Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Doug.Groothuis@denverseminary.edu

Denver Seminary

How to Spot a Cult

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.—Colossians 2:8.

I. Discerning Truth from Error

A. Christ, the church, and the truth

1. Jesus is Truth Incarnate (John 14:1-6)

2. The church is the pillar and foundation of the truth

3. The truth about God, salvation, ethics, and history is found in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:15-16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

B. The challenge of theological error

1. The wide road to destruction (Matthew 7:14-14)

2. Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:20-28)

3. Being rooted in the truth (1 John 4:1-6)

II. What is a Cult?

A. Historically: groups that split off from an established religious body

Christian cults: significant deviations from Christian orthodoxy

B. Scaling the language barrier (Walter Martin)

Cults use Christian vocabulary without using our dictionary (the Bible’s meaning of these terms)

C. Theologically: teachings deny key orthodox beliefs about God and salvation

1. Source of authority: the Bible alone (sola scriptura) or the Bible plus another source?

a. Mormonism: Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrines and Covenants

b. Jehovah’s Witnesses: Watchtower Society pronouncements

c. Christian Science: Science and Health with a Key to the Scriptures

d. Other Mind science groups: Unity, Religious Science

2. Understanding of human nature

a. Cults always demote God and promote humans (Walter Martin), thus denying the need for the Cross of Christ

b. Cults deny total depravity and original sin (Mark 7:21-23; Romans 3:9-20)

3. Redefining the person and work of Jesus Christ

a. Cults diminish the work of Christ for our salvation (Galatians 1:6-11)

b. Deny his deity (John 1; Colossians 2:9)

c. Deny his full atonement for sins (Romans 5:1-8)

d. Deny his physical resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)

4. Cults deny the gospel of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:6-11; 2 Corinthians 11:14)

a. The gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; John 3:16-17; Romans 5:1-5; Ephesians 2:8-9)

b. Faith plus good works or mystical experience

Mormons: We do all we can—and God makes up the rest

c. Salvation is found only in Christ (Acts 4:12) and received only by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

III. Reaching Those in Cults

A. Know what you believe and why you believe it (Romans 12:1-2)

B. Be prepared for spiritual warfare (Acts 13:1-12; Ephesians 6:10-19; 1 Peter 5:8-9)

C. Be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)

D. Treat the cultist as a human being needing salvation, not on object for evangelism

E. Discern the cultists beliefs and gently challenge them with biblical truth and apologetics (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Resources

Books

Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults. Several editions.

Gordon Lewis, Confronting the Cults (P&R Publishing).

Robert Bowman, Orthodoxy and Heresy (Baker, 1992).

Ron Rhodes, The Challenge of Cults and New Religions (Zondervan, 2001).

Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality (Tyndale) A classic on living the Christian life biblically. I have read this many times.

Magazine: The Christian Research Journal. See www.equip.org

I am speaking on "How to Spot a Cult" for Logos Central Chapel tonight at 7:00 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Denver.

Groothuis on Radio

I will be on Crosswalk with Gino Geraci Friday from 4:00-5:00 on KRKS-FM (Denver) to discuss Christian Apologetics.

Wisdom from Timothy McGrew

One of the most disastrous illusions of the internet age is that an amateur plus Google is equivalent to a scholar. A search engine offers information, more or less relevant according to the skill of the searcher. But it does not sift that information; it does not sort fact from fancy, wheat from chaff. It does not explain which facts are relevant and which are beside the point. It does not weigh the merits of competing arguments and tell the user where the balance of evidence lies. A bright amateur armed with the internet may be better informed than he would otherwise have been, and he may occasionally catch a real scholar in a factual error. But it will not turn him into a scholar himself. There is no such thing as effortless erudition.

Lecture outline for my talk at Denver Seminary today

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.

Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary

November 15, 2011

Roots and Fruits:

Intellectual Influences that Shaped my Christian Calling

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.—1 Corinthians 11:1

I. What is a Christian Calling? (See Os Guinness, The Call)

A. Life direction according to spiritual gifts, opportunities, and strong desires

1. What needs to be done for the Mission of God

2. What one does well

3. What gives one deep joy

B. My calling (Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 10:31)

1. Defend and apply Christianity as objectively true, rationally compelling, and pertinent to all of life (Matthew 22:37-40; 1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3)

2. To do this through teaching, preaching, and writing

3. What this means: teaching at Denver Seminary, adjunct teaching and guest lecturing at secular schools; preaching in local churches; writing academic and popular works: Twelve books; two dozen peer-review academic journal articles; hundreds of articles, book reviews, and letters to the editor in dozens of magazines, journals, and elsewhere.

