Today we begin Chapter Four of the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Four, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

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Today we begin Chapter Three of the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Three, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

Programming of Life by Donald E. Johnson (paperback or video) came to my attention fairly recently. The prospect of a case for God's existence being made from my area of training (computer science) especially caught my attention. The fact that the author is formally trained in both information science and biochemistry seemed to give him a unique set of credentials to authoritatively compare the code in DNA to computer programming code. The book is short at only 127 pages (included appendixes) and is divided into nine chapters. This review will be a chapter-by-chapter summary, but should not be confused with providing Johnson's case comprehensively or precisely.

Introduction
Chapter 1: Math Basics: Probability and Large or Small Numbers
Johnson prepares his readers by providing a quick tutorial of some basics required to understand his arguments. It is commonly misunderstood that "chance" is a force; however, it is rather merely an expression of likelihood of an event taking place versus its not taking place. If an event has any likelihood of taking place, it is considered "possible," but possibility should only be claimed in scientific observations have demonstrated the event to have taken place. "Plausibility" is a value of the level of possibility (0-1; 0=impossible; 1=certain; 0.5 is the threshold for an event to be considered "plausible"). Johnson prepares the reader for the significance of these concepts by explaining the lowest limit of physical possibility given all the resources (atoms in the system, the fastest chemical reactions in the universe, and the age of the systems) of the universe (10-108), galaxy (10-96), solar system (10-85), and earth (10-70). He explains that if the probability of an event taking place is lower than these physical barriers, the event is indistinguishable from impossible within that system, and the proposed event may be considered scientifically falsified.

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Today we begin Chapter Two of the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter Two, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
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Today we begin our with Chapter One in the Read Along with Apologetics 315 project. This is a chapter-by-chapter study through the book The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. (Hear the introductory interview about the book here.) Below you will find an audio intro for Chapter One, a brief summary of the chapter, a PDF workbook with questions for the chapter, and some notable quotes. You're also encouraged to share your comments and feedback for each chapter in the comment section below. Feel free to interact on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page here.

Tomorrow we are launching another weekly Read Along program. (For the past two Read Along’s, see here and here.) The goal: group book study and discussion, one chapter at a time. This will be a Thursday feature, starting tomorrow, August 7, 2014. So you have one day left to order your copy of the book. (Or the Kindle version.)

We'll be reading: The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak.

This book seeks to embolden the church’s witness in today’s society by showing how Paul's speech to the Athenians (found in Acts 17) provides a practical model for Christians today. The authors encourage Christians to "be more biblically informed, culturally astute, and creatively engaged to winsomely challenge the idols of our time and to point contemporary Athenians beyond ‘an unknown God’ to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Each week an audio intro for each chapter by Paul Copan will be provided, along with a brief synopsis and study questions. You’ll also be able to connect with others readers here in the comments on Apologetics 315, or on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page. And stay tuned for more upcoming features as we read along.

TODAY'S INTERVIEW
Today we get ready for the read-along with an introductory interview with co-author Paul Copan. In this interview, Paul introduces himself and his co-author Kenneth D. Litwak, talks about the goal of the book, and what readers can expect to gain from reading it.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (8min 35sec)

Be sure to subscribe to the Podcast Feed here, and also on iTunes here.
Then join us tomorrow as we kick off chapter one.

Enjoy.

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
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Next week we'll be launching another weekly Read Along program. (For the past two Read Along’s, see here and here.) The goal: group book study and discussion, one chapter at a time. This will be a Thursday feature, starting on August 7, 2014. So you have one week to order your copy of the book. (Or the Kindle version.)

We'll be reading: The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak.

This book seeks to embolden the church’s witness in today’s society by showing how Paul's speech to the Athenians (found in Acts 17) provides a practical model for Christians today. The authors encourage Christians to "be more biblically informed, culturally astute, and creatively engaged to winsomely challenge the idols of our time and to point contemporary Athenians beyond ‘an unknown God’ to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Each week an audio intro for each chapter by Paul Copan will be provided, along with a brief synopsis and study questions. You’ll also be able to connect with others readers here in the comments on Apologetics 315, or on the Christian Apologetics Alliance Facebook page. And stay tuned for more upcoming features as we read along.

Are you ready to take the Read Along challenge?
Grab the book and get ready to start Chapter One next week!

"Let no one think or maintain that a person can search too far or be too well studied in either the book of God's word or the book of God's works."

- Francis Bacon

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
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The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Matt Slick. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten, of Apologetics 315. Today’s interview is with Matthew Slick of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, more popularly known as CARM, found at www.carm.org.
Matt started CARM in October of 1995 to respond to many of the false teachings of the cults on the internet, when it first began. Now it has grown to be one of the largest apologetics resources online. Matt hosts Faith and Reason Radio, week nights in the Boise area and on the internet and that is also podcasted as the CARM Radio Program.
The purpose of our interview today is to get to know a little bit more about Matt, his ministry with CARM, and gain some insights into his experience in apologetics on the internet. So thanks for speaking with me today, Matt.

MS: No problem Brian.

BA: Now would you mind telling our listeners a little bit more about yourself and how you got into apologetics.

MS: Well, let’s see. I’m 53 years old and I went to a Lutheran college and a Presbyterian seminary and I was a Pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America, Assistant Pastor in the CRC (the Christian Reformed Church). I’m a Five Point Calvinist, if that matters; it doesn’t really to me. Let’s see – I have a wife and kids and live in Idaho. I can tell you how tall I am but I don’t think that is going to be relevant.

BA: Now what got you started into doing apologetics and how did you get started with CARM and starting that ministry online.

"If Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just 'dogmatically' true or 'doctrinally' true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life."

- Francis Schaeffer