James White debates Imam Shams

Last week Dr. James White debated the leader of the largest Mosque in New York, Imam Shams. I've had the opportunity to see portions of it. Hopefully we will get to see and hear more of it considering that it was well-documented. Dr White commented on it in his blog and he was on the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program discussing it. The link is on his blog. He even was nice enough to post some of the debate on YouTube

What Hollywood Believes: Bob Dylan

What Hollywood Believe records two thought from Bob Dylan that I find interesting. In the first one Dylan said:

"I feel a heartfelt God. I don't particularly think that God want me thinking about Him all the time. I think that would be tremendous burden on Him, you know. He's got enough people asking Him for favors. He's got enough people asking Him to pull string."

I get his sentiment, I just don't agree. God can do anything and can hear the prayers and thoughts of every human being every where and every when at the same time. I agree we should be more concerned with serving Him rather than what He will do for us.

When Dylan was asked about the nature of religion I really liked what he said.

"Well, religion is repressive to a certain degree. Religion is another form of bondage which man invents to get himself to God. But that's why Christ came. Christ didn't preach religion. He preached the Truth, the Way and the Life. He said He'd come to give life and life more abundantly. He talked about life, not necessarily religion... "

"A religion which says you have to do certain things to get to God...,which is by works: you can enter into the Kingdom by what you do, what you wear,what you say, how many times a day yopu pray, how many goood deeds you may do...That type of religion will not get you into the Kingdom, that's true. However there is a Master Crerator, a Supreme Being in the Universe."

Paul's Earthly Remains Found?

Fox news is reporting that the remains of Apostle Paul's body has been found under the bascillaca that bears his name in Rome. I've got two points:

1. What kind of remains were found? It's been 2 thousand years under most circumstances a human body would have long fallen into dust.
2. I think it's debatable as to whether or not Roman Catholic doctrine really reflects the writing of Apostle Paul.

Sunday Quote: John Polkinghorne on Fine-Tuning - Apologetics 315

Here is another great Sunday quote from Apologetics 315. This was awesome.

Sunday Quote: John Polkinghorne on Fine-Tuning - Apologetics 315:

“When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.”

– John Polkinghorne

I fully agree because when you study the order of the universe...its structure...its qualities and characteristics you must can't help but be struck by the sheer awesomeness and the unmistakable fact that it is bigger than you. Something that has such intricate and ingenius design - from the galaxies to the Solar Systems to the planets to our bodies to subatomic particles - point to a mind that thought it up and carried it out. It's the only logical conclusion.

Gospel According To Transformers 2

One of the criticisms of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is that it has no plot, no deepness. There are those who think that there is nothing of philosophical value in this movie. I could not disagree more. Yes there were plenty of action, spectacular special effects, and Megan Fox. Plenty of eye candy but nothing to make you think about anything important, right? Wrong. I saw duty and sacrifice modeled and exampled as themes in this movie and its predecessor. From the first film the theme "No sacrifice, no victory." was also drawn upon. We see several human and Autobots choose to do what was right to protect others no matter the cost to themselves. Another point is that came up is that we can choose to be good or bad like Jetfire or Wheelie. See the film to see what I am referring to. One of the quotes from the film that got my intention was when Optimus Prime said to Sam Witwicky:

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a time of our choosing."

That is profound especially our culture seems to be scizophrenic when it comes to what we believe about free will and destiny. Which is it? Do you choose your lot in life or does it choose you or does God orchistrate everything?

"Fate" is defined as follows:

1.	something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.

2.	the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.

3.	that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.

4.	a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.

5.	death, destruction, or ruin.

6.	the Fates, Classical Mythology. the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to predetermine, as by the decree of fate; destine (used in the passive): a person who was fated to be the savior of the country.

While "destiny" is defined:

1.	something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.

2.	the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.

3.	the power or agency that determines the course of events.

4.	(initial capital letter) this power personified or represented as a goddess.

5.	the Destinies, the Fates.

It seems to me that fate and destiny are almost the same thing. I'd say that we don't have the complete control over the circumstances that come up in life or what our ultimate purpose is in the plans and purposes of God, but we do have choice about our attitude and how we respond to that destiny.

