Hi there!

Today I’m going to give a commentary on a portion of Greg Bahnsen’s Defending the Christian Worldview Audio Series 1 Disc 1. Greg Bahnsen an able apologist for the Christian Faith died in 1995. As with all authors and speakers there are some areas where I disagree, but the vast majority of what he says I am very pleased to recommend.

I’m sketching out here basically what Greg is talking about; but I’m putting it in my own words and adding some content while leaving out some, and improvising so if you want Greg’s exact words you’ll have to buy the CDs. I got them from Gary DeMar. If you notice any error's or mistakes they will be credited to me since this is my commentary.

Greg starts out with a story about a lady at the airport who was worried about getting on a plane that was going to a place where she did not want to go. He then compares that to people with secular worldviews that are going to land them in a place where they don’t want to go, but they seem deluded into thinking that the plane or worldview they are riding will get them to happiness or some place and they don’t realize their plane or worldview really can’t fly; really can’t get them where they want to go or adequately explain the way things work. The way they have chosen to think is headed for a crash or better yet can’t even get off the ground. The secular way of thinking not only leads to a future hell, but it lands them in a hell on earth, a way of living and thinking that does not lead to happiness, nor does it even harmonize with itself.

As a Christian it is not hard to demonstrate that these secular views are false, contradictory and do not lead to the imagined paradise which secular thinkers envision. On the college campus or the street we are dealing with worldviews or philosophies and not necessarily with actual facts. These worldviews usually claim to be based on fact, but upon examination the facts don’t prove to exist. It turns out to be a fabricated illusion of reality purporting to represent the truth; but is it? No, usually these college professors and gurus are so self deceived that they really aren’t interested in facts. They are just having their own little party, playing their own game and their own arrogance and cockiness blinds them to the fact of the phoniness of their own views.

As Christians we should be very studious and know the facts about reality just in case we find someone who is interested in the truth. Yes, it’s a lot of work but well worth the effort. College professors or self proclaimed know it alls; (there seems to be a lot of them running around) will try to fool you into thinking they are in the know; they’ve read all the important books, experienced everything and so on. Well, the reality is they usually don’t know what they are talking about; they may just be parroting something they heard their professor say, or something they saw on television or the movies and just assumed it was true.

Also they generally tend to isolate themselves and only read material that supports their pet view so as to maintain the illusions that their point of view is true; but they are going to try to give you the illusion that they are really in the know; but do the facts really support their point of view? They are usually just bluffing and they really don’t understand the philosophical implications of their own position. They are usually from one moment to the next making some comment about how stupid and ignorant Christians are, or mentioning something horrible that Christians do or have done and so we are supposed to assume that Christianity is evil and at best false. The problem here is that the college professor usually has never studied the Bible or the Christian faith and so he really doesn’t know what the Christian faith is all about; so how can he be in a position to tear it apart? He is just revealing his ignorance by parroting usually what some other misinformed philosopher, historian or newscaster said. They are just playing the game of superiority without the benefit of self-criticism. Greg says that in his long academic career by which he obtained a PhD in philosophy he is very sure that at least 90% of all the attackers against Christianity that he encountered as teachers and professors did not know what they were talking about. They simply assume the role of critic of Christian faith without having studied what they are trying to destroy. They have decided that the Bible or Christianity is not true on the basis of what some other skeptic said, but have they seriously studied the Bible? Give them a quiz to see if they know anything about the Bible and Christianity. Also the fact is that they do not have any facts with which to destroy the Christian Faith. They can point out evil things that Christians have done, true; but then to be fair they should also inform their students about all the evil things that have been done by pagans and atheists; but no, they would have their students think that Christians are the ones who have done evil and if atheists have done evil that is not important to know about it seems. No, they would rather cover up all the evil done by secularists and pagans; nor are they aware that their philosophies are self-defeating masses of contradictions that can’t stand the light of examination.

Christians know that many have done deeds in the name of Christ that were not righteous or holy deeds as well as many abominations and horrible things while pretending to be Christians. Christians repudiate those evil actions. We know that many pretending to be Christians really are not Christians. Jesus himself even warned us about this in the Gospels and the Apostles as well warn us about this very thing; so people having abused Christianity can never discredit or destroy the truth of the Christian faith. There are always imposters, but there also exists the real thing. Atheists and Darwinians have committed mass murder and genocide, but when they do such things they were acting in harmony with their worldview or philosophy; Christians on the other hand were violating their own worldview and the teachings of Christ if they did such things. When atheists and secularists require people to live morally responsible lives they are barrowing from the Christian teachings and worldview, because their own worldview does not support morality.

