Cave To The Cross Apologetics

All Have Faith In Their Reasons The fight of the 20th century, folks! Who will win in the the two giants in their field? Will it be Faith which seems to be slowing down from its prime? Or is it Reason; the newcomer who claims to be the unfeeling, unemotional piece of iron? There can only be one winner! Well, uh actually, when it comes down to it everyone has faith in their reasons. The real question is, what worldview supports and allows for reason to take place? We begin the first chapter of our book looking at the alleged fight between faith and reason. Properly defining the terms is always a key issue and interacting with the claims for some who have a caricature of what faith really is or what Christianity really claims shows how lacking the conversation can be right off the bat. Christians and those wanting to co-op the religion haven’t always done us the best favors with this at times. But today is the day and this episode is the episode where you can subvert all those “nice Christians” on TV who aren’t real and don’t show real Christianity. Let the world think we’re foolish but let’s not actively give them a true reason. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:47 – Do Your Assumptions Get You To Where You Need To Go? 05:39 – The Facts Are Not Enough 08:20 – The Real Definition Of Faith 13:16 – Those With Faith Are Not Turning Off Their Brains 16:04 – The Irrationality Of Thinking Christianity Is Irrational 16:35 – Christianity Is Not Illogical 17:15 – Christianity Is Not Unscientific 20:02 – Neo-Orthodox – You’re Not Helping 24:29 – Be Thought Of Foolish By The World But Not Actually Foolish 26:32 – Let’s Talk About Evidence! 29:48 – Faith Is The Foundation To Knowledge 30:47 – How Is The Book Laid Out 31:46 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep184/ LINKS: 24:08 – Mr. Machen Goes To Washington AnarchoChristian 31:22 – AAO Q&A Chapter 1 Revealed Apologetics Books mentioned in this episode: Against All Opposition: Defending the Christian Worldview by Greg Bahnsen – Get The Book(s) – Order At American Vision                   Bahnsen Lecture Library Christianity & Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen Kindle Paperback Hardcover Audible Try Audible For Free       What Is Faith by J. Gresham Machen Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”  

Center Of Every Worldview At the start of this book is the answer to what’s at the center of every worldview. It’s not the end conclusion we need to begin with. It’s the before we start parts that are important. Halfway is not where we want to begin our apologetics and we don’t want to argue for the last quarter of the truth by giving the other side a free platform to stand on. Greg Bahnsen will focus our outlook from start to finish. So let us begin before the End, shall we? Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:22 – The Center Of Every Worldview 04:17 – Every Worldview Has A Centralized Guide 08:03 – How Christians Tend To Do Apologetics 10:54 – Even Scientists Admit That Presuppositions Exist 14:27 – How Facts Become Evidence 17:06 – How God Created The Mind 19:18 – The Job Of The Apologist 26:36 – Gary DeMar Meets Greg Bahnsen 29:07 – How Against All Opposition Came About 35:02 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep183/ LINKS: 02:49 – How To Be An Atheist Playlist Books mentioned in this episode: Against All Opposition: Defending the Christian Worldview by Greg Bahnsen – Get The Book(s) – Order At American Vision                   Bahnsen Lecture Library How to Be an Atheist: Why Many Skeptics Aren’t Skeptical Enough by Mitch Stokes Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”  

Book 8 Announcement This week we have our Book 8 announcement on what we’re going to cover next! Starting next week we’ll take a deep dive into the book chapter-by-chapter and break down all the hard words, new concepts, and philosophy mumbo jumbo. Join our book club where you can pull up a chair and be the shy kid in the corner who definitely has things to say but is waiting for his or her time to shine. You can check us out on any of the major podcast platforms in audio form, video on YouTube & Odysee, or go straight to the source for both full episodes and short clips (short clips are even linked on the full episode as they are released) on our website CaveToTheCross.com. So come join us; won’t you? Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:35 – Book Announcement 01:26 – Who Is The Author 02:43 – The Author’s Mentor 03:12 – A Very Brief Take Of Presuppositional Apologetics 05:35 – How It Was Popularized 06:24 – Writings & Debates 08:32 – Lectures & Audio Project 13:28 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep182/ LINKS: Get The Book(s) Lectures  

Why? For God’s Glory! Scott Christensen has written an amazing book that is not just a dry, academic look at the question of why evil exists. Why? For God’s Glory! Pastor Christensen joins us to talk about his Greater-Glory Theodicy that places God at the center of the picture of the ultimate story of reality. We then ask Pastor Christensen a pastoral question to help us Christians offer hope to those who experience evil. Even in the life of non-believers, we see one of the biggest emotional questions is why is this evil happening. Pastor Christensen gives an amazing answer that points us to the Creator and Sustainer of all things and ultimately to Christ on the Cross. Thanks again to Scott Christensen for his work and for coming back on the show. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:20 – The Greater-Glory Theodicy 03:23 – God As The Meta-Storyteller 13:33 – The Purpose For God Allowing Evil 20:06 – Why Did Evil Happen To Me? 31:41 – Why Did Evil Happen To Jesus? 33:21 – A Dangerous Book & Maybe More 37:17 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep181/ LINKS: Part 1 Of This Interview – Ep.180 13:52 – Anarchist Bible Study Guest Appearance 26:15 – Scott Christensen’s Sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 All Our YouTube episodes on What About Evil Website Link YouTube Link All Our Short Clips on What About Evil Website Link YouTube Link SCOTT CHRISTENSEN LINKS: Twitter Facebook Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link           What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7 “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Free Will Theodicy Failures We have the pleasure of welcoming back to the show our first guest, our first returning guest, and author of the book we recently finished “What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory” – Pastor Scott Christensen. This was such a great discussion we wanted to break it up into two different parts. In the first part of the interview, we discuss what a theodicy is and what some of the free will theodicy failures are from one of the more cited explanations for why evil exists. Scott Christensen kindly sets up the stage for what the question is that his book covers and we jump right into the discussion. This will lead us right into the discussion for next week where we pick back up to talk about if not the free will theodicy with all its issues – what’s the theodicy that best puts God – and man, in their proper place? Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:33 – A Quick Overview Of What About Evil 03:17 – What Is A Theodicy? 06:52 – Issues With The Free Will Defense 11:53 – Free Will Of Man Limits God 13:59 – The Trinity Speaks Of Love Without Force Or Libertarian Free Will 16:27 – Being Fair With The Other Side’s Arguments 20:05 – Scriptural Case Against Libertarian Free Will 24:36 – God’s Foreknowledge Issue If Libertarian Free Will Is True 28:11 – The Best Of All Possible Worlds Issue 33:14 – Come Back Next Week For Part 2 The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep180/ LINKS: 01:00 – Ep. 17 – Scott Christensen Interview – What About Free Will? 01:55 – A Quick Review Of “What About Evil?” By Scott Christensen All Our YouTube episodes on What About Evil Website Link YouTube Link All Our Short Clips on What About Evil Website Link YouTube Link SCOTT CHRISTENSEN LINKS: Twitter Facebook Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link           What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7 “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Greater Glory Effect And now comes the end. The Great-Glory Theodicy showcases the greater glory effect. It is seen in the forgiving nature of the Christian as it reflects the forgiving nature of God. Even the worse of humanity, the most painful, the most destructive nature of man is no match for the grace that is unmerited but much needed. We provide an overview of the book that we just read with you to hit those points of the theodicy that Scott Christensen believes not only best explains evil but is also the most biblical explanation. We wrap up with a personal review and a hope that you came away at least challenged but at best moved to greater knowledge and glorifying nature of who God is and what He has done. Thank you to Scott Christensen for his book and thank you for joining us in reading What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory. We hope to see you for our next book that we swore we would read one day – and in it – give God the glory. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:41 – God Can Forgive Any Transgression 09:14 – The Grace Effect 10:45 – The Changed Life Of A Murderer 14:00 – Nazis. Do We Hate These Guys? 18:12 – Something Is Rotten In The State Of The Universe 21:48 – Why Is There Good Or Bad At All? 24:05 – It Had To Be This Way 30:16 – The Greater Glory Effect 32:27 – Now Comes The End 34:19 – A Quick Book Review 36:22 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep179/ Scott Christensen’s Announcement On Condensed Version Of “What About Evil” Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free           The Hiding Place DVD             The Case For Faith – A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity by Lee Strobel Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

