There are many charges raised against the historicity of the birth narratives of Jesus Christ. These run the gamut from objections based upon alleged contradictions to inconsistencies in the genealogies to incredulity over the possibility of a virgin birth. Rather than make a case to rebut each of these objections in turn, here I will focus upon using undesigned coincidences to … [Read more...]
Who Am I? A Study of Who We Are In Christ: Part 2
Here is a link to Part 1: Who Am I? Part 1 Well before we get into full blown testimony mode, let’s dig into how we became Christian in the first place. The description and requirement for salvation is outlined in Romans 10:9-10. “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the … [Read more...]
Who Am I? A Study of Who We Are In Christ: Part 1
Quick ask yourself this question: “Why am I a Christian?” How long did it take you to think of the answer? And, no, “Because my parents are Christians” is not a correct answer. Atheists and Agnostics can write you a novel on the spot about why they believe the way they do; however, many Christians struggle with this answer. Many reasons abound as to why this fundamental … [Read more...]
The Correct View of Creation? – part 2
In part one, I discussed four different elements of the debate surrounding views of creation. Depending on the question you will find two of the views under consideration (young earth, old earth, and framework) agreeing with each other. Also, again depending on the question, you will find different combinations of views that agree with each other. This observation occurred to … [Read more...]
Equivocation, Semantic Range, and Scripture
I happened to be perusing the Internet recently (a very poor idea, I know) and came across the following meant-to-be-ridiculed scenario. “We are to fear God. We are to love God. There is no fear in love.” The idea is that the Bible is demanding a contradictory state of affairs, or something impossible to fulfill. This article shall demonstrate this is not a problem. The Bible … [Read more...]
Is God a Moral Monster? by Dr. Paul Copan – A Book Review
About a year ago while I was at Harvard, talking with one of the students I regularly mentored, it happened that two of his friends walked by and stopped to say hello. We began to talk about their perspective on life and it quickly became clear that they were staunch atheists with a strong aversion to Christianity. Out of curiosity I asked them, “So, what’s your biggest … [Read more...]
Stephen Law on the Non-existence of Jesus of Nazareth
Reprinted with the gracious permission of William Lane Craig. In his blog, atheist philosopher Stephen Law formulated the following skeptical argument against Jesus' existence: 1. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. In the absence of extraordinary evidence there's excellent reason to be skeptical about the claims. 2. There is not extraordinary evidence for … [Read more...]
Pre-Pauline and Post-Pauline Christology
The Apostle Paul often gets a bad rap in certain, non-Christian circles. Atheists, Muslims, and Pluralists all have it out for Paul. Everyone's got a bone to pick with Paul! He is (infamously) responsible for the idea that Jesus is God. Christianity started out as a nice, little group of hippies who shared their possessions and lived in close community while following the … [Read more...]
How Do You Read The Bible?
The Bible: Learning How To Read It It’s sad to say but quite a few people within the body of Christ are not that Biblically literate, which just shouldn’t be so. It’s apparent that far too many rely on their pastor’s sermon, a seminar, retreat, etc to understand it. Those means are all beneficial but should never take the place of our personal study and meditation on the Word … [Read more...]
In Defense of the Empty Tomb
Was the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth found empty three days after he was crucified? If not, then Christianity is the biggest lie and the biggest waste of time in history. While the historicity of the empty tomb does not, by itself, constitute a convincing argument for the Resurrection, it plays an indispensable role as Jesus could not have risen from the dead if his tomb was not … [Read more...]