At once mysterious and compelling, the question of how human beings obtain salvation and whether they can lose it has preoccupied Christians of all traditions for centuries. While theologically conservative Christendom (made up of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism) shares significant common ground on most essential doctrinal issues, there is a spectrum of views on the freedom of the human will.…
You may be familiar with my Facebook and Twitter pages, where I have a weekly segment called #ThursdayTheology. There I provide short, substantive quotes from important theological thinkers past and present. One of the most frequent sources is Alister McGrath. McGrath serves as professor of science and religion at Oxford University. He earned three doctorates from Oxford in science, intellectual history, and…
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…
Most Christians want their light to shine among other people, to serve as a signpost to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. But just how does a believer go about being a good witness? Sometimes the virtuous qualities and characteristics we strive hard to live out in life earn us a unique opportunity to reach others—for as…
We often use the word “faith” to describe the core of someone’s beliefs—but people of differing religions use the term in very different ways. This has challenged me to more carefully probe the distinctive features of the word “faith” from the perspective of historical Christianity. Faith is much more profound than simply recounting our personal conversion story. Rather, Christian faith…
It’s one thing to believe in Christ when you are healthy and everything is going well; it is quite another when you believe death is imminent. Almost ten years ago I experienced a life-threatening illness when a bacterial infection invaded my lungs and brain. Early on, my doctors thought I might have stage IV brain cancer. Since most patients in…
It’s encouraging to see how many truly brilliant and accomplished people in the world embrace the truth of theism in general or Christianity in particular. Thebestschools.org, an online resource for prospective college students, features a list of the 50 smartest people of faith. I’ve always thought that pursuing “the life of the mind to the glory of God” was a…
Whether it was losing a loved one, becoming the victim of a violent crime, or facing a life-threatening illness, my immediate reaction to experiences of genuine suffering has been a profound feeling of being alone in that condition. I don’t know if other people react that way to sorrow. For me, suffering is a deeply personal issue that I don’t…
In addition to blog posts, I also address Christian worldview issues and critical thinking on a couple of RTB podcasts. Straight Thinking, my primary podcast, highlights the importance of the life of the Christian mind. I also make appearances with my fellow RTB scholars on I Didn’t Know That!, where we offer unscripted answers to listener questions. Here are some…
Reflections 