How Should We Then Live? We live in a world infested with evil. We live in a world held in the sovereign hand of God. How should we then live? The Christian life is one led in a moment of three simultaneous instances of sight. We look back on our lives that were in rebellion against God. That life heaped evil onto the world as it was led in direct opposition to who God is and His Will. We look at our current lives that are justified by Christ’s work on the Cross and walk in the sanctification path to conform our lives to God’s Will. We look forward to the time of the end when every tear will be wiped away and where death and evil will have their final defeat. How should we then live? We should live as those who forgive much because we were forgiven much. We should live as those who show mercy because we were shown mercy. We should live as those who face the horrors of this world we stand up and willingly give of ourselves because Jesus Christ was the main example. And as we took part in His suffering, we now take part in bestowing mercy upon others – even if those that suffer are victims of the Holocaust; even if those that suffer in the Holocaust are there because of their Christian act of mercy. How should we then live? We should live like Christ lived and overcome evil. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:37 – Why Is Pain In A World Of Survival Of The Fittest? 05:53 – The Purpose Of Pain 09:03 – The Grace Effect 10:48 – Grace Overcoming Evil 17:01 – The Holocaust Shows Mercy Abounds 18:33 – Showing Mercy To Victims 21:05 – Victims Bearing Up Under God’s Mercy 28:12 – The Christian Apologetic Seen In Christian Suffering 33:30 – Conclusion LINKS 03:17 – How To Be An Atheist Playlist 07:20 – Tactics Playlist The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep178/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture by Francis Schaeffer Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free         How to Be an Atheist: Why Many Skeptics Aren’t Skeptical Enough by Mitch Stokes Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free     Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free         The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free           The Hiding Place DVD “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Coming Redeemer No, we’re not doing The Return Of The King, but we are looking forward to the end of this book as we are looking forward to the end of The Book of the Coming Redeemer. These books will have a single ending unlike a certain 3rd movie you might be thinking about. In this section we look at Christ coming back and what He brings with respect to dealing with evil. The redemption that takes place is the result of the King returning and glorifying everything more than it has ever been – even before the Fall. We also look at why salvation isn’t most people or no people at all. A strong theodicy should be able to account for that. Finally, we cover the question of why things like God’s Law and Satan were allowed into the world and continue to exist till the end. There are no eagles in this book but we are coming to the end. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:00 – Christ The Coming King 01:31 – The Cosmic Redemption 02:26 – The Cosmic Judgment 03:39 – The Cosmic Glory 05:20 – What About So Many Unsaved People? 15:09 – Why The Gate Isn’t Wide Or Non-Existent? 18:21 – Why Was The Law & Satan Allowed To Come Into The World? 23:25 – Cosmic Renewal 24:14 – How Now Should We Live? 24:59 – Conclusion LINKS The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep177/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free     “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Resurrection Explained! Why was the end of the Incarnation of Jesus on Earth important? What does it mean to people before, during, and after the Cross? How does the Resurrection ensure a believer’s redemption? Well, this is the first part of the Resurrection explained! What does it all mean? Everything! With the Resurrection of Jesus, His ascension into Heaven puts a pin in His coming again. Where He was first the lamb slain as the suffering servant His next appearance will be as the conquering King. But before we get to the end, we need to look at what’s next after the empty tomb. We have to see what the Resurrection does in context of Satan and sin. Are they defeated or is there a future end? What are the benefits of the Resurrection? Well, we see the benefits in areas of a Christian’s justification, sanctification, and glorification. These are shared experiences between believers across the gulf of history. These experiences are for those who surround us right now and are a part of what we build as being fellow heirs in the Kingdom of God. Aslan is coming and the sons and daughters of men must make ready for the final battle. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:29 – The Coming Conquering Lion 05:33 – The Victorious Christ 07:46 – The Final, Complete Passover 11:21 – From Crisis To Victory 13:58 – Putting Satan & Sin Into Perspective 17:32 – Jesus Is The Resurrected King 19:37 – So What Of The Resurrection? 24:08 – Holistic Benefits Of The Resurrection 25:55 – Sanctification & Glorification In 3 Events Of History 26:23 – Believers Participate With Jesus At The Events Of The Cross 28:16 – Renewed Life At The Moment Of Salvation 29:16 – Glorification Guaranteed 32:59 – Conclusion LINKS The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep176/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Suffering Redeemer The Christian story emphasizes a focus on the suffering of Jesus Christ. He is our suffering Redeemer. Being born, living in the ancient Near East, being hungry and poor, and ultimately being nailed on a cross illegally as the most innocent person ever involves suffering. Not only does this not seem to surprise Jesus but it seems to be a necessary component God uses to bring about the defeat of evil. Suffering serves a function in the Incarnation and that suffering was a necessity in the life of the Messiah. Showing the need of truly understanding the seriousness of sin shows just how important, serious, and terror-inducing having the divine wrath of God poured out on sin is. We also look at if suffering happens in the Trinity as a result of the Incarnation. All this leads up to the completion point of why the Suffering Redeemer had to come in the manner He did for the purpose He did and in a way that makes our theodicy matter. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:30 – 2 Functions Of Suffering In The Incarnation 02:38 – The Necessity For Christ To Suffer 05:10 – REALLY Understanding The Seriousness Of Sin 09:22 – The Divine Wrath On The Suffering Servant 12:43 – The Trinity In Suffering – Natures & Persons 19:56 – The Father In The Suffering 20:52 – Tetelestai! 26:22 – Conclusion LINKS The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep175/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Does God Have Emotions? When we talk about Jesus as God and as the Suffering Servant the question of, “Does God have emotions?” is to be asked. Is God able to have emotions like us humans? Is He surprised at the evil He sees in the world? Is prophecy, then, just a lucky guess by God? While some of those answers seem obvious, we should make sure we are communicating them thoroughly enough to present the orthodox response that is accurate to the revealed Scriptures and that covers the questions we should expect as a follow-up. In the Incarnation we see Jesus suffer. It’s a main part of the story. Can God suffer? How about this question – can God die? The knee-jerk responses are there but are they good enough to stand up to a Muslim apologist or an open theist? Do we know the God we claim to know well enough to understand this very important part and how important it is in our theodicy? We cover this shorter chapter in two parts to make sure we (mostly Patrick) get a better grasp on it. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:46 – Why Does Divine Suffering Have To Happen 04:29 – Did God Die? 08:42 – Divine Impassibility 11:02 – Passions Vs. Affections 14:19 – God Is Not Shocked 17:58 – God’s Affections Are Like Our & Also Not 20:52 – God Can’t Have Sinful Emotions 22:49 – Divine Compassion & Eradication Of Suffering 25:49 – Conclusion LINKS 03:48 – The Forbidden Chapter: Isaiah 53 in the Hebrew Bible The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep174/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Fully Man & Fully God Jesus not only is fully man & fully God but He must be both in that full capacity to accomplish everything He must for our salvation. To deny His humanity is to not have a stand-in for humanity. To deny His Godhood is to not have the ability to pay the penalty for all His Sheep and to be able to take on the wrath of God. In The Bible, we see the regular way that Jesus operates. Yes, with signs and miracles and wonders but as a man. And yet, the universe still operates, and all things that were made by Him and held together by Him still go round and round. In His Earthly work, He is obedient to the Law, He fully justifies, and He is fully righteous. He is tempted in a way that others would fail and in that temptation God experiences the direct knowledge of suffering and temptation. And yet, He does not sin. He redeems us but He is our sympathetic Redeemer! Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:40 – The Regular Way Jesus Operated In Power 03:00 – The Emptying Of Christ Meaning 05:30 – Christ’s Earthly Ministry & Trinitarian Relations 06:32 – The Unique Work Of The Unique Redeemer 07:52 – Obedience In The Sacrifice Of Christ 10:10 – Fully Justified 11:40 – Divine Righteousness Vindicated By Christ 12:44 – The Temptation Of Christ 18:53 – Our Sympathetic Redeemer 23:02 – Our Example 25:11 – Questions Remains – As We Would Expect 25:59 – Conclusion LINKS 01:29 – Revived Thoughts Sermon – John Gill – Christ the Savior from the Storm The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep173/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Why The Incarnation Had To Happen The Greater-Glory Theodicy centers on the character of who God is and the reasons He has in glorifying Himself in a world of evil. With that in mind, why the incarnation had to happen was to uniquely and completely deal with all the evil in full. Once Christians were able to sit down amongst themselves they worked on clarifying and systematizing what The Bible says about the Incarnation. At the Council of Chalcedon, orthodoxy was recognized. The Incarnation is a difficult concept to grasp because it is a unique event and the information we are provided is found in the consistent words of Scripture and what is known about who God is. God deals with sin in a mysterious, paradoxical, and unusual way – just the way we would expect a transcendent God to do! Even the nihilist Albert Camus sees the importance and benefit that Incarnation provides. If the ending seems very abrupt it’s because we so much enjoyed this chapter that we kept going and forgot to split it into two parts. Check back next week for an abrupt beginning and the completion of this amazing chapter. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:05 – The Usual Unusual Way God Deals With Evil 07:05 – The Battle Cry Of The Incarnation 08:42 – The Council of Chalcedon 15:42 – The Need For Jesus To Be Fully God & Fully Man 17:14 – The Paradox & Mystery Of The Incarnation 20:00 – Why God Had To Be Incarnate 23:53 – Nihilist Albert Camus On How Christianity Solves The Problem Of Pain 26:14 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep172/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Christianity At The Crossroads – How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger Kindle Paperback           The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity by Andreas J. Köstenberger & Michael J. Kruger Kindle Paperback “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Romans 9 Answers Why Evil Exists The promised chapter on how Romans 9 answers why evil exists is here! Continuing from our look at the Old Testament we look at Paul’s answer to why there exists evil and how God uses it for His glory. We are unable to divorce ourselves from the Old Testament and Paul engages with a question of what is God’s purpose in choosing some and not others especially if some not chosen are not the “chosen people of God”. We actually do see God’s chosen people but they are made up of both Jew & Gentile. But is there something special about those God chosen for salvation and/or something badly special about those God doesn’t choose. Romans 9 says that the exact answer of why evil exists. For God’s redemptive glory as seen in Scripture. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:38 – Romans 9, The Exodus, & God’s Purpose For Evil 06:38 – The Right Response To “Why, God?” 09:12 – The Purpose Of The Plagues Glorifies God 12:48 – The Exodus Glorifies God Even More Because Of Evil 14:57 – God’s Grace Should Make Us Ask, “Why Us?” 16:17 – Romans 9, The Red Sea, & God’s Purpose For Evil 18:00 – Evil Shows Us God’s Justice & His Mercy 21:46 – God Discriminates In His Love 23:28 – Why Doesn’t God Save Everyone? 27:56 – Why Isn’t There Universal Atonement? 32:20 – Romans 9 Short Summary 33:29 – Redemptive Glory In John’s Gospel 34:05 – Glory In Blindness 38:53 – Glory In Raising The Dead 42:21 – Death Is Permanent…Right? 43:19 – Glory In The Cross 46:37 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep171/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Redeeming Evil In The Old Testament One of the goals of the Greater-Glory Theodicy is to find not just the best logical explanation for why evil exists. It is also to see if the special revelation of God details its reason. In this episode we look at how is God redeeming evil in the Old Testament. Evil is not a whispered result of sin. From chapter 3 of Genesis and moving forward throughout the entirety of the Old Testament you couldn’t swing a donkey’s jawbone without running into a story of evil. Why? In those stories, God is redeeming that evil for His purposes, for future redemption, for ultimate removal, and for the pinnacle of human history – the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Let us look at the Old Testament and see the glory that God receives becomes greater and manifested to His creation because evil is present – and being dealt with. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:54 – Dealing With Evil In Unexpected Ways 05:07 – God’s Redemption In The Fall 08:38 – God’s Redemption In The Flood 14:50 – God’s Redemption With Abraham 18:24 – Scripture Is Useful Whenever One Finds Themselves 21:42 – God’s Redemption In The Exodus 27:19 – Pharoah Is Responsible – And So Is God 29:03 – God’s Redemption In The Passover & Crossing The Red Sea 32:14 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep170/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Providence by John Piper Kindle – https://amzn.to/3FtnE0i Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3JkioPc Audible – https://amzn.to/3yTCFGp Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE Patrick’s Review “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Christianity, Sci-Fi, & Indie Publishing We are joined today by Katie Roome who is the founder and writer of Periapsis Press. We sit down and talk about Christianity, sci-fi, & indie publishing. Is there a difference between the genres; and what do they tell us about God’s story and humanity? So we’re talking nerdy today! Periapsis Press offers long-form, positive reviews for independent authors in the science fiction and fantasy genre. While not every book is “Christian fiction” the books’ themes and values “do not come in conflict with our Christian worldview”. We discuss the importance of reading things through the lens of a Christian worldview and why sci-fi and fantasy are great avenues to explore the ultimate story of God and our place in it. We, of course, have to talk about how bad Christian fiction is – and indie fiction as well. However, Periapsis Press is a place to show that’s not always the case and in the struggles of indie authors, there are positives. We also talk about how to be a good reader and reviewer. And book recommendations! Here’s the spot where I usually list the nerd references. Ya, that’s just the whole episode. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:03 – What Is Periapsis Press? 06:09 – What Is The Difference Between Sci-Fi & Fantasy? 10:30 – What Types Of Authors Are Being Reviewed? 13:32 – All Stories Reflect The Ultimate Story Of God 26:43 – Christian Fiction Doesn’t Have To Be Bad Or Boring 29:24 – Why Positive Book Reviews Are More Helpful 35:04 – Being A Good Reader Reviewer 38:50 – The Struggles Of Indie Authors 46:14 – The Positives Of Indie Authors 50:54 – Authors Who Hate Their Audience 53:51 – How A Reader Can Choose A Good Indie Book 59:33 – Book Recommendations 1:05:25 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep169/ Periapsis Press Links Periapsis Press – https://periapsispress.com/ Periapsis Press on Facebook Katie Roome on Twitter Links: Stories Are Soul Food Podcast Patrick’s GoodReads Reviews Books mentioned in this episode: Uriel’s Revenge by David Roome Kindle The Fountain Mechanism by David Roome Kindle         What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Drosselmeyer – Curse Of The Rat King by Paul Thompson Kindle Paperback Audible (Scored By The Author!) Try Audible For Free Periapsis Press Review       War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells Kindle Paperback Hardcover Audible Try Audible For Free         Jeff Wayne’s The World Of The Worlds Vinyl Audible Try Audible For Free       The Devil’s Dictum by Frederick Gero Heimbach Kindle Paperback Periapsis Press Review             How Black the Sky by T. J. Marquis Kindle Paperback Periapsis Press Review             Out Of The Deep by T. J. Marquis Kindle Periapsis Press Review               Recovering The Lost Art Of Reading by Leland Ryken & Glenda Faye Mathes Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free             The Guns Of The South by Harry Turtledove Kindle Paperback Hardcover Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.” Check Out Other Interviews We’ve Done – We’ve interviewed authors from the books we’ve read like Greg Koukl, Dr. Jason Lisle, Andreas J. Köstenberger, and others. We’ve interviewed pastors and podcasters and economists. CLICK HERE to check them all out.    

