Volume I, Issue 6

Welcome to the monthly Midwest Apologetics newsletter. Each issue is designed to keep you informed on the latest news concerning the ministry.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 – 18

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is a day in which we celebrate the things we are thankful for. As the above passage states, we should give thanks in everything – not just once a year. I wanted to list a few of the things that I am thankful for (not in any particular order).

- An opportunity to teach young people about God’s world and God’s word on a regular basis

Remember to take time every day to thank the Lord for all that He has given you. All that you have is due to His grace.

Latest News

In addition to reading several science textbooks, I have spent a great deal of time over the past month reading and researching the topic of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. We realize it is only a fictional book but the author makes numerous claims that attack the very foundation of the Christian faith. Moreover, Brown is on record as stating that all of the history mentioned in his book is backed up by sound scholarship. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the articles and reviews from that research. Lord willing, we are still planning on writing a comprehensive critique of the book itself in the near future.

I have also begun researching Mark Noll’s book entitled The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Noll is correct in his basic premise that Evangelicalism suffers because a majority of evangelicals are incapable of confronting the culture with a well-reasoned presentation of Christianity. However, Noll seriously misleads the reader by claiming that much of this has to do with young earth creationism. Not only does Noll blame the wrong group in this debate,[1] this leading evangelical historian is completely confused about the history of young earth creationism. It was not a spin-off of Seventh-Day Adventism as he claims. We would say that Jesus, Paul, and Peter were all young earth creationists (YECs). Besides that, it is very easy to demonstrate that YEC was around well before the Adventist movement ever started. Dr. Terry Mortenson’s The Great Turning Point illustrates the lives of a handful of “Scriptural geologists” (YECs) who wrote well before William Miller, Ellen G. White, and her husband James White started this movement. It is sad that a leading evangelical historian can perform such sloppy scholarship in a book in which he is decrying the need for serious scholarship. Look for a review of this book in the coming months. Until then, please see this excellent critique by Andrew S. Kulikovsky: Mark Noll's Scandalous Criticisms of Creation Science: A Review of 'The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind' by Mark A. Noll

Upcoming Events

December 25 (Christmas Day) – Tim will be speaking at the Evangelical Free Church of Gratiot – Gratiot, WI at 10:30AM.

Reviews

As always, if you have any questions, comment, concerns, corrections, ideas, etc., please email us and let us know. Also, thank you for your prayers. Please keep us in your prayers throughout this month.

[1] I would not blame “old earthers” for all of evangelicalism’s ills. However, if either of these two groups is to blame for the lack of intellectualism among evangelicals it is most certainly the “old earthers” who continue to choose man’s opinions over the infallible word of God.