Alleged Biblical Contradictions, Part 1

The Bible is a large and complex book. It is a collection of sixty six different books written by dozens of different authors over the course of centuries. Yet Christians believe that, as the word of God, the Bible is ultimately one coherent whole, the foundational guide for the Church’s faith and practice. Antichristian skeptics, … Read more

The Plausibility of the Prophetic History

Israelite History and Idolatry The plausibility of the prophetic history recorded in the Old Testament, in which Israel repeatedly turned to worship foreign gods in spite of the many miracles God performed for them, has often been called into question by skeptics. Let’s begin with the golden calf incident recorded in Exodus 32. God has … Read more

The Ancient Superstitions of the Bible

There are many references in the Bible to ancient pagan superstitious practices such as divination, witchcraft, and necromancy. In the book of Deuteronomy, God commands the Israelites, “Let no one be found among you. . . who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or … Read more

Alleged Scientific Errors in the Bible

In my previous two apologetics posts, I defended the biblical accounts of creation and primeval human history found in the early chapters of Genesis from criticisms that they are unscientific. These are not the only parts of the Bible that have been criticized as unscientific. There are numerous other aspects of biblical teaching that skeptics … Read more

Science and the Primeval Human History of Genesis

Human Origins According to scientific theories widely accepted today, the human species evolved from pre-human ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, through a process of evolution involving much pain and death. This contradicts what many Christians believe to be the teaching of the book of Genesis: that God directly created an original human pair … Read more

Science and the Biblical Creation Account

The Coherence of the Biblical Creation Account(s) It is sometimes argued that the Bible contains different creation accounts which contradict one another. The Psalms and the prophets sometimes speak of God establishing order by defeating a mythological chaos monster, Rahab or Leviathan (Job 26:7-13; Ps 74:12-17, 89:10-13; Isa 51:9-10); this resembles creation stories of other … Read more

The God of the Bible vs. Classical Theism?

In a previous apologetics series on this blog, I have defended the coherence of the Christian concept of God from a variety of criticisms and attacks. However, even if antichristian skeptics acknowledge that the Christian concept of God is coherent, they will often claim that the God of classical Christian theism is not actually the … Read more

The Problem of Christian Immorality

One of the most common arguments made against Christianity is the argument from Christian immorality: the frequent failure of Christians to live according to their own moral teachings makes it hard to believe that Christianity is true. Throughout history, and down to the present day, many Christians have lived in ways that are seriously incompatible … Read more

The Problem of “Unanswered” Prayer

It is an undeniable fact that there are many times when Christians ask God for things in prayer and do not receive them. This fact is often referred to as the problem of “unanswered” prayer. Antichristian skeptics try to use this problem to argue that the Christian God is not real. Why Are Many Prayers … Read more

The Problem of Hell

Christians believe that one day Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. The righteous will experience eternal life in God’s new creation. The wicked, on the other hand, will experience eternal death away from God’s presence in “Hell.”  The doctrine of Hell is by far one of the most disliked aspects … Read more