Intellectual Engagement – Thinking Christian

Category Archives: Intellectual Engagement

“Why Christianity Lost America”

I don’t have time to comment on this, and I’m not sure what I would add to it if I did, but you must read Vishal Mangalwadi’s article, Why Christianity Lost America. Christianity lost America because 20th-century evangelicalism branded itself as the party of faith. By default Secularism (science, university, media) became the party of …

December 27, 2011 – 6:19 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, The Faith | Comments (44)

Something In the Air: Science’s Supposed Superiority to Religion – 2

To borrow a line from Vox Day, this pair of sentences is so superlatively wrong that it will require the development of esoteric mathematics operating simultaneously in multiple dimensions fully to comprehend the orders of magnitude of its wrongness. That was Timothy McGrew’s opinion of the email a reader named Loren sent me earlier this …

December 20, 2011 – 6:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged Christianity, Conflict Thesis, Galileo, Knowledge, Proof, Religion, Science, Secularism | Comments (40)

The Electronic Student and the Bible: Learning In Community

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series The Electronic Student

A college dormitory floormate of mine named Dan took part in all of our dorm Bible studies and prayer times. One day in a Bible study our group’s leader was explaining the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs. Their first problem, he said, is that they don’t believe Christ was God. Dan spoke up and said, “He wasn’t.” …

December 10, 2011 – 6:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, Intellectual Engagement, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Accordance, Bible, Commentaries, Doctrine, History, Logos, Study, The Way International | Comments (0)

A Taste of New Mystery: Take 2

A couple of days ago I wrote A Taste of New Mystery: Thomism and Intelligent Design. I had thought that some discussion on the topic of the blog post might ensue, but it didn’t. I suppose it could be that the reductio approach I offered is completely uninteresting to everyone. It may be that the …

December 3, 2011 – 11:04 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, Origins and Science, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Behe, Dembski, Discovery Institute, Edward Feser, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Mechanism, Philosophy, Reductio ad Absurdum, Science, Strategy, Thomas Aquinas, Thomists | Comments (21)

Plantinga: There’s No Good Argument For Design, But Who Needs One?

Book Review There are heavyweights in Christian philosophy, and there is Alvin Plantinga, whose name virtually never comes up without the descriptor, “most influential Christian philosopher of our generation.” In his latest book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism, he comes to a surprising conclusion about Intelligent Design. To put it perhaps …

November 27, 2011 – 7:22 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, Origins and Science, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Behe, Book Review, Christian, Dawkins, Epistemology, Fine-Tuning, Intelligent Design, Naturalism, Philosophy, Plantinga, Religion, Science | Comments (114)

The Electronic Student: Bible Study (Black Friday Edition)

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series The Electronic Student

The Internet is the best and worst thing that could have happened to serious study, I wrote last time in this series. The benefit is in the sheer quantity of information available. The chief problem is distraction. There are other risks, including that of becoming a Google scholar. Studying the Bible on computer is another …

November 25, 2011 – 8:55 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, Intellectual Engagement, The Faith, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Accordance, Bible, Bible Study, Black Friday, Computer, Logos, Sword Project | Comments (1)

The Argumentum ad Smarterum

I’m a firm believer in speaking the truth with love (Eph. 4:15) and letting my speech be gracious, “seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6). Usually this means practicing great patience and gentleness. There is one frequent form of skeptic/atheist argument, though, for which love demands a firm and intense rebuttal. I’m referring to the argumentum ad …

November 21, 2011 – 1:33 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, New Atheism | Tagged Argument, Atheism, Christ, Evidence, Humility, logic, Love, Pride, Reason | Comments (28)

The Electronic Student, Part 1

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series The Electronic Student

If learning is the key to human flourishing, then the age of electronics ought to be our long-awaited golden age of social renewal; for when in history have we had so much knowledge right at our fingertips? You’re not buying that, I can tell. Here I am kicking off a multi-part series on learning in …

November 18, 2011 – 1:34 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Distraction, Focus, Freedom, Internet, Nook, Reading, Study | Comments (0)

Stephen Law Responds

Dr. Stephen Law commented here today, saying that he had anticipated the kind of objection I raised in “Stephen Law’s Incoherent ‘Evil God.’” In his comment he directed us to notes he had prepared for his debate with William Lane Craig. Blake Anderson added considerably to my argument later in the day, and other commenters …

November 5, 2011 – 8:54 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement | Tagged "Evil God", Stephen Law, William Lane Craig | Comments Off

On Thinking Christians, Thinking Atheists, and What Really Matters

When the Thinking Atheist mentioned my blog at his Facebook page, his commenters responded with a long series of smirks and harmless taunts directed my way, mostly to the tune of “There’s no such thing as a thinking Christian.” A couple dozen people said “thinking Christian” is an oxymoron. Oh, well. Such is life. Apparently …

November 4, 2011 – 9:34 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Intellectual Engagement, Thinking Christianly | Tagged Atheism, Christianity, Love, Thinking, Virtue | Comments (14)

Thinking Christian

Category Archives: Intellectual Engagement

“Why Christianity Lost America”

Something In the Air: Science’s Supposed Superiority to Religion – 2

The Electronic Student and the Bible: Learning In Community

A Taste of New Mystery: Take 2

Plantinga: There’s No Good Argument For Design, But Who Needs One?

The Electronic Student: Bible Study (Black Friday Edition)

The Argumentum ad Smarterum

The Electronic Student, Part 1

Stephen Law Responds

On Thinking Christians, Thinking Atheists, and What Really Matters

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