4. The biggest literary fruit: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Christian Faith (InterVarsity Press, 2011)

II. The First Root: Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55)

A. The Sickness Unto Death: exegeted my own soul for me

B. Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing: solidified my calling as a Christian thinker

C. Example of an earnest, brilliant life of letters for the cause of Christ (despite his fideism)

III. The Second Root: Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-84)

A. The discovery of Schaeffer in the fall of 1976: The God Who is There (1968)

B. The gift of understanding, intellectual courage, and a life-plan

C. Schaeffer’s strengths

1. A deep compassion for the lost

2. Spiritual integrity in ministry

3. A broad understanding of the Bible, theology, culture, and history

4. A strong sense of the Lordship of Christ over all of culture

D. Schaeffer’s weaknesses

1. Over simplification

2. Lack of philosophical rigor

IV. The Third Root: Blaise Pascal (1624-1663)

A. The discovery of Pensées in 1977.

B. The genius of his view of the human condition: deposed royalty

C. The genius of the wager (properly understood)

D. His influence on all my writing and ministry

E. See my book, On Pascal (Wadsworth, 2003); chapters 7 and 19 of Christian Apologetics.

V. The Fourth Root: Os Guinness (b. 1941)

A. The Christian as astute social critic and prophet: The Dust of Death (1973); The American Hour (1992); The Case for Civility (2008); etc.

B. Guinness as a matchless orator and statesman for Christ

VI. The Fifth Root: Rebecca Merrill Groothuis

A. Rebecca and my calling

1. Prodding me to write Unmasking the New Age (1986)

2. Alerting me to spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-19; 1 Peter 5:8-9)

3. Challenge to develop my views of women in the Kingdom of God.

a. “Equal in Being, Unequal in Role: Exploring the Logic of Woman’s Subordination,” in Discovering Biblical Equality (2004)

b. See Adam Omelianchuck, “Ontologically Grounded Subordination.” Philosophia Christi, Vol. 13, No. 1 (2011): 169-180. This defends Rebecca’s argument against challenges by Steven Cowan.

c. See Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Women Caught in the Conflict (1994); Good News for Women (1997).

B. Rebecca’s editing and my writing

Episode from finishing our book, Christian Apologetics

Those also deserving mention (not in priority order):

James W. Sire, C.S. Lewis, Carl F. H. Henry, Gordon Clark, Gordon R. Lewis, R. J. Rushdoony, J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, Richard John Neuhaus, Arthur Holmes,

Keith Yandell, R.T. Herbert, John Calvin, The Westminster Divines, G.K. Chesterton, Jacques Ellul, Bernard Ramm, John Stott, Walter Martin, Brooks Alexander, Harry Blamires, Ronald Nash, Alvin Plantinga, Phillip Johnson, F.F. Bruce, William Dembski, Neil Postman, Marshall McLuhan.

Advice from Duke

In an interview, Duke Ellington said that his "first job is to listen." See James 1:19.

Steve Jobs, Jesus, and the Problem of Evil

In the best-selling biography Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson recounts an event when a thirteen- year-old Steve Jobs is distressed by a photograph in a 1968 Life Magazine of a pair of starving children in Biafra. He then went to his Lutheran pastor, holds up one finger and asks, "Did God know I would hold up this finger before I did?" The Pastor said, "Yes, God knows everything." Then Jobs produced the Life cover photo and asks, "Well, does God know about this and what's going to happen to those children?" The Pastor replied, "Steve, I know you don't understand, but yes, God know about this."

Issacson reports that "Jobs announced that he didn't want to have anything to do with worshiping such a God, and he never went back to church." Instead, Jobs pursued Buddhism, gurus, and hallucinogenic drug use instead (pages 14-15). This is yet another tragic encounter with the problem of evil. Jobs later told Issacson that "The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus of seeing world as Jesus saw it (p. 15).