Was The Fall Necessary? One of the biggest questions that comes from the Greater-Glory Theodicy is this – Was The Fall necessary? Because that’s what it seems to imply. Well, that’s actually what it comes right out and says. It’s nothing to blush at or be embarrassed about. It’s the necessary outcome for God’s purposes. To focus on the negative, however, is to miss the “glory” of the Greater-Glory Theodicy. In this episode, we cover four of them and cover what is the purpose of evil as it relates to magnifying and displaying God’s glory more fully than if The Fall never occurred. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:05 – Was The Fall Necessary? 05:33 – A Better, Best-Of-All-Possible Worlds Theory 08:44 – 4 Hopes Of The Greater-Glory Theodicy 11:00 – 1) Christ Bears Our Sins 12:43 – 2) Christ Bears Our Sorrows 14:35 – 3) Focus On Future Glory 17:07 – 4) Raising The Banner Of Divine Grace 17:58 – Evil Allows God To Display His Glory More Fully 22:49 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep168/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God’s Glory Seen In Evil Now that we’ve laid out the Greater-Glory Theodicy that Scott Christensen has presented we unpack what it actually does that others don’t. In this theodicy, God’s Glory seen in evil is established. This doesn’t come from a novel, clever way to get around popular theories. This comes from the overall presentation of Scripture of who God is and what His greatest desire is. What’s God’s purpose for creating the universe and all life including human life? What’s God’s purpose for revealing who He is through direct revelation to His image-bearers? What is the purpose of Christ’s incarnation and atonement? It is the same reason why God allows evil into the world. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 03:03 – Glory Is God’s Ultimate End 11:05 – The Story Is God-Centered Not Man-Centered 15:38 – God Relates To Man But Is Not Like Man 21:26 – Lessen Pain By Focusing More On God 25:17 – The Two Types Of Glories Of God 31:43 – The Location Of God’s Supreme Glory 37:20 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep167/ LINKS: 30:23 – Did Moses See God Face To Face? – Bible Contradiction Explained!   Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan Kindle (FREE) Paperback Hardcover Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Greater-Glory Theodicy We’ve knocked down the standard explanations. We’ve established who God is and what He desires. We’ve told His story in history from a story tale. Now, we get to tackle what Scott Christensen believes is the best explanation for evil with all those elements put together – The Greater-Glory Theodicy. In this episode, we break down the three premises and conclusion of the Greater-Glory Theodicy and see that the conclusion is supported by them. From there we begin to cover some of the details embedded in the argument. One of them being is to figure out whether or not God is required to save anyone by giving His Grace to them. Join us on our quest for a biblically-based theodicy. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:32 – Why Did God Allow Evil? 05:24 – The Greater-Glory Theodicy 11:09 – God’s Ultimate Purpose 18:19 – God’s Supreme Glory 21:34 – Sin Is Necessary For Redemption 25:01 – The Reason Why The Fall Was Necessary 26:59 – Is God Required To Give Grace? 29:39 – God’s Freedom In His Giving Grace 35:57 – What’s To Come? 36:45 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep166/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God’s Purpose With Evil After setting the scene with Creation and The Fall, we are now able to see what God’s purpose with evil is. Following the story paradigm, we see God’s story played out in the rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. Each part covers an evil plot point where God is able to reveal Himself more fully to His creation. Throughout God’s story of redemption, we see a repeated pattern of man attempting to cover his sin on his own or go his own way. Ultimately, and every time, he fails. Fortunately, God comes in and provides a much better and fuller way. This goes from Adam through the Jewish nation and culminates at the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. He comes, conquers, and rules in such a way that the twists and turns makes the story that much more compelling. And the application point is that within the story which contains evil, God is in complete control AND He uses His creation in His relation to them to carry out His victory and removal of evil. His Kingdom will reign over all creation – even of Mars. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:54 – Rising Action – The Rise To Redemption 08:16 – The Rise Of The Hebrew Nation 12:12 – God Continues To Endure The Promise 13:58 – Climax – The Author Enters The Story 19:16 – The Importance Of The Death AND The Resurrection 20:18 – Falling Action – Ascension & Ruling 21:38 – Evil Won’t Go Without A Fight 24:18 – Denouement – The Better Kingdom Established, Paradise Restored 26:14 – Could The Story Be Good Without Evil? 29:40 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep165/ LINKS: Short Clips From Episodes Book Reviews By Patrick Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Gulag Archipelago by Alekandr Slzhenitsyn Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Evil’s Purpose In God’s Story What is evil’s purpose in God’s story? To begin to understand the answer we look at the fact that God’s written story, The Bible, is more than just propositions and commands – it is also stories. As it is the first story by the original Author we can call it a monomyth. This isn’t myth like Greek or Roman myths. It differs in many ways and in this episode we cover those differences. The historical declarations made at specific times and places along with the purpose of the stories and how they are told make God’s story different than pagan myths. From there we begin unfolding God’s story so that we can understand evil’s purpose in God’s story. In the beginning God. Then He builds the set. Then He casts His cast and crew. Then the conflict is quickly introduced and the villain emerges! And the shirt Patrick is wearing? It’s only The War Of The Worlds printed in its entirety on it. What a story that includes an evil conflict! Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:08 – The Story Of God Using Evil For Good 05:38 – The Narrative Purpose Of Evil 08:00 – The Bible – More Than Just Propositions 10:12 – Stories Solidify Important Teaching 12:02 – Evil Story Focused On The Whole Story 15:34 – The Bible Is The One True Story 17:20 – The Bible Differs From Pagan Myths 17:48 – Refutes Pagan Worldviews 18:27 – It’s Crafted As Factual History 18:50 – It’s The Source Of All Truth 19:20 – History Is Designed & Declared In The Bible 22:45 – Putting The Story Of The Bible Together With Evil 26:39 – The Glory Of God Over The Tragedy Of Evil 28:54 – Plot Point 1 – Creation & Fall 34:25 – We Fall Hard 37:31 – Curses! 39:36 – To Be Continued… 40:07 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep164/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle Hardcover Logos Link ChristianBook Link         God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth by GK Beale Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free         Taking Hold of God – Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer by Joel R. Beeke & Brian G. Najapfour Kindle Paperback             1984 by George Orwell Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free           Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Kindle (FREE) Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free         The Odyssey by Homer Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Structure Of God’s Story Now that we looked at what myths are and what the monomyth of God’s story is; we look at what the structure of God’s story is – as well as all other stories follow. The shared collective consciousness of humanity reflects what it cannot help – the reflection of their Creator who is a Storyteller in their structure and desire to tell stories. Looking at Freytag’s Pyramid of storytelling we see the five parts of a story all myths and important stories take on. Seeing either comedy or tragedy, the end goal is to convey an important concept or cultural value in the end. We give a lot of examples from movies and book genres to show that our stories can be tied right back to our Creator. We create because He creates. We teach how He teaches. And evil has a place in the story and teaching. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:47 – Freytag’s Pyramid 01:22 – Exposition 03:05 – The Rising Action 03:37 – Climax 04:55 – Falling Action 06:14 – Denouement 07:18 – The Monomyth Pyramid 15:29 – God’s Complete Worldview Monomyth Story 20:41 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep163/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth by GK Beale Kindle Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free         MOVIE – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance               MOVIE – Assume The Position With Mr. Wuhl “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God As The Monomyth Storyteller The term “myth” has a colloquial understanding of being made up or fake. But that’s not the true meaning of the word. Myths are stories told in a worldview used to relay information to a group and that story is made to stick. This universal concept derives itself from God. God as the monomyth Storyteller sets up our theodicy to explain why evil exists. Looking at societies and tribes and even families and neighborhoods, humanity to a source of storytellers. We have more books today than at any other point in time because we have not yet run out of stories to tell. Science fiction informs our ideas of the future while relating to the reader of today. Fantasy gives us tales of adventure and mystery with the spice of magic. Even our factual based stories of war and politics are not told in a mundane way. The facts are accompanied with hopefully a good story. Taking the fun out of history is the job of schools. Man is a storyteller by nature. With the Christian worldview, we know that we get our nature from God. In God’s communicative character, we find Him as our ultimate Storyteller. And in His story, there are bad guys and evil afoot. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:53 – Stories Are Primal For Man – And God 10:38 – The Truth Of Mythic Stories 18:43 – True Myths 22:22 – The Emerging Monomyth 29:04 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep162/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         Bandersnatch – C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Glyer Kindle Version – https://amzn.to/3wr8WCO Paperback Version – https://amzn.to/2R2wgH4 Audible Version – https://amzn.to/39G3xhz Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE       Light Keepers Series Links to purchase & reviews can be found here – https://cavetothecross.com/topic/lightkeepers/ “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

