The Poached Egg Christian Worldview and Apologetics Network, in partnership with Ratio Christi Student Apologetics Alliance, is where Christian apologetics, history, philosophy, science, theology, and pop culture collide. Our goal is to help guide believers, seekers, and skeptics alike to the Ultimate Source of Truth and a better understanding of the Christian worldview. Founded and edited by Greg West. Greg is passionately committed to the cause of Christian apologetics; providing an adequate and reasonable defense of the Christian faith. The Poached Egg is a large and continually expanding virtual library of articles and essays compiled from all over the World Wide Web. Noted apologists, biblical scholars, philosophers, scientists, historians, students, and laymen all come together under this one site… continue reading >>> |
Simply put - A Renaissance of Christian Thinking in the University. We want to re-establish a strong and reasoned presence of Christian thinking in academia. Our goal is to place apologetics clubs at all major universities. Situating Ratio Christi chapters at universities around the world is an important step in reversing the skepticism that permeates most educational institutions. We desire to partner in taking back the mind of the University for Christ. By equipping… continue reading >>> | In just a few short years Ratio Christi has progressed from having just ten chapters to over one hundred thirty chapters on university campuses in the U.S. and around the world. The demand for chapters has outgrown our resources and staff- Christians students eager for a more authentic faith are waiting for chapters to be formed in their area. Financial partners are needed now more than ever to help us place trained apologists as university chapter directors. Will you join with us? Donate now >>> | Our Apologetics Resources Store is where you can start building your apologetics library at a fraction of the cost of hard copies. I scour Amazon to find the best Kindle deals in Christian Apologetics to help you do just that. Don’t have a Kindle? Not a problem—you can download a free Kindle App for your PC, smartphone, or tablet here. Over 130 titles are listed in alphabetical order by title and range in price from 99 cents to $5.99. Not all prices are permanent and are subject to change without notice. Shop now >>> |
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The Atheist Mind Humanist Heart website recently conducted a crowd sourcing project titled, “The ReThink Project”, where they asked their viewers to submit entries with the goal of developing the “Ten Commandments for the 21st century”. They had a slew of popular atheist names on the judge’s panel to narrow all the entries down to ten, which included well-known atheistic advocates such as Adam Savage from Mythbusters, Dan Barker from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Matt Dillahunty from the Atheist Experience television show. There was a reasonable amount of responses from their fan base with over 2,800 entries… more >>> | Christians will many times hear atheists make the claim that faith is somehow opposed to reason. Most people of faith that I talk with reject that idea. They don't believe that one must choose either faith or reason. However, there are quite a few Christians who think that faith and reason are separate realms that may coexist, but they don't touch. For some Christians, think this idea is comforting. They have taken certain slogans of "bumper-sticker" Christianity such as "Jesus is all I need" and think that such a position is powerful enough to ward off objections. Worse, they think that the same approach works with evangelism. This is not only a travesty… more >>> | Holly, you share your story of discovering faith in your book, Not God’s Type. Could you give us a short summary of why you left atheism? The short version is that I realized that Christianity is true! I was an atheist because I thought that it was true that there is no God, and that the material world is all that there is. I never rebelled against God or was angry at Him – I genuinely didn’t think He existed. I was raised in a non-religious (though ‘culturally Christian’) home, so I never really thought about religion at all, never went to church, and never read the Bible, but I also wasn’t especially hostile to faith… more >>> |
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Soon after Rice Broocks became a Christian as a third year university student, he discussed his faith with his brother Ben, an atheist, who was a third year law student. Though Rice was young in his faith, his simple answers to his brother’s questions led to Ben’s acceptance of Christ. “Since that day I’ve devoted my life to reaching out to an unbelieving, skeptical world with the message that God is indeed real and has revealed Himself in nature, as well as in history.” His book God’s Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty, offers a clear, understandable overview of the evidence for God as well as the credibility of the Christian faith, while responding directly to… more >>> | THEGODTEST is being use literally around the world as a groundbreaking tool for Evangelism. From New York to Cape Town, it has not only sparked tens of thousands of gospel conversations, but it is also helping believers to be more equipped and secure in their faith. THEGODTEST is a evangelism tool that helps facilitate dialog on the critical issues of faith, skepticism, and the meaning of life - leading ultimately to a presentation of the Gospel. The central question is:
