How Did the Vikings Become Christians?

  I recently took a class in Christian History and one of the things in the class caught my attention and really inspired me and made me feel excited.  I was learning about how the Vikings became Christian.  I grew up as a kid thinking the Vikings were super cool and I have vivid memories of running around the school with sticks pretending to be a Viking and playing with my friends.  So finding out that Viking history is a part of Christian history was an amazing fact for me and added to my strong belief that it is so exciting to be a Christian.

  At this time the Vikings called Scandinavia home and during this time they went through a drastic and rapid religious change.  At the time the Vikings were polytheists.  Which means they were pagan and believed in many gods.  They began to attack and raid Christian monasteries along the coats lines mainly due to the fact that monasteries were wealthy and they were not very heavily defended.  When they Vikings plundered these monasteries they also took Christian monks with them as slaves.  From what I know of Christianity, isn't that exactly how you would expect Christianity to change the heart of a Viking?  Through humble slaves.  From what we can see the Vikings started converting to Christianity quite rapidly.  One of the ways we can see this is archaeologically.  We can see pagan burial practices disappearing and Christian type burials appearing.

I would really like to explore this topic further in my blog in the future but for today, I am happy to know that Vikings are in my Christian family history, and I am so inspired that with their rapid conversion we can know the same thing can happen today.

Should I Invite My Friends to an Event?

  A little while ago there was an Apologetics event in my city that I was excited to go to.  It was put on by an author that I had read one of his books and I was happy to go see him and meet him since I was very familiar with his arguments.  But I didn't know of anyone else who was interested in going with me.  I asked a few of my Christian friends and there simply wasn't any interest.

  So I started inviting my atheist friends.  I have spent a lot of time engaging with friends and have put the work in that my friends know we can be open and honest about our beliefs or lack of beliefs and it won't get aggressive or intimidating.  We always keep it friendly.  To my surprise two of my friends said yes right away.  Then there was one other friend who I was going to invite but was a little worried.  But I took the plunge and invited him.

  He laughed at first and asked why would I invite him to this.  I replied with that he had invited me to many things this year.  Things like night clubs, bars, movies, restaurants, parties etc.  So why wouldn't I also invite him to something I was going to?  I don't think we should just invite people to things that we know they will say yes to.  Why not just invite them to everything.  It is OK to say no.

  So he laughed and said alright.  Wow!

  When we got to the event it was going well.  It was an hour long lecture and then a question period.  During the lecture my two atheist friends were engaged and took a few notes for the question period.  My third friend, he just was playing on him phone.  I was just glad he was there.

  But after a half hour I looked down again and he was still on his phone but he was looking up the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.  I was shocked and pretty happy.  I was happy to see some engagement and some interest.

  The rest of the event was fun, my friends asked some tough questions of the speaker.  But the best part was we all went out for some fried chicken and sodas afterwards which I was happy to buy.  We chatted about a few of the issues but mainly we all just had a good time as good friends.

 So my message to you today is, go ahead and invite your friends to church events and apologetics events.  What is the worst thing that will happen?  They might say no.  That's pretty much it.  But what if they laugh at me or make fun of me?  Yes that is a very real possibility and I have experienced that myself quite a bit.  But people who do that are not your friend.  If people are going to make fun of you and your life they are not your friend simple as that.

Can God Create a Stone So Heavy That Even He Cant Lift it?

I've heard this question many times, and I'm sure many of us have.  It is an old school-yard question that pops up sometimes in adulthood.  Today a friend wrote me to tell me about being asked this question in his philosophy class.

This thought experiment is sometimes called an "omnipotence paradox" because it is proposed that if God cannot make such a stone then he cannot do "everything/anything" and if he can make such a stone and cant lift it then again there is something that he "cant do"

First it is important to point out that what is being proposed here in the thought experiment is logically impossible, along the same lines as making a square circle.  The task at question is not a task at all but simply a combination of self contradictory words.

Second I would point out that the definition of omnipotence has never included that God can do the logically impossible

Third I would say that if the person continues and insists that God should be able to do even the logically impossible if He is to be omnipotent then Wonderful!

If God can do the logically impossible then answer yes, God can make a stone so heavy that he couldn't lift it...then he would go ahead and lift it.  The objection to that answer is that does not make sense and is logically impossible.  But granting this premise God can do the logically impossible.

The False Dilemma of Science vs Religion in Orange is the New Black

  It is very noticeable how Christians are depicted in TV shows.  There are over 2.2 billion Christians on the planet from all walks of life but as represented on TV shows they all seem to be quite similar.  Ever since that famous scene on the West Wing, where a scene was carefully crafted and prepared to cast Christianity in a hypocritical light and then went viral I have been looking at how Christians are cast in media.  (I guess I should write about that scene soon)

 I have been watching the first season of Orange is the New Black and I have enjoyed it so far.  But of course I had to notice that the Christian character (Tiffany) is a former drug addict who killed an abortion clinic worker for disrespecting her and as she is in the prison thinks she is a faith healer, preaches any chance she can get, but is obviously a huge hypocrite as her worldview does not match up in her life because she is vindictive and even talks about killing one non religious character.  Just to add, there is a Catholic nun in the series but is yet to weigh in on these issues of religion.

