Short Essays about Christianity
By: Erick Nelson
Last Updated: December 30, 2007
Email Erick Nelson
Over the last few years, I've had the chance to correspond with several friends who had thoughtful questions relating to Christianity. Some of those short essays are posted here. They are not in a final, publishable format, but they do express some thoughts that might be of interest. I've decided that the best thing about not really being "an apologist" or even a scholar, I don't have to always be right. These are here just to stimulate your own thinking. Glad to discuss with you - in a collaborative way, of course!
Escaping the Mediocre Life
These are personal meditations - how can I find/recovery the "anointing"?, how can I become the "new man" and leave behind the "old"/"natural" man? What is it all about and how can I take part in the abundant life?World-Views and Religious Options 1
A brief survey of theism, pantheism, atheism as world-views. At the most general level the "religious" choice comes down to a very few options.World-Views and Religious Options 2
A slightly different description of this choice, looking at polytheism, pantheism, and theism. Makes the point that polytheism posits super-beings, but not a Creator; and that theism is "bigger" than the other two options. This is a better model than the "Heinz 57 Varieties" of competing religious claims and "gods."What About Those Who Haven't Heard?
I don't think it's necessary to say that everyone who has never heard the gospel automatically goes to hell, nor every person who has heard a perverted version of the gospel. I follow C.S. Lewis in his view of heaven and hell.Big Bang Example
I have seen several attempted refutations of Christianity which do not engage the best arguments for Christianity, and therefore are attacking a straw man. I try to use the "how would it feel to you" approach, using the Big Bang as an example of a theory.The Nature of Faith
Too much confusion has surrounded the notion of "faith." It is seen as unfounded belief, as good in general (no matter what the object of faith), contrary to reason and good sense, make-believe, and other misunderstandings. Why is faith in Jesus necessary? - and what is the proper subject for faith?Levels of Skepticism
When an evidential case is made supporting Christianity, the objector sometimes practices a policy I call "retreat-and-hold", making the Christian prove the validity of historiography, evidence, even reason itself. It's important to pinpoint the type of skepticism that is involved. One can sometimes build on agreed principles/facts.Historiography
How can we know anything about events that happened in the past?The Thomas Question
In the Gospel of John, Thomas demands tangible proof that Jesus has risen from the dead, even though his friends the disciples tell him they saw him. Why should Thomas get this kind of proof, and it is denied to us?Destroyed Documents?
It is sometimes contended that the Christian church systematically destroyed all documents that portrayed a contrary view. Did this happen, and how can we tell?Harmonization of the Resurrection Accounts
A great deal has been made about the impossibility of harmonizing the resurrection accounts in the gospels - how they are flatly contradictory; and the conclusion has then been drawn that the gospels are unreliable, that they do not intend to give a factual account of the events, or others. I admit that in college I tried to do this and failed. But the next time I tried it, I realized that the key (besides realizing that these are summary statements) is to let Mary Magdalene leave the other women after she gets to the tomb. I recently found to my surprise that Simon Greenleaf, the famous jurist, harmonized the accounts in much the same way in the 19th century. Excel format.The Big Bang and Theism
Scientists have come to accept the Big Bang as an established theory, and persist in trying to explain how it took place. It is entailed by the Big Bang that its origin was in an entity/environment which is eternal, immaterial, super-natural, and vastly powerful.Truths in Tension
It is sometimes said that certain truths are "in tension." What does this mean? Can truths really be contradictory?Calvinism and the Westminster Confession
I have a lot of respect for some people I know who accept the Calvinistic view of free will and predestination. This is not really my subject, but here are some thoughts about the Westminster Confession.Problems with Material Implication
This has to do with formal logic. The material conditional is counter-intuitive to most students who take their first logic course. Is it really the best way to deal with inference? What an irony that the core of traditional logic is, in some ways, illogical. That's because it is fully truth-conditional; it should work more like the logic used in computer programming.Deism
What's wrong with Deism as a theistic view?
God and Justice
I corresponded with a guy who said God was unjust, and defined justice in this way: “When a being receives a pleasure to displeasure ratio commensurate with that which he has attempted to cause to other beings which feel pleasure & displeasure.” I pointed out problems with this view, and he said my response was "drivel."Deity Claims in John
Just a summary of the most obvious claims of deity for Jesus in the Gospel of John.