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.
Gospel contradictions? Why they don’t exist. A Little Experiment to Teach Skeptics about trying to mindlessly refute the NT
4. Is the NT True?A few years ago on an email list that is populated mainly by liberal Christians and non believers, I was challenged by an Atheist (Charles) to explain why there were so many inconsistencies in the Gospel accounts. His complaint was that for example some gospel accounts talk about Mary Magdalene going to the grave of Jesus, […]
Parasitic Evil and Independent Good
Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics[Stepping away from the cultural commentary and scientific or political headlines. This is a philosophy lesson, drawn heavily from 4th century metaphysics. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past, repackaged and reapplied for today] Evil seems to be real, yet in what sense can we say it “exists”? Some, of course, say evil […]
Is the New Testament Reliable? Even Bart Ehrman Says Yes
4. Is the NT True?UNC Chapel Hill Professor Bart Ehrman has made quite a name for himself as a critic of the New Testament documents. The conclusions he draws in his popular best-selling book Misquoting Jesus cast doubt on whether we can accurately reconstruct the original New Testament documents. Ehrman appears to be at odds with most New Testament […]
The Top Ten Same Sex Marriage False "Facts"
Culture CrossExaminedWhen one judge overturned the will of more then seven million Californians last week in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, he listed 80 supposed “findings of fact” (FF) as evidence that Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Many of those 80 findings are not facts at all. They’re lies or distortions. Before […]
Gay Totalitarianism vs. Christian Liberty
Culture CrossExaminedTwo Christian graduate students at public universities (Eastern Michigan University and Augusta State University) are being expelled from their counseling programs for their religious and moral objections to homosexual behavior. One case has been decided in favor of EMU (and will be appealed) and the other case has just been filed. The Alliance […]
Obama Administration OKs First Tax-Funded Abortions Under Health Care Law
Culture CrossExaminedAs predicted by all reasonable people who knew that Obama’s executive order was disingenuous, elective abortion will now be paid for with your tax dollars. The Obama administration has just approved it. This is truly a “moral injustice of the first order.” Here are the details. By the way, I don’t merely object to abortion […]
Judicial Activism vs. Liberty
Culture CrossExamined(This column first appeared on Townhall.com) Elena Kagan called the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy “a moral injustice of the first order.” A moral injustice of the first order? Where on her moral hierarchy is a real “first order” injustice like murder? Not high enough. For Elena Kagan, sexual standards that protect military readiness […]
Liberals Flunk Econ 101
Culture CrossExaminedJohn Zogby recently interviewed nearly 5,000 American adults and asked them eight basic questions about economics. The eight questions have easily provable answers. Here are the bottom line results published in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader:” the more conservative people did the best and the more liberal […]
Is God Good? (A Short Film)
CrossExaminedHere is animated short film called, “Is God Good?” In less than two minutes, it succinctly addresses how human freedom relates to the problem of evil (with some brilliant animated imagery). This 2-minute video is a kind of animation known as kinetic type. This genre allows the artist to get a little crazy – words […]
Dennis Prager on American Exceptionalism
Culture CrossExaminedWith wit, passion and clarity, radio talk show host Dennis Prager unearths one of the root problems in America today– the failure of our schools and parents to teach why America is exceptional. American exceptionalism is not elitism but the admission that certain moral values are better than others. Note: those who say that certain […]
The Bible: Embarrassing and True (Part 2)
4. Is the NT True?, Theology and Christian ApologeticsDo the New Testament documents tell the truth about what really happened in the first century? As I wrote in my last column, authors claiming to write history are unlikely to invent embarrassing details about themselves or their heroes. Since the New Testament documents are filled with embarrassing details, we can be reasonably certain that […]
The Bible: Embarrassing and True (Part 1)
4. Is the NT True?, Theology and Christian ApologeticsWhat are your most embarrassing moments? You don’t want to admit them. And if you do admit them, you certainly won’t add to your shame by inventing embarrassing moments about yourself to make you look even worse. Who’s going to lie to make himself look bad? People will lie to make themselves look good (especially […]
God and Birth Defects
CrossExaminedAs recorded in John Chapter 9, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Australian […]
TV Show Moving to Wednesday Night
TV ShowOur I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist TV show is moving to Wednesday night at 9 pm ET and 1 am ET (which is 6 pm and 10 pm Pacific), DirecTV channel 378. May 10th is our first showing (it will no longer be on Monday nights). Thanks to our friends at […]
Christians and Atheists Seeking the Same Thing?
Atheism, Theology and Christian ApologeticsEvangelical author Skye Jethani makes the insightful observation that some so-called Christians and some atheists have quite a bit in common when it comes to control. While some atheists (like Hitchens and Dawkins) want control without God, some evangelicals want control over God. He writes: “The great irony is that while claiming submission to God, […]
Ethics, a fad?
CrossExaminedRecently I posted a book review on “O God” which talks about Oprah’s spirituality. Like most of my apologetics conversations lately, the discussion quickly turned to morality. I find this phenomenon interesting and revealing. Sure, I’m still operating largely on anecdotes and personal experience, but others have attested to my theory. No, my theory is […]
"O God"-Effectively Critiques Oprah-ology.
CrossExaminedIn the new book “O” God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah’s Spirituality. (CA: WND, 2009; 128pg) renowned Christian apologist Josh McDowell and up-and-comer Dave Sterrett offer a brief popular level critique of Oprah Winfrey’s growing and influential religion.To keep the reading light the authors present their apologetic in a story-form dialogue between a young […]
The Birch Tree Challenge
Culture CrossExaminedI’ve issued a challenge at Plumb Bob Blog, my political/social blog, to progressives and atheists to see which of them can answer cogently. I’m giving away the secret up front: this is about the semantic contortion that leads them to call long-term cohabiting between gays “marriage,” and insist on marital rights and appurtenances that apply […]
It’s the Culture Stupid
Culture CrossExaminedJack Cashill makes an interesting case at the American Thinker today that the mortgage crisis and much of the faltering economy can be traced back to the breakdown of the family. Minority families broke down (or really, never formed) at rates much greater than white families. Since more minorities came from broken homes and thus […]
In ancient wall, scholar sees proof for Bible
4. Is the NT True?, Theology and Christian ApologeticsBack in 1993, archaeologists found an inscription in the Israeli town of Dan bearing the name of the Hebrew King David. This put to rest the theory that the David of the Bible was just a myth. Now at least one archaeologist is claiming that Jerusalem was fortified at the time of David lending further […]
The Three Faces of ID
Philosophy of ScienceAt a conference on Intelligent Design (ID) last semester I was sitting in the audience listening to some lively panel discussion when it occurred to me that many of the insights people were offering were confused about their target. They did not seem clear about what they were aiming at. And while I could filter […]