Volume 36:Issue 5

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CONTENTS:

04 From the Editor
Minivan-Driving Soccer Moms and Theology

06 Response
Facing the Islamic Challenge… The Great Debate about English Bible Versions… Contemplative Prayer and Psalm 46:10

08 Effective Evangelism
What to Say When Your Gay Friend Says, “I was Born This Way”

10 Practical Hermeneutics
The Armor

12“Gross National Cool”: Manga as Theological Reflection
by C. Wayne Mayhall
Cultural Discernment and Apologetics Over the past decade, the Japanese comic books known as manga have gone from accounting for one-third of a $70 million dollar graphic novel market to claiming almost two-thirds of what is now a $550 million industry. Do you have loved ones absorbed in manga? Here’s an approach to engaging them with biblical truth.

20 More to Manga?
by Seth T. Hahne
Cultural Discernment and Apologetics Through the combination of words and images, graphic novels—especially manga—can sweep readers into the experiences of people and cultures not their own. The author, who founded an Internet resource to help readers find worthwhile comics, describes the benefits people derive from manga and highlights titles that deliver such benefits.

24 Rendezvous with Death: C. S. Lewis on Mortality and the Afterlife
by Michael Ward
Cultural Apologetics Through his depiction of death and of “something after death,” C. S. Lewis has engaged generations of readers at profound levels of mind and soul.

32Breaking Bad’s Addicting Defense of Moral Realism
by Bob Perry and Robert Velarde
Cultural Apologetics AMC’s gritty, award-winning television show Breaking Bad was more than a drama—it was a morality tale about the devastating downfall of its main character. It allowed viewers to observe in grippingly dramatic fashion the results of rampant moral relativism.

40Allah, The Trinity, and Divine Love
by Jonah Haddad and Douglas Groothuis
Interfaith Apologetics Both Christians and Muslims look to God as the ultimate source of love and celebrate His love to humankind. But beginning with an examination of God’s being, it becomes clear that Christians and Muslims are speaking of two very different beings, and hence, two very different loves.

44 Worldviews: Thinking and Living
by Winfried Corduan
Worldview Discernment Even though we acquire worldviews initially with the rest of our culture, it is still possible not only to change certain beliefs within our worldview but also to change from one worldview to another. In a post-Christian age, Christians must not only understand the distinctives of their worldview but also live consistently with them.

50Historical Artifacts and Biblical Sources: Determining What Is True
by Jerry Pattengale
Historical Apologetics How can we know whether Martin Luther really nailed his “95 theses” to the Wittenberg door, Joseph Smith really heard from a talking salamander, or Jesus really lived in Galilee and died in Jerusalem in the first century? There are standard methods that can be used reliably to weed out fraudulent artifacts while authenticating genuine ones.

54 Reviews
A Summary Critique: Dan Brown’s Inferno…E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien’s Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes…Charles Taliaferro’s The Golden Cord

60 Viewpoint
The Most Important Institution in the World and the Folly of Bumper-Sticker Theology

62 Ask Hank
Does the Bible Promote Slavery?