The most reliable records of Jesus life are the Four Gospels of The New Testament (see chapter 19 of Christian Apologetics). In them, we find Jesus affirming the existence of one, all-powerful God, as well as the existence of all manner of evil. That is how Jesus saw the world. But, unlike the Buddha, Jesus did not counsel his followers to detach from the world of suffering by ceasing to crave satisfaction. He rather said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be satisfied." It is inescapable that those who so hunger will also suffer: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted," Jesus also affirmed. (For more on Jesus's teachings, see chapter 20 ofChristian Apologetics.)

The evils of this groaning world did not detract Jesus from his mission to "seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). It was this wounded and aching world that sent Jesus to a bloody and horrible death on a Roman Cross, in order that humanity and deity might be reconciled and hope restored to an erring planet. As Pascal said: "The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his wretchedness through the greatness of the remedy required" (Pensees, 352/526).

If God is perfectly good and thoroughly powerful, he will not waste the sufferings of the world. He will bring a greater good out of them not otherwise possible. This may sound theoretical, but God himself put flesh to that reality through the Incarnation: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). That Word taught only truth, offered only love and justice, and was put to death for no legal reason. On his Cross, he forgave his accusers and finally said, "It is finished." He was buried, dead as dead could be. The universe waited...until he rose from the dead in three days time--never to die again.

At a young age, Steve Jobs faced the severity and seeming absurdity of evil. In so doing, he rejected the only answer to the suffering: Christ Jesus. Let us rather affirm with the Apostle Paul:

⁵⁵O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.--1 Corinthians 15:55-58, King James Version.

(For more on the problem of evil, see chapter 25 of Christian Apologetics.)

Self-promotion?

Some may wonder why an author is promoting his own book (Christian Apologetics) so much. We are often suspicious of "self-promoters." Let me explain what I am doing and why.

1. The purpose of this blog is not bragging on myself, but rather promoting a work I believe in for the sake of advancing the Kingdom and Mission of God. That is why I spent over eight years writing it.

2. Further, given the rise of the Internet, the old ways of promotion are no longer adequate: adds in magazine, radio interviews, and so on. Much of the interest in books is generated on line, and the author is often the only one available to do this. That is why I started my blog about the book and why I promote the book on my social media.

3. Whatever good one finds in my book, I attribute to God's grace and faithfulness. I did not make up the Christian faith, not can I can credit for the rational defense of it. It is all of grace.

Ways to Further the Ministry

Christian thinkers need to get out the word about the truth, rationality, and pertinence of Christianity. You can help me do this in several ways.

1. Become a Facebook friend to keep up with my talks, essays, views, etc. Warning: you will get a heavy dose of Groothuis views on just about everything: politics, culture, jazz, philosophy, apologetics, dogs, etc.

2. Follow me on Twitter for the same reason: @DougGroothuis.

3. Check my blogs: The Constructive Curmudgeon and Christian Apologetics (dedicated to my book of the same title).

4. If you think Christian Apologetics helps further the mission of God, you can support the book in several ways.

a. Review it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your blog, Facebook, and so on. “Like” it on Amazon.

b. If you are an aspiring author, review it for an academic publication or magazine.

c. Purchase a copy for your pastor, local library, or church library.

d. Teach from it in an adult education class or make it the book for a book discussion. Yes, this will take some time.

e. Recommend the book to opinion-shapers in the church and the larger culture.

5. Let me know how I might help you engage in apologetics and evangelism. I can speak to campus groups, churches, and in other public forums on all manner of apologetics and moral topics. I am happy to meet one-on-one or in small groups with unbelievers who have questions about Christianity.

6. I have a number of audio and video messages on line in various places, such as YouTube. Take advantage of these and let your friends know about them.

May it be done for the glory of God and the advancement of his Kingdom,

Doug Groothuis

Roots and Fruits

You are cordially invited to the first session of the Christian Thought Colloquium 2011-12.

Our own Dr. Douglas Groothuis will present on “Roots and Fruits: The Intellectual Influences That Shaped my Christian Calling.”

The colloquium will be held on Tuesday, November 15 at noon.

The venue will be classroom 115.

After Doug’s presentation for about 40 minutes, we will have a Q&A session for 5-10 minutes.

Dr. Don Payne will serve as moderator.

‎"Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen."

