Category Archives: apologetics

WORLDVIEW APOLOGETICS (4)

apologetics July 28, 2020 Leave a comment

PMW 2020-059 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the fourth and concluding article on worldview apologetics.

Presuppositions Make a Difference

Reality (Ontology). When asked to give the basis and starting point for the orderly universe and all external reality, the Christian points to the self-contained, omnipresent all-powerful, all-wise God of Scripture.

When the non-Christian is asked to give the basis and starting for the orderly universe and external reality, he points literally to nothing. All has risen from nothing by the irrational mechanism of chance. When asked if something can miraculously pop into being from nothing in an instant the non-Christian vigorously responds in the negative. Instant miracles are out of the question! But when asked if something can come out of nothing if given several billion years, the non-Christian confidently responds in the affirmative. As Van Til, has noted, the non-Christian overlooks the fact that if one zero equals zero, then a billion zeros can equal only zero. Continue reading →

WORLDVIEW APOLOGETICS (3)

apologetics July 24, 2020 1 Comment

PMW 2020-057 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the third installment of four articles on worldview apologetics. As we continue, we must consider:

The Christian System and Presuppositions

What is the Christian’s starting point? What is his most basic presupposition upon which he builds his entire world and-life view? Where do we begin our argument?

Christian thought holds as its logically primitive, fundamental, all-pervasive and necessary starting point or presupposition, the being of God who has revealed himself in Scripture. Thus, our presupposition is God and his word. The Scripture, being his own infallible word (2 Tim. 3:16), reveals to us the nature of the God in whom we trust.

God is self-sufficient, needing nothing outside of himself at all (Exo. 4:11; John 5:26). All else in the universe is utterly dependent upon him (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). God is the all-powerful Creator of the entire universe (Gen. 1:1; Exo. 20:11; Neh. 9:6). God is personal, thus giving meaning to the vast universe (Acts 17:28). And God has clearly and authoritatively revealed himself in Scripture (2 Pet. 1:20-21), so we may build upon his word as Truth (Psa. 119:160; John 17:17). Continue reading →

WORLDVIEW APOLOGETICS (2)

apologetics July 21, 2020 1 Comment

PMW 2020-057 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the second of a four-part series on worldview apologetics. I will open with a continuation of:

The Role of Presuppositions in Thought (2)

The Impossibility of Neutrality. Everyone holds to presuppositions. No one operates—or even can operate— from a vacuum. We simply do not think or behave “out of the blue.” It is impossible to think and live as if we were aliens having just arrived in this world from a radically different universe, totally devoid of all knowledge of this world, absolutely objective and utterly un-predisposed to ideas about truth: People behave in terms of a basic world-and-life view which implements their conceptions regarding truth. Continue reading →

WORLDVIEW APOLOGETICS (1)

apologetics July 17, 2020 1 Comment

PMW 2020-056 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

God calls upon Christians to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15). As we obey him we must defend the faith in such a way that it “sanctifies the Lord” in our hearts. We must defend the faith from a position of faith. Too many defenses of the faith cede the method of approach to the unbeliever and end up “proving” at best the possibility that a god exists — not the certainty that the God of Scripture exists.

In this four-part series, we will see how we may do this. Continue reading →

WHY IS AD 70 IMPORTANT?

AD 70, apologetics May 9, 2019 Comments: 6

PMW 2019-038 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Since “Moses and all the Prophets” point to the first century coming of Christ (Luke 24:27), we know the very “fulness of the time had come” (Gal. 4:4). This ample revelation in the Old Testament word prepares us for the abundant redemption in the New Testament world. All Christians are well aware of the unparalleled redemptive-historical significance of the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. We are equally well apprised of His victorious pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in A.D. 30. But too few realize the significance of the pouring out of His holy wrath upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Continue reading →

SIX DAY CREATIONISM AND EVOLUTION

apologetics, Creation February 5, 2019 Comments: 6

PMW 2019-011 by Gabriel Rench (CrossPolitic Studios)

Gentry Note:
Postmillennialism is one feature of a Christian worldview. Another feature is the doctrine of Creation. In our modern world the doctrine of Six-day Creation is as hard to accept as is the postmillennial hope. But it is just as important. The world for which the postmillennial hope is designed is the world created by God — in the space of six, literal days. This article by Rench is largely a review of my book As It Is Written, but which is put in our current anti-God environment.

Most of us have been pulled over by a cop. Imagine for a moment that this happens to you. The cop flashes his lights, you dutifully pull over, hand over your license and registration. He informs you that he pulled you over because you didn’t stop at the stop sign. You respond with, “But officer, I interpreted the stop sign to mean, ‘Stop pressing the brake,’ so of course I drove faster!”

Pretty absurd right? Everyone knows the cop would slap you with a ticket. We all recognize shenanigans when people behave this way with mundane activities. But this behavior isn’t any cuter when theologians do it. And we see this sort of thing when it comes to the meaning of the creation week. Continue reading →

ATTEMPTED REBUTTAL OF CREATIONISTS

apologetics, Creation June 22, 2018 Leave a comment

PMW 2018-050 by Lita Cosner (Creation Ministries, Int’l)

Gentry: The source of the postmillennial hope is the Bible. Therefore, postmillennialism is strongly committed to the Bible as God’s inspired and inerrant word. Consequently, the consistent, logical postmillennialist must be committed to the biblical creation account, which establishes creation in six literal days. I often run articles on six-day creation because of the doctrine’s significance to the Christian worldview and the current Christian witness to the world today. This article provides insightful answers to some objections to biblical creation. The original title to the article is:

UNIFORMITARIAN DOGMA VS THE BIBLE

Chris L., Canada, wrote with several questions: Continue reading →