'll never be ready for what's coming? This Fall makes me feel that way! Please pray about my trip to Minneapolis in October, not only for the conference, but for my meeting with Bethany House Publishers. I desperately need to take a break from debating in the not too distant future to put the proverbial pen to paper (in this case, fingertips to keyboard, of course) and get some writing projects done. There is a massive need for a text-by-text, easily accessible "here is what Ehrman says, but here is the other side of the story" type work. And my heart for a "Letters to a Mormon Elder" type book, except written to the serious minded, believing Muslim, is stronger than ever. Wouldn't a book you could read for yourself, that would train you in the whys and wherefores of Muslim evangelism, but that you could then hand directly to your Muslim friend, knowing it was written to communicate with them, be useful? But such projects don't just appear out of thin air, I assure you. But till then, the Ministry Resource List remains a very helpful way you can stand with me in this "Fall full of debates." The only thing more encouraging than getting resources from that list is when local churches stand with us in regularly supporting the work. As opposition to the Gospel, and especially those who proclaim it with clarity, and pointedness, increases, we will need to know God's people stand with us more and more.

13:52:21 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Presuppositional Apologetics in Plain Language: Fabulous Comments on Apologetics by Edgar

08/14/2010 - Jamin Hubner

Just paging through the interview of William Edgar, apologetics professor at Westminster, in the July 31st edition of World Magazine. He definitely had a few good ones that puts presuppositional (biblical) apologetics in simple terms:

Vail Til is considered to be the leading exponent of "presuppositionalism," an apologetic that looks at issues of the heart and worldview, rather than simply amassing great doses of evidence that are presented as though facts were neutral. Van Til was very favorable to evidence but it had to be in a framework. I took that ball and ran with it into the area of culture studies, and now I teach cultural apologetics.

...Apologetics that simply take tight philosophical arguments, dump them on people, and then simply wait to see if they can say "uncle" or not, are not very effective. First of all, not all of us are philosophers; second, it doesn't reach into heart commitments, which is where the issues of life are. It's not how bright I am and whether I can think through a problem that is going to lead me to Christ. It's whether I have the kind of information, wisdom, and preaching that will challenge my deepest assumptions and lead me to Christ. (28)

Edgar, of course, edited the wonderful Christian Apologetics Past and Present: A Primary Source Reader (2009) and Van Til's Christian Apologetics and Introduction to Systematic Theology (one of my top 5 all time favorite books).

08:56:31 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Ergun Caner's Apologetics Book and Presuppositionalism

08/05/2010 - Jamin Hubner

A few hours ago I received A Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, edited by Ergun Caner and Ed Hindson (both editors, as well as over a dozen of the contributors, are professors at Liberty University and Seminary; thus, the book might be said to be a "product of Liberty"). I admit, I had a bad taste in my mouth upon opening up the package - not merely because an editor faked huge chunks of his conversion story and lied countless times behind the pulpit - but because the last apologetics reference book I bought (A New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics) didn't contain "Greg Bahnsen," or even (if I remember correctly) "Presuppositional apologetics" in its pages. You'd think a 779 page dictionary on Christian apologetics might have something about the Copernican Revolution of Christian apologetics. (Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since I sold it a week later).

Fortunately, Caner and Hindson's book contains a decent biography of Van Til ( by Linda Gottschalk), as well as an essay on "Presuppositionalism" by Mark Coppenger (p. 401). Coppenger's article is a rather accurate representation of what the non-Reformed and non-presuppositional Christian community thinks of biblical apologetics as told by Bavinck, Van Til, Bahnsen, White, Wilson, Cook, myself and others. As such, it commits a number of basic fallacies.

Coppenger's "Presuppositionalism"

I was pleased to find the general points of "presuppositionalism" fairly represented from 401-403. However, I think Coppenger (Professor of Apologetics at SBTS)missed the elephant in the room: presuppositional apologetics claims to be synonymous with biblical apologetics, and that's why its so important. There is no indication in Coppenger's essay that this is even the belief of presuppositionalists, let alone central to the debate. After all, it's not as if presuppositional apologists are what they are because they find the method clever, effective, and meaningful (which it is) - they argue presuppositionally because that is precisely how God reveals the task of defending the faith in His Word. Again, apologetic methods clash on their most basic assumption: one view finds Scripture completely sufficient to reveal to us how to defend the faith ("presuppositional"), while another view finds Scripture merely supplemental and, consequently, secondary ("classical"/"evidential").

