2008-12-12

Michael Bird writes that he still thinks the best reason for why the Gospels were written was to preserve an account of the life of Jesus for those who were not eyewitnesses in a later generation. He quotes Gundry, "... A high estimate of historical authenticity deriving from the literary distinctives of the Gospels leads to a further, old answer. The spread of the church far from its place of origin and the dying off of Jesus’ original disciples created a felt need for records. Since Christians had not divorced theology from history, those records turned out to be both theological and historical..." The Gospels stepped into the role of eyewitnesses. Why Were the Gospels Written-

Hays makes some observations regarding the methodological assumptions in the book The Bible, Rocks and Time. 1) The authors go after outdated presentations of flood geology. If flood geology is legit science, we would expect it to change. 2) they don’t address the old, ongoing debate between temporal metrical objectivism and temporal metrical conventionalism. 3) Admitting creation ex nihilo poses a problem because it means that you probably cannot generally distinguish between providential artifacts and ex nihilo artifacts. 4) Hays points out that to point to rates for ages, you need to know the rates. And there are a lot of assumptions over millions of years. 5) Geologists don't necessarily accept the 'rock age' they get, unless it fits their preconceptions about the age. Which is rather circular. The Bible, Rocks and Time

Phil Johnson writes how ''The devil made me do it' is not an excuse, that disobedience to God, even brought on by demonic temptation, demonstrates complicity in the heart for the devil's wickedness, that the way to deal with sin is to resist the devil, and if you sin, own the sin, confess it, and repent of it. The devil works with what he's got. And it is man's own wickedness that makes him so compliant. The Devil Made me Do It

Peter Pike comments on the story of a young man who committed suicide after reading the God Delusion. Although poorly argued, the logic of the book leads to nihilism. Anything, whether religion or universal brotherhood is therefore a delusion - i.e. Dawkin's worldview is just as delusional. Dawkin's may be effective against a poorly formed Christianity: "Christians need to have a strong understanding of Christian beliefs. One of the aspects I’ve found (and it is obvious from such folks as the Debunkers) is that most former Christians have no concept at all of Christian theism." Unfortunately many don't know how lousy Dawkin's arguments really are. And public education isn't helping. Delusions that Kill