Skip to main content

Posts

Innate Goodness and Pre-Adamic Humans

Some professing Christians are setting themselves up as authorities to say that God did not mean what he said in the Bible. This is a serious problem. Unfortunately, gullible people are being deceived about our alleged goodness, and humanoids that existed before Adam. Credit: Unsplash / Krys Amon American author John H. Walton has some odd views that can be considered Gnostic , and Irish theologian Niamh Middleton presents some beliefs that are truly off the rails. These sidewinders are not only rejecting biblical authority, but are also accommodating atheistic views of origins as well when they accommodate theistic evolution. False teachings like these seriously damage the gospel message. Today, many modern writers who describe themselves as evangelicals openly disagree with the core Christian doctrine of original sin. Some argue instead that Jesus seeks out original goodness in us. They reject a historical Fall in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rebelled against the clear instru

Toxic Misotheists, Being Alpha, and the Bible - Part 2

As planned, here is the conclusion from Part 1 . Harmful people in our lives can feel like we are in an emotional and spiritual whirlpool with our vitality draining away. Not Apologizing or Explaining This is a difficult area for me in several areas. Gibbs makes not apologizing his  Rule #9 , and he picked it up from John Wayne in  She Wore a Yellow Ribbon : "Never apologize, mister, it's a sign of weakness". Related to that is explaining yourself. In fact, the two can often be combined in pitiful displays of poltroonery. File under "Never say never". Credit: Flickr /  Dave Stokes  ( CC BY 2.0 ) One problem is when people offer apologies. Those sound like excuses most of the time, especially when they're strung together like in this humorous example: When we "own it", we are less likely to seem weak. It can also take the wind out of the sails of a detractor. F'rinstance, a different supervisor was armed for bear, ready to give me a deserved cha

Toxic Misotheists, Being Alpha, and the Bible - Part 1

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This is one of my more unusual articles, and it is difficult to categorize because there are several subjects involved. They may seem contradictory at first, but stay with me. Like my prospector friend Stormie Waters says, "See how it all pans out". Credit: Flickr /  Subharnab Majumdar  ( CC BY 2.0 ) It has a strange beginning that involved riding off on side trails and ending up a long way from where I had intended. It happens to many people on the internet, especially when they are not under an immediate deadline. "You may also like..." can bushwhack productivity. Being the Robust He-Man that I Am When you're done laughing, I want to tell you that I never viewed myself as an "alpha male". In nature, that is the dominant male in a group, and it involves mating, fending off challenges from other males, and being watchful to help protect the group. There are human males who want "alpha male" traits to be the man who stan

God Continues Creating

The immediate reaction from some people would be that God stopped his creation work, as stated in Gen. 2:2, Ex. 20:11 and 31:17. It may be surprising to learn that God is still creating today, but in a different way than he did in the beginning. Credit: Photos Public Domain This is not like some owlhoots who say God is still creating today through theistic evolution. No, he didn't transform a pre-Adamite group of subhumans by giving them souls in a mangled metaphor of Genesis. There are certain acts of creation that are still happening today. God created both man and animals with  nephesh , which means life or soul (see " Brain and Body are not the Soul " for more in-depth material that also refutes naturalistic claims). He is not creating new stuff like he did during creation week, but makes some things out what already exists. Then there's the news in 2 Cor. 5:17 that is so important to Christians. But didn’t God rest from His creation work on Day Seven? The correc

After Question Evolution Day — The Narrow Path to Creation

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen February 12 was the 10th annual  Question Evolution Day , an event in which almost anyone can participate. People may object, thinking that origins is an academic issue. Some even think that there is a  message of hope in evolution , but that is the opposite of the truth. Image for the 10th annual Question Evolution Day by  Why?Outreach Seekers after the truth become excited after attending seminars, reading articles and books, watching videos, and so forth about how recent creation affirms the Bible and refutes evolution. Then many lose their enthusiasm. Indeed, people were excited about QED and promised to get involved, but failed to keep their promises (there were some, however, that did their part, and even more. I am grateful to them.) There are parallels in the Bible to consider. What Kind of Soil? While the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15) is about people who hear and receive the word of the Kingdom, similarities between enthusiasm for Question Evolution

Augustine Did Not Support Old-Earth Views

There are professing Christians who falsely claim that the church fathers believed that the earth was far older than Scripture indicates, and that biblical (young age) creationists are wrong. It would be a mighty big help if they did their homework on people like Augustine. St. Augustine in his Study , Sandro Botticelli, 1490 It is important to note that Augustine did not consider his writings to be sacred writ, his views changed in some areas, and he freely admitted that his understanding was imperfect. It did not help matters much that he was unskilled in Hebrew and Greek, and he had access to weak Bible translations. He believed that everything was created in an instant (he should have consulted Exodus 20:11, 31:17). Old-earthers must reject the global Flood as well. While Augustine was in no wise a young-earth creationist as we understand the term, claims that he believed like the pagans that Earth was far older are disingenuous. Old-earthers claim Augustine as support for figurati

Trusting God in Apologetics

There are Christians who are excited about using apologetics to defend and present the faith, and there are others who think that is a job for experts. All Christians are commanded to present the faith (2 Cor. 10:5, Col. 4:5-6, 1 Peter 3:15, Acts 17:22-31), but some are called to be more intense with it. And "tense" can apply to many of us. Mostly made at The Keep-Calm-O-Matic  using an image from NASA (Usage of images does not imply endorsement of site contents by anyone) It is indeed unfortunate that some are intent on winning arguments rather than helping the lost come to Christ. Similarly, we can expend mental energy trying to analyze (and sometimes rehash) situations so we can give the most devastating arguments. Yes, by all means, do the best you can. Sometimes we may feel that we botched it. That happens. However, convicting of sin and saving people is the work of the Holy Spirit; we do not do the saving. It is not up to our brilliance (1 Cor. 2:1-5), which can lead to