CrossExamined Blog
Tackling today’s toughest questions, these posts explore topics on God, morality, science, and culture.
Whether you’re a skeptic or believer, each article challenges your worldview and sharpens your thinking. Engaging, thought-provoking, and unapologetic, this is a place to dig deeper and follow the truth wherever it leads.
How Much Punishment Is Enough?
Jesus Christ, Theology and Christian ApologeticsMany people reject the possibility of an eternal Hell because they feel that “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.” Some atheists focus on this perceived inequality between the sins we commit here on Earth and the unending punishment we face in the life to come. One skeptic framed the challenge this way: “God is perfectly […]
What is Apatheism?
Atheism, Culture CrossExaminedApatheism was a term coined by the late philosopher Robert Nash.[1] It’s meant to describe the indifference or apathy some people have toward the question of whether God or gods exist. To be an apatheist is to be spiritually indifferent about the subject matter of God altogether. So much so, that adherents are uninterested in […]
Is the God of the OT the Same God of the NT?
Atheism, Theology and Christian ApologeticsThere’s no shortage of accusations claiming the Bible depicts a vision of two Gods: the grumpy, moody, and often volatile, curmudgeon like God of the Old Testament, and the mushy, judge free, glorified sugar daddy God of the New Testament. Is this the case? Does the Bible present a clash of the God’s? The malevolent […]
Three Ways to Recognize False Guilt
1. Does Truth Exist?, Culture CrossExaminedLord knows we have enough true guilt going around that we hardly need to concern ourselves with this extra layer of toxic false guilt, which is seemingly all too ready to accuse us. But how can we know whether the guilt we are experiencing is true or false? What are some of the signs to […]
Jesus Wasn’t a Refugee
Culture CrossExamined, Jesus ChristIt seems that every few years, Christians must deal with a new cultural narrative about who Jesus is and what He came to do. Contextualizing turns into syncretism. Jesus’s name is mixed in with the “gods” of the people. Suddenly we have different versions of Jesus made to fit contemporary expectations, more palatable to the […]
Is The God of the Old Testament The Same as the God of The New Testament?
Atheism, Theology and Christian ApologeticsThere’s no shortage of accusations claiming the Bible depicts a vision of two Gods: the grumpy, moody, and often volatile, curmudgeon like God of the Old Testament, and the mushy, judge free, glorified sugar daddy God of the New Testament. Is this the case? Does the Bible present a clash of the God’s? The malevolent […]
Millenials: An Undeveloped Generation
Apologetics for Parents, Culture CrossExaminedMillennials tend to think and feel differently than previous generations. Their behaviors, buying habits, and brand loyalty (or lack of it) are far less predictable than those of their parents, and certainly grandparents. Yet the one thing that appears predictable among most millennials—is their abandonment of Christianity. Despite the 24/7 streaming and uploading, millennials feel […]
In Defense of Marriage
Jesus Christ, Theology and Christian ApologeticsLanguage is complex. Language provides the building blocks for communication in society. What certain words or phrases mean within a given context helps to shape the understanding of the culture at large. Words, and their definitions, are what organize society. Words that define a culture’s foundational institutions most of all. Concise language provides clarity and […]
The Resurrection of Jesus: The Evidential Contribution of Luke-Acts
Jesus Christ, Theology and Christian ApologeticsAny discussion of the evidence for the resurrection must first ascertain what the original apostolic witnesses claimed and whether those claims are best explained by the resurrection, or by some alternative hypothesis. The contemporary discussion of the case for the resurrection has largely focused around 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, a text believed by many scholars to […]
Resurrection: Fact or Fiction – An Easter Sermon
Jesus Christ, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Bobby Conway Following Easter Sunday, it didn’t take long for skeptics to fabricate fictitious claims to debunk Christ’s resurrection. It’s easy to understand why. These critics knew that if they could dispel the resurrection, Christianity would crumble. And they weren’t wrong about that. Even Paul indicated, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith […]
Is it Hateful to Say Jesus is the Only Way?
