Dr Paul Allen

In the university town of Oxford, England , stands a monument to Reformation martyrs, who, as the inscription reads: Yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths, which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome , and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ , but also to suffer for His sake. Do you see the key verbs here? They  affirmed  and  maintained  true and biblically faithful doctrine. These martyrs were theologians and pastors. They taught and defended the truths of the Word of God. Chief among those truths are the Reformation slogans of  solus Christus  (Christ alone),  sola fide  (faith alone), and  sola gratia  (grace alone). These Reformation truths summarize core doctrines concerning the person and work of Christ. They summarize the gospel. The Reformation martyrs also  rejoiced . They rejoiced that they were counted wor...

Richard Dawkins at the 34th American Atheists Conference in Minneapolis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Every thoughtful person must deal with the problem of evil. Evil acts and tragic events come to us all in this vale of tears known as human life . The problem of evil and suffering is undoubtedly the greatest theological challenge we face. Most persons face this issue only in a time of crisis. A senseless accident, a wasting disease, or an awful crime demands some explanation. Yesterday, evil showed its face again as a giant tornado brought death and destruction to Moore, Oklahoma . For the atheist, this is no great problem. Life is a cosmic accident, morality is an arbitrary game by which we order our lives, and meaning is non-existent. As Oxford University ’s Professor Richard Dawkins explains, human life is nothing more than a way for selfish genes to multiply and reproduce. There is no meaning or dignity to humanity. For the Christian Scientist , the material world and the exp...

Image via Wikipedia An article published in February in the international, peer-reviewed  Journal of Medical Ethics  is making headlines around the world. In the article, former Cambridge and Oxford University researchers Dr.  Alberto Giubilini  and Dr.  Francesca Minerva  argue the very point pro-life advocates have said all along: There is no essential difference between a fetus and a newborn, and their moral status is the same.  Pro-life supporters should be elated. But we’re not. In claiming that unborn children and newborn children are morally equivalent, Giubilini and Minerva are not arguing for the right to life. To the contrary, the  article advocates what the authors term “after-birth abortion.” The British tabloid   The Sun  put it a bit more starkly in a  headline last week: “Slaughter Newborn Kids, Say Academics.”  The Telegraph ’s  headline  sums it up this way: “ Killing Babies Is No Different Fr...

Dawkins really believes (or at least really claims) that those who disagree with him are insane, deluded, intellectually perverse, and unintelligent. Evolution by natural selection is “the only game in town, the greatest show on Earth ,” asserts Richard Dawkins . We have come to expect claims like this from Richard Dawkins, perhaps the most famous defender of Darwinian evolution alive today.  Unlike many intellectuals, Dawkins manages to stay singularly focused and on message. He is the planet’s foremost evangelist for evolution, and he is absolutely certain that the evolutionary worldview is indeed “the only game in town.” He is clearly frustrated that so many dwellers of the Earth refuse to accept his message. In  The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolutio n, Dawkins sets out to present his most compelling case for evolution. He is — make no mistake — an ardent enthusiast for his argument. Seldom do we read a book written with such fervor and certitude, wit...