We had to come to America for paperwork and since being here, we’ve had opportunities to visit some excellent Bible conferences. As missionaries, we are able to travel more freely throughout an American year than most pastors are, so I have narrowed down a list of three conferences that I recommend attending (though we personally go to more than these when we are Stateside).[Read More]
apologetics
The Good Place: A Mythology for Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
Some Christians try to avoid television shows that promote ideas that are in conflict with Christianity, but I prefer to watch with a theologically critical eye. I guess I like to take on challenges like that, but if you are more inclined to avoid conflicts, that’s fine as well. One popular show these days is called The Good Place, which is in its fourth and final season (I’ll avoid any major spoilers for those who haven’t been watching). The Good Place blatantly rejects Christianity, but I enjoy it, first of all because the comedy is golden, but also because if you watch it critically, you can pick up on what Hollywood thinks about some big questions in life. I wouldn’t be surprised if many have fallen for some false teachings while watching, but if Christians are equipped to watch critically, I think they might be able to understand better why this show is contrary to the Bible and which untruths specifically are being promoted.
I have concluded that The Good Place is a mythology for moralistic therapeutic deism. That’s a mouthful, so first I would like to describe what the show is about, then I will define the terms “mythology” and “moralistic therapeutic deism” to show why The Good Place meets this description.[Read More]
Mormonproof your worldview like a Berean
In the not-too-distant past, I have had some theological exchanges with representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Church of the Almighty God. You are probably familiar with LDS; that’s the group that adheres to the Book of Mormon, which they believe contains information that’s additional to the Old and New Testament. The Church of the Almighty God, also known as the Eastern Lightning Movement, is a bit more obscure to Westerners. In 1989, a woman named Yang Xiangbin entered the House Church Movement scene in China and claimed to be Christ, the incarnate God. In the following years, she delivered some messages that the Church of the Almighty God accepts as authoritative. These “utterances” have been compiled into a book called The Word Appears in the Flesh.
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Some concerns with Michael Heiser’s “The Unseen Realm”
Several months ago, a friend started reading Michael Heiser’s book, The Unseen Realm. It’s on the topic of angelology and she asked me if I had heard of the book or if I knew of any dangerous teachings therein. I had never heard of the book, nor the author, so I did a quick google search. I didn’t want my friend to get into some weird hyper-charismatic teaching on angels and demons, so when I saw that Darrell Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary endorsed the book, I assumed that it would be pretty safe.
Boy, was I wrong.
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Book Review: So The Next Generation Will Know
Here is a stark reality: if we do not consciously equip young Christians with a biblical worldview, they will unconsciously absorb the ideas of today’s culture. (pg. 76)
Those who know my story will know that I came out of the 90s/2000s American youth group culture that was characterized by apostasy en masse. It wasn’t until my early 20s, when I started studying apologetics from the inside of a jail cell that I came to my senses about Christianity. One book in particular that stands out among those that helped me return to Christianity was More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, which was later updated by his son, Sean McDowell. So, when I saw that Sean had co-written a book specifically about “Preparing Young Christians for a Challenging World,” and was looking for reviewers, I volunteered with enthusiasm.
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Reconsidering the Talmudic Definition of “Day”
I’ve recently had the privilege of being able to edit Robert Courtney’s article on the day when Christ died. This is a huge topic in apologetics. Mark and Luke record Jesus’ tomb being empty on Sunday, the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1–2; Luke 24:1) and Matthew records Jesus saying:[Read More]