Apologetics – HillFaith

What Kind Of Syrup Should Go On Your ‘Mantle Bottom Pancakes?’

If the headline above makes no sense at all, that’s almost certainly because most folks have never heard of Mantle Bottom Pancakes since they have nothing to do with breakfast. They have everything to do, however, with places like the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Credit: Naeblys. National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Mantle is what’s below the surface of the Earth on which we live and, as Reasons to Believe’s Hugh Ross points out, it makes up more than 80 percent of the total volume of the Earth. And, he points out, it produces tremendous benefits for us on the surface in at least five ways.

And what does this have to do with working on Capitol Hill, or believing in God? Science is a major issue in countless ways in Congress. The more is known, the better life can be. Or to put it another way, the more we know about science, the more clear it becomes that Creation happened by design, not by chance.

As an astronomer, Ross is usually looking up and away from Earth, but in this fascinating article, he’s looking downward, and the results just may give you a new insight into the world we inhabit and why.

You Only Get One Shot To See ‘Against The Tide’

“Against the Tide: Finding God in an Age of Science” is a new documentary from Pensmore Films featuring Oxford Mathematics Professor Emeritus John Lennox and actor Kevin Sorbo, to be aired in more than 600 theaters across the country on November 19.

John Lennox, Professor Emeritus in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science.

Lennox has debated the world’s most well-known atheists around the world — including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Peter Singer, and Michael Shermer — and is the author of God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?, Gunning for God, and God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is it Anyway.

Kevin Sorbo is known to millions of Hollywood fans around the world as the lead character in one of the most successful syndicated TV series ever, “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” as well as “Andromeda” and “Supergirl.”

More recently, Sorbo has become known for his faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. “I am frequently berated by Hollywood compatriots for my Christian faith,” Sorbo said. “This seemed a great opportunity to learn how to respond from a master in turning the atheist manifesto on its head. Furthermore, I get to appear as ‘myself!’” Not every successful actor gets to appear on screen as themselves.

For more information on tickets and where the film is being shown, go here.

Here’s Why The Case For God Isn’t A ‘God Of The Gaps’ Explanation

There is a a frequently heard claim by prominent atheist advocates like Sam Harris that Christians who argue for the existence of God are merely using God to explain the gaps in human knowledge about how the universe came to be, the origin of life, and other mysteries.

“Hey, we don’t understand how the world was created, or even if it was or has just always been, so that must be explained by a god,” is the alleged process atheists accuse Christians of following.

If you are a congressional aide who works on either of the Senate or House committees that deal with science and technology, odds are good you’ve heard this argument articulated more than once.

But, guess what, the same reasoning can be applied to “science of the gaps,” according to J. Warner Wallace of Cold-Case Christianity and NBC “Dateline” cold-case detective renown. “To deny personhood of the First Cause is science of the gaps,” he argues in the following video:

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“I assure you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” — John 3:3

And C.S. Lewis said:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

Sequel Coming! ‘The Passion Of The Christ: Resurrection’

Will this be the most successful film ever made?

Remember the 2004 movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” produced by Mel Gibson and with actor Jim Caveziel in the lead role? It was the most successful R-rated movie ever, grossing $612 million against production costs of $30 million.

Screenshot from the crucifixion scene in “The Passion of the Christ.”

The R-rating was a result of extraordinarily graphic presentation of the crucifixion, one of the cruelest and most painful methods of executions known to man.

“Passion” received three Academy Award nominations, though it did not win in any of the categories in which it was nominated. But making profits and generating cinematic celebrity were not the purpose for which the movie was made.

It was made to put the life of Jesus Christ, the single most influential individual in all human history, on movie screens around the world, and to that end, “Passion” was an amazing success because it succeeded in that respect despite the Hollywood Establishment’s active hostility.

Now, Caveziel is preparing to reprise his role in the sequel to “Passion,” picking up with the incredible resurrection after His crucifixion and death. Is Caveziel excited about it?

“It’s going to be the biggest film in world history,” he recently told Christian Post. This has the makings of what could well turn out to be the most successful sequel ever made.

Go here for more details from The Christian Post.

Did Jesus Really Claim To Be The Eternal God Of The Universe?

You’re strolling down a hallway in the Dirksen building when suddenly you are being accosted by a legislative counsel for your home state’s other senator.

You’ve not previously met the guy and, frankly, you’ve heard some whispers among colleagues that he’s, shall we say, a little odd. But you had no idea to expect what the guy proceeds to tell you now:

“Yes, I am the God who created and sustains the entire universe, including you. I know all things from beginning to end and nothing ever happens that surprises me because I see it before it happens. Oh, one more thing — accepting me as your personal savior is the only way you or any other human being can receive eternal life in Heaven.”

That scenario may be an imaginary one, but take yourself back 2,000 years ago in what is now Israel and odds are excellent you would hear about a Jesus character making such claims. You might even meet him on a road. Would you believe His claims about Himself?

