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  • The Beginning of the Crystal Sea

    The Beginning of the Crystal Sea
    2019/04/30
    28 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 1 – Defending the Faith

    Truth and Proof – Part 1 – Defending the Faith
    2022/01/04
    Episode 141 – Truth and Proof – Part 1 – Defending the Faith Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. Acts, Chapter 17, verses 16 and 17, New International Version ******** VK: Hello and Happy New Year! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you at the start of this New Year and we pray that this year will bring joy and blessings to all our listeners, especially the joy of having a closer fellowship with our Lord Christ Jesus. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to start the new year with a new – and frankly challenging – series of discussions. As just about everyone knows, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last decade than probably in the first two centuries of the country’s existence. So, as we open up this New Year we want to tackle a subject that has particular relevance in our day and time –being able to demonstrate that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. To help us get started on addressing this very important topic we have RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, why are we undertaking this series? RD: We live in an age where our historical cultural consensus has shifted. Some commentators have said that we are now living in a “post-Christian” world. For people who are not believers this means that they live in a world that has gone “beyond” the constraints and “narrowness” of Christianity. Fewer people, as a percentage of the population, belong to churches than in generations past, and many of the mainline churches are experiencing declines not only in membership, but in influence on society, government, education, family, and the culture as a whole. As we look around us we see that young people are far more consumed by the death of an entertainer than the death and resurrection of Jesus. We also see that more people are consumed by concern for temporary pleasures than their eternal destiny. It seems that everywhere our societies are all about money, entertainment, personal freedom, free expression, anything goes – everywhere it’s Babylon: the city of Satan, where it’s “all about me.” This is obviously is dangerous to individual destinies but it is also dangerous to the destiny of our communities and nation. VK: And this danger has been recognized for quite a while now, hasn’t it? In their 1994 book, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli, who are both professors of the philosophy of religion at Boston College, said the following: “Western civilization is for the first time in its history in danger of dying. The reason is spiritual. It is losing its life, its soul; that soul was the Christian faith. The infection killing it is not multiculturalism – other faiths – but the monoculturalism of secularism – no faith, no soul. Our century has been marked by genocide, sexual chaos and money-worship. Unless all the prophets are liars, we are doomed unless we repent. . .The church of Christ will never die, but our civilization will. If the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, this world certainly won’t. We do apologetics not to save the church, but to save the world.” RD: Exactly. People within the church have been warning of the danger we’re facing for decades. So, we’ve titled this series “Truth and Proof” because in it we want to point people back to the eternal truth that there is a God and that God has a plan not only for people but for communities, nations, and the world. But we don’t want to just proclaim the truth, though that is obviously where we must start. We also want to explain the evidence and reasons behind our belief. That’s the “proof” part of the series. It’s not uncommon to hear people say in this day and age something like, “you trust in faith, but I trust in logic, reason, and science.” In doing so they are trying to trying to set logic, reason, and science in opposition to faith. As we’ve said many times on Anchored by Truth, that is a false dichotomy that tries to say that if you are a Christian and you believe in the Bible you have abandoned a reliance upon logic, reason, and evidence. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. Some of the greatest thinkers of the last two millennia and some of the greatest scientists of all time ...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 2 – The Starting Point

    Truth and Proof – Part 2 – The Starting Point
    2022/01/11
    Episode 142 – Truth and Proof – Part 2 – The Starting Point Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Second Timothy, Chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, New International Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you as we continue with our recently started series on Anchored by Truth that we’re calling “Truth and Proof.” As we mentioned last time this series was inspired by a teaching series that Dr. Gregg Alexander did for his Sunday school class and a few years ago. As just about everyone knows, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last decade than probably in the first two centuries of the country’s existence. So, we wanted to follow Dr. Alexander’s lead and do a series on what is often called “apologetics” – in essence the defense of the Christian faith. Apologetics helps us demonstrate that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. To help us explore this very important topic today in the studio we have RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, would you like to remind everyone why you felt that it was so important for us to do this series? RD: Well, as we mentioned last time on Anchored by Truth, we live in an age where our historical cultural consensus has shifted. Some commentators have said that we are now living in a “post-Christian” world. For people who are not believers this means that they live in a world that has gone “beyond” the constraints and “narrowness” of Christianity. Mainline churches are experiencing declines not only in membership, but in influence on society, government, education, family, and the culture as a whole. And as we look around us we see that young people are far more consumed by what’s happening with popular celebrities than what happened with Jesus when He ministered on this earth. We also see that more people are more concerned about temporary pleasures than their eternal destiny. It seems that everywhere our societies are all about money, entertainment, free