Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

WHO DID JESUS THINK HE WAS? DID HE RISE FROM THE DEAD?

Who Did Jesus Think He Was?

 

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead"  Part One:  The Facts

 

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?  Part Two: The Explanation

DAVID WOOD - MANHOOD IN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY

David Wood - "A recent picture of a planeload of refugees fleeing Afghanistan shows that the overwhelming majority of those fleeing are grown men. Are the women and children being left to fend for themselves against the Taliban? David Wood discusses the issue."

Me: This short 10 minute video is definitely worth your time!

WHY ANYONE SHOULD THINK TWICE BEFORE CONVERTING TO ISLAM

Since YouTube is in the habit of censoring many videos, should this video be censored, it may also be found  here.  Be sure to see other videos at David Wood's YouTube channel.

From the YouTube post above:

"If you're thinking about converting to Islam, you might want to gather a little information first, because the standard narrative has holes in it. In this video, David Wood shows that the most common arguments for the authority of Muhammad and the Quran fall apart upon closer inspection. (The video also features clips from Ali Dawah, Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, and Dr. Shabir Ally!)"

Watch the Apostate Prophet's video on this topic ("Watch This Before You Convert To Islam"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUBGU...

Watch Islam Critiqued address this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGZae...

A brief history of the Quran: http://www.answeringmuslims.com/p/qur...

Women in Islam: http://www.answeringmuslims.com/p/wom...

Scientific Mistakes of the Quran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yMD9...

The Fastest Growing Religion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1i3p...

POPE JOHN PAUL II ON ISLAM

The other day I picked up Pope John Paul II's brief comments on Islam from Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 92-93.  I thought their succinctness and clarity worth recording.  Pope John Paul II writes:  (italics in the original)

"As a result of their monotheism, believers in Allah are particularly close to us. . . .

Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation.  It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son.  In Islam all the richness of God's self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside.

Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but He is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us.  Islam is not a religion of redemption.  There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection.  Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad.  There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent.  For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity. 

Nevertheless, the religiosity of Muslims deserves respect.  It is impossible not to admire, for example, their fidelity to prayer.  The image of believers in Allah who, without caring about time or place, fall to their knees and immerse themselves in prayer remains a model for all those who invoke the true God, in particular for those Christians who, having deserted their magnificent cathedrals, pray only a little or not at all." 

VIDEO BY DAVID WOOD -- NABEEL QURESHI'S BEST FRIEND

 

 

TIM KELLER AT HONG KONG UNIVERSITY: "HOPE BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE WORLD"

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and one of the world's most articulate and thoughtful Christian communicators, here offers a helpful consideration of "hope."  It's is all the more interesting given his audience and the occasional interweaving of his reflections on Buddhism.  Keller is the author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism among a number of other books.

 

The "Faith and Global Engagement" group at the University of Hong Kong offers a number of past lectures and presentations online which I will want to explore in the near future.  

SEAN MCDOWELL - "WHAT MAKES CHRISTIANITY UNIQUE?"

A lot could be said on this topic.  Sean McDowell offers a good beginning:

 

Sean offers three brief points:  1) Christianity is testable  2) Christianity has grace  3) Christianity has Jesus at the center

Sean McDowell, a major speaker and author in is own right, is the son of famed Christian speaker Josh McDowell.

RUSH LIMBAUGH INTERVIEWS HIS BROTHER DAVID ON HIS NEW BOOK: "JESUS ON TRIAL -- A LAWYER AFFIRMS THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL"

Earlier today a friend sent me a message recommending I try to find the transcript of Rush Limbaugh's interview with his brother, David, who had just published a book, Jesus on Trial.  My friend said it was a great interview.   I checked it out and think so, too.  The transcript  follows:

RUSH: We welcome back to the program my brother, David, well-known author and agent for many highfalutin personalities and celebrities, as well as lawyer, and he's the author of... This is probably the book that he was intended to write his whole life. This is the one he's been building up to. Jesus on Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel. This is a pretty risky subject. You're dealing with people's faith here, and, in many cases, faith is all people have to sustain them. And you know, one of the refrains is that it can't be proved. That's the test. So why'd you decide to do it? Why'd you decide to write the book?

DAVID: Well, thanks for having me on. It's a big honor. I have been studying the Bible, theology, and Christian apologetics -- which means the defense of the Christian faith -- on and off for years. And it just so happens that two of my grade school friends (you know their names, I can't mention them on the air) and they also were high school friends, of course, and I were having dinner, our annual dinner.

And one of these two made a provocative statement to me. He knows I'm a Christian, and I don't know if he was testing his faith by challenging mine or just being playful and provocative. But he made the statement that he didn't believe a rational person could believe in Christianity. And I've studied this stuff a lot, and I tried to respond to him in a brief time. This wasn't the purpose of our meeting.

And, in the end, I think I failed to even marshal much evidence at all. It wasn't at the top of my mind. I wasn't prepared to do it. So I resolved after that that I'd do a better job. I'd study this stuff, get it on my mind. And then within a few days I got a call from Regnery publishing, Harry Crocker, who is a converted Catholic, and he and I have had discussions over the years.

He's a strong believer, and he invited me to write a book on this very subject -- a lawyer looks at the truth of Christianity -- and just do a book on it. And I said, "Well, Harry, I'm really not equipped. I'm not a trained theologian." So I balked at first, and I finally agreed to do it for two reasons. One, I thought I might be getting providential promptings with those two events occurring in such close proximity.

