Tolerance is a concept that has been so completely redefined, that it's very difficult to help people see the difference. A caller to the program recently, a non-Christian, asked why religious people can't be tolerant of secular people like secular people are to Christians. Now, what he meant by this wasn't classical tolerance - show respect for the individual whose ideas you disagree with. He was asking why Christians don't "live and let live" and try to persuade others with different convictions. Essentially, he was asking why Christians can't be moral and religious relativists, just like much of society.
Greg's uses "taking the roof off" tactic in the discussion, and hopefully the caller will continue to think about the discussion and see the difference between true tolerance and what he's asking about. Here's the clip from the program.
J. Warner Wallace guest hosted on Sunday's radio broadcast, and answered a question from a caller - an objection to Christianity she's heard from atheists. God is immoral for punishing an innocent person for other people's sins. This is an internal critique of Christianity - an attempt to find an inconsistency or a fatal flaw that would undermine the Christian claims. Certainly God's goodness is a critical claim.
But such attempts have to take into account all that Christianity teaches, and this accusation has left our a very important, fundamental point that J. Warner Wallace identifies. Jesus is not just another man, He's God and the work of salvation is the plan of the Trinity, not just the Father. God punishes Himself; He doesn't punish an innocent bystander. So it's not immoral as the atheist claims.
Greg talks with a caller about the Biblical justification for applying rationality and logic in Christianity, and gives some advice for talking to someone who disagrees.
A recent atheist caller to the radio show made this claim over and over in different ways during his discussion with Greg. The caller identified himself as a Hitchens convert from Christianity and believes there's no evidence at all for Christian claims.
