I’m pleased to announce that the second podcast is now available for download or streaming. This podcast has some new elements to it and we also continue with our discussion of Islam. And don’t forget, if you would like to hear me discuss a particular issue, please E-mail me (glenn at indefenseofthefaith dot org) or leave a comment below.
Children and Islam
Well, I’ve thought long and hard about this, and after much thought and finally some productive effort… I’m please to present to you my first, official podcast for In Defense of the Faith Apologetic Ministry!
I hope you find it informative, challenging and enjoyable to listen to. May God bless you as you listen and please do send me your feedback.
The second podcast will be completed soon with some new changes and a little clearer structure to the program. The podcast will typically last 15 minutes and will include 2 to 3 sections. I will reveal that in the second podcast. But please don’t hesitate to offer suggestions.
Also, if you would like to hear me discuss a particular issue, please E-mail me (glenn at indefenseofthefaith dot org) or leave a comment below.
Thanks and enjoy the show!
Introduction and Islam
Hello Readers,
I want to let everyone know of a very exciting addition to the web site:
In Defense of the Faith – Online Discussion Forum
That’s right! Now you can join me and other friends in the online forum to discuss the relevant issues of today, and whatever else you want to talk about along the way. Ask questions about theology, doctrine, or apologetics. Create your own posts about topics you would like to talk about regarding the Christian life and Christian doctrine.
Click on the link above and register today! Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for discussion. I pray that this forum will be a blessing to everyone that takes part in it, for the glory of God and the good of His people!
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
The more news I see about Islam, the more I find it amazing that this religion is growing and growing in ‘peaceful’ ways. Regardless of the Islamic terrorism… peaceful Islam continues to grow in its size and influence due to its strong and public practice of worship mixed with a large birth rate of children being born to Muslim families. As Western Europe becomes less Christian and more secular, less and less children are being born to non-Muslims and thus the secular community loses more and more influence as the conservative and dogmatic Muslims have more and more children and demand equality and respect in the West. [Note to the reader: Islam’s eschatology says that everyone is born Muslim and that Islam must spread throughout the entire world and that the world must become Muslim one way or another before the end can finally come. Interestingly enough, Jesus is ‘the prophet’ who they say will come back on day (he never died, but was taken to heaven and Judas crucified in his place) and lead the world back to Allah.]
I find it funny and sad that more people in the West are not responding to Muslims like they are Christians, given that Muslims are even more aggressive and dogmatic in their views than Christians (or other religious groups for that matter). Why is it that Muslims are getting their religion promoted in schools and universities, while Christians are being censured and marginalized?
Well, the surface reading of things won’t help all that much, except to say that the West is tired of Christianity’s dominance and wants something that makes them feel justified in what every they choose to do or become. But below the surface, I really feel we must acknowledge the fact that sinful humanity will allow or even promote anything that pushes away and keeps the true religion, Christianity, off to the side or completely out of the picture. Islam is a false religion and the Western non-Christians (who aren’t Muslim) are not going to be as hateful towards Islam as they are towards the Triune God who calls them to repent of their sins and trust in His Son, Jesus, and become part of the New Humanity via the Church. Since Old Humanity’s default nature is sin, Old Humanity always suppresses the reality of the Triune God and seeks for anything else with which to replace Him (Romans 1) so as to satisfy the deepest longings in their heart, that only the Triune God can satisfy. But I digress…
Getting back to the main topic of this post: Lee Irons has an interesting and somewhat convincing post about why Barack Obama would actually be a very good president regarding the war on terror and the Islamic forces throughout the world. Here is a link to his post. Read it and tell me what you think.
I wonder though, if Obama is elected and Muslims around the world begin to think differently about the West, especially America, will a peaceful takeover actually begin to flourish more? Or will this actually be a great blow to their views of the West and end up helping the Western world survive the Islamic eschatology of making this world into an Islamic kingdom that controls the entire planet?
