Responding to Netzarim - Part 2

There have been a couple of links that have placed on this blog pointing visitors to the site Netzarim (Hellinized "Nazarene"): Orthodox Israeli Jews, Ra'ana, Israel. I'm all for this blog being open to all viewpoints including idea counterposed to my own. This is why I keep the comments sections open and do not censer the comments. This particular web sites makes claims against Christianity that I do not agree with. I would like to have a dialog on the issues that are brought up on the site. Let me list the claims that I think should be discussed in more detail. The site attempts to make its claims starting from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives and then bringing them into a single argument. My problem is that the site misrepresents what I, as Christian, believes. I will be writing this response in 3 parts. Here is the 2nd part. This part challenges the charges that there is no Old Testament for the incarnation, Jesus' deity, Resurrection, and the atonement. In short, let's see if we can come up with an apologetic similar to that the first century Christians used.

This post is pulled from a possible Sunday School lesson I would like teach about the differences between Islam and Christianity. The interesting thing is that the apologetic being developed for defending Christianity works equally as well as against the Netzarim web site. I have a power point that illustrates the points I want to make. Find it below. The rest of this post will be the narration that I would use that would go with the slides.

Basics of Islam and Comparison to Chris...

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Slide 2: There are three main objections raised against Christianity:
The Trinity
Jesus incarnation and deity
Jesus’ Atonement for the sins of humanity

Slide 3: Let's define some terms
Monotheism means belief in one God. Polythesim is belief in many gods. They are opposite of each other and mutually exclusive. You can't be bother a monotheist and a polytheist. Trinitarianism is the belief that God is one in being and three in person. Unitarianism is the belief that God is one in person as well in being. Monotheism and Trinitarianism are not mutually exclusive. You can be a monotheist and a Trinitarian because the Trinity is not about three gods.

Slide 4: Misconception of Christianity
Confusing Trinity with polytheism is what some Jews and Islam does.
They hear three beings - three persons.
Or they imagine a man with three heads
Or they think we mean The Father, the Mother – Mary, and the Son – Jesus.

Slide 6: Defining what the Trinity is!
There is only One God. Jews, Muslims, and Christians agree on this. One in being. One in Essence.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Deuteronomy 6:4

One what? One being.
Three Persons. Father, son, the Holy Spirit.
Co-equal, Co-eternal, distinct
If the Bible tells us that the Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God, then all three are God.

Slide 8: The Father is God - Another point we can all agree on.
2 Peter 1:17 clearly states that the Father is called God.



For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

Slide 9: The Bible tells us Jesus is God
Jesus accepted worship – no one, Biblically, can be worshiped but God alone –

Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 20:28,29

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." - Hebrews 1:6

Jesus applied the divine name to Himself

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."– John 14:8-21

His opponents understood what Jesus was claiming to be.

"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 8:58,59

We know that Jesus was equating himself with the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3.

See also John 10: 24-39

Jesus’ earliest followers equated Jesus with God. - John 1:1-5,14,18; John 12:39-41; Colossians 1:15-20; Phillippians 2:5-11

Jesus taught that He and the Father are not the same person – John 12:12-14; He said that Her and the Father are two distinct witnesses.

Slide 10: The Holy Spirit is God
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or energy field without consciousness or thought. Look at Acts 5:3,4 which says:

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."Examine what Peter said. First he said Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. You can't lie to a force, you can only lie to a person. Second, Ananias lied to God not just to men.

The Holy Spirit is equated to God. Let's get another example: Acts 13:1-3 says:

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

I'm sure you can see that it says that the Holy Spirit spoke. He said He had a plan for Barnabas and Paul. A force cannot have plans or have desires.