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Episcopal Book of Common Prayer

Douglas Groothuis Lecture at Denver Seminary

Professor Douglas Groothuis will be lecturing on "Roots and Fruits: The Intellectual Influences that Shaped my Christian Calling" at Denver Seminary in Classroom 115 at 12:00-12:50 PM on November 15, 2011. Among others, he will address the influences of Francis Schaeffer and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis on his life. The aim is to equip those who come to pursue their own calling with intellectual depth and seriousness.

My review of part of Nigel Warburten's "A Little History of Philosophy" (on Amazon)

The author, a secularist, does not bother to treat philosophical arguments for God's existence seriously. For example, he lauds Bertrand Russell's attack on the cosmological argument (p. 185) when, in fact, Russell created a straw man. In "Why I am Not a Christian," Russell says that cosmological arguments all fail because they depend on this premise:

P1: Everything that exists has a cause

Or order to reach this conclusion along with one more premise:

P2: The universe exists.

-------------

C1: Therefore, the universe has a cause (God)

But Russell claims that C1 (God) would be subject to P1. God would require a cause for God's existence. If so, the argument fails.

This is absurd because I have never read a version of the cosmological argument (in 35 years of studying and teaching and writing about philosophy of religion) that used this argument premise. Of course, P1 will defeat a cosmological argument, but no one uses it!

For example, the kalam cosmological argument reasons this way:

P1: What every begins to exist, has a cause of its existence.

P2: The universe began to exist.

-----------

C1: Therefore, the universe has a cause (God).

Notice that the kalam's P1 differs radically from Russell's version: "Everything that exists has a cause." God, of course, did not (by definition) begin to exist, so is not subject requiring a beginning cause for God's existence. In order words, there is no reductio ad absurdum. Neither do the Thomistic or the Lebinizian cosmological arguments rely on Russell's manufactured premise.

One could go on about the cosmological argument (I devote 30 pages to it in my book, Christian Apologetics), but suffice to say that this book does not bother to critique the argument at its best, only at its worst.

That is a very bad sign indeed, but I find that many British secular philosophers are often dismissive of philosophical theism. Shame on them.

On-line Education on Trial

Here is the superb first installment of a series about on-line education, written by Sarah Geis.

From The Book of Common Prayer

For a Sick Person

O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit and relieve thy sick servant N. for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy; comfort him with a sense of thy goodness; preserve him from the temptations of the enemy; and give him patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore him to health, and enable him to lead the residue of hislife in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally he may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For Recovery from Sickness

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant N. the help of your power, thathis sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

or this

O God of heavenly powers, by the might of your command you drive away from our bodies all sickness and all infirmity: Be present in your goodness with your servant N., that his weakness may be banished and his strength restored; and that, his health being renewed, he may bless your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Quotes from Chapter Eight: Faith, Risk, and Rationality

I should be much more afraid of being mistaken and then finding out that Christianity is true than of being mistaken in believing it to be true. (Pascal, Pensées, 387/241, p. 143; in Christian Apologetics, p. 155)

...not to believe in Christianity, either as a committed unbeliever or as an agnostic, means to forfeit the benefits promised only to the believer (eternal life), should Christianity be true. Deciding not to choose has the same result as not believing in God. (Christian Apologetics, p. 159)

If Christianity is true, the prudential benefits for believing (eternal life) far exceed those offered by believing in atheism or any other worldview (finite pleasures). The prudential detriments of not believing if Christianity is true (loss of eternal life; gaining of hell) also far outweigh the detriments of not believing atheism or another other worldview if the non-Christian view is true (loss of some finite pleasures). Pascal is right to affirm that eternal bliss outweighs any finite good, and eternal loss is far worse than mere extinction. (Christian Apologetics, p. 161)

A prudential consideration of the Christian truth claim can, when offered wisely, invoke a healthy self-interest that encourages unbelievers to inquire into Christianity. (Christian Apologetics, p. 167)

More Apologetics Teaching

I am teaching on the origin of life at Crossroads Church of Denver this Sunday (October 30) at 9:00 and 10:30 AM. Here is my outline. I will be offering copies of Christian Apologetics for a discount also.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary

