Rational Faith

Q21 How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part 1: A Christmas Meditation

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

For Christians this is a very easy question to answer. But first a clarification. It’s not “our way” it’s “the way” and that would be the way of our God and King, Jesus. (Titus 2.13, Rev 19.16) Jesus literally said that he is “the way” (John 14.6). Note that he didn’t say one of many ways, but the way–meaning the only way.

But, this being Christmastime, I wanted to give you a bit more to meditate on. So the meditation part is in this article. Further theological considerations will come in part 2, the follow-up to this article.

Many Signs, One Destination Continue Reading

Q12 – Hasn’t evolution been proved? Why do Christians insist on believing Genesis is true?

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Darwinian evolution: the concept that undirected forces over time can take the most basic elements and turn them into complex objects with a specific purpose – no designer necessary. Does this make sense? Look at the above picture. It’s a German stamp showing an abbreviated picture of car evolution. A similar sequence type picture is used to illustrate Darwinian evolution (below). Does either prove evolution of their respective items?

Q11 – Why are Christians so stuck on believing their Bibles instead of science?

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

We now consider the question, “Why are Christians so stuck on believing their Bibles instead of science.” This is a false dichotomy because Christians do not reject all science. The question either reveals a profound ignorance of the nature of science and the scientific process or implicitly denies that science, by its very nature, is constantly rejecting things as false that were previously thought to be true. Tenets, previously accepted as good science one day, can be rejected as foolish and obsolete the next.

Regarding the nature of God, the question reveals either ignorance concerning God or a denial of the nature of God and the Bible. God is omniscient. He has perfect knowledge (John 21.17, Heb 4.13). He never learns anything because he already knows everything. The Bible is the word of God, breathed out from the omniscient God (2 Tim 3.16) and all it affirms is true (Ps 119.160). Therefore, as expected of knowledge coming from God who is perfect in knowledge, the Bible is wholly true and without error in all it affirms. This is known as the doctrine of inerrancy. Continue Reading

Q2 Why are Christians opposed to equality in marriage?

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

This question, “Why are Christians opposed to equality in marriage?” again shows the poisoned well thinking common in this culture and age. I’m tempted to give a quick, accurate answer to this, but it is such a loaded question, a quick answer will not address the errors implicit in this challenge which is fraught with many antibiblical assumptions. So, as Fräulein Maria tells the von Trapp children when they need to learn the basics, “Let’s start at the very beginning.” Let’s get the assumptions out in the open. We’ll start with definitions.

What is meant by “equality”?
What is meant by “marriage”?

On Equality

Christians believe that everyone has the right to marry any eligible person of the opposite sex of marriageable age who will willingly marry the person in question. That is “equality” for all, but already I hear objections because clearly this definition imposes limitations. But having limitations does not mean there are “inequalities” because everyone is under the same limitations. It would only be “unequal” if some people were under restrictions and others were not, but that is not the case. Everyone is under the same restrictions. (Except for one case I’ll discuss below.) So let’s look at the restrictions. Continue Reading

100 Questions – Introduction and Question 1 concerning the bedroom.

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Introduction to the 100 Questions/Challenges confronting Christians today

Before we get to the 100 questions, let me discuss why this blog exists. The reason for this blog is to demonstrate that it is reasonable and rational to believe the teaching of the Christian faith because all questions that challenge the faith can be rationally answered. It is neither foolish nor contrary to science to believe what Christianity teaches. Further, the answers are internally consistent and rationally coherent. Up to this point I have focused on challenges presented by secular understandings of science and atheistic misrepresentations. These include challenges from science about things like evolution and the age of the earth to philosophical challenges from the “New Atheists” like Richard Dawkins. Continue Reading

Israel at War – The Hidden Reason

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

On October 7th, 2023, the Jews in Israel suffered the most deadly, wicked, evil attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. Perversely proud to be responsible for the massacre: the terrorist group Hamas who killed Jewish families in their homes, burning some of them alive, raped women, beheaded babies, and kidnapped people of all ages – from babies to grandmothers – to hold as hostages. As of this writing the count of the number of dead stands at 1,500 and the number of hostages is over two hundred.

