God on Trial Debate
Attention St. Louisans!
On Wednesday September 10th at 7PM, Fixed Foundation will be hosting “God on Trial,” a debate between Christian Dinesh D’Souza and Atheist Christopher Hitchens at Powell Symphony Hall.
Dinesh D’Souza is a noted writer and speaker on conservative politics as well as Christian apologetics. Born in Mumbai, India, he graduated from Dartmouth College and served as a policy analyst for the Reagan administration. D’Souza is also the author of several bestselling books.
Christopher Hitchens is a political observer, journalist, and literary critic. A British-American and antitheist, he was educated at Cambridge and Oxford and has been a columnist for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The Nation, among others. “God on Trial” will pit Hitchens’ views as expressed in his best-seller God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - against Christianity. D’Souza will defend the significance and uniqueness of the Christian faith, drawing arguments from his latest best-seller, What’s So Great About Christianity. }
A few of us at COAS are planning on going, and if you are in the area and would like to check it out with us (Christian, Atheist, or otherwise), head on over to the “Contact Us” page and let us know! We’d love to meet you personally and maybe grab a drink afterwards. It is sure to be entertaining! Things like this don’t pop up everyday, and especially not in St. Louis!
Leggo My Ego!
One of my professors recently said the biggest hurdle to authentic Christianity in Western culture is the idol of “personal autonomy.” We see it everywhere. Self-fulfillment is the foundation for much of what drives our society. The slogan for a new casino in St. Louis, is “Whatever turns you on.” Pick a political issue. At its core, it is a disagreement between personal autonomy/choice and perceived government control: abortion, gay marriage, Second Amendment rights, national security, etc. It’s even in the Declaration of Independence: the common rights to “life, liberty (personal autonomy), and pursuit of happiness (self fulfillment).”
Because there exists such emphasis upon the priority of the self, or “Ego,” we tend to reject concepts that emphasize submission to authority or that communicate judgment. Even community service and charity is marketed to the ego: “Feel good about yourself for doing the right thing.” Heaven forbid that we do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do!
To say the Bible cuts against this grain is an understatement. Read more »
God in Your Story
In my last post, The Truth of the Gospel, I shared my story of being saved from suicide and subsequently coming to faith. I also talked about how when I became a Christian, I realized that God was with me even in those horrible circumstances. I realize that many people share stories similar to my own, and many have stories of far worse things happening to them. It is very tempting to ask, either during or after, where God was in those times. While it may seem as though God abandoned you to be raped, beaten, neglected, depressed, empty, etc and chose to love others by blessing them with talent, good looks, money, opportunity, intelligence, friends etc, there is another question that my personal experience has lent me to ask:
Why wasn’t it worse?
Why wasn’t I molested?
Why wasn’t I cut on?
Left in a ditch for my parents to discover?
I said before that my still being alive is evidence of God’s work in my life, and it is, but all the evil things that didn’t happen to me are further evidence. Read more »
The Truth of the Gospel
Many articles I write and discussions I have in the blogosphere are academically oriented. This is because I believe Christians shouldn’t surrender their intellect; the more you mine the depths of the Bible, the deeper an impact the truth of Christianity can have on your soul. However, I have noticed these conversations lead me away from the personal nature that characterizes the pursuit of God (and discovering His pursuit of us). I wanted to share a personal story of God’s relentless pursuit of me, and why to me this continues to be deep-seated evidence of His existence and character. Read more »
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