Why Demanding Extraordinary Evidence Makes Little Sense

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, Al Serrato
Many skeptics approach “the evidence” for Christianity with a closed mind. Hobbled by a number of presuppositions, they typically end up where they begin: convinced that God simply would not have made himself so difficult to detect. Many will back up their position with a challenge – because Christian claims are so “extraordinary,” they say, only “extraordinary evidence” will be sufficient to persuade them. Upon reflection, however, it is quickly apparent that this is a rather odd, and in the end self-defeating, way to go about the task of acquiring knowledge. It’s odd because it demonstrates a misunderstanding about the way evidence works. It’s self-defeating because reviewing evidence is supposed to be done so that one can arrive at the truth about what occurred, and when one option – that…
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Let’s Help Harvard Understand Intelligent Design

2. Does God Exist?, 3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Christianity, design argument, Evolution, Gospel, Harvard, Intelligent Design, Jonathan McLatchie, JonathanMclatchie.com, naturalism, scientific apologetics
Last week, my wife and I spent an afternoon at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, in Cambridge, MA, near where we live. We both were generally impressed by the exhibitions, particularly the dinosaur section, and would recommend the museum to anyone visiting Boston. I was, however, quite disappointed to see this notice at the entrance to the display on evolution: It was disappointing to see the inaccurate representation of intelligent design (ID), along with the poor scientific epistemology. A “Super-Natural Explanation”? First, proponents of ID have long stressed that ID, in its purest sense, does not necessarily postulate a supernatural cause but is consistent with a natural or supernatural intelligence. Furthermore, I would contend that the natural / supernatural distinction is problematic. What precisely is meant when a phenomenon…
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The Miracles in Acts, and Their Evidential Value Part 2

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, and Philip., Apologetics, Gospel, In this second part of a two-part series, Jonathan McLatchie surveys the historical evidential case for the miracles of Acts, Peter, with the miracles of Paul
[Editor’s Note: In part 1 of this series, Jonathan McLatchie introduced the book of Acts for it’s miracle accounts and the evidential value they carry. He argues that at least some of these miracles cannot be rationally dismissed out of hand but rather carry demonstrable evidential value for understanding the events of biblical history. McLatchie began by focusing on the miracles of the Apostle Paul. In Part 2, we pick up with more Pauline miracles.] Striking Elymas Blind: Acts 13:4-12 recounts Paul’s and Barnabas’ encounter with a magician by the name of Bar-Jesus, also called Elymas, on the island of Cyprus. Luke indicates that “he was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God,” (v. 7).…
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The Miracles in Acts, and Their Evidential Value

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Book of Acts, Christianity, Early Church, Evidence for God, Gospel, historical apologetics, Jonathan McLatchie, JonathanMclatchie.com, miracles, natural, supernatural
The book of Acts recounts various miracles performed by Paul and the other apostles, as well as the deacons Stephen and Philip. If it can be shown that these miracle reports substantially represent the testimony of these individuals, then this is an important aspect of the testimony that must be accounted for. For reasons I have discussed at length previously, there is strong reason to believe that the apostles sincerely believed what they claimed. As William Paley puts it, “there is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives,…
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The Nature and Purpose of Miracles

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Brian Huffling, BrianHuffling.com, Christianity, Classical Theism, Gospel, miracles, nature, Norman Geisler, providence, science
When I was born the doctors said I was blind. In fact, I have a letter from the doctor saying that I was blind and that my grandmother (my grandparents reared me) simply would not accept that. She prayed and had her church pray. She had them anoint me with oil. One day I reached for a toy and my grandmother realized I could see. Today I have bad vision but I can see. Was this a miracle? What Miracles Are        Miracles are by definition a supernatural act of God where he intervenes in nature to alter an otherwise natural course of events. By ‘supernatural’ is meant an act that transcends or is not a part of nature. It is other than nature. The only being other than nature is…
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Philosophy Disguised as Science

