Where Did I Go?
Where did I go? I set up this site, wrote one or two posts and POOF. What happened?
First, I probably published my first posts before I was really well-prepared. Writing apologetics takes a lot more research and time than writing a normal blog post.
I apologize for not understanding the depth of knowledge and study needed on each topic before pushing publish on this website.
Additionally, I thought I was prepared emotionally for stepping into the world of apologetics, but I really wasn’t. I was not prepared for the onslaught of comments by atheists looking for debate or just wanting to fight.
While I didn’t want to back down because of this, I did want to be more prepared spiritually, mentally, emotionally.
Ephesians 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
When I took a step back to prepare to fully launch this site, I had an accident. This accident caused me to step back from life for months. My entire focus was on healing.
When I started being functional, all of my time was dedicated to being a wife and homeschooling mom. Anything left over went to running my primary website, which is still my main focus.
Gradually, I will be publishing some articles, but I will alway prioritize my role as a wife and mother above blogging.
This may means posts are not as regular as I would like. However, quality takes time. My goal is to always publish truth as best as I am able with as much knowledge and clarity as possible.
I would rather share one post a month that is comprehensive and accurate than four that are less complete or credible.
Sharing God’s truths accurately and rightly is very important to me.
When we lack truth, we miss the beauty God has for us in the order and world He created for us.
I am not the foremost expert in the subjects I’ll be sharing, but I study the experts!
As a college educated English and history teacher by profession, I am a research fiend. I love to learn and am ferociously educating myself in all things theology and apologetics.
But, I might not get everything right. I hope you’ll be patient as I grow.
My goal in writing this blog is to make apologetics accessible in the lives of busy moms who need someone to boil down the big things into bite-sized chunks. And empower them to teach these truths to the next generation.
I’m not the only one who does this. Many great apologists make learning theology and apologetics easy. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite resources often!
Here are my top five (in no particular order):
- Alisa Childers
- The BibleThinker Mike Winger
- Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace
- MamaBear Apologetics
- Stand to Reason
Thank you for joining me on this journey.
13 Comments
Pingback:
clubschadenfreude
I’m glad you are back, TMA. I figured you realized that you may have not realized exactly what you were getting into. If you do want most everyone to be able to post here, you will have people pointing out how your arguments fail. Even other Christians will do that, since Christians don’t agree on much at all.
“Sharing God’s truths accurately and rightly is very important to me.
When we lack truth, we miss the beauty God has for us in the order and world He created for us.”
that every Christian claims that their version is the “truth”, how is a non-christian supposed to know which of you to believe?
Being a college-educated English and history teacher, you should know the basics of both language and history. One is not to start with a presupposition that you were convince was true by people you had reason to trust as a child. That is not following the facts, it is trying to make reality fit what you need in your story. And that doesn’t work well at all for Christians. History is built on evidence, not assuming that magic can happen so you can hand-wave anything you want
away. That no one noticed the Flood events, the Exodus events, that no one noticed the passion events is a very good indication that they never happened.
Would you be willing to read some books by atheists and non-christians and Christians who don’t agree with you? That’s where the real learning comes in, not just reading things that agree with you.
themamapologist
Thanks for being patient. I hear your points and disagree. I have a huge reading list, including people with whom I disagree. But you’re welcome to leave suggestions. I won’t likely respond to every comment but I’ll add your concerns to future posts. Thanks for reading.
clubschadenfreude
which books by atheists have you read? I’m curious if you have rebuttals to what those authors say.
I’m also interested in an answer to this “that every Christian claims that their version is the “truth”, how is a non-christian supposed to know which of you to believe?”
Your recent post about the Mormons shows that you believe only your version of Christianity is the right one. The claims of the LDS are no more silly than the claims of other Christian sects.
themamapologist
To know which “Christianity” is true, we look back at the first creeds. Most denominations disagree on non-essentials of doctrine. Most agree on creation, sin, and the resurrection of Jesus for our salvation. Mormonism is not Christianity if you examine their beliefs about Christ. If we can show, and we can, that Joseph Smith made up his religion and lied repeatedly about it, then we have to question it. He claimed to translate Egyptian plates, but scholars who translated his plates have refuted his translations. They weren’t even close. Additionally, none of the locations in his scriptures exist. You don’t have to believe in Christianity, but we have pretty solid textual evidence that the Bible has been reliably passed down from ancient times and has a plethora of archaeological evidence that supports the scriptures. Lastly, I haven’t read as many as I would like to. Just not enough hours in the day.
clubschadenfreude
TMA, all Christian sects claim that they and they alone look back at the first creeds and have the “right” version. None of you can support that claim.
Most denominations disagree on essential doctrine, like what hell is, what heaven is, what morals this god wants, how to be baptized, what Jesus actually was, etc. Most Christians don’t agree on creation, with everything from taking the two creation stories literally, to claiming they are metaphor to claiming that evolution is guided by this god.
They do not agree on what this god considers a sin, since all of you pick and choose which of the many commandments in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy you want to claim your god “really” is concerned about. We have some christians insisting that homosexuality is wrong and some that claim it is perfectly fine. We have some claiming that working on the sabbath is wrong and some claiming it is perfectly fine. As for the resurrection of JC for salvation, that again isn’t agreed upon by Christians, specifically predestinationalists and those who claim free will. Were people already saved by grace or did they have to choose?
