James Calkins at http://theologetics.blogspot.com/ posted some questions he’s been thinking about lately, and asked his readers to take a shot with some of them. I started to respond there, and it got too long, so I decided to do some cross-linking. Hopefully he’ll come here to read my response. His questions, summarized, were:

…questions about God, humanity, life, death, afterlife, eternity, the Bible, evil, suffering, etc., etc… Questions like, “Why doesn’t God seem to work in the same ways He did in the past? If He is immutable then why does it appear that He has changed?” and, “If God is eternal then what was He doing (pardon the mixed metaphor) before He created the universe, and if He is unchanging then wouldn’t He have never made a universe since that would constitute a universe-sized change in His pre-creation habits?” and… “I understand the existence of love to be in harmony with a good God who is both unchanging and triune, because there has always been love among the members if the Godhead, but where did His ‘wrath’ originate?”

Many of us have been involved in conversations where a person resorts to yelling or defensively standing by their position even when they no longer seem to have any good reason to do so. In my opinion, when someone gets to this point, they’ve already lost the argument.

Philosophical questions on existence and child rearing, with help from Louis CK

Today I was listening to “Misery Signals,” a (in my opinion) very good metal band out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This band raises an interesting question about faith that I would like to comment on.

I gave a speech for my small group at church on the importance of reason in the Christian faith. For those of you who know me, you know that this has been a very important topic to me, and I was very excited for the opportunity to speak on it.

I’ve been listening to a song recently that I would like to share with you. I believe that one should not turn their back on challenges against their beliefs, but should in the name of all honesty and sincerity be able to face them and acknowledge them for what they are, even if there are no solid answers. I find this song personally challenging to my own beliefs, appreciate it for its honesty, and accept it as a real, living and breathing challenge many have about the existence of God that has little to do with academics.

Today everything has to make sense. One can argue and rationalize about beliefs, and one feels the burden of proof laid upon them for the things they believe. If something does not make sense, why believe it? I certainly feel this way. Should I believe in something that does not make sense to me? The answer is as I expect, “No.” Why not? “Because it wouldn’t make sense to believe in something that doesn’t make sense.”

Naturalism holds that nothing exists beyond what can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. There is a sense in which this view is self-refuting.

I’ve recently been involved in a couple conversations which could be classified as debates. They do not always begin that way, but what often happens is that two people who are part of the conversation find themselves at odds about a particular issue that comes up, and they “have it out” about this issue before proceeding. I’ve begun to see three “tricks” used by those who begin to lose an argument. These “tricks” seem to give them the upper hand, but when considered correctly, actually don’t hold any weight. My reason for sharing them is so that people can identify them when they are used by others or recognize when they are about to use them and do otherwise =).

Many people ask, “If God is real, why do bad things happen?” Many of the same people may believe that man is basically good. To those who believe this, a logical question would be: “If man is basically good, why do men do bad things?” I listened to a piece of Dennis Prager’s radio show [...]