The Trinity on the Janet Mefferd Show

Dr. James White was a guest on the Janet Mefferd Show in which he talked about how important the Trinity doctrine is and why it is important. One of the high points  is hearing James White defending the Trinity against a Jewish caller.  This is worth listening!

The Trinity on the Janet Mefferd Show
Original Source (hour 2)

Stand to Reason Blog: Sproul & Meyer Discuss ID

I saw a tweet from Brian of Apologetics 315 blog. It is an interview from the Stand to Reason blog. RC Sproul interviews Stephen Meyer on the philosophy and science behind Intelligent Design and why it points to the God of the Bible. This is real awesome and worth watching.




Stand to Reason Blog: Sproul & Meyer Discuss ID

He Lives: Pre-trib Rapture? No thanks, I'll pass.

I've been following David Heddle's blog for a while now. I don't agree with everything he does but I enjoy the way he writes and I love nuclear physics so his blog is always interesting to me. This is a particular pet peeve of mine as it is his. I also reject the idea of  Pre-Tribulational raptures (especially as viewed by the Left Behind series). According the Left Behind series, the problem of the fact that there are still believers on earth during Tribulation  is solved by saying that there are 2 raptures. In my opinion that means that some people will get two chances to accept Christ. The "Pre-Trib" idea can't seem to be dated any earlier than the 19th century. If it were true I'm sure other Christians would have seen it earlier. One defense of it is that God would not allow the church to go through the Tribulation. My question: Why? They sometimes point to the fact that the Hebrews in Goshen were not touched by the 10 plagues that were applied to the rest of Egypt.To which I ask what about Job? He was righteous and he still suffered. I think it's attractive because Christians can think of themselves as not having to suffer and miss the Tribulation entirely. I know I do, but I just don't see it in scripture.

He Lives: Pre-trib Rapture? No thanks, I'll pass.

@MartijnLinssen: Global Warming, IT and Christianity - the Law of Infallibility

I've been talking to a MartijnLinssen on Twitter and he posted the following blog entry. My comments are in red.

On Twitter, I do talk a lot. About anything. My monthly tweets have exponentially grown to currently over 1,200 a month, and that now is my baseline it seems.
I talk a bit with fundamental Christians at times, but that's at night time usually, somehow.
I talk mostly with IT people during the day, as I work in IT and usually operate as an Enterprise Architect who started off writing BASIC at age 11 and COBOL at career start - been there, done that.
And every now and then I do read and / or say something about Global Warming as that has become part of our everyday life

I find it easy to talk to him although we don't agree on the Bible. It's obvious why now I know that he is in IT.

When having conversation with Christians, I usually run into strict believers who have a good share of quotes and take the Bible literally or at least believe it contains absolute Truth. I challenge them on the crucifixion and say that the Bible should be taken figuratively, not literally, that Jesus' death is just a spiritual death (I believe Jesus' true words, meanings and life are according to the Gospel of Thomas) which is met with fierce resistance that it is all the Word of God, and True, and that it should be taken literally. The Bible is infallible, they say.
Then I ask them what they think of Luke 17:21, where Jesus tells the Pharisees that "the Kingdom of God is inside you". The answers always are alike "Jesus didn't mean that when he said such", "You have to place it into the context", "No that needs to be translated among, not inside or within" - much like this lengthy commentary
And before you know it, the True Word of God is being bent and interpreted right in front of you - by Christians themselves

He and I had a similar exchange. He commits two mistakes. The first is that he should try to prove that the rest of the Gospels should be read in light of  the Gospel of Thomas. It conflicts with the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The other  problem is that he misinterprets Luke 17:21 because he thinks he can take Gospel of  Thoms equal or more weight.  In the NIV, Luke 17:21 says

nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within [oR among or with] you."

He wants to interpret this verse as saying that the Kingdom of God is inside everyone including Jesus' enemies. We know that this interpretation is incorrect because inconflicts with other scriptures. His argument leads to Jesus' enemies - those who hate and work against him -  going to heaven. This makes no sense

²²Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. ²⁴The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

 ²⁵Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one." - John 10:22-29

The rest of  the post talks about infallibility and expresses that if something is infallible it must also falsifiable - able to be proven false. This is one of the characteristics of Christianity from the beginning. Either Jesus was crucified or he wasn't. Jesus rose from the dead or he didn't. You can't duck it. You can't call it spiritual or metaphor. The apostles claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrection and they pointed to evidences like the empty tomb (look at Acts 2).

[The picture is showing the 'Christian percentage by country' - although that just is counting quantity of course, not measuring quality]

@MartijnLinssen: Global Warming, IT and Christianity - the Law of Infallibility