Although I look forward to eternity, some of the devil’s dirtiest deeds regard his doctrinal distortion of Heaven. He’s made it sound like a place no one would want to go. After all, who wants to sport flightless wings, sit on a cloud, strum a harp, suffer amnesia (one devilish distortion is we won’t remember […]
Why I Look Forward to Eternity Read More »
Ehrman says free will defenders often tell him humans would be like robots without free will (11, 12, 197, 229). Well, of course they tell him that. Rightly! And on this point Ehrman never disagrees because free will is essential to who we are. Consider that God, if He had wanted to, could have created
Ehrman’s Problem: He’s Confused About the Free Will Defense Read More »
Finally we come to what seems to be Ehrman’s major objection to the free will defense. He asks, “If he [God] intervenes sometimes to counteract free will, why does he not do so more of the time? Or indeed, all of the time?” (13). Later he writes, “I can’t believe in that God anymore, because
Ehrman’s Problem 5: God Should Intervene More to Prevent Free Will’s Evil Use Read More »
Bart Ehrman’s fourth objection to the free will defense is this: “Most people who believe in God-given free will also believe in an afterlife. Presumably people in the afterlife will still have free will (they won’t be robots then either, will they?). And yet there won’t be suffering (allegedly) then. Why will people know how
Ehrman’s Problem 4: Why Won’t We Abuse Free Will in Heaven? Read More »
Bart Ehrman asks why God didn’t give humans “the intelligence they need to exercise it [free will] so that we can all live happily and peaceably together? You can’t argue that he wasn’t able to do so, if you want to argue that he is all powerful.” (13)1 This objection is Ehrman’s slant on the
Ehrman’s Problem 3: God Could Have Made Us So We’d Always Do Right Read More »
As I mentioned yesterday, Ehrman admits that free will can explain much human evil, but he asks how it can explain malaria, dysentery, drought, hurricanes, mudslides, or a “tsunami that kills hundreds of thousands overnight.” (12) In other words, how does the misuse of free will explain “natural” evil? Although there are other answers to
Ehrman’s Problem 2: Free Will and Natural Evil Read More »
Bart Ehrman, in his book, God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question—Why We Suffer, tries to make the case that neither Christians nor the Bible can answer why God, if He were to exist, would allow “the cesspool of misery and suffering” that many people endure. Ehrman says that he
Ehrman’s Problem: He Misreads the Bible and Impugns God’s Fairness Read More »
Over the years I’ve talked with many people who have successfully started apologetics ministries in their churches and others who tried but failed. What follows are some suggestions on how to start an apologetics ministry (these suggestions apply to other types of ministry too). First, find a church that you enjoy and whose doctrine you
How to Start an Apologetics Ministry in Your Church Read More »