How To Bring Apologetics Into The Church In this episode, we responds to a great listener question about how to bring apologetics into the church. The question is specifically from a pastor’s point of view but we answer it in a way to be useful for the pastor, elder, deacon, Christian teacher, or layperson to be useful to his/her local church and build up the body of Christ. With all the things the church needs to address – sound doctrine, exegesis, sanctification/morality, etc. it can feel a little overwhelming for pastors to hear about things like apologetics or textual criticism or church history and be told that “the Church needs to cover these topics as well”. What if that pastor or teacher or layperson doesn’t feel particularly equipped to deal with those things especially on top of all the other responsibilities? Is the only response to make a general suggestion to the congregation that they can read about it in books about apologetics? Do you want to direct your people to random YouTube searches? Or what about people who don’t think they need to hear about these topics? Well here’s a random YouTube show who encourages you to read books about apologetics especially for those who may not be interested in the depth of the topic – to provide their answer. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:37 – How To Bring In Apologetics Into The Church 02:06 – Carve Out A Special Message To Cover Topics Of Apologetics 04:40 – Incorporate It Into The Sermon 11:27 – Encourage The Church To Stretch Or They Might Fall 14:04 – Crowd Source Apologetics 18:53 – It Encourages Evangelism & Sanctification 27:35 – Heading The World Off At The Pass 32:18 – Church History & Preaching Apologetically 38:01 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep161/ Books mentioned in this episode: Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey Kindle Audible Try Audible For Free       Tactics by Greg Koukl Kindle Audible Try Audible For Free       Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan Kindle (FREE) Paperback Audible Try Audible For Free “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God’s Responsibility In The Fall Continuing to look at God’s responsibility when it comes to evil, we look at God’s responsibility in the Fall of mankind. Both sides of the choice debate have to recognize the Fall as something unique and comes with their own set of questions. Which side is the most consistent AND the most biblical? Genesis 50 offers up one of the best biblical views of divine determinism as well as the moral responsibility of man for evil alone but God’s decree of that same evil. Evil does not exist independently from God. God is not reacting to evil. God is not surprised by evil. God is not being forced to deal with evil. There is no conflict in determinism when approached fairly. Then we look at the Fall and see that Adam and Eve seem to offer up a special case and because of the limits to the metaphysical nature of man pre-Fall, we come up with a mystery. With all that being said, we still see that God is still sovereign in the Fall. It was not an accident and it was not God being a puppet master and forcing Adam & Eve to sin. This chapter is really preparing the way for Christensen to present his own theodicy that incorporates all the issues he’s presented so far along with the biblical narrative truth God provided. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 03:22 – God Decrees Evil But Is Not Morally Responsible 04:51 – Joseph & His Brothers As The Best Example 07:05 – Evil Does Not Exist Independent Of God 08:10 – No Conflict With Determinism 10:20 – The Biggest Problem – The Fall Of Man 15:19 – Adam & Eve Were Not Puppets 17:22 – God Is Still Sovereign In The Fall Into Sin 23:05 – Was God The Direct Cause Of The First Sin? No. 25:57 – The Fall Was Not An Accident 29:40 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep160/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link           What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7 “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God Is Free Of Evil God is free of evil because of who He is and His transcendence over His creation. But is He still considered the “author of evil”? Looking at people like the authors of the Westminster Confessions, Jonathan Edwards, and John Frame we see the Reformed tradition is not caught off guard by this claim that results in recognizing God’s complete sovereignty over all things – including evil. Good analogies exist to show the clarity of this paradox as long as we recognize that all analogies break down. We look at what God’s transcendence, intentions, decrees, and knowledge allows Him to decree evil while not being evil Himself or His actions be evil. God is responsible for all things but those responsibilities can be deficient in cause. In similar fashion, God’s commands that man ought to do something (or not do something) might seem to need an allowance in an ability to do/not do those things but that’s a misunderstanding of the ought/can distinction. God is good because of His nature and standing above His creation. Man, as His creatures, are not good because of his nature and standing in God’s creation. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:53 – Is God Responsible For Evil? 03:36 – The Transcendent Author Of Evil 04:02 – The Westminster On God & Evil 04:52 – John Frame On God & Evil – & Shakespeare 06:08 – Jonathan Edwards On God & Evil 07:08 – God’s Transcendence Over Evil Man’s Actions 09:41 – All Analogies Break Down 11:01 – God Has No Evil Intentions In His Decrees 12:06 – God Is The Deficient Cause Of Evil 14:46 – Moral Responsibility Is Tied To Intentions 16:15 – Knowledge Of Good & Evil 17:32 – Intentions Of The Heart 20:45 – Ought Does Not Imply Can 24:25 – The Nature Of God Allows Him To Be Free Of Evil 29:11 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep158/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God’s Work In Evil Now that we’ve established the character and nature of God and seen that The Bible doesn’t shy away from attributing God’s control to evil actions of humans, we look at two other aspects of evil The Bible talks about. In divine hardening, we see that God steers the desires of humans to accomplish His will and His plans. We see it with kings and groups of people and individuals. The biggest example is Pharaoh in the Old Testament. But also seen in Romans 1 with those who suppress the knowledge of God. On the opposite end, God restrains evil humanity from being as evil as we could be. The nature of man is set in evil and there’s no divine need to force a choice to do evil. Just the opposite, for any good to occur God must be the first cause. We, of course, have to look at the biggest example of evil and see that God is in control. Not just of the individual actions and decisions that lead to the culmination of God’s plan of redemption but in every single action, life, and continuation of life to get everything and everyone at that moment. It would take some all-powerful divine Being to orchestrate such a thing! Well, do I have a Book for you! Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:26 – Divine Hardening & Evil 04:32 – Pharaoh & Divine Hardening 10:16 – God Restrains Evil 13:42 – We Don’t Need To Protect God From Evil 15:28 – The Decree Of Evil Consistent With The Nature Of God 19:42 – God’s Good In The Greatest Evil To Ever Happen 24:45 – Is God Morally Culpable For Evil? The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep158/   Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link           What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7 “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Is God The Author Of Evil? Is God the author of evil? That’s the question that Reformed Christians must be able to answer especially after dismantling libertarian free will. Here we begin to look at the characteristics God embodies that informs the discussion of his sovereignty over evil. Looking at God’s absolute goodness and holiness and righteousness, we have to realize God is not made up of parts and these qualities are embodied in God fully and completely but also in a perfect balance of each other. This can then inform our understanding of God’s sovereignty over all creation including the good – and the evil. We look at what The Bible has to say about God actually being tied to evil – but seen in the correct outlook. However, this outlook is shied away from by academics and scholars in a pious but improper manner. Looking at one of the biggest examples of this is from the book of Job. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:59 – Is God The Author Of Evil? 08:43 – God’s Absolute Goodness 11:47 – God’s Absolute Holiness 12:53 – The Results Of God Being Righteous 17:00 – God’s Sovereignty With Evil 23:09 – The Bible Talks About God Being In Control Of Evil 30:53 – God Has A Specific Hand Of Control Over Evil In Job The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep157/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

