13Mar 2024 by Post

Timothy’s Tale: Unveiling Undesigned Coincidences In Paul’s Journeys

1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 4. Is the NT True?, Acts, Apologetics, biblical apologetics, Christianity, Erik Manning, Inerrancy, IsJesusAlive, New Testament, Paul's Missionary Journeys, theology, Timothy, Undesigned Coincidences
Because Paul crisscrossed paths with many folks, some repeatedly, it’s quite enlightening to compare how these people are portrayed in the book of Acts with what Paul hints at in his own letters. Among these characters, Timothy stands out as a particularly intriguing figure. In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul mentions sending Timothy, his “beloved and faithful child in the Lord,” to jog the Corinthians’ memory about Paul’s ways in Christ. Now, from this passage alone, it’s a bit tricky to figure out if Timothy was sent before the letter or with it. In 1 Corinthians 16:10-11, though, Paul makes it clear that Timothy was dispatched before the letter was penned. He talks about Timothy’s impending arrival as something distinct from when the Corinthians would receive the letter itself – “When Timothy comes, …” Contradictory Accounts?…
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09Jan 2023 by Post

Appearances Of Mary Vs. Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances

Apologetics, Appearances of Mary, Christianity, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, Jesus’ Resurrection Appearances, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning On the evening of April 2, 1968, a Muslim bus mechanic was working across the street from St. Mary’s Coptic Church in Zeitoun, a district of Cairo, Egypt. Suddenly, something on the roof of St. Mary’s got his attention: a figure that looked like a young woman. The mechanic pointed it out to a few people nearby who saw the same thing. Concerned that the young lady was about to commit suicide, they called the police. A crowd gathered around the church to watch. Then, after just a few minutes, the woman suddenly vanished. As you can imagine, this got people talking. At first the police tried to explain things away, saying it was just some light reflecting in a strange way from a street light – but…
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24Oct 2022 by Post

Got Doubts? Stop Doing This!

Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Doubts, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning From working in public apologetics ministry for a few years now, one common mistake I see from Christians struggling with their faith is that they try and prematurely flex their apologetic muscles by spending tons of time listening to atheist YouTubers, podcasts or reading blogs but they don’t get the bulk of the Christian evidences strong under their belt first. When they come across a few things that stump them, they get troubled, anxious, or even set aside their faith altogether. This is falling prey to what the great English logician Richard Whately called “the fallacy of objections.”   Whately defined the fallacy of objections[i] as “showing that there are objections against some plan, theory, or system, and thence inferring that it should be rejected; when that which ought…
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17Jun 2022 by Post

Derribando una de las contradicciones bíblicas favoritas de Bart Ehrman

Apologética, Bart Ehrman, Biblia, Cristianismo, Erik Manning, Español, Evangelio, IsJesusAlive
Por Erik Manning Los escépticos dicen que los evangelios están plagados de contradicciones y que, por tanto, no son fuentes históricas fiables. Y estos mismos escépticos dicen que algunas de estas contradicciones son francamente absurdas. Por ejemplo, el erudito agnóstico del NT Bart Ehrman señala una de sus contradicciones bíblicas favoritas en su exitoso libro, Jesus, Interrupted (Jesús, interrumpido). Una de mis aparentes discrepancias favoritas -he leído a Juan durante años sin darme cuenta de lo extraña que es esta- aparece en el “Discurso de despedida” de Jesús, el último discurso que Jesús dirige a sus discípulos, en su última comida con ellos, que ocupa todos los capítulos 13 a 17 del Evangelio según Juan. En Juan 13:36, Pedro le dice a Jesús: “Señor, ¿a dónde vas?”. Unos versos después,…
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11Apr 2022 by Post

D.O.U.B.T.S.: An Evidential Filter For Miracle Claims

4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, Jesus Christ, miracles, New Testament, reliability, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning When it comes to miracles, Christians are often accused of special pleading. We’re quick to accept Christian miracle claims, but we suddenly turn into Richard Dawkins when it comes to miracle claims made by other religions. Why should skeptics start investigating the resurrection of Jesus when we don’t give other miracles the time of day? The truth is that there are dozens of different religions and thousands of miraculous claims out there. So how can the Christian hope to use miracles as an argument for their faith? But the fact that there are miracle claims in other religions doesn’t require us to dismiss all miracle claims out of hand. Nor is it necessary for us to be haplessly credulous about all historical miracle claims. There’s a middle way.…
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03Jan 2022 by Post

