The Bible Nerd Podcast

How do Neanderthals fit into a biblical worldview? Are cavemen, stone tools, hunter/gatherer lifestyles a threat to a biblically sound, young age creationist viewpoint? I don’t think so. Here’s why!

Enjoy the show!

Click here for more on Neanderthals.

The post The Neanderthal Problem appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

In general, I am a fan of making modest claims. That is, the less I have to commit myself to in defense of a position, the better!

Not only does this give me an advantage in the conversation because I don’t have to work hard defending things I’m either not sure about or would rather not muddy with dialogue with, but it also forces my interlocutor to think more carefully. It gives me control.

However, this is a luxury that is hard to come by with respect to whether or not Christianity is ultimately true.

The kicker is, I believe that’s actually a very good thing. Here’s why.

There is a popular book by Dr. Michael Heiser that has been circulating for a few years now called The Unseen Realm. It’s a great book, but that’s beside my point. The original working title of the book was, The Myth That is True.

As I’ve contended in a book of my own, Christianity is a Story; not any story, but the Story of all stories. Other writers have traded on this idea as well, such as Greg Koukl and C.S. Lewis.

But this particular Story is one that is grounded in reality. It’s the real deal.

This has some important implications that we’ll discuss below.

If we’re not careful, we’ll use unfortunate language when sharing our Story that casts doubt on it from the get-go. We live in a culture that does not understand “Christianese,” so when we share with others, we’d be well advised not to “market” it as though it were a fairytale.

For example, when we talk about the resurrection of Christ, we need to learn how to articulate this as though it were a real, historical event, because it was!

As I’ve written elsewhere, I do not advocate for a “setting aside” of the Bible in these discussions—however, neither do I advocate for a “setting aside” of the important scholarship that has been done to demonstrate this is a real event that happened in human history.

I won’t pretend to know any statistics, but history and my own experience tell me that, while many do come to believe in Christ through an evaluation of the evidence and a desire to know the truth, most come by way of a broken heart or a broken life.

Christianity flourishes through times of persecution and brokenness.

Why is this? Why is that Christianity can take a life and turn it around, often during a time of great suffering and pain?

This is because of what Christianity—grounded in reality—offers. It offers real hope to the helpless, hopeless, and brokenhearted.

Through his resurrection, Christ demonstrated that he alone has victory over death, hell, and the grave. He has overcome, and promised that anyone who would believe in him and trust in his finished work to save them, could have eternal life.

Fortunately, we not only have the promise of eternal life then, but of abundant life now. Only Christ offers this because only Christ can offer this.

Finally, because this Story is grounded in reality, we can test it! We can know it’s true!

The reason this matters is precisely because our backward, relativistic culture would have you believe Christianity is just one of many legitimate options.

It has good maxims and virtues to teach like any other religious system of thought (so the thinking goes), so it might be good for you to be a Christian, but there’s no reason for them to be one too.

The problem with that thinking is that it divorces Christianity from reality, which is to say, it assumes Christianity is false. Christianity is exclusivist. Jesus said, “I am the way…no man comes…except through me.”

So for the hope, virtues, and maxims that Christianity offers to be meaningful, it must be true, which means every other worldview must be false. This is why it matters that Christianity makes strong claims. (By the way, the Apostle Paul thought the same thing! See 1 Corinthians 15:17.)

In what ways is Christianity testable? Many, but two come to mind as the most important: History, and prophecy. In fact, we see these emphasized in 2 Peter 1: 16-21.

History is the domain of eyewitness verification, and what they recorded about what they saw. Our acceptance of Christ’s historicity comes backed with lots of this eyewitness evidence; much more than would ever be expected of a first-century carpenter.

We have at least four independent sources found in the gospel traditions themselves, and around 17 extrabiblical sources...

The other night at men’s small group, we began discussing sin and its consequences. I spoke up because something occurred to me in a unique way that I thought would be valuable for the group. Namely, why is it that sin is actually bad anyway?

So in this week’s episode we discuss the concept of sin. We look at what sin is, what sin is not, and why it matters.

Enjoy the show!

The post Why Sin is Bad appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

I can only be honest—this week’s post will likely be a bit of a rant.

I am really tired of educated people thinking they have a monopoly on truth. (How’s that for a loaded statement?)

Ok, so there’s nothing wrong with education. Nor is there anything wrong with having the truth. What’s wrong is when someone thinks they have the truth in virtue of their specific education.

It’s really sad how often I see this kind of thing within Christian circles.

Brothers and sisters will absolutely lambaste each other not on the merits of their claims, but on the mere contents of their view!

We have the necessary ability to make distinctions. We can understand the difference between orthodoxy, heterodoxy, and heresy. We very clearly, in most cases, distinguish where certain evangelical views land on that spectrum.

When a person denies the trinity, they are by definition not Christian, and are guilty of heresy. Though it could be argued, I would say when a person holds to conditionalism as opposed to the eternal conscious torment (ECT) view of hell, they are heterodox on that issue. When a person affirms the virgin birth of Christ, they stand within orthodoxy.

These are careful distinctions we have to make in order to operate effectively (and biblically, mind you) within the body of Christ.

I see nothing wrong with having an education. Right now, I have an educational “bucket list,” if you will, that I would love to complete one day. This includes doctoral-level studies.