expression, anything goes – everywhere it’s Babylon: the city of Satan, where it’s “all about me.” This is obviously is dangerous to individual destinies but it is also dangerous to the destiny of our communities and nation. That’s why it’s so important for the church to remind everyone around us that this kind of cultural calculus is not only dangerous, it’s unsustainable. But we in the church need to remember that our primary mission is one of reconciliation – reconciliation between men and God. So we don’t want to lose sight of the need to marry our intellectual defense of Christianity with our intentional concern for the welfare of our neighbors. VK: That’s a great point. At the close of our last episode we mentioned that we cannot help people understand the basis for our faith without reminding ourselves of the importance of both head knowledge and heart concerns. There’s an old saying that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Or, as Dr. Alexander put it in one of his lessons, knowing what is in our heads is not as important as the One Who is in our hearts. We will never assist the Holy Spirit in drawing anyone to Christ if we rely only on the objective and academic facts of Christianity. Christians called to the ministry of reconciliation, i.e., bridging the gap between Christ and those in need of knowing Him, and pulling the one who is unwilling toward the One who is always willing. And we must do these things as the apostles taught us – with patience, diligence, and love. RD: I think that’s always an important reminder. The primary reason apologetics is an important area of study is because of its relevance to salvation. And, unfortunately, that’s never been truer than in this day and time. We live in an age where our historical cultural consensus has shifted. In this “post-Christian” world many people who are not believers don’t see the relevance of Christianity to their daily lives. They think that they make whatever choices they make and their will never be a day of reckoning. Unfortunately, they are completely unaware of Jesus’ warning in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 13 and 14 which says we need to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But ...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 3 – Objections to Knowing Truth

    Truth and Proof – Part 3 – Objections to Knowing Truth
    2022/01/18
    Episode 143 – Truth and Proof – Part 3 – Objections to Knowing Truth Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans, Chapter 1, verses 18 through 20 ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you as we continue with our recently started series on Anchored by Truth that we’re calling “Truth and Proof.” As we mentioned in our first couple of episodes this series was inspired by a teaching series that Dr. Gregg Alexander did for his Sunday school class a few years ago. And I’m pleased to announce that today we are joined by Dr. Alexander to help us push deeper into why Christians can be so confident that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. Dr. Alexander was a practicing physician for more than xx years but more importantly he has taught an adult Sunday school class for more than 25 years. Dr. Alexander, would you like to introduce yourself to the Anchored by Truth audience? Gregg: It’s a pleasure to be with you today. I really admire the fact that Anchored by Truth has devoted itself to supporting and demonstrating the inspiration and infallibility of scripture. I am also grateful that you decided to do this series on “Truth and Proof.” As you mentioned several years ago I wanted to help my Sunday school students begin to understand that Christianity is a faith that is not only supported by logic and reason but also that logic and reason properly applied can help lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus. VK: We agree. In our first couple of episodes we’ve also mentioned that the primary reason we think apologetics is an important area of study for Christians is because apologetics can be used to support evangelism. And this particularly true in today’s culture when it seems as though we’ve lost some of the common touchpoints about truth and faith that used to be accepted without question. Gregg: I think that’s true. Years ago, if you said to someone in our nation that such-and-such a principle was important because it was in the Bible, no one thought anything about your statement. But today, if you encounter a non-believer and fall back on the authority of the Bible the other person is likely to say, “well, I don’t believe in the Bible and I don’t accept its authority.” So, then the believer is faced with the question of where do you go from there? Questions like that are why studying apologetics can be very useful for people like us, and be for the eternal benefit of others. If you know why the Bible is authoritative for all persons – not just for believers – and if the other person is a sincere seeker who will listen to you, then there is a chance that that person may be saved – and that is the purpose of apologetics, evangelism, and a big part of the Christian life. Christianity is a faith that is “other-directed.” 1st Chronicles 28:9 says, “for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you . . .” In my series I set out to prove the truth of that verse. VK: So, in this series on Anchored by Truth we began in the same place as your Sunday school series - with the building blocks of apologetics. We started with the things that everyone can understand regardless of what they already know, or think they know, about religion in general, and Christianity in particular. And last time we spent a lot of our time talking about truth. After all, we want people to understand that the Bible is true and accurate in matters pertaining to fact and history. But emphasizing that the Bible is true would be meaningless if truth didn’t exist in the first place. Gregg: That’s a very important point for people to understand. Too often today you hear people say something like “you have your truth and that’s fine for you but that’s not my truth.” When people say that, they have committed the sin or equivocation. They have used the word “truth” as an improper substitute for the word “opinion” or “preference.” Real truth is always absolute. It is not subject to whims, opinions, or individual or group preferences. You wouldn’t think ...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 4 – The Basics of Logic

    Truth and Proof – Part 4 – The Basics of Logic
    2022/01/25
