Think Update #5 (November 14, 2019)
Welcome back to the Think Update.
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It's cold☃️. It's 30° in Chicago as I write this, but it's been much colder this week. This weather makes me think it's time to finally purchase an electric fireplace for my home study (I've been wanting one for awhile now--if you have recommendations, let me know!). I also need to seal up some drafty windows in my house.
Like the weather outside, the culture around us also seems to be growing "colder" toward the Christian message, doesn't it? Now, think of your Christian worldview like a house. Unanswered questions, lingering doubts, and unrepentant sin can function like drafty windows. If left unchecked, the cold, drafty wind of worldly thinking can breeze its way in.
Apologetics (the discipline of defending the Christian message) can help you seal up those gaps in your worldview and make your intellectual "house" more secure. It also gives you more confidence, making it easier to share your faith.
So today I give you three apologetics resources that will warm your spirit and may help you close up a drafty gap or two.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I hope it makes you think!🤔
LISTEN: "Scripture Alone" by Flame
Alright so maybe you've had someone ask you whether the Bible is reliable. The first place you turn is probably not going to be a hip-hop song. But what if that hip-hop song were heavily influenced by apologist and debater Dr. James White? You'd have a song like "Scripture Alone," by Flame, and it actually just might be the first place you'd turn. I used to listen to this song before I preached, to get pumped up and remind myself how awesome it is to be able to handle the word of God. Check it out; maybe it will even spur you on to further study in biblical textual criticism.
READ: The Very Concept of Truth Is Impossible Without God
The most popular article on the Think Institute website is one that I will constantly drop into apologetics conversations on Twitter, when the subject turns toward matters of truth and truthfulness. This is an original argument that I've come up with, but it's been heavily shaped by writers such as Cornelius Van Til and Francis Schaeffer, among others.
This is a good one to keep in your back pocket to link to in online debates or to draw on during in-person discussions.
WATCH: Epic Atheist-Christian Debate (Greg Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein)
(source: presupp101.wordpress.com)
Many presuppositional apologists will cite this debate (from 1985) as the greatest Christian-atheist debate of all time. Check it out and you'll see why. The late Dr. Bahnsen speaks for himself, so I won't say anything else.
NEW EVENT: THINK TANK DISCUSSION. 12/11 at 7 p.m., City News Cafe, 4018 N. Cicero, Chicago.
Men in the Chicago Area, you're invited to a moderated discussion on the subject of Entertainment. How should we think about the images and audio we consume? Come to an entertaining(!), challenging and informative discussion about it. Bible-inspired questions. No biblical knowledge is necessary. Men of all religious and non-religious backgrounds are welcome and encouraged.
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