Apologetics

Perhaps the most frequent argument used by skeptics against the Christian faith is that a good, loving, and all-powerful God wouldn't possibly allow evil (along with sorrow, pain, bloodshed, etc.) into his world. Evil obviously exists in our world. It is all around us. Thus, the biblical God can’t possibly exist. If he did, and he was indeed omnipotent, he would obviously do something about it! It is not only skeptics, however, who struggle with this “problem of evil.” The Christian who shares his faith will find that this question probably causes more people to doubt the validity of the Bible and the Christian faith than any other.

We are faced with an alarming trend of rising atheism in our youth today. I will address this undesired trend and provide actions that parents, youth , and we as individuals can implement to help decrease this trend. Otherwise, as President Reagan said, “A nation not under God is a nation already gone under.” Let us all please rise to the challenge and reverse this trend.

Being somewhat of a newcomer to the ongoing scientific discussion in this newsletter, and coming from a nonscientific perspective, I feel a bit like a junior soccer player competing in the World Cup—definitely out of my league. Still, my experience as an English as a Second Language teacher has provided me a unique vantage point from which to observe one of the greatest evidences for God’s creation: Language. I am convinced that the language ability of human beings confirms our identity as creatures made in the image of God. In this article, I would like to share a portion of a paper written for a theology class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow present religion and science as rivals and give the impression that they are irreconcilable. The following quotes present such an opposition, and they reveal an antagonism toward religion in the authors:

Ignorance of nature’s ways led people in ancient times to invent gods to lord it over every aspect of human life. 1

In their new book, The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow defend scientific determinism, which they define as follows:

Is apologetics all about saying you’re sorry about something? Of course not; it is derived from the Greek word apologia, which refers to giving a reason. Christian apologetics includes both 1) defending the Christian faith when speaking with non-Christians and 2) encouraging and strengthening the faith of believers. Christians are encouraged, actually commanded, in the scriptures to be able to give the reasons for why they believe and have the hope in them.

Dr. Henry Middleton presented talks for the youth group meetings at Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. 1

A Roman portrait bust believed to be that of Josephus, from Plagnieux, P. 'Les sculptures Romanes' Dossiers d'Archéologie

Henry W. Middleton

Well-known atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins authored the now best selling book The God Delusion which was published last year. 1  This is just one of several recent popular science books by atheists to hit bookstores in the last few months. This essay will discuss selected scientific and philosophical arguments made in the Delusion.

Figure 1 - Richard Dawkins