    Episode 144 – Truth and Proof – Part 4 – The Basics of Logic Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD… Isaiah, Chapter 1, verse 18, English Standard Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we’re going to continue with the series we recently started on Anchored by Truth that we calling “Truth and Proof.” As we mentioned in our first couple of episodes this series was inspired by a teaching series that Dr. Gregg Alexander did for his Sunday school class a few years ago. The reason we call this series truth and proof is because we’re going through a step-by-step reasoning process to show that it is possible to know the truth and prove that the Christian faith is strongly supported by logic, reason, and evidence. We’re following Dr. Alexander’s teaching approach because he did a magnificent job of clearly establishing the truth and proof of the Christian faith. I’m in the studio today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, where are we headed today? RD: I’d also like to welcome all the listeners today and thank them for joining us. This is another one of the series that we do that requires our listeners to really engage their brains and think more deeply about their faith. We know this can take some extra effort but we strongly believe that those who do it will be richly rewarded – not only because they will come a deeper and richer understanding of their faith but also because they are being obedient to the command that Jesus gave in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, verse 30. VK: In the New Living Translation that verse says “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” So, this series is one in which we are certainly giving listeners a chance to love the Lord with all their minds. RD: That is definitely true. But in diving more deeply into the underpinnings of their faith the listeners are also making a determined effort – that’s strength. And they are demonstrating that they want a deeper relationship with the author of their salvation – so that is expressing their heart’s desire. VK: And the reason we believe they will be rewarded is because all of that represents one form of obedience to the Lord. And the Lord rewards obedience. And in a certain sense it is as hard, or harder, to be obedient to the Lord when it comes to the use of our time and minds as it is with the use of our money. RD: That is also true. A lot of time when we think about what we are called to give to the Lord we think primarily in terms of our money. Or sometimes we may think of our time – whether we volunteer at church, or a homeless shelter, or at a crisis pregnancy center. All of those are certainly important. But when we apply ourselves to studying our faith there is a sense in which we are giving to the Lord in a more personal and intimate way. It takes a minute or two to write a check or do an online donation. Serving at church or a parachurch ministry takes more time but it may not engage our minds. I can mow the church lawn or help with the bake sale and not fully engage my mind. And I certainly don’t want to diminish the importance of doing any of that. But when I sit down to study the Bible, the background and meaning of the texts, and especially when I prepare myself to be a better witness to my friends and neighbors – that can be hard, really hard. VK: So, the people who do it are truly showing where their priorities lie. And studying not only what they believe but why they believe it demonstrates they are placing a very high priority on the things of God. So, how are we going to help the listeners do that today? In our last couple of episodes we’ve spent a lot of our time talking about truth. We did that because we insist that the Bible is true. But that insistence would be meaningless if truth didn’t exist in the first place. RD: Well, let’s start out by briefly reviewing some of the progress we’ve made so far. Truth is what corresponds to the facts, i.e., it corresponds to reality. Truth is absolute, and the absoluteness of it cannot be denied without using thoughts and words and arguments form others that are meant to be understood by us as absolutely true. Absolute truth is objective, i.e., it corresponds to the object to which it refers. It is not dependent on our opinions, observations, calculations, emotions, attitudes, or knowledge in any way – it simply “is what is.” VK: So, those are positive or affirmative statements about truth. But not all people ...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 5 – Proof a God Exists

    Truth and Proof – Part 5 – Proof a God Exists
    2022/02/01
    Episode 145 – Truth and Proof – Part 5 – Proof a God Exists Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans, Chapter 1, verse 20, New Living Translation ******** Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you as we continue our series we’ve called “Truth and Proof.” This series is all about the truth that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible. Then we’re going on to offer proof that supports that truth. Today we have a special guest with us on the show, Doug Apple who is the manager of the WAVE-94 radio station in Tallahassee, Florida. Like a lot of people in Christian radio Doug is a diligent student of the Bible and he has thought deeply about his faith. This includes wanting to help others see that the Christian faith is a faith that will not only satisfy our souls but also our minds. Today Doug is going to help us take a detailed look at some of the essential observations that form the foundation for the inescapable truth of God’s existence. But before we get into the discussion, Doug would you like to take a couple of minutes and tell us a little about yourself? DOUG: - Introductory comments - VK: So, I’d like to remind everyone of the purpose of this series. We are learning how to defend the Christian faith. This defense is often termed “apologetics.” Now sometimes people will get the mistaken impression that apologetics can only be done, or should only be done, by professional apologists. The truth is, however, that any sincere, mature Christian can become an effective apologist – at least effective enough to demonstrate the two main points that are the concern of classical apologetics. The first point is the existence of God and the second point is that God is the God of the Bible. We do this by demonstrating the truth of the New Testament, and, therefore, the truth of Christianity. What do you think, Doug? DOUG: I agree. It may take a little time and effort to “prove” God’s existence, but every mature, thinking, normal person can – by the power of his mind and the operation of his senses – come to the valid conclusion that somehow some thing is “bigger than” he or she is. And, this is precisely what every culture has done over the last 6,000 plus years of