"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
This past week I was being interviewed on two episodes of The Counsel of Trent, the podcast by apologist Trent Horn. Needless to say, we chatted a lot about C.S. Lewis…
Episode #190: The Secret Life of C.S. Lewis (Download)
Episode #191: The Genius of C.S. Lewis (Download)
Jesus’ harsh words to the Pharisees and even his own disciples were not petty insults but serious wake-up calls. His judgement of sin is more like the diagnosis of a doctor who wants to give the patient a cure than the sentence of a judge who only wants to enforce the law
Trent Horn, Counterfeit Christs
Since Thanksgiving is often characterized by arguments around the dinner table with family, I thought it would be appropriate to post a debate today. This is the debate between Trent Horn and Raphael Lataster on the existence of God:
Trent Horn recently debated Dan Barker in a debate entitled “Does the Christian God exist?” The debate begin around the 22 minute mark…
A while ago I posted the video of the debate between Dr. James White and Trent Horn on the issue of whether or not it is possible for a Christian to lose his salvation.
The broad response that I’ve seen on the Internet (from both Catholic and Protestant alike) is that Trent put forward the significantly stronger case, and I would agree with this assessment. I’m a fan of Dr. White in many areas and I’ve seen him more successful in other debates debating Catholics, but in this case, I think his position was shown to be very weak.
Dr. White recently put out a video in response to this consensus, explaining how it is that he thinks we should evaluate debates. I literally just came across the following YouTube video which examines this video. It’s a little bit polemic, but if you’ve seen the debate, I think it’s well worth a watch…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-PofAyvTJQ&feature=share
A few weeks ago I mentioned that Trent Horn was going to be debating James White on the subject of whether or not it is possible to lose one’s salvation. The video of the entire debate is now up and freely available for viewing:
I’ve seen many of Dr. White’s previous debates. He’s done copious amounts of debates and I’ve seen him debate Catholics and beat them, but I think that, in this case, Trent’s presentation was the far more robust and convincing.
Across the dinner table a few months ago, we were discussing the subject of books and what we each thought were the “Must Read” books for adult Catholics. Today I would like to say a few words about a book which I think is the number one book on the subject of pro-life apologetics, “Persuasive Pro-Life” by Trent Horn from Catholic Answers.
I had originally intended to take some time to write a longer review, but since you can currently pick up a copy for $5 or download the eBook for free, it seemed wise to write a shorter review and have it published before the sale comes to an end:
The first thing which should be highlighted is that, although this book is published by Catholic Answers, none of the arguments outlined in the book are based on the Bible or even the existence of God. All arguments are based on easy-to-understand science and clear logic. Even if you are a pro-life atheist/agnostic, you will find this book extremely useful.
Typically, if I like a book, it’ll be in large part because of the way it is organized. This book is no exception. Trent assigns a separate chapter in his book to each pro-choice archetype. These archetypes include:
The Tolerant who personally don’t like abortion, but believe other people should be able to choose it.
The Skeptic who deny that anyone can know when life begins.
The Disqualifier who claim that unborn children do not have a right to life because the unborn are different from born humans.
The Autonomist, for whom it does not matter whether or not the fetus is a human being, because a woman has a right to bodily autonomy.
…
In each chapter, Trent addresses the essential arguments used by each archetype. He then goes on to explain the faulty science, incorrect assumptions or poor logic which are at work. The chapter then concludes with a (somewhat) imaginary dialogue between Trent and a pro-choice advocate. I particularly liked this feature since this shows how to apply practically what you have learned in that chapter. Not only that, it demonstrates how one can engage in pro-life apologetics in a respectful, productive and persuasive manner.
What other pro-life books would you recommend? Who else is going to the Walk For Life this weekend?