I don't know that to be true, but I'm open to the possibility.

And the second thing is, I think coming to this as a skeptic, as a former skeptic I can relate to those who are currently skeptics perhaps better than a pastor or a trained theologian. I might be able to reach some of these people. Also, I have a secular platform. Not as vast as yours, admittedly, but somewhat of a platform. So that if I can reach people, maybe I can reach people in the secular world and produce some of this evidence to them and make a slight bit of a difference in their lives.  

RUSH: How is your book different from other books on, if not this specific subject, Christian apologetics? I mean, this is quite an undertaking. I mean, God... Another question would be, "Why...?" People ask this all the time in their own way. Pascal, the Pensées, he was driven nuts trying to find proof. "Why does God make it so hard?"

DAVID: Well, the reason I decided to -- or the reason my book is different is the normal classical Christian apologetics approach looks at Christianity through its claims. It looks at the reliability of the Bible, biblical prophecy, the various philosophical proofs of God, the arguments for the possibility of miracles and all that stuff.

And I did all that, but I also added my own unique take to it, which is my own spiritual journey. Because I was a skeptic and I wanted to trace how I evolved from doubter to believer, and I also structured the book that way. I didn't just structure it as a lawyer looks analytically at the evidence, but as an experiential book, relating my experiences and saying how the Bible itself worked as its own apologetic to me.

RAVI ZACHARIAS TO SPEEK AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY AND THE MORMON TABERNACLE THIS WEEKEND

He speaks at BYU Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM (EST),  and at the Mormon Tabernacle Saturday evening at 8:30 (EST).  Both talks will be live-streamed.  Details here.

DR. NABEEL QURESHI'S TALK AT GEORGIA TECH ON "SEEKING ALLAH, FINDING JESUS"

I watched this talk by a former devout Muslim, a medical doctor and now a follower of Jesus, as it was live-streamed at Georgia Tech University a few short weeks ago.  I watched in the company of others, and all of us were impressed with Qureshi's graciousness, and his knowledge of both Christianity and Islam.

 

Update 11/19/13: Nabeel Qureshi tell his story here:  "An Intellectual and Spiritual Journey from Islam to Christianity."  http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Qureshi/testimony.htm  

Additional posts of possible interest:

-  WHAT RAVI ZACHARIAS SAID TO A FOUNDER-LEADER OF HAMAS

-   LIST OF WILLIAM LANE CRAIG'S DEBATES ON CHRISTIANTY & ISLAM

-   William Lane Craig - Tolerance and Certainty in Religion: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

-   Pope John Paul ll on Islam

-   ALL MONOTHEISMS ARE NOT ALIKE

-   WILLIS E. ELLIOT - "THE MUTUAL BLASPHEMY OF ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY"

-   UNLIKE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY, A REFORMATION IS NOT WHAT ISLAM NEEDS

-   ARE JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AS VIOLENT AS ISLAM?

-   POPE BENEDICT XVI'S BAPTISM OF A FORMER MUSLIM: IT'S SIGNIFICANCE AND MEANING

-   COPTIC PRIEST ZAKARIA BOTROS: ISLAM'S "PUBLIC ENEMY #1"

-   Fjordman reviews Robert Spencer's "Religion of Peace: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't"

-   The Muslim "Open Letter" Addressed to Pope Benedict and Other Christian Leaders

-   Robert Spencer's "Religion of Peace" Revisited

-   Andrew Bostom Reviews Robert Spencer's "Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't" Arab-Muslim Cultural Achievements a Myth

-  Can't Bring Bibles, Crucifixes, or Stars of David into Saudi Arabia

-   TIM KELLER (PART I): BLIND MEN TRYING TO DESCRIBE AN ELEPHANT

-   LETTERS OF C.S. LEWIS TO A SPIRITUAL SEEKER (SHELDON VANAUKEN) - NOW ONLINE

-   C. S. LEWIS - CHRISTIANITY COMPARED TO OTHER WORLD RELIGIONS

MIKE ADAMS GIVES HIS VIEWS ON MORMONISM

Mike Adams, professor of criminology at University of North Carolina-Wilmington, published an article/letter two days ago titled ironically "My Apology to Mormon Readers":

Dear Stacey:

You have written demanding an apology for my recent characterization of the Mormon religion as "non-Christian." I am happy to write a public letter of apology to you and to the countless Mormon readers who responded negatively to my characterization.

I am sorry that so many of my Mormon readers have brazenly accused me of ignorance of their religion and suggested that I read the Book of Mormon. I am sorry that they were unaware that I read the Book of Mormon back in 2006.

I am sorry that the science of genetics has refuted claims made in the Book of Mormon concerning the relationship between Native Americans and Semitic people. These refutations undermine the entire historical premise of the Book of Mormon.

I am also sorry that while archeological discovery supports the claims of the Bible it clearly does not support the claims of the Book of Mormon. Battles that were supposed to have occurred in specific locations in North America simply never took place. The archeological evidence just isn't there.

I am sorry about the plagiarism of the Holy Bible that runs through the Book of Mormon. I am sorry that Mormons cannot see that Joseph Smith's refusal to reveal the golden tablets is strong evidence of their nonexistence. The heavy plagiarism in the Book of Mormon puts the lie to the rest of the story of Smith, the former seeker of the lost treasures of Captain Kidd.

ED HIRD - "YOGA: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYES?"

