evan minton
I have dedicated my life to reaching out to skeptics and doubters with the powerful evidence that confirms the truth of Christianity. This is why Cerebral Faith exists.
I am a Christian Apologist (someone who defends the faith against intellectual attacks from non-Christians). I was born on June 2nd 1992, and was born and raised in Piedmont, South Carolina, USA. I grew up in a Christian home and accepted the truth of Christianity from a very young age, but never actually committed my life to Christ until I was 17. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always believed in the existence of God. However, belief in his existence was all I ever gave God. I never prayed to him (except when I was in trouble) and I never read The Bible. All of my Bible knowledge came from my pastor’s sermon, and Bible movies me and my parents would watch on Christmas and Easter. In short, I had “demon faith”. What is “demon faith”? Demon faith is mere intellectual assent to the creeds of the church, and nothing more. It’s pretty such saying “Yeah, I think that’s true” and nothing more. It’s having the beliefs of a Christian, but the lifestyle of a NON-Christian. Craig Groeshel calls this type of person a “Christian Atheist”, “believing God exists but living as if he doesn’t”. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote about this type of faith in James 2:19; “You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe this and tremble.” Yes, Satan believes God exists, but read Revelation 20:10 to find out where he’s going to spend eternity! If you had asked me several years ago “If you didn’t believe in God, would your life be any different?” if I answered honestly, the answer would be “No. No it would not be any different.”
After 4 years of extreme emotional darkness, I gave my life to Jesus Christ at the age of 17. I moved from mere intellectual assent to the creeds, to accepting Christ into my heart. I went from demon faith to Christian faith.
I started studying apologetics in early 2011 shortly after I had stumbled upon Apologetics for the first time on YouTube. I had been struggling with intellectual doubts for months, wondering if there was any good reason to continue to believe the truth claims of Christianity as opposed to other religious systems. I had a profound experience with Christ at age 17, but I reasoned within myself “Yeah, but, other people of other religious faiths have religious experiences too. How is my experience anymore objective or reliable than theirs?” Then one night, I was scrolling down my Facebook news feed, and one of my friends posted a link to a YouTube video called “The Case For A Creator”. I clicked on it, and watched it. It was a documentary hosted by a man named Lee Strobel, based on his book of the same name. It was an hour long. I was floored at what I was seeing and hearing! Here were scientists arguing for the existence of a Creator using science! I had never heard that there was such good evidence for God’s existence prior to this! My faith was revived. I bought all of Lee Strobel’s books and studied them like one would text books. I then bought other books written by other apologists (of whom consist of scientists, philosophers, and historians) and studied them as well.
Today, I no longer struggle with intellectual doubts about Christianity. I know that my Christian faith has a rock solid foundation, a foundation built on facts and evidence, a foundation built on science, history, and philosophy. I believe that we can believe because we use the brains that God gave us, rather than in spite of using them. I have dedicated my life to reaching out to skeptics and doubters with the powerful evidence that confirms the truth of Christianity. This is why Cerebral Faith exists.
theological beliefs
THE ESSENTIALS
The Following Are “The Ecumenical Creeds” that a man must confess if He is To Be Consider a Christian and Not A Heretic. These, I do affirm.
The Apostle’s Creed
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
*NOTE: “Catholic” in this context means “universal” and is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church. I’m as Protestant as they come.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Athanasian Creed
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, but one Eternal. As there are not three Uncreated nor three Incomprehensibles, but one Uncreated and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.
The Father is made of none: neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before or after other; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three Persons are coeternal together, and coequal: so that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped. He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood; Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ: One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.
This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.
The Chalcedonian Creed
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood;truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body;consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood;in all things like unto us, without sin;begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood;one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
THE NON-ESSENTIALS
The following are a list of non-essential doctrines that I affirm to be true. Christians can agree or disagree on these issues and still be considered orthodox (i.e not heretics).
11: I affirm Evolutionary Creationism
I’m certain that the universe and Earth are billions of years old and that evolution was God’s chosen mechanism to bring about the diversity of life on Earth.
12: I affirm accommodationism, not concordism.
That means I believe that The Bible contains depictions of ancient near eastern cosmology which is an incorrect and primitive view of the universe. God used the faulty scientific understandings of the ancient Israelites as a springboard to teach them theological truths about Himself. God was more concerned with teaching the initial recipients of His Word 3 things: (1) History, (2) Morality, and (3) Theology. The Bible correctly teaches all 3 infallibly. However, teaching the initial recipients correct science was not on His To-Do List. God worked around and through the faulty science of their day to teach truths about Himself. As Galileo Galilei put it “The Bible teaches you how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go.”
13: I affirm Arminian soteriology.
We Arminians believe that men are inherently sinful and depraved. We have sin natures that affect every area of our being (Total Depravity) and are not able to come to Christ unless The Holy Spirit sends us grace to enable our wills to choose Him (prevenient grace). Without prevenient grace, man would never choose to come to God, but would always spurn Him. However, we believe God’s grace is resistible, not irresistible. We believe God wants the entire human race saved and that therefore Jesus died for the entire human race (and not only some, as Calvinists teach). We believe that apostasy is possible. Election is primarily a corporate matter.
14: Molinism.
I believe that God has 3 logical moments of knowledge; Natural, Middle, and Free. God knows what everyone could do (natural knowledge), would do (middle knowledge), and will do (free knowledge). Human beings have libertarian free will. God uses His middle knowledge (what we would freely do under any given circumstance) to meticulously orchestrate events throughout all human history. God meticulously controls what happens in the world, yet human free will is not violated in the process.
15: Partial Preterism
I believe that the majority of eschatological prophecies were fulfilled in the first century. All of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse was predicting the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D 70, most of Revelation was predicting the events of A.D 70, and many of the epistles also talked of the events of A.D 70 as “Soon” to come to pass. Jesus “came” in A.D 70 in judgment against Jerusalem for rejecting Him as the Messiah. But this was only “A” coming, not “THE” second final coming. This is where the “Partial” in Partial Preterism comes in. I do believe Jesus will return visibly, in His human nature, to judge the whole world. But that’s not the event Matthew 24-25 and Mark 13 were predicting. I also believe in a future rapture and bodily resurrection, as 1 Thessalonians 4 predicts.
16: I affirm the Annihilationist view of Hell.
People do not endure torment in Hell for eternity. They do for a short time and then are annihilated. The amount of suffering unrepentant sinners undergo prior to annihilation differs according to how evil and plenteous their sins were in their earthly lives. Only those who place their faith in Christ have eternal life. The unbelievers perish (John 3:16).
17: I am a Protestant
I adhere to the 5 Solas set forth in The Reformation. Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Christus (Christ Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Sola Deo Gloria (To The Glory Of God Alone), Sola Gratia (by grace alone). We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone according to the Scriptures alone.
18: With Regards To Original Sin,
I believe all humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam that inclines us towards wrong doing, but I don’t believe anyone is held accountable for Adam’s sin but Adam.