One of the questions that Christians disagree on is whether Christians can serve in the military. It is a complicated issue and people on both sides have strong convictions. Quoting “turn the other cheek” or “love your enemy” should not shut down the conversation. Those verses are part of the... The post Soldiers in Luke-Acts appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

Are Christians ever allowed to lie? I once taught ethics at a Christian university and we discussed this. There is no consensus as to the answer. The discussion generally revolves around something like lying to Nazis about Jews that you are hiding and that telling the truth would lead to... The post Is It Okay For Christians to Lie If It Helps Their Cause? appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

There is no lack of disagreements among Christians. We have Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Mainline, Evangelicals, Anabaptists, and Charismatics. Even within each group there are plenty of diversity on interpretations. Just one local congregation will likely have a variety of beliefs on certain issues. Christians have tended to disagree rather... The post Public Disagreement as Apologetics appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

There are those who really push back against Christian apologetics, and I’m not talking about skeptics. I think that some Christians have a problem with apologetics because of a misunderstanding about apologetics. The truth is that there are different forms of apologetics, some better than others. I would like to... The post Apologetics: What It Can Be, Should Be and Should Not Be appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

The first time I encountered what is often called annihilationism was in a talk about the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The idea that God would just cause the wicked to cease to exist was another blatant example of how heretical the Jehovah’s Witnesses really were. But then I heard about... The post My Move Toward Conditional Immortality appeared first on Stephen J Bedard ..read more

The recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has a lot of people talking. Including Christians. What is the significance of Trump’s survival? One of the conversations I saw was about how Trump narrowly survived this attack. Did God intervene in what would have been an otherwise successful assassination or did God predetermine before the creation of the world that not only that Donald Trump would survive but that Corey Comperatore would survive? God determined I will start with the second option. There are Christians who believe that God’s sovereignty is ultimate, such that ..read more

Apologists put a lot of time and energy into their activities. But what is it that they are actually trying to achieve? I am not suggesting that all apologists should share the same goal. But I do think that apologists should reflect on what they are trying to accomplish. Some potential goals Encouraging non-Christians to become Christians. Pre-evangelism, in the sense of getting Christianity a seat at the table. Strengthening the faith of questioning Christians. Helping Christians to learn more about their faith. Critiquing other religions and worldviews. Promoting one side of the culture wa ..read more

I have had a number of people ask me about cremation over the years. I hear some wide variety of opinions, even among Christians. Some take it for granted that no Christian would ever get cremated and others taking for granted that few Christians should want to pay the high prices for burial. Should Christians be cremated? Paul Carter asks this question a TGC Canada blog post. I would agree with a lot of what Paul says. I know Paul, and I know he writes as a thoughtful pastor and Bible teacher. He concludes that it is not sinful to be cremated and that being cremated does not prevent our own r ..read more

Does God predestinate everything or do humans have free will? Are miracles still happening today? How old is the earth and what process did God use to make humans? Who gets to be baptized and how is it done? Christians disagree on each of these things. How should we respond? In general, the church has divided and subdivided according to theology. We have Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. Within the Protestant group, there are specific traditions such as Presbyterian, Baptist, and Pentecostal. Within those traditions are specific denominations and within them, individual cong ..read more

Some people are getting upset with biblical scholar Michael Licona. Unfortunately, this is not the first time. The current controversy is over his new book: Jesus, Contradicted: Why the Gospels Tell the Same Story Differently. Now I need to make something clear. I have not read Licona’s book (yet) and so I cannot critique or defend his position. I can respond to what people have said. Some have said that Licona’s admission that there seems to be contradictions in the Bible, presumably the Gospels in particular, is a dangerous weakening of the defence of the Christian faith. From what I know of ..read more