24Apr 2025 by Post

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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16Apr 2025 by Post

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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14Apr 2025 by Post

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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06Jan 2025 by Post

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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18Nov 2024 by Post

Did the Idols of the Old Testament Actually Have Power?

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, BellatoriChristi.com, Christianity, Daniel Sloan, False Gods, Gospel, idolatry, Idols, paganism, polytheism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, World Religions
One of the questions that people ask when they read through the Old Testament is “did those little statues that people worshipped actually have any power behind them?” Many scholars agree that people believed that the idols themselves did not hold power but instead represented the pagan gods. The Old Testament itself has two major views on idolatry, one located in the prophets and another located in Deuteronomy. Idolatry in the Prophets The prophets identify idolatry as a major issue within both Israel and Judah during their time and argue that idolatry is worthless.[i] For example, in Isaiah 41, Isaiah 44, and Jeremiah 10, the prophets make it clear that idolatry is useless and meaningless. It holds no power because the idols themselves are created and the gods that they…
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19Jun 2024 by Post

Why the Best Explanation Can Be a Miracle

3. Are Miracles Possible?, 4. Is the NT True?, abductive reasoning, Al Serrato, Apologetics, Christianity, Cumulative Case, Evidence, forensics, historical apologetics, J. Warner Wallace, miracles, New Testament, theology
By Al Serrato We all intuitively seek the best explanation for a set of facts or circumstances. It’s called abductive reasoning. Detectives make use of this method of reasoning when endeavoring to solve a crime; they put the pieces together so that a picture of what occurred emerges in sufficient detail to have confidence that it is true. Parents do it when they notice that a freshly baked pie has a piece missing and little Johnny has crumbs on his fingers and fruit staining his lips. Perfect knowledge is not required to know with sufficient certainty what occurred. Abductive Reasoning in Christian Apologetics As it relates to apologetics, abductive reasoning is a formal way of supporting the case for the validity of Christian truth claims. Though there are dozens of…
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20Dec 2023 by Post

Making Sense of Christmas

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Bobby Conway, christian, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, Christmas, Culture, faith, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Miracle of Christmas, Theology and Christian Apologetics, truth
The Christmas season has a way of quickening the senses, doesn’t it? The taste of a kiss under a mistletoe tree, the flavor of nursing steamed Ghirardelli hot chocolate, or the sheer ecstasy of biting into that freshly made batch of flaky peanut brittle. Then there are the smells. Oh, the smells. The smell of Gingerbread houses, hot caramel apple pie, and the dreaded Turkish Delight. We cannot forget the sounds. The sounds of Christmas carolers, holiday bells and our favorite seasonal hymns and not so favorite ones too, like, Last Christmas. It’s also a sight fest. The sight of homes bedecked with multi-colored lights, lawns graced by nativity scenes, and Salvation Army volunteers ringing their bells for coins in the coffer. And of course, we cannot forget the touch…
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18Dec 2023 by Post

Is Christmas Pagan?

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Christianity, Christmas, Culture, faith, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Melissa Dougherty, Miracle of Christmas, Theology and Christian Apologetics, truth
Tree decorating. Repetitive Christmas music on the radio. Sleigh bells ringing. Chestnuts burning. (Like, what does this even mean? Do people actually do this?) And the incessant cyber throat-punching over Christians who celebrate Christmas are actually celebrating an evil pagan holiday. Ah… it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is that magical time of the year again, full of bright lights, joyful music, and the warm and fuzzy feelings of family and gift-giving. But every so often, you might hear a claim tossed around that Christmas is rooted in pagan traditions. There are many people, especially online, who take this time of year very personally and feel the need to remind Christians that we are, indeed, participating in a pagan holiday. This can be very confusing for some…
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29May 2023 by Post

What Does it Mean That “God Won’t Let You Down?”

3. Are Miracles Possible?, cultural apologetics, does God always heal, existential problem of evil, God won't let you down, Melissa Dougherty, Problem of Evil, problem of suffering, Progressive Christianity, Suffering, Theology and Christian Apologetics
We often hear in popular Christian songs and from pulpits that “God is never gonna let me down!” or “God hasn’t failed me yet!” Besides the tragedy of grammar (I mean, how does God not fail you yet?), what does that mean? What does the Bible actually say about this? Does God actually make all things possible for you? What does it mean when people say that He won’t fail you (yet) or let you down? What DOESN’T it mean? First, I want to say what it isn’t. This does not mean that we expect or demand God to do what we think He should do. It doesn’t mean that God is required to give you what you’re having all the faith in the world for. This might be hard…
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13Apr 2022 by Post

5 Reasons the Resurrection of Jesus is NOT a Copy of Ancient Pagan Myths

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Alisa Childers, Easter, Jesus, Jesus Christ, miracles, New Testament, Resurrection, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Uncategorized
By Alisa Childers We are coming up on a time of year when the resurrection of a virgin-born child whose followers called the “Good Shepherd” and “Messiah” is celebrated. He had twelve disciples, performed miracles, and sacrificed himself for the peace of the world. He was buried in a tomb only to rise from the dead three days later. His followers went on to celebrate his resurrection every year, and this celebration eventually became what we call “Easter. Think I’m talking about Jesus? Nope. I’m talking about Mithras. This is a common claim that is made by skeptics all over popular media, the internet, and even in some universities. The only problem—it’s simply not true. According to Mithraic tradition, Mithras was born out of solid rock (I guess it counts…
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