As an atheist I believed in what I could see, not in what I could not see. The “natural” was something I could see – the “supernatural” was not. So, the archaeological finds that supported various aspects of the historicity of the Old Testament impressed me. Even though most of the ancient discoveries were located in museums around the world, being able to see photos of the … [Read more...]
Undesigned Coincidences: Part 5
A life as rich in travel and relationships as Paul’s was, documented both by his letters and by the history of the book of Acts, affords many opportunities for undesigned coincidences to emerge—so many, in fact, that it is worth pausing to see some of the evidence that Acts was not written by someone who had Paul’s letters before him. Leafing through 2 Corinthians, we notice … [Read more...]
Paul – Apostle or Fraud (Part 2)
Many people do not believe that Paul was a true apostle of Jesus Christ. Some of them are Jews and Muslims, but some say they are followers of Jesus Christ. Because they believe Paul was a fraud, they deny that any of his epistles are to be followed as part of Scripture. That’s almost half of the New Testament, so it’s a serious issue. That’s why we are investigating questions … [Read more...]
On Inerrancy and Inspiration
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: The (Evangelical Protestant) doctrine of Inerrancy pertains to the original autographs in their original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek). The doctrine states the originals (which are lost) were free from error or … [Read more...]
Undesigned Coincidences: Part 4
There are certain parts of Paul’s letters that we typically pass over in silence. The long lists of greetings, in particular, are flyover territory for expository preachers. “Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, ...” The congregation is probably snoring already. And yet such passages can, on occasion, furnish us with beautiful examples of coincidence without … [Read more...]
Importance of Bible Reading
Most Christians realize that the Bible is very important to the Christian faith. So much so, in fact, that this often leads to handling the Bible in some strange ways. For example, we might take a particular sentence (verse) and memorize it, yet use it out of context. There are sometimes strange views of how the Bible was produced (ie: dictation). Christians might venerate a … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 4
As any good atheist would have done more than 40 years ago, I ridiculed the history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible. How could anyone believe what the Jews wrote about their national history when they were just trying to promote their own brand of ”religion?” Why should I believe them? The problem with that line of thinking, I discovered, was what to … [Read more...]
The Feeding of the Five Thousand: Did It Really Happen?
It’s a story which we have all grown up with. We are all familiar with the famous story of Jesus miraculously feeding the five thousand from five loaves and two fish, with no fewer than twelve basketfuls of leftovers. The story is recounted by all four gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But just how historical is this story? In this article, I attempt to highlight … [Read more...]
Undesigned Coincidences: Part 3
One of the benefits of having both Paul’s letters and a history of Paul’s activities from another hand is that we are able to compare points of contact across the two genres. Their overlap is all the more valuable since they appear to have been written largely or wholly independently of one another, with very little verbal similarity at any point. What should we expect from … [Read more...]
Scientific Confirmation of Scripture
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: When people hear the words ‘Scientific Confirmation of Scripture,’ they often think ‘creation vs. evolution.’ However, scientific confirmation of Scripture includes much more than just questions about … [Read more...]