Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

This past Spring I read a host of books ranging from topics including: Orthodoxy, the creation debate, philosophy of religion, postmodernism, arguments from the existence of God, and God's foreknowledge. What does this mean? If time allows a lot of content for the blog and website. This is the first of the blogs I will be writing. I read a book called Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views  by James Beilby. If you are interested in purchasing this, you can do so on Amazon.com . This is a comparison of four views of God's foreknowledge from different scholars. What do we mean by God's foreknowledge? We mean what does God know and when does He know it. Over the next four weeks, we'll summarize four views starting with open theism as explained by Gregory Boyd. I will refrain from commentary until then last addition. Let me reiterate, I am not claiming which of these is  my view, but rather a concise summary of the authors explanation and view of these opinions on God's fore...

We are only 3 weeks away from my 3 week class on In Defense of the Resurrection. If you want a brief snapshot of what we'll be learning, watch this 3 minute video. If you want to get answers to these questions, you'll want to attend. Can we trust the Bible's account? Is there any extra-biblical evidence for this account? Did Jesus really die? Was the tomb really empty? Isn't this just a fable? How can I defend the resurrection succinctly? Join us, Sunday mornings at 9am March 30 - April 13th, at First Free Church. Three great resources for this topic:       

In the next couple of weeks I'll get back on the blog track. Until then I wanted to let you know about some upcoming classes I'll be teaching. Beginning February 2 through March 9, 2014, I will be teaching "Tactics in Defending the Faith." During our six one-hour sessions, you'll learn how to: Initiate conversations effortlessly Stop challengers in their tracks and turn the tables Graciously and effectively expose faulty thinking Maneuver through mine fields Present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively Class will meet at 9am at First Free Church,  3280 S. 84th St. Best of all, there is no cost to attend. Beginning March 30 through April 13, 2014, I will be teaching a class called "In Defense of the Resurrection." We will   we will look at topics surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will address the following challenges: Can we trust the Bible’s account?   Is Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection mentioned outside o...

Well, folks, this is the last week focusing on the areas of agreement and disagreement between Roman Catholics and Protestants. You can go back and read part 1  and part 2 to get caught up if you missed. As you can see there are some important areas of agreement and many pivotal areas of disagreement. This week, we'll look at the last of these areas of disagreement: Mariology and Purgatory. Mariology  - Catholics hold Mary, the mother of Jesus, in high esteem. They first believe Mary was a virgin before, during, and after Jesus' birth. Protestants and Catholics agree on Mary's virginity before Jesus' birth. Catholics believe Jesus' birth caused her no pain and no change in her womb or hymen. Catholics view of her permanent virginity is drawn from Scripture (Luke 1:34), tradition, and reason. Protestants use Scripture and common sense reject Catholics position. Next is the immaculate conception. Catholics believe Mary was free from the "stain of original ...

Last week we started looking at the areas of doctrinal disagreement between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. To read it, click here . There are some major differences in the areas of Scripture, infallibility of the pope, and justification. This week we'll look at our two more important topics: Sacramentalism (the sacraments) and Ecclesiology (the church).  Sacramentalism - The Catholic Church declared infallibly that the sacraments "of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord...let him be anathema." This excommunicates virtually all Protestants. Sacraments, or holy thing, has two aspects: the outward symbol and the grace it conveys. The Catholic Church states, "The sacraments...not only point externally to salvation; they contain and betwo the salvation they signify."  Catholics have seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, [holy] order, and matrimony. Baptism, communion, and holy orders hold importa...

Now we turn our focus to important areas of disagreement between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. The goal here is not to be divisive or to put down anyone. Rather it is to take an honest look at the key differences and why each denomination holds to their views. On that note, let the fun begin. Apocrypha - A serious divide between Catholics and Protestants is over the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha is an additional eleven pieces of text that the Roman Catholic Church add to the Protestant canon of Scripture. It was adopted and made infallible at th Council of Trent in1546. Any who reject these are anathema. Issues are both doctrinal and canonical. Doctrinally the Apocrypha supports prayers for the dead resulting in a belief in purgatory. Canonically the Apocrypha does not test the true test of canonicity. Catholics support the Apocrypha for eleven reasons: 1) There is reference to events mentioned and mirrors some general thoughts found in it. 2) The New Testament quotes the Septua...

Last week we started looking at the areas of doctrinal agreement between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. To read it, click here. We saw there is much agreement about revelation of Scripture, God, and human beings. We also observed a good amount of agreement on mankind. This week we'll look at our agreement about Christ, Salvation, the Church, ethics and last things. Christ - Both Catholics and evangelicals share a creedal sources, Athanasian and Chalcedonian, for the doctrine of Christ. Central to theology of Christ is He was Son of God, who became man to redeem humans to God. This redemption was through is death and resurrection.Christ is found in the Old Testament through prophecy and would be through three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King. It is by the Old Testament that Christ and His work is understood, thus central to the New Testament. To understand Christ, one must understand both the deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ. Jesus was wholly God as well as the So...