What Hollywood Believes: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he believes in God, but he defines that with respect to the fact he know evil exist. He seems to hold to the duality picture of reality. If there is evil then there must be good. I bought this for a while until I realized that there was point in the past where there was only God. No Angels, No Universe. Nothing but God. God is good. Therefore good can exist without evil! God's existence is not contingent on anything. But everything including the devil is contingent on Him.

Dialogue Comparing the Bible and the Qur'an

Respones to Jacob vs Jesus.

Over at the The Good Atheist blog there is a post the author made that argues that he can fulfill the same test for godhood that we Christians believe the Jesus passes. Through several "straw men arguments" the author says things about Jesus with nothing to back up his assertions then knocks the down with extreme prejudice, sarcasm, and condescension. Apparently the author believes that there are 3 tests.

1. Declaring to be God without proof.
2. Performing miracles without proof.
3. Dispensing moral platitudes without having scientific knowledge like the age of the universe and other scientific knowledge.

Why are these straw men? Simple. I want to quote given by many Christians that was summarized by Ben in his comments:

Did you also fulfill 200+ prophecies predicted 700+ years before your birth? Perhaps you died on a cross (as predicted you would, btw), then were resurrected 3 days later?

Ben explicitly challenged the post author's, Jacob's, assertion that there is no proof of Jesus' claim being true, by giving proof. The only way Jacob can answer the above question is by saying "No, but Jesus did." Instead of addressing the proof, Jacob danced around the issue by saying that proof doesn't matter because Jesus' claim is accepted by faith. It is a shame that he thinks faith and reason are mutually exclusive. They are not.

The way Jacob seems to be rejecting the evidence the Bible gives for his miracle working. Fine. Let's look at it a different way. Jesus' enemies had tried to explain away his miracles by claiming Jesus used the power of demons to accomplish his mighty deeds. IF there were no miracles, then why would they need to lie about how Jesus did those things. You can't use the power of demons to fight demons. Remember, "a house divided against itself cannot stand." No, Abraham Lincoln did to not come up with that statement. He was quoting Jesus.

And lastly, Jacob must think he's omniscient. How do we know what Jesus know and what he didn't know. He made the universe, why wouldn't He know what the age of the universe is? You can't argue from silence. We can't know all He did and did not know. The only thing we know he did not know is the date of his coming back. He said He didn't know.

Jacob, if you wanna know if Jesus was God or not, go back to the drawing board and study the evidence.

What Hollywood Believes: John Travolta

John Travolta is a scientologist. He's been with scientology since he was 21 years old. He says that it helps him put things in perspective."A film not doing well isn't a disaster - a plane crash is a disaster,..." He said thast he believes that there is life after death but you get to get to choose to be reincarnated or "just hang out, whatever you feel like." He admits that he prays and when asked to whom he prays he answered, "To the yet-not-fully-understood God concept."

I'm real disappointed with Travolta's answers because God is not a concept and I think it is a cop-out to throw your hands in the air and just say we don't know a lot about God because we cannot fully understand Him. We can't know everything about God and how he does what He does and why but we have no excuse for not know what he has revealed and walking in that. If you want to know more about God you can know.

Neda Agha Soltan, killed 20.06.2009, Presidential Election Protest, Tehran, IRAN

Neda Agha Soltan has been in the news because she has become a symbol for the Resistance fighters protesting the Iranian Elections over the past few weeks. Here are a couple of videos from YouTube showing what happened to her and who she was.

Atheism is Dead: Bill Maher’s Errata

Mariano has published a great article answering Bill Mahr's ignorance on his blog Atheism is Dead. He does an excellent job. Not only is Mahr refuted but Mariano also calls Christians to do a better job in explaining what we believe. Thanks, Mariano.

Atheism is Dead: Bill Maher’s Errata

It Does Matter - Jesus Is THE Way

I just read a post by Danielle Belton on her Black Snob blog. It's about Oprah claiming that there are many roads to reach God in general and Jesus is not the only way in particular. Her post is about the potential backlash from Christians in general and black Christians in particular. I read many of the comments and I noticed a theme that alarmed me and force a response from me.

As many folks pointed out, Oprah's views are well-known and public for years now. What bothers me is that there should be more of a backlash. More Christians should be speaking out and explaining that it is important that Jesus is the only way! This is what makes Christianity distinctive compared to all other belief systems. Without that fact Christianity looses all meaning. IT is important. As a Christian, I say "Jesus is the only way!" as a truth claim. It is either true or it isn't. If it is a lie than no one should be a Christian. You must make a decision and live with the consequences of that choice.