Slide 11: Jesus says and does things only applies to God
Only God can forgive Sin – Jesus claims this right in Matthew 9:6-7
Only God is eternal - Yet the Bible says the same of Jesus John 8:58,59; John 1:1-5; Revelation 1:17,18; Hebrews 13:8; Romans 1:20

Only God can walk on water – Job 9:8; Matt 14:22-33; Mark 6:47-51; John 6:16-21

Jesus is Good, but none is good but the God- Mark 10:18 – Jesus did not object, but instead points out the fact that like God only He can truly be called “good”

Slide 13 - Old Testament Reference to the Incarnation
No Man can see God – Exodus 33:19,20; John 1:18; John 6:46; 1 John 4:12
Old Testament is full of references of people relating to either angels or God in human form.
If no one can see God, whom did they see?
Abraham - Genesis 18: 1-15
Hagar - Genesis 16:13
Jacob – Genesis 32:22-32
Moses – Exodus 3; Exodus 33:19,20
Manoah and his wife – Judges 13
Ezekiel – Ezekiel 1
Isaiah – Isaiah 6
Daniel – Daniel 7

Slide 14 - Who was it that they saw?
The early Christians equated at times the physical manifestation of God with a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. - John 12:39-41 refers to Isaiah 6:1-4
God is Omnipresent when He was with any one on the list previous He was still in Heaven and running the universe
If He can dwell on the earth among us for hours, minutes, or days, He could do it for years!
“God dwelled among men when He so desired, and He did it ultimately in Jesus the Messiah.” Hazakim

Slide 15: Sacrificial Laws Fulfilled By Jesus
In light of the New Testament: Galatians 3:23-25


Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac typifies the work of Jesus – Genesis 22

The Last Supper equates with Passover – Exodus 12; Matthew 26: 17-30

Jesus is the propitiation for our sins – 1 John 2:1,2; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; Romans 5:6; 1 Peter 2:24

We are justified before God and wrath satisfied before God.

Like Jesus’ one-time sacrifice for all, the sacrificial system was substitutionary Hebrews 7:11-28;8;9;10

Here is the Theophanies video again





Sources on this blog
Biblical Basics - The Deity of Christ
Biblical Basics - The Deity of Christ - Redux
Biblical Basics - Trinity: A Positive Presentation Part 1 Introduction
Bible Basics - Trinity - Part 2a Bible Foundations
Bible Basics - Trinity - Part 2b Bible Foundations
Bible Basics - Trinity - Part 3 Conclusion
Bible Basics - The Trinity Part 4: Bibliography
Bible Basics Trinity - Part 2 Redux
Bible Basics: Trinity

A Brief Introduction to the Reformation - Discern 2009

When James White spoke at the Discern 2009 conference, one of his lectures - the one on the Reformation - has been posted on YouTube. I really enjoyed it. I wish I could have been there in person.

Black Superhero Blog: Black, Jack Johnson

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On the Black Superhero Blog has a very interesting post about a real historical person: Jack Johnson. He was the world's first celebrity Black Athlete. Without him, there would be no Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordon or Venus Williams or Serena Williams. I dare say there would be no NFL or NBA as we know them (if at all) today. I remember talking about him briefly in history class in high school. He was truly undefeated and lived his life the way he wanted (including dating white women) and did not cowtow to white people who hated him because he was black. I heard that when he retired and threw his last fight. He laid on the ground and shield the sun from his eyes as he was counted out.

I think it was because of his attitude and self-respect that made the American power structure fear him so much. This is why great pains has been taken to make sure that there would never be another black man like him. If you notice anytime a black man becomes greatly successful, something happens to either humble him before society if not outright destroy him. Look at Muhammad Ali. At the top of his game, the government tried to draft him for Vietnam and when he refused he wasn't allowed to compete anymore for a time. I think they hoped that when he came back he would never be successful again (they were wrong). Look at Michael Vick (I'm not condoning dog fighting), his career in football has been halted and almost destroyed. Kobe Bryant almost lost his career due to legal problems also. The list goes on and on. It seems like a concerted effort to destroy these men before they begin to look at themselves the way Jack Johnson looked at himself. The sad thing is that today these black celebrities are being caught doing things that they shouldn't be doing and I although one might argue that they are being set up to fail, they are still allowing themselves to be caught up.

I digress. The post has a great link to an online comic that serves as a biography for Jack Johnson.


Black Superhero Blog: Black, Jack Johnson

High School Students Can't Name First President

I found this story appalling. I notice a distinct lack of interest in our culture of history. If we do not know our past, I have no idea how we can understand ourselves and our future.

