RC Talk - The Official Blogs of Ratio Christi Chapters

A common perception is that science and religion are not compatable. However, this is not been the case. In fact, what we know as modern science (defined by the experimental method) was an outgrowth of religion. But not just any religion. Specifically, modern science was the brain-child of Christianity.

"What?" you say! Skeptical of that last statement? Read the article attached below to find out why it took a Christian worldview "thinking cap" to arrive at the modern scientific enterprize...

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Maybe you've heard the comment before, "You Christians just accept everything on "faith"!"

Did you notice there is a hidden assumption in that statement? When someone challenges belief in God in this way, the first thing that should be done is to ask the question: "What do you mean by 'faith'?" You may be surprised by the reply.

Examples of Blind Faith

Many people today assume that believing in God is what might be defined as “blind faith.” This is the idea that belief is based on… well, just one’s personal belief. In other words, there is no evidence or logical reason to believe. Faith is simply a subjective feeling or emotional response to the idea that God exists.

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Sometimes I run into Christians who have the impression that apologetics does not relate to evangelism. But actually, apologetics and evangelism are two sides of the same coin. In fact, when a Christian understands basic answers to questions that non-Christians have regarding Christianity, they are in a much better position to point others to Christ.

There are two reasons that apologetics and evangelism go together like, as Forrest Gump’s mom said, “peas and carrots.”

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There are many mischaracterizations surrounding what "Intelligent Design" IS and ISN'T. Anyone interested in science, and particularly biology, should be informed about this latest scientific research program which has been dubbed "Intelligent Design." Before critiqueing or criticizing an idea, one must first understand it.

The short article, "Top Five Myths Christians (and Non-Christians) Often Believe About Intelligent Design" provides a much-needed correction to some of the misconceptions being circulated. Read it here.

Or, for more indept information straight from the horses (or ID proponents') mouth, see the primary ID website.

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Authors of new book highlight irrationality of atheists' claim to be defenders of reason

Charlotte, NC, March 12, 2012 -- Leading atheist Richard Dawkins has said, “The time has come for people of reason to say: Enough is enough!  Religious faith discourages independent thought, it's divisive and it's dangerous.” Today, Christian thinkers from around the world announce the publication of the Patheos Press ebook “True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism.”

Featuring chapters by Dr. William Lane Craig, Sean McDowell, and eleven other Christian scholars and thinkers, “True Reason” presents a well-reasoned rejoinder to the arrogance of the New Atheists and their upcoming “Reason Rally.” The book:

   - Demonstrates New Atheist leaders’ consistent failure in the use of reasoning.
   - Explains how the Christian faith and good reasoning work well together.
   - Clarifies the reasonability of Christian practice now and throughout history.

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(The following excerpt is taken from an article written by Denyse O'Leary)

In “Moments of startling clarity: Moral education programming in Ontario today,” Stephen L. Anderson recounts what happened when he tried to show students what can happen to women in a culture with no tradition of treating women as if they were fellow human beings with men:

    I was teaching my senior Philosophy class. We had just finished a unit on Metaphysics and were about to get into Ethics, the philosophy of how we make moral judgments. The school had also just had several social-justice-type assemblies—multiculturalism, women’s rights, anti-violence and gay acceptance. So there was no shortage of reference points from which to begin.

    I decided to open by simply displaying, without comment, the photo of Bibi Aisha. Aisha was the Afghani teenager who was forced into an abusive marriage with a Taliban fighter, who abused her and kept her with his animals. When she attempted to flee, her family caught her, hacked off her nose and ears, and left her for dead in the mountains. After crawling to her grandfather’s house, she was saved by a nearby American hospital. I felt quite sure that my students, seeing the suffering of this poor girl of their own age, would have a clear ethical reaction, from which we could build toward more difficult cases.

    The picture is horrific. Aisha’s beautiful eyes stare hauntingly back at you above the mangled hole that was once her nose. Some of my students could not even raise their eyes to look at it. I could see that many were experiencing deep emotions.

    But I was not prepared for their reaction.

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George Romanes was a highly regarded British scientist in the 1870s's and a personal friend of Charles Darwin. Here is a brief account of his intellectual rejection of Christianity and his return back to God. The following introduction of a short biography of Romanes life should catch your attention. Enjoy!

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A recent book review by Bill Muehlenberg highlights the link between population growth and religion. Bill writes.,

A number of scholarly works have now noted the connection between religion and demographics. Faith and fertility it seems are closely linked. Consider for example sociologist Eric Kaufmann’s 2010 volume, Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?

Simply put, nations with high levels of religious faith are holding their own when it comes to population levels. But nations which are secular are seeing rapid population decline. But it also makes a difference what kind of religious faith we are talking about. It might surprise many to know that the Muslim world is now in one of the most radical periods of population decline in human history. (article continues here... http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/11/08/faith-population-and-national-survival/)

Hummm, wonder what this tells us about a culture's worldview and the overall attitude toward a culture of life vs a culture of death?

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We are all called to carry out the great commission, but who really holds the office of an evangelist?

Many Christians would describe an evangelist as someone that travels from church to church to preach messages. Their messages inspire believers to give to ministries that focus on taking the gospel to the unreached. Perhaps they would mention someone that preaches a message to bring revival to the church and convince people we bring to their meetings to become a follower of Christ. The right answer, however, according to Ephesians chapter 4, is that the evangelist is a person who equips believers to “do the work of the ministry so that they may build up the church.” That means the person who gives us the intellectual ability to answer the questions and objections of family and friends is really acting in the office of the evangelist. By training believers to give a reasonable answer, these people are probably doing more to win people to Christ than many traveling preachers. Apologetics is the branch of Christian theology that seeks to address the intellectual obstacles that keep people from taking faith seriously, and therefore it is the apologist who is the true evangelist.

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