I. Meta-Apologetics A. Apologetics: Defending the Christian worldview as objectively true, compellingly rational, and existentially pertinent to the whole of life (1 Peter 3:15-6; Jude 3) B. Meta-apologetics: thoughts about how to engage in apologetics, strategies and values. II. The Christian Apologist’s Moral Compass A. All are called to check their moral motives and develop godly character I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will n...
Oct 02, 2023•27 min
I. Prayer for Those Who Influence Public Opinion (Book of Common Prayer) Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. II. The Meaning of Logos for Writers (John 1:1-3) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the ...
Sep 25, 2023•25 min
Several years ago, after giving a message on New Age spirituality at a church in Berkeley, California, I was approached by a distraught middle-aged woman. She asked if I was familiar with Jungian therapy. After I said that I was, she spoke briefly of her mental problems, which were being treated by a Jungian analyst. Looking at me intensely, she asked, “As a Christian, should I be treated by someone like this?” I answered that although Jung provided a few helpful psychological insights, his over...
Sep 19, 2023•22 min
Ecclesiastes has saved my Christian life too many times to count. In the summer of 1999, this sometimes vexing book—perhaps the black sheep of the Christian canon—was the only book of sacred Scripture that I could stand to read. This is not a testimony to my Christian virtue but to the existential and theological power of this piece of wisdom literature. Ecclesiastes offers us an abundance of topics to consider and verses to ponder. For my purposes, I will ask what Ecclesiastes can teach us abou...
Sep 11, 2023•24 min
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up - Galatians 6:9. Acedia - the sin of sloth or laziness -- is the enemy of moral achievement and the agent of cultural bone rot. Isaiah exposed this in his day when he lamented, “So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14). Secrecy and camouflage accompany its weakening of the conscience and vitiati...
Sep 04, 2023•31 min
Last week I went through ten authors and a number of books that have shaped my life and thinking. I include the full list below. This quote from Neil Postman highlights the significance of reading. One must begin, I think, by pointing to the obvious fact that the written word, and an oratory based upon it, has a content: a semantic, paraphrasable, propositional content. This may sound odd, but since I shall be arguing soon enough that much of our discourse today has only a marginal propositional...
Aug 28, 2023•20 min
W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God . Blaise Pascal, Pensées , many editions. I prefer the Penguin ed. See also the collection The Mind on Fire . Carl Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority , 6 vols., Confessions of a Theologian . S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Abolition of Man, Miracles, God in the Dock , Screwtape Letters . Francis Schaeffer, all of his books, but especially The God Who is There, He is there and He is not Silent, How Should We Then Live? , True Spirituality...
Aug 21, 2023•31 min
Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith— Alexis de Tocqueville , Democracy in America . I. What is Christianity? A. Ultimate reality: an infinite-personal, triune, eternal God (Exodus 3:16) B. The universe is created by God out of nothing (Genesis 1; John 1) C. Humans made in God’s image, but fallen (Genesis 1-3) Have unique and incomparable value in God’s world; basis for objective human rights (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8) Need redemption from a source beyond and a...
Aug 14, 2023•42 min
Given the strike of Hollywood actors and writers, it is an apt time to reflect on our use of media and entertainment. A quote from Neil Postman’s class book, Amusing Ourselves to Death , can guide us. "Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death." [Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to ...
Aug 07, 2023•32 min
The evangelical world today suffers from apologetic anemia. Despite the fact that holy Scripture calls believers to give a reason for the hope we have in Christ ( 1 Peter 3:15 ; see also Jude 3 ), we sadly lack a public voice for truth and reason in the marketplace of ideas. We do not have a strong intellectual presence in popular or academic culture (although some areas, such as philosophy, are more influenced by evangelicals than others). The reasons for this anemia are multidimensional and co...
