Worldview Legacy | The Think Institute

Well, how many times have you heard someone tell you this: “God is love”? The phrase comes from 1 John 4:8.  And the full context of that verse is this: “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (that’s from the Christian Standard Bible, the CSB. The Bible has many translations in English. The CSB is one of my favorite translations. Maybe I’ll do a review on it some time. But in whatever translation you read it, 1 John 4:8, at least the second half of the verse, is pretty much going to say the same thing. In the Greek, it’s ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν--hah theh-ahs aGAHpay estIN. There’s not really any other way of rending it in English other than simply, “God is love”).  While God is love, he is also just. And a just God has to punish sin. These two attributes of God seem to be in conflict. Have you ever thought about that? Well we’re going to get to the bottom of it today. And I want to show you how to explain the Gospel basing your presentation off of two words: love and justice. Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute. 

Hello! Since you're here, please leave us a 5-star rating and write a quick review on Apple Podcasts? It helps us out a TON and only takes a minute. Many thanks.  Get the full show notes at TheThink.Institute.  In undergrad I interviewed with a homebuilder (this was the height of the real estate boom), and I remember the interviewer asking me an area I needed to improve in. I replied that I needed improvement in organization. I then explained how I had begun to keep a calendar to keep track of all my appointments, deadlines, etc., and basically to manage my time. What I did not emphasize in that interview was that I had very recently begun to do this, and that organization had been a lifelong struggle for me… in fact it’s one that continues to this day. This is a skill that I have had to learn and relearn over and over. Today, in case you’re wondering, I keep my time organized with two systems: a three-fold notebook and something called a Passion Planner. I track my goals, months and weeks in the Passion Planner, and my notebook is for Idea Work, Daily Tasks and my Journal. All that to say, this is something I’ve had to work hard at, and it’s honestly something I’m still working to master. But organization, the mastery of one’s time, is more than a matter of keeping a schedule. It’s about wisdom. In Psalm 90, verse 12, Moses prays, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Wisdom is knowing how to put knowledge into practice in an understanding way. And it’s something that must be learned (notice Moses asks God to teach him this). That means wisdom is not inherent. You aren’t born with wisdom. And left to your own devices, you will not gain wisdom but remain foolish. But if foolishness is “natural,” then what’s so bad about it? And so the question facing us is: Why is it important to pursue wisdom, and where can we find it? In this episode I want to take a look at the book of Proverbs, chapter 8, in which Wisdom herself is going to answer these questions for us. What we’ll see is that wisdom is supremely valuable, and it is attainable. Even a foolish person can become wise, by getting after it the right way and eschewing lesser pursuits.

It's a Think Podcast Bonus Episode! No theme song. Brief. But, I pray, thoughtful and helpful. Here we go.  Does the Bible really teach that life begins at conception, anyway? And does it teach that abortion is wrong? Where can we find the Bible verses that establish the pro-life position? We need to answer these questions. That's why we're calling this episode, "Where in the Bible to find pro-life arguments." Sign up for the Think Update and get tools and tips to help you explain, share and defend biblical truth by going to TheThink.Institute.

Thanks to Josh Copen for suggesting this topic. To make a suggestion for what we should cover in a Think Podcast episode, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook or drop us an email. If you love apologetics like I do (or even if you're just getting into the discipline and think you might be growing kinda fond of it), you've probably come across verses like 1 Peter 3:15 (the charter verse of Christian apologetics), in which the Apostle tells believers to "always [be] prepared to make a defense to anyone," and 2 Corinthians 10:5, which promises that our God-given arguments are able to "destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God...."  My fellow defenders of the faith, those there are fightin’ words. And if you're like me, you enjoy a healthy debate. However, you can't always be the smartest guy in the room (to be honest sometimes I feel like I'm not the smartest guy in the room even when I'm the only one in the room!), and there are going to be times when you get stumped by an objection to the Christian message. What should we do when this happens?  Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.

Have you ever heard the expression, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence?” This phrase, popularized by the late atheist scientist Carl Sagan, has often been marshaled by internet atheists in online debates with Christians as a way of placing the burden of proof on the believer to demonstrate, by way of so-called extraordinary evidence, the existence of God. When this happens, it can be very tempting for Christians to begin to scramble to assemble such evidence, and in the process we may even find our sure footing on Scripture to be shaken. Yet what if it is not the Christian theist, the believer, who bears the burden of proof? What if it is actually the claim that God does not exist that is extraordinary, and therefore it is the atheist who must give extraordinary evidence? As it turns out, and as we will see, the claim that Christian theists must provide "extraordinary evidence" to the atheist, and that without such provision, the atheist is therefore justified in his unbelief, falls completely flat. Get the full show notes at http://thethink.institute.

