Author: Dr. H.C. Felder

Throughout the history of western thought, numerous philosophers and great thinkers have struggled with what is known as The Problem of Evil.  A number of influential philosophers have posited the incompatibility between the existence of God and the existence of evil.  A number of theists have defended their co-existence.  Former Oxford professor of Philosophy J.L Mackie took the theist to task by attempting to expose their arguments as invalid and unpersuasive.  Mackie represents a number of non-theistic criticisms of theistic arguments for The Problem of Evil.[1]  Because of this, I will examine Mackie’s arguments from a theistic perspective and demonstrate that it is Mackie who has failed to be persuasive in his arguments against the positions that reconcile the existence of God with evil.

As a Christian Apologist, I often engage people who are atheist or of different faiths.  If we talk long enough, the topic of the Crusades is bound to come up.  In this paper, I would like to present a view of the Crusades that goes against the commonly held beliefs of most people.

This paper will focus on the First Crusades.  It will examine the Crusades from a traditional view and then from a historical view.  Both views will then be evaluated.

I remember when I first started learning about the three great arguments for the existence of God.  The first argument is the argument from the universe.  It basically goes like this: everything that comes into existence needs a cause, the universe came into existence, therefore the universe needs a cause.  The argument goes on to demonstrate, scientifically, that the cause is consistent with the God of the Bible.