At this time, I am unable to make this a reality. Will the day come? Perhaps. However, I’m not even sure how much it matters in most cases, for a couple of reasons.

(Disclaimer: I’m obviously not claiming education is bad, nor are those who have one. I support education, and wish I had more. More on that in a moment.)

I’m sure there are plenty of studies that demonstrate that, at some level, those who receive more education are “smarter.”

There are some disciplines that emphasize critical thinking. For example, a professionally trained analytical philosopher might have some tools in the intellectual tool belt that most laymen don’t.

But, not necessarily. Believe it or not, some of the brightest minds of days gone by were autodidacts (i.e., self-taught learners). Ever heard of Ben Franklin, Michael Faraday, or Bill Gates, to name a few?

Of course, there are some specialized areas of knowledge within certain disciplines that the general public does not really have access to—however, there’s no reason self-studied laymen can’t understand how to craft sound arguments, how to understand most scientific claims, etc.

So while it’s certainly true that those who receive an education could or should be “more intelligent” than those who do not, that is not necessarily the case.

I can think of two examples right off the top of my head that are contentious among scholars within evangelicalism right now: New Testament literary device theories and the origins debate.

With respect to the former, those familiar with the debate1 may or may not know that I have tremendous respect for the parties involved. Nevertheless, claims abound regarding the intellectual ability (concerning the issue being debated) of the dissenting side.

I’m sorry, but this just isn’t the debate. Are the claims reasonable? That is the question. You may land differently on that question than me, but it doesn’t change the facts.

Our goal is not to count scholarly heads, neither is it to investigate credentials. Let’s determine whether or not the arguments for/against are sound.

With respect to the latter, a recent comment I observed (which admittedly served as the spark to write this piece)2 from a Wheaton college professor claimed that no “honest” or “real” scientist holds to young age creationism for scientific reasons.

In fact, he went so far as to say that those Christians who “twist” and “distort” good science should be “shunned.”

I’m sorry, b...

Dr. Stephen Lloyd

I love to discuss the topic of creationism; both the science and theology of it are simply fascinating to me.

In fact, I love it so much that I have decided to create a special edition of S3 that focuses in on the creation discussion, called Creation Conversations. This week is the first episode of these special edition podcasts.

I invited on a friend from across the pond, Stephen Lloyd, to kick us off. The goal of the discussion was to give an overview of what young age creationists teach and believe. It’s to really discuss why we feel this is an important issue.

Stephen works part-time as a Researcher and Lecturer for the Biblical Creation Trust and is also pastor of Hope Church, Gravesend. He studied Materials Science at the University of Cambridge and became a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Steve also has a Diploma in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge. He contributed to the book Debating Darwin published by Paternoster in 2009.

Enjoy the show!

Links:

The post Creation Conversations: Adam or Death — Which Came First? w/ Dr. Stephen Lloyd appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

Tim Stratton

One of the most important internal discussions I think Christians can have involves whether or not we have been endowed with free will by our Creator.

I think that we have been, but not everyone agrees. Sadly, though, I do think an important dimension to this discussion is often overlooked: The question of why.

Why does it matter whether or not we have free will? Why even have this discussion? To answer that question (and a few more!), I brought on my good friend Tim Stratton.

Tim is the founder of FreeThinking Ministries, where he regularly writes, speaks, podcasts, and creates videos promoting the truth of the Christian worldview. He’s well-known for his work discussing classic arguments for God’s existence and—most relevant to our discussion today—various issues surrounding the sovereignty of God and the free will of man.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Links:

The post Why Fight for Free Will? w/ Tim Stratton appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

Many times, good questions are the best way to get to the bottom of what people believe. Since we don’t have access to their hearts, we need to pry, probe, and ask them to prove why what they believe is true, lest we get caught having to give reasons for claims we haven’t even made!

So what are some of the advantages of asking questions, and how can we work them into practical conversation? That’s what we’re discussing in this episode of the show.

The post The Power of Asking Good Questions appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

I am BEYOND excited to announce a new podcast from our ministry called Theology on the Road!

Links:

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify

PocketCasts

I hope you’ll join me on this adventure!

The post Introducing Theology on the Road appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

The other week I was privileged to be interviewed by David Pallman for his new YouTube channel, Faith Because of Reason.

In this interview, I was given the opportunity to share young age creationism with an audience of folks who mostly disagree with it, and even believe it is harmful for the church.

No matter where you land on this issue, as you listen to this interview, I will you will be encouraged and motivated to learn more about it.

So this is part 2 of my interview with David Pallman on young age creationism.

Enjoy the show!

The post 103: Part 2 – What is Young Earth Creationism? appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.

The other week I was privileged to be interviewed by David Pallman for his new YouTube channel, Faith Because of Reason.

In this interview, I was given the opportunity to share young age creationism with an audience of folks who mostly disagree with it, and even believe it is harmful for the church.

No matter where you land on this issue, as you listen to this interview, I will you will be encouraged and motivated to learn more about it.

So this is part 1 of my interview with David Pallman on young age creationism.

Enjoy the show!

The post 102: Part 1 – What is Young Earth Creationism? appeared first on Steve Schramm Ministries.