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Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

~ Respectfully giving reasons for faith – 1 Peter 3:15

Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

Monthly Archives: January 2017

A Non-objective Objection – Chapter 4

30 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by D. L. Williams in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

≈ 3 Comments

Most agree the world is not as (we think) it should be. Something is broken. If God exists, was he powerless to keep it from being broken?

Greg uses a concise illustration.

“When the trains are running on schedule, it’s likely because the person at the switchboard is doing his job. But when things consistently go awry, it’s reasonable to ask if anyone is minding the controls at all.” P 35.

I like this analogy because I have seen the Fort Worth Train Yard.

clip-ftworthtrainyard

Fort Worth Train Yard by Linda Ungar (http://fineartamerica.com/featured/fort-worth-trainyards-linda-unger.html )

But maybe trains are far from your experience. So let’s use another analogy.

“When the Texas Longhorn Football Team is undefeated and in the running for a National Championship, it’s likely because the Head Coach is doing his job. But when things consistently go awry with the typically excellent players recruited by The University, it’s reasonable to ask if anyone is minding the playbook, organizing the practices, or preparing the team at all.

In fact, this thought can be generalized:

When _something “good” happens_, it’s likely because _the person in charge_ is doing what I think should be done. But when _something “bad” happens_, it’s reasonable to ask _if anyone’s in charge, or if someone’s in charge, why they don’t care_?

This is one place where skeptics know some Christian doctrine. They know that the Bible teaches that God is good. They also know that the Bible teaches that God is omnipotent (all powerful). They often claim the existence of moral and natural evil (a broken world) exposes an inconsistency:

  • A good God would not allow the world “to break”.
  • A powerful God could stop the breaking of His world.

What is interesting in this objection is the fact that upon atheism, there is no objective definition of “good”, “evil”, “broken” or “unbroken” worlds. The world just “IS”.

“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. It must be so. If there ever is a time of plenty, this very fact will automatically lead to an increase in the population until the natural state of starvation and misery is restored. In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life

If there is no suffering, no fear, no reason, no justice, no design, no purpose, no evil,  and no good, then there is absolutely nothing to complain about.

In atheism, these categories have no true meaning if we are just bags of bones and chemicals.

However, we know deep down that suffering exists, that things really ARE broken, and that things really SHOULD be different, better, and “fixed”. The Christian story of reality contains reasons for this state of affairs without eliminating God’s goodness or limiting His power.

The Christian story tells how WE rebelled. WE and our ancestors consistently rejected the proper order for our own selfish goals. What a mess it has made.

You see, God is not responsible for the evil in the world. We are.

We also complain about God not doing anything about it. But He has. We will learn about His solution as we proceed through the book.

For a short version of God’s solution watch this excellent video. Is God good?

clip-isgodgood

To participate in this discussion, comment below.

Or if you are on the SHSU campus this spring (2017), come discuss this book with our Ratio Christi at SHSU chapter that meets Fridays at Noon in LSC 307. Bring your lunch and feed your soul.

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Time, Distance, Shielding

21 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by D. L. Williams in Grief, Death, and Dying

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

End of Life, faith, Holiness

[copied from Rallyhood 1/21/2017 – on the passing of Kenneth Brown]

When working with nuclear weapons, nuclear reactors, or even medical X-rays, there is a guiding principle that will keep you alive. You are to keep your exposure “As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) with three tools:

  • Time – Spend as little time as possible with the radiation source.
  • Distance – Keep your distance from the source of radiation.
  • Shielding – Protect yourself with a shield.

We have spent most of the last year interacting with each other on this Rallyhood site dedicated to the wonderful life of Ken Brown. We have encouraged Patti and have received encouragement from Patti, Ken, and each other.

Many have mentioned their amazement at Patti and Ken’s strength in all of this. However, when you compliment their strength to them, they seem to demur. Why?

I’m not privy to their inner thoughts, but it is likely because they see their inner struggles. But I also know that they are aware of this important fact:

Their strength stems from their shielding, not from their self-made inner fortitude.

[Ephesians 6:16 ESV] 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

Today is the celebration service for Ken in Austin. I am looking forward to meeting more of his colleagues in the UT Business School, his neighbors, and many of you face to face rather than over the Internet.

