My favorite Ratio Christi person of all is Eric Chabot. He works at Ohio State University. He is the best, because can teach on many topics, he gets the best speakers to lecture, and mentors the most promising Christian students. I could tell you so many stories about his achievements as a Christian. Anyway, he has a new substack, and I decided to check it out to see what he’s writing about. I was not disappointed.

Here is his latest article, where he talks about what works best in real conversations with Muslim students:

Over the last several years, I have had many opportunities to engage in spiritual discussions with Muslims in our campus ministry in Columbus, Ohio. On several occasions, I have told Muslims that I will never become a Muslim because of their position on the death of Jesus. For Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus are central to the Gospel message. After all, the kerygma in the Book of Acts is that the Messiah was crucified according to the plan of God (Acts 2:23), that He was raised from the dead, and that He appeared to His disciples (Acts 2:24, 31–32; 3:15–26; 10:40–41; 17:31; 26:23).

Muslims, however, believe that Jesus did not die. Instead, they believe the early disciples were deceived and that Allah delivered Jesus. The Qur’an says in Sura 4:157:

“And [for] their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.”

From this passage, most Muslim scholars conclude the following:

• Jesus was not actually killed on the cross.
• Someone else may have been made to look like Him, or the event was made to appear that way.
• God rescued Jesus and raised Him to heaven.

Across both Sunni and Shia traditions, it is commonly believed that:

• Jesus was taken alive into heaven.

• He will return before the Day of Judgment.

• He will defeat Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the false messiah).

• He will eventually die a normal human death.

Now, my podcast partner Rose is an expert in Islam, and she loves to use this argument with Muslims, along with the The Islamic Dilemma. Why is this argument so good? It’s so good because you have a clear case of two historical sources asserting two mutually contradictory points. Christianity teaches that Jesus did die on the cross. Islam teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross. Only one can be right. It’s the perfect point to bring up with Muslims, because it’s a clear disagreement, and one that can be settled by the ordinary methods of historical analysis. The right answer depends on which sources come first – who is in contact with the eyewitnesses at the time when history was recorded?

Eric writes:

[T]he Qur’an was written roughly six hundred years after the life of Jesus, making it a much later source of information than the New Testament. The evidence suggests that the core historical content of the Gospel—the death and resurrection of Jesus—was circulating very early within the Christian community. As mentioned earlier, historians look for records that are closest in time to the events they describe. Given the early date of 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, along with other sources, it is evident that this material is historically earlier than the Qur’an.

If you don’t know about the early creed from 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, you really should listen to episode 1 of the Knight and Rose Show. We quoted the writings of a famous atheist German New Testament scholar and atheist (formerly professor at the University of Göttingen). He dates the elements of the creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 (or more broadly 15:3-8) very early. You can find his own statement in his book “The Resurrection of Jesus” (1994), where he states:

“the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus…not later than three years… the formation of the appearance traditions mentioned in I Cor.15.3-8 falls into the time between 30 and 33 CE.”

So, this is very, very early evidence for the crucifixion of Jesus. And the crucifixion is of course echoed by other non-Biblical sources, e.g. – Tacitus, Flavius Josephus, The Babylonian Talmud and Lucian of Samosata.

Eric notes that it’s not just early sources that matter. The number of sources matters too. He has a list of dozens of sources going from the event itself right up to the late sixth century.

My podcast partner Rose talked about the implications of Allah allowing people to believe in mistakes for 6 centuries before Mohammed finally shows up to correct them in episode 11 of the Knight and Rose Show.

Eric makes the same point:

Consider the implication of the Islamic claim. According to Islam, Allah allowed the first-century disciples to be deceived into believing that Jesus literally died on a cross. Not only that, but this supposed deception continued for roughly six centuries until Muhammad received a revelation through the angel Gabriel.

His article is great. It’s something that everyone should know how to do. I think most Christians think of Christianity as “our tradition”. It’s what Westerners believe. It’s our family tradition, our community tradition. Then, when they encounter Islam, they think of it as just “Middle East Christianity”. That’s just their tradition, on the same historical footing as our tradition.

Certainly, it’s easy to think that all religions are the same, and many Christians do. And unfortunately, there’s not much apologetics being taught in church. Pastors don’t do much to teach their flocks how to test a religion for truth. Instead, pastors teach Christians to share their testimony. And when Muslims share their testimony, Christians aren’t equipped to have a truth-focused discussion where evidence is weighed.

Well, I think that what Eric has written there is about the best you can do as a lay Christian. So, read his article closely. Notice how he quotes non-Christian scholars to make his points. Don’t let yourself get tricked into discussions about which book is more holy. If you stick with the historical evidence, then the discussion doesn’t get heated. On the contrary, you will be shedding light on the subject, when you explain your views and how you arrived at them. My mom’s side of the family is all Muslim, and none of them ever got mad at me when I explained this argument to them. It just works.