Jul 24, 2023•20 min
The following is not meant as a nuanced treatment of the subject. Notice the title "Cheat Sheet." I originally wrote it for a friend who is just getting interested in politics. So, please don't howl in disgust that I misstated your liberal or conservative view. This charts the territory from a pretty high level of abstraction and in light of recent developments in liberal or leftist thinking. A. Preserve vs Transform Conservatives want to preserve American ideals found in the Declaration and the...
Jul 17, 2023•11 min
So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. (Isaiah 59:14) I am a sixty-six-year-old philosophy professor who has logged thousands of hours in the classroom and elsewhere discussing some of the great issues of the ages. Consider an approach to teaching and writing that I have practiced ever since I went to college and especially since I received my degrees in philosophy and began to teach and write strenuously and pr...
Jul 10, 2023•11 min
On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it—Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:9). This is a manifesto to ignite the holy fire of apologetic passion and action. As did Jeremiah, we should have "fire in our bones" to communicate and commend Christian truth today (Jeremiah 20:9). This manifesto is not a sustained argument or a detailed development of themes. Rather, as a manifesto, it proclaims a short series of interrelated propositions crying out for both immediate and...
Jul 03, 2023•23 min
1. On Phobias A phobia is an irrational fear such as the fear of heights, spiders, or water. However, we should fear that which poses real dangers to us. We should fear God, which is the beginning of wisdom. This is because God is our Maker and our Judge. He is totally good and we are not. We should also fear things like disease and crime. Because we fear disease, we consult physicians. Because we fear crime, we lock our doors and watch where we go. Perhaps we carry a firearm or have one at home...
Jun 26, 2023•14 min
Matt Walsh, What is a Woman? One Man’s Search to Answer the Question of a Generation (Nashville, TN: DW Books, 2022) and the film, “What is a Woman?” produced by The Daily Wire (2022). How could a popular podcaster and author produce a feature film and write a book with the title “What is a Woman?” Does not everyone know the answer to that? After all, humanity is a dimorphic species, consisting of males and females, each with its own distinctive DNA (XY or XX) and gametes (sperm or egg). God cre...
Jun 19, 2023•20 min
What comes to mind when you think of the word “maid?” You probably think of a paid helper, one who does dirty work you would rather not do. However, you do not think of your maid killing someone. If that happens, an unexpected homicide has occurred. Since 2016, over 30,000 homicides have occurred in Canada, at the hands of another MAID. Given secular trends, MAID (or something like it) may be coming to America as well. Meet the New MAID Meet the new maid, who is a murderer. It is called MAID (so...
Jun 12, 2023•26 min
Today I'm reading a collection of verses that my first wife, Rebecca, put together over many years. She went to be with the Lord in 2018. This collection of verses is online and has been used by many to find encouragement in their faith. For more from Dr. Groothuis, visit DouglasGroothuis.com . Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us ....
Jun 05, 2023•13 min
Systematic Theology and the Life of the Mind Few mistakes are more crippling to Christian witness within the Christian community than anti-intellectualism. Few theological errors violate more theological doctrines more radically. In his Pulitzer-Prize-winning work, Anti-Intellectualism and in American Life , historian Richard Hofstadter defined anti-intellectualism as a “resentment of the life of the mind, and those who are considered to represent it; and a disposition to constantly minimize the...
May 29, 2023•26 min
Apologetics is the practice of defending the Christian faith and responding to questions and objections raised by those who don't believe. Over many years of doing apologetics, I have had some remarkable apologetic encounters. Since converting in 1976 at age nineteen, I have labored to give the reasons for my hope in Christ to as many people as possible in as many formats as possible (1 Peter 3:15). I have written books and given lectures and sermons, of course, but some apologetics happens unex...
May 22, 2023•17 min
Many arguments are marshaled against Christian schools and Christian home-schooling K-12. Those, such as myself who categorically reject state (public) education as anti-Christian, inefficient, and inherently unfair are in for some lively debates. The objections raised must be met. Recommended Reading: Blumenfeld, Samuel. Is Public Education Necessary? (Old Greenwich: The Devin-Adair Company, 1981), 263 pages. A scholarly and cogent treatment of the development of public education. Dissipates a ...