As for the other points that people raised that if Jesus is the only way than billions of people are excluded, I don't know what will happen to those who don't know or will ever find out about Jesus. All I know is God will deal fairly with them. As for you and I, who have heard the claim that Jesus is the only way, we are accountable for either accepting and believing that. It doesn't matter if our ancestors were enslaved and persecuted through men misrepresenting and twisting the Bible into lies because the Bible is still true.

It doesn't make sense that all roads will lead to God because they all conflict with one another. They can all be false, but only one can be true. Take the claims of Islam versus the claims of the New Testament. The Koran says that they neither crucified or killed Jesus but it was made to appear to the Jews and Romans that they had killed Jesus. But the Bible says without qualification that Jesus was crucified. He Died and was resurrected to life. Both of these books can't be true. Everyone must look at the evidences for himself/herself and decide.

I'm probably going to write more about how God may deal with those who never learn about Christ in the afterlife, but I will conclude with a small attempt. Think of all the Old Testament men and women who we know lived righteous lives by any standard - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and any other religion you can think of. Muslims admire Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and many other heroes. No one would argue that any of these guys went to hell, yet they may not had any personal knowlege of Jesus. Yet they were declared righteous because they put their faith in God and trusted that God was going to save them and their people even if they themselves would not see it. This is what they were commended for. I've got scripture to back this up.

At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"

Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. - John 8:52-59

There are other scriptures I could cite but I'll save it. Instead I want re-iterate that Jesus was either completely nuts, a big-fat liar, or He was the incarnate Son of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - our Lord and savior of all mankind. Pick one. The evidence says Jesus is who He claimed to be and proved it by coming back from the dead never to die again. I agree with Joshua.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15

Jesus said:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6-7

Oprah: Getting A Little Too New Agey For the Jesus Crowd?

Ban the Burqa In France?

You may have heard that France is considering making it illegal for Muslim women to wear their ceremonial veils called "Burquas" in France. There is a great post about this over at the Black Snob blog by Danielle Belton. Apparently, they are considering making this move because of France's "secular tradition." That is a horrible, I mean France for most of its recorded history was a staunch Roman Catholic nation. Now they wanna claim to be secular? The thing is if we say that it's illegal for Muslims to wear Burqas when will it end? We will get to the point that we will not be able to preach from the Bible in public as it reads sooner if such a thing happened here in the states. It's already like that in may European nations. Ms Belton does not think that this could happen in the United States, but we can already see them signs. People are really trying to secularize the West. They won't stop with Muslims.

What Hollywood Believes: Dolly Parton

Here is a quote from Dolly Parton regarding her conception of "God":

"Everybody thinks of God as a different thing. To me, God is that greater, higher energy - that greater, wiser wisdom. It's tha thing in all of us that we all have to draw from. I've always trusted God and trusted myself, which to are intertwined. I'm a creative person, and what gifts I have come fom that divine place that I try to tap into. So who have I got to be afraid of?"

I've got a two fold disagreement with her worldview. To Her God is impersonal. God's purposes, thought, and will are not separate from her own. This is not Biblical.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:8-11

The other idea I can't get along with is the that trusting yourself and trusting God are intertwined.

But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
Selah

Like sheep they are destined for the grave,
and death will feed on them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning;
their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.

Psalm 49:12-14

Instead,God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Signature in the Cell MP3 Audio by Stephen Meyer - Apologetics 315

On the Apologetics 315 blog, there is a lecture by Stephen Meyer. Meyer is talking about the digital code embedded in the DNA of living cells. Meyer does a great job. No one disputes that the way information is encoded in our DNA is nothing short of astonishing. In some ways it is more efficient than our best information systems. Our computers are based on binary codes. DNA is based on twice as many bases. Binary is based on 0 and 1 but DNA has 4 bases. This means that much more information can be encoded. Meyer argues that everyone agrees that information can only be assembled and encoded by intelligence not material processes. I agree. No one picks up a book and assumes that the words and information contained in it shows up out of no where by chance. We automatically know that someone wrote it. Or when we run computer software we know that someone wrote it. Why would we assume DNA was different. Meyer did a great Job. Take a listen.