Artless Similarities: More Evidence for Gospel Reliability

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Artless Similarities, Christianity, Erik Manning, Evidence for the Gospels, IsJesusAlive, theology
By Erik Manning While reading the gospels, you’ll notice similarities between the characters portrayed across the different stories. Parallels between the gospels concerning character depictions are unlikely to be the result of mere chance. And these correspondences seem so casual and subtle that it’s unlikely they were designed that way. Philosopher Tim McGrew calls these ‘artless similarities.’ In an earlier video, we saw this kind of unity of character with Jesus between John and the Synoptics. But let me give another example with two somewhat lesser-known characters in the gospels — Mary and Martha. We find their stories in both Luke and John. For this evidence, I’m drawing from Peter J. Williams’ excellent book Can We Trust the Gospels? [embedded content] Mary And Martha in Luke As we read Luke 10 and John…
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22Aug 2020 by Post

Was Jesus a Jerk? A Response to the Friendly Atheist

Apologetics, Christianity, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, Jesus, New Testament, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning A few weeks ago, CNN Tonight host Don Lemon said: “But here’s the thing, Jesus Christ, if that’s who you believe in Jesus Christ, admittedly was not perfect when he was here on the Earth. So why are we deifying the Founders?” As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir over social media and on the blogs, since the Bible clearly teaches Christ’s sinless perfection. While a few right-wing Christian leaders went a little overboard in their denouncements of Lemon,  “The Friendly Atheist” took it as an opportunity to take some jabs at Jesus.  Hemant Mehta, the author of the blog, writes:  “Let’s talk about what Jesus did. * Jesus once got so angry he flipped over tables and benches. * Jesus cursed a fig tree…
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12Aug 2020 by Post

Busting One Of Bart Ehrman’s Favorite Bible Contradictions

Apologetics, Bart Ehrman, bible contradictions, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, New Testament, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning Skeptics say that the gospels are riddled with contradictions and therefore are not reliable historical sources. And these same skeptics say that some of these contradictions are downright absurd. For example, agnostic NT scholar Bart Ehrman points out one of his favorite Bible contradictions in his book best-selling book, Jesus, Interrupted. One of my favorite apparent discrepancies—I read John for years without realizing how strange this one is—comes in Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse,” the last address that Jesus delivers to his disciples, at his last meal with them, which takes up all of chapters 13 to 17 in the Gospel according to John. In John 13:36, Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” A few verses later Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going” (John…
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20Jul 2020 by Post

We Know Moral Truths Better Than We Know Many Scientific Claims

Apologetics, Erik Manning, IsJesusAlive, moral, Moral Truths, Philosophy of Science, Scientific, Scientific Claims, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Truths
By Erik Manning I recently came across this article “10 Things You Should Know About Scientism” by Christian philosopher JP Moreland, and he dropped a truth-bomb that is too good to not share. But let me give you a trigger-warning. This is sure to rankle a lot of atheists who seem to unquestionably accept the philosophy of scientism. Contrary to scientism, there are things we know with greater certainty in theology or ethics than certain claims in science. Consider these two claims: 1. Electrons exist. 2. It is wrong to torture babies for the fun of it. Which do we know with greater certainty? The second claim is the correct answer. Why? The history of the electron has gone through various changes in what an electron is supposed to be. No one…
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06Jun 2020 by Post

Does Paul’s Silence About Jesus Prove That He Didn’t Exist?

Apologetics, Christianity, Erik Manning, Evidence, God, IsJesusAlive, Jesus, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Paul, Paul's Testimony, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning Over 99% of historical scholarship acknowledges that Jesus was a real person. It doesn’t matter if that scholar is liberal or conservative, or Christian, atheist, agnostic or Jewish. The <1% of historians that believe Jesus is a myth are mostly atheists or agnostics. And it’s only the ‘internet infidel’ crowd that takes their arguments seriously. One of the arguments that Jesus mythicists will often push is that Paul was mostly silent about the historical Jesus. Here’s GA Wells, one of the minority voices, who writes: “Paul’s letters have no allusion to the parents of Jesus, let alone to the virgin birth. They never refer to a place of birth…. They give no indication of the time or place of his earthly existence. They do not refer to…
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