Embedded video from CNN Video

High School Students Can't Name First President

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GOD'S STORY - FROM CREATION TO ETERNITY

Here is a cool animated video chronicling Genesis to Revelation. You can find it on YouTube in multiple languages too.

Responding to Netzarim - Part 1

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There have been a couple of links that have placed on this blog pointing visitors to the site Netzarim (Hellinized "Nazarene"): Orthodox Israeli Jews, Ra'ana, Israel. I'm all for this blog being open to all viewpoints including idea counterposed to my own. This is why I keep the comments sections open and do not censer the comments. This particular web sites makes claims against Christianity that I do not agree with. I would like to have a dialog on the issues that are brought up on the site. Let me list the claims that I think should be discussed in more detail. The site attempts to make its claims starting from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives and then bringing them into a single argument. My problem is that the site misrepresents what I, as Christian, believes. Here are a few the statements I have issue with. I will be writing this response in 3 parts. This is part 1.

1. The doctrine that Tor•âh′ is the "law of sin and death" is a Christian canard, the epitome of misojudaism.
2. The original—and only authentic—plan of salvation is found only in Tor•âh′ . Everything subsequent is a supersessionist "pretend salvation" of Displacement Theology.
3. Those who castigate Tor•âh′ to rely instead on "pretend salvation" have doomed themselves to lack the ki•pur′ essential to co-mingle with the Perfect Creator in hâ-o•lâm′ ha-bâ′ ; misled by their own respective Displacement Theology
4. You, too, can be chosen—the same way Israel was: by abandoning Displacement Theology and turning to the practice of Tor•âh′

The thesis of the site seems very similar to many Islamic critcs that Paul taught separate doctrines that the 1st Century followers of Jesus Christ did not teach. Things such as His deity, and His being the only way to Salvation.

The only way to finally overcome Christianity, after 2,000 years of consistent failure, is by exposing the anti-Torâh Yësh"u as a counterfeit of the pro-Torâh original: historical Ribi Y^әhoshua!

Think about it… the original, historical Ribi Y^әhoshua, because he advocated Torâh before Paul's Hellenist apostasy, will lead Christians out of their post-135 C.E. Roman idolatry to Torâh – and the fulfillment of Z^әkharyâh 14.16-21 (which is already beginning) and related prophecies.

The site quotes Rabbi Michael Skobac charging Paul with the following crimes:

None of the charges and thoughts expressed are new. As a matter of fact, I've noticed that many of these things were raised to Jesus and Paul themselves in the first century! So where to start unpacking these ideas and examining them? Let's start with what Bible-believing Christians really believe: Paul did not make up his doctrines. He got it from the Torah, the prophets, the Psalms, the history books - in short the Testament. He was teaching the same thing Peter, John, James, and the rest. All of which came from Jesus!

1. Paul refers to the "Law of Sin and Death" because he recognized the inability of all people to keep it perfectly. The purpose of the Torah was not to save anyone but point out the need for a savior. Who can keep it? Can you? Do you perfectly? Breaking anyone of them breaks them all! We all have to admit that we don't keep it. In the Torah, we have prescriptions for how to atone for our sins and get back in right standing with God temporarily until we sin again. As far as I know Judaism no longer has a sacrificial system so how do Jews today atone for their sin!

2. Is the Torah the first covenant? Exodus and Moses are not the start of the story but the beginning they stand on the shoulders of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph! Were any of the patriarchs under Torah? No, there was no written Torah yet. While we are told that upholding the commands through Moses was the way Israel was to uphold their end of the covenant, what about Abraham and those who predated Moses? Are we going to say that before the Moses no one pleased God? No way.

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15:6

This was the center of Paul's whole argument and it's unassailable. No way did Paul castigate the Torah.

¹⁵Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. ²⁰A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

²¹Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²²But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

²³Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. ²⁴So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. - Galatians 3:15-25

In addition, I realize that people may disagree that God supercedes one covenant for another. I agree. The covenant of grace that God has made through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ is a return to the Abrahamic covenant not the one through Moses.

