I agree with the first comment on this post. (Blest’s) - Pure Genius.

Triablogue announces a response to The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave. Go take a look.

Challies has an uber post, as always. Revel in it’s uberness.

Grace is ridiculous. See Jared explain the scandal.

Joe is Plagued by Certainty. Cool.

I got home very late from work tonight, so this is all I’m going to post. I’ll get to TULIP when I have… umm… a normal night. This isn’t it.

Aaron finds a professor from Cali who thinks Satan is just misunderstood. What? Read it here.

A post on Challies from a few weeks ago really caught my eye. The Butt of Too Many Jokes.

STR has a cool post from yesterday: The Danger of Unquestioned Answers

Oh, and Jon Rowe thinks Jefferson has something authoritative to say about orthodoxy. I think not.

Back to TULIP tomorrow. I had choir tonight, and didn’t get home until pretty late.

Update: Hilarious Chuck Norris Facts-style post about James White. Read it.

CADRE Comments pointed me toward this post by Ben Witherington: Justification By Doubt, and makes some comment on it as well.

Great stuff.

Challies talks about Spiritual Eavevsdropping.

But, most importantly: My wife just announced what our baby’s name will be.

Well, I already knew. Everyone else just didn’t. So… go check her post out.

Update: I’d like to do some writing about Calvinism/The Reformed faith soon, since it has interested me more and more recently. Maybe I’ll do a trip through the TULIP, and the 5 Solas.

Cadre Comments reminds apologists of a sin they need to be wary of.

The Good Fight gives his picks for best all-time debates - the catch is… well, you’ll have to read and find out!

Imago Dei takes PZ Meyers to task for equating human worth with appearance.

Apologia Christi explores our fear of theological controversy.

Joe Carter posts “Alice, Atheists, and the Ability to believe impossible things” - lively debate in the comments section already, as always - but a low signal-to-noise ratio so far.

Wheat and Chaff thinks something is fishy about a God-shaped-hole.

Challies, the inveterate reviewer, takes a look at “One Minute Answers To Skeptics’ Top Forty Questions,” by Charlie Campbell.

Added Withallyourmind.net and Twoorthree.net to the Vox Aggregator. I’ve been looking at both for quite a while, and I think they’re both great blogs.

Welcome!

Mr. DawnTreader discusses - “No More Einsteins?”

Interesting read, and interesting comments.

Challies de-memes a meme, with “When I Grow Up…”

Incidentally… I want to be Tim when I grow up! (Dude, he’s 2 years older than me. This knowledge depresses me, as he runs his own web design company - and I don’t )

Also incidentally - this quote is me, to a T. (Although I have done a few memes just for boredom’s sake.)

I don’t do memes. I have not (to my recollection) done a single one of them since the dawn of this site. I have often been tagged to do them but have always resisted because, quite frankly, I don’t care what character I most resemble, but it a character from Lord of the Rings, Narnia, or Napoleon Dynamite. I also don’t really care to know what theological system I most clearly adhere to, what type of flower I would be (if I were a flower), and, well, you get the idea.

Heh. Great post

Folks - I don’t know about you. I really don’t. If this, however, isn’t the most brilliant husband-wife conversation you’ve ever heard… I’ll eat my hat. It’s red, has a bright white University of Arizona A on it, and has been freshly washed.

I doubt I’ll need to break out the ketchup, though. I mean, really… that’s cool stuff.

Oh, and from Gratitude and Hoopla? “Christians, we are not God-experts“.

I’m telling you - this hit home.

From Red Skelton to Jonah. Laughing, from Job’s Tale.

This blog is very, very good - and the writer, like Job himself, has a trove of wisdom he’s gleaned from the hard knocks of life.

Another blog I suggest is This is Not for You, by the ever-poetic Matthew. He can turn a phrase like noone else I know - and sound Edwardian while doing it.

That’s the Daily Cut for today. Enjoy.