DougGroothuis@gmail.com

A Biblical View of the Origin of Life on Earth

I. Why Origins Matter

A. Knowing the source of something usually tells much about what it is

1. Food: Kroeger green beans are worse than any other brand

2. Automobiles: Dodge or Toyota

3. Wines, authors, drugs, and so on

B. Human origins

1. Naturalism: An impersonal, materialistic source (change and natural law) for nature, or:

2. Theism: A personal, moral, spiritual source for nature

II. The Origin of life: Two Major Worldviews in Conflict. Two stories of reality

1. Naturalism: all life arose and evolved through natural, unintelligent causes over long periods of time

a. Universe has always existed or came into being out of nothing for no reason or purpose (godless Big Bang)

Story: In the beginning were the particles and the laws of nature; these did all the arranging of matter and energy from the beginning until now. Chance and necessity

b. Abiogenesis: life from non-life without a designer

Story: On the ancient earth, lifeless matter somehow evolved into living matter according to chance and natural law

c. Speciation through natural selection (Darwinism)

Story: after the first reproducing life form came into existence, each generation varied from its predecessors sufficiently to generate all the species now in existence

d. Implication of a-c: Life has no design plan, no purpose, and no destiny

2. Christian theism

a. God created and designed the universe (Psalm 90:1-2; Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-5)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and was God. All things were made through him…

b. God created and designed all of life (Genesis 1); each thing created according to its “kind” (see also 1 Corinthians 15:35-41)

c. Allows for change within basic kinds, but claims that God has created and designed life and has left evidence of himself (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-23)

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. –Psalm 139:13-14

d. Implication: Life has a divine design plan, purpose, and destiny

III. Defending a Christian View of Origin of Life

A. How Christians address this:

1. Theistic evolution (Francis Collins, The Language of God, 2006; Tim Keller, The Reason for God, 2008). Darwinism explains biology: no need to appeal to intelligent causation (design)

a. Reason against this: Doesn’t fit Scripture. God has left evidence of his handiwork

b. Scientific evidence doesn’t support it

B. Intelligent design challenge to naturalism (broadly understood)

Designing intelligence is necessary to explain life and is evident in life’s forms. Naturalism cannot explain life adequately.

C. The case for intelligent design: inference to best explanation based on empirical evidence (not the Bible itself). Relies on no uniquely religious assumptions, but does have conclusions that point toward God.

1. Review: molecular machines: bacterial flagellum (First sermon in this worldview series)

Irreducible complexity cannot be explained by naturalism; it requires intelligence

2. Information argument (DNA). Film clip.10 minutes of “The Case for a Creator”

a. The cell has a tremendous amount of information in DNA

b. This information is not explained by any merely natural process (chance and natural law) because the information is highly specified and complex

The information in DNA and RNA is digital and the entire system is far more sophisticated than any computer we have designed.

“DNA is like a computer program, but far, far more advanced than any software we’ve ever created”—Bill Gates.

c. Therefore, a designing mind (an intelligent cause) is the best explanation for the information in the cell

3. Evidence for Darwinian natural selection (speciation) is inadequate

a. Evidence for micro-evolution (finch beaks) does not establish macro-evolution

b. There is no genetic mechanism to increase information required for adaptive mutations; most all mutations are harmful. (These genetic mechanism themselves are designed.)

c. There is no strong evidence for gradual Darwinian evolution in the fossil record. Rather: “sudden emergence and stasis” (Stephen Jay Gould, Darwinist, paleontologist)

IV. God, the Designer of Life

A. Naturalism fails to explain nature adequately: molecular machines, information in the cell, vast number of different species

B. Also fails to explain morality and resurrection of Jesus. See D. Groothuis, Christian Apologetics, chapters 15, 21

C. Intelligent design explains these facts logically, based on scientific evidence

D. Intelligent design points to the God of the Bible; although it does not tell us all we need to know about God. But gives good reason to investigate the biblical claims since nature does require a designer.

E. We learn the rest of God’s truth from the Bible (2 Timothy 3:15-16)

Recommended resources:

Books:

1. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (InterVarsity, 2011). See chapters 13-14 on Darwinism and design.
2. Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, 10 anniv. ed. (Free Press, 2006). A pivotal book for the Intelligent Design movement.
3. Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator (Zondervan, 2004).
4. Jonathan Wells, Icons of Evolution (Moody, 2000). Images for Darwinism are bogus.
5. Philip Johnson, Darwin on Trial (InterVarsity Press, 1993). Logical critique.
6. William Dembski and Sean McDowell, Understanding Intelligent Design (Harvest House, 2008). Introductory, but excellent.
7. Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Adler and Adler, 1986). Influential scientific and secular critique of Darwinism.
8. Stephen Meyer, The Signature in the Cell (HarperOne, 2009). Magisterial defense of design of life. The best philosophy of science book I have read.

