Article #341
by Bill Nugent
Frank Turek (1961- ) leads the Cross Examined Ministry based in Charlotte North Carolina. Turek is an apologist (apologist = defender, i.e. defender of the Christian faith). He is in high demand as a speaker at a variety of venues, including conferences, churches, universities and high schools.
Turek has publicly debated prominent atheist, Christopher Hitchens. He’s debated David Silverman, President of American Atheists. He’s author of two best-selling books: Correct, Not Politically Correct and Stealing From God. He’s co-author, with world famous apologist Norman Geisler (1932-2019), of the books: I don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist and Legislating Morality.
Turek was a naval aviator for several years. Over time, he developed a keen interest in studying the intellectual foundations for believing in God as creator and believing in God as giver of all truth by revelation. Turek began to see God as the source of objective, absolute truth in all branches of knowledge, including religion, philosophy and science.
Turek completed studies to obtain a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University and then went on to complete the rigorous program to obtain a Doctor of Ministry in apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary, in Matthews, North Carolina. He and his wife Stephanie have three sons.
Turek reaches millions of people through social media and his ministry’s website, crossexamined.org. The website features an abundance of apologetics resources and links to other Christian apologetics websites and archives. Turek hosts a weekly TV program titled: I don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist which airs Wednesday evenings on the NRB network, (DirecTV channel 378). His radio show, CrossExamined with Frank Turek, airs on over 150 radio stations, Saturday mornings at 10 AM and at all times on the CrossExamined app.
Turek’s collaboration with famed apologist Norman Geisler is of particular note. Geisler is co-founder of Southern Evangelical Seminary (estab. 1992) which is where Turek got his doctorate. In 2004, Geisler and Turek published their book, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. In this book they argue that truth is objective which is to say that truth corresponds to reality. Truth is absolute. The term “absolute truth” simply means “true truth” not just true in the opinions of some people. God’s absolute truth about morals, which is God’s absolute, revealed truth about what is right and wrong, applies to all societies and all cultures at all times. All people are subject to God and must conform to God’s revealed moral standards.
Turek and Geisler vigorously refute the claim that truth is subjective, which is the claim that truth is relative or simply decided upon in the mind of each person. Postmodernists argue that morals are relative and that each culture makes up its own moral truths. This is also called “moral relativism” or “cultural relativism.” Historically, moral relativism has resulted in social chaos and social injustice. This is because the most powerful people in a relativistic society manipulate the legal system to change the morals and laws to concentrate all wealth and power in the powerful few. Then the powerful set themselves above the law like ancient emperors and kings did in ancient Rome, Greece, China and other pagan cultures. Examples of this in our own times include fascist and communist governments who outlawed Christianity and set up their own moral standards. Francis Schaefer called communist laws “arbitrary absolutes.”
Turek and Geisler show that God’s absolute truths expressed in the Bible in the Ten Commandments, the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the New Testament epistles are very liberating. God’s laws give the legal structure to build an orderly, just and fair society.
Ancient pagan deities did not give laws. Zeus, Athena and Neptune did not give laws such as the Ten Commandments. The Greeks and Romans had to work out their concepts of morals and laws through philosophy by human reason and not by divine revelation. This resulted in horrific oppression of slaves on the one hand and the absurdity of emperor worship on the other. It is estimated that the lifespan of a slave was, on average, just 21 years. Gray haired slaves were stared at as curiosities. Slaves who worked in agriculture, mining and construction were essentially worked to death. The ancient pagans didn’t know of the biblical revelation from God that human life is sacred and that the sacredness of human life is based on the fact that each person is created in God’s image.
The Bible gives a distinct doctrine of man. The Bible teaches us what human beings really are. The Bible gives revelation about the origin of people (created in God’s image), the sinfulness of people (original sin), the redemption of people (trusting in Christ who died for our sins), the purpose of people (to love God and to enjoy Him forever), the destiny of people (conscious existence in the eons of time in either heaven or hell).
The Bible’s doctrine of man reveals the sacredness of human life and the equality and dignity of each person. The Bible teaches against elitism and oppression of the poor by the rich.