2. Does God Exist?, 3. Are Miracles Possible?, age of the earth, Apologetics, Christianity, FreeThinkingMInistries, Gospel, Intelligent Design, naturalism, Origin Science, Phil Bair, philosophy, Philosophy of Science, science, scientism
One of the basic principles that atheistic scientists live by is that science is based on evidence and religion is based on faith. I scarcely have to provide examples of atheistic scientists telling us that for something to be scientific, it must be evidence-based, and it must rely on the time-honored methods of scientific inquiry. Nor do I need to provide examples of them telling us there is no scientific evidence for the existence of God or miracles, and that all religious doctrine is faith-based. Theism, we are told, is based on faith with no objective or valid (which, of course, means scientific) evidence to support it. Even a cursory reading of the publications of the [relevant] atheists will yield example after example of both of these claims. Science, we are…
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33 Defenses for the Resurrection of Jesus: Part 2

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Brian Chilton, Christianity, Easter, Gospel, historical apologetics, Jesus, New Testament, Resurrection, www.bellatorChristi.com
[Editor’s Note: In part 1 of this series on the Resurrection, Brian Chilton laws out five lines of evidence for the resurrection in the Acronym: RISEN – Records of Jesus’s resurrection, Irritating details about the resurrection that show its truthfulness, Sightings of the risen Jesus, Early testimony about the risen Jesus, and the Newfound faith of the disciples. He then presents and explains how ancient records and irritating historical details point to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Part 2 of this series, Chilton will explore how early testimony, resurrection sightings, and the newfound faith of key Christians point to that same resurrection event.]    Sightings of the Risen Jesus The biblical texts reports many witnesses who saw Jesus alive. The resurrection appearances of Jesus were a very public affair.…
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33 Defenses for the Resurrection of Jesus

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Brian Chilton, Christianity, Easter, Gospel, historical apologetics, Jesus, New Testament, Resurrection, www.bellatorChristi.com
I told someone recently that Easter (aka., “Resurrection Sunday”) is my favorite holiday. It holds a greater prominence for the child of God than even Christmas. Up until the commercialization of Christmas, Easter was the central holiday for the Christian. One of my good friends recently stated that her pastor called Easter the “Super Bowl for Christianity,” and for good reason. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Are there, however, good reasons for believing that Jesus of Nazareth literally arose from the dead on that first Resurrection Sunday? The historicity of the resurrection and the Gospels were a major sticking point for me in my time of doubt. If the resurrection was only wishful thinking, then believers have no genuine hope for their eternity. Yet if the resurrection is…
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Do the Resurrection Narratives Contradict? A Reply to Dan McClellan

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Dan McClellan, Easter, Gospel, historical apologetics, Jesus, Jonathan McLatchie, JonathanMclatchie.com, Resurrection
Dan McClellan is a Biblical scholar who has taken to creating YouTube content. He has a popular channel, with 127,000 subscribers at the time of this writing. He often produces short videos responding to conservative scholars and apologists. Unfortunately, McClellan often comes across as incredibly condescending towards conservative scholars, with a rhetorical tone that is, in my view, unbecoming of scholarly discourse. I know that other conservative scholars feel the same way. McClellan recently published a 17-minute video responding to a TikTok video by my colleague, Dr. Sean McDowell, on discrepancies in the resurrection narratives. In this article, I will address points raised in this video. McDowell begins by observing, correctly, that “even if there were contradictions in the Bible, this wouldn’t prove that Christianity is false.” I agree with McDowell. I do…
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How My Son’s Confession of Faith (Nearly) Broke Twitter

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, Amy Davison, Conversion, Gospel, MamaBearApologetics.com, New Christian, Parenting, Reborn, salvation, Social media, Twitter, X
For almost a week in late 2020, my 11-year-old son practically went viral on the Internet, and he doesn’t even know it. Let me tell you why. You see, he had walked out onto our back deck and, cool as a cucumber, announced to my husband and me that he had accepted Jesus as his Savior. Needless to say, we were pleasantly caught off guard. “Oh? When did this happen?” I asked. “The other night. Yup,” he nodded in a very Young Sheldon-esq way, “I looked at the evidence and Christianity makes the most sense.” Then, away he went to build a new Lego creation. We had a good chuckle over his matter-of-fact confession. I thought my apologetics friends would, too, so I hopped on Twitter and shared the amusing scene.…
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