Logic, Reason, and Philosophy are Intellectual and Spiritual Goods

by Jason Dulle

Many Christians have a negative connotation of the words reason, logic, and philosophy. Their negativity is not altogether unfounded. After all, there’s been more than a few individuals who have rejected Christianity on the grounds that it is irrational and illogical. And we’ve all known or heard of someone who studied philosophy only to lose their Christian faith. The problem in all of these cases, however, is not reason, logic, or philosophy, but rather the improper use of reason, logic, and philosophy. Indeed, all of us use reason and logic, and all of us subscribe to a particular philosophy even if we are unaware of it.

It is inescapable. Reason and logic are God-given tools that allow us to think and obtain knowledge. Logic and reason help us to order our thoughts, and enhance our ability to discern truth from error. We can’t think without them, although we can misuse or abuse them in the process of thinking. And that, I think, is where the real problem lies: the abuse of reason and logic.

While God intended for man to use logic and reason to discover truth and discern error, our ability to do so has been colored by sin. Man does not utilize reason and logic in a spiritual vacuum. The heart/will is connected to the mind. In our fallen state, what we believe if often influenced by what we want to believe. We often use reason—albeit improperly—to justify beliefs and behaviors that we know to be false/evil. But just like a knife is not evil in itself although it can be used in an evil manner by a man with a murderous heart, so too logic and reason are not evil in themselves even though they can be used in an improper manner by those whose hearts are opposed to God.

This is not a reason to avoid reason and logic, but to embrace it. Only if we are using our God-given mental faculties properly will we be able to see how the unbeliever is misusing logic and reason, and be able to point out his error. As C.S. Lewis noted, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” And once the unbeliever’s error has been pointed out and recognized, he has the opportunity to align his will with what he knows to be true, or persist in denial and self-deception. The choice is his, but the Christian’s proper use of reason can help bring him to that valley of decision.

As Christians, we should embrace logic and reason—alongside revelation—as handmaidens of the truth. Reason and logic, when used properly, will always buttress the truth, not destroy it.

Evolution: Theory or Fact?

Which Bible Version should we use?

Big Bang Cosmology and Atheism Go Together Like Peas in a Blender

written by Jason Dulle

For millennia philosophers maintained that the universe is eternal. The philosophical payoff of this view was that it avoided the God question. If the universe has always been, it did not need a creator. The emergence of the Big Bang theory in the early part of the 20^th century, however, changed all of that. The Big Bang model successfully predicted that the universe–including all spatio-temporal-material reality–had an absolute origin at a point in the finite past, from which it expanded, and continues to expand today.

The theistic implications of this model were recognized instantly. If the universe began to exist, it seemed to require a supernatural cause (one outside the confines of the natural world). That’s why it was met with fierce opposition, and why it took several decades and many lines of empirical confirmation to become the reigning paradigm it is today. Even now, cosmogenists continue to put forth alternative models in hopes of averting the beginning of the universe, many of which are little more than exercises in metaphysical speculation, incapable of both verification and falsification.

While not friendly to an atheistic worldview, many atheists eventually made their peace with the empirical evidence, and accepted the theory. But the theistic implications of a temporally finite universe have not gone away. Anything that begins to exist requires a cause. If the universe began to exist, what caused it to exist? It could not be a natural law, because natural laws originated with the universe. It could not be self-caused, because this is incoherent. Something cannot bring itself into existence, for that would entail its existence prior to its existence.

The atheist has two options. He can either admit to the existence of an external cause of the universe, or affirm that the universe is uncaused. For most atheists the first option is out of the question. An external cause of the universe looks too much like God: immaterial, eternal, non-spatial, intelligent, and personal. That leaves them the second option. But this won’t do either. The causal principle is one of the most basic intuitions we have. Things don’t just pop into existence uncaused from nothing, so why think the universe did? If everything that begins to exist has a sufficient cause, on what grounds is the origin of the universe excepted? If one excepts it on the basis that it is impossible to have a cause prior to the first event, they are guilty of begging the question in favor of atheism, for they are assuming that physical reality is the only reality, and thus the only possible cause of the Big Bang must be a physical cause. But it is entirely plausible that the external cause of the Big Bang was an eternal, non-physical reality. The only way to demonstrate that the universe cannot have a cause, then, is to demonstrate that the existence of an eternal, non-physical reality like God is impossible. But the very beginning of the universe is an argument for such a being’s existence!