In honor of Reformation Day, here’s Joel and Parker’s (the Sons of Thunder) take on the debate that’s raged on for at least 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door. So, are the Sons of Thunder Calvinists, Arminians, or something in between? (Warning: Parker spoils the suspense almost immediately in this discussion). Take Your Study Further With These Think Institute Resources Theology To Restore A Weary Soul with Joe Thorn How To Explain God’s Wrath In A Way Your Non-Christian Friends Will Understand Are We Living In A Simulation? Simulation Theory Debunked Connect with the Think Institute Sign Up for the Think Update weekly email! Get the full show notes at http://TheThink.Institute.

If you’re anything like me, you are fascinated by dinosaurs (or at least you were as a kid). But did you ever stop to think what really happened to them? Did they truly die out 65 million years ago? Did they turn into birds? And how do we reconcile the millions of years we were taught in school with the biblical timeline that seems to be much shorter? Now, if you’ve done a little more in-depth study into the subject of dinosaurs from a Christian perspective, maybe you’ve even rumors of some, deep in the realms of the Christian intellectual dark web, who actually believe that dinosaurs and humans coexisted--and even that dinosaur-like creatures are mentioned in the Bible.  All this is a lot to take in and process, and getting solid answers can seem nearly impossible. If that’s how you feel, you’re going to find today’s conversation fascinating. Even if you’re settled in your opinion about dinosaurs--one way or the other, you’re going to want to listen closely in order to understand this position.  My guest today is Brian Thomas, and he is the person to talk to if you want to know about dinosaurs from a biblical perspective. Dr. Thomas received a master’s in biotechnology in 1999 and his Ph. D. in paleobiochemistry in 2019 from the University of Liverpool. After teaching in junior and high schools in Texas, he taught biology, chemistry and anatomy as an adjunct and assistant professor at Dallas-area universities. Since 2008 Dr. Thomas has worked with the Institute for Creation Research as a science writer, editor and research associate, contributing news and magazine articles, speaking on creation issues, and researching original tissue fossils. He is the author of Dinosaurs and the Bible and a contributor to many other books. His dissertation, Ancient and Fossil Bone Collagen Remnants, is available in book form.  Get the full show notes at http://TheThink.Institute.

It's an age-old question: "Could God make a rock too heavy for him to lift?" And it seems like a really tough question to answer, because we (Christians) believe that God is all-powerful. And an all-powerful God should be able to create any kind of rock he wanted to create. But(!) an all-powerful God should also be able to *lift* any rock he wanted to lift.  This question hits at the problem of God's nature, and, really, it's a question of the limits of God. We might automatically cringe at the idea of God having limits, because of what we think that entails (after all, limits that we experience are limits arising from outside of ourselves--and we certainly don't want to say that anything outside of God could limit him!).  And yet, both Scripture and reason would seem to indicate that there are some things God *can* not do. Or is it that he *will* not? In this episode Joel and Parker get into the "limits" of God and how that impacts the way we think about both his omnipotence and his moral perfection.  Along with the Omnipotence Dilemma (the rock-so-big scenario), they also get into the ancient moral problem known as the Euthyphro Dilemma, which deals with whether God has an external moral standard he must adhere to. If you've ever thought about what it means for God to be morally perfect and perfectly powerful, we think you'll enjoy this episode. Until next time, I hope it made you think. CONNECT WITH THE THINK INSTITUTE The Think Institute on Twitter The Think Institute on Facebook The Think Institute on Instagram LISTEN TO THE THINK PODCAST (AND PLEASE LEAVE US A REVIEW!) The Think Podcast on Apple Podcasts The Think Podcast on Stitcher The Think Podcast on TuneIn The Think Podcast on Anchor HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN CHRISTIANITY? Get equipped, engaged, and encouraged for your spiritual journey at http://TheThink.Institute.

We're told not to judge, but is that actually possible? And isn't the statement, "Judging is wrong" itself a judgment? Is it always wrong to judge, or is there a right time and place to do so? How do we make sense of all this? Let's look at Romans 2 to find out. Get in touch with the Think Institute by going to http://TheThink.Institute.  There you can sign up for my weekly email, the Think Update, with tools and tips to help you share and explain your faith.

The Bible is a complex book, and explaining it can seem daunting. However, it's easy when you think of the whole narrative in terms of a story with just four chapters. I explain how to do that in this episode.