DVDs:

1. Lee Strobel, “The Case for a Creator” (Illustra Media, 2006). The various scientific arguments for God from biology, physics, cosmology.
2. “Unlocking the Mystery of Life” (Illustra Media, 2002). The evidence for God from biology.
3. “The Privileged Planet” (Illustra Media, 2004). On the special design of the earth.
4. “Expelled” with Ben Stein (2008). Shows how Darwinists persecute dissenters.
5. “Darwin’s Dilemma” (Illustra Media). On the Cambrian explosion, which Darwinists cannot explain.

Web pages: Access Research Network: www.arn.org; Discovery Institute: www.discovery.org.

Favoring Iran

Withdrawl of troop from Iraq is Iran's victory.

Michele Bachmann on Obama's Big Mistake

Urbandale, Iowa – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement to pull United States troops out of Iraq by the end of the year:

“Today’s announcement that we will remove all of our forces from Iraq is a political decision and not a military one; it represents the complete failure of President Obama to secure an agreement with Iraq for our troops to remain there to preserve the peace and demonstrates how far our foreign policy leadership has fallen. In every case where the United States has liberated a people from dictatorial rule, we have kept troops in that country to ensure a peaceful transition and to protect fragile growing democracies. We will now have fewer troops in Iraq than we have in Honduras – despite a costly and protracted war.

“President Obama’s decision represents the end of the era of America’s influence in Iraq and the strengthening of Iran’s influence in Iraq with no plan to counter that influence. We have been ejected from a country by the people that we liberated and that the United States paid for with precious blood and treasure. The administration claims that we got exactly what we needed, but today’s announcement demonstrates otherwise. The United States needed a working democratic partnership in Iraq and we should have demanded that Iraq repay the full cost of liberating them given their rich oil revenues. I call on the president to return to the negotiating table with Iraq and lead from the front and not from weakness in Iraq and in the world.”

I will be teaching on basic apologetics at Littleton Bible Chapel Sunday, October 23, at 6:30 PM. I will bring books to sell for $30. Hope to see you there.

Littleton Bible Chapel
6023 S Datura St.
Littleton 80130

Tozer

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.--AW Tozer, "The Old Cross and the New."

Sermon Outline for my message at Crossroads Church of Denver, October 16, 2011

Crossroads Church of Denver, October 16, 2011

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary

DougGroothuis@gmail.com

A Short Course in Christian apologetics

I. Making Thinking a Sin (Marlene Winell, Leaving the Fold)

A. Intellectual challenges at the university

B. Wrong responses: critical thinking as sin

II. The Need for Defending Christianity as True, Rational, and Pertinent: Apologetics

A. Biblical case for rational spirituality (1 Peter 3:15-16; Jude 3; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

B. Defending objective truth of Christian worldview in humility and dependence on God (Luke 9:23-26)

C. Showing existential significance and consequence of Christianity

D. Being wise as serpent, innocent as a dove, bold as a lion (Matthew 10:16; Proverbs 28:1)

III. Making the Positive Case for Christianity

A. Commending the Christian Worldview

1. What is a worldview: set of assumptions about the basic make up of the world: ultimate reality, morality, human condition, and salvation

2. Christian worldview: creation, fall, redemption

The universe (originally good, now fallen and awaiting its divine judgment and restoration) was created and sustained by the Triune God, who has revealed himself in nature, humanity, conscience, Scripture, and supremely through the Incarnation for the purpose of salvation and judgment.

B. Giving the best explanation through a cumulative case

1. Best explanation: non-contradictory, factual, and livable

2. Cumulative case: combine arguments converging on God of the Bible

IV. The Three Circles of Evidence: Cosmology, Biology, and History

A. Cosmology: the universe is created, not eternal. The Big Bang cosmology. See Paul Copan and William Lane Craig, Creation Out of Nothing (Baker, 2004).

