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.
When Does Personhood Begin? Part I
Legislating Morality, Culture & PoliticsBy Clinton Wilcox Once you have established that the unborn are human from fertilization, the next step is to ask when we should assign basic human rights to a human individual [1]. The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights since without it you can’t enjoy any other rights. It’s pretty difficult […]
What is the Unborn?
CrossExaminedBy Clinton Wilcox Before you can even answer the question of whether or not abortion is moral, you must first decide what the unborn is. For as Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason observes, if the unborn is not human, then no justification for abortion is necessary. It would be no different from having a mole removed or a […]
How to Leverage Moral Outrage for the Gospel
Legislating Morality, Culture & PoliticsBy Michael C Sherrard It is good to acknowledge the appropriateness of ones anger in the midst of evil and pain. It is right to be angry over injustice. It is right to be sick at crimes against children. It is good for you to feel a hole in your stomach as you look upon the […]
Why Is There Even A Jesus Myth Theory?
4. Is the NT True?By Stephen Bedard I have spent much of my apologetics activity responding to the Jesus myth theory. My first book (co-authored with Stanley Porter) Unmasking the Pagan Christ and my first journal article were both responses to the Jesus myth theory. Although generally discounted by scholars, I believe that it is a dangerous theory that is […]
8 Major Worldviews (Part 2)
Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Bryan Chilton In our last article, we presented the first four of the eight major worldviews. As we noted, this is a revision to a previous article that only listed six. The first article in this series presented the worldviews known as atheism/naturalism, agnosticism, pantheism, and panentheism. This article will provide the last four. To […]
8 Major Worldviews (Part 1)
Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy: Brian Chilton Before the website transferred from pastorbrianchilton.wordpress.com to bellatorchristi.com, I had written an article on the major worldviews across the globe. I presented six major worldviews at the time. While I still think the previous article treated the most major of worldviews, I have come to realize after reading Douglas Groothius’ book, Christian […]
The Wisdom Chronicle
Wisdom ChronicleThe Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon GOD’S MERCIES “For alas! we judge by sense and appearance, and do not consider that […]
Book Review: The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl
CrossExamined, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Timothy Fox I’ve waited for this book for a long time. I’ve been listening to Greg Koukl – one of my personal apologetics heroes – on the Stand to Reason podcast for years and he would occasionally mention this book he was working on, The Story of Reality (originally entitled Credo). I had been (not so) patiently waiting […]
Necessary Existence of God
2. Does God Exist?By Prayson Daniel Judeo-Christians understand God as a being that is perfect in knowledge (Ps. 147:5), power (Job 42:2), presence (Ps. 139), acts (Ps. 18:30) and has none greater (Heb. 6:13) nor equal (Ps. 40:6). Following Anselm’s “credimus te esse aliquid quo nihil maius cogitari possit“¹, God is understood to be a Being that exhibits maximal […]
One Fewer God?
2. Does God Exist?By Derrick Stokes There’s a popular quote by atheist Steven F. Roberts that many nonbelievers cite or paraphrase when debating Christians that says, “I contend we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer God than you do.” The atheist is saying that since we Christians don’t believe in Baal, Zeus, Odin, Vishnu, Quetzalcoatl, or any […]
Can Science Answer All Questions?
Philosophy of ScienceBy Paul Rezkalla In the movie Contact? Ellie told her father that she loved him, but she couldn’t prove it scientifically. That’s because science can’t do that sort of thing. Science can’t show that two people love each other. Science is simply a tool that we utilize to uncover facts about the observable universe. So here’s a fun […]
5 Attitude Changes That Will Transform Your Christian Parenting in the New Year
Apologetics for Parents, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Natasha Crain It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to write a post because my nose has been buried in writing my new book (if you’re new to the blog or missed what I’m working on, you can read about it here!). My deadline is March 1, so my ability to write new […]
How do I explain abortion to my children?
Culture CrossExaminedBy Michael C. Sherrard These kinds of questions keep you awake at night. Knowing how and when to talk to your children about sensitive issues isn’t an exact science. But we better figure it out quick. While we contemplate the best way to do it, our little ones are being taught by someone else. The internet, social media, […]
Did Messianic prophecy inspire the Christmas story?
4. Is the NT True?By Tim McGrew One of the favorite targets of destructive biblical criticism is the narrative of Jesus’ birth in the first two chapters of Matthew. One distinctive feature of Matthew’s account makes it a particularly tempting target. Matthew’s theological agenda is absolutely overt: over and over in the first few chapters of his Gospel, we get […]
A Logical Christmas Message
Jesus ChristBy Tim Stratton John 1:1-14 states “In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt […]
Jesus’ Birth: How undesigned coincidences give evidence for the truth of the Gospel accounts
4. Is the NT True?By J.W. Wartick There are many charges raised against the historicity of the birth narratives of Jesus Christ. These run the gamut from objections based upon alleged contradictions to inconsistencies in the genealogies to incredulity over the possibility of a virgin birth. Rather than make a case to rebut each of these objections in turn, […]
5 Apologetics Questions Every Christian Should Learn How to Answer: Christmas Edition
Theology and Christian ApologeticsBy Alisa Childers In a previous post, I offered quick answers to 5 apologetics questions that I think every Christian should be familiar with. With many misconceptions and misunderstandings about Christmas, here are 5 Christmas-themed questions with “barebones” quick answers that can easily be committed to memory. Was Jesus born on December 25th, AD 1? Although we celebrate His […]
The Case for the Pre-Existence of Christ: The Birthday that was Not the Beginning
Jesus ChristBy Brian Chilton Recently, we celebrated my wife’s birthday. As we reach a certain age, we remember the date, but the year begins to become foggy (intentionally, of course). When one celebrates a person’s birthday, the person’s life is being celebrated. The birthday celebration acknowledges the importance of a person’s existence. A person’s birth represents the […]
Incoherent Questions
AtheismBy Tim Stratton It has been said that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Consider the following: How much does the color purple weigh? Can God create something that is not contingent upon Him? Is the fourth corner of the triangle an obtuse, acute, or right angle? Where do the vast majority of […]
The Cross and the Falsification of Islam
IslamBy Samuel Inbaraja Sura 4:156-159 states: “Allah set a seal upon them owing to their unbelief, so they shall not believe except a few. And for their unbelief and for their having uttered against Marium a grievous calumny. And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not […]
Essential DNA Required for Life
2. Does God Exist?By Philip Carlson If one believes in evolution, it is important to know what is required for life. Not just what environmental conditions are needed, but also what biochemical conditions. It is often quoted that there are 250 essential proteins required for basic life. To have life, you need 250 proteins so it was thought. While […]