I honestly do not know what it is that God has planned with Islam and its current spread into the West. I can only rest in the Trinity’s sovereign will and know that God will lead His people (the Christians in the world) to continue on a path of renewal and regeneration as they work towards and anticipate the consummation of a New Heavens and a New Earth that will finally come once the resurrected Jesus returns to judge the world in righteousness, putting all things to rights! One day I believe that Islam will be converted to Jesus through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. Muslims will finally repent of their “Allah” idolatry and begin worshiping the Triune God who has promised to renew the whole human race through faith in Jesus, the true Human and the only Messiah.
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
Whoever wills to be in a state of salvation, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith, which except everyone shall have kept whole and undefiled without doubt he will perish eternally.
Now the catholic faith is that we worship One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is One, the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit; the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; the father infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet not three eternals but one eternal, as also not three infinites, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one infinite. So, likewise, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet not three almighties but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God; and yet not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be both God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding. So there is one Father not three Fathers, one Son not three Sons, and one Holy Spirit not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped. He therefore who wills to be in a state of salvation, let him think thus of the Trinity.
But it is necessary to eternal salvation that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The right faith therefore is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man. He is God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds, and He is man of the substance of His mother born in the world; perfect God, perfect man subsisting of a reasoning soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who although He be God and Man yet He is not two but one Christ; one however not by conversion of the Godhead in the flesh, but by taking of the Manhood in God; one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person. For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life eternal, and they who indeed have done evil into eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith, which except a man shall have believed faithfully and firmly he cannot be in a state of salvation.
The articles:
Harry Potter Author Reveals Books’ Christian Allegory, Her Struggling Faith
Additional Info: J.K. Rowling outs Dumbledore!
The Analysis:
Well, I have to say that I am somewhat shocked at this news about the final book in the Harry Potter series. Even though I have enjoyed the movies, I consistently saw a strong affirmation of the pagan occult and witchcraft which made me nervous of recommending them to others. But, after reading the first article referenced above, I ask this question to all of us… Should we now recommend Harry Potter? My answer is as follows.
[NOTE: Do not read further if you are reading the books and don’t want the ending to be ruined. If you are waiting for the movies, you might not care if the ending is ruined, since knowing about it will be extremely relevant to our cultural context and discussions with non-Christians who love these books.]
If you read about the article above, an amazing reality about the Harry Potter books (particularly the last book) comes to light for us… Harry Potter is a Messiah figure in which the climax of his life results in the resurrection of all those dead that he dearly loved!
Now, as happy as I am to affirm the Christian allegory found in this ending, I must say that the author, Rowling, does not do full justice to the Biblical portrait that I believe a book author, writing from a Christian worldview, should. Now, I’m only commenting on this article and I have not read the books and I will not say anything past what she reveals in the interview found in the article of reference…
Rowling offers us two Biblical references on the tombstones of Harry Potter’s parents. One is 1 Cor. 15:26 and the other is Matt. 6:21. They read respectively as follows:
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This means that Harry Potter has defeated death by defeating his great enemy, Voldemort. And Harry Potter’s heart seems to have always been with his family since his greatest memories were about them and those memories were the source of all his strength in magical power.
But what’s the problem here? I know, Rowling never meant for them to be a grand Christian story. I just want to point out why we have to be critical of the Harry Potter story and help others to realize that just because the author reveals that the ending of the book is a Christian allegory doesn’t mean that we need to embrace it as a Christian novel series like C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien…
The problem is that Rowling struggles with her own faith in the resurrection and doesn’t have a fully Christocentric worldview. And as far as I can tell, her Christian allegory was not nearly as powerful as the guarantee that God promises about resurrection, new creation, and the eternal life to come.
God has promised us, in Jesus the Messiah, that he will not only give us resurrected bodies, but will actually re-create the universe, in which all sin and evil of men will be cast out, and only God and His people will enjoy a new heavens and a new earth for ages upon ages to come. From Rowling’s interview, I can only gather that she doesn’t realize the implications of her own belief in resurrection. There is no mention of a new universe in which there is no more death, instead, it seems that Harry is simply able to bring his parents and friends back to life. (Now, since I haven’t read the last book, I might be missing something, but does this resurrection mean that Harry, his parents and friends will never die???)
