This paper explores two disciplines largely considered and practiced separately: apologetics and expositional preaching. The challenges from expressive individualism, New Atheism, pragmatism within the church, apathy in the West towards the supernatural, and the 21st-century renaissance in Christian Apologetics present an opportunity to reclaim the ancient practice of exposition through an apologetics lens. I will … Read more
Since the publication of the late Michael Heiser’s *The Unseen Realm,* more evangelicals have accepted his ‘Deuteronomy 32 Worldview,’ which argues for a ‘divine council’ of heavenly beings who govern the affairs of various people groups on God’s behalf. Though averse to systematics and some of classical theology, Heiser’s emphasis on the supernatural (and especially … Read more
For Christians, God’s Word is the authoritative source for our understanding of God, self, and the world. A concern, however, is the temptation to rely on cultural voices to reframe human experiences rather than God’s story. As many have written, the Bible is God’s speech that is intended to be followed in life. See Kevin … Read more
The paper is a summary including results of a dissertation that investigates the role of the Spirit in Luke 4:18-19 and in select DSS by reconsidering the argument by some pneumatologists that the role of the Spirit in Luke differs from other NT writings by upholding what is claimed to be a Jewish notion of … Read more
According to presuppositional apologetics, only the Christian worldview provides the necessary preconditions for knowledge, logic, and morality. This paper argues that the rejection of classical theism within certain contemporary presuppositional circles undermines the very epistemological claims it seeks to defend. If God is composed of parts or mutable in any sense, He would be contingent … Read more
This presentation compares the teaching of the nature and causes of tyranny by two Muslim leaders, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960) and Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (1941-2024), with John Calvin’s (1509-1564) theology of God’s secret providence. Nursi’s commentary on the Qur’an, the Risale-i Nur, along with two published volumes of Gülen’s sermons, Yolun Kaderi (The Path’s Destiny), … Read more
Because of its manifold treasures, the Psalter has been rightly referred to in many complementary ways. It has been called a book of praises (tehilim), a book of prayers, a book of songs of faith, a royal hymnbook, the hymnbook of the church, sacred space, a little Bible (Martin Luther), a great house (Jerome), etc. … Read more
Jesus’s stilling of the storm (Mt 8:23-27; Mk 4:35-41; Lk 8:22-25) is often seen as one of clearest demonstrations of his divinity. To support this view, scholars typically appeal to OT passages that assert YHWH’s authority over the sea (e.g., Job 26:12; Ps 104:7) or even portray a similar situation of stilling a storm (Ps … Read more
While classical theists in the tradition of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas argue that God is good because He is simple, relational theists argue that since God is good, He cannot be simple. For the relational theists, goodness necessitates an ability of God to respond, react, or change in some way to His creatures changing needs. … Read more
The last few years have witnessed a ‘vibe shift’ in Western culture against radical secularity and in favor of religion, spirituality, and morality. Significant former atheists like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, her husband and award-winning historian Niall Ferguson, and Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger, have publicly converted to Christianity. This paper proposes a typology of four emerging … Read more