Author Archives: Clarke Morledge

About Clarke Morledge

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Clarke Morledge -- Computer Network Engineer, College of William and Mary... I hiked the Mount of the Holy Cross, one of the famous Colorado Fourteeners, with some friends in July, 2012. My buddy, Mike Scott, snapped this photo of me on the summit.
March 22, 2013

Announcement: Apologetics Conference

By Clarke Morledge
Daniel Janosik, professor of Apologetics and Islamic Studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary. A College of William and Mary graduate, Dr. Janosik will be speaking at an Apologetics Conference at Faith Bible College, April 12 & 13, 2013.

Daniel Janosik, Apologetics Conference speaker.

In an effort to alert the Veracity community in the greater Williamsburg, Virginia area about other resources…..

Ken Petzinger asked us to help spread the word that Faith Bible College will present an Apologetics Conference at Tabernacle Church (Norfolk, Virginia) on April 12 & 13, 2013. The brochure can be downloaded from the Faith Bible College, and the topics will surely be of interest to Veracity readers.

Daniel Janosik, professor of Apologetics and Islamic Studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary will be speaking. A College of William and Mary graduate, Dr. Janosik will cover a number of topics, including his areas of specialty, Science and Islam.

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March 15, 2013

Like a Son of Man

By Clarke Morledge
The Ancient of Days. 1794. Watercolor by William Blake.

The Ancient of Days. 1794. Watercolor by William Blake.    Based on the “like a son of man” passage in Daniel 7.    In the Old Testament, Daniel is the master of apocalyptic imagery, which means using words as pictures to “reveal” or “uncover” that which is hidden.

Jesus talks about being the “Son of Man” eighty-one times in the New Testament. The term is Jesus’ favorite designation for Himself in the Gospels. So, what is the deal with this “Son of Man” stuff anyway?

“Son of Man = Messiah = Divinity of Christ“. For years, I merely assumed this to be true, simply out of reflex of being a Christian. But if it is true, why is it true?  I never really thought about it that much. Recently, our  small group Bible study has been looking at the Gospel of Luke, and every now and then there are puzzled looks whenever Jesus speaks of this Son of Man. As I observe everyone scrambling to read their study bible notes, I know that I am not alone in my why question.

A number of critics complain that Christians read way, way too much into this phrase. The Son of Man as the Messiah?  Mmmm. How so?   Furthermore, the Bible never explicitly equates Son of Man with “divinity”. Are followers of Jesus getting ahead of the Bible when asserting the messianic, divine meaning of Son of Man? Can a believer in Christ reasonably defend such a claim?

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March 8, 2013

Apologetics Thomas Aquinas Style

By Clarke Morledge
Thomas Aquinas, by Fra Bartolomeo. During a period of Islamic ascendancy in medieval Europe, Aquinas let the way as a follower of Jesus to transform history.

Thomas Aquinas, by Fra Bartolomeo. During a period of Islamic ascendancy in medieval Europe, Aquinas led the way as a follower of Jesus to transform history.

According to the U.S. Census of 2010, Islam is the fastest growing religious movement  in America, increasing 66.7% over the previous ten years, as compared to only a 1.7% increase among evangelical Protestants. How do we best relate the Gospel to Muslims? Here is a nugget from church history on Thomas Aquinas and the influx of Islam into medieval Europe with lessons for today.

So, how did the medieval church respond to the overwhelming cultural influence carried by the Arab Muslims into Christian Europe? Enter in Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was a young Dominican monk in the 13th century as he thought about the growing influence of Islam throughout the known “Christian” world. But Aquinas knew that the famous ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was perhaps the most important thinker enlisted by the Muslims to support Islamic belief. Aquinas began a nearly lifelong study of Aristotle. His magisterial Summa contra Gentiles was written in about 1264 largely as an apologetic treatise for use by Christian missionaries when explaining the faith to Muslim critics. In Summa contra Gentiles, he comments extensively on Aristotle, the great pagan thinker, in an effort to defend the Gospel.

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March 1, 2013

No Compromise?

By Clarke Morledge
Was Galileo right? Or did he take the Christian church down the path of compromise, eventually leading to the contemporary secularization of the traditionally Christian societies, weakening the witness of the church?

Was Galileo right? Or did he take the Christian church down the path of compromise, eventually leading to the contemporary secularization of  traditionally Christian societies, and weakening the witness of the church?

Millions of years. The age of the earth. Established scientific fact based on evidence? Or fatal compromise of biblical inerrancy and the integrity of the Gospel?

Answers in Genesis (AiG) is the premier Young Earth Creationist organization in the world. Their basic mission is to try to help Christians have a restored confidence in the full inerrancy of the Bible, starting at the “very first verse” in Genesis. One of their primary claims is that evangelicalism has allowed apostasy to enter the church by accommodating to the modern scientific idea of a “millions of years” Old Earth. Over time, this gradual movement away from a literal 24-hour day interpretation of the Creation account, with a Creation date of less than 10,000 years ago, has led to all sorts of  other confusions of Bible doctrine. Secular critics scoff, church leaders fumble on the questions, and many bewildered young people in our churches go right out the door and leave the faith, according to AiG.
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February 22, 2013

Feeling Like a Zero

By Clarke Morledge
Zero. Have numbers ever helped you in your life? If so, go thank your local Muslim neighbor, today!!

Zero. Have numbers ever helped you in your life? If so, go thank your local Muslim neighbor, today!!

Muslim countries. The Undeveloped World. Kind of go together don’t they? Except for oil-rich places like Dubai, this is a typical impression held by Christians in the West. But what if you were from a Muslim country? Would that impression make you feel very good? Probably not. You might feel a little like a ZERO.

In the wake of current tensions in Egypt, Syria, and Iran, Carl Medearis has been getting me to rethink some things here on Veracity.   If you know of anyone who has done missionary work among Muslims, you will learn from them that there is a long history of mistrust between Christians and Muslims that you simply have to work through if you hope to make any progress in sharing your faith. A huge part of that story is how the tables have been flipped over the centuries with respect to cultural influence.
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