  So I was sad to see that this is the representative of my people in the show but I understood it.  The last episode I watched though, I thought deserved a comment.  The main character Piper pretends to convert to Christianity so she and the Christian character can get along.  When Tiffany brings Piper to a disgusting "muck sink" to be baptised in front of a group of "Christian followers" (who are also purposely cast in a poor light) Piper finally says she cannot convert for a few reasons.  Ill post the monologue speech here.  I apologise for the curse word that appears in this picture.



This is obviously a crafted speech and Ill only tackle the first part here and do some more follow up on this monologue.  The first part of the speech is mainly the tired false dilemma of Science vs Religion.

"I believe in science. I believe in evolution. I believe in Nate Silver, Neil Degrasse Tyson, and Christopher Hitchens"

What hits me as so odd here is that many of the fathers of modern science were incredibly religious.  Issac Newton, Robert Boyle, Johannes Kepler, James Clerk-Maxwell and on and on were all very deeply religious.  Also they saw no problem with  "believing in" science right along side with deep religious beliefs. Today I have yet to see science provide any problems to the Christian faith.  Yes I understand there is a small group of Christians who hold to a young earth but this is not a popular or traditional view in Christianity.  Christians have never been held to a young earth model as shown in Augustine's writings from some 1500 years before Darwin.

Second she says she believes in evolution.  So do Christians! When the Origin of Species was published it was supported by many Christians and was even published with a letter from Darwin's main American supporter, the evangelical Harvard Botanist and Professor Asa Grey.  Also one of the world most famous biologists, Francis Collins is a Bible believing evangelical Christian who shows there is no problem between Christianity and evolution.


Next she says she "believes in" Silver, Degrasse Tyson and Hitchens.  This is a very odd statement, I don't think these men want anyone believing in them in this fashion but I think I know what she is getting at.  Again I see no problem here.  Neil Degrasse Tyson is a astrophysicist and science communicator.  Christians have a long line of physicists including Nobel prize winners.  They saw no problem with physics and God so why does this character on this show?                                

 When it comes to Christopher Hitchens, he was one of my favorites for sure.  He was loved by Christians worldwide, especially after his debate with William Lane Craig because of his humorous nature, his ability to have a respectful exchange and his humbleness in admitting defeat.  I watched him trounce a bunch of pastors and the like but his debates with William Lane Craig and John Lennox were very different.  He was open to the evidence, was passionate but was very clear that he was not certain.  Also it was easily shown that he was very emotional on the topic and was not able to argue against strong Christian apologetics.  He even remarked about how the fine tuning argument for the universe (teleological argument) was the strongest from the Christian side and the most intriguing. Chris Hitchens had many close evangelical Christian friends and even his own brother is a strong Christian apologist.

  My main idea here is the Science vs Religion issue is a false dilemma.  There is no evidence to prove that it is a problem and is not a reasonable position to hold.  It is a popular one though that you will find in media and on internet forums.  If you encounter this issue, just ask for the evidence to be presented that supports it.
Ill stop there and tackle the rest in follow up blogs.

I hate Christianity, Christianity causes all the Wars!

  Since I live in a city in which only 4% are bible believing church going Christians of course I receive daily objections and ridicule to my faith.  90% of it is the usual old and tired anti religious bigotry along the lines of "how can you obey the bible when it says you cant eat shrimp?" I find that objection so elementary and silly I haven't addressed it yet but I guess I have to soon.  But today as I was in my local coffee shop reading my bible and talking on the phone a guy came over and asked me if I was a "fundamentalist" I laughed and asked him what he meant by that.  He explained to me that all fundamentalism leads to wars and violence.  So I rebutted that but anyone's definition the Amish are fundamentalists and explained how he was very wrong in that regard.  So his next point was that he hated Christianity because it causes all the wars.

  Coincidentally just last night I watched the movie the Book of Eli in which it depicts a world in which all Bibles have been banned because many people believes that the Bible caused the great war that ended civilization.

  Since Christianity is a facts and evidence kind of religion I invited the fellow in the coffee shop to examine the evidence with me for his claim that Christianity causes all the wars.  Together via my phone we examined the encyclopedia of wars to find out that of all the wars in history which chronicles some 1762 wars only 6.98% are religious and if you subtract those waged in the name of Islam then you get 3.23% .