recorded history. Just about every culture throughout history has come to the realization that “someone,” or a bunch of “someones” is pulling the strings at a higher level than the level where we are. And, with some deeper thought people can not only know that there is a “god,” but also they can know a lot about the nature of that “god.” And when they have reached those two conclusions, hopefully, they will look in the direction of the real God. VK: So, at this point let’s again stop and briefly review what we’ve covered so far in the first four episodes of this series. First, truth is what corresponds to reality. In other words truth corresponds to the way things really are. The way things really are is the same for all people in all places, and for all belief systems. Whether or not someone knows the truth, or believes the truth, is not the point. We’ve also learned that truth is knowable and absolute. DOUG: You have also covered the fact that the absoluteness of truth counters the claims of skepticism, agnosticism, relativism, and post-modernism. Those are four philosophies that deny the existence of absolute truth, but each of them is self-defeating. Each fails its own central premise. For instance the skeptic says we must doubt the existence of absolute truth – but does not doubt the absoluteness of their own position. Said differently, the skeptic is certain about doubt. And in your last episode of this series you covered the fact that the existence of truth is supported by the most fundamental laws of logic which include: • The law of identity (A is A). • The law of non-contradiction (A is not non-A at the same time in the same relationship). • The law of the excluded middle (either A or non-A). VK: These laws of logic mean that opposites cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. This counters the idea of religious pluralism – the idea that all religious faiths are equally valid. The opposite of true is false. This unbreakable law applies to all aspects of the universe – including religion. So, the belief that God exists and the belief that...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 6 – A Creation Needs A Creator

    Truth and Proof – Part 6 – A Creation Needs A Creator
    2022/02/08
    Episode 146 – Truth and Proof – Part 6 – A Creation Needs A Creator Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 1, New Living Translation ******** Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you as we continue our series we’ve called “Truth and Proof.” This series is all about the truth that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible. Then we’re going on to offer proof that supports that truth. Today we have Dr. Gregg Alexander back on the show with us. This is a real blessing for us because this series that we are doing was inspired by a series that Gregg presented to his Sunday School class several years ago. GREGG would you like to take a couple of minutes and tell us a little about your background and perhaps just a little bit about your own testimony? GREGG: - Introductory comments - VK: So, I’d like to remind everyone of the purpose of this series. We are learning how to defend the Christian faith. This defense is often termed “apologetics.” Now sometimes people will get the mistaken impression that apologetics is an arcane or esoteric area of study beyond the reach of ordinary Christians. Nothing could be further from the truth. Apologetics is simply the way we work out the command given to us in 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 15 where we are told: “… if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.” That’s the New Living Translation. The truth is that any sincere, mature Christian can become an effective apologist – at least effective enough to demonstrate the two main points that are the concern of classical apologetics. The first point is the existence of God and the second point is that God is the God of the Bible. What do you think, GREGG? GREGG: I agree. It does take some time and effort to develop a well-grounded understanding of the principles and concepts that are usually included under the umbrella of apologetics – but when you consider the payoff it’s an investment well worth making. VK: What are you thinking? GREGG: Simply that there is nothing more important than our faith in God and not just any God but the God of the Bible. A correct understanding of God is the difference between an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell. Those are pretty high stakes. And unfortunately, right now in our country and in our time none, or at least very few, of the cultural, academic, or societal forces are aligned to help preserve our faith. So, unlike times past, when you might have thought that some degree of common sense apologetics would have helped us become grounded in the basis for our faith – none of that is present today. But that doesn’t mean we can’t succeed in developing the strengths and skills we need. We can. With just a bit of concentration and thought people can not only know that there is a “god,” but also they can know a lot about the nature of that “god” including that logic and reason tell us that god is the God of the Bible. VK: So, where do you want to start today? Last time we covered the fact that even pagan philosophers have reached the realization that somehow, somewhere there must be a cause for everything that we see around us. We spent quite a bit of time on Aristotle’s thinking on the subject of ultimate causes and the kinds of changes we see from empirical observations of the universe. GREGG: And that was a great foundation for what I’d like to talk about today. I’d like to start by talking about what I call the “Metaphysical Proof of God’s Existence:” VK: Sounds intriguing. Where do you begin? GREGG: I begin with the most obvious statement of all – one that cannot be denied. Something exists and I’ll extend that a bit further to say I actually do exist. VK: Well, I can vouch for that. If you didn’t exist who would I be speaking with? GREGG: Precisely. Someone trying to deny my existence would be making a denial to a non-existent entity and that would be pretty silly. But something else I know, we all know for sure, is that I am a contingent being. I came into being and I change. Therefore, something must have caused my existence. I could exist or not exist. At one time I didn’t exist. Since there was a time I didn’t exist something must have caused me to come into being. The result of this line of reasoning is that we can be absolutely positive that I have a cause. Now nothing cannot cause something. Everything that has had a beginning has had a cause. VK: Again, all that seems ...