 Ed Hird is correct when he writes that his article will be controversial.   Indeed it is.  At a time when yoga has entered mainstream America, including being available at YMCAs, camps and schools, it's not often one hears much negative about it.   Which is all the more reason to hear and heed what EdHird has to say.   He writes: 

You may find this a stretching article in body, mind and spirit. I have intentionally avoided writing this article for years, because I knew that it would be unavoidably controversial. With genuine reluctance, I faced my conflict avoidance, obeyed the Lord and read hundreds of yoga books in our local public libraries. In preparing this article, I have not read one book which warns against yoga. All book citations in this article are from yoga advocates and practitioners. 

To many people, yoga is just the hottest new exercise fad for younger women. Twenty million North Americans are now doing yoga, including around four million men. These twenty million people are currently being trained by over 70,000 yoga practitioners in at least 20,000 North American locations. Many people confuse yoga with simple stretching. Stretching and calisthenics are good things which I participate in weekly at the local gym. Yoga has not cornered the market on healthy stretching and calisthenics. I am convinced that we do well when we take care of our bodies as part of our Christian stewardship.

I unknowingly participated in yoga, in the form of martial arts, for twenty years before renouncing it. It is not an easy or light thing for someone to renounce this, even as a Christian. In hindsight, I realized that the ritual motions and postures (asanas or katas) had gotten very deep into my psyche, shaping my very identity. Without intending it, I was to some degree serving two masters. 

Historically yoga was only taught in secret to high-caste male Brahmins. In recent years, North American yoga has largely stripped itself of its more obvious Eastern trappings: gurus, incense, Sanskrit, and loin cloths. Yoga paraphernalia has become a multi-billion dollar industry, involving designer spandex, yoga mats, and DVDs. Old-time Yoga purists have called this new development the yoga industrial complex. In some parts of North America, yoga moms are replacing the demographic of soccer moms. This North American yoga industry has registered thousands of copyrights, patents and trademarks, sometimes resulting in threatening lawsuits. The Indian Government is so concerned about the yoga copyrighting that they have set up their own taskforce to protect yoga from being pirated by Westerners:

Yoga piracy is becoming very common, and we are moving to do something about it," says Vinod Gupta, the head of a recently established Indian government task force on traditional knowledge and intellectual-property theft.

"We know of at least 150 asanas [yoga positions] that have been pirated in the U.S., the UK, Germany and Japan," he says. "These were developed in India long ago and no one can claim them as their own."

In an effort to protect India's heritage, the task force has begun documenting 1,500 yoga postures drawn from classical yoga texts -- including the writings of the Indian sage, Patanjali, the first man to codify the art of yoga. 

There are seven main kinds of yoga: Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga (wisdom), Mantra Yoga, Tantra Yoga, and Raja Yoga. 

The most popular yoga offered in one's local Recreation Center is Hatha Yoga, so-called physical yoga involving numerous yoga techniques called asanas. These asanas appear to the uninitiated as if they are just stretching exercises. The more fully initiated realize that asanas are worship postures to Hindu deities. Is it really honest and respectful to pretend yoga is just a physical activity without any spiritual implications? More importantly, should people get themselves bent out of shape over Christians doing yoga?

I.K. Taimini, Indian scholar and chemist, wrote that there is no subject like yoga which is so wrapped up in mystery and on which one can write whatever one likes without any risk of being proved wrong. The religion of Hinduism is more than just cows, karma and curry. Yoga is the very heart of Hinduism. Nine out of ten Hindus agree that yoga is Hinduism. In yoga asanas, one re-enacts the story of a particular Hindu deity, identifying as that specific deity. The hand postures (mudras) in Hatha Yoga are a replication of the same hand postures in the statues of Hindu gods. Yoga is spiritual embodiment. Unlike Western religion, one does not have to believe in something to be impacted by Hinduism. Because Hinduism is technique-based, the performance of the asana is sufficient to open up the chakra energies which produce the psychic interaction. The irrelevance of belief is one of the reasons why yoga practitioners often promote yoga to North Americans as either non-religious or religiously neutral. Transcendental Meditation, a form of Mantra yoga, initiated countless westerners with Sanskrit puja rituals that were never explained to them, but still had a significant impact on their core identity. Yoga is inescapably religious in a way that most westerners will not notice. 

The term 'yoga' comes from the Sanskrit word 'yug', which means union with Brahman, the highest of the Hindu deities. The purpose of yoga is to produce a mind-altering state that fuses male and female, light and darkness, good and evil, god and humanity. As Deepak Chopra said in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga:

WHAT RAVI ZACHARIAS SAID TO A FOUNDER-LEADER OF HAMAS

Three minutes of substance worth pondering.  (HT: Justin Taylor)

Ravi's website is here.

RON DICONCINI - "PAINTING THE RESURRECTION"

I am reposting this from 2011 -

 

ISLAM'S CREDIBILITY PALES COMPARED TO CHRISTIANITY

If news reports are accurate (which I reported a short while ago), Iranian Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's captors are forcing  him to read Muslim arguments against Christianity to try and persuade him to convert or else he will be hanged! (Nice, friendly people, these Muslims:  "Renounce Christianity!  Convert or die!")

Hopefully, Pastor Nadarkhani is well armed against the myriad falsehoods, misrepresentations, and ignorance that characterizes most Muslim argumentation.  An example of a person who faced the question, "Islam or Christianity?" is Nabeel Qureshi.  He recounts his story in "An Intellectual and Spiritual Journey from Islam to Christianity."  He writes:

VISHAL MANGALWADI - "The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization"

I have long appreciated the mind and heart of Vishal Mangalwadi, the outstanding Indian thinker who has done much to point out the positive influence of the Bible on the development of the West.  (Previous blog posts here).   Now he has written his 450 page magnum opus (but perhaps there is more to come?), The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization.

