Parchment & Pen Blog

There have been so many times in my life when God has not shown up. So many times when I am at my wits end, when it is forth and long, ninth inning, I put up a last hope three pointer and the ball hits the tape and falls gently on my side of the [...]

I know of only one person who I believed was being used by God significantly who had not been though some sort of faith crisis that caused them to doubt their beliefs at their deepest level . . . I am getting ahead of myself. As many of you are aware, I deal with many [...]

Absurd n. utterly or obviously senseless, illogical, or untrue; contrary to all reason or common sense. Bizarre n. markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd. The human mind can entertain bizarre things. I remember when I was young, I had this nagging and, [...]

I see myself as an evangelical (lower case) Christian (uppercase) apologist. I think every Christian is an apologist to some degree. No, not a “professional apologist” like Rob Bowman, William Lane Craig, or Mike Licona, but we all have formulated some degree of warrant or justification for our faith. Just like everyone is a theologian, every [...]

Mr. Patton, I have been a believer for quite sometime – since I was eight. It’s a miracle, however, that I believe at all. I grew up in a Oneness Pentecostal home that was very legalistic and rigid. Since then I have changed a great deal in regard to my beliefs. I very much believe [...]

I have asked a few respected Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute  on the issue of Christians and doubt. I am grateful to each one of these men for not only contributing here, but being the type of scholar who deals with such issues with openness. I am posting them one at a time over [...]

1.  Focus only on the issues that make or break Christianity. Realize this: People can and do easily get off course, discussing, debating, and getting depressed over issues that are not linchpin issues to Christianity. From the details of creation/evolution to the inerrancy of Scripture, some people’s faith can be quite disturbed—quite unnecessarily disturbed. For example, [...]

I have asked a few respected Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute on the issue of Christians and doubt. I am grateful to each one of these men for not only contributing here, but being the type of scholar who deals with such issues with openness. I am posting them one at a time over [...]

I have asked a few respected Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute one paragraph each on the issue of Christians and doubt. I am grateful to each one of these men for not only contributing here, but being the type of scholar who deals with such issues with openness. I am posting them one at a time over the [...]

I have asked a few respected Evangelical scholars and authors to contribute one paragraph each on the issue of Christians and doubt. I was going to post these all in one post, but the paragraphs are turning out to be too substantial to mix together with the others so I will post them one at [...]

For those who are struggling with intellectual doubts: Focus attention only on the issues that make or break the core essence of Christianity such as the resurrection of Christ and the existence of God. Don’t spend time on more ancillary issues such as creation/evolution, the world-wide flood, or the perfect harmony of the individual authors’ truth claims. These, [...]

I have written extensively on this blog on the issue of Christian doubt. I have avoided talking about it’s connection to personal sin in our lives not because I don’t believe that the root of doubt can be sometimes traced there, but because, in the minds of some, personal sin is the only reason for [...]