(and it was shorter, Milton! hehe.)

Well, this hasn’t been much of a “daily” cut recently.

Oh well. I’m back into blogging, so… I’m back into Daily Cuts.

Agent Tim has a great post entitled “Nothing or Something”

I sat down and began to write without thinking—just allowing the thoughts to flow onto the blank page in front of me, hardly slowing or pausing to consider what would come next. Then it happened—it stopped. I couldn’t write anything more. Nothing came to mind, nothing inspired me, and the word nothing plagued my mind.

The Apologetics Resource Center has an interesting post contrasting Positive Faith with the God of the Gaps theory.

Christians do not believe in the existence of God, the truthfulness of Scripture, and the words of Christ in order to simply fill in the knowledge-holes left by modern science. Rather, Christianity is believed based upon positive and rational reasons that stand on their own right.

Paul sheds some light on the “Dark Ages” over at Pensees.

Based on the other myths from my school days that have been burst one by one, like Columbus being the first to think the world was round, I should find it no surprise that the true nature of the Middle Ages is quite different than I imagined[…]

Alex Forrest contrasts George Barna with Rousseau.

[…]it is almost as if Barna is advocating a spiritual version of Rousseau’s myth of the Noble Savage. For Rousseau, of course, the myth (now strong in the popular mind) was that the “natural man,” unfettered by the shackles of civiliation and technology, lived in a state of natural purity and goodness. Civilization, however, brings with it bondage, degradation, self-interest, and all sorts of other vices. […] Barna seems to have a similarly romantic image of the “Noble Christian Savage,” unfettered by the trappings of dry institutionalism, empty tradition, and other vices that often beset American evangelicalism.

Interesting stuff.

Comment by Aaron Kinney (of Kill the Afterlife), in response to Eternal Revolution’s post entitled A Need for Compassion:

Oh and by the way, you said:

“As he hung there, dying on the cross, facing an injustice far worse than any of us could ever fathom…”

I could fathom something much worse: an eternity in hellfire.

I could point out that Aaron’s schtick has always been that he refuses to accept the “inhumane and immoral” belief that life goes on after death. (If the very concept is immoral, isn’t he violating his own stance by contemplating such a thing? ) But, I won’t.

Anyways, the point is that hell is separation from God - which is what the lifestyle found deserving of hell wished in the first place. The punishment is the wages of sin - you never get anything for nothing. If you choose to ignore what is right, and do what is wrong, there will come a penalty, eventually. That’s what hell is. But, whatever. Aaron likes to post throwaway snarks - don’t you Aaron?

I’m sure I’ll have another Scornful Skeptic award for you soon. That one’s actually pretty tame, for you.

Imago Dei has an interesting post entitled “A Different Abortion Story”, which was crossposted from LTI, who is also on my blogroll, and Serge’s new second home!

The Good Fight has two interesting posts:

One is entitled “The Hypocrisy of Anti-Creationists“. Here’s an excerpt.

[…]what is truly interesting about many of the critics of YEC is their seeming hypocrisy when it comes to scientific theory. I’ve seen often many of these scholars advocate scientific explanations that are so odd and radical that they are the only ones who believe it. But isn’t that supposed to be what YEC believers are famous for?

Two, a post entitled “Gratuitous Evil and God“.

Gale presents an argument for the reality of a god who is similar to the theistic God but who is not apparently fully omnipotent or ominiscient. He is very powerful and intelligent but not necessarily maximally so.

It’s an interesting look at Gale’s response.

CADRE takes an in-depth look at Earl Doherty, in response to favorable posts on other blogs.

I have noticed an up-tick in Earl Doherty admiration on the blogs. So, I decided to bring some of the points I made in my articles on the Jesus Myth to the pages of Cadre Comments.

In this post, I examine a passage in Hebrews that proves troublesome to Doherty’s theory that the early Christians did not believe that Jesus existed on earth. Hebrews 9:27-28 refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth.