Charles Colson is excited about the book.  He writes:

Vishal Mangalwadi, a native of India, is one of the greatest Christian worldview thinkers of our day. He believes that much of modern India, including its language, educational system, and political freedom, developed not out of Hinduism, but out of Christianity.

His newest work, The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization explores the Bible’s impact, not only in leading the West to unparalleled liberty and prosperity, but in helping India and other nations to share in the West’s success.

Mangalwadi carefully examines the intellectual roots of Western concepts of human dignity, reason, morality, science, liberty, and self-sacrificial heroism, explaining how each of these concepts grew out of Biblical principles. He then contrasts the biblical view of life with alternative worldviews like Secularism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Colson writes a lot more, and concludes:

I recommend a lot of books on BreakPoint, but this is a must-read. If Western civilization and our way of life are to survive, we must understand and re-embrace the biblical principles and values they were built on.  [my emphasis]

Many other leaders enthusiastically endorse the book:

RON DiCIANNI: PAINTING THE RESURRECTION

 

WILLIS E. ELLIOT - "THE MUTUAL BLASPHEMY OF ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY"

Elliot's article on Muslim-Christian relations was solicited and then rejected by the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog.  In the interest of free speech Pajama's Media picked it up.  It is well worth reading.

“Mutual blasphemers, love one another!” is the title of an essay I published many years ago. Now as then, the human project is to learn not only to live with, but to love, “the blasphemers” (meaning whichever of the two religions is not yours).

1. But the project, so defined, is not neutral. It is Christian and humanist. Christian: Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Islam, to the contrary, is essentially hostile to “the infidels.” Humanist: Calling evil good is bad news, but the worst news is violence done in the name of God (spelled out, for example, in Mohamed Atta’s theological justification for the attack he led, “9/11”).

2. Blasphemy (irreverent speech or action against a deity or religious person/belief/object) is currently in the news only when Muslims become violent, or threaten violence, when they feel offended: when we Christians feel offended, almost never do we become violent, and almost always we suffer the disrespect in silence.

In the New Testament (and other early Christian literature), much is said about nonviolence, never is violence commanded or even suggested; it is forbidden. Not so, early Muslim literature. The contrast is to be expected: Jesus was anti-violent, Muhammad was violent (a military leader as well as a religious leader).

LAUSANNE CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON INDIA'S DALITS AND THE CASTE SYSTEM

Take this opportunity to listen to Joseph D'Souza's powerful message about caste in India, "the world's longest-lasting slave system," and the challenge facing the Christian church.  This is a most worthwhile 8 1/2 minutes of your time!  It is altogether informative, instructive and inspirational at the same time.  I was powerfully moved.  (HT: P. Dance)

D'Souza said there is more slavery in our world today than there was at the time of Wilberforce when he fought the transatlantic slave trade.   250 million people are considered the outcastes of Indian society.  I found it fascinating, and horrifying, that a "creation myth" is the root of the stratification of Indian society.  The myth says that God created human beings in a hierarchy of purity and impurity.  25% of India’s population has no rights, is dehumanized, segregated, and silently endures an apartheid system.   But there are great signs of hope.  If you haven't yet listened to the video posted above, take the time now to do so.

"CHRIST ON CAMPUS INITIATIVE" FROM TRINITY EVANGELICAL DIVINITY SCHOOL

TEDS recently announced the following essays can now be accessed on the internet.  Trinity is one of the foremost Christian seminaries in the world today.  The editorial team of CCI is led by Dr. D.A. Carson.  Here are the essays published to date.  More will follow.

• Human Flourishing - Danielle Sallade
  
• Sin: Not the Way It's Supposed to Be  -  Cornelius Platinga Jr.
  
• Five Arguments for God  -    William Lane Craig
  
• Christianity and Sexuality  -    Christopher Ash
  
• Naturalism and the Biblical Worldview   -  Kristen Birkett
  
• Jesus Christ and Religious Diversity   -  Harold A. Netland
  
• Do Christians Have a Worldview?  -   Graham Cole
  
• Jesus of Nazareth: How Historians Can Know Him and Why it Matters  -   Craig L. Blomberg
  
• A Christian Perspective on Islam   -   Chawkat Moucarry
  

 

WORLDVIEW TRAINING - SUMMIT MINISTRIES

Teenagers need assistance in clear thinking.  Thankfully, a number of worldview programs are now available.  Charles Colson introduces one such program -- Summit Ministries -- with his helpful post:

A few years ago, a teenager named Chris attended a worldview training program run by Summit Ministries. He learned a great deal and had a great time. But by the end of the intensive, two-week program, he was exhausted.

As Chris wrote to John Stonestreet, executive director of Summit, “I had never had to think so hard...before in my life! So I decided I was just going to veg out for the next few days.”

When some friends invited Chris to a movie, he thought it would be a good way to relax and recover from all that hard thinking. They went to see the latest version of War of the Worlds.

But the film wasn’t the mental vacation Chris expected it to be. As he explained in his letter, “Mr. Stonestreet, I tried to veg out during the movie, but I just couldn’t. I am watching it and thinking, ‘Wait a minute, that’s secular humanism, and wait a minute, that’s not true. And, what do they mean by that, and how do they know that’s true!’”

