Faith in Faith? (Schaeffer)

 Many people today talk about the need for faith.  "You just gotta have faith" is Hallmark card spirituality, as if faith is some kind of inner strength that will get you through hard times.  Diagnosed with a serious illness?  Just believe, and you'll make it.  Have a mountain in life to climb?  Have faith - …

A Christian View of Knowledge (K. Samples)

One of my favorite books on apologetics and worldview is A World of Difference by Kenneth Samples.  I’ve mentioned it here on the blog from time to time; while I was recently flipping through it again, I re-read a helpful discussion of the Christian, biblical view of knowledge (Christian epistemology).  I’ll summarize it here: 1) …

The Biological Basis For Religion?

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, Douglas Groothuis’ Christian Apologetics has many strong points.  One part I appreciated was his section on neurotheology, which is the study of the biological basis for religious beliefs.  Some scientists today believe that religious beliefs (e.g. belief in God) can be explained “on the basis of certain functions …

Christianity: Intellectual Suicide? (Groothuis)

          “Some [people] refuse to give Christianity the time of day because they deem it anti-intellectual - a religion that values ignorance and credulity far above critical intelligence.  In his satirical book, “The Devil’s Dictionary” (1911), Ambrose Bierce defined faith as, ‘Belief without evidence in what is told by one who …

Jesus, Creed, Knowledge, and Faith

 Most of us understand that the phrase "No creed but Christ" is very unhelpful for two reasons: 1) it is illogical because it is creed in and of itself, and 2) one has to define "Christ," and in so doing, the result will be something like a creedal statement.  Geerhardus Vos tackled this unhelpful anti-creedal attitude which was evidently …