Challies gives his State of the Domain address, and asks some questions to help guide the future direction of his blog.

And so, as I gaze towards 2006, now only a few days off, I would like to ask for your input. I promise not to be offended and am honestly asking for honesty. If you know me, you know that I have any easier time dealing with criticism than praise! […] While this site is and will remain my site (and I say that in as non-offensive a way as I can) I am eager to hear from readers what you feel is done well and what is done poorly.

Go check it out.

Mr. Dawn Treader puts some perspective on 2005 with “Buzzing the Treetops“.

I encourage you to take a look at his personal commentary.

Now, on a personal note - yes, I’m back to regular blogging. I’m back to tweaking my site fairly regularly, as frequent visitors can see pretty clearly. I’ve updated all my blogrolls, fixed the Aggregator once again, and I’m working on a few new posts.

In addition, I’ve been asked to join The Dialogical Coffee House as a contributor. I’m definitely going to enjoy that, as I’ve been a reader over there for quite some time, and respect the bloggers there immensely.

I’ll be back to working on new ideas, until one hits home, and revisiting some old ones that I ran out of time for. Here’s to a New Year, a new start on blogging, and a renewal of my walk with Christ.

Firstly:

“What is Atheism“, by “Goosing the Antithesis“, an atheistic blog.

So atheism is a peculiar position for an evangelist in that you don’t necessarily have any answers to give. Many atheists don’t have any answers and aren’t as efficient at evangelizing because they don’t provide a safe space for the Christian to look at and feel comfortable with before jumping away from religious indoctrination. This is not great. Ideally, there should be a safe space there, one made of the bonds of friendship, family and love, the power of science, the control and responsability brought about by individualism, the beauty of life and nature, and so on.

…

Basically, the main thrust of any individualist, rational evangelizing is to liberate the individual’s life and values from their self-imposed belief systems, so that everyone can live at peace with each other and believe whatever they want in their own private lives. That is the ultimate goal.

Note: “Liberate” them from self-imposed beliefs - so they can believe whatever they want.

Say what?

Interesting post, but a prime example of what atheism does not provide - answers. They want to replace something with… nothing. Or, they want you to believe whatever you want - as long as it wasn’t what you believed in the first place. Odd attitude.

Secondly:

Infidel in Exile is on to us! Francis Schaeffer: A key Figure for the Dark Side

An interesting look at my favorite thinker, from someone opposed to what he thinks. I find it highly fascinating.

But in many years of debating with Christians on numerous Christian and atheist websites, blogs, and forums, no one has ever thrown even a single Francis Schaeffer argument or citation at me. Not until I visited evangelical websites and blogs did I come to appreciate his importance for the Dark Side.

Schaeffer’s own work was highly focused on living his philosophy, and he lived in faraway Europe. Craig, Boyd, Koukl, etc, live in the US, and seem to be engaged in building and running small apologetic empires rather than in serious intellectual engagement with the world Out There, as Schaeffer was. That may also have something to do with it.

Very interesting take.

5:05p
Our Prayers and Heartfelt Expressions of Concern go out to the People of Great Britain during a Day of Tragedy.

You were there for us during 9/11, and it’s aftermath - we’ll be there for you, in whatever way you need us.

Newly added to Vox Apologia:

Deism, by Chad MacIntosh (Doxazo Theos)

It’s an excellent explanation (and rebuttal) of Deism.

An addition to Vox XX - The Unfairness of Heaven?, from Anne/WeekendFisher at CADRE Comments.

From Anne’s synopsis: Response to atheist Michael Martin’s latest critique of Christianity. Although a few of Martin’s arguments were probably destined to be unique to Martin, I decided to respond because a few of them were common enough. I mostly wanted to retake the ground on whether Judgment Day is fair, being a bit tired of the atheists thinking they have the high ground there. I go some places that Christian apologists usually don’t go, but it was about time we opened up some new ground there and stopped being so defensive.

