Bloggers Sabbatical

The two Andrews are currently on blogging sabbatical. One is busy with his doctorate and the other is with ministry and family. They will be back.

Bernard Lewis: Islamic Jihad on the West

Bernard Lewis wrote in the Wall Street Journal,

For a long time, the main enemy was seen, with some plausibility, as being the West, and some Muslims were, naturally enough, willing to accept what help they could get against that enemy. This explains the widespread support in the Arab countries and in some other places first for the Third Reich and, after its collapse, for the Soviet Union. These were the main enemies of the West, and therefore natural allies.

Now the situation had changed. The more immediate, more dangerous enemy was the Soviet Union, already ruling a number of Muslim countries, and daily increasing its influence and presence in others. It was therefore natural to seek and accept American help. As Osama bin Laden explained, in this final phase of the millennial struggle, the world of the unbelievers was divided between two superpowers. The first task was to deal with the more deadly and more dangerous of the two, the Soviet Union. After that, dealing with the pampered and degenerate Americans would be easy.

We in the Western world see the defeat and collapse of the Soviet Union as a Western, more specifically an American, victory in the Cold War. For Osama bin Laden and his followers, it was a Muslim victory in a jihad, and, given the circumstances, this perception does not lack plausibility.

Will visiting of history preserve the future? (HT: AM)

More of Dr Lewis articles,

• Islamic Revolution, The New York Review of Books, January 21, 1988
• Islamic Revolution: An Exchange, The New York Review of Books, April 28, 1988
• The Roots of Muslim Rage, The Atlantic Monthly, September 1990
• The Vanished Library, The New York Review of Books, September 27, 1990
• Khomeini’s Forerunners, The New York Review of Books, June 25, 1992
• Islam and Liberal Democracy, The Atlantic Monthly, February 1993
• The Enemies of God, The New York Review of Books, March 25, 1993
• Why Turkey Is the only Muslim Democracy, The Middle East Quarterly, March 1994
• The Middle East, Westernized Despite Itself, The Middle East Quarterly, March 1996
• What does it mean to be haunted by one’s past?, MEF Wire, October 1, 1996
• “Islam and Liberal Democracy: A Historical Overview,” Journal of Democracy 7.2 (1996) 52-63
• The West and the Middle East, Foreign Affairs, January 1997
• Muslim Anti-Semitism, The Middle East Quarterly, June 1998
• The Multiple Identities of the Middle East, MEF Wire, November 16, 1999
• Iran in History, Middle Eastern Lectures, 2001
• Jihad vs. Crusade, The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2001
• The Revolt of Islam, The New Yorker, November 19, 2001
• What Went Wrong?, The Atlantic Monthly, January 2002
• A War of Resolve, The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2002
• Deconstructing Osama, The Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2002
• Targeted by a History of Hatred, The Washington Post, September 10, 2002
• Time for Toppling, The Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2002
• A Question, and Answers, The Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2003
• “I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Go To Hell,” The Atlantic Montly, May 2003
• Put the Iraqis in Charge, The Wall Street Journal, August 29, 2003
• King and Country, The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2003 (with R. James Woolsey)
• Democracy and the Enemies Of Freedom, The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2003
• An excerpt from his book, Race and Slavery in the Middle East, Oxford University Press, 1994

Francis Beckwith converted to Catholicism

A few weeks ago I came upon the writings of Walter Martin’s daughter (Jill) regarding the nomination of Craig Hazen for presidency at Biola. What made the post interesting was Francis Beckwith’s responds to her – one and two. Even Mormon apologist and Brigham Young professor commented as well!!

I was informed exactly a week ago that Francis Beckwith became a Catholic and I said, “No, he didn’t!” In my mind, some people just read him wrongly. Being sympathetic to Catholic theology does not make one a Catholic. And how could he convert to Catholicism especially when he is the President of Evangelical Theological Society!

James White reported on this.

And Roman Catholic Jimmy Akin reported of Francis Beckwith’s conversion.

[Even though the society’s statement of faith is extremely short (& Catholics can also sign on the statement of faith) BUT, the name of the society is called, EVANGELICAL Theological Society! not Christian Theological Society. Therefore, this is not a society for Catholics. If the members knew of this, they would not have elected him!]

UPDATE: Francis Beckwith himself has just written on his return to the Catholic church.

UPDATE 2: The Evangelical Theological Society’s Executive Committee posted their statement on Francis Beckwith.