What About Compatibilism? We delve into the topic of God’s choosing and man’s choosing as it relates to evil. If you’ve ever wondered, “What about compatibilism? What is it and is it true?” this episode will break down the concept for you. First, we finish up the last two secondary characteristics that stem from God’s transcendent nature. One is God taking action in His Providence. This just isn’t in the miracles or the big events from history but also in the boring and mundane details. Also, we see God’s unrestricted use of His power in His omnipotence. Then we look at the compatible nature of God as creator and man as creature. We see how important both God’s nature and man’s nature limits each in what is able to be chosen. Here highlights the vast difference between God and man but still a relationship and moral culpability. We hope these breakdowns are beneficial to you and thank you for joining us as we cover topics like this to learn more and to honor and glorify the Lord of Lords. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:12 – God’s Providence 06:20 – Miracles In God’s Providence 08:17 – God’s Actions In The Boring 09:26 – God’s Omnipotence 10:53 – God’s Unrestricted Use Of Power 12:37 – History’s Transcendent Author 18:21 – The Compatibility Between God & Human Choosing 20:59 – What About Compatibilism? 30:37 – The Nature Of The Heart Informs Human Choosing 33:17 – Compatibilism As Seen In The Golden Rule & Economics 35:42 – Our Choosing In Enslaved To Sin By Default 37:29 – Biblical Proof Of Compatibilism 41:19 – God’s Choosing & Man’s Choosing In Relation To Evil 43:07 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep156/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link           What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7           Providence by John Piper Kindle – https://amzn.to/3FtnE0i Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3JkioPc Audible – https://amzn.to/3yTCFGp Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE Patrick’s Review         The Doctrine Of God by John Frame Kindle – https://amzn.to/3ppxavR Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3suKCAH             The Providence Of God by Paul Helm Paperback – https://amzn.to/3Eu99bg               The Freedom Of The Will by Jonathan Edwards Kindle – https://amzn.to/3ExpfkI Paperback – https://amzn.to/3Fm5kGt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3Je6kPb Audible – https://amzn.to/3mvohPL Try Audible For Free       The Most Real Being: A Biblical and Philosophical Defense of Divine Determinism by J.A. Crabtree Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3ExpSuA “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