Chris then joked, “I just wanted you to know that you ruined my movie!”

After the film ended, Chris and his friends went out for food and talked about the themes in the movie. His friends were astonished at how much Chris had gotten out of the film. As he told Stonestreet, “They kept asking me, ‘How did you see that? How do you know all that stuff?’ It was a great conversation. And I [learned] I can’t just turn this worldview thing off!”

Good! What a wonderful testimony to the power of worldview training. It’s the kind of training all young people need to undergo, but so often don’t.  (more . . .)

UNLIKE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY, A REFORMATION IS NOT WHAT ISLAM NEEDS

One of the great needs today is to know a lot more history and a lot more about religion than we do.  This article by Mark Durie makes essential clarifications.  [my emphases]

On Dec. 1, 2009, Wafa Sultan and Daniel Pipes debated whether and to what extent a "moderate" Islam is possible. Although both are opponents of Islamic radicalism, on this question they did not agree.

Wafa Sultan argued that Islam is Islam, pure and simple, and there can never be such a thing as "moderate Islam." Daniel Pipes argued that the answer to radical Islam must be moderate Islam: Islam can be moderated, and the effort to support Muslim moderates is both necessary and worthwhile.

The ex-Muslim Sultan is undoubtedly a powerful voice in her native Arabic, and even in English she is impassioned and 

DR. PETER JONES: "HOW DID THE EARLY CHRISTIANS OF ROME DEFEAT PAGAN SPIRITUALITY AND SEXUALITY?"

This is an outstanding lecture delivered February 25, 2010 at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.  It's a long speech (100 minutes including Q&A), but it proved profound, insightful and timely.  It offers immense explanatory power on the contemporary rise of homosexuality and pansexuality, and the increasing marginalization of Christianity.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

QUICK TAKES

-- Al Mohler on developing a Christian response to the challenge of Islam

- - Tim Keller on the biblical view of justice  

-- Myths about Emerging Adults

-- Mark Driscoll's series on the Song of Solomon

PAKISTANI PRESIDENT ZARDARI SACRIFICES GOATS TO "WARD OFF EVIL"

So much for the growth of secularism at the highest levels of government.  President Zardari's animal sacrifices tell a different story.

Zardari is the husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in late 2007.   (HT: Jonah Goldberg)

HUMAN SACRIFICES "ON THE RISE" IN UGANDA AS WITCH DOCTORS ADMIT TO RITUALS

Oh my... if this doesn't turn your stomach!   (From the U.K. Telegraph).   (HT: Drudge)  So all religions are the same, are they?  Oooh boy...

The Telegraph's sub-heading reads, "Witch doctors in Uganda have admitted their part in human sacrifice amid concerns that the practice is spreading in the African country."

One man said he had clients who had captured children and taken their blood and body parts to his shrine, while another confessed to killing at least 70 people including his own son. . .

According to officials trying to tackle it, the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity - and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. . .

"They go and capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits," he said.

"They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming."

[more . . .]

BRIT HUME ON TIGER WOODS' NEED FOR CHRISTIANITY

- Update 1/7/10 - A lot of flak has been thrown at Brit Hume for his public endorsement of Christianity as a religion of redemption and forgiveness.  Peter Wehner offers an extraordinary defense of Brit Hume.  Update 1/8/10 - See also Mollie Hemingway's excellent round up of commentary including her own.  From her I learned that 10 years ago Hume's son, Sandy, committed suicide at age 28.  That moved Hume  from being a merely nominal Christian to being far more deeply rooted in Christ.  Another update: Today Christianity Today published an interesting interview with Hume:  I don't want to practice a faith that I'm afraid to proclaim. I don't want to be a closet Christian. . .  Christianity is a religion for sinners. Christianity is not about the salvation of perfect people. Christianity is a way for people who are not perfect to be saved. What Mark Sanford needs is not less Christianity. He needs more of it.

- (Original post) - Well, one thing's for sure.  Brit Hume is a Christian and is willing to let everybody know it.  Following up on a comment he made Sunday, last night Hume said to Bill O'Reilly, "He [Tiger Woods] needs something that Christianity especially provides and offers, and that is redemption and forgiveness...   I think that Jesus Christ offers Tiger Woods something that Tiger Woods badly needs."

SELECT POSTS FROM WINTERY KNIGHT BLOG

I have some catching up to do with what Wintery Knight has been up to.   Following is a selection.  All are worth "clicking through" to read:

-  How good are the arguments in the new book by Richard Dawkins?

-  Skincare company uses aborted fetal tissue in anti-aging cream

-  American Library Association silent as librairies ban books about ex-gays

- UK Woman gets police visit after writing letter protesting gay pride parade (Must read)

- Hindu/Christian debate on anti-conversion law in India

- New books of interest to Christian apologists

         Update:  One of the books listed is Dr. Stephen Meyer's Signature in the Cell about which Charles Colson has important things to say.  Dr. Douglas Groothuis, for his part, rhapsodizes:

The book is no less than magisterial, an adjective that curmudgeons such as myself seldom use. At every level--philosophical, scientific, historical and literary--it is a superb treatise.    Reading every word of its 508 pages of text (not counting end notes)--as I did--repays the reader greatly.

