If the biblical God wants everyone to believe in him and potentially come into a saving relationship with him, then why does he seem—at least for some people—to be absent or hidden? As I’ve reflected about this claim that God is hidden, I think we can frame the issue as either a fundamental problem for the sender (God) or for the receiver…
One of the reasons cited in favor of atheism and against the idea that the God of Christian theism exists is known as the “hiddenness of God” objection. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers this definition: “‘Divine hiddenness’, as the phrase suggests, refers, most fundamentally, to the hiddenness of God, i.e., the alleged fact that God is hidden, absent, silent.” In…
“Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!”1 That was famous secular philosopher Bertrand Russell’s2 response when asked what he would theoretically say in defense of his unbelief if he found himself facing God on judgment day. One of the common claims that atheists make in objection to God’s existence is that God is hidden. This “hiddenness of God” challenge may take the following…
Fifty years ago, if I wanted to carry on a serious dialogue and apologetic debate with Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Muslim scholars I probably needed to go overseas. But with the emergence of the internet and influx of immigration in America and other parts of the Western world, all of that has changed. Great religious diversity now exists in America, especially…
What happens to people who never hear the gospel message about Jesus Christ? This vexing question has challenged Christians for centuries, but recently a skeptic raised this inquiry with me. After all, if God is loving and good, how will he adjudicate the destiny of so many people who will never get a chance to hear the way out of their predicament? Christian theology has offered four answers to…
Let me introduce you to the latest influential thinker in my ongoing social media segment, #FridayPhilosophy. Contemporary philosopher Peter Kreeft inspired me as a young college student. After reading Kreeft’s book Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialogue Somewhere beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley, I wanted to study philosophy and Christian apologetics. What follows is a brief biography…
Modern science has dramatically changed the world for the better. All of us have benefitted from medical and technological advances. Because of that success, some people have concluded that science can answer all of humankind’s ultimate questions. This philosophy, called scientism (science is the only or best path to discovering truth), is to be differentiated from science (the study of the natural world through observation and experiment) and is reflected by such prominent…
Frenchman Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was one of the founding fathers of the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century. A true Renaissance man, Pascal was an eminent mathematician, physicist, and logician, and an intuitive Christian thinker. As a Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist, Pascal provided a penetrating analysis of Christianity’s broader world-and-life view. He accomplished all of this before dying at the…
If you have followed me on social media for a while, you know that I have a weekly segment called Thursday Theology, where I provide quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. A theologian I quote often is Michael Green. One of his apologetics books, Runaway World, had a big influence on me as a young Christian and whet my appetite for further apologetics study. I went on to…
Christians correctly assume that apologetics impacts conversion. That’s why many Christian ministries, organizations, and individuals who are motivated by evangelism take the apologetics enterprise seriously. But just how does apologetics impact conversion? And which apologetics factors contribute to a person’s movement toward salvation in Christ? As we have stated in this series, in historic Christianity the apologetics enterprise functions as a tool…