God Is Transcendent Now that we’ve toppled over the main theodicies that have been preeminent in the discussion of evil; we turn back to what should start off any conversation rooted in the Christian worldview – the character and nature of God. Specifically, God is transcendent. God didn’t just happen upon the universe; He made it from nothing. As such, He is above all and all things that exist and remain because of Him. This is a scary thing for those in rebellion of Him and sadly that is all of humanity. We follow the author as he focuses on the characteristics that follow from God’s transcendent nature. Things like his magnificence, fully incomprehensible nature, and sovereignty are focused on to lay the foundation for the world that exists explicitly because of who God is and His ultimate power. From that nature, we will see the most complete theodicy arise and that there really is no problem of evil. Just people who have problems with who God is. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:49 – God As Transcendent 05:49 – Secondary Characteristics From Transcendent Sovereignty 09:46 – The Magnificence Of God Understated 12:11 – The Incomprehensible, Transcendent Lord Of All 16:07 – The Gulf Between God & Man 25:13 – God Is Sovereign 28:05 – God’s Decree 32:13 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep155/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Divine Judgment & Hell Looking at one of the last main theodicies, we look at the topics of divine judgment & Hell. After laying out the argument from the divine-judgment defense we see that while this argument does have some merit to it, it is not an all-encompassing view of evil. With two interesting problems, it doesn’t seem to deal with the very first evil of the Fall and it doesn’t seem to link evil that is not a direct result of sin. We also see that it doesn’t seem to tie in God’s love and goodness which needs to be in the picture to have a full theodicy picture. Finally, we cover the topic of evil affecting “innocent” people where it seems also appropriate to cover the topic of Hell, damnation, and the fairness of judgment. While this isn’t a full coverage on the topic of Hell, the need to introduce the topic is done and further reading is offered. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 03:00 – Divine-Judgment Defense 09:33 – Problems With The Defense 10:37 – Objection 1 – Not All Evil Is The Result Of Sin 11:49 – Objection 2 – No Explanation To The First Evil 12:22 – Objection 3 – Undermines Love & Goodness Of God 15:31 – Objection 4 – Evil Affects The Innocent 16:00 – The Fairness Of Judgement On The “Innocent” 21:06 – What About Hell? 22:40 – We Have No Standing To Judge 23:27 – We Have No Idea How To Judge 25:31 – Why Hell? 29:40 – Going Towards A More Faithful Theodicy 31:31 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep154/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn Kindle – https://amzn.to/3pNBeFs Paperback – https://amzn.to/3dyj6t9 Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3rOkyzY Audible – https://amzn.to/3yijVQE Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE         Hell Under Fire by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson Kindle – https://amzn.to/3393AlD Paperback – https://amzn.to/3lOJe7S Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3GoioLw Audible – https://amzn.to/3lM1rmA Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE       God & The Problem Of Evil – Five Views by Phillip Cary, William Lane Craig, William Hasker, Thomas Jay Oord, & Stephen Wykstra Kindle – https://amzn.to/3oCmOZ3 Paperback – https://amzn.to/3pJWhbG “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Soul-Making In The Best Possible World Two of the subset theodicies of the Greater-Good Theodicy are the Soul-Making Theodicy and the Best-Of-All-Possible-Worlds Defense. In these, soul-making in the best possible world gives a purpose to evil existing as a means to an end. From the soul-making side, we see this as a desire in our own stories we share and treasure. Without evil, life is a boring non-story. However, there are some major issues with this theory that involves every non-Christian who ever lived. And from the best possible world, we have a logical idea dependent on the character and nature and God. We see a couple of glaring issues including examples of two worlds that are actually better without evil in it. But we still help Leibniz out with making his work more biblical. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:21 – The Soul-Making Theodicy 03:53 – Stories Without Evil Overcome Are Borning 05:30 – Evil Builds Character 07:52 – Objection 1 – Doesn’t Seem To Build Non-Christians 09:14 – Objection 2 – Some Seem To Getaway With Evil 11:17 – Objection 3 – Can’t Know If Evil Built Character Specifically 13:02 – The Best-Of-All-Possible-Worlds Defense 15:16 – The Purpose Of Evil Is A Product Of The Best Possible World 19:02 – Objection 1 – No Explanation Of How Evil Makes It The Best Possible World 19:49 – We Are Not In A Position To Know By Definition 23:09 – Objection 2 – We Have An Example Of A Better World Without Evil 24:54 – Objection 3 – Evil Isn’t Built Into The World But Entered Into It 30:14 – Objection 4 – It Underminds God’s Freedom In Creation 31:36 – A More Faithful Restatement Of The Defense 33:57 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep153/ Links: 35:28 – Ep.150 – Hermeneutics & Apologetics       35:40 – Ep.151 – Hermeneutics & Practical Bible Study       Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         The Time Machine by H.G. Wells Kindle – https://amzn.to/3padbjz Paperback – https://amzn.to/3padbjz Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3d4XLHy Audible – https://amzn.to/32Mf26E Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE           The Postmortal by Drew Magary Kindle – https://amzn.to/3EeO2L2 Paperback – https://amzn.to/3o4FK2l Audible – https://amzn.to/3d4fBus Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE My Review From GoodReads “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Greater-Good Theodicy – Good From Evil Looking at another explanation for why there is evil in the world, we turn to the Greater-Good Theodicy. With this, we see a focus on the good that is accomplished as a result of the evil that occurs. From the evil actions of people or evil in the natural world, God is able to produce an abundance of good. Just as with other theodicies, there are a lot of good things the Greater-Good Theodicy produces and explains. There are also limitations to our creaturely aspect when it comes to always seeing the good from evil. There are several objections this brings up that proponents attempt to explain. Our desire from this idea is that we don’t pursue evil nor do we pursue inaction. Ultimately, the biggest example we can put forward of this theory is the trial, torture, and death of the perfect God-Man, Jesus Christ. Like the other theories, we’ll look at the issues with this next episode but this explanation does have strengths to support its holding. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:01 – The Greater-Good Theodicy 05:38 – Second-Order Goods Come From First-Order Evil 06:26 – Evil Actions Of People, Good Works Of God 07:31 – We Don’t Always See The Good 10:36 – Did I Earn It? 13:38 – Objection 1 – God Becomes The Author Of Evil 14:47 – Objection 2 – Can We Know Enough Good Results? 16:16 – Objection 3 – Gratuitous Evil Exists 19:20 – The Skeptical Theism Defense 24:30 – We Won’t Have All The Answers – So Trust God 26:01 – Why Fight Evil? Because God Uses Ends & Means 29:07 – We Are Not To Pursue Evil So Good May Come 30:12 – Trust In The Ultimate Evil & Good – The Death Of Christ 33:04 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep152/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Hermeneutics & Practical Bible Study Continuing our discussion from last week, Jeff and Josh from The Anarchist Bible Study and Patrick talk about how hermeneutics & practical Bible study and how to use each in the other. Hermeneutics isn’t important just for pastors, theologians, and seminaries. It is important for every Christian reading his/her Bible by themselves or in church or in doing apologetics. In this episode, the guys talk about what to do with different interpretations conflict, or just differ. While not a requirement for understanding, knowing Greek or history deepens your understanding of Scripture. Then we look at practical Bible study tips like how to know what to apply to oneself, how to approach the Bible before opening The Book and how Sola Scriptura plays a part. Then we close with how important this topic is when we do apologetics. ***Note*** – You’ll also have to forgive Jeff’s notifications as he’s super popular at the late hour in which this episode was recorded. Timeline: 00:00:00 – What Happens When Different Interpretation Clash? 00:08:27 – Can I Know All Of Scripture Without Knowing Greek Or The History? 00:16:51 – How To Approach Your Bible Study – Fear God 00:24:33 – How Can I Know What In The Bible To Apply To Me? 00:33:26 – How Sola Scriptura & The Church Factor Into Personal Bible Study 00:48:57 – Practical Bible Study Tips 01:04:58 – Further Reading 01:08:28 – How Is Hermeneutics Helpful In Apologetics? 01:11:59 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep151/ LINKS: 01:13:00 – The Evangelical Modern Downgrade 01:14:00 – The Amazing Revelation Series LINKS TO THE ANARCHIST BIBLE STUDY: Website YouTube Spotify Support Josh’s Twitter Jeff’s Twitter Great Episodes – The Evangelical Modern Downgrade The Amazing Revelation Series Books mentioned in this episode: Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar by Bill Mounce Kindle – https://amzn.to/3bRrumV Hardcover – https://amzn.to/31FrDrJ Full Package – https://amzn.to/3mZnBmp     Reformation Study Bible by God Kindle – https://amzn.to/3BSost8 Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3o4Rr8j       ESV Study Bible by God Kindle – https://amzn.to/3bPkB5w Hardcover – https://amzn.to/2ZY8XCO       The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm Kindle – https://amzn.to/3qj60rp Paperback – https://amzn.to/3o4tVrY Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3wnKZwF     The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3bQQvhU         New Testament Greek For Beginners by J. Gresham Machen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2YocN7L Paperback – https://amzn.to/3o8qmRl Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3qbpYo5       Learn New Testament Greek by John Dobson Paperback – https://amzn.to/3EJGP5o Hardcover – https://amzn.to/306Hmj8         God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth by GK Beale Kindle – https://amzn.to/3ERXQKz Paperback – https://amzn.to/3qfV2Dc Audible – https://amzn.to/3o7vLrT Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE     Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible by Howard Hendricks Kindle – https://amzn.to/3mRIwaT Paperback – https://amzn.to/3kevnqm Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3EVKsVJ Audible – https://amzn.to/3GYcjqa Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE     Knowing Scripture by RC Sproul Kindle – https://amzn.to/3o4HTKf Paperback – https://amzn.to/3GW8wd3       Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation by GK Beale Kindle – https://amzn.to/3GXwLHU Paperback – https://amzn.to/3qfoVDm       Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament by GK Beale & DA Carson Kindle – https://amzn.to/3k9Vr68 Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3kdeRHn       Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History, Literature, and Theology by Richard Patterson and Andreas Köstenberger Kindle – https://amzn.to/2Ynz0mi Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3qdQOMd “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Hermeneutics & Apologetics Hermeneutics & apologetics go hand-in-hand with each other. Since The Bible is our ultimate standard that it is important that we read it and interpret it the way God meant it to be. And to communicate it to other people accurately is just as important in our apologetics. Patrick is joined by two amazing guys who are actively showing this important quality of Bible study – Josh & Jeff from The Anarchist Bible Study. On their show, they show the importance of fair and methodical reading of Scripture especially when it comes to exegesis and application. In this first episode, we go over what hermeneutics is and the importance of understanding the text as the original audience would have understood it. This is important for the average Christian to do and not just the pastor in the pulpit so this is an encouragement and direction to everyone. Josh & Jeff give practical advice from Scripture, logic, and history that will aid you and your witness to the truth of God’s Word as revealed in The Bible. ***Note*** – You’ll also have to forgive Jeff’s notifications as he’s super popular at the late hour in which this episode was recorded. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:08 – Guests Intro From Anarchist Bible Study 07:13 – Josh & Jeff’s Book Of Revelation Work 09:46 – What Is Hermeneutics? 13:36 – Could The Original Listeners Understood The Text Interpretation? 19:21 – Systematic Theology & Biblical Theology 23:55 – Can The Average Christain Do Hermeneutics Well? 32:18 – Don’t Leave Your Tools In Your Belt 42:14 – Scripture – The Will Of God & The Will Of Man The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep150/ LINKS: 00:31 – Prayer Help – Ep. 136 – Interview With A Pastor – Pastor Jim Li 02:16 – Anarchy Bible Study Guest Appearance – The Christian Response To Government In The Trial Of Jesus – Pt.1 02:26 – Anarchy Bible Study Guest Appearance – The Christian Response To Government In The Trial Of Jesus – Pt.2 04:21 – Ep. 47 – Bob Murphy Interview – Economist & Christian – Part 1 04:31 – Ep. 48 – Bob Murphy Interview – Economist & Christian – Part 2 LINKS TO THE ANARCHIST BIBLE STUDY: Website YouTube Spotify Support Josh’s Twitter Jeff’s Twitter Great Episodes – The Evangelical Modern Downgrade The Amazing Revelation Series Books mentioned in this episode: Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar by Bill Mounce Kindle – https://amzn.to/3bRrumV Hardcover – https://amzn.to/31FrDrJ Full Package – https://amzn.to/3mZnBmp “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Free Will, Gratuitous Evil, & Natural Law Free Will, Gratuitous Evil, & Natural Law are all topics that are related in the free-will theodicy. Free will must deal with the same implications that compatibilists deal with and that’s the appearance of evil without purpose. We look at the different theories free will theists put out to explain those evils and also the troubles those explanations run into. A close relationship between the free will defense and the natural law defense helps with the other side of evil – evils that occur in nature apart from moral actors (people). This idea that the world must be the way it is in order for humans to be humans seems to run into not just one big, real-world example – but two! For your sci-fi reference this week we turn to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Don’t worry, there’s no Vogon poetry. No promises on bad (good) dad jokes. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:43 – A Review Of Molinism 04:17 – Free Will Allows Gratuitous Evil 11:47 – Theory 1 – God Cannot Prevent Evil 12:23 – Theory 2 – Free Will Over Stopping Evil 14:36 – Theory 3 – God Sometimes Intervenes But Every Time 19:39 – Issues Of Prophecy And Free Will 21:03 – Theodicy Can’t Compromise The Theology Of God 24:24 – Natural Law Defense Works With The Free Will Defense 29:04 – Problems With The Natural Law Defense 33:46 – Natural Law Defense Compromises The Theology Of God 38:08 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep149/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7             God, Freedom, And Evil by Alvin Plantinga Kindle – https://amzn.to/3o0cxo1 Paperback – https://amzn.to/3wgHJmQ             The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis Kindle – https://amzn.to/3mKFaGB Paperback – https://amzn.to/3k6G4eV Audible – https://amzn.to/3k7y5y2 Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE         Excusing Sinners and Blaming God: A Calvinist Assessment of Determinism, Moral Responsibility, and Divine Involvement in Evil by Guillaume Bignon Kindle – https://amzn.to/3vYQjqe Paperback – https://amzn.to/3muT1Rj Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3nENffb “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Free Will & God’s Foreknowledge The concept of free will & God’s foreknowledge can be a heady concept. We attempt to accurately cover three different answers free will advocates attempt to allow God to have foreknowledge (or not have it). We do our best to break it down while attempting to be accurate to supporters and the issues seen with the concepts. Covering concepts of Arminian simple foreknowledge, open theism, and Molinism & middle knowledge as some of the big attempts to save human freedom; there are still issues with allowing God to be the God revealed in Scripture. The sci-fi reference this week is Quantum Leap! Oh, boy. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 04:08 – Free Will Doesn’t Account For Divine Foreknowledge 08:34 – Responses From Free Will Advocates About DF 08:43 – Simple Foreknowledge Of Arminianism 10:12 – Issues With Simple Foreknowledge Internally 13:12 – Issues With God’s Decrees With Simple Foreknowledge 14:27 – God & Humans Can’t Be Free To Change Within Simple Foreknowledge 15:27 – Open Theism As Another Response To DF 19:49 – Molinism As Another Response To DF 22:37 – The Importance Of Middle Knowledge In Molinism 24:15 – The Key Of Molinism 27:04 – Problems With Molinism 37:39 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep148/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7           Excusing Sinners and Blaming God: A Calvinist Assessment of Determinism, Moral Responsibility, and Divine Involvement in Evil by Guillaume Bignon Kindle – https://amzn.to/3vYQjqe Paperback – https://amzn.to/3muT1Rj Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3nENffb “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Problems With Free Will We continue to look at problems with free will in light of the explanation it supposedly gives Christians when it comes to answering the problem of evil. We see why the Reformed position rejects parts of libertarian free will in exchange for soft determinism. Libertarian free will undermines the doctrine of depravity, who God is, what Heaven is, who Satan is, and actually seems to undermine the Trinity. On top of that, the presentation of free will in that form seems to make all decisions arbitrary – which seems like a problem. And of course, there’s a Star Trek V reference. But we don’t answer why God would need a spaceship. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:21 – Free Will Undermines The Doctrine Of Depravity 03:46 – Does Prevenient Grace Save Free Will? 07:35 – Free Will Renders Decision Making Arbitrary 10:23 – Our Decisions Are Not Arbitrary 11:57 – If Free Will Is So Important, Why Doesn’t God Have It? 13:16 – Is God Not Able To Hate Within The Trinity? 16:03 – Satan Can Do Good? 17:19 – Free Will Can’t Say Why Humans Can’t Have Only Good Choices? 18:32 – Free Will Doesn’t Exist In Heaven 24:00 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep147/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7       “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Do We Have Free Will? The free will defense has done a lot in answering the logical problems of evil. While determinism has become more popular in the past decade among academics; the culture at large still has the embracement of free will. But do we have free will? We want to ask, “By what standard can we say that we have a will and it is free to do what we wish without interference?” And since we are Christian we want to ultimately appeal to our standard, God’s Word. Do we have the ability to have made alternative choices given the same circumstances? Is man autonomous in his choosing and in his actions? We want to look at some of the issues of free will and why appealing to an idea that appears to have biblical and logical issues is not the best explanation for why evil exists. We want to be consistent and grounded in an objective truth and reason down from our ultimate standard. Is there a better answer to evil than man just chooses and God has to live with those choices? Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:53 – What Is Our Grounding For Belief In Anything? 05:30 – All Hail, Free Will! 09:16 – The Natural Law Defense Support With Free Will 10:44 – Libertarian Free Will & Alternative Possible Choices 15:26 – 3 Positives Of Free Will Defense 18:06 – God & Free Will Beings 19:55 – Problems With The Free Will Defense 21:56 – Free Will Is Not Biblical 27:53 – Free Will Denies Providence 33:23 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep146/ Links: 04:06 – Ep.17 What About Free Will? Interview   Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7       “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Can God Answer Evil? Can God answer evil and the problems caused by suffering? That is what a theodicy attempts to do. It provides a justification for why suffering and evil exist and that God exists as presented. This is a reason why one has to stake a claim in a specific God like the biblical, Christian God rather than some generic deity. The consistent worldview that comes from the God of the Bible has a larger set of implications and is more than just a thought experiment dreamed up by a philosopher. There isn’t just one problem of evil but many including the logical problem, the evidential problem, and the emotional problem. And like we mentioned last episode, it’s not that these problems mean that it defeats the idea of God but that they are issues in need of a solution. Here we look at how some in the past have found solutions to a problem. We also look at what an answer to the problem of evil, a theodicy, must have in order for the answer to satisfy the questions. And like all good math questions, we must stay in the confines of a specific nature such as the character and revealed nature of who God is. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 03:26 – The Logical Problem Of Evil Presented 08:47 – Maybe God Just Isn’t Powerful Enough To Overcome Evil 10:00 – Maybe God Just Isn’t Good Enough To Overcome Evil 11:06 – Maybe God Has Good Reasons To Not Prevent All Evil 13:17 – Alvin Plantinga Destroys The Logical Problem Of Evil 15:11 – The Evidential Problem Of Evil Presented 16:30 – Is There So Much Big Evil That Shows There Is No God? 18:02 – The Emotional Problem Of Evil Presented 20:44 – Is A Theodicy Still Possible? 23:08 – Two Criteria A Theodicy Must Have 24:31 – All Evil Must Have A Good Reason To Exist 28:16 – All The Good Accomplished Must Be Worth It 29:51 – Theodicy Vs. A Defense 36:12 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep145/ Links: 20:00 – Dr. James Anderson On The Metaphysical Proof Of God From Morality       36:34 – Ep.17 What About Free Will? Interview   Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification of Belief in God by Alvin Plantinga Paperback – https://amzn.to/2ZZNt8l Hardcover – https://amzn.to/2ZZNCbT “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Battle Of Two Moral Standards After finishing with defining our terms we look at ways in which those definitions play out in our worldviews. Here’s where the battle of two moral standards starts to interact and separate. Each side has a burden of proof since each side has a problem of evil. Where the secular side wants to tout a focus on human flourishing, we look at a standard which isn’t grounded and a hard target to hit. We also look at the two strings of conclusions that stem from the secular worldview when it comes to morality. Either, morals are an illusion (moral nihilism) or there are objective moral standards in the world (moral realism). Which version has the better accounting of reality? And which side has the ability to ground their ideas in an objective way – if that is even possible? We didn’t cover everything in this chapter and it’s why you should pick up the book and check out the ideas presented. Links below. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:41 – Evil Is What Doesn’t Aid Human Flourishing 03:47 – Evil Is The Privation Of Good 06:14 – The Burden Of Proof For The Answer To Evil 07:32 – Secular Answer – Moral Nihilism Or Moral Realism 13:34 – Moral Realism Because The Other One Is Icky 21:13 – Moral Realism From The Christian Worldview 28:49 – Other Ideas From The Chapter 30:28 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep144/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Defining Evil Definitions are one of the most important parts of having any conversation. A lot of times people use different definitions as a result of their worldview. So when it comes to the topic of evil, defining evil is vital. In this chapter, we look at a secular version as well as the Christian definition of evil. This highlights the divide between the different worldviews and shows the need for proper grounding in an objective, transcendent standard. We also take a look at the importance of God as that standard and why things could be designated as one of two types of evil we see in the world – and seen by both the secularist and the Christian alike. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:53 – Why The Outrage At Evil In A Secular World? 08:09 – It’s Only Evil If It Brings Pain 13:26 – Christianity Allows A Proper Definition Of Evil 15:23 – We Don’t Have A Problem Identifying Evil 16:47 – Two Types Of Evil – Moral Evil & Natural Evil 26:05 – Act To Fail Or Fail To Act Is Evil 29:02 – The Image Of God Recognizes Evil 31:17 – How God Factors Into Understanding Evil 34:45 – Evil Comes Down To Different Grounding Reference Points The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep143/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Crisis Of Secularism Picking up where we left off last time; now that the world has shirked off God because of the evil all we are left now with is us and evil. Ut oh. We are in a crisis of secularism. The second part of the modern worldview is the advancing of secularism leading to the unavoidable cliff of Niechzte’s nihilism. Since we have not advanced in a further explanation of life’s meaning other than personal desires we are now running up against the borrowed benefits of the Christian worldview results. Today, we have it much easier than people did in 1755 and yet we find ourselves some of the most volatile, self-medicated, and unbalanced people. When it comes to things like death, violence, and suffering our self-actualized reality and saving devices don’t seem to be doing us any good. However, there is still a source for an explanation of a theodicy – for the problem of evil. Timeline: 00:00 – Crisis Of Secularism 01:50 – The Awful Responsibility Of The Will Of Power 05:39 – The Present Crisis For Meaning 10:50 – The Weakness Of Those That Struggle Today 14:44 – The Secular Solution To Finding Meaning 17:42 – The Need For A Theodicy In This Secular Age 22:19 – The Only Source For A Theodicy 27:39 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep142/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         The Problem Of Pain by C.S. Lewis Kindle – https://amzn.to/3zZfOZB Paperback – https://amzn.to/38QgUev Audible – https://amzn.to/3ng1Yyx Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Enlightenment And Evil We ended up going long on this chapter and so we split it up into two episodes so there is a hard cut and no outro at the end of this episode. There’s a lot to cover with the Enlightenment and evil. Where did the problem of evil really become a problem? Scott Christensen does a marvelous job in this chapter (one of my favorites) in presenting the Enlightenment era kickoff of questioning evil’s place in God’s world and traces it forward to the modern worldview. Evil just didn’t spring into existence in 1755, but the events of the day and the psyche of the Western world presented the best melting pot to not just ask the questions but throw off the conventions of dealing with evil in theory and in practice. The next episode will show the ramifications of such decisions. We don’t cover everything in this chapter but it is a great read. We do get some alternative history and space talk in here so the nerdy streak is kept alive. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 03:44 – How The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 Began Questioning The Problem Of Evil 07:05 – The Enlightenment’s Role In The Problem Of Evil 13:27 – The Blow To Divine Revelation 14:25 – Voltaire Vs. The Best All Possible Worlds LINKS: 02:37 – John Gill Sermon – Christ The Savior From The Storm 05:20 – Good Article On The Enlightenment Era The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep141/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon by Todd Zwillich Audible – https://amzn.to/3hftvwq Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

