Whole Reason

I just finished listening to a somewhat frustrating debate between atheist Dan Barker and apologist Matt Slick on the topic Is there Reason to be Good Without God?

I say frustrated because (a) I think Barker makes too many logical mistakes and pot shots at Christianity that have nothing to do with the topic, and (b) I thought Matt’s answers were a bit hard to follow, and his responses during the rebuttal were often combative, defensive, or just plain humorous deflections because he was not prepared to answer well.

Of course, it’s easy to judge from the sidelines, but I wanted to clarify my current understanding of how a Christian apologist/theologian/philosopher might answer this question clearly.

I admit, I am not yet formally educated in these matters – I have been accepted into the M. Div. program at Gordon Conwell, but with three small children, a full time job, and a part time pastorate, I’m swamped.  But here’s my view of what should have been covered clearly by Mr. Slick.

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Luke over at Common Sense Atheism is engaging in a letter exchange with Tim Challies.  I have taken it upon myself to answer Luke’s letters, since I am not Tim Challies, and see things a litle differently.  Luke has not answered my responses, but perhaps he may.  Here’s the Series links, in chronological order

1. Luke’s First Letter
2. My First Response
3. Tim’s First Response
4. Luke’s Second Letter
5. My Second Response
6. Tim’s Second Response
7. Luke’s Third Letter
8. My Third Response
9. Tim’s Third Response

This series contains the following articles:

• Analyzing the 6 C's of Atheism – Part I
• Analyzing the 6 C's of Atheism – Part II
• Analyzing the 6 C's of Atheism – Part III

The articles in this series on the G12 Church model include:

• Part I: What abusive churches are like
• Part II: Our experience at MercyChurch
• Part III: The G12 model – roles
• Part IV: The G12 model – processes
• Part V: The G12 model – my conversation with Pastor Terry Page
• Part VI: Conclusions regarding the G12 model

The articles in this series are:

• Bored With Church Part I: Are you really a Christian?
• Bored With Church Part II: Is your church teaching practical, biblical, spiritual truth or obscure pleasantries?
• Bored With Church Part III: Is your church caught in external religion?
• Bored With Church Part IV: Is your church caught in a time warp?
• Bored With Church Part V: Is your church on a mission beyond being a social club?
• Bored With Church Part VI: Is your church lacking a focused, prioritized strategy?
• Bored With Church Part VII: Should you be doing more than just attending?

In this series, I explore the possibilities of eliminating pretender Gods, and trying to find likely ones to have faith in.

• Pascal's Wager – Part I: why apatheism and atheism are unreasonable choices
• Pascal's Wager – Part II: debunking the 'all religions are equally improbable' ruse
• Pascal's Wager – Part III: Evaluating the gods
• Pascal's Wager – Part IV: Debunking the minor objections

This is the text version of the first half sermon I preached last Sunday night (second half to come later). It has taken me awhile to get all of this down, including links to all the Scripture references. I hope you can benefit from it.

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This series contains the following posts:

• Darwinism Impeding Science I – Spontaneous Generation or Creation
• Darwinism Impeding Science II – the appendix
• Darwinism Impeding Science III – Junk DNA defies evolution’s predictions

This series contains the following posts:

• The Sins of the Church I – Rules and regulations
• The Sins of the Church II – Creeds, doctrines, and dogma
• The Sins of the Church III – Legalism, perfectionism, and exclusion
• The Sins of the Church IV – Social engagement and politics
• The Sins of the Church V – Investment in buildings and other infrastructure items

This series is made up of audio sermons on the subject of Finding God’s Call, including:

• Finding God’s Call I – If you are SAVED, you are CALLED (download)
• Finding God’s Call II – Character before gifts (download)
• Finding God’s Call III – A Biblical view of self-love (download)
• Finding God’s Call IV – Motivated by desire (download)
• Finding God’s Call V – God’s process and timing (download)