Apologetics

The Protestant Reformation declared that the Scriptures displayed four perfections: authority, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency. When we say that the Scriptures are sufficient we mean that God has given us all that we need to know for salvation and life. The Westminster Confession of Faith ,...

When I was young and living under my parent's tutelage, cleaning my room was a primary chore assigned to me. However, even though I was the chief custodian of my room I was not the boss! After cleaning, my mother would show up for the inspection. More often than not, she would look at me with her...

Exuberant over an experience, an oh-so-sweet manifestation of divine providence, you delightedly seek to give God praise in telling your story. “It was such a ‘God thing’,” you proclaim. As you see it, God wove together an otherwise inexplicable combination of events to deliver a wonderful—even...

In today’s America it’s pretty much an accepted dictum that true freedom is being able to choose whatever it is we desire. And when it comes to sexuality and gay rights, this is especially the case. If a man desires to be with another man, true freedom is being able to do so without any restraints...

Several years ago, I was eating lunch with a few pastors who were lamenting our current cultural condition. What made the conversation so memorable was the man seated beside me. He was a pastor from Eastern Europe. In fact, I arranged the lunch so that he could meet some American pastors. My friend...

Unspoken assumptions make the argument. Debates become fruitful when unspoken assumptions get clarified. Many of us are accustomed to calling these assumptions presuppositions—controlling beliefs that determine how we think. In a culture that has largely accepted the belief that the only thing that...

My seminary professor of missions emphasized what is often glossed over when discussing and doing mission work: the Bible not only presents a message but a method of its delivery. [1] Similarly, the Bible has its own method of apologetics (self-defense) to which we must defer: it presents itself as...

“Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men un-excusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the LORD...