What About Evil Summary Along with the answer to the question, “What about evil?”, at the beginning of the book; Scott Christensen also gives us a What About Evil summary of the book too. Here is the chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book with just a small take on what’s included. Within the book, we get a history lesson is why and when humanity really started to ask the question, “What about evil?”. From there we will be drilling into defining our terms and establishing the parameters for an answer. We’ll take a look at the six common solutions Christians give to explain evil as well as Christensen’s answer. We of course will be delving into Scripture to see who is God, who is Jesus is, why redemption and meta-narratives are important in the discussion, and the implications of everything. And now you see the reason for the length of the book! Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:55 – Review Of Possible Answers For Theodicy 02:33 – The Whole Book – At The Beginning Summary 03:00 – Chapter 2 – The History Of Why Evil Is A Problem 03:29 – Chapter 3 – What Is Evil & Who Is God 05:28 – Chapter 4 – The Parameters For Theodicy 05:44 – Chapters 5 & 6 – Common Solutions From Christians 06:36 – Chapter 7 – Understanding Who God Is Is Key 06:53 – Chapter 8 – More Exploration On God As Key 07:24 – Chapter 9 – Where Does Moral Responsibly Lie? 08:26 – Chapter 10 – The History Of Redemption 09:02 – Chapter 11 – The True Storyline 09:46 – Chapter 12 – The Greater-Glory Theodicy 10:21 – Chapter 13 – Showing The Answer In Scripture – Exodus & Romans 9 12:36 – Chapter 14 & 15 – Jesus & The Incarnation As Key 13:55 – Chapter 16 – Great-Glory Theodicy & Redemption 14:30 – Chapter 17 – Surprising Results Of Theodicy 17:21 – Is A Good Explanation For Evil Possible? 20:57 – Light Out Of Darkness 22:22 – We Find Redemption 23:37 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep140/ Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link   “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

The Answer To Evil…Already? Scott Christensen takes the first part of the introduction to his book “What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory” and does something interesting – he gives you the answer to evil at the start! First, he presents the idea that there does, in fact, exist evil and suffering in the world and that it is one of the biggest arguments people cite against Christianity. The Christian worldview is not devoid of an answer to this and so the theodicy is laid out in response to people like Epicurus and David Hume. We are presented with six main answers to the problem of evil from the Christian point of view: 1) The Free-Will Defense 2) Natural-Law Defense 3) Greater-Good Theodicy 4) Soul-Making Theodicy 5) Best-of-All-Possible-Worlds Defense 6) Divine-Judgment Defense Christensen introduces these answers but also provides us his answer to the problem of evil. It is one that he believes is the most biblical, Reformed, and God-centered which should be the Christian’s focus. He gives a logical breakdown of his answer and sets up the rest of the book to follow. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 01:46 – Do I Have To Read “What About Free Will” First? 02:11 – There Is Evil & Darkness In The World 03:50 – What Is Theodicy? 05:57 – Epicurus’& David Hume’s Argument 08:05 – The Faulty Christian’s Answer To Evil 11:53 – The Good Parts About The Problem Of Evil 12:43 – Mapping Out The Problem Of Evil Responses 13:45 – 1) The Free-Will Defense 15:38 – 2) Natural-Law Defense 16:48 – 3) Greater-Good Theodicy 20:39 – 4) Soul-Making Theodicy 23:01 – 5) Best-of-All-Possible-Worlds Defense 25:18 – 6) Divine-Judgment Defense 27:07 – The Answer To The Problem Of Evil 29:29 – The Greater-Glory Theodicy 31:20 – How The Fall Of Man Brings Greater Glory To God 33:15 – The Answer To The Problem Of Evil Must Be God-Centered 34:14 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep139 Video Links 01:20 – Scott Christensen Interview       Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link         What About Free Will? Reconciling Our Choices with God’s Sovereignty by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/37SNE6i Paperback – https://amzn.to/37ZLyl7         “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

