Some of the devil’s dirtiest deeds regard his doctrinal distortion of Heaven. He’s made it sound like a place no one would want to go. After all, who wants to sport flightless wings, sit on a cloud, strum a harp, … Continue reading →

Ehrman says free will defenders often tell him humans would be like robots without free will (11, 12, 197, 229). Well, of course they tell him that. Rightly! And on this point Ehrman never disagrees because free will is essential … Continue reading...

Finally we come to what seems to be Ehrman’s major objection to the free will defense. He asks, “If he [God] intervenes sometimes to counteract free will, why does he not do so more of the time? Or indeed, all … Continue reading →

Bart Ehrman’s fourth objection to the free will defense is this: “Most people who believe in God-given free will also believe in an afterlife. Presumably people in the afterlife will still have free will (they won’t be robots then either, … Continue...

Bart Ehrman asks why God didn’t give humans “the intelligence they need to exercise it [free will] so that we can all live happily and peaceably together? You can’t argue that he wasn’t able to do so, if you want … Continue reading →

As I mentioned yesterday, Ehrman admits that free will can explain much human evil, but he asks how it can explain malaria, dysentery, drought, hurricanes, mudslides, or a “tsunami that kills hundreds of thousands overnight.” (12) In other words, how...

In his book, God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question—Why We Suffer, Bart Ehrman makes the case that neither Christians nor the Bible can answer why God, if He were to exist, would allow “the … Continue reading →

If Bill Gates, who used to be the richest man in the world but is still extremely rich, told you that if you did not eat anything for awhile and kept it to yourself that he would reward you, would … Continue reading →

Over the years I’ve talked with many people who have successfully started apologetics ministries in their churches and others who tried but failed. What follows are some suggestions on how to do it (these suggestions apply to other types of … Continue...

I know what many of you are thinking: “The last thing those who are sick need to be told is that it is because of sin!” But, I agree. To do that would be dumb. How would I know if … Continue reading →

Someone suggested recently that perhaps our apologetics program should change its name to something less confrontational—like “religious studies”—so that it would be more palatable to non-Christians. Upon hearing that, Craig Hazen and I rent our garments...

I need to begin with a qualification: I’ve been embarrassed when some famous evangelical leaders (no, I’m not going to name names) have blamed people for the disaster they’ve suffered through. For example, I didn’t agree with blaming 9/11 on … Continue...

I ask my classes, “Why do gangbangers ever stop at red lights?” Some students suggest that they don’t want to be caught by the police. Sure. That might motivate them sometimes. But isn’t the real reason they stop that they … Continue reading →

One of the things that concerns me today is that so many authors have earned various degrees, and garnered various accolades, and published many books, but, sadly, if you get to know their lives you find that they aren’t ones … Continue reading...

See my blog on Biola’s website regarding the unsung lessons from September 11, 2001: all of us are born in a state of sin and that’s why all fear death (1 Cor. 15:56). Accepting these truths prepares us to receive the good news … Continue...

In 1 Cor. 6:2-3 is an amazing truth: “Do you know not that we will judge the world…. Do you not know that we will judge angels?” Christians will judge the world? Judge Angels? That’s extraordinary! But, why would humans … Continue reading...

Since I teach on why God allows evil, I often talk about Job. I have learned that many Christians have missed a major lesson of that book, if not the major lesson. Although many rightly conclude from Job that we … Continue reading →

So how did the universe, and all the complexity we find in living things, arise? There are only two explanations: God or luck. Now, if the Darwinists are correct, this luck is operated on by natural selection but don’t let … Continue reading →

A major study has concluded that women have become increasingly unhappy.1 By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that …...

Sound the alarm and bar the door! We’ve been robbed! Two doctrinal jewels are missing: human depravity and the Christian’s glorification. But I wonder how many Christians consider them jewels? After all, who likes to talk about the depths of … Continue...

The trouble with lust isn’t that we lust. As I’ve said before, we were born to lust. Of course, by “lust” I mean “strong desire” (lust doesn’t always have a negative use in English) and that’s what it really means … Continue reading →

Scott commented on my last blog that he had just confessed looking at porn to his wife and that she forgave him and is going to help him! Praise God for that! I did the same thing over 30 years … Continue reading →

So you’ve committed a sexual sin, again. And again. And again. For the one-millionth time. Again. Of course you stopped counting long ago (okay, let’s be honest, no one counts—and how big is a googolplex really?) and you’re disgusted with … Continue...

Another thing that fuels lust is our basing our self-worth on worldly standards. If we are not going to find value in our relationship to God, then we will base it on what the world values. What does the world … Continue reading →

Before I give the next step for controlling lust, it is helpful to understand the kinds of things that make us lust. And I’m not just talking about sexual lust but every kind of lust because all the lusts—whether they … Continue reading →