³⁰ Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹ "The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.

³² It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to ^a]">[a] them, ^b]">[b] "
declares the LORD.

- Jeremiah 31:30-32

Skobac further alleges that Paul and James disagreed with one another about fundamental doctrine. I totally disagree. There are two verses that people use to defend this idea.

Paul wrote:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.- Ephesians 2:8,9

James wrote:

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^d]">[d]? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^e]">[e] and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:14-26

Some erroneously interpret these passages as conflicting with one another. Paul is discussing a different context than James. Paul is referring to attempting to justify yourself before God by the things that you do. James is referring to showing that if you truly have saving the faith that Paul is talking about then you will be doing good things. Remember Paul said that we are saves so that we can do good works. They agree!

Paul and James had dealing with one another. Take note of 1st Corinthians 15:1-11

1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. - 1st Corinthians 15:1-11

Check Paul's testimony. He say explains compactly what he taught and then says he did not make it up. He received it! Where did he get it from? From God. What about the apostles who knew Jesus before the Crucifixion?

1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. - Galations 2:1-5.

Paul is clear he checked out his understanding and teachings with the apostles themselves and they agreed with him. WE have testimony from one of them - no less than Peter. Peter tells us exactly what he thinks of Paul's teachings.

15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. - 2 Peter 3:15-16

I have much more to say. In part 2, I will write about how the Incarnation, Jesus
deity and substitutionary sacrifice is not part of Paul's imagination and nor did it begin with him but are rooted in the scriptures and his Christian contemporaries taught the same things. Part 3 will focus on the claims the site make concerning the manuscript traditions of the New Testament and the charges being made about corruption of the New Testament.

Terminology Tuesday: Wager Argument - Apologetics 315

This week Brian defined the "Wager Argument". I've been accused in a very derogatory matter much of using this by just pointing out that if you are not sure that there is a God, then you are taking a greater risk than believing that there is a God. I still think that this is true, but I think that the power of this argument is not because of the lack of convincing evidence because I think that the evidence is very convincing. My point in following Pascal's line of reasoning is that the risk of believing that God exists and being wrong is less than rejecting God although God truly exists.

Terminology Tuesday: Wager Argument - Apologetics 315

Bishop Spong -VS- Dr. Martin - Topic : Sexual Ethics

Here is the famous debate between Bishop John Shelby Spong and Dr Walter Martin regarding the Bible and Homosexuality. A must see!

Christianity Fact or Fantasy ?

John Gerstner and R.C. Sproul engaged in a mock debate in which Sproul plays "Devil's Advocate" where he asks Gerstner the same difficult questions that many skeptics and atheists asks and Gerstner provides insightful and awesome answers! Take a look!

Bear Attack in Japan

I didn't even know that there were wild bears in Japan. The bear was four feet tall and there doesn't seem to be any reason for the attack.




Bear Attack in Japan

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Women Rally Around Widower to Breast-Feed Infant Son - ParentDish

I found this story interesting. It's good that people still selflessly help each other...especially in such an intimate matter.

Women Rally Around Widower to Breast-Feed Infant Son - ParentDish

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Islam Presentation for Sunday School

SO here is the presentation I used this morning in my Sunday School class. It covers basic facts of Islam and how Islam differs from historic Christianity

Basics of Islam and Comparison to Christ

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Here is a close-up of the chart at the end of the presentation

Christianity vs Islam

Passing on Great Information

My friend, Mariano, has sent me two pieces of information that is just too good not to post. He's come across a video that explores Pagan attempts to copy Christianity in the first and second centuries of the common era. The video is called Defeating The Myth-Storians He sent me the product description that reads:

In this three-part video series, Joel McDurmon takes you back to the first-century church to give you an understanding of the attacks on the gospel from the prevailing pagan mystery religions of the day. Joel presents the life and writings of the apostles, the early church fathers, and other compelling evidences, in defending the person of Christ and dismantling both old and new myths and their myth-storians. PART 1: The Myth-Storians in Action PART 2: Bible History: Fact or Fiction? PART 3: Man to Man: Defending the Faith Against Mere Myths

Mariano was also able to attend the Discern Conference for 2009 and has sent me a link to listen to the presentations during the conference. I've only listened to James White's presentation on Islam so far but I enjoyed it. Here is the link.

