(I continue my critique of Dan Brown's book - See Part 1 and Part 2) Brown’s second attack on Christianity is the claim that Jesus was not divine, nor claimed to be divine. Teabing alleges that in the 4th century Constantine, for business and political reasons, decided to adopt Christianity as the official church religion. He shifted the day of worship from Saturday to … [Read more...]
"No, Jesus is not the Messiah!": Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus
Introduction … [Read more...]
Three Reasons Why Jesus is Qualified to be called the “Messiah”
Introduction Over the years I have been asked why Jewish people don’t think Jesus is the Messiah. From my own experience, when I have talked to Jewish people about the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah, there is a wide range of thought. For some Jewish people a personal Messiah is irrelevant. For others, it is said that in every generation there is a potential messiah or … [Read more...]
Why do you call me good?
In the Gospels, a rich, young man approached Jesus and said to him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus gave the infamous reply, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." This story is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; critics of Jesus' claims to deity often use it as ammunition in their case for a non-divine Jesus. It seems, they … [Read more...]
Trilemma or Quadrilemma? Answering the "Legend" Critique of C.S. Lewis's Trilemma
C.S. Lewis's famous Liar/Lunatic/Lord trilemma has been criticized for leaving out a fourth option: Legend. There are historical and textual reasons to doubt the legend hypothesis, but I believe it fails even apart from that external evidence. It's vanishingly unlikely to be true, based upon merely the New Testament documents themselves. … [Read more...]
The Controversy (and confusion) that is Christmas
Inevitably, as I drive through bumper to bumper traffic that comes with every December evening, I start muttering: "It's the most horrible time of the year...." Lest I be misconstrued, I also enjoy the season. But I draw the line when the circumstances border on the absurd - the traffic on the roads are practically unbearable. Everything comes to a standstill, simply because … [Read more...]
A Question for Christmas: Who is Jesus Christ, really?
(pt.1 of 4) This is perhaps the most important question, apologetically and evidentially, regarding Jesus Christ in all of the Scriptures. If the Bible is true, then how a person answers this simple question will determine where an individual will spend their eternal destiny. Especially at this crucial time of celebrating the Christmas season, are you personally able to … [Read more...]
On having a perfect brother
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...]
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...]
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...]