More disappointing was the popular "Van Tillians say that unbelievers don't know anything!" fallacy: "Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987) was quite radical in his teaching. He essentially denied that lost men could know anything significant at all," (403). This is the same or similar fallacy committed by Dr. Richard Howe, Professor of Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary, who is also a contributor to the book (see my response here; Howe recently responded to his critics regarding his thoughts on presuppositional apologetics; but his response to my work is "forthcoming"), when he commented on Bahnsen and the unbeliever's use of logic. I won't repeat my response at length, but two quotes from the book Presuppositional Apologetics will be enough to summarize the correct position:

Because fallen man cannot escape the knowledge of God he is still able to acquire knowledge through his contact with general revelation in the world; as a creature of God he retains an irradicable knowledge of his Creator, knowledge of himself always bringing knowledge of his God as well…the unbeliever…can and does use his mind to know things; he is able to do so despite of what he thinks about his epistemological situation. (16-17)

…the unbeliever has a great deal of knowledge about the world in spite of the fact that his unbelieving presuppositions are incapable of leading to, or theoretically grounding, knowledge and truth. (38)

Coppenger then asserts that Greg Bahnsen denied that believers can have "common ground" with unbelievers, saying:

Van Til and Clark's apologetical "children" have developed presuppositionalism along their two divergent paths, the former denying intellectual common ground with non-Christians, the latter affirming it. So one can distinguish between the hardline Greg Bahnsen and the more accommodating John Frame. (A Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, 403)

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17:44:04 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

Roger Beckwith's Classic Work Back in Print

07/22/2010 - James White

I am thankful I purchased this book back when it was initially in print from a major Christian publisher. It went out of print, and at one point a friend of the ministry even paid to have a special print run done, so valuable is the historical information contained therein. For anyone with an interest in the field of the study of the canon of Scripture, and in particular, relating to the apocryphal writings that Rome has defined as canon Scripture, Roger Beckwith's work is a must have. Once we saw it was back in print, we hurried to get a small supply. Click here to order your copy today!

11:22:44 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

The Evangelical Philosophical Society Stoops to a New Low

07/19/2010 - Jamin Hubner

Set Forth Your Case
Equipping Christians for Discipleship and Evangelism

Experience seasoned teaching by Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, Greg Koukl, Randy Newman, Frank Beckwith, Craig Evans, Craig Blomberg, Mike Licona and over twenty other influencers in Christian apologetics as they equip you about the issues facing contemporary Christian witness.

And guess what other "influencer" will be providing "seasoned teaching" at this 9th Annual Apologetics Conference? Yep, Chris Weaver, the guy who has harassed countless believers and gotten kicked out of numerous Christian apologetics chat channels and boards, faked his identity over and over online, and refused to debate (or would sue) if it would be recorded and released to the public without his post-debate consent. My stars, why doesn't the Evangelical Philosophical Society just put up a flashing billboard saying we could care less about philosophy if it has anything to do with skill in living and the love of wisdom , but hey, our speakers know all about propositional logic and fit an academic box. Buy your tickets now and get equipped to defend the faith honorably!

It really is kind of sick, because it's almost a Caner situation in the making, perhaps worse. A person who (a) has been demonstrated to consistently and publicly engage in ungodly behavior, (b) sees no need to (and does not) publicly repent from that behavior, and (c) is teaching the people of God (!) is being advertised to the Christian community as one who provides "seasoned teaching" - and, no one seems to be aware of it. I mean, when Weaver will "equip you" at this apologetics conference, surely the EPS doesn't mean "teach you how to create fake online identities and email addresses in order to discredit Christian apologists, debate teens on gay sex and threaten to sue if they're released to the public, and mock other Christian apologists through cartoon pseudonyms," do they?

I said less than two weeks ago that "Christopher Weaver is a wolf in sheep's clothing" for a reason. He refuses to talk about his personal faith with other Christians online, has a notorious reputation for being prideful and arrogant to the highest degree, and is unashamedly, documentedly dishonest. This is not the kind of person that should be speaking a Christian conference! This is precisely the wrong kind of person to be in a position of training and teaching the church.

There couldn't be a greater call towards real apologetics - apologetics that doesn't hide behind cartoon names and institutions. But it's up to the informed Christian to deal with the facts as one before God instead of playing political and academic games before men. We are the salt of the earth, and the EPS is apparently continuing to lose its saltiness.

08:59:21 - Category: General Apologetics - Link to this article -

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