Following the birth of Jesus, Scripture indicates that Mary went on to have other children. I quote Mark 6:3 below: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him." (NASB) My question is, what would it have been like to grow up with a perfect older brother? Some of … [Read more...]
Handling an Objection: "But God Doesn't Have a Son!"
Introduction When I was a new Christian I lost count of the number of times that I told people that my new faith was based on the tenet that Jesus is the Son of God. I still do this to this day. In many cases, people ask me “How does God have a Son?” Or, the common objection from both Muslims and Jewish people is ”There is only one God and he has no Son!” In order to answer … [Read more...]
Did Jesus of Nazareth Fulfill Ancient Predictions?
This is another video in our series "Great Thinkers & Great Questions", where we examine and comment on articles in the Apologetics Study Bible. Here we will be taking a short look at what is called Messianic Prophecy, in which well over 100 predictions in the ancient document of the Old Testament Scriptures, predict a specific individual that will come onto the … [Read more...]
Bethlehem Baby: Our Salvation and Peace; the Rabbis’ Headache
What do the Rabbis say about the birthplace of the Messiah? Do they acknowledge, along with the Gospel of Matthew, that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David? After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the … [Read more...]
The Historian and Miracles
Received wisdom is that the historian can say nothing about miracles. This statement can take one of several different forms. For example, Bart Ehrman says of the Resurrection that "Historians can only establish what probably happened in the past, and by definition a miracle is the least probable occurrence. And so, by the very nature of the canons of historical research, we … [Read more...]
Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses
As any Christian apologist knows, there are vast differences between orthodox Christian and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) beliefs. The biggest difference that marks the Jehovah’s Witnesses (hereafter JW, or plural JWs) is their teachings on the nature of God. According to Dr. William Lane Craig from his “Defenders” (Series 1) podcasts the historic … [Read more...]
What’s Wrong With The Zeitgeist Movie?
The Zeitgeist movie has been circulating on the internet since 2007. In the video its director, Peter Joseph, seeks to persuade viewers that the authors of the New Testament essentially plagiarized the concept of the virgin birth, December 25 as Christ’s birth date, the twelve disciples, the miracles, the crucifixion, and the resurrection from astrological sources and pagan … [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...]
Jesus, the Philosopher
Reprinted with the gracious permission of Dr. Douglas Groothuis. This question was posed by the moderator at an early Republican presidential debate in 1999: “Who is your favorite political philosopher?” George W. Bush surprised, if not stunned, his fellow candidates, moderator, and audience when he tersely declared, “Jesus Christ, because he changed my life.” At the … [Read more...]
A Virgin Shall Conceive but Not According to the Rabbis
Arguably, Isaiah 7:14, prophesying a “virgin” giving birth, is the most contested verse in the Old Testament. Although Matthew unequivocally states that this prophecy was fulfilled by the birth of the Messiah, the Hebrew Scriptures seem to indicate that there was a fulfillment during the life of King Ahaz. Although this might seem like a contradiction, these two perspectives … [Read more...]