In the Bible, because of the revelation of the doctrine of man, judges were commanded to be impartial in their judgment of rich and poor (II Chronicles 19:6-7). The biblical statement: “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) means that all people are equal in the sight of God and must be equal in the sight of any human judge. When king David committed adultery and murder he was severely judged by God in front of all Israel. This showed that the king was a mere sinful man, subject to God’s absolute truth, just like every other man. There was no king worship in biblical Israel!
The Bible teaches the doctrine of original sin (Romans 5:12-21). This is a much misunderstood doctrine but one which is extremely liberating from a political standpoint. Original sin means everyone is born a sinner in need of repentance and in need of forgiveness from God. That includes the rich and famous. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. That’s why the founding fathers of America put checks and balances in our constitution to prevent any one man from wielding too much power. They believed in the doctrine of original sin, which is Bible’s teaching that all people are sinners. They didn’t trust sinful men, not even George Washington, with too much power.
The phrase “all men are created equal” was written in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Could such words have been written in a political document three hundred years earlier in 1476? They couldn’t have been written in 1476 because in 1476 Bibles were in Latin and chained to pulpits in churches all across Europe. The people had no access to biblical truths so they lived their dismal lives as peasants under serfdom.
The doctrine of original sin was ultimately the basis for the revolutions in Europe to overthrow the monarchies (hereditary dictatorships). The revolutions occurred in the centuries after the Protestant Reformation when the Bible was printed and distributed in the common languages of the people. The centuries after the reformation was the first time in history that the Bible was so freely available across a continent populated by millions of people. Pastors taught biblical truths in the churches. People all across Europe became familiar with the Bible’s teachings on the equality of all people. The people saw kings as sinners like themselves, not as exalted godlike beings. Philosophers including Locke and Montesquieu wrote books and articles that explained the biblical doctrines of equality and freedom in eloquent, intellectual terms.
The Bible regulated time and labor laws. Everyone was entitled to a day off every seventh day. This is God’s revelation of the Sabbath. Slaves and servants got a day off every week. All people are equal in terms of their being entitled to a day off each week. This is very egalitarian. God invented the weekend! Think of that at your next Sunday tailgate party out at the stadium. Our seven day week comes directly from the Bible.
Individual autonomy (personal freedom) is given in Romans 14:1-13. “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). The Bible teaches submission to rulers but the Bible also gives a wide range of issues under which people can make free choices and govern themselves. This is revolutionary!
Turek has also spoken about the scientific flaws in the theory of evolution. Evolution is the origins myth of atheistic materialism. Evolution is a crucial issue because it is the foundation of godlessness in our society. Evolution, by its denial of God as creator, drives the whole secular rebellion against God that we see all around us in the world. As the leaders of society reject God, they act in ways that limit freedom and impose police state controls on people gradually over time.
Turek has given lectures on the necessity of an Intelligent Designer of Life. Nature contains many enigmas that evolution cannot explain. These include the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly, social insects such as ants and bees, animal instincts and bird migration requiring sophisticated navigation. No step by step chain of genetic mutations could possibly evolve these irreducibly complex animal traits.
Then there are compound traits such as those found in the bombardier beetle with it’s chemical production glands, reservoir, two valved combustion chamber and moveable turret to spray poisonous chemicals at toads. The complex explosive chemical delivery system of the beetle is irreducibly complex which means it must be built all at once to be advantageous to the beetle. No step by step Darwinian gradualism could possibly account for these compound traits. The beetle did not evolve. It was created! God offers proof of His existence all through nature. Nature shouts that God is creator!
God has such high esteem for the dignity of man that He gives each of us a choice. God didn’t create people to be robots who are forced to love Him. God gave us a choice to either remain in our sins or turn to Jesus Christ, the promised redeemer. Christ came in fulfillment of over three hundred prophecies written in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ worked miracles of healing in which people born blind were given sight and He even raised people from the dead. The fulfilled prophecies and the miracles proved that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to redeem humankind.
The prophets foretold that Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel, would suffer and die, taking the sins of the people upon Himself. “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Christ rose from the dead to offer forgiveness of sins to all who call upon Him in repentance. Which will you choose: life or death? I invite you to call upon Jesus Christ today. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
Prayer to receive salvation:
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!