Some atheists, recognizing the problem the principle of causal sufficiency makes for the atheistic worldview, cling to an eternal universe despite the scientific and philosophic evidence to the contrary. They recognize that it is nonsense to think something can come from nothing, uncaused. Something can only come from something. From nothing, nothing comes. If there was ever a time when nothing existed (as the Big Bang model predicts), then of necessity there would be nothing still, because nothing has no potential to become something. And yet there is something, so there could not have been a time when nothing existed. As a matter of historical fact, there can’t ever be a time when there was nothing. Something must exist eternally. If something must exist eternally, and the universe is not that something, then something resembling the God of theism must exist. Rather than admit the obvious-that this is evidence for the existence of God-these atheists reject the scientific and philosophical evidence for a finite universe, and assert that the universe must exist eternally.

What’s important to see, here, is that this sort of atheist is not being intellectually honest with the evidence. He has an a priori philosophical and volitional commitment to atheism, and that commitment biases him to such an extent that he will not accept the destination to which the rational evidence leads. Only theism is consistent with the evidence, and consistent with reason. While I commend atheists who reject the notion that the universe could come into being from nothing totally uncaused as an irrational leap of faith, I admonish them to go one step further, and recognize that the principle that something only comes from something, combined with the scientific an philosophical evidence for the finitude of the universe, supports theism, not atheism. To be consistent and honest with the data, they should accept the finitude of the universe, and admit that its existence requires a personal and supernatural cause.

There is no scientific evidence for God?

written by Jason Dulle


Atheists love to assert that there is no scientific evidence for the existence of God. I have a couple of thoughts on this. First, how do they come to this conclusion? Generally speaking, this conclusion follows from their definition of science. They define science as the search for naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena. If science is defined so as to a priori exclude agent causation as a valid explanation for any natural phenomenon, then it is no surprise that “science” will never yield any evidence for the existence of God. It can’t by definition. To put it in the form an argument, the atheist reasons as follows:

1 Science is the search for naturalistic explanations for natural phenomena
2 God is a supernatural explanation
3 Therefore, God is not a scientific explanation
4 There can be no scientific evidence for a non-scientific explanation
5 Therefore, there is no scientific evidence for the existence of God

Why should we accept premise 1 to be true? Why define science in such a way that it only allows for naturalistic causes for natural phenomena? Why not open up one’s explanatory options to include intelligent agency? If the evidence points to a naturalistic cause, fine. But if the evidence points to intelligent agency, why not conclude that some intelligent agency is responsible? The best explanation should not be excluded a priori based on some arbitrary definition of science. If one does not restrict their definition of science to disallow intelligent causation, then the claim that there is no scientific evidence for God ceases to hold water. There is plenty of scientific evidence for the existence of God including the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the fine-tuning of the physical constants for a life-permitting universe.

Secondly, even if there was no scientific evidence for the existence of God, what would that matter? After all, science is equipped to measure the physical, not the immaterial. In the same way we would not expect to be able to see an invisible man if such a being existed, we should not necessarily expect for there to be physical evidence of an immaterial being. The fact of the matter is that science is not the only source of knowledge. Philosophy is another source of knowledge. And unlike science, philosophy is equipped to evaluate metaphysical concepts such as God. So long as there are good philosophical reasons to believe in God, then theism is rationally justified. One need not have scientific evidence for His existence. We can be thankful, however, that we have both philosophical and scientific evidence for the existence of God.

Check out the link to Jason's website

Professional Sports - Is it Worth You?

Separating the State from the Church

by Lawrence M. Vance

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” ~ First Amendment

The establishment and exercise clauses of the First Amendment are well known. American Christians have never had to worry about the national government establishing an official religion for the United States. And although they have sometimes had to be concerned with government interference in the free exercise of their religion, it is generally true that Christians in America are free to worship God, organize churches and religious organizations, participate in religious services, and practice their faith in the manner of their choosing.

There is a greater threat to genuine New Testament Christianity and the sanctity of American churches than that of the government interfering with religion in the United States. That peril is the conscious and deliberate bringing and welcoming of the state into the church.