May 15, 2023•14 min
An Argument for Traditional, Biblical Gender Categories and Against Transgender Ideology: Twenty Points Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy Denver Seminary Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. (Isaiah 8:20) The following is a step-by-step, logical argument for deriving a moral position on transgender ideology from the Bible, science, facts, and sound reasoning. If its conclusions are to ...
May 08, 2023•16 min
Jesus was many things, such as Lord and Messiah, but we may be hesitant to consider him a philosopher. I argue that given Jesus’ coherent worldview and skill at argumentation, it is wise to both consider him as a philosopher and to look to him for intellectual inspiration. I pay close attention to Jesus’ stellar reasoning abilities concerning two theological issues raised in Matthew 22. Resources Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus (USA: Wadsworth, 2003). Douglas Groothuis, “Jesus: Philosopher and Apolo...
May 01, 2023•25 min
In this episode, Dr. Groothuis presents a biblical and logical argument against abortion and for the value of unborn human life. He begins by discussing Reproductive Health Equity Act before the Colorado State Congress, which would forbid any restriction on abortion and deny any moral value to the unborn. He argues that a fetus is a living being, not a potential life, and that it is a human being, not a potential human. He further argues that the unborn ought to be a recipient of legal protectio...
Apr 24, 2023•25 min
"My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…" - Galatians 4:19. Apologetics is the discipline of defending the Christian faith as objectively true, rational, and applicable to life (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3). This ministry requires a life attuned to the Spirit of God. Apologetics is a spiritual discipline of study that requires the fruit of the Holy Spirit for its integrity and effectiveness. The apologist thus needs humility and studiousness in hi...
Apr 17, 2023•18 min
I. Truth and Religion A. Framing the great debate on religion and spirituality Taking objective truth seriously in a pluralistic, postmodern setting B. The appeal of the oneness claim (all religions teach basically the same thing): religious strife is eliminated. But this must be logically tested. II. What are Truth Claims in Religion? A. Defining the nature of truth: that which corresponds to objective reality. For more on this, see Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay (InterVarsity Press, 2000), cha...
Apr 10, 2023•15 min
Full show notes at https://www.lifeaudio.com/truth-tribe-with-douglas-groothuis/episodes Religious Founders The concern for truth and rationality Truth: what corresponds to reality. See Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay . Rationality: testing truth-claims logically and by the evidence Categories of analysis: Sources of information, life, worldview, existential meaning Jesus (0-33 AD) Source of knowledge: the New Testament: Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelation Gospels: Written by eyewitnesses or thos...
Apr 03, 2023•16 min
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF JESUS A. The Jesus question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-16) 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, ...
Mar 27, 2023•13 min
I am the resurrection and the life—Jesus Christ, John 11. I. The Significance of the Resurrection of Jesus A. Unique among religions of the world; one religion based on the resurrection of its divine founder B. The resurrection in Jesus’ teaching: he promised it several times C. Atonement requires resurrection Herein we see the organic connection between Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection. God’s raising Jesus from the dead is not only a ratification to us of the efficacy of Christ’s a...
Mar 20, 2023•20 min
He alone had to produce a great people, elect, holy and chosen, lead them, feed them, bring them into the place of rest and holiness, make them holy for God, make them the temple of God, reconcile them to God, save them from God’s anger, redeem them from the bondage of sin which visibly reigns in man, give laws to his people, write these laws in their hearts, offer himself to God for them, sacrifice himself for them, be a spotless sacrifice, and himself the sacrificer, having himself to offer up...
Mar 13, 2023•16 min
I. The Death of Christ A. Active work of Christ in obeying the law without sin through the Holy Spirit. Giving God the honor due him on our behalf B. Passive work of Christ on the Cross, taking our punishment, paying our debt C. Atonement: to cleanse, make right, and restore (Isaiah 53:4-6) Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the pu...
Mar 06, 2023•20 min