Everyone does philosophy but not everyone does it well; so philosophy itself is not the problem; the problem we face is that everyone has there own philosophy, but it is generally one that is self contradictory and therefore a self invalidated philosophy. What we want to do here is learn how to spot the errors and contradictions of the various non-Christian worldviews and demonstrate how they are not consistent with the facts or the truth or with their own stated beliefs.

Well, what do you think? Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you.

I'll be back.

Radical Thinker

Is Violence Permissible?

Is violence permissible as a means of resolving a matter?

What is a Christian to do? Christians are followers of Jesus Christ and his teachings. So, next question is: What does the Bible and Jesus teach us about how to live? Christians must follow the teachings of Jesus and his apostles found in the New Testament. The New Testament is the final revelation of God’s truth to man; and the Old Testament is to be seen in the light given by the New Testament. The Apostle Paul tells us that the Law and the Prophets are the shadow, but Christ is the real thing. The Old Testament was a school master to bring us unto Christ. Once Christ is come we now enter into the reality to which the Law and the Prophets were pointing.

Now what does the New Testament teach us about Jesus and how we are to live. Christ lived as an example of how we are to live and to overcome evil as Christ did. Luke 9:56 says, referring to Jesus, “For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” This is the opposite of what happens in the wars waged by men in the flesh; human life is always destroyed. Satan comes only to steal, kill and destroy, so those who participate in war are doing what Satan is pleased with, since he is constantly plotting to destroy human life anyway that he can.

Jesus informs us that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30,31). I Thessalonians 5:15 says,” See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.”

Jesus said, “ But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:35-36

Jesus taught forgiveness rather than returning evil for evil. Matthew 6:14-15

When human governments demand actions of men that are contrary to God’s instructions we must yield to God rather than to mans systems. Peter and the apostles answered to the officials who commanded them not to preach in the name of Jesus, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

Obeying God may land us in prison at times, as we have the accounts in the Bible of Daniel and the Hebrew boys, Joseph, and the example of the disciples, and apostles of Jesus Christ and thousands of Christian martyrs throughout history who have suffered for the cause of Christ. Following Christ was never presented as an easy path; but on the other hand the way of the transgressor is hard; and there is no rest for the wicked.

Jesus and his apostles came preaching the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is a universal kingdom. Jesus command was to take the Good News of Peace to all nations and make disciples of all nations. However the weapons of this kingdom are not carnal. We can’t protect or build this kingdom with carnal power.
When Peter tried to protect Jesus with the sword, Jesus said, “ Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matt. 26:52 Also the Apostle Paul tells us that, “ the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” II Corinthians 10:4-5.

The Kingdom of God will never come to an end; there is no foe that can overthrow it; and it is the kingdom to which we pertain. Since carnal warfare does nothing to protect the Kingdom of God it is very silly to use it. The weapons of love, forgiveness, prayer, kindness and many other spiritual weapons are much greater; and they will get the job done whereas fighting a carnal war with guns, bombs and tanks will not get the job done; they only make things worse. Therefore, let’s leave carnal warfare behind and instead follow the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and spread the Good News of Peace and the Kingdom of God to all the world

Okay, I'm back.

So Doug mentions Tony Campolo as a great popular speaker in
Christian circles these days. Doug thinks Tony is wrong in claiming
that there is some truth in Marxism. I think Karl Marx stole a basic
idea from the Holy Scriptures, which is that we should remember
the poor, and help them when they are in need. That is a Christian
and Biblical teaching; but then Marx adopts a totally anti Christian
method of meeting the needs of the poor, which actually does
nothing to help the poor.
The Bible and Gods prophets exhort the rich to give to the poor
from a compassionate heart, a repentant heart. The philosophy
that Marx adopts as the basis for his system, Darwinism, is totally
contrary to helping the poor, since Darwin's teaching is the survival
of the strong. Therefore consistent Darwinists have argued that
nothing should be done to help the poor, rather let them die off so
as not to weaken the humane gene pool. Darwinists have undertaken
efforts to eliminate the weak and poor, not help them.