There are 10 questions for those who believe in God and 10 different questions for those who don’t… more >>> | The prime objective of The Toye Foundation is to assist work that actively promotes the proclamation of the gospel. Recently we have supported the work of the Gideons, who take Bibles into schools, workplaces, hotels and give the Word of God away as a free gift. We also support Premier Christian Radio who broadcast the Gospel all over the UK. We are currently delighted to be supporting The Poached Egg, a Christian apologetics website that serves under the umbrella of Ratio Christi and assists people by helping them construct and give a defense for their faith in Jesus Christ, so that they can effectively and intelligently engage with atheists, agnostics and skeptics… more >>> |
| WHY APOLOGETICS?: CHRISTIAN LEADERS SPEAK OUT |
| We need to help people be aware of the important issues with which they will need to contend. In the area of apologetics, we must give reasons for why we believe. We see so many believers who have only a superficial understanding of Scripture and have no basis for saying why the Christian faith is true and or why he is not a Hindu or a Muslim. Without that awareness of an objective foundation for belief, they will buy into books like the Da Vinci Code and will be much more vulnerable to the tactics of new religious movements like Mormonism or Jehovah Witnesses. Because they are not biblically or theologically founded they can become more easily confused and rattled when they read a book like Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion. They just have not thought deeply about their own faith; so they become swayed by anti or non-Christian perspectives. —Paul Copan The average Christian in the pew is not reading books by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, but their neighbors and coworkers are. I think congregations are putting pressure on churches to equip them better, educate them more and give them opportunities to grow in this area. Churches that have relied in the past on a lifestyle evangelistic approach that lacks intentionality need to be a little more intentional in reaching people and bringing answers to their questions. I’m all for lifestyle evangelism, but I’m also in favor of intentionality, where we seek out opportunities for spiritual conversations and are equipped to explain the gospel and why we believe it. —Lee Strobel Instead of addressing teens’ questions, most church youth groups focus on fun and food. The goal seems to be to create emotional attachment using loud music, silly skits, slapstick games -- and pizza. But the force of sheer emotional experience will not equip teens to address the ideas they will encounter when they leave home and face the world on their own. A study in Britain found that non-religious parents have a near 100 percent chance of passing on their views to their children, whereas religious parents have only about a 50/50 chance of passing on their views. Clearly, teaching young people to engage critically with secular worldviews is no longer an option. It is a necessary survival skill. —Nancy Pearcey Ultimately, apologetics points people to our hope, Jesus Himself. That’s why “we demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Objections raised against Jesus must be demolished. But notice something. The Bible doesn’t say we demolish people. Rather we demolish arguments. Belittling others is not our goal. Merely winning arguments is not enough. Instead, we remove obstacles of doubt to Christianity so people can take a serious look at Christ, the only source of hope for this world. True apologetics is hopeful. —Brett Kunkle I am often dumbfounded when I hear Christians make the statement that Apologetics is an unnecessary discipline because God can take care of Himself. Of course God can take care of Himself. That is not up for debate. Yet, if apologetics is unnecessary, then why does God command the Christian to engage in Apologetics? God doesn’t need defending, but people need help making sense of the many competing ideas. We have been commanded to give a reason for the hope we have. It is only the lazy Christian that cannot give reasons for his faith. Evangelism doesn’t happen within a vacuum. It happens amidst many different subcultures. People’s background, experiences, history, education, etc. effects how they relate to the gospel. While we can never be completely prepared, we can do our best to have an understanding of our own beliefs and be able to offer a reasonable explanation of them. —Josh Fults I want to see churches start their own apologetics ministries because it is our scriptural mandate to “always be prepared to give an answer.” Yet there often is very little preparation going on! When challenges to faith come, people struggle to find substantive answers. This may cause some believers to resort to a sort of “believe it anyway” mentality; for others it causes them to abandon the faith altogether. Research by the Barna Group has shown that a majority of young people walk away from the faith around the time they go to college or university. They simply have not been equipped to deal with the secular challenges that come against their faith. —Brian Auten Arguments are good, and dispute is healthy. They clarify the truth and protect us from error and religious despotism. When the church discourages principled debates and a free flow of ideas, the result is shallow Christianity and a false sense of unity. No one gets any practice learning how to field contrary views in a gracious and productive way. The oneness they share is contrived, not genuine. Worse, they lose the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Simply put, when arguments are few, error abounds. —Greg Koukl |
