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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27May 2024 by Post

Recommended Books on Historical Apologetics for The Gospels & Acts

4. Is the NT True?, Acts, Apologetics, Bible, Erik Manning, Gospel, historical apologetics, history, New Testament, Testify, The Gospels
I am often asked which books I recommend for defending the reliability of the Gospels/Acts and Christianity in general, so here is my list. It is not exhaustive, but it will definitely give you a good start. The categorized as “mandatory” are more basic, while some of those labeled as “recommended” or “supplementary” delve into more profound and scholarly content. Any item marked with a * can be accessed for free online as PDF files. A significant number of these works are downloadable from http://historicalapologetics.org, http://books.google.com, or http://archive.org.   Mandatory Reading: Recommended Reading: Author Book Title Bauckham, Richard Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2nd edition Blomberg, Craig The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel Blomberg, Craig The Historical Reliability of the New Testament Boyd, Greg & Eddy, Paul Rhodes The Jesus Legend:…
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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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21Aug 2023 by Post

Dangerous Homefront, part 2: NT Prooftexts we Know and Love

1. Does Truth Exist?, 4. Is the NT True?, Bible, Bible study, biblical apologetics, hermeneutics, how to interpret the Bible, Interpretation, John Ferrer, New Testament, prooftext, theology
In part 1 of this series, we looked at a few Old Testament passages that people often misinterpret. In part 2 we shift to the New Testament. It’s worth noting that sometimes the error is just an innocent mistake. It’s not always from bad intentions, or false teachers, or heretical theology. Sometimes there are malicious forces at work here, but often it’s just well-meaning people getting confused about what the Bible says. The list of verses below is just a sample of commonly misinterpreted texts. There are many more too choose from, but I’m willing to bet that if you are a church-goer you’ve heard at least one of these misinterpretations before. Matthew 7:1 Judge not, lest ye be judged. This is perhaps the most quoted verse of Scripture surpassing…
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15Jun 2022 by Post

STEPS AND RESOURCES FOR SOUND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, J. Brian Huffling, New Testament, Textual Criticism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Uncategorized
By Brian Huffling Many people don’t know how to study the Bible, or even where to begin. The Bible is a long collection of books that contains much about ancient history, difficult concepts, and is very intimidating for people who want to read it but don’t know where to start. This article will describe some of the principles of interpreting the Bible (hermeneutics) that are taught in basic Bible college and seminary classes (but are easy enough for anyone to understand). This is not a 12-step method to anything, it is simply a sound method to examine the biblical text. Well, it is a 3-step method: observation, interpretation, and application. OBSERVATION When we read a passage, we typically want to ask, “What does it mean?” But there is a more basic…
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16May 2022 by Post

How We Got Our Bible: Manuscript Tradition

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible, Inerrancy, New Testament, Ryan Leasure, Textual Criticism, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Ryan Leasure  This article is part 6 in a nine-part series on how we got our Bible. Part 1 dealt with inspiration and inerrancy. Part 2  looked at Old Testament development. Part 3 investigate the Old Testament canon and the Apocrypha. Part 4 considered attributes of the New Testament Canon. And Part 5 inquired into the early church’s reception of the New Testament Canon. This post will consider the manuscript tradition and preservation of the New Testament text. No Original Autographs Sadly, none of the original autographs remain. Most likely, they wore out after constant usage and copying. Now, all that we possess are copies of copies of copies—a lot of them actually. Yet these copies differ in lots of different places. But do these differences render our Bible unreliable? Bart Ehrman…
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15Apr 2022 by Post

Why Good Friday is the Best News Ever

Bible, Crucifixion, Culture CrossExamined, Frank Turek, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Resurrection, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Frank Turek Despite intense personal and political division, we all agree on one thing: something is terribly wrong with this world.  Pain, suffering, injustice, and death affect us all at some point because we live in a broken world.  And we live in a broken world because we are all personally broken. Who hasn’t committed any moral wrongs? (If you claim you haven’t, you just committed a moral wrong—lying!)  The truth is we are all fallen.  While we hate the evil done by others, we rarely notice the evil we do. We may call our political opponents hypocrites, but we don’t even live up to our own standards much less God’s.  None of us are perfect.  We are all guilty of something. It’s only when we admit our guilt…
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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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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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