TAG! Christianity Is It! We have the absolute pleasure of welcoming Dr. James Anderson to the show. We recently went through his book “Why Should I Believe Christianity” which was a presuppositional take on taking seriously the claims of the worldview of Christianity. We also said it was a good give-away book in that it was one you could give to someone asking questions about Christianity or someone who recently became a Christian. You can find all the episodes of that book on our website. TAG Christian Is It! In the interview, we talk about Dr. Anderson’s background in computer programming and how that benefited his coming into the Christian apologetic field. We get a quick overview of the transcendental argument (TAG) and see two versions of it. We discuss the importance of transcendental arguments and how it is not a circular fallacy. We talk about his book and why Christianity being a coherent worldview is important when addressing the claims of The Bible. We also find out what he thinks of the current state of the Christian Church and what to look out for and how we are feast set on apologetics but famine set on utilizing what God has provided. We thank Dr. Anderson for his ministry and his work as well as coming on the show and making a couple of theology book nerds’ day. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 02:12 – What Does James Anderson Do For Fun? 03:03 – From Computer Programming To Christian Apologist 09:43 – From Scotland To America 12:56 – The Transcendental Argument (TAG) 21:15 – Which Transcendental Argument Is Best? 21:45 – Transcendental Argument For Logic 25:18 – Transcendental Argument For Morality 30:21 – Is Presuppositionalism & TAG A Circular Fallacy? 35:17 – Further Reading On TAG 38:17 – The Inspiration For “Why Should I Believe Christianity?” & The Rest Of The Big 10 Series 48:24 – Christianity As A Complete Worldview 55:44 – Christianity As A Coherent Worldview 01:01:43 – How Beauty & Order Point To The Truth Of The Christian Worldview 01:05:39 – The Future Of Apologetics & The Church 01:14:18 – Where To Find More From Dr. James Anderson 01:14:46 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep138 Dr. James Anderson Links Dr. Anderson’s Website – Analogical Thoughts Dr. Anderson Twitter Dr. Anderson’s Reformed Theological Seminary Page Video Links 12:37 – I Like Michael J. Kruger       22:45 – The Lord of Non-Contradiction: An Argument for God from Logic by James N. Anderson and Greg Welty paper 30:15 – Revealed Apologetics Interviews: 1) James Anderson On TAG 2) James Anderson On Presupp Vs. Classical Apologetics Books mentioned in this episode: Why Should I Believe Christianity by James Anderson Kindle – https://amzn.to/3frtJAt Paperback – https://amzn.to/3davBL3           How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It: The True Story of … Created Our World and Everything in It by Arthur Herman Kindle – https://amzn.to/3mmnZeO Paperback – https://amzn.to/3B2Ihhw Audible – https://amzn.to/3y6NaUw Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE       Truth in a Culture of Doubt: Engaging Skeptical Challenges to the Bible by Andreas Köstenberger, Darrell Bock, and Josh Chatraw. Kindle – https://amzn.to/2JX62lL Paperback – https://amzn.to/3mkz3c9           Van TIl’s Apologetics by Greg Bahnsen Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3AUEDpy             Apologetics – A Justification Of Christian Belief by John Frame Kindle – https://amzn.to/3gnGADo Paperback – https://amzn.to/3sBAlka       “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”

Prelude To Evil We introduce the next book we’re going over. The book is What About Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen. In this episode, we just go over the prelude to evil. From the Amazon description: “Reconciling the existence of God and evil has been a long-standing conundrum in Christian theology, yet a philosophical approach–rather than a theological one–dominates the discussion. Turning to the Bible’s grand storyline, Scott Christensen examines how sin, evil, corruption, and death fit into the broad outlines of redemptive history. He argues that God’s ultimate end in creation is to magnify his glory to his image-bearers, most notably by defeating evil through the atoning work of Christ.” We hope you’ll pick up the book and join us on one of the most cited issues people have with the Christian worldview. There are answers and like with all things it points us to the glory and majesty of the Triune God. Timeline: 00:00 – Introduction 00:24 – Upcoming Interview 00:29 – Book Intro 01:46 – Book Layout 03:09 – Why Pick Up The Book? 06:59 – Who’s This Book For? 10:03 – Key Features Of The Book 11:52 – Suggested Help With Reading 12:27 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep137 Video Links 01:20 – Scott Christensen Interview     Other Links Scott Christensen Website Scott Christensen Facebook Scott Christensen Twitter Books mentioned in this episode: What about Evil? A Defense of God’s Sovereign Glory by Scott Christensen Kindle – https://amzn.to/2UeV3tt Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xGsxP6 Logos Link ChristianBook Link “As an Amazon Associate, we earn income to support us from qualifying purchases.”    

Prayer Help This week we welcome Pastor Jim Li onto the show for some prayer help. Pastor Li pastors in California but is very active in teaching in the Asian churches. As a result, his identity will be hidden today. And with Tony on vacation, you’re stuck looking at Patrick. Good thing we make an audio-only version of the show. Patrick invited Pastor Jim on to discuss prayer. As Patrick struggles with prayer, Pastor Jim was gracious enough to sit down and have a conversation about how to have a conversation with God. What is prayer? What are the elements of a good prayer? And of course, some good book recommendations on the subject. We hope you are edified by this discussion. Timeline Breakdown: 00:00 – Introduction 04:03 – The Topic Of Prayer 05:36 – What Is Prayer? 08:18 – What Should I Experience In Prayer? 12:18 – The A.C.T.S. Model Of Prayer 14:54 – Prayers That Ask God To Do Things (Supplication) 21:16 – Things That Get In The Way Of Our Prayers 22:35 – When Pride Gets In The Way Of Prayer (Jeremiah 9:23) 28:07 – When General Sinfulness Gets In The Way Of Prayer (John 9:31) 32:02 – Praying With Family Corporately 39:25 – When Complaining Gets In The Way Of Prayer (Philippians 2:14) 41:21 – The Importance Of Going To Your Local Church For Prayer 45:00 – Some Practical Points For Prayer 45:10 – Heading Towards Sanctification 51:24 – Read Some Good Books 53:00 – Go To Church Prayer Meetings 55:22 – Ask Other People To Prayer For Your & Vice Versa 55:29 – Realize Prayer’s Benefits 01:00:20 – Pray For Your Enemies 01:04:43 – Pray For The Salvation Of People In Your Life 01:09:29 – Final Book Recommendations & Comments 01:12:36 – Conclusion 01:13:35 – Closing Prayer The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep136 LINKS Veritas Domain Website Veritas Domain Facebook Veritas Domain Twitter Books mentioned in this episode: Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson Kindle – https://amzn.to/3fFJjrf Paperback – https://amzn.to/3jBkder Audible – https://amzn.to/2VBtI5b Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE   Chapel Library – https://www.chapellibrary.org/ Effective Prayer by Charles Spurgeon Kindle – https://amzn.to/3s0Lxq1 Free Will – A Slave by Charles Spurgeon Kindle – https://amzn.to/3itNng9 Paperback – https://amzn.to/3jzYhjB Does Prayer Change Things by R.C. Sproul (FREE!) Kindle – https://amzn.to/3jtPmjJ (FREE!) Audible – https://amzn.to/3jAg8aa Try Audible For Free – https://amzn.to/3cN0giE Check out the review of the book – here.

If Christianity’s True We conclude Dr. James Anderson’s book by looking at what if Christianity’s true. We discuss alternative explanations to the Resurrection and see that they don’t rise to the occasion. Did Jesus swoon? Have His body stolen? By the disciples? By the Romans/Jewish leaders? Was it all an illusion? There are good reasons to believe Jesus was raised from the dead. In the conclusion, we look at what to do now. We summarize what we looked at in the book and what we didn’t see in the book. Finally, if Christianity is true then we know that God still speaks but if salvation is a supernatural act why even write a book or tell others about Jesus? If Christianity is true then this is the most important message that answers the biggest worldview questions we have to answer. Timeline Breakdown: 00:00 – Introduction 01:46 – Doubt Is Not Unexpected 03:06 – What Happened If Jesus Didn’t Rise From The Dead? 04:24 – Natural Explanations To The Resurrection 05:31 – Jesus Didn’t Die – He Swooned 08:14 – The Disciples Stole Jesus’ Body 11:11 – The Romans/Jews Removed Jesus’ Body 12:29 – It Was All An Illusion 15:05 – Why You Should Believe Jesus Was Raised From The Dead 17:19 – What Now? 18:00 – Summary Of The Book “Why Should I Believe Christianity?” 23:00 – What About Everything Else? 26:32 – Two Basic Objection Categories Of Christianity 31:28 – What’s The Alternative? 33:21 – God Still Speaks 34:10 – Getting Outside Your Worldview (Star Trek Reference) 35:09 – Christianity Is Reasonable But Not Natural To Believe 38:01 – If It’s All Supernatural, Why Write A Book/Talk About It? 44:45 – Who Should Read This Book? 47:30 – Conclusion The episode link is cavetothecross.com/ep135 Books mentioned in this episode: Why Should I Believe Christianity? by James Anderson Kindle – https://amzn.to/3frtJAt Paperback – https://amzn.to/3davBL3     C.T. Studd – Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman Grubb Kindle – https://amzn.to/3yfNBgn Paperback – https://amzn.to/3xiPDuR Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3xkpEmK       For the Glory: The Untold and Inspiring Story of Eric Liddell, Hero of Chariots of Fire by Duncan Hamilton Kindle – https://amzn.to/3ygFmka Paperback – https://amzn.to/3BZQvbo Hardcover – https://amzn.to/3j1cwxO Audible – https://amzn.to/2V0mIyN