What about everyone else in the world? Is everyone perfected in goodness and freedom? Or is the world to go on as it is with only Harry’s parents and friend alive once again and able to spend time together and enjoy the rest of their natural lives only to die once again?
Well, needless to say, I’m sure that some of those answers are not dealt with in the final book by Rowling. But the fact remains that Rowling never intended to write a fully Christian novel series with all the Biblical and Redemptive Historical consequences one would expect of the Narnia series and Lord of the Rings.
So, am I happy or sad? I guess both. I’m thankful that Rowling has admitted to some Christian theology being written into her books, but I’m also sad that her own conclusions in the book are weak and local and not strong and global. This should give all of us great opportunities to talk with non-Christian friends about the Christian story as it relates to Harry Potter and hopefully those conversations will glorify God and spread His Gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Please think about these things and let me know what you think about this news of Harry Potter and Jesus of Nazareth. How are they different? How are they the same? Are you and your family and friends ready for the resurrection?
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
This is an excellent critique and response to the atheist blasphemy challenge. Enjoy and you might need to reference an online dictionary if you are not that familiar with philosophical terminology. 🙂
I just finished listening to “The God Delusion Debate†that was live broadcast on Moody Radio. The debate was between two Oxford professors, Dr. John Lennox and Dr. Richard Dawkins. I don’t know if any of you heard about it, or maybe some of you actually listened to it… either way, I think the main thing I want to mention about this debate are the closing remarks by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins said (roughly in my own summary of his words), that Dr. Lennox (the Christian in the debate) said so many great things about science and the universe, and that Dr. Lennox even presented a beautiful picture of a deistic god that tuned up the universe with laws and properties, but then all of a sudden, Dr. Lennox moved past his understanding of science and God’s natural laws built into the universe, to telling us dogmatically about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and God’s demand that we believe such a thing. Dawkins went on to say that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is “so trite, so unworthy†of the universe that there is no reason for anyone to trust in it especially in light of Darwinian Evolution.
After hearing Dawkins’ closing statements, I make this connection… My Sunday school class has been studying Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. While listening to the radio tonight, it came to me vividly that Richard Dawkins personifies what Paul said about the gentile view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… Paul said in 1 Cor. 1, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.â€
Tonight, Richard Dawkins said that the resurrection was foolish in light of the world’s evolutionary wisdom and that it is basically intellectually weak of anyone to believe such a thing. Simply astounding and yet so revealing that the Apostle Paul really did understand what he was talking about when he wrote that letter the Church at Corinth!
Dr. Lennox did an excellent job and I encourage anyone who has a chance to listen to it in the future to make an effort to do so. (You can purchase a CD here) I believe that everyone will all be encouraged and enlightened and better able to understand the New Atheism that is being preached by its ministers, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. For anyone interested in some good online debate, I would direct you to the debate at Christianity Today between Pastor Doug Wilson and Atheist Christopher Hitchens. You can read all the debate entries at this web page.
May God be glorified as His foolishness and His weakness is proclaimed throughout the world to all peoples! Amen!
Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection?
Here is an interesting article by N.T. Wright on the topic of science and Christianity.
In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,
EXPELLED the movie is due out in theaters nation wide in February of 2008! This is going to be a very controversial film and I cannot say just how thankful I am that Ben Stein has committed himself to fighting for the academic freedom of our scientists and scientists around the world. This is truly a blessing and an awesome surprise!
I encourage everyone to visit the site and follow the blog on this one. You can even sign up to volunteer to promote the film! It even has a sign up (check box) for youth leaders who want to get their kids involved! 🙂
Well, enough from me. Please check out the trailers on the sight. If the trailers tell us anything, I can almost guarantee that this movie is going to upset a TON of science and academic leaders! And why not since they need to be shaken up anyway. 😉 Here is one of the trailers…
Lastly, I’m re-posting Ben’s first blog entry from yesterday. Hope you enjoy reading it…