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| Greg West provides a valuable service for the Christian community with his website The Poached Egg. With so much content available online, it is easy for people to either be overwhelmed by it, or to remain entirely unaware of helpful resources. Greg's work of content curation means that readers who are interested in apologetics can find consistently high-quality material for ministry, apologetics, and educational use. Furthermore, The Poached Egg helps to build community among Christian apologists, fostering a spirit of support and mutual encouragement in what is often a very challenging ministry field. Finally, Greg makes effective use of ‘apologetics in new media' as he uses social media in effective ways to further the cause of Christ." Thanks for all you do, Greg! —Dr. Holly Ordway (Chair, Department of Apologetics, Houston Baptist University; blogger at Hieropraxis; and author of, Not God's Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms) I cannot adequately say how much I appreciate what Greg has done in the service of Christian Apologetics. I am a pastor as well as a high school teacher at a Christian school, and I find myself increasingly saying, 'Why don't you check out the Poached Egg? It's got a TON of resources.' For all the work you do, Greg – thanks! —Anthony Weber (Pastor, teacher, blogger at Empires and Mangers and TC Apologetics, author of Learning To Jump Again: A Memoir Of Grief And Hope) The Poached Egg has been in invaluable resource both in my own ministry and in directing interested seekers and apologists to a wealth of resources. By consistently providing links to articles from a number of areas of interest for Christians, TPE has become one of the most important hub sites for Christian Apologetics. I have been blessed by Greg in a number of ways, and I am particularly appreciative of his efforts to share others' works with his readership. When he links an article of mine, I am able to observe a notable spike in traffic for several days, along with numerous hits over the course of time as interested readers search his site. I highly recommend the resources he provides, and further commend his dedication to the field of apologetics and the service of the Kingdom. —J.W. Wartick (MA in Christian Apologetics, Biola University, blogger at Always Have a Reason) The Poached Egg is by far the most influential Christian apologetics ministry on the internet, reaching the ends of the earth spreading the reasons for the Christian faith, edifying believers and providing intellectually powerful reasons for the truth of Christianity to unbelievers. —Arthur Khachatryan (Apologist, blogger at Cold and Lonely Truth, and author of Cold and Lonely Truth: The Beckoning of God's Reality in an Age of Rationalization) I consider Greg West's "The Poached Egg" to be one of the best apologetics blogs of all time. Greg has the ability to find articles that grasp the essence of an issue and address it in a deep, thoughtful, balanced and readable way. Highly educational! Highly recommended! —Dr. Edgar Andrews (BSc, PhD, DSc, FIP, FIMMM, CEng, CPhys. Emeritus Professor of Materials Science, University of London, UK, and author of Who Made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything) The Poached Egg performs the vital function of communicating truth in an accessible manner that informs without dumbing down and challenges without antagonizing. A great resource for Christians and skeptics alike. There is no apologetics web site quite like it, which reflects Greg West's God-given discernment and wisdom and Greg's desire to provide answers to those who doubt. —Stephen McAndrew (Attorney, Apologist, Ratio Christi Chapter Director, blogger at Songs of a Semi-Free Man, and author of Why It Doesn't Matter What You Believe If It's Not True: Is There Absolute Truth?) I want to say how valuable Greg’s the Poached Egg is on two levels: One, as an aggregator of information, one of the best go-to places on the Internet for a wide range of solid Christian thinking. To me it's also an encouragement. I appreciate it when TPE links my articles there—it boosts traffic very noticeably, which indicates they've got a good amount of readership. Two, I also appreciate seeing others' articles there—to learn from and to remind me I'm part of a living community of people with similar concerns. —Tom Gilson (Apologist, Ratio Christi National Field Director, strategist and writer at BreakPoint, blogger at Thinking Christian, and co-author/editor of True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism) |