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : One Messiah or Two Messiahs?, part 2 of 2

This time Mariano explores the question as to whether Judaism postulates two messiahs or only one messiah that comes twice. This is part 2.

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Jewish / Judaism : One Messiah or Two Messiahs?, part 2 of 2

THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Don't let them hear!!

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I was alerted to the following letter found on the RichardDawkins.net website at the following link.

THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Don't let them hear!!

On Thursday November 19, 2009, Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort (the banana guy) will be distributing 50,000 copies of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species' at universities across America to students for free.


BUT THERE'S A CATCH!!

Each copy will have a 50 page intro about how evolution has never been proven and how Darwin helped inspire the Holocaust.

If this outrages you, then you're not alone. There's something we can do though. We can amass as many of these books as possible, remove the 50 page intro, and then donate perfectly good copies of 'Origin of Species' to schools, libraries, and Goodwill. We can actually make this into something positive.

If you are in college, then you are in a good position to help. Check your campus on November 19th, and if you see a group distributing copies of the book, then get as many as you can. Get a copy for yourself, ask if you can have extra copies for your friends, ask your friends to go ask for copies, and ask other people you see carrying the book if you can have their copy.

This is a shameful thing that Kirk Cameron and the Banana Guy are doing by altering another person's book in order to push their agenda. But we can help to restore the book to how it was intended and keep young minds from being brainwashed by misinformation.

I see nothing wrong at all with Kirk Cameron and his supporters doing this. "Origin of Species" is the first major book of evolution. What is wrong with producing a single volume of it with the other viewpoint? The letter on the internet says that they are pushing a falsehood which is creationism, but I agree with my brother reporting on the Apologetic Front blog, if Dawin's book is so true and so convincing then it should be able to stand against the other viewpoint. Dawin's theories should not need the "help" of suppressing other ideas and thought contrary to it. Could it be that it can't stand up to the evidence?

A 3 yr-old Tosses back foul ball!

I'm not sure if everyone knows about this but at a recent baseball game, a man in the stands catches a foul ball, and his little 3 year-old daughter innocently threw it back! I'm sure she thought she was being helpful. "Oh, the poor man lost his ball and we should give it back." is what I'm sure she thought. It's a case of children doing as they are taught. I applaud her parents for teaching her morals: If someone looses something, give it back.

Here is a news article

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Islam / Muslim

Mariano has a collection of resources on his blog concerning Islam. It's definitely worth taking a look.

Christian Apologetics - Life and Doctrine: Islam / Muslim

Islam vs Christianity - Debate - Shabir Alley vs Dave Hunt

I'm a Christian and I disagree with many of the teachings of Islam when it comes to the identity of Jesus and how do we become acceptable to God. In otherwise - the very heart of the Gospel. Unfortunately, I think that Shabir Alley did a better job arguing in favor of Koran and and against the Bible than Dave Hunt did arguing for the Bible and against the Koran. Shabir Alley was able to win this debate. Thankfully, winning a debate doesn't make you right...just the winner. I disagreed with Alley's attempt to paint the Bible as violent and chauvinistic without proving that the Koran isn't. Alley didn't have to really because Hunt did not challenge him enough.

Walter Martin and Seventh-Day Adventist

I admire the work that Walter Martin did while he was alive and active. One of the things that I admire about him is that he was constantly learning and if he found out he thought something that was not true, he publicly changed his position. Some people are too proud to admit when they are wrong. He wasn't. A case in point is that once upon a time, he thought that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church was a cult, but after much dialog and changes to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, he changed his opinion. My Pastor found the following Debate on YouTube.





This was great! It really shows how we must be careful to allow scripture alone to be boss when it comes to judging matters of faith and practice.

The Case For Christianity Conference

I just heard from Mariano about an apologetic conference called "The Case for Christianity Conference" It will be November 6 and 7 at Calvary Chapel Golden Spring. This is going to be awesome and some of the best apologists we have today!