Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

A few months ago I was at local retailer buying a new cell phone. The process took two hours, and I am glad. The young man who helped me engaged in a great conversation. We talked briefly about apologetics and then he asked the question: "Is God a Sexist?" This is not a new question. It can be worded in various ways, but the meaning is the same. "What do you mean?" I asked. "The Bible refers to God as 'He.'" "Ah" I started, "So you are asking is God male or female?   And why does He even use such descriptions?" He said "Yes." We know from Scripture mankind is created in God's own image (Genesis 1:27). This is a sign that men and women are in His image. God is not male or female, but He is above and beyond gender. I often joke with people that the way to understand the Bible thoroughly is to pick up a Bible and read it. A careful study of the Bible will reveal that God refers to Himself both in the male and

Continued from " Teleology - A Case for Intelligent Design - Part 1 " Professor Robbin Collins, highlights three examples, out of over thirty, of evidence for fine-tuning. [1]  First, there is production of oxygen and carbon in the stars. The astrophysicist Sir Fred Hoyle said, “I do not believe that any scientist who examined the evidence would fail to draw the inference that the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately designed with regard to the consequences they produce inside stars.” [2]  Physicist Heinz Oberhummer and fellow scientists recently discovered that only a one percent change of strong nuclear force would create a thirty-to a thousand-fold influence on the creation of carbon and oxygen in stars. Oberhummer explains, “Stars provide the carbon and oxygen needed for life on planets, if you throw that off balance, conditions in the universe would be much less optimal for the existence of life.” [3] Second is gravity. If the fine tuning of the univers

The teleological argument is the case from design. Teleological means “directed towards some goal.”  [1]  Sir Thomas Aquinas believed the fingerprint of God was on nature. Life’s processes and components appeared to have purpose. And their purpose was designed by a creator. According to Aquinas the natural world governed. Aquinas wrote, We see how things, like natural bodies, work for an end even though they have no knowledge. The fact that they nearly always operate in the same way, and so as to achieve the maximum good, makes this obvious, and shows that they attain their end by design, not by chance…There is therefore an intelligent being by whom all natural things are directed to their end [2]    Aquinas posited that nature shows signs of design by its working order. This is seen in natural things as they exist for a purpose with an appearance of design.                  One of the most significant contributors to the teleological argument was William Paley. It was in 1802

Before I dive into teleology, let me blog briefly on the detection of design to expound on my last blog: The Case for Intelligent Design. It is first important to know what design means, as well as a way for design to be detected. The term “design” means the “purposeful arrangement of parts.” Imagine you were at Grand Central Station in New York. You walked into the main hall and it is very busy. People are rushing to catch their train. Others are stopping to grab coffee.  Over in the corner is a man selling magazines and newspapers. You look down to check the time. You look up and you see a woman motionless, apparently frozen.  You scan the room and see more than a dozen more motionless. This goes on for over a minute. You stare in amazement by this.  Another minute goes by and they all go back to their activities. In an instant they are freed from their paralysis.  Then from the balcony above you hear clapping and a loud “Great job everyone!” You ask a woman who was frozen to exp

Why is there something rather nothing? How come the universe exists? We does the earth exist? Why are we here? Again, why is there something rather than nothing? This is a question people have been trying to answer for thousands of years. Many today would suggest that the universe is just a brute fact. But a many others suggests it's here because it was intelligently designed. Over the course of three blogs, we'll look at cosmology, the detection  of design, and teleology. Let's begin with cosmology. The first argument for intelligent design is the cosmological argument. Simply put, the cosmological argument is the argument for causation. Professor and apologist, William Lane Craig has championed this defense in three parts: “Whatever begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore the universe has a cause.” [1] In other words, there must be a first cause.  However, this is Professor of Physics Edward Tryton’s conclusion, “Our universe is simply

Enjoy this article by Gary Manning Jr. in response to the new gnostic fragment regarding Jesus' alleged wife. According to an   article   in the Washington Post, an ancient manuscript claiming that Jesus had a wife has just been discovered. I’ll tackle this new discovery with some Q&A. What is this new find? Karen King, the Gnostic scholar who published the manuscript, has titled it the   Gospel of Jesus’ Wife   (see the scholarly article   here ). It is a very small fragment, only 12 partial lines, of an ancient Gnostic book. The fragment, written in Coptic, dates from the fourth century, but it is a copy of an older book, perhaps written in the late second century. According to the fragment, Jesus refers to “my wife.” Is the manuscript genuine? Read On

I apologize for my absence on the blog! I recently started on my Master's program through Biola University, as well as traveling for work.  I will return to blogging again soon.  I am working on a four-part series on the case for an intelligent designer.  Be on the look out! In the meantime, enjoy this video. Author and apologist, Ravi Zacharias, answers a tough question about the law of non-contradiction and the coherency of the Trinity.