Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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Revelation About God (from Nature, Man, and God)
09/17/2009 - Jeff Downs
I have to privilege of sitting under Dr. Morton Smith this semester for Prolegomena & Theology. Instead of writing one long paper for the course, students are required to turn in a 3-5 page paper every other week, reading it before the class and fielding questions. The aim of the paper is to summarize the view(s) of a theologian of your choice, on topics topics related to prolegomena & theology. For example, this week, the topic is revelation and I am up to bat. I decided to go with Cornelius Van Til. I know a little bit about Van Til, his apologetic and theological methodology, but I did not realize how hard it was going to be to summarize him on this topic. His chapter "Christian-Theistic Revelation" was more then I could handle in the time frame I had, and with the work load I have over the next two weeks. I decided to only deal with a portion of his thinking on this topic, that being revelation about God. Below, is my short paper. Perhaps if my summery does not help, it will at least wet your appetite to pick up Van Til's Introduction to Systematic Theology (2nd ed.), edited by William Edgar. ...[Click Here to Continue Reading]
06:27:56 - Category: Misc - Link to this article -
You Just Gotta Love Liberals
09/14/2009 - James White
Some of you who are new to Alpha and Omega Ministries might not know that a number of years ago I had the privilege of debating Barry Lynn, ACLU attorney and head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Lynn is an ordained minister in one of the most liberal denominations in the world. We debated whether homosexuality is compatible with biblical Christianity, and, like John Shelby Spong a few years later, Lynn showed up to such a debate without a Bible. Here is a sample of the exchange:After the debate (which, in his closing statement, Lynn admitted he had lost), Lynn informed us that he would not allow the videos to be distributed. When we began to do so, he sent us a cease and desist letter, threatening to file suit in the 9th Circuit (where else?). With the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, we filed suit first, in Virginia, the proper location where copyright issues should be decided, and the location which also had jurisdiction over the place of the original debate (New York). The day before our attorneys were to start taking depositions, Lynn gave in. We found it ironic, of course, that someone who would speak so highly of free speech rights would attempt to use litigation to attempt to suppress the record of a public debate, but, what I learned then was this: free speech is only for those on the left, not anyone else. And we surely see that on every hand today as well.
In any case, you might find the entire debate very useful to watch. You can obtain it here.
I have found it interesting to follow Lynn's public escapades since then, and this morning a truly stellar persona, the great and incomparable Mylo Hatzenbuhler himself, pointed me to an article about Lynn. I had no idea the Obama administration had given Lynn a position, though, of course, given Lynn's radical views, that is hardly surprising. Radicalism is the new orthodoxy in Washington. But given how strongly Lynn had criticized the very office he is now a part of, listening to his tortured reasoning in defense of his hypocrisy is, well, educational:
Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was a vocal critic of Mr. Bush's faith-based office. Now, under Mr. Obama, he serves on the advisory council's task force to improve the functioning of the office. Explaining his turnaround, he said he doesn't view Mr. Obama's office as partisan -- the way Mr. Bush's was. But acknowledging that there was no substantive difference between the offices yet, Mr. Lynn said: "We have a guarded optimism that when the advisory council, Justice and the White House act and get down to the nitty gritty, they will make this a constitutionally protected program. However, we have no proof of that and no guarantee."
09:15:03 - Category: Misc - Link to this article -
A Brief Introduction to the Reformation
09/13/2009 - James White
06:49:20 - Category: Misc - Link to this article -
Tuesday Morning Miscellaneous
09/01/2009 - James White
Carla has put together a new graphic that I think a number of folks are going to like, and given how many people mention the Dividing Line when I travel, this might be one you want to get in sticker form so you can advertise around town, on your notebook at school, whatever. Carla tells me Katy came up with the idea, and I would never hear the end of it if I didn't mention that.I have been coming across important resources in my research for the debate on the uniqueness of Jesus against Dan Barker in just a few weeks. Some have come from unexpected places, to be sure. There are only two more left on the Ministry Resource List that are in the "high" or "highest" priority category. Please pray that this debate will have long lasting value in vindicating the claims of Christ. I know that I am praying that we will be able to add this debate immediately to the jump drive tracts that yes, believe it or not, we hope to roll out in October.
10:55:26 - Category: Misc - Link to this article -
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