Ben Joiner's Blog

 Pietism is a school of thought that originated in Lutheran Christianity in Germany of the 1600's.  It emphasizes obeying God's commands and Biblical Doctrines.  But in my own experience, I've seen a unique Pietist approach to Apologetics.  More than once, I've heard the same self contradictory thinking.     In more than one way, they essentially say that apologetics is a bad thing.  Then they say that we simply need to see the evidence of the Gospel changing lives.  There are a few problems here.  Out of one side of their mouths, they argue that the Gospel doesn't need evidence to support it.  Then, in the same breath, they lay out evidence to support the truth of the Gospel.  But a bigger problem is that the evidence isn't all that good.  Think of how this logic works. p1)Christianity makes people become good c)Therefore Christianity is true     There are problems galore here. 1)Many young people claim morality...

 Jewish prophecy has an odd quality.  I'd often noticed it when reading parts of the Bible, especially Daniel.  It always confused me.  I didn't understand what this was until I got an apologetics book by a Jew.  The book was intended to persuade Jews to convert to Christianity. So there are two basic types of prophecy in the Bible.  This I had long known.  Normal prophecy is when God tells someone something to tell to other people.  The prophet has been sent by God with a message.  Typological prophecy is when something happens that is similar to what happens later.  For example, Paul calls Adam a type of Christ.  Here there is no direct message from God.  Instead the events occur normally and God providentially oversees that they are also foretelling future events.  God inspires someone to write about these events for a purpose of that time.  But all along there is an additional prophetic message for the future....