Rick Mattson's Blog

When I was a boy of seven or eight years old, my dad told me a story that I never forgot. He recounted the frightening day of April 2, 1957, when his wife, “Tudy” Mattson, delivered a nine-pound baby at a hospital in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where Dad was stationed in the army. Tudy was […]

The post Pilgrim on the Prairie Part 1 appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

— Part 2 of this series is here Many people in the University start their thinking with something like this: 1. Truth is dependent on perspective. There’s no absolute truth, only the perspectives of everyone at the table. Or: 2. Truth is dependent on scientific verification. The only reliable truth is that which can be […]

The post Speaking Back to the University Part 3: Starting Points appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

____ Recently, I felt the sting of public humiliation. I was criticized and mischaracterized in a public venue by another party. This felt very unfair. Rather than writing about that incident, I wish to ask the question, As Christians, how do we respond when we experience persecution, even the mild (relatively speaking) kind I faced […]

The post Humiliated as a Christian appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

The prevailing dismissal of Christianity in the university world includes the accusation that faith is “anti-science” in its rejection of evolution and its acceptance of miracles and Intelligent Design (I.D.). Yet, there are several ways to think about the relation of science and faith. Ian Barbour, science and religion professor at Carleton College from 1955-86, […]

The post Speaking Back to the University Part 2: Is Christianity “Anti-Science”? appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

The prevailing dismissal of Christianity in the university world includes the accusation that faith is “anti-science” in its rejection of evolution and its acceptance of miracles and Intelligent Design (I.D.). Yet, there are several ways to think about the relation of science and faith. Ian Barbour, science and religion professor at Carleton College from 1955-86, […]

The post Accusation: Christianity is Anti-Science. A Response appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

Last school year, InterVarsity students at the University of Montana invited me to help them respond to the university world’s critique of Christianity. According to the secular university, Christianity is racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-science, hostile toward other religions, wedded to conservative politics, anti-intellectual, power-hungry, and oppressive of gender nonconforming persons. Upon arrival in Missoula, MT, […]

The post Speaking Back to the University, Part 1 appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

Last school year, InterVarsity students at the University of Montana invited me to help them respond to the university world’s critique of Christianity. According to the secular university, Christianity is racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-science, hostile toward other religions, wedded to conservative politics, anti-intellectual, power-hungry, and oppressive of gender nonconforming persons. Upon arrival in Missoula, MT, […]

The post Speaking Back to the University appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

My whole life I’ve hung out with atheists. Now I’m writing a book with an atheist friend, Tom Jump. Tom is a successful YouTuber with over 30k followers. It’s there on his YouTube channel that he debates Christians and other theists. The book we’re writing together is about ethics, entitled, Objective Morality Without God? A […]

The post I’m Writing a Book With An Atheist appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

Part 3 in this series is here In the world of higher education where I work, it’s common for Christian students to lose their faith. Why? One reason (among many) is that they lack rationale for their beliefs. Many youth pastors know this. One approached me recently to ask if I could help with the […]

The post Apologetics for Kids Part 4 of 4: Old Testament Violence appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.

In the prior post I mentioned that evangelicals and liberals* tend to have differing starting points: Scripture as interpreted historically, going back to the creeds (evangelicals); and science along with the best of contemporary culture and learning (liberal theologians). With such disparate starting points, it’s hard to achieve productive dialogue between the two sides. Thus, […]

The post A Rift in the Modern Church, Part 3 of 3: Three Suggestions appeared first on Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry.