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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The Real Issue and the Christian Philosopher

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Christianity, Diego Fallas, Gospel, metaphysics, philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, Thomism, william lane craig
Human beings are rational animals, according to Aristotle. As animals, human beings are sensible beings who have sensations and movements (in contrast to plants, which are living beings without true sensation and self-initiated movement). But human beings are not just any kind of animal. We have a special quality that separates us from animals, plants and the rest of the material world, which is that we have a rational soul. Furthermore, leaving Aristotle aside (as we shall see later), this doesn’t mean that human beings are the summit of all that exists. God, who is infinite and intellect in its fullest form can alone claim his proper place at the top of the summit (although, technically speaking, He is the foundation) of all that exists. Still, since human beings are…
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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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Archaeology and Jesus’ Tomb

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, ApologeticsGuy.com, Archaeology, Christianity, Empty Tomb, Gospel, historical apologetics, Matt Spinelli, Mikel del Rosario, Resurrection
Every Easter, we Christians gather to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. During the Easter Season, however, there are times when we tend to hear more skeptical portrayals of the resurrection story. For example, In How Jesus became God, Bart Ehrman argues that the empty tomb was just a created story by the first Christians to support their belief that Jesus had been physically raised. Is this probable? In this post, I share how six different pieces of information about the tomb of Jesus in the Gospel of John match up with archaeological investigations of tombs around Jerusalem. Because of this, it’s unlikely that John is completely making up what he says about the tomb of Jesus. Jesus’ tomb is located outside the city of Jerusalem In the Gospel…
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10 Historical Facts About Jesus From Non-Christian Sources

3rd Day, 4. Is the NT True?, Alisa Childers, AlisaChildersblog, Apologetics, Christianity, Easter, Gospel, historical apologetics, Jesus, New Testament, Resurrection
If you have ever been involved in religious discussion on Facebook or Twitter, you have probably come across some version of the comment below: I just think it’s interesting that the only book that even talks about Jesus is the Bible! I’m not even sure we can prove he actually existed. Although this assertion is largely rejected by scholars in all spheres of historical and biblical studies, it tends to pop back up on social media like a never-ending game of digital whack-a-mole. The truth is that Jesus is not only documented in the eye-witness testimony compiled in the New Testament, but He is mentioned as a historical person by several non-Christian sources within 150 years of His life. From those sources, we can learn 10 things about Jesus without…
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Guards at the Tomb: Historical Inquiry and Resurrection Apologetics

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Christianity, Gospel, history, IsChristianityTrue.Wordpress.com, NT Apologetics, Resurrection, Roman Guards, Steve Lee
Scripture reports that there were guards at the tomb of Jesus (Matt. 27:62-66). This historical claim has been either much discussed by some apologists, but largely dismissed or ignored by others despite its potential significance in resurrection narrative. Dismissing the Guard Evidence For example, here is William Lane Craig answering a question about the guards at the tomb:   Craig doesn’t think much of this “guard” claim. Defending the Guard Evidence On the other hand, Dr. Timothy McGrew, professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University, has a thorough response to the challenge of Matthew’s veracity concerning the resurrection as it pertains to the guards narrative in Matthew 27:62-66. It is well worth the read as Dr. McGrew picks apart the claims of resurrection-critic V.J. Torley. He aims his critique here at the historicity of the…
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Why It Is Appropriate For God to Judge Us On Our Beliefs

Al Serrato, Belief, Gospel, Hell, Judgment, Justice, salvation, Theology and Christian Apologetics
For many atheists, no amount of argument will ever convince them that a loving God could consign any of his creation to Hell. I have often encountered this challenge, which usually sounds something like this: “It does not matter how just, kind, and generous they have been with their fellow humans during their lifetime. If they do not accept the gospel of Jesus, they are condemned. No just God would ever judge a man for believing the wrong thing. He would judge them instead by their actions.” It is difficult, if not impossible, to provide an answer to this challenge that is emotionally satisfying. After all, even for believers, the doctrine of Hell is difficult to accept, as it runs up against our innate inclinations. How easy it is for…
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Defense of the Immaterial Soul

Apologetics, bellatorchristi.com, Brian Chilton, Christianity, Gospel, materialism, personhood, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of mind, soul, spirit, theological anthropology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
The human body is a marvelous and complex system. Of special interest is the cellular mechanism of the body. Every 7-10 years, the cells of the body replace themselves, to the point that the body is essentially new every decade.[i] While the DNA remains the same over the course of a person’s life, the cells change at varying rates. A person’s stomach lining replaces itself every few days. The skin’s epidermis replaces itself every 2 to 4 weeks. The body’s hair changes every 6 years for women and 3 years for men. Liver cells rejuvenate every 150 to 500 days. Bones take around 10 years to change. Philosophically speaking, the materialist has a problem if he decides to claim that the body is all of human existence. If humans are…
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Is Guidance Control COMPATIBLE with Divine Determinism?

Apologetics, Christianity, compatibilism, determinism, Gospel, guidance control, john martin fischer, Libertarian Freedom, reasons responsiveness, regulative control, Theology and Christian Apologetics
STRATTON: Dear ChatGPT, Guidance control is a concept from philosophy, particularly in discussions of free will and moral responsibility. It refers to the capacity of an agent to guide their behavior in a way that reflects their reasons, values, and intentions. In the context of free will, guidance control is often contrasted with what is referred to as regulative control. Allow me to explain: Guidance control asserts the ability to guide one’s actions in accordance with one’s rational deliberation and decision-making process. It does not necessarily require alternative possibilities (understood as the ability to do otherwise). Regulative control, on the other hand, includes both the ability to guide actions and the ability to choose among alternative options (i.e., free will in the sense of having genuine alternatives and the ability…
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