Christian Carnival – December 2012 Edition

Welcome to the latest edition of the Christian Carnival, the monthly blog carnival featuring posts submitted from a diverse Christian bloggers on a range of topics. Below are this December’s selections:

Apologetics

“Are Christians Arrogant?” by Joel Furches on the Jarrettsville Christianity Examiner: The Examiner is a news resource that covers every topic. This article considers the prevalent concept that Christians are arrogant, self-righteous, or judgmental.

“Blog Index for Douglas Groothuis’ ‘Christian Apologetics’” by Maryann Spikes on Ichthus77: We are studying Dr. Groothuis’ “Christian Apologetics” in my apologetics group at church, using the study guides available at Apologetics315. This is an index of one post per chapter (so far up to chapter 15). Join the discussion :-)

“Christian View on Pagan Practices of Christmas Celebration” on Christian View: This post challenges the claim that certain traditions of Christmas celebration are pagan practices. Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, and Christmas carol are not pagan practices.

“God and Santa Claus” by Paul Rezkalla on the Christian Apologetics Alliance: Equating belief in God with belief in Santa seems to be popular among many atheists who have grown up in religious families but later abandoned their “childish” belief in God in the same way they gave up their belief in Santa Claus. Are we justified in giving up belief in God the same way we give up belief in Santa Claus?

“Kids without God: Atheist Website for Children” by Sarah on Penny of a Thought: Three general observations on the American Humanist Association’s new atheist blog for children.

“No One Knows the Date of Birth of Jesus, So Jesus Did Not Exist” on Christian View: One of the arguments of atheism and secularism against Christianity is that we do not have the birth certificate of Jesus and that we do not know his date of birth. Therefore Jesus did not exist, they argue. This post responds to that claim.

“Should Men Stay Out of the Abortion Issue?” by Clinton Wilcox on Pro-Life Philosophy: A discussion of a common pro-choice logical fallacy. This article was featured in a newsletter from the National Right to Life Committee.

“The Truth about the Virgin Birth of Jesus” on Christian View: This post analyses the virgin birth of Jesus in its cultural context and explains the meaning of virgin birth.

“When Did Christmas Celebration First Begin?” on Christian View: This post corrects the common misconception that the first Christmas celebrations began in the mid fourth century, and presents the truth behind the first Christmas celebration. In fact the first Christmas celebration began immediately after the birth of Jesus.

Devotionals

“Cylinders and Crosses” by Dan Lower on Keyboard Theologians: The experience of God’ massive and overwhelming nature is best found, for me, on sunny days or black nights.

“SEAL of God” by Disciple on Closer2Thee: SEAL of God is the story of Chad Williams, a US Navy Seal who became a Christian while going through Navy SEAL training.

“Wanting More” by Dean on Working On the Mission: God wants to give us more, but we need to want more. I’m not talking about material possessions, but about wanting more of God. This post was instigated by reading the prayer by A.W Tozer included at the start of the post.

“Who Will I Become?” by Kelly on Simple Awareness: Goals are important not because of what we accomplish with them but because of the person we become through accomplishing them.

Theology

“Flesh vs Faith: Hebrews 11:1” by Jim Klingenberger on Xulonjam: Another in my ongoing series attempting to define “Faith” biblically, this time looking at the famous characterization of Faith found in Hebrews 11:1.

“Hell and Possible Worlds” by Jeremy Pierce on Parableman: Response to an objection against Calvinism involving hell and possible worlds.

“How To Read The Parables With Jesus At Center” by Dave Moser on Armchair Theology: Using the example of the Good Samaritan, this shows how the parables point beyond our moral improvement to what Jesus did on our behalf.

Other

“Angels in the New Testament” by Robin Bremer on Kingdom Living For End Times: We are God's children and are created like Him. The supernatural is part of who God is. Having interaction with the angels was normal in the Old and New Covenant. Angels are part of a supernatural lifestyle. One of a 12-part series of a study on Angels. This one is about our natural interaction with angels in the NEW Testament.

“Eyeglasses” by Ridge Burns on Ridge’s Blog: Ridge Burns talks about "settling for fuzziness" in his eyeglass prescription and in the Christian's walk with God.

“Happy Days” by James Nakamura on Nakadude - Knowing the Extraordinary from an Ordinary’s Perspective: My personal letter to my son on the day of his adoption. These are words from my heart but also words from the heart of His Heavenly Father.

“The Young Adult Body Part” by Sarah on This Is What Sed Said: [No comment provided.]

“T-t-t-talkin’ Bout My Generation (But Thinking About the One After Next)” by Carl Trueman on Reformation 21: A leader's orthodoxy and orthopraxy are only really evident in the line of succession he helps to establish... count no church leader as being truly faithful until you can see what steps he took to leave a faithful legacy.

“Why Religious Freedom Matters” by Tom Gilson on Thinking Christian: Philosopher Brian Leiter says he can’t think of any good reason to support religious liberty. Here’s an important one.

If you’re interested in contributing to a future Christian Carnival, please head over to the “Submit A Post” page on the carnival’s main blog. See you next month on January’s host blog, Thinking in Christ.