Monthly Archives: May 2009

God and the Problem of Evil

The philosophical problems of evil are real enough, but it’s interesting how little attention they receive in the Bible. The basis for answering them is there, to be sure. But God seems to be far less interested in resolving the philosophical problem of evil than he is in solving the effects of evil. His way …

May 28, 2009 – 8:57 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Comments Off

Our Own Problem of Evil, and God’s Solution

During our last discussion on the problem of evil, David Ellis wrote this about the Cross of Christ: There’s nothing wonderful about a man being tortured to death. Its noble that one is willing to do that. But its simply masochistic to act it out when there’s no good reason to have done so in …

May 27, 2009 – 7:18 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Tagged | Comments (56)

Be More Creative: Guess Your Way To Your Answer?

From The Point, on a recent meeting of the 25,000-member American Education Research Association: [Gabriel] Reich was trying to explain … why it was presumptuous for professional mathematicians (and many parents) to be up in arms about the currently fashionable constructivist idea that instead of explaining to youngsters, say, how to do long division, teachers …

May 26, 2009 – 12:26 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Postmodernism/ Relativism | Comments (2)

Ralph Winter’s Task Is Finished

I had the privilege of studying with Dr. Ralph Winter at the U.S. Center for World Mission a little over 25 years ago. He was a giant in the world of missions already, and he continued strong until his going home to be with the Lord yesterday. Few have had such a massive and clearly …

May 21, 2009 – 8:20 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in The Faith | Tagged | Comments (3)

A Conversation On the Problem of Evil

A couple of weeks ago I got an email with an extended question on the problem of evil. The sender and I worked it through some over email, and then I asked if I could move it here to the blog, to which he said yes. The conversation so far is presented here with the …

May 21, 2009 – 8:00 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, The Faith | Tagged | Comments (147)

The Holy Spirit: No Inconsistent Truths

There are inconvenient truths, there are even unwanted truths, but there are no inconsistent truths. Christians speak of the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit in our lives as evidence that God is real. Often we are asked, “How do you know that your internal sense of God really is from God? Other people have …

May 19, 2009 – 3:44 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, The Faith | Tagged | Comments (77)

Interview with Catherine Larson of “As We Forgive”

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series As We Forgive

For those who have been following our discussions on Catherine Larson’s As We Forgive, here’s an interview she did with Steve Brown about the book.

May 18, 2009 – 4:12 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Deep Social Change, The Faith | Tagged | Comments Off

New Testament Reliability

Can we trust the New Testament? Christians say yes, of course; but how and why? The answer to that depends on exactly which question you’re asking. Did the events in it really happen? Was Jesus really crucified and resurrected? Did he appear to Paul on the road to Damascus? Are the New Testament’s ethical teachings …

May 16, 2009 – 9:37 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Tagged | Comments (19)