This disturbing phenomenon is more evident in a church’s music than anything else. Many churches look for an excuse to sing hymns to the state, not just on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July, but also on the Sunday nearest to Flag Day, Armed Forces Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and special “military appreciation” or “law enforcement appreciation” days that they designate.

Here are portions of some well-known and well-beloved hymns that one might hear sung in the typical American church:

Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.

Immortal, Invisible
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

These are all hymns of worship. One does not have to be a Christian to see that these hymns are directed to God in general or Jesus Christ in particular. They all have a serious message about the nature of God or the person and work of Christ.

Now, compare these hymns of worship with the “patriotic” songs that one might hear sung in many churches on one of the aforementioned special Sundays:

My Country, ’Tis of Thee
My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From ev’ry mountain side
Let freedom ring.

America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties,
Above the fruited plain.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

Battle Hymn of the Republic
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

There is a radical difference between these two groups of songs. The latter are all hymns of state worship, and as such have no place in the church. Yet, most of them are not only sung, they are in the church hymnal. This is statolatry at its worse. The state must be separated from the church.

Instead of “I will praise Him!” it is “Of thee I sing.” Instead of “We praise Thee, O God our Redeemer,” it is “We salute you, land of liberty.” Instead of “Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus!” it is “America! America!” Instead of “I am Thine O Lord,” it is “I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold.” Instead of “Jesus is coming again!” it is “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

With the exception of the last song, the blasphemous “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which, as I pointed out a few years ago, is not suitable to sing inside or outside of church, these are songs that might be suitable for a holiday celebration or patriotic concert, but not in church. For example, when Jesus drove the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple, he told them: “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise” (John 2:16). This, however, did not mean that commerce outside of the temple was forbidden.

But regardless of whether these songs may or may not be suitable in certain circumstances, the state must be separated from the church.

Some churches, unfortunately, go even further, and sing their request for God to bless America. Some of these churches take the country-western approach:

God Bless the U.S.A.
I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free,
And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today,
’Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God Bless the U.S.A.

Others take a more traditional approach:

God Bless America
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America,
My home sweet home.

But instead of asking God to bless America – the abortion, pornography, and drug capital of the world – perhaps Christians should sing something like: “God, please don’t judge America.”

But regardless of whether a church goes this far or not, the state must be separated from the church.

What usually results from the singing of “patriotic” songs in church is that “America” is equated with the U.S. government, a government just as corrupt and just as evil as most governments in history. And once this is done, the veneration of the U.S. military as the defender of our freedoms soon follows. Although I have not personally seen it, I am sure that many churches would applaud if the Color guard from the local military base paraded down the main aisle during the Sunday morning worship service.

The transformation of many of this country’s conservative evangelical churches into Republican clubs, VFW halls, and Armed Forces recruiting centers would never have taken place without the introduction of “patriotic” music into American churches.

It doesn’t matter how much of a patriot one is or how much one likes patriotic songs, the question is the appropriateness of singing these songs in church.

Instead of worrying about the First Amendment, Christians should be more concerned about the First Commandment. The Lord demands that no gods be put before him – inside or outside of church. God will not give his glory to another (Isaiah 42:8, 48:11). The state must be separated from the church.

As Far as the Eye Can See

How amazing it is to know that other planets exist beyond earth, stars beyond our sun, and galaxies greater than our Milky Way. With all of the rapid technological advancements of modern day, mankind has still found no end to the universes. So much knowledge has been gained and many theories formed about the wonders of God’s stellar creations.

And despite this, we’ve only scratched the surface.

The spiritual world is no different. We communicate with God, pray at church and read the scriptures so we can have a better understanding of the Lord and His kingdom. But there are also times when we slow down, take a break, and eventually become ‘spiritually’ comfortable. Tradition often sets in and we spend less and less time seeking the Lord and learning His ways. We think we have seen all there is to see.

But beyond our physical world and even outer space - there is a spiritual world which we know very little of. Many people have been blessed to witness the signs, wonders and miracles of God since the beginning of time. Everything that we have ever heard or seen what God has done, there is still much more to grasp and experience. We have not, nor ever will be able to know everything about the kingdom of God. He is eternal, his wisdom is limitless and his love is everlasting.

We must always seek the Lord, understand His ways – and in doing so you will continue to travel the Spiritual journey that is set before you. After all, you’ve only scratched the surface.


~ J.D. Hodges