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    30 分
  • Truth and Proof – Part 7 – Science Points to a Creator

    Truth and Proof – Part 7 – Science Points to a Creator
    2022/02/15
    Episode 147 – Truth and Proof – Part 7 – Science Points to a Creator Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day” and the darkness “night. Genesis, Chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, New Living Translation ******** Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you as we continue our series we’ve called “Truth and Proof.” This series is all about the truth that there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible. Furthermore, as we go along we are offering the proof that supports the truth. This series on Anchored by Truth was inspired by a Sunday School lesson series that was prepared and delivered by Dr. Gregg Alexander. Today we’re fortunate to have Dr. Gregg Alexander back on the show with us. He’s going to help us explore one of the best known lines of reasoning that demonstrates God’s existence: the cosmological argument. But before we get into the meat of the show, GREGG would you like to take a couple of minutes and tell us a little about why you decided you wanted to do your “Truth and Proof” series for your Sunday School class? GREGG: - Introductory comments - VK: So, I’d like to remind everyone that the reason we have undertaken this series is to help listeners know how to defend the Christian faith. This defense is often termed “apologetics.” Lay people will sometimes think that apologetics as an area of study is beyond the reach of regular Christians. But we certainly don’t believe that it is. Any reasonably mature, thinking Christian can readily understand the lines of reasoning that demonstrates that the existence of God is a logical necessity to have a coherent world view. And when we speak of defending the Christian faith we’re not thinking of people going out and debating on a stage somewhere. The first place we must defend our faith is in our own hearts. The second place that we must defend it is in our own homes. If all we ever did with apologetics was do those two things any efforts we made would be well worth while. GREGG: I agree. 10, 20, or 30 years ago we lived in a culture that readily accepted Christianity even if some individuals did not. 50 years ago you would even find some support for the Christian world view taught in grade schools and high schools because the truth of Christianity was widely accepted. But those days are long behind us. Our broader culture is no longer not only not acquiescent to Christianity but it is outright hostile to it. And some elements of our society are vehemently hostile. We have entered one of those periods of history where Christians can no longer be complacent that we just worship in our churches and things will be all right. The opposition to Christianity enters every home, every day if in no other way through the internet and the so-called mainstream media outlets. Arguments against the validity of Christianity are all around us. If we do not actively prepare to counter them the fabric of our society will continue to erode. VK: But the good news is that it does not have to be that way, does it? We have the truth on our side but we must equip ourselves to be able to present that truth. It is not up to us to change anyone’s heart. That’s God’s job. Our job is just to be able to witness to the truth in gentle and respectful ways. GREGG: As I said last time I was on Anchored by Truth, that there is nothing more important than our faith in God and not just any God but the God of the Bible. A correct understanding of God is the difference between an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell. Those are pretty high stakes.. VK: But the good news is that it does not have to be that way, does it? We have the truth on our side but we must equip ourselves to be able to present that truth. It is not up to us to change anyone’s heart. That’s God’s job. Our job is just to be able to witness to the truth in gentle and respectful ways. Well, let’s do a very brief review of one of the major points that we discussed last time – a proof for God’s existence that you call the “metaphysical proof.” The metaphysical proof for God’s existence begins quite simply with the observation that we exist. And we know that we exist as contingent, dependent creatures. GREGG: And because we are dependent creatures we know we must depend on someone or something outside ourselves for our origin and for our continued existence. But that chain of dependency cannot go on forever. Somewhere there ...
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    30 分