As for Mormonism, they claim they are Christians with one extra book about what Christ did in the Americas. Can you show them wrong? Nope, but neither can they show themselves right, just like you. Their religion isn’t any sillier than yours.
I can show that Joseph Smith made up this addendum to Chrisitanity just like you, by pointing out there is no evidence. You have no evidence for your stories either, TMA. That’s a problem.
There are no “plates”, TMA, no scholars ever looked at them. There were no magic glasses either, just like there was no ark of the covenant, no exodus, and no resurrection. Before you attack something, or make a claim about something, do research before making false claims out of ignorance. look up the “golden plates” on wikipedia. It has a good compilation of sources and what was really claimed.
Like many Christians, you want to claim that since your bible stories mention some real people and places, they must be true. That is silly, for by that standard, any Spider-man comic is true since it mentions New York City and David Letterman was in the Avengers comic book.
No, you don’t have “pretty solid textual evidence” that the bible has been reliably passed down. We know that the bible has been repeatedly added to over hundreds of years and we also have the problem that the bible contradicts itself. Bart Ehrman has done many books on the problem of the books of the bible and how interpretation has changed things again and again. This is not some magic book that is somehow unable to be edited. That some stories have been passed down is no more impressive than the Egyptian Book of the Dead still being available.
You have no archaeology that supports the essential events of the bible e.g. the two creation stories, the flood, the exodus, the fabulous temples and palaces, and the cruxifiction/resurrection. There seems to be some evidence for the Babylonian Exile but it does not reflect what the bible claims.
themamapologist
I disagree with several of your claims but won’t continue to argue the point with you. I made no claim about the golden plates, but the Egyptian scrolls which turned out to be pieces from the Book of the Dead. Not what Smith claimed they were.
clubschadenfreude
Again, TMA, that is evidence you have nothing to back your claims up with. Yep, Smith had papyri, which he lied about. Funny how Christians do the same about their claims about Exodus when there is not one mention of the exodus events in any Egyptian source. They have tried to rewrite the Egyptian kingdom chronology to make it fit with the claims of the bible, and have intentionally lied.
We also have numerous claims by Christians who try to claim that egyptian writes that do exist are mentioning the plagues when that is not the case, misrepresenting them. Look up “tempest stele” on wikipedia and elsewhere and you can see your fellow Christians doing exactly what Smith did. Shall we disbelieve you all now?
Amazing how Christians do much the same thing to try to support their myths.
themamapologist
Thanks for commenting. I will keep working on some posts about these topics and am thankful for places to research.
clubschadenfreude
I’ve read the bible start to finish, and no it isn’t clear that your god didn’t expect everyone to understand it. That is a false claim made up by you to excuse your god, TMA. It’s easy to understand, as a compilation of myths by a culture, just like the Theogony is easy to understand, the Bahagvad Gita is.
It is a problem when Christians insist that only themselves has the “right” way to understand it, and you all contradict each other, whilst being unable to show that your version is what you claim.
No evidence your god created the world and many other religions make the same claim about their gods. You can’t show that they are wrong since you make the same baseless claims, TMA. You can’t even show your god exists, much less inspired the bible.
It’s easy for a book to make a false claim that if someone doesn’t agree with it, they are “foolish”. That’s a coward’s way out. Most, if not all, religions make the same arrogant and false claim “18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
No evidence that this god has destroyed anything at all. But we have repeatedly evidence of theists whose belief in their god leads to the death and misery. That isn’t wisdom.
Again, TMA, your claims aren’t based on reality. Your presupposition that your version of your religion is true has you being willfully ignorant so you can cling to the idea you know some special secret.
The message in the bible isn’t “believe in Jesus and be saved”. As you know, each sect h as a different method of being “saved”. Trying to claim otherwise when you know it isn’t true is a lie, TMA. Your fictional ten year old doesn’t get that out of the bible. He gets that the bible is a mess since all most ten year olds are never shown the problematic stories in the bible where your god murders children, it can’t decide who is saved and where it works with Satan to corrupt Christians after it kills everyone else.
Your “deeper truths” are again those doctrines that you want to claim aren’t “essential” because they are inconvenient for you to admit.
the US Constitution was written by humans. Your religion claims that the bible books are all from your perfect god. Comparing apples to oranges to come to a false claim doesn’t work, TMA.
Every Christian makes your claims, TMA, that the “more you live in obedience to Him, the more you understand and grow in wisdom”. Why do you all constantly differ in the most basic things and attack each other, while having no more evidence than the next that your version is right?
Are Roman Catholics Christians, TMA? Are Eastern Orthodox? Are Seven Day Adventists? Are Presbyterians?
Why won’t you answer?
themamapologist
I didn’t get a notification for this comment. Also, you seem to have so many presuppositions and so many arguments that it’s just hard to do a lot of back and forth here. I read your comments and will address your concerns the best I can in future posts.
clubschadenfreude
if you’d like to make accusations, TMA, back them up. What are these supposed presuppositions I have?
If my questions are too much, pick one and answer it. When you avoid them all, it makes your excuses difficult to believe.
themamapologist
I don’t have the time or energy to respond at the depth necessary to really answer your questions clearly in a comment thread. I’m not avoiding them. I’m very busy. I’m actually traveling right now and can’t do the kind of response I would like. There is evidence of the Exodus. I am currently reading a book about the archaeological evidence for the Bible. I will happily share what I find once I get it formulated.