LIST OF WILLIAM LANE CRAIG'S DEBATES ON CHRISTIANTY & ISLAM

Wintery Knight posts the following:

Debates on Christianity and Islam featuring William Lane Craig

Opponent	Debate Topic	Audio	Video
Jamal Badawi	The Concept Of God In Islam and Christianity	Audio	Video
Shabir Ally	Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?	Audio	Video
Shabir Ally	The Concept Of God In Islam and Christianity	Audio	Video
Shabir Ally	Who Is The Real Jesus?	Audio	Video

Wintery Knight credits ChristianJR4 who maintains a full list of Bill Craig debates here. Wintery Knight says he helped to sponsor the last 3 of those debates!

William Lane Craig's website is here and his bio here.

ARE JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AS VIOLENT AS ISLAM?

This is a tremendous article by Raymond Ibrahim.  It appears in the Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2009.   (HT: Michael Rubin)   If the subject interests you even moderately,  Ibrahim's article would be well worth printing for handy reference.  It begins:

"There is far more violence in the Bible than in the Qur'an; the idea that Islam imposed itself by the sword is a Western fiction, fabricated during the time of the Crusades when, in fact, it was Western Christians who were fighting brutal holy wars against Islam."[1] So announces former nun and self-professed "freelance monotheist," Karen Armstrong. This quote sums up the single most influential argument currently serving to deflect the accusation that Islam is inherently violent and intolerant: All monotheistic religions, proponents of such an argument say, and not just Islam, have their fair share of violent and intolerant scriptures, as well as bloody histories. Thus, whenever Islam's sacred scriptures—the Qur'an first, followed by the reports on the words and deeds of Muhammad (the Hadith)—are highlighted as demonstrative of the religion's innate bellicosity, the immediate rejoinder is that other scriptures, specifically those of Judeo-Christianity, are as riddled with violent passages.

Ibrahim tackles the issue competently and lays to rest egregious misrepresentation and propaganda against Christianity.  Read the article for the clarity and insight that is hard to come by in popular media.  Ibrahim offers accurate history and theology. 

LETTERS OF C.S. LEWIS TO A SPIRITUAL SEEKER (SHELDON VANAUKEN) - NOW ONLINE

1977 saw the publication of a book that rocked the evangelical world and beyond.  I am referring to Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy.  The book is still in print, as well it should be.  The current edition carries this descriptive blurb on the back cover:

This acclaimed story traces the idyllic marriage of Sheldon and Jean Vanauken, their search for faith, their friendship with C.S. Lewis, and the tragedy of untimely death and love lost.  It includes 18 letters by C.S. Lewis.

That's not bad, but better and more complete is this description (from the Amazon.com website):

A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken, is a heart-rending love story described by its author as "the spiritual autobiography of a love rather than of the lovers." Vanauken chronicles the birth of a powerful pagan love borne out of the relationship he shares with his wife, Davy, and describes the growth of their relationship and the dreams that they share. As a symbol of their love, they name their dream schooner the Grey Goose, "for the grey goose, if its mate is killed flies on alone and never takes another."

While studying at Oxford, Sheldon and Davy develop a friendship with C.S. Lewis, under whose influence and with much intellectual scrutiny they accept the Christian doctrine. As their devotion to God intensifies, Sheldon realizes that he is no longer Davy's primary love--God is. Within this discovery begins a brewing jealousy.

Shortly after, Davy acquires a fatal illness. After her death Sheldon embarks on an intense experience of grief, "to find the meaning of it, taste the whole of it ... to learn from sorrow whatever it had to teach." Through painstaking reveries, he comes to discover the meaning of "a mercy as severe as death, a severity as merciful as love." He learns that her death "had these results: It brought me as nothing else could do to know and end my jealously of God. It saved her faith from assault. ...And it saved our love from perishing."

Replete with 18 letters from C.S. Lewis, A Severe Mercy addresses some of the universal questions that surround faith--the existence of God and the reasons behind tragedy. --Jacque Holthusen

The book had a powerful impact on me as it did on thousands of others.  I recently discovered that three of C.S. Lewis' letters to Vanauken have been placed in the public domain and are available on the internet.  They originally formed part of a small booklet, titled "Encounter with Light," which Vanauken published with C.S. Lewis' permission.  Much of that booklet was eventually  incorporated into Vanauken's larger work, A Severe Mercy.  The text of "Encounter with Light" is available here.   It chronicles in brief compass Vanauken's intellectual journey to belief in Christ, and offers the context of Vanauken's correspondence with Lewis.  The C.S. Lewis letters are reproduced below.

ON RELIGIONS POSING AS "NON-RELIGIONS" - YOGA, FOR EXAMPLE

Tim publishes a lot of good stuff on his blog, Random Observations, and (to my loss, sad to say) it's been a long time since I've dropped by.  His is a thoughtful, independent, creative mind.  A few days ago he posted wise observations on an important, but rarely discussed subject.  He titles his post "Front Door" versus "Back Door" Religions: Yoga, Meditation & Buddhism."

Below is a snippet to wet your appetite:  (Note: When you go to read the whole post, be sure to read the comments, because Tim interacts powerfully with an interlocutor, adding a lot of material.)

. . . Another litmus test I'd suggest is to consider whether a religion is primarily marketed as a "front door" religion, or as a "back door" religion. In other words, does it admit it is a religion, and is it honest about it's own nature, or does it often pretend to be something it isn't? Will they tell you, up front, the beliefs or outlook their adherents tend to adopt? Or are they uncomfortable admitting such, hiding those pesky details until later? . . .

