The Kingdom Come

Sometimes when Christians think of the word presuppose they consider it a negative since Christians want not to presuppose or assume but rather allow the Bible to determine our beliefs. But theologically and philosophically speaking, everyone presupposes when is comes to claims or propositions. What is important is whether our presuppositions are accurate or are flawed.

In this 44 minute podcast Roderick is joined by Dr. James Anderson of the Reformed Theological Seminary as Dr. Anderson gives an introductory summation of Presuppositionalism and especially how it is articulated from the two dominant "schools"; that of the late Cornelius Van Til and Gordon Clark.

Sometimes when in discussion with atheists or people resisting Christianity, or religion in general you will hear the claim that religion has been the cause of the most human suffering and death in the world. Typically, events like the Crusades, the so-called "witch hunts" and the Inquisition will be trotted out as proof. And many Christians will shrink back or will say something like, "Even so, Christianity as it was espoused by Christ is non-violent." Although it is true that Christianity as espoused by Christ was to be spread not by the sword (as Islam is designed), but by the Word, by mere preaching. But why should we allow the atheist to even use the Crusades and such as evidence in their claim that most human suffering and death has been caused by religion. It plainly is not true.

What I want to do is offer a detailed listing of human death from the 18th century through the 20th century and see if the claim is true. Yes, we'll also look at the Crusades, the witch hunts and the Inquisition.

The following is for friends and family who have recently made professions of Faith or those who are "giving religion a try".

What does it mean to "get saved"?  Saved from what?  Does it mean you won't go to hell when you die?  What happens when you are "saved"?  Do you suddenly start being a "good person"?  Do you start acting all churchy and religious?  When you "get saved", is there a list of "dos" and "don'ts" you suddenly must live by?

Well, first typically "getting saved" ISN'T something you just wake up one day and decide to do. 

What follows is an interaction with Dr. Kenneth Talbot, president of Whitefield Theological Seminary concerning methods of refuting the heresy of hyperpreterismⁱ.  This interaction originally began on a website called Theology Explained.  Actually, it was never supposed to be an interaction, but merely a "position paper" stating my position.  Dr. Talbot responded to it in "debate" fashion which is apparently against the rules since the site administrator closed down the thread and stated the site is not a debate site.  The problem is, whether the administrator closed the thread after my response or Dr. Talbot's response -- it would be unfair to either.  So, instead of playing that game, I have moved the entire interaction to MY OWN site where I can allow the interaction to continue as long as it will.  I won't close down comments AFTER they have begun.

As my site does NOT require a person to sign up to post comments, Dr. Talbot is welcome to continue his interaction.  Either way, I will be forcefully responding to the many false charges Dr. Talbot has put forth.

NOTE: The links to the site TheologyExplained where this debate originally occurred are now broken as that site administrator apparently deleted the debate to protect Dr. Talbot from himself.

Most of the time you will hear a Christian witness or evangelize an unbeliever by saying something like "Jesus died for you", or "Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life", or "If you died today are you certain where you will spend eternity?"

Is this how we are supposed to witness?  Is this how we see the apostles doing it in the Bible?

Perhaps of all places in the Bible, Acts 17:16-34 is the most relevant example to our modern, agnostic world.  In the account, we see Paul witnessing to Greek unbelievers.  Notice how he uses what they already believe or acknowledge.

Nothing is more discouraging than betrayal and perhaps nothing more discouraging to Christians than betrayal by other Christians. Christians are supposed to CONTEND FOR THE FAITH...but not just any faith, since heretics like to redefine "faith", we must declare loudly, the rest of the verse:

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 1:3)

It is the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. One thing all heresies have in common is that they are advocating some "new" faith, never practiced by the saints.

In the great debate of how we know what we know, or in theology it is called epistemology comes the question about starting points or "presuppositions".

Whether we like or not, we ALL have a presupposition or starting point when it comes to belief...belief in anything, be it religious or scientific.  These presuppositions or assumptions often determine our unfolding conclusions or "logic" to next steps.