-
“How to Stay Christian in College” (Book Review) – A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 12
“[From] the moment students set foot on the contemporary campus, their Christian convictions and discipline are assaulted. ‘Faith is just a crutch,’ they hear from friends and teachers. ‘The Bible is just mythology.’ ‘Christianity is judgmental and intolerant.’ ‘Morality is different everywhere.’ ‘Everyone must find his own truth.’ ‘I can be good without God.’ ‘Jesus was just a man who died.’ No wonder so many lose their faith!” (J. Budziszewski, How to Stay Christian in College).[1] Drip, drip, drip. I witnessed the constant attack on Christianity, Christian beliefs and morals, while I was in college. At times I felt totally alone. Many times I wanted to fight. Many times I…
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 11 (World Religions: The Blind Leading the Blind)
“A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39, NASB). Welcome to World Religions class, already in progress: “No sex before marriage? In top-down religion, the rule is already decided for you,” said Professor Yu,[1] “but in eastern tradition and other religions you work to figure it all out for yourself. No sex before marriage? Try it…” he said the last line with a laugh as if he was only joking. “God says, ‘No sex before marriage’? How do you know what’s best until you try it for yourself?” “What wonderful advice,” I thought to myself. (Yes, even in…
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 10 (World Religions: From the Frying Pan into the Fire)
“For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22). I knew that in taking World Religions (Philosophy 251) as a general elective, I was probably jumping from the frying pan into the fire.[1] In World Religions Class, I certainly felt as though I was in a place “where Satan has his throne” (Revelation 2:13, NIV).
-
Who Were/Are the Five Biggest Influences to Your Christian Life?
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you” (Hebrews 13:7, NASB). I will answer the question first by telling you some things about my childhood: My mom tells me that Dad began reading the Bible to me the day I came home from the hospital. I know all my years growing up, until the very day I moved out of the house a month before my marriage, Dad either read or recited a verse of the Bible to me every single day. That was Dad’s way of being obedient to the biblical injunction to “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…. Teach…
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 9 (The Problem of Evil – in a Nutshell?)
Most of us who believe in God believe the following three things: 1. God is all good. 2. God is all powerful. 3. Evil exists. Some critics and skeptics, however, argue against the above by saying it creates a contradiction of sorts. They respond with an argument that, more or less, is as follows: Premise 1: If God is all good and God is all powerful, evil should not exist. Premise 2: Evil exists. Conclusion: Therefore God is either not all good or not all powerful.
-
Harold Camping’s Scatological Eschatology
On Saturday, May 21st, 2011, Jesus did not return. “Harold Camping "flabbergasted" by non-Rapture” was the headline of one CBS/AP news story the following Monday.[1] But being flabbergasted did not stop the 89 year old Harold Camping who, only two days after his failed prediction, said, "[The] Bible clearly teaches that [on October 21st, 2011] the world is going to be destroyed altogether." As Ronald Reagan once said, "There you go again…" “Some have strayed… turned away to empty discussion. They want to be teachers…, but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently” (1 Timothy 1:6-7).
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 8 (Critical Thinking and the Abortion Debate continued)
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, NASB). I have mentioned how the Critical Thinking Class seemed geared towards attacking conservative positions and Christian beliefs; in particular, one of the major assignments was for the class to read two major pro-abortion arguments, A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson and The Moral and Legal Status of Abortion by Mary Anne Warren.[1] My last column was a minor critique of Thomson’s argument, but should I leave Ms. Warren to her own devices? As the Apostle Paul often…
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 7 (Critical Thinking and the Abortion Debate)
“These men turn night into day; in the face of darkness they say, ‘Light is near’” (Job 17:12, NIV). In my last column in this series I mentioned how our Critical Thinking (Philosophy 111) Class seemed geared towards attacking conservative positions and Christian beliefs. In particular, one of the major assignments was for the class to read two major pro-abortion arguments, A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson[1] and The Moral and Legal Status of Abortion by Mary Anne Warren.[2] It was at least mentioned that there was a famous counter argument by American bioethicist Baruch Brody; though I could not find his work online.
-
Love: Miles to Go Before I Sleep
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
-
A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 6 (Philosophy 111: Critical Thinking)
“[To] quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21). In my opinion some of the subjects of old should be mandatory in schools today. Logic is one of those subjects. Thus I took Critical Thinking as my advanced humanities elective. Our textbook that semester was entitled Introduction to Logic, so I felt I was in the right place.