19Feb 2020 by Post

13 Good Historical Reasons For The Early Dating Of The Gospels

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Authors, Christianity, Dating of the New Testament, Erik Manning, Evidence, gospels, history, Is the New Testament True?, IsJesusAlive, New Testament Gospels, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning Skeptics like Bart Ehrman will use Apollonius of Tyana as a challenge to Jesus’ uniqueness. Apollonius lived in the first century. His birth was supernatural. He also performed miracles and appeared to people after his death. Sounds familiar, right? Critics will then conclude that the story of Jesus isn’t special. Apologists will then retort that the Apollonius’ biography was written long after his death. It isn’t until about 100 years later that Philostratus wrote his biography. Therefore, the story we have about his life couldn’t be based on eyewitness testimony. But the Gospels are based on the accounts of witnesses. And this is where critics will say “Oh really? The Gospels came long after Jesus’ death too!” For example, here’s Bart Ehrman: “The very first surviving account of Jesus’ life was…
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17Feb 2020 by Post

Questions to ask my LGBTQ friends

AFR, Apologetics, app, cross examined, cross examined official podcast, CrossExamined, crossexamined podcast, Frank Turek, google play, iTunes, LGBT, Podcast, podcasting, Radio, Radio Show, Spotify, stitcher, Weekly Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window A 14-year-old young lady wrote to Frank a question about reaching out to her bisexual friend.  How can she do that effectively?  This is a sensitive and emotional issue in our culture today, and many people are ready to pounce on you with several objections (and names) if you express the biblical view of sexuality.  Frank offers some advice and facts about the situation to help improve the chances that any outreach effort will yield light rather than heat. Frank also responds to questions about: The morality of marijuana use How much is America sliding toward judgment like ancient Israel? Atheist objections which assert that God is just a convenient answer to the beginning and fine-tuning of the universe Subscribe on iTunes:  rate and review! Thanks!!!…
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15Feb 2020 by Post

Is Hell Torment or Torture and Is there a Difference?

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Christianity, Hell, Jesus, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Al Serrato Making a case for Christianity can be challenging in this secular culture. And what can be more challenging than explaining –no, than defending – the existence of a place of eternal punishment? It’s easy to be placed on the defensive, with an aggressive challenger deriding how a good and loving God could be so vindictive or petty as to subject his children to eternal torture simply because they didn’t “believe” the right things. But Jesus himself repeatedly spoke of Hell, so however difficult a conversation, it is one we cannot evade. Indeed, in some passages, Jesus likened Hell to the perpetual fires burning in the garbage dump outside Jerusalem, in the place called Gehenna. The Book of Revelation leaves us with the jarring image of the lake…
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12Feb 2020 by Post

Richard Dawkins’ Warnings Of A Godless Society

Apologetics, Atheism, Christianity, Faithful Thinkers, God, Godless Society, Luke Nix, Richard Dawkins, State, theism, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Luke Nix Introduction It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that the notorious atheist Richard Dawkins may be changing his tune regarding the necessity of belief in God in human society (click or tap text to see the article). I do recall hearing winds of this change a couple of years ago when he seemed to make a distinction between the religions of Islam (threatening) and Christianity (benign). It seems that Dawkins recognizes that without the belief that people will be held responsible to a higher power, those people who are in power (the State) will push society further and further into harmful and devastating behaviors, but he recognizes the dangers of certain theistic religions. Dawkins seems concerned that without the (false on his view) belief that the Christian…
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10Feb 2020 by Post

The Death of Judas: A Hopeless Bible Contradiction?

4. Is the NT True?, Answering objections of skeptics, Apologetics, bible contradictions, Christianity, Death of Judas, Erik Manning, Is Jesus Alive, IsJesusAlive, New Testament, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Skeptics accuse Christians of not paying attention while they’re reading their Bible. If they didn’t rush through their daily devotional, they’d catch some obvious contradictions. One of the more famous of these contradictions is the two accounts of the death of Judas. Here’s Biblical scholar and critic Bart Ehrman: “The two reports give different accounts of how Judas died. However mysterious it may be to say he fell headlong and burst open, at least that is not “hanging” oneself. And they are flat out contradictory on two other points: who purchased the field (the priests, as per Matthew, or Judas, as per Acts?) and why the field was called the field of blood (because it was purchased with blood money, as Matthew says, or because Judas bled all over it,…
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Are Pro-Lifers Who Own Guns Hypocrites?