We will share great stories and memories and it will be wonderful and subtly melancholy. I have one story though that I want to share in writing so that all may read it and gain comfort by it.

I had the privilege of visiting with Ken a day or two before he and Patti entered hospice care.

Without going into too many medical details, Ken had lost the ability to speak and swallow. Antibiotics were keeping pneumonia at bay. Without the ability to speak we were worried that Ken would not be able to communicate any worries to us if we made the decision to enter hospice care.

It was decided that I would visit with Ken. I was to explain to him what was going on with his swallowing. I wanted to walk him through the next steps. And I wanted very much for him to communicate back to me that he understood.

Using all the information from Dr. Annapureddi, Patti, and the nurses, I let Ken know that he would become more and more sleepy as his breathing became less and less efficient. I let him know that this was not going to be painful or distressful. And then knowing Ken’s faith, I said that in a few days he was going to go to sleep and wake up with Jesus.

Words can’t contain the emotional impact of staring your brother in the eye while you say these things.

I still needed to know if he understood, and most importantly for Patti and all of us, if he was ready.

So I said, “If you are ready, please squeeze my hand”.

I was worried that I would confuse a tremor for a squeeze. I did not want to pass on to Patti a tentative signal, and I did not want to be tempted to say it was a clear signal when it wasn’t.

Ken left no doubt. I was holding his left hand, and he reached over with his right hand. He grabbed my arm and squeezed as hard as he could.

We blinked a knowing blink at each other, and then we hugged for a long time.

Ken’s “shield of faith” was strong and we are right to have hope.

We saw a similar faith and hope on display when King David lost a child.

[2 Samuel 12:21-23 HCSB] 21 His servants asked him, “What did you just do? While the baby was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate food.”  22 He answered, “While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.”

“I will go to him” – that is the hope we have in Christ.

Teaching on a secular campus, I am sensitive to the discomfort that “Bible talk” can cause. To use the radiation analogy, some people spend as little time with it and like to keep their distance from it if possible.

(If this is you, please keep reading out of curiosity if nothing else.)

The Bible can be confusing, especially if one has a culturally-confused view of God as a grumpy tyrant watching your every move in order to kill you if you step out of line.

Let me ask you to place a different vision in your mind – one where God’s holiness shines like the sun.

The Sun is a furnace of nuclear fusion. You can’t get near it without suffering a lethal dose of radiation.

All of the troubling verses and the great themes of the Bible make sense in light of this analogy. God is holy. You are not, and you know it. That is why you protect yourself with ALARA. Remember:

  • Time – Spend as little time as possible with God – the source of holiness
  • Distance – Keep your distance from God
  • Shielding – Protect yourself with a shield.

Notice shielding is the only way to get close to a radiation source, and it is the only way to get close to God. But what is shielding in this spiritual context?

 

We don’t have to keep our DISTANCE from God’s holiness, or minimize our TIME interacting with a holy God, because Jesus Christ is our SHIELDING, protecting us in the presence of holiness.

[Galatians 3:27 ESV] 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Like a lead blanket in the dentist’s chair.

[Romans 13:12-14 ESV] 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Who is this Jesus? (External evidence for his life.)

[John 1:1-14 ESV] 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. … 16 … from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In the context of our analogy, this grace John speaks of is the shielding. Christ’s holiness surrounds us, protects us, and over time changes us – covering our sin and making us holy. We may now spend all our TIME at zero DISTANCE from God thanks to the SHIELDING holiness of Christ.

Ken has this shielding, and he is experiencing the indescribable holiness of God. It is my deepest desire that we (including you) would join him.

By God’s grace,

Darren

My thoughts on the impact of Ken’s life and death: Double Bounce

Reality Blog – Cemented Faith (Chapters 3 and 5)

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by D. L. Williams in Campus Apologetics, Reality Blog

≈ 7 Comments

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My sweet ride in 1984.

Regarding Stories – True or False – Fact or Fantasy

Out of school early with my own driver’s license and a car. Sure, I was headed to a doctor’s appointment for my sprained ankle, but the point was the sense of freedom I felt driving myself around. Two months of solo driving and the thrill had not worn off.

Safety was always a big deal with me. I thought of taking Long Ave, but the turn onto 199 was not a protected left. So I stayed on River Oaks Blvd. It was a big and safe intersection with two protected left turn lanes. I was in the leftmost one in the front of the line.