Karl Marx advocates violent overthrow of the rich and redistribution
of the goods to the people. This is no help at all to the poor, of course,
because many thousands of them are killed off in the violent revolution;
and many of the rich may be killed as well. This does nothing to help
humanity; it only makes life much more dangerous for all.

Only God's way of reaching and helping the poor will work -
transforming the hearts of people by the love of God so that they want
to help the poor; and they come to understand that Jesus teaching on
giving to the poor is true: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

So Karl Marx starts with a Christian idea, helping the poor, but he
transforms it into an antichristian system that actually destroys both
the rich and the poor. So if Tony Campolo thinks there is some truth
in Marxism, I wonder what that truth is. We agree that the poor should
be helped because God loves them and has given us the opportunity
if we have means, to be a channel of help to the poor remembering
that everything we have is a gift to us from God.

What is there that is true in Marxism other than the idea that the
poor should be helped? I agree with that, but if the whole system
and method that we adopt to help the poor actually destroys them
and the rich both, I don't think there is much truth in it. What do you
think? Hey, if I'm wrong on this, please correct me. This is my
understanding from what I've picked up in this universe
(which some Darwinists say is a random universe of chaos where
everything happens by chance. Is that true? Where's the proof?)

I'll be back.

Radical Thinker

Here's a note on T. Campolo:
Wikipedia states," Despite his criticisms of the evangelical
community, Campolo has also criticized the more liberal mainline
Christian denominations because "they fail to emphasize a
personal, transforming relationship with Jesus Christ."

What is radical Thinking?

Let's just pretend for a moment that we live in a world of chaos.
Everything happens by chance; there is no original intelligence
in the universe, no designer, no mind. Well I can sort of relate
to that because as I think of starting a blog I feel as though I am
without intelligence, without a brain, and am totally overwhelmed
with the prospect of starting a blog, because after all
what am I going to say?

Well how about, if we just start out with original stuff, radical,
in other words primitive. Radical, what does it mean? Radical
means relating to the root or proceeding from the root of
something; original, fundamental, reaching to the center or
ultimate source; affecting the vital principle or principles,
according to Webster.

Okay, so if we are going to have radical thinking we have to
go to the origin of all things and the original or fundamental
sources of knowledge. In this blog we want to examine our
thinking and the thinking of others in the light of the original,
fundamental starting point of all things, or the universe. So,
how do you get there? What or who is the origin of all things?

If we want to be really radical we can look at the stars, the sun,
moon, the trees, land and everything we see around us, and we
can see that it is all very amazing and regular. Did all this happen
by random processes in a chaotic universe? Things do not happen
in a random fashion. The sun rises in the East every morning,
never the West. Summer comes after Spring, and Autumn before
Winter etc. DNA gives precise instructions as to how living
beings are formed.

Now understand, I don't necessarily agree with all that
Douglas W. Phillips is saying; but earlier today I, randomly
it seemed, just happened to pickup a DVD by Douglas W. Phillips,
founder of Witherspoon School of Law & Public Policy. He went
to George Mason University School of Law and studied under
Judge Bork, Judge Ginsberg, and other Supreme Court nominee rejects.

He says that in his very first class at law school the professor told
the class that law has nothing to do with truth or defending peoples
rights. It's just a way to make money, a means of being an arbiter
or negotiator, but it has nothing to do with God or truth, and if you
think it does you have no business being here in law school.

Now tell me is this really true that law has nothing to do with truth
or God? Where does law come from? Phillips gives John
Witherspoon as an example of an educator with a different point
of view; he believed that God was the law giver.

Back in the 1970s singer, songwriter Bob Dylan discovered that
there is something in the universe besides time, chance and space.
He expressed it in his albums Saved, Slow Train Coming, and
Gotta Serve Somebody.

Christianity, not as practiced by many but what the Bible actually
teaches in the Light of the New Testament and the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the thesis or basis of truth. Charles
Darwin's teaching or Darwinism and Atheism are the antithesis;
but do they even have a leg to stand on?

We live in a society so drenched with Darwinist propaganda that
many just take it for granted that his writings are true without ever
examining it, or asking any critical questions as to whether it is true
or not. The whole public educational system just takes it for granted
that Darwinism is true and presents it as a fact. No questions are
asked as to whether actual evidence supports the theory of Darwin;
and the public schools only present the Darwinian story excluding
any other view of origins. Ask yourself, is that open minded education?
Does that encourage intellectual development and stimulation?

I'll be back.

Radical Thinker