Timothy Keller

"People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A persons faith can collapse almost over night if they have failed over the years to listen patiently to their own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection. Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts--not only their own but their friends' and neighbors'." "Only if if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive." 

-Timothy Keller

Ask hard questions. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it.

Ben Stein Interviews Richard Dawkins

EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH THIS! World-renowned atheist Richard Dawkins is asked questions on the topic of intelligent design and the origins of life by a very competent Ben Stein. Dawkins usually makes his interviewers look naive and foolish; Ben Stein flips the script.

Lee Strobel: "Why Does God Allow Tragedy and Suffering?"

Check out this speech given by Lee Strobel on the topic of tragedy, suffering, and evil. http://t.co/2IbtH9XQrv

Upcoming Articles

My upcoming articles will be on the topic of Creationism and Evolution from a more scientific perspective. Friday's article will discuss:

The fossil record

The Cambrian explosion

The anthropic principle 

New Logo

Know What You Believe's logo has changed from our previous red and gray logo to the one that is now on the site. 

New Logo and Color Scheme

Heads up! Our logo and color scheme will be changing to this:

What Is Know What You Believe?

Know What You Believe is a website dedicated to helping equip our generation to strengthen its faith in God and to boldly share the gospel of His son, Jesus Christ. Sixty-five percent of high school students stop attending church and abandon their faith in God once they reach college. They go through their teenage years living off their parents’ and leaders’ faith and relationships with God instead of establishing their own. We have to know not only WHAT we believe, but WHY we believe it. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

 Could you clearly tell someone why you believe what you believe? As we step onto our high school and college campuses we are going to be presented with difficult questions that require specific answers. Knowing what we believe is a must if we are going to stand firm in our faith. We are a part of the most biblically illiterate generation in history; it’s time to change that. Jesus told us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” We so often ignore the command to love God with our minds; we need to know why we believe in God and why we believe His Word.  These years of our lives are not a time to relax, have fun, and save getting serious about our relationship with God for later. These years are the training ground for what we will become; it's our opportunity to build our foundation of faith. If our faith in God or His Word is not solid now, it will be shaken later. We have not just been called to love God ourselves, but to share the gospel with this lost and dying generation which is so desperately in need of a savior. How can we lead someone to faith in God if our own faith is trembling? Know what you believe, but just as importantly, know why you believe it. 

1 Peter 3:15

Reset Movement

Let's see revival come in our generation.

Purpose: Where Does It Come From?

            All human beings, no matter how young or old, feel the need for an ultimate purpose. We all search for our “calling,” our reason for being on this earth, but how could we have a purpose unless we were made for a purpose. Something cannot have meaning unless it has been formed for a function. Despite this longing felt by every human being, atheists say that any ultimate purpose is a myth. Richard Dawkins says in his book The God Delusion, “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” Then how do we account for this longing? Atheists will tell you ‘meaning’ is an invention of the human race to fill this void that we feel, but this claim still admits that humanity feels a void. Former atheist C.S. Lewis says this about meaning and purpose, “If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be a word without meaning.”

Even militant atheists, when being candid, will admit that purpose exists. In his book Hitch-22: A Memoir, atheist Christopher Hitchens says, “It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so.” This void felt by humanity is acknowledged by even the most vocal of atheists.

There is a higher value placed on human life than on any other species. Animals are not guilty of rape or murder or stealing, but human beings are. If human beings are simply animals, why do get so upset when humans act like animals? Why do we place such a higher value on human life? Is it because we have greater reasoning capabilities? Well, if that were the case, human beings with a greater intellect would be valued more highly than say a child or a person with mental disabilities. The very basis of evolution is this: the strong dominate the weak. As human beings we do not hold to this standard; the strong uphold the weak. So where, if we acknowledge its existence, does purpose and this value for human life come from?

The God Test

The God Test is a great tool for sharing the gospel. Ten questions, ten minutes, and a great way to engage skeptics on key subjects. www.thegodtest.org

The Bible: Man Made Myths or God's Plan for Radical Redemption

Can the Bible be trusted? Is it simply a book full of contradictions and fairy tales with no historical evidence to back its claims or is it the inspired Word of God? This is one of the main questions that skeptics will present. If we are going to know why we believe the Bible, we need to be able to answer these questions. In his book God’s Not Dead, Dr. Rice Broocks gives the acronym SHARPER to help remember some of the main proofs for the validity of scripture.

            Same. The words of the Bible are 99% accurate and the vast majority of the words that are in question are simply misspells. There are 138,000 words in the New Testament, and only 1,400 of those words remain in doubt. The words that are in doubt do not change the Scripture’s meaning, its claims, or its doctrine. The Bible is not one book written by a single author like many other religious books, but it is a compilation of sixty-six books written by forty different authors over 1,600 years. The theme of salvation is maintained throughout all sixty-six books.

Historically accurate. The events described in the Bible are backed up by external sources and manuscripts, which will be discussed later. The Gospels, Acts, and the writings of the Apostle Paul all provide parallel accounts of Jesus life and his teachings.

            Archaeologically verified. The famous chemist and historian William Ramsay says about Luke, the author of the biblical books of Luke and Acts, “You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s, and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.” Luke’s reliability as a historian is unquestioned. Innumerable details from the New Testament have been established by archaeological findings. Because of the fact that many of the details described in the Gospels and Acts are not well known details, the writers must have been relying on first-hand experiences. If the Bible is simply a fallible book written by flawed men, you would expect that evidences would begin to compile against its reliability, but this is not the case. As discoveries are made, the evidence does not contradict the Bible, but on the contrary it strengthens the Bible’s accuracy.

New Article

Can we trust the Bible? Know the answer. Coming Friday.

Upcoming Articles

In my previous article, "Know Why You Believe What You Believe," I presented some of the arguments against theism and Christianity. My upcoming article will address the topic of the validity of scripture. Why do you believe the Bible to be true? Know what you believe.

Know Why You Believe What You Believe

As I sat in my room I remember thinking, “I have believed there was a God for as long as I can remember, but why do I believe it?” I had grown up in the church, going every Sunday and being highly involved in our youth group. I had known God existed and had read and studied the Bible for years. I committed my life to Christ at a young age and He had transformed my life and given me a purpose. But as I sat there, I knew that if someone asked me to give them a reason for why I believed God existed I would, besides giving the typical Sunday school answer, have nothing to say.

Don’t get me wrong, when I say I would have nothing to say, I do not mean I would not be able to present the gospel or how God had changed my life, but when confronted with the arguments that are presented by atheists today I would be completely unprepared. Today’s atheistic arguments are complicated theological, social, and scientific questions which require deep and specific answers. The Bible says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.” (I Peter 3:15) I had hope, but no answer for why I had it. I knew what I believed, but did not fully know why I believed it. This is where my study began...