Green arrow, let’s go. I pulled out at a moderate pace and noticed an enormous cement truck crossing the white line in the oncoming lane. I slammed the brake pedal to the floor causing my car to quickly stop. Then, I realized that stopping wasn’t going to help. I was in his path, and he was still headed my way.

Notice, the beginning of this story.

I didn’t start it with “Once upon a time” or “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”. No, I am writing this story in a deliberate manner to convey that it is a real life, true, and actual occurrence in my life. It is fact, not fantasy. It happened in November 1984. I can’t remember the exact day, but I bet my mom and dad can.

Stories can be true or false, fact or fantasy. This is an ongoing blog series on Greg Koukl’s book, “The Story of Reality”. Get the book. Begin at Part 1. And participate in the discussion by posting comments on the various posts.

When you first read Greg’s title, “The Story of Reality”, what did you think of it? Did you automatically put it in the category of fiction or fantasy? Answer below in the comments so we can discuss it. (Remember, this is asynchronous interaction, so don’t worry about being late to the party. These internet discussions do not have any preset time limit.)

Back to my 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

I knew I was stopped. I knew the cement truck was not. I knew it was massive. I knew this was the end.

So I relaxed.

What? How could someone relax in a situation like that?

I simply thought, “Hey, I’m outta here. I’m dead, and now I’m free, headed heavenward. No more basketball practice with Coach John Doe*. Jesus, here I come.”

I didn’t feel anything. I’m sure I got bounced around violently. I had a rectangular knot on my forehead from the rearview mirror, and my hip bent the gearshift. But after the car stopped spinning around, I opened my eyes to smoke, steam, and a destroyed windshield. The cement truck had crushed my car from the right-front headlight to the driver’s side door.

Funny, my first thought was “Crud, I’m still here.” Even funnier was my second thought, “Hey I better get out of this wreck before it blows up.” I was imagining a Hollywood style conflagration.

The door opened and dragged against the pavement. I hobbled over to the curb to sit down. Sadness ensued as I looked at my car all destroyed and smoking. I was sparkling Edward-Cullen-style with pulverized glass from the windshield.

Hours and seventeen X-rays later it was determined that I did not have a single broken bone or laceration. To play it safe, the doctors told mom to wake me every two hours because of a possible concussion. It didn’t sink in how severe the wreck was until I overheard mom reading police reports from eyewitnesses.

The woman in a car immediately behind me said, “After the explosion, I got out of my car to pull the body from the wreckage.”

The body! She thought I was “a dead body”.

Strangely, it was then that I started crying. I sobbed. It was her perspective that alerted me to the severity of the wreck that I survived.

All because I relaxed.

What are my intentions in telling you this true story?

It is NOT to brag about strong faith. I didn’t have to exert any strength or psych up extra courage.

It is NOT to make a claim that my experience proves God is real, heaven is real, or fear of death makes one weak.

My intentions are:

  1. To get you to consider how life-changing a TRUE story can be.
  2. To illustrate how being convinced is actually effortless.

Being raised in the church (specifically Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, TX), there were ample opportunities to “make my faith my own.” I did that in 5th grade when I read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and thought to myself, “uh-oh. I don’t stack up too well. Jesus forgive me.” That conviction was a gift, and being convinced of my lack took no effort on my part. (John 16:8-11)

Life has ups and downs and so does behavior. I was not an angel. I am deeply sorry for the horrible ways I treated some of my classmates and teachers. (If you remember, please forgive me.)

Back to the cement truck story.

It is a FACT that I relaxed. It is a FACT that my first thought was one of relief when considering my eternal destiny. This TRUE story affects me even today.

I do still fear airplane crashes, head-on collisions, and other painful ways of leaving this material world behind. But I still remember the crash of 1984. It wasn’t painful. It wasn’t scary. It was in FACT a hopeful experience.

What kind of God gives REAL peace? A REAL God?

[John 14:27 HCSB] 27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”

Could it be that a REAL God exists? Could it be that Jesus was unique in all of history, and that his claims were TRUE?

A REAL God requires a TRUE story.

Greg is telling that TRUE story in his book.

I hope you will read it, discuss it, and be transformed by its message.

-Darren


*I changed the name so as to not hurt the actual coach.

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