What Biomimicry Teaches Us About Nature And Intelligent Design

Hummingbirds are supposed to be able to fly, but they do. In fact, they move in ways that remind us of helicopters, hovering in place this second, then streaking off in a new direction. The maneuverability of common house flies is even more amazing.

So what have hummingbirds and common house flies to do with anything? They are inspirations of a developing field of technology known as “biomimicry.” It’s the adaption of capabilities and designs found in nature to improving the way we humans live. Congressional staff will do well to become familiar with the technology and its possibilities.

But biomimicry also points us toward a crucial fact about the natural world — the amazing capabilities nature displays in countless ways are collectively a strong argument for an intelligent designer. Kyle Butt of the Apologetics Press explains:

These Ancient Secular Historians Explode The Recurring Myth That Jesus Never Actually Existed

There is a claim that comes and goes in public forums among critics of Jesus that contends there never was an actual person by that name who did the miracles described in the Gospel and who ultimately was crucified on a Roman cross, buried in a grave donated by a rich man and resurrected three days later.

With the advent of social media, the “Jesus never lived” claim is frequently recirculated on the Internet, thanks in great part to evangelism efforts inspired by high-profile atheists like the late Physicist Stephen Hawking and astrophysicist/cable TV celebrity Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The reality is, as the following vimeo from David Couchman’s series on “Jesus Myths” makes abundantly clear, ancient secular historians who are readily accepted as legitimate sources for other persons and events in the world of the Roman Empire also attest to the life and death of Jesus:

Why Does God Allow Evil To Exist?

What can you say to the grieving parents of a child who was kidnapped and murdered? Or to the wife and children of the loving Dad who was killed by a drunk driver? And how do we account for natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that take thousands of lives?

J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity.

These painful questions points us to the basic issue so often pondered by those wrestling with what they believe or disbelieve about God. Why does God, if He exists, allow evil to exist in this world He supposedly has created? Does he not care about all the pain and suffering seen throughout human history?

J. Warner Wallace of coldcasechristianity.org takes on these questions and notes among much else in a sensitive and thought-provoking analysis that there is no concept of evil without one of good, and both require the existence of a standard beyond the finite. Or, as Wallace puts it, “eternity changes everything:”

Things Got Hilarious When This Atheist Encountered A Blessedly Blunt Christian

There are no short cuts to either thoughtful faith or reasoned non-belief. Comedian Jeff Allen shares how he learned that particular lesson on life’s spiritual journey:

PAUL SPOKE ON MARS HILL. HELP ME SPEAK ON CAPITOL HILL. BE A PRAYER PARTNER. IT’S TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK: Can God Create A Rock So Heavy Even He Can’t Lift It?

If the answer to the question in the headline above is “no,” then there is something God cannot do, which means He isn’t omnipotent and the biblical claim that “all things are possible” with Him is false.

But, as cross-examined.org’s Dr. Frank Turek explains in the following video in response to a student’s question, there is a logical fallacy lurking within that headlined question:

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“Your sins are forgiven.” — Luke 7:48

And C.S. Lewis said:

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

MYTH BUSTERS: No, Jesus Was Not A Copycat Savior

It’s one of those objections that comes and goes in public discussions about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as opponents of the Gospels claim His disciples simply made Him up by borrowing from similar pagan gods with which they were familiar.

Uh, no, there’s scant evidence that any of those pagan deities were anywhere near sufficiently alike the Jesus of the Gospels to be suitable for such a fictional enterprise of creation. Cold-case Christianity’s J. Warner Wallace explains:

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY: When Someone Claims The Crusades Prove Christianity Is Just As Violent As Islam

Listen to a conversation on the Hill among congressional staffers about the Crusades and it’s a near certainty that somebody will claim these Middle Ages wars between Christians and Muslims prove Christianity is just as violent as Islam.

There is some truth behind that statement, but it’s not what you might be expecting. What it shows is that Original Sin is a problem every human being who has ever lived (except one, Jesus Christ!) must come to grips with one way or the other.

The Colson Center’s Brook McIntyre lays out the historical facts on three points that make clear the inaccuracy of the argument about what the Crusades “prove” about Christianity:

Why Are All My Friends Becoming Marxists (Most Don’t Realize That’s What They’re Doing)?

Jon Harris is the author/thinker/critic behind “Conversations That Matter” on Patreon and elsewhere on the Internet. He is a born-again Christian of the Reformed persuasion and a traditional American conservative.

Three steps to Critical Theory’s “salvation.”

But don’t let that description put you off because Harris is also a very perceptive, observant and articulate critic of all sides of contemporary culture and politics in America. His discussion of the origins and significance of Critical (especially Race) Theory and Intersectionality is trenchant and thought-provoking.

I say this because he prefaces his discussion with an observation that is not original in terms of the substance, but he puts it in a context that ought to drive home to all thinking persons, regardless of their religious or political positions, the profound seriousness of what is happening all around us these days: Continue reading “Why Are All My Friends Becoming Marxists (Most Don’t Realize That’s What They’re Doing)?”