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, Christians, FreeThinking Ministries, Guns, Legislating Morality, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Nathan Apodaca, Pro lifers
Another assertion has become commonplace in discussions of abortion. Pro-lifers who own firearms, or support military actions abroad are misled at best, and at worst, hypocrites. The critic assumes that any inconsistently held pro-life beliefs are evidence pro-lifers aren’t actually motivated by a desire to protect human life, but rather a desire to control women’s liberty. This line of criticism lacks substance and misunderstands both the essential pro-life position as well as why people support gun rights or particular military actions. Suppose for a moment it’s true that the vast majority of pro-lifers are hypocritical in how they hold their views on protecting life across various issues. Would that supposition invalidate the pro-life position as a whole? The essential pro-life argument is as follows: It is wrong to intentionally kill…
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Cosmic Child Abuse? Answering Moral Objections to the Atonement

AFR, Alice Childers, Apologetics, app, cross examined, cross examined official podcast, CrossExamined, crossexamined podcast, Frank Turek, google play, iTunes, Podcast, podcasting, Radio, Radio Show, Spotify, stitcher, Weekly Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window For two thousand years, Christians have understood the death of Jesus to be substitutionary—a sacrifice that paid for our sins. From the earliest creeds to the teaching of the New Testament to the writings of the Church Fathers to today, this has been a core belief of Christianity throughout its history. But in modern times, this idea is being repudiated as “Cosmic Child Abuse.” On today’s show, we are going to address these questions: • What is the historic belief of the Christian church on atonement?• Why does God have wrath and how can that be a good thing?• Is penal substitutionary atonement a late invention of medieval Christians?• If God required the sacrifice of his Son, doesn’t that make him a Divine child abuser?•…
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01Feb 2020 by Post

Life is Like Football

Aaron Rodgers, AFR, Apologetics, app, cross examined, cross examined official podcast, CrossExamined, crossexamined podcast, Frank Turek, google play, iTunes, Podcast, podcasting, Radio, Radio Show, Spotify, stitcher, Super Bowl, Weekly Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window Is Christianity a crutch that just makes people feel better? Is Christianity too binary? Too exclusive? Does God want to condemn most of his beautiful creation to a fiery Hell? What if Christianity doesn’t work for you? Doesn’t resonate with you? Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has left Christianity because he believes it is too exclusive, too binary, and that the Christian God wants to condemn most people to a fiery Hell.  Join Frank on Super Bowl weekend as he responds to Aaron’s characterization of Christianity and goes on to point out that all of reality (including football) is binary and that truth is exclusive.  In fact, Frank points out that life is a lot like football in at least seven ways. Subscribe on…
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29Jan 2020 by Post

William Lane Craig Lectures on The Evidence for The Resurrection of Jesus

Apologetics, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, Historical Evidence, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Resurrection, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, william lane craig, Wintery Knight
By Wintery Knight Here is Dr. William Lane Craig giving a long-form argument for the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus and taking questions from the audience. The speaker’s introduction goes for 6 minutes, then Dr. Craig speaks for 35 minutes, then it’s a period of questions and answers with the audience. The total length is 93 minutes, so quite a long period of Q&A. The questions in the Q&A period are quite good. Introduction: Many people who are willing to accept God’s existence are not willing to accept the God of Christianity Christians need to be ready to show that Jesus rose from the dead as a historical event Private faith is fine for individuals, but when dealing with the public, you have to have evidence When making…
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25Jan 2020 by Post

Sacrifice and Redemption in the Skywalker Saga

Apologetics, Bible, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, FreeThinking Ministries, God, Jesus, Redemption, Sin, Star Wars, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Timothy Fox
By Timothy Fox With the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the “Skywalker Saga” is officially complete (for better or worse), and we can now examine all nine episodes as a completed whole. (Spoilers ahead!) While all of the Star Wars movies carry similar themes, such as hope, the importance of family, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil, I think there is one concept that rises above the rest: redemption. Quickly defined, redemption is the act of making up for one’s past wrongs. The greater the wrongs committed, the greater the necessary actions to atone for one’s past. Redemption usually (always?) involves some sort of sacrifice, and so sacrifice and redemption are closely linked. The two greatest examples of this in the Skywalker Saga involve Darth Vader and Kylo…
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