 

 

On this blog, I’ve talked about how pushy the Transgender Industrial Complex is about pushing transgender drugs and surgeries onto kids. Usually, they will tell parents that if they don’t agree with transing their kid, then the parents will be responsible for the self-ending of the child. “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?” they ask parents of girls. And in at least one state, they want to put even more pressure on parents to consent.

Here’s the latest story from The Federalist:

Colorado’s Democrat state legislators want to force transgenderism on parents, requiring them to affirm their child’s “gender identity” or risk losing custody.

Radical lawmakers introduced “Concerning Legal Protections for The Dignity of a Minor” (SB 26-018) on Jan. 14, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill, referring it to the full Senate on Feb. 18.

In its intended form, the bill requires courts to consider whether parents embrace their child’s “gender identity” when determining custody. Courts must favor parents who support their child’s “preferred name and pronouns” and push their child to receive harmful and damaging “transgender” drugs, hormones, and surgeries.

[…]While the bill seeks to regulate custody disputes, it also opens the door for courts or child protective services to remove transgender-identified kids from the custody of parents who believe in biological reality and don’t want to irreversibly harm their child with drugs and surgeries.

[…]Primary sponsors of the bill include Sens. Katie Wallace and Chris Kolker and Reps. Meg Froelich and Lorena García.

The article goes on to note that this has already happened in many states, including in red states like Indiana, Montana, Texas and Arizona. Who is doing this? Well, it’s usually a joint effort by a group of teachers, social workers, school administrators, school nurses, therapists, and medical providers.

One of the things that makes the transgendering of kids so painful is how these courts silence the parents so they can’t even tell anyone about what they are doing.

The Federalist article describes two of the cases – from Montana and Indiana:

When Krista and Todd Kolstad’s 14-year-old daughter landed in a Montana hospital for suicidal thoughts, her parents had no idea she would soon be taken from them. After the Kolstads’ daughter revealed her desire to “change genders,” Montana Child and Family Services removed her from their custody and relocated her to a treatment facility in Wyoming focused on “gender therapy.”

“They have a complete agenda. We have no voice, no voice in court,” Todd said. “They just gag ordered us and threatened jail time.”

Likewise, Mary and Jeremy Cox lost custody of their 16-year-old son for refusing to affirm his sexual identity confusion.

In courtroom proceedings, the Indiana Department of Child Services — while using biologically incorrect pronouns — argued the Coxes’ son needed to be in a home “where she is accepted for who she is,” not one that will “tell her how she should think and how she should feel.”

I don’t think socially conservative Christians realize the effect that this silencing parents has on the willingness of young people to get married. It’s a huge deterrent – the idea that teachers, administrators, social workers, medical people, etc. can come in and trans your child, force you to pay the costs on your health insurance, and then silence you from complaining about what they are doing to you.

This is very depressing, and if I were you, I would move to the reddest state you can find. Not Indiana, not Texas, not any of those. Tennessee is the best state in the union for social conservatives, and then other states like Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama. Make this move a priority if you have kids, because you do not want to have your kids taken from you, and then be slapped with a gag order that prevents you from telling anyone about it.

Anyway, here is a good news story from The Federalist:

On Wednesday, the Texas Supreme Court heard opening arguments in the case of a woman seeking damages for medical malpractice in gender transition.

Soren Aldaco, a detransitioned woman who suffered from gender dysphoria as a teen and underwent a double mastectomy at 19, is suing Barbara Wood and Three Oaks Counseling Group for recommending the senseless mutilation and allegedly falsifying information to secure it.

I thought this part of the article was interesting, so you can see how children are led along the transgender path:

As a minor, a nurse practitioner she met at a transgender support group prescribed Aldaco hormones. He was essentially “recruiting” patients from the support group, Aldaco said, influencing children and their parents.

At the time of her surgery, Aldaco said she was taking multiple mental health medications, had been hospitalized for a manic episode, and struggled with anxiety and depression.

Although Aldaco had only received telehealth counseling from her therapist for “relationship issues,” Wood signed a recommendation letter for a double mastectomy. Wood provided the letter in February 2021, and Aldaco underwent surgery in June.

The aftermath of the surgery was brutal, physically and mentally scarring. Aldaco documented excessive bruising and swelling that would eventually require drains from the surgery sites. The clinic staff was less than receptive, evading responses to her concerns and repeatedly requesting that she sign a nondisparagement agreement, she said.

Basically, the teaching, therapy and health care professions are filled with people who are driven by emotions. Their motto is “don’t judge”. They aren’t big on moral boundaries and spiritual truth claims. They just want people to do what feels good in the moment, and then escape all judgment and punishment. And they certainly don’t care what the Bible has to say about what the rules are and what the purpose of life is. They just want to be happy. And they want you to “just love everybody”. So, guys like me who tell young people not to take out student loans for English degrees are seen as terrible people.

