Author Archives: Caleb Coy

1 Peter 3:15 and Loving Apologetics (Part 4: Application)

Posted by Caleb Coy on

In high school,  I made it my mission (or at least a hobby) to “prove God” to people, provided those people were my friends and I had control of the conversation. When the social media consisted of email and AOL IM, I learned how easy it was to insult and cajole someone for not thinking the way that I do. At times, my conversation was a kind of bullying in order to assert how right I was.

For example, when someone once suggested the Bible was just a bunch of stories to help children sleep at night, I insinuated that what would help me sleep at night was something violent happening to them. I felt I had the right to be so arrogant and careless. If they didn’t see the obvious truths as I’d presented them, they weren’t worth respecting in a debate. My mission was about my right-ness. It took a long time to change my attitude. Continue reading →

1 Peter 3:15 and Loving Apologetics (Part 3)

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Previously I wrote about how 1 Peter 3:15 “call to apologetics” should be read in context of its immediate passage to inform us about what apologetics is. In a passage that anticipates persecution from without, making a defense is seen as a holy necessity that must be done with gentleness and reverence.

I decided to read through the entire letter of 1 Peter, trying to imagine myself as his audience, and allowing the entirety of the letter to inform my understanding of “defending the faith.” Continue reading →

1 Peter 3:15 and a Loving Apologetics (Part 2)

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Previously I wrote about how 1 Peter 3:15, often the flagship Bible verse about Christian apologetics, should be read closely to inform us about what apologetics is about, particularly the end of the passage, “yet with gentleness and reverence.”

In this post, we will examine the verse as part of a broader passage on hope. Let us consider 1 singular verse, 1 Peter 3:15, in the context of the broader passage (chapter 3). Continue reading →

1 Peter 3:15 and a Loving Apologetic (Part 1)

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Christian apologetics is as old as Christianity itself. While the word apologetics may sound funny, it doesn’t mean to apologize, but rather, “to give an explanation or justification.”

This is where we get our word apologize, the basic meaning to explain we now take to mean expressing contrition. While apologetics is not about being sorry, it is also not about being rash or reckless. For Christians, it just so happens that the humility it takes to be sorry is the same humility it takes to defend our faith in Christ, because our faith begins with the repentance of our sin and the confession of Christ as savior. Continue reading →

Self Esteem: What Matt Walsh Gets Wrong and Why It Matters

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Last week Christian conservative blogger Matt Walsh, who writes for The Blaze, published a video for PragerU, titled “Why Self-Esteem is Self-Defeating.”

Walsh’s argument in the video is that teaching people to have self-esteem is a fantasy that does more harm than good. He makes several good points, but falls short of applying them appropriately.
Continue reading →

Cormac McCarthy Narrates Minecraft

Posted by Caleb Coy on

Recently Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, published a novelization of the game Minecraft.

While I haven’t read the novel, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if great American author Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men, were to narrate the world of Minecraft.

Say no more. We’ve just found an early draft of his novelization:

Continue reading →