Three Christians Brutally Murdered in Turkey by Muslims

Necati Aydin, Tilman Geske and Ugur Yuksel, (L to R) A group of Muslims entered their premise with the intention to torture and to kill these three Christian workers. This is what happened to them,

Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur’s stabs were too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.

Even though the family and friends of the victims were quick to forgive the Muslim murderers, their hatred has blinded them…

Necati Aydin’s funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim coffins.

What can we do?

This is what Pastor Fikret Bocek urges, “Please pray for the Church in Turkey, Don’t pray against persecution, pray for perseverence.”

Compare the two teachings of the murderer and the murdered,

Islam,

• … and fight them until there is no oppression and the religion is wholly for God…. (8:38-40)
• Fight against those among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) who do not believe in God and the Last Day, who do not forbid what God and His messenger have forbidden, until they are subdued and pay jizyah (tax on non-Muslims) … (9:29-32)
• Cut their necks, subdue them, then be generous. Martyrs will receive paradise where there are rivers of water, milk, wine and honey plus fruits…. Sura 47:4-6,15

Christianity,

• You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved – Matthew 10:22
• Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name – Matthew 24:9
• If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you – John 15:18
• But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you – Matthew 5:44

3 Killed in Bible Attack
3 Killed at Turkish Publisher
Christians in Turkey Fear More Attacks

UPDATE:

A report was posted that the accuracy of the stabbing was inaccurate, they were not stabbed 156 or 99 or countless times but they were stabbed a few times. I am all for accurate reporting but even if each of them were stabbed a few times that still speaks volume in regards to their hatred of the Christians. But the worst is not the stabbing but the cutting of throats!

The funeral

The day of the murder 1 (some bloody scene especially one with his throat slit)

The day of the murder 2

Thomas Huxley vs Six Sulawesi Monkeys

What has Thomas Huxley got to do with these 6 Sulawesi Monkeys?

vs

Thomas Henry Huxley was an English biologist and the chief proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution. He is often referred to as “Darwin’s Bulldog” due to his aggressive defense of Darwin.

There was a debate between Huxley and Wilberforce (A British Mathematician), there is very little record of the debate, so little can be certain about actually happened. According to legend Huxley was asked to explain how all the apparent design in life could be the result of chance and responded with the following analogy:

“If given an extremely long period of time, an infinite amount of ink, six monkeys who never die and six typewriters that never break. The monkeys would eventually type the complete works of Shakespeare.”

According to legend Wilberforce did not have a good objection to the analogy and that marked a great turn in the public opinion concerning evolution.

Let us Understand Huxley’s Analogy,

• The universe is the paper and the ink
• The monkeys are “random” external causal agents.
• The input of the random forces is restricted by the laws of the typewriter which would correspond with the laws of nature.
• The complete works of Shakespeare are supposed to be analogous to the complexity of life.

Let us put Huxley to the test

In an interesting experiment, Huxley’s idea was put to the test. A Plymoth University research team left a computer in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo in southwest England, home to six Sulawesi crested Macaques named Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan. Mike Phillips, who runs the university’s Institute of Digital Arts and Technologies, had the following comments concerning the results,

1. “The lead male got a stone and started bashing the hell out of it.”
2. “Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and urinating all over the keyboard.”
3. “The monkeys failed to produce a single word”

Conclusion

The chance god!

By the way, you can even buy the book written by Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan titled, “Notes Towards the Complete Works of Shakespeare” for UK 25 pounds.

View the project with pictures and videos.

Or, if you don’t want to buy the book just view for free.

Alvin Plantinga refutes Richard Dawkins

Alvin Plantinga weighs in on Richard Dawkins, “The God Delusion,”

Richard Dawkins is not pleased with God:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal….

Well, no need to finish the quotation; you get the idea. Dawkins seems to have chosen God as his sworn enemy. (Let’s hope for Dawkins’ sake God doesn’t return the compliment.)

The God Delusion is an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in God in particular; Dawkins and Daniel Dennett (whose recent Breaking the Spell is his contribution to this genre) are the touchdown twins of current academic atheism.1 Dawkins has written his book, he says, partly to encourage timorous atheists to come out of the closet. He and Dennett both appear to think it requires considerable courage to attack religion these days; says Dennett, “I risk a fist to the face or worse. Yet I persist.” Apparently atheism has its own heroes of the faith—at any rate its own self-styled heroes. Here it’s not easy to take them seriously; religion-bashing in the current Western academy is about as dangerous as endorsing the party’s candidate at a Republican rally. More at CT.