. . .  Many who sign up for "yoga" classes in health clubs, strip malls (or even public schools, apparently) will be told explicitly that it is not a religion. Yet many yoga teachers are pushing a religious worldview, and will continually introduce more elements as the teaching progresses. But that's not the only, or even most important aspect of indoctrination at work.

Contrary to those who insist yoga is not religious, the word "yoga" is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning "to yoke" or "control", and refers, in India, to a method or technique for

Francis Schaeffer Revisited

In the course of reviewing two new biographies of Francis Schaeffer [HT: Between Two Worlds], Douglas Groothuis says the following: [my emphases]

Let me mention two basic ideas that I (as a professional philosopher, unlike Schaeffer) find profound and helpful.

First, Schaeffer taught that worldviews need to be compared on the basis of objective criteria. That is, one does not simply presuppose one's worldview apart from rational testing. Every worldview-or basic perspective on life's deepest questions-needs to pass three individually necessary and jointly sufficient tests. First, it must be internally consistent. That is, its defining beliefs must cohere with one another. Second, a worldview needs to fit the facts of reality; it must be "true to what is," as Schaeffer put it. A worldview needs to match the external facts of history and science. (This shows that Schaeffer held to the correspondence view of truth, not the "coherency theory of truth," as Hankins claims [91].) Third, a worldview needs to be livable to be credible. This means that it must pass the existential test of fitting the facts of the internal world. For example, any worldview that denies the objective reality of evil (such as secular relativism or Eastern monism) cannot be lived out consistently, since we intuitively know that rape, murder, and racism are wrong. These three apologetic criteria can be nuanced and made much more sophisticated, but they form the backbone of any solid apologetic method. These truths are far from outdated!

Second, Schaeffer repeatedly emphasized that the God of Christianity was an "infinite and personal" being, and that humans were not machines or little gods, but made in the image of this infinite-personal God. In other words, for Christianity, personality is the deepest and most profound ontological category of reality-not impersonal time, space, law, chance, matter or some impersonal sense of deity held by Eastern religions. Schaeffer's apologetic capitalizes on this uniquely personal sense of reality held by Christianity. Persons, though fallen, have objective and eternal meaning on this scheme-as does community, since God himself is a Trinity: a relationship of divine persons coexisting in one Godhead from eternity.

CHUCK COLSON RESPONDS TO THE DALAI LAMA'S STATEMENT: "SEX INVARIABLY SPELLS TROUBLE"

Colson does a great job distinguishing between Buddhist notions of celibacy and Christian perspectives.  Click here.

C. S. LEWIS - CHRISTIANITY COMPARED TO OTHER WORLD RELIGIONS

In several places C.S. Lewis offers thumbnail sketches of how he views Christianity vis-a-vis other world religions.  The following is taken from a talk he gave to Anglican clergy and youth workers, and published as "Christian Apologetics" in God in the Dock.

For my own part, I have sometimes told my audience that the only two things really worth considering are Christianity and Hinduism.  (Islam is only the greatest of the Christian heresies, Buddhism only the greatest of the Hindu heresies.  Real Paganism is dead.  All that was best in Judaism and Platonism survives in Christianity.)  There isn't really, for an adult mind, this infinite variety of religions to consider.  We may salva reverentia ["without outraging reverence] divide religions, as we do soups, into "thick" and "clear."  By Thick I mean those which 

ALL MONOTHEISMS ARE NOT ALIKE

Stan Guthrie does an excellent job showing "how the apostle's creed can sharpen our dialog with Muslims." He demonstrates how the Apostle's Creed offers a shorthand synopsis of how the two faith's differ, and how serious and fundamental the differences are. 

RICHARD ABANES EXAMINES ECKHART TOLLE'S IDEAS PUSHED SO STRONGLY BY OPRAH

World magazine recently interviewed Richard Abanes, author of A new Earth, An Old Deception: Awakening to the Deceptions in Eckhart Tolle's #1 Best Seller,

WORLD: Why did you think it important to write a book refuting Eckhart Tolle?

ABANES: Tolle claims that his teachings are fully compatible with Christianity. To make matters worse, he misuses the Bible to support his beliefs, going so far as to say he knows what Jesus really meant in various New Testament passages. We also have Oprah regularly assuring her audiences that Tolle's views in no way contradict Christianity. This has confused many people, especially young Christians, potential Christian converts, and Christians not rooted in God's Word. Someone had to show not only where Tolle has theologically erred, but where he is utterly misrepresenting and misinterpreting Scripture.  (more. . .)

Dr. Ben Witherington on Deepak Chopra's Buddhist Jesus

Ben Witherington has a review of Chopra's new book, The Third Jesus.  (HT: smart christian) 

A commentator on Witherington's blog recommends an interesting critical view of Tibetan Buddhism from Victor and Victoria Trimondi, two former practitioners and supporters of the Dalai Lama.

POPE BENEDICT XVI'S BAPTISM OF A FORMER MUSLIM: IT'S SIGNIFICANCE AND MEANING

Stephen Brown writes:

During the recent Easter vigil at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI baptized Muslim-born journalist, Magdi Allam, into the Christian faith before the eyes of the world.

. . . By baptizing such a prominent European Muslim in St. Peter's during one of Christianity's holiest times -- and deliberately garnering worldwide attention -- the Pope clearly intended to reach out to Muslims questioning their faith and to show them that they need not be afraid to convert. The Church is there for them.

The German pontiff was also announcing that the Church was no longer going to be cautious in regard to its policy of converting Muslims. As already noted in FPM, one of the main reasons Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope was to confront an aggressive, militant Islam. Among his goals, the former German cardinal said he intended to protect Christians in Muslim countries and Christian converts from Islamic brutality in Europe, indicating that Muslim converts were a high priority for him.