1. Scientific evidences for an absolute beginning of the universe out of

nothing. See Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers.

a. Einstein’s general theory of relativity (1917) contained an error (fudge factor), when corrected it predicted an expanding universe

b. In the 1920s, independent of each other, Belgian astronomer George Lemaitre and Russian mathematician Alexander Freidman corrected the error. This became the Freidman-Lemaitre model

c. In 1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble detected the “red shift” in distant galaxies. Indicated that what was further away was moving at a greater speed. Evidence for expansion.

d. The detection of cosmic background radiation left over from initial condition of the universe.

e. Thermodynamics of the universe; second law of thermodynamics, entropy.

f. Upshot: everything be traced to an initial singularity: Barrow and Tipler: “At this singularity, space and time came into existence; literally nothing existed before the singularity, so, if the Universe originated in such a singularity, we would truly have a creation ex nihilo.” John Barrow and Frank Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), 442.

g. Alternative theories have failed: steady state and oscillating universe: lack empirical evidence and contravene known laws of physics.

B. Biology

1. Meet the bacterial flagellum

2. Universal joint, propeller, drive shaft, rotor, stator, bushings—all of which are needed for its function, none of which are expendable.

3. This is a biological motor attached to the back of a bacterium as seen through a high-powered microscope. Not built by any human.

4. Bacterial flagellum: only recently discovered to be a molecular machine. See Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, 10^th anniversary ed. (Free Press, 2006), 69-72. It exhibits the marks of design.

“Irreducible complexity”: the mousetrap principle. All the integrated parts are needed for fruitful function. It is very improbable that this was built up gradually through natural selection (a naturalistic explanation). See William Dembski, The Design Revolution, chapter 40.

5. Video clip from “The Case for a Creator” (Illustra Media) featuring Dr. Michael Behe, Dr. Scott Minnich.

6. Best explanation for molecular machines, such as the bacterial flagellum—design, not mindless nature

C. History and Jesus Christ

1. Christianity and history: God reveals himself in the actions of history (John 1:14)

2. Consider the New Testament

a. Transmission of the documents (textual criticism). Nearly 6,000 Greek manuscripts of the NT with little variation; better than any other ancient text

b. Original writings: by eyewitness or those who consulted them (Luke 1:1-4; John 20:30-31)

c. Synoptic Gospels written before about 70; entire NT before 100 AD.

d. Extra-biblical writers confirm some aspects of NT history

e. Miracles are possible if creation and design (theism is established)

3. The claims of Jesus Christ and their significance

a. Forgiven sins (Mark 2:1-14); give his life for sinners

b. Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:15-28)

c. One with the Father (John 10:30-31)

d. Crucified and resurrected Lord (1 Corinthians 15)

1. Known burial place; Empty tomb; many appearances; changed life of the disciples

2. Best explanation: simplest, explains the most: resurrection in space-time

4. The achievements of Jesus Christ best answers the human condition (John 10:10)

Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.—Blaise Pascal, Pensées

V. Conclusion: Reason Enough to Rationally Believe

A. Christianity as objectively true, rational and personally pertinent

B. Christianity is a better explanation of reality than any other worldview

C. We should have confidence to present Christianity in the world of ideas (Romans 1:16-17)

Further reading

1. Francis Beckwith, et al, eds. To Everyone an Answer (InterVarsity Press, 2004). Essays by leading apologetics.

2. Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (InterVarsity, 2007).

3. William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith, 3^rd ed. (Crossway, 2008).

4. William Dembski, The Design Revolution (InterVarsity, 2004).

5. Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus and On Pascal, both Wadsworth, 2003.

6. Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (InterVarsity Press, 2011).

7. The Discovery Institute (Intelligent Design): www.discovery.org

8. J.P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City (Baker, 1987).

9. James Sennett and Douglas Groothuis, editors, In Defense of Natural Theology (InterVarsity, 2005). More advanced work.

10. Lee Stroble, The Case for a Creator (Zondervan, 2004). See the DVD of the same name.

11. Lee Stroble, The Case for Faith (Zondervan, 2000).

12. Lee Stroble, The Case for Christ (Zondervan, 1998).

Book Sales for Christian Apologetics

InterVarsity Press tells me that through September 11, 2011, Christian Apologetics has sold nearly 3,000 copies. That is quite good for a large, academic book.