Al Mohler vs Homosexuality

This article from Dr Mohler’s blog caused a big stir especially in the homosexuality community—“Is Your Baby Gay? What If You Could Know? What If You Could Do Something About It?”

Also, don’t forget to listen (or watch) these talks by Al Mohler,

Louisville Forum A Debate on Homosexual Marriage Part 1 | Part 2

Homosexual “Marriage”: A Tragic Oxymoron–Biblical and Cultural Reflections  Listen   Watch

The homosexual protesters outside Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. These are some of the pictures taken from Courier-Journal. Washington Post reports on the arrest and on Dr Mohler’s statement. (HT: DB)

Alister McGrath vs Richard Dawkins 2007

You can download the debate

Part 1 | Part 2

(HT: JT)

Update: D.A Carson Mp3

This is a more extensive collection of Carson’s sermons than the previously posted one by myself.

(HT: AN)

The Use of the OT in the NT

• Part 1, part 2, part 3
• Hard Texts: Why does Hebrews cite the OT like that? part 1, part 2, part 3 (2005 J. B. Gray Lectures at SBTS in Louisville)

Postmodernism

• Understanding Postmodernism from a Confessional Stance: part 1, part 2 (outline)
• Part 1, part 2, workshop
• Sacred and Sure: 1. From Modernism to Postmodernism, 2. Foundations of Knowing, 3. The Talking God, 4. Tough Talk
• The Intolerance of Tolerance: part 1, part 2 (3.26.04)
• The Gagging of God Q & A

Emergent Church

• Is the emergent church biblical? (9.21.05)
• A Description of the Movement with a Focus on Its Strengths
• The Movement Evaluated More Critically
• An Exposition of Scripture on the Relationship Between Experience and Truth

Evangelism

• Reaching an Untouched Generation (Oct 18-19, 1997 at High Park Baptist Church in Toronto): 1. Postmodernism and Biblical Illiteracy, 2. First Steps Toward Regrouping, 3. Worldview Evangelism, 4. Apostolic Evangelism of Biblical Illiterates, 5. Faith in the Cross of Christ
• Evangelism in the 21 Century: part 1, part 2, part 3
• Ongoing Imperative for World Mission
• Telling Premodern Truth to Postmodern People

So-Called New Perspective on Paul Critiqued

• Part 1, part 2, part 3
• The New Perspective on Paul (outline)

Love of God

• The Love of God (outline)
• The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World (Desiring God Conference, 9.30.06)

Vision of a Transcendent God

• Part 1, part 2
• 1998 Pastor’s Conference: 1.Vision of a Holy God, 2.Vision of a Redeeming God, 3. Vision of a Transcendent God

The Book of Revelation

• Revelation: Rev 4, Rev 5, Rev 12, Rev 13 part 1, Rev 13 part 2, Rev 14, Rev 21-22.6, Q & A
• 1994 Conference: 1. Vision of a Transcendent God, 2. Vision of a Redeeming God, 3. Rage, Rage, Against the Church, 4. Antichrist and the False Prophet, 5. The Triumph of the Lamb of God
• Even So, Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 21.1-22.6) (outline)

Jesus and the Cross

• Sin and the Fall (Gen 3) (outline)
• Jesus Christ, the God-Man (John 1.1-18)
• Jesus the Word of God (John 1.1-18) (outline)
• Jesus, the Son of God
• The Bread of Life (John 6)
• Who Touched Me? (Mark 5.21-34)
• Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:1-14)
• Ironies of the Cross (Matt 27:27-50) (3.26.04)
• Why Trust a Cross? (Rom 3:21-26) (outline)
• Faith in the Cross of Christ (Rom 3.21-31)
• Doubting Thomas (John 20.24-31) – SBTS chapel
• The Cross and Christian Ministry (Acts 17.16-34)

Other Sermons

• On Being Prepared for Suffering and Evil: part 1, part 2
• Trials (9.12.99)
• Role of the Elder (preached at Mark Dever’s church)
• Steve Matthewson’s Installation Charge
• Cornerstone University Chapel (9.15.04)
• Moses’ Intercessory Prayer (Exodus 32-34)
• The Psalm of the Sheep (Ps 23)
• Laughing All the Way from the Bank (2 Cor 8.1-9.15)
• The Spirit Overcomes Death (Rom 8)
• What Makes You Great (2.24.06)

Other Lectures

• Just War (Henry Forum at Mark Dever’s church, 3.10.04)
• Openness of God Theology (outline)
• Discussion on Communion

I too am back…

Been working on a thesis, so I’m gald that’s over!