(see page 2)

COPTIC PRIEST ZAKARIA BOTROS: ISLAM'S "PUBLIC ENEMY #1"

Raymond Ibrahim writes a fascinating article that needs to be read in its entirely.

Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros — named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid — has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance — free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botros’s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East. 

TIM KELLER (PART I): BLIND MEN TRYING TO DESCRIBE AN ELEPHANT

Tim Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, does a good job deconstructing the "elephant" analogy that people commonly use to argue the relativism of all religions.   Tim Keller explains:

Pluralists contend that no one religion can know the fullness of spiritual truth, therefore all religions are valid.  But while it si good to acknowledge our limitations, this statement is itself a strong assertion about the nature of spiritual truth.  A common analogy is cited--the blind men trying to describe an elephant.  One feels the tail and reports that an elephant is thin and flexible.  Anoher feel a leg and claims the animal is

TIM KELLER (Pt. 2) ON PREACHING TO A CONGREGATION STEEPED IN PLURALISM

In a 2002 article in Leadership Magazine, Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, said skeptics and unbelievers make up nearly 30 percent of his congregation.  Instead of saying "Christianity is a superior religion," and thereby preemptively cutting off dialog, Keller wisely stresses Christianity's distinctiveness.  Example:

... Christianity does not so much offer solutions to the problem of suffering, but rather provides the promise of a God who is completely present with us in suffering.  Only Christians believe in a God who says, 'Here I am alongside you. I have experienced the same suffering you have.  I know what it is like."  No other religion even begins to offer that assurance.

RESOURCES ON NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

Andrew Jackson of Smart Christian has prepared useful bibliographies and resources on the following topics:

Religions
Christian "Cults"
Buddhism
Bahai
Hinduism
Sikhism
Judaism
Christian Science
Church of Scientology
Mormonism
New Age

ISLAMIC JESUS HITS IRANIAN MOVIE SCREENS

Click here.  Unfortunately, I don't have time to comment at present but will do so in due course.   (HT: Drudge)

Pope John Paul ll on Islam

From Pope John Paul II's Crossing the Threshold of Hope:

"Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam, all the richness of God's self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside. 

"Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but He is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God with us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent. For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity."

Me: I think this an excellent summary statement.

William Lane Craig - Tolerance and Certainty in Religion: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

William Lane Craig reports on recent activities in San Diego:

I presented a well-attended lecture on the question “Is Uncertainty a Sound Foundation for Religious Tolerance?”  My target here was certain philosophers who claim that religious tolerance should be based on two factors:  (1) our grasp of moral principles which state that persecution of other religions is wrong and  (2) uncertainty that one’s own religion is true. 

Such philosophers want to foster as much uncertainty about religious beliefs as they can and as much certainty about moral beliefs as they can as a way of increasing tolerance.  I pointed out that this strategy backfires in a number of ways.  In the first place, with respect to a religion like Christianity, which commands us to love our neighbor and even our enemy, it’s not uncertainty but certainty of that religion’s truth that will increase religious toleration. Fostering uncertainty about such a religion will actually decrease people’s motivation to be tolerant.

In fact, for any religion which sees morality as based in God, undermining people’s belief in God will undermine their confidence in the very moral principles which state that persecution is wrong!

In the second place, for people in many of the world religions, like Hinduism or Buddhism,

Theology Divides Mormons and Evangelicals

I found this AP article accurate and informative, a useful sketch of Mormon doctrines that evangelicals find unorthodox and unbiblical.

Fjordman reviews Robert Spencer's "Religion of Peace: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't"

This is a long, and therefore substantive review of Robert Spencer's Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t.  Fjordman's concludes his review as follows:

All things considered, I believe this book to be an excellent read. Spencer’s primary task was no doubt to refute the absurd, yet frequently repeated claims that Christianity is just as violent as Islam and that Christianity has always been an obstacle to freedom. In this, he succeeds rather well. Robert Spencer has a scholarly understanding of the differences between Christian and Islamic theology, yet he does a better job than most in explaining to a mainstream audience in a clear and lucid manner exactly why Islam is a religion with a uniquely high potential for violence. This book is bound to be an eye-opener for the millions of people still parroting the line about Islam being a religion of peace, and the equally numerous crowd of people who have accepted the anti-Christian bigotry presented by Western academia. If you have friends who belong to either of these categories or who simply want to know the true nature of Islam, Religion of Peace? is the perfect Christmas present.

Monkeys Rampage in Indian Capital

The monkeys are causing a very serious problem in Delhi.

. . . Along with an estimated 35,000 sacred cows and buffaloes that roam free in the capital, marauding monkeys have been longstanding pests. . .   Estimates of Delhi's monkey population range from 10,000 to over 20,000.

. . . Efforts to drive out the animals is complicated by the fact that devout Hindus view them as an incarnation of Hanuman, the monkey god who symbolises strength. Killing them is unacceptable.

(HT: Drudge)

Mark Chapneys, Raised Mormon, Finds Forgiveness and Life in Christ Through Reading the Bible

This testimony  on YouTube of  how Mark Chapneys found forgiveness and release from his sins in Christ which he could not find in Mormonism is well worth watching.  (About 11minutes).  Mark tells his story honestly and straightforwardly and in a low key.  Highly recommended.  (HT:Andrew Jackson)