  So the facts speak for themselves.  Recently I watched an interview with Jesse Ventura, and as a former professional wrestler I truthfully respect him.  I watched as he tried to say that the Vietnam war was a religious war.  While I appreciate his emotionalism, because many of my people are very emotional, he is simply wrong and ive yet to find a historian with peer reviewed evidence to back up his claim.

The facts show that Christianity is a religion in which Jesus tells Peter to put away his sword and that those who live by the sword die by the sword.  It had been Christians who have fought for things such as peace, rules in war, and human rights.

   The way this debate usually goes is "hey what about the Crusades?" well a question is not an argument.  For the past month Ive been reading about the Crusades and it had completely changes my view.  So if someone brings that up, ask for evidence.  Christians need not provide all evidence to any off the cuff question that people bring up as an objection.  Ill post about the crusades soon and what they were in resoponse to.

Historically Ignorant "American atheists" advertisement

    One ally of atheism is historical ignorance.  When I hear attacks on Christianity historical ignorance is the answer to the attack quite often.  This comes up in many ways that I will explore separately later on in this blog.  Today Ill explore this advertisement that was taken out in New York's Time Square. 

  It depicts a picture of Santa Claus, and a picture of Jesus dying on the cross.  It encourages us in a very evangelistic way to keep the merry spirit of Christmas but to dump the "myth: of Jesus dying on a cross.

  What I find so surprising about this, is that many atheists I know and interact with online appreciate history.  Appreciate evidence, peer reviewed articles and the opinions of the consensus of scholarship.  Many atheists I know do appreciate history and would never say anything along the lines of Jesus of Nazareth not existing or that he didn't die on a Roman cross.  Especially considering this is one of the most well attested to facts in history.

  Even former Christian and now agnostic Bart Ehrman takes these history deniers head on quite often and even compares them to holocaust deniers  in this article from the huffington post.  "In a society in which people still claim the Holocaust did not happen, and in which there are resounding claims that the American president is, in fact, a Muslim born on foreign soil, is it any surprise to learn that the greatest figure in the history of Western civilisation, the man on whom the most powerful and influential social, political, economic, cultural and religious institution in the world -- the Christian church -- was built, the man worshipped, literally, by billions of people today -- is it any surprise to hear that Jesus never even existed?"

The simple fact is that Jesus did exist and was put to death on a Roman cross.  No scholars that I am aware of take the view seriously that Jesus didnt exist and was put to death on a Roman cross. It is simply an Internet circulated idea that no one with any credibility puts their name behind it.  As I said in a recent blog post, the only people that put their names behind it are simply not qualified to do so.

What I would like to see happen is for us to keep the merry of Christmas, to acknowledge historical facts such as the life of Jesus of Nazareth and for us to dump these silly historically ignorant attacks.  We can have a rational debate with out purposly misleading posters.

  I also find it very interesting that Christians are often ridiculed for evangelising. But this is one of the new attitudes in the new atheism.  That no only should religion be purged from the public square but also in the private lives of people.  I'm amazed to hear the new atheism evangelism, I personally enjoy encountering it because I enjoy engaging with people. 

Can even Santa Claus be saved???

    Santa Claus is very popular around the world.  The Santa Claus that we mainly see today is the Coca Cola version of the big, red and white Santa Claus.  So, was Santa Claus a real person? Who was he? Is he just a pagan idea?

  Most people simply do not realise the rich ancient heritage behind the Santa Claus story.  Santa Claus is a form of the Dutch name Sinter Klaas, which is a reference to Saint Nicholas.  St Nicholas was a fourth century Christian Bishop of Smyrna which is now part of modern day Turkey.  Today December 6th is actually Saint Nicholas day and in many European countries today is the day in which gifts are exchanged and Christmas day is a day of a feast and celebration of Christ.  Saint Nicholas was traditionally known as lavishing gifts on children and the needy.

  St Nicholas was born is 280AD and was raised in a Christian home.  He was forced to grow up quickly because of  the sudden death of his parents.  He inherited his parents wealth and was known for sharing his wealth for good.  He was elected Bishop of Smyrna and was known to be a faithful man and passionate for the gospel.

  Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, and was imprisoned.  After Emperor Constantine ordered the cessation of all persecution of the church, and the Christians were released from prisons Nicholas was released.  He later attended the Council of Nicea in AD 325, where he affirmed the Doctrine of the Trinity.

  Also at the Council of Nicea Arianism was declared heresy.  Arianism is the idea that contrary to John 1 Jesus was a created being and sub ordinate to God the father.  There is a weak tradition that Saint Nicholas got into a debate with Arius himself and as the heat increased Saint Nicholas actually punched out Arius! 

  So can Santa Claus be saved?  Yes! He can be known as a defender of the faith, as a man who stood by orthodox Christian doctrine, as a man who used wealth for charity, and as a man of passion for God.  If it is true that he punched Arius I don't agree at all with his action but I cant help but have a laugh and understand we all make mistakes, but I can also admire his passion