Anticipating:

The first set of questions for The Theomeme Project. Hint: The first question author is a member of Ten Christian Blogs

Other Cuts:

Parableman writes about The Problem of Evil, in reference to a reference of a paper on it. Follow the link trail - good reading all around.

Aggregated:

From the Apologetics Aggregator, we have a VERY nice collection of posts, of late. I really encourage you to read through one of the aggregator versions every day or two. There are 30 blogs on the aggregator, and I NEVER find less than 3-4 interesting posts.

Another post from Chad, entitled Ontological Musings explores the varying ontologies which necessitate the existence of God.

United Church of Christ and Gay Marriage

A Pastor and His Apologetics informs those of us who may live under a local rock that the UCC has voted to support gay marriage.

Alex Forrest posts about the Creation Science Museum. I’d also recommend this post from blestwithsons. And remind you what I think about evolution, etc.

Which reminds me: someone email me if I forget to do a post on Old-Earth Creationism within the next two weeks. I had an email exchange with my dad, and an interesting im conversation with a friend on the subject recently.

From Daily Apologetics comes America: Yoga’s Greenhouse

From Hux, we can find two posts on T.D. Jakes’ Modalistic Heresy. What is that? Read #1, and #2, to find out.

Check out James White’s fisking of BYU professors Millet and McConkie’s Sustaining and Defending the Faith.

Resource Blog is looking for articles and/or reviews

Should we Defend Doctrines? The Huntington Apologetics Team asks the question - and gives the answer.

Just read Vincent Cheung’s Blog. You’ll enjoy it, I promise. Read it all, if you have to.

My girlfriend’s blog, which I just finished the basic design for.

Visit now, visit often - I’ll make sure there’s plenty of updates

Well, I can’t do it that often. Look at the post time, in case you’re thinking “but, you did all of that - it’s easy, right?”

It is mind-bogglingly time-consuming to collect links JUST from the Aggregator. If I did half of the posts I WANTED to, this week - this would be three times as long - every day.

I’m still looking for people willing to collect 4-5 links per day - and post them in a similar format to Vox Apologia.

Think, people: 5 people, 5 links a day. That’s 25 links/day.

I just posted 17 by myself. Think about it. It’s not hard, and it won’t take long.

Email me - Contact button - top left.

Cut-Rate Thesaurus:

Team-Swap, (God love em) is the winner of the first award for this post.

A couple samples:

a Afro Africian American

That would be “an Afro-American”, or “African-American” - not both

the roles of Black’s in the Confederacy

The apostrophe is used to denote a possessive - not to denote a plural. In that case, it would be “Blacks”. However, using “Blacks” after using the PC “African-Americans” seems inconsistent, if you ask me!

Civil war

Both words are usually capitalized.

(It happened twice.)

acceptance that the site of the Confederate battle flag

Sight, not site

Several of the sentences would also be borderline (if not actual) run-on sentences, or have commas incorrectly placed. Those are relatively minor, though.

Just so you know - I still love ya (Don’t get mad at me? lol)

Scornful Skeptics Award:

This week’s award goes to The Evangelical Atheist. Why? (Content Warning) Just check out the title to this post.

Yeah. Plus, he signs all of his posts ~ I AM ~. He wins.

Are You Tongue Tied?

(Mild Content Warning)

Ales Rarus, A Form of Sound Words (I wonder if he’ll be upset to be mentioned in the same post as a “Romanist“?), Joe Missionary, Messy Christian and Jeff the Baptist have all dicussed swear words. Much different from The Evangelical Atheist’s discussion. Which is retarded.

Our friends above, however - are not. The discussion is interesting.

Update: 6:55p

Found this while my girlfriend was flipping through a photoblog.

Slick Willie is wearing a Kabbalah wristband. Guess he’s trying to impress Madonna. Well, it could have been “Kabbalah water“, I suppose.