Bible-believing Christian men are seen as the worst – always telling people to make better choices about relationships and sex and money. Blech! But what happens when the “don’t judge” people mislead their victims into terrible mistakes, like transgenderism. Then, the don’t judge people stop answering the phone, and they want you to sign a “nondisparagement agreement”. They really don’t like accountability. In fact, if they can, they’ll use force to cover up their failure and the damage that they caused. In Canada, the transgender activists often force parents to keep silent about what they are doing to children with publication bans, for example.

In case you missed it, the first victory from a detransitioner case happened recently. I blogged before about how transgender doctors love to trans kids because the initial treatments and ongoing treatments are a “huge money maker” for these health care providers. That’s why you need to be careful where you take your children for their educations and health care. A lot of these people on the secular left in the schools and hospitals are hoping to turn your kid into a pot of gold. And they don’t care what permanent effects they cause when they’re getting their bag of gold.

I’m always on the alert for new books that will help me get into interesting conversations with people about the big questions of life. The trick is being good on every topic relevant to the big questions. I’ve had to learn the basics of cosmology, astrobiology, paleontology, historical methods, economics, policy, investing, etc. And there’s a new book out on the human body that might help me to have even more interesting conversations.

Here’s a description of the new book by physicist Dr. Brian Miller (who is actually our guest on the next episode on the Knight and Rose Show):

I have written previously about the groundbreaking research of engineering professor Stuart Burgess that has demonstrated the exquisite design behind human anatomy… Dr. Burgess has compiled many of the best examples in his new book, out today for Darwin Day, the birthday of Charles Darwin: Ultimate Engineering: How Human Biomechanics Reveals Intelligent Design. This book not only dismantles claims that the human body often appears poorly designed, but it also demonstrates that human anatomy displays ingenuity and efficiencies far superior to the best creations of human engineers.

I know what most of you are used to making sophisticated arguments like the origin of the universe, the cosmic fine-tuning, habitability, explosions of biological complexity in the fossil record, etc. But think back to when you were in high school. Your friends were deciding what to think about origins then, and they did not know about the sophisticated arguments. At that time, I remember my friends accepting Darwinian evolution over things like supposedly poor designs in biology as well as the “icons of evolution” that Dr. Jonathan Wells writes about. So, you and I have to know how to respond to that low level of argument for Darwinian evolution.

Anyway, Dr. Miller continues:

After contrasting the divergent expectations of the two frameworks, Burgess shows that claims of poor design consistently collapse under close inspection… Rather than arising from empirical evidence, evolutionary critiques largely reflect the projection of anti-teleological expectations onto the biology.

Burgess goes much further by demonstrating that human anatomical structures appear was well designed as theoretically possible.

He mentions a few “poor designs” in the article, and I hadn’t heard of any of them.

The argument against design from sub-optimal design is a fine argument to try, but I don’t think it is going to work on engineers. I am a software engineer. When we do designs, we are always thinking in terms of tradeoffs. I used to work in the embedded space, so we wanted to have things run fast, but we couldn’t put desktop CPUs and desktop amounts of memory in these little devices or they would cost too much! Designers understand that optimal design simply is not realistic. I buy my Dad a new laptop every 4 years, and sometimes his old one is still working fine. He keeps telling me that he wants his laptops to last more than 5 years, but if they did, he would have to accept that this might blow up the cost, the size, the power consumption, the noise level, etc. There’s no free lunch when you’re designing software or hardware.

And in the human body, the designs have clearly prioritized certain features at the expense of others. Just because God designs something, it doesn’t mean that it has to match our expectations of “perfect” design. We want to live forever, but that’s not what God wants most of all. He gives us a body that lasts a certain period of time so that we can either reconcile with him or not. People want to think that the design of biological systems should be for their comfort and ease. But that’s not what God’s goal is when he designs something. He has different goals.

I think some people who reject God just don’t want to accept that they are not the center of the universe. They say “well, if my happiness isn’t the goal of all this designing, then I’ll just deny that there is a designer”. I remember Christopher Hitchens saying things like that in his debate with William Lane Craig. “The universe is so big, I don’t like it. That’s not how I would have done it”. And there are certain people that find an argument like that very convincing for some reason. To me, it sounds too narcissistic. Why does everything have to be perfect for me, or I throw a temper tantrum? Sometimes I think that a theist is just someone who doesn’t insist on having their own way all the time, about every little thing.

I noticed that Dr. Miller has a new article up after this first one where he talks about two specific examples of design: the knee and the brain.

If this is something you think you might like to add to your quiver of discussion topics, check out the book.