Signature in the Cell MP3 Audio by Stephen Meyer - Apologetics 315

Obama on Fatherhood

Whatever you may think about his politics or worldview, you have to admit that family is important to Barack Obama. The man loves his wife and his kids. As it should be! I admire that a great deal because that is the kind of man my father and brothers are and as I do my very best to be. The following video is worth seeing.

What Hollywood Believes: George Lucas

George Lucas is the creator of the Star Wars franchise and is one of the richest men on the earth today. In one interview he was asked about the religious overtones in the Star Wars series. He expressed an intelligent yet agnostic response

"I put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people - more a belief in god than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin asking questions about the mystery. Not having enough interest in the mysteries of life to ask the question, 'Is there a God or is there not a God?' - that is for me the worst thing that can happen. I think you should have an opinion about that. Or you should saying, 'I'm looking. I'm very curious about this, and I am going to continue to look until I can find an answer, and if I can't find an answer, Then I'll die trying.' I think it's important to have a belief system and to have faith."

If you look at what the Jedi's believe in the movies, this pretty much sums it up. Thankfully the interviewer did pointedly ask Lucas "Do you have an opinion, or are you looking?" Lucas answered:

"I think that there is a God. No question. What that God is or what we know about that God, I'm not sure."

I really, really like George Lucas. I've got to admit that his movies and imagination have influenced me a great deal. I am pleased that he is a theist. Believing in God's existence is a fundamental intellectual step to maintaining sanity. The Bible tells us that the created order should be enough to convince us of God's existence. We have no excuse for coming at least that far if we are honest with ourselves and what we can see, hear, measure, and feel.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. - Roman 1: 18-20

As for the second part of his answer about who God is and what know about him, this only comes by cultivating a relationship with him. Such a relationship must include spending time in God's revealed scriptures and philosophies. Considering that there are many competing texts and ideas that contradict each other only one of them must be from the creator or none of them. I find it hard to believe that if a person seeks God with all of his/her own heart that God will not make it plain to them what His purposes are.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' - Acts 17: 24-28

The Black Snob Blog: Congress Apologizes For Slavery: So What? Now What

Last week, my wife told me that she heard that congress had officially apologized for slavery and the Jim Crow laws. I fell out. I never thought that such an apology would ever happen. Many folks are saying that it's pointless. I disagree. One reason why America has never began to get past slavery is because the government never officially apologized. In my opinion I think that there does need to be follow-up. Giving us money - paying for the pain and suffering of our ancestors is a slap in the face. What we need is something more concrete. For example, our ancestors, like my maternal grandmother's grandfather, wanted to learn how to read and were denied an education and a better way to make up for that is to give our children free college education. If America is truly sorry, then it should do more than just say, but do actions that will truly offset some of the damages caused by the legacy of slavery. Here is a great article from the Black Snob blog:

The Black Snob Blog: Congress Apologizes For Slavery: So What? Now What?

I have also found some great information from the following websites
Congress Apologizes for Slavery, Jim Crow
U.S. Congress apologizes for slavery

Addtionally NPR posted the following audio. Take a listen.

Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, drafted the resolution. Cohen explains the apology's long journey for Congressional approval and the significance of its timing.

20080730_tmm_03.mp...

Atheism is Dead: A. J. Jacobs - Night at the Royal Ontario Museum

Mariano has again written another brilliant post. This time it's responding to a book and comedy routine by comedian, A. J. Jacobs. Jacobs resolved to follow the prescriptions and rules set forth in the Old Testament for a whole year. He applied them using his own interpretation without regard to historical and cultural and Temporal contexts. Without this many rules in the Bible seem weird. But of course it seems weird because spirit and purpose of the law is being ignored. Mariano does a great job of taken the problem Jacobs had in applying scripture and explaining how the law comes into play today. This is a great article! Read it!

Atheism is Dead: A. J. Jacobs - Night at the Royal Ontario Museum

Fatherhood and Atheism: Paul Vitz Interview MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

Here is an interview of Dr. Paul Vitz from the Apologetics 315 blog. Vitz's work has been featured before on Apolologetics 315 blog and I have found his work extremely interesting! He in no way tries to argue that all atheists have horrible fathers, only there seems to be a correlation between "bad" inattentive fathers and atheism. I for one would not wanna be a stumbling block for children as they seek God. This is extremely interesting!

Fatherhood and Atheism: Paul Vitz Interview MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315