Culture CrossExamined, Jesus Christ, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Ryan Leasure Is it hateful or arrogant to claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation? Charles Templeton thought so. He argued: “Christians are a small minority in the world. Approximately four out of every five people on the face of the earth believe in gods other than the Christian God. The more […]
Is Hell An Eternal Restraining Order?
Atheism, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Al Serrato Making sense of the existence of a place like Hell is a common struggle for the Christian apologist. Almost immediately, we are placed on the defensive, being asked to justify how a “loving” God could condemn any of his creation to a place of constant, and eternal, torment. I’ve often heard the […]
What is Divine Omnipresence?
2. Does God Exist?, Philosophy of Science, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Brian Chilton The term omnipresence describes the all-presence of God. Omnipresence is a compound word comprised of the word “omni”, meaning “all,” and “presence” which defines a person or being’s location. Thus, “omnipresence” speaks of God’s all-present nature. This means that spatial locations do not limit God. Existing as a transcendent being, God is present in […]
Can Moral Guilt Feelings Ever Be Objective?
Atheism, Culture CrossExamined, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Bobby Conway The feeling of moral guilt is a universal experience – that inward gnaw or inner ouch that we have done something wrong. It is that feeling a line has been crossed, a law has been broken, which leaves one wondering if we are genuinely guilty. But are these feelings just that—feelings? A […]
Five Reasons Why 30% of Students Aren’t Dropping Out of Church
Apologetics for Parents, Culture CrossExamined, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Jason Jimenez As American culture grows increasingly more secular, churches are no longer carrying the kind of authority and influence they once had. Church is no longer a top priority for the bulk of young Americans, and a growing number of Christians don’t see the need to put down roots in a church. However, […]
What Does it Mean to be Unequally Yoked?
Apologetics for Parents, Culture CrossExamined, Theology and Christian ApologeticsMany people see “unequally yoked” in a Bible verse or hear it in conversation and seem to have one of two thoughts come into their mind: (1) Make sure I’m equally yoked with my spouse, or (2) Why does Paul care about anyone’s egg yolks, much less them being equal? As important as getting good […]
A Wolf in the Sheep Pen
4. Is the NT True?, Culture CrossExamined, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Bob Perry The church service at our suburban Cincinnati non-denominational church had barely ended when I started receiving text messages from friends. All of them shared some version of the same question my wife and I were asking each other about the sermon we had just heard from a visiting preacher: “What in the […]
Would It Have Been Better If God Had Not Created Us?
2. Does God Exist?, Atheism, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Al Serrato There has always been evil and suffering in the world, and how to make sense of it is a principal object of Christian apologetics. Often, the argument is made that God gave us free will, and as a result, people have the liberty to choose to do evil. But this answer does […]
Scientism And Secularism
Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Luke Nix All scientific research, discussion, and education is affected by a series of underlying beliefs that include what one grants as sources of knowledge. It is quite common in today’s culture for people to accept “scientism,” which limits sources of knowledge entirely to the sciences to the exclusion of any other claimed knowledge […]
Are There Colossal Contradictions in the Gospels? A Reply to Rabbi Tovia Singer
4. Is the NT True?, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Jonathan McLatchie Rabbi Tovia Singer is an orthodox Jewish rabbi and the founder and director of Outreach Judaism. He is widely known for his counter-missionary polemics and his criticism of the New Testament presentation of Jesus as the Hebrew Messiah (see his two volume set, Let’s Get Biblical: Why doesn’t Judaism accept the Christian Messiah? [i]). In a […]
He Gets Us, But Do We Get Him? The Case for Criticizing False Teachers
Theology and Christian ApologeticsI once got an angry email from a lady who didn’t like the fact that I criticized a false teacher on our I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist podcast. “You shouldn’t criticize other Christians!” she scolded me. Do you see the problem with this? There she was criticizing me, another Christian, while […]