Hamas supporters all over the world celebrated and continue to celebrate the evil event, and call for more, shouting “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” By which they mean from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea, Israel’s homeland will be free of both the state of Israel and the Jewish people. In other words, they want to wipe both Jews and the Jewish state off the face of the earth. Continue Reading

Fujianvenator Prodigiosus – New Dino find puts Evolutionary Storytelling on Display

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Fujianvenator Prodigiosus (artist impression) Credit: Chuang Zhao

The prestigious science magazine Nature featured[1] a curious newly discovered dinosaur called Fujianvenator Prodigiosus which is causing a stir concerning their ludicrous theory that certain therapod dinosaurs evolved into birds. They’re quite serious about that story though and the fact that they don’t quite know where to place this dinosaur into that fictional setting is causing problems forcing a “rethink of bird evolution” as the title puts it. But it does make a good case study for our purposes to see how evolutionists weave their tales of fiction by misconstruing the evidence by building on their previous lines of fiction.

Dawkins Joins Ranks of Evolutionists who Disprove Evolution

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Richard Dawkins and Darwin’s Tree of Life

From its inception Darwinian evolution had embedded in its very definition the seeds of its own destruction. There are actually a number of these seeds and Darwin himself recognized one of the more obvious ones that disprove evolution that was clear even in his day. But let me come back to Darwin since his refutation, which he himself acknowledged, has been pointed out many times. Instead let me start with Richard Dawkins, the famous atheist and evolutionist who, as pointed out in the title, has joined Charles Darwin in the ranks of evolutionists who, in their efforts to validate evolution, have actually decisively proven it false.

Following are four evolutionists, including Richard Dawkins, who have provided criteria by which to disprove evolution, showing it to be false. So, according to their own criteria, evolution is demonstrably false. Continue Reading

Are We Alone? Assessing Whistleblower tale of UFOs and Aliens

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Whistleblower David Grusch, an alien representation that allegedly looks like the one seen by Jesse Marcel, “Project Blue Book” representation of Area 51 test craft

Regarding the import of the discovery of a mere microbe on a planet other than earth, Gentry Lee, former Chief Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet propulsion Lab and narrator of the documentary “Are We Alone” stated “… it would be the biggest scientific discovery in history.”[1]

Now the claim is being made that not merely microbes but entire complex multi-cellular humanoid aliens in space craft have come to earth, and have been doing so for at least 90 years. For such an earth shattering announcement, the media reaction has been a rather ho-hum, nothing special, business as usual type of response. A number of big name media outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post were offered the story but passed on publishing it.

The story I’m referring to is that of the “whistleblower” allegations made that the U.S. government has in its possession alien (as in not from earth) space craft and the (dead) bodies of the crew that piloted the alleged UFO – which the military now calls UAPs – Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon – to avoid the extra-terrestrial (ET) connotations inherent in “UFO.” I put whistleblower in quotes, because for reasons which I will describe below, I am confident the U.S. government does not have what is claimed in the allegations, so that makes me wonder what the “whistleblower” is up to. Is he being a good g-man and running a black op for the elites? Is he really blowing the whistle on the government? Or has he failed a confidence test the government put him through? Or is he possibly just a stooge for satan? I’ll give my conclusion below, but first let me give some background and remove the smoke and mirrors so we can clearly see what’s fact and what’s fiction and judge accordingly. Continue Reading

Opting Out of Pride Month

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Duane Caldwell

Whenever I hear talk of gay “pride” or “Pride Month”, I can’t help but think of the Bible verse about those who take pride in what they should be ashamed of, a verse that also talks about their destiny. (Php 3.18-19) Here it is amplified from the Today’s English Version (TEV). I say “amplified” because the TEV is not a straight translation. In attempting to put the scriptures in modern English, they liberally paraphrase. So here it is from the TEV:

I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ’s death on the cross. They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.
Philippians 3.18-19 TEV

As it did in the apostle’s day, this describes people living in sin and that is no more true today than it is for the many people promoting “pride” today. Knowing the destiny of such people, the apostle Paul was grieved to tears as we all should be. But aside from our grief, what is an appropriate Christian response to the inundation of events and propaganda concerning “Pride” month? A proper response begins with a proper understanding and assessment of what “Pride” month is and what it stands for. Continue Reading