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Cross Examined
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Were you to somehow stumble into my cubicle and take a look at my bookshelf, you might pull out a book called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Dr. Frank Turek and Norman Geisler. Were you to then read my copy of the book (sure, you have my permission), you’d be treated to philosophical and scientific arguments about the objectivity of reality, truth and morality, how such things point to the existence of a god, and, finally, how the reliability of the Bible points to that god being the God, found in Jesus Christ.
OK, OK, perhaps driving to Plugged In’s Colorado Springs office, taking my book and setting aside time to read it is a lot of work. Maybe you’d just prefer to watch Cross Examined on YouTube instead.
Cross Examined is the YouTube channel for the apologetics ministry of the same name, of which Turek is the president. And on the channel, viewers will get to see content created by the ministry, which include segments featuring Turek and others answering questions about the faith.
POSITIVE CONTENT
Cross Examined deals with many faith-centric questions in a way that is easy to understand and references back to Scripture. Additionally, even when someone is argumentative or militant against Christianity, Dr. Turek speaks to them with grace and patience. He is quick to point out a good question when he hears one, and he’s additionally quick to guide people away from the faulty logic they may unconsciously be using.
Dr. Turek frequently talks about how believers can use Scripture to back up their arguments, but he also provides ample evidence from a cosmological, teleological, moral and evidential viewpoint that can further convince skeptics. And he uses a variety of techniques to help viewers both process and remember what he’s teaching. For instance, Turek has a handy acronym, S.U.R.G.E., which he tells Christians to use as a way to explain that the universe must have been created by God. It is summarized below.
S – Second Law of Thermodynamics – The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the universe is running out of useable energy, and the First Law states that the energy within the universe is finite. With those two things in mind, that must mean that the universe cannot be eternal, since an eternal universe would have run out of energy! The universe must have had a beginning.
U – Universe is Expanding – Because the universe is expanding, that proves everything in the universe must have started from a single point at a single time—the Big Bang. And if that is true, then that means something must have started that Bang, something outside of space, matter and time.
R – Radiation Afterglow – In 1965, two scientists discovered radiation afterglow, the remnant heat floating around in the universe, the existence of which can only be explained by if it came from the Big Bang.
G – Great Galaxy Seeds – Following the discovery of this radiation afterglow, scientists searched for variations in the temperature of this radiation, since, if these variations were found, they would explain how galaxies formed and would further prove that the universe had a beginning. Not only did they find it, but they found these variations to be so precise that any change in them whatsoever would have caused us to not exist.
E – Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity – Einstein’s theory mandates that space, time and matter are all co-relative to one another and all have an absolute beginning. Because of this, that means that none of them could have come into existence before the others. But because they all do exist, then that indicates that they all had the same beginning moment.
These five scientific discoveries, Turek argues, show that the universe had a beginning, and if it had a beginning, must have had a cause which began it. But this cause must have been outside of space, time and matter, which leaves us with two options: either absolutely nothing created the universe, or God created the universe. And since nothing cannot make something, then God must exist.
CONTENT CONCERNS
None, though parents will want to note that some questions deal with heavy topics such as rape and murder.
CHANNEL SUMMARY
Cross Examined provides viewers with great reasons to believe in the veracity of Christianity, both inside and apart from the Bible. The channel and ministry exist to not only help others “examine” the cross but also to “cross-examine ideas against the truth of Christianity.”
For those looking to dive into the world of apologetics, Cross Examined might be just what you need to get started.
Kennedy Unthank
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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