18Apr 2020 by Post

Don’t the Resurrection Narratives Contradict?

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Christianity, Erik Manning, Evidence, God, IsJesusAlive, Miracle, New Testament, objections, Resurrection, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Erik Manning The apostle Paul said that if Christ hasn’t risen, Christianity is a sham. (1 Corinthians 15:17) Many atheists agree and will happily point to the gospel accounts. Just how seriously should they take the claim of the resurrection? After all, aren’t the accounts riddled with contradictions? How can they possibly be trusted? Historians don’t normally conclude that just because individual accounts have apparent contradictions that the event in question didn’t occur. But let’s allow that to pass for now. I think the majority of the discrepancies that critics bring up can be easily resolved. Here’s a list of four of the most popular contradictions in the resurrection account that skeptics like to point to. #1. HOW MANY WOMEN WERE AT THE TOMB OF JESUS? How many women…
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15Apr 2020 by Post

What Is Salvation All About?

Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Glorification, Gospel, Jason Jimenez, Justification, salvation, Sanctification, soteriology, Stand Strong, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Jason Jimenez Ever wish you had a backup plan? Well, God did. Of course, that doesn’t imply God made a mistake. God is perfect, and everything He created was perfect (Gen. 1-2). He perfectly and freely made Adam and Eve perfect in His image. And yet, Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God’s commands and eat from the forbidden tree (Gen. 3). But God knew Adam and Eve would sin, and so, in His infinite love and mercy, He set the plan of salvation in motion to redeem His people from their sin (Jon. 2:9; Jn. 1:13; Rom. 9:16; Eph. 1:5). But God didn’t need to do this. He is perfectly just to condemn sinners in their disobedience. Yet, instead, God predetermined to send Jesus to become the ultimate…
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13Apr 2020 by Post

It’s Logically Impossible To Avoid Logic

Alex McElroy, Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, faith, logic, Relentless Pursuit of Purpose, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Alex McElroy The only foundation upon which one should build their life is the truth. The truth should be sound, logical, and justifiable. Most, if not all, people would agree with that sentiment. However, the factors that one uses to determine what is true and what role truth ultimately plays in one’s life are where worldviews tend to diverge. Therefore, it is necessary for each individual to build or understand the epistemic structures that are reliable guides on how to determine what is true about the world around them. Scottish poet and Christian minister George MacDonald said, “to give truth to him who loves it not is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation.” Therefore, the first question to be asked and answered is, are you open…
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08Apr 2020 by Post

Is the Historical Jesus Fact or Fiction?

Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Evidence, Fact, Fiction, Free Thinking Ministries, Gospel, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Tim Stratton
By Tim Stratton As a pastor who spends a lot of time on the college campus, I hear the following challenges quite often from young skeptics: “There is no good evidence to think that Jesus ever existed,” or “Christianity has pagan roots!” One might put these common challenges as two questions: (1) Did Jesus of Nazareth really exist? (2) Are the gospel records of this man merely fictional mythology? In this essay, I want to explore several lines of evidence that will show that the answer to the first question is a clear “Yes!” and to the second “No!”       i. Did Jesus of Nazareth really exist? Though there are many “street atheists,” or “internet infidels” who espouse their unqualified views and who in the process influence many…
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04Apr 2020 by Post

Infinite Punishment for Finite Crimes?

Al Serrato, Apologetics, Bible, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, Finite Crimes, Gospel, Hell, Punishment, Sin, Sinner, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Al Serrato Trying to explain how a good God created Hell can be a daunting task for the Christian apologist. In my last post, I considered the challenge that God could not be “good” if he created a place of “torture.” I tried to make the case that there is a difference between torture – which implies intentional infliction of punishment for the pleasure of doing so – and torment, which is the necessary byproduct of God’s legitimate act of separating Himself from those who have rejected Him, who died while still in rebellion against Him. A related challenge often encountered when discussing the doctrine of Hell is the seeming unfairness in endless punishment for what appears to be brief – in some cases, extremely brief – temporal actions.…
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01Apr 2020 by Post

Can A Person Be A Committed Christian While Ignoring Apologetics?

Apologetics, apologist, Bible, Christians, Christians and apologetics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Wintery Knight
By Wintery Knight I would like to describe a situation that arises frequently that concerns me. The situation I describe below brings out a flaw I see in the way that rank-and-file Christians respond to criticisms of Christianity in the public square. Here is the situation Eve is busy programming away at her desk, rushing to check in her unit tests so she can spend her lunch hour reading the latest Stephenie Meyer novel, or check on the schedule for her local sports team, “the Vicariouses” (she has tickets for Thursday). Suddenly Eve hears Alice talking to Bob on the other side of her cubicle. She stops typing to listen to the following unencrypted conversation. Alice: I was watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel last night that said that…
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30Mar 2020 by Post

Are You Good Without God?

ApologeticsGuy, Atheism, atheist, Bible, Christian Apologetics, evil, God, Good, Good person, Good without God, Mikel del Rosario, Stealing from God, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
By Mikel Del Rosario While I was driving from Sacramento to the Bay Area, I saw a huge billboard that read, “Are you good without God? Millions Are.” I also noticed a theistic tagger added the words, “Also Lost?” at the end of the message. At first, I wondered if the original question could mean something like, “Do you feel comfortable without a belief in God? Millions feel the same way.” Kind of like if you offer someone a drink, and they say, “No, thanks. I’m good.” But I don’t think that’s what the message is all about. Can’t People be Good Without God? So, then it got me thinking, “Can’t people be good without God?” I mean, couldn’t an atheist do some really good things without God? I guess…
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28Mar 2020 by Post

Why Studying Evolution Will Likely Challenge Your Kids’ Faith

Apologetics for Parents, Bible, Christian Apologetics, Christianity, ChristianMomThoughts, Doubts, Evidence, Evolution, God, Kids, Natasha Crain, theology, truth
By Natasha Crain I saw the following post in a Christian Facebook group: My daughter is starting her second semester of college tomorrow. She got ahold of her syllabus and found the following quote from the professor. “Except to one whose reason is blinded by unquestioning adherence to fundamentalist doctrine of creation, the evidence of the fossil record, with that of anatomy, embryology, biochemistry and genetics, compels a single conclusion: evolution is a fact.” Any suggestions on how she should approach this? If this is his daughter’s first time hearing about evolution (or at least secular views of it), it’s going to be a tough semester. Any suggestions on how she should “approach this” are at least a couple of years late. I hear or see questions like this all…
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13Mar 2020 by Post

Messianic Convergence in the Gospels: A New Way to Frame the Argument from Old Testament Fulfilment

Apologetics, Christianity, fulfilled prophecy, gospels, Is Jesus God?, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jonathan McLatchie, messianic prophecy, New Testament, Old Testament, Prophecy, prophecy in the New Testament, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Anyone who has spent considerable time studying the gospels can tell that they are literally saturated with Old Testament fulfilment and allusions. Indeed, the early church used two primary lines of argument to establish the Messianic credentials of Jesus of Nazareth — the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and Messianic prophecy. How useful is fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy in the person of Jesus to the purposes of contemporary, twenty-first-century apologists? In this article, I explore a way to frame the argument in a robust and objective way. First, I will summarise my argument, and then I will dig into the details. A Summary of the Basic Argument When it comes to the origins of the gospel narratives, there are three contending hypotheses for explaining their origin. These are:…
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11Mar 2020 by Post

20 Myths About Old Earth Creationism

Answer In Genesis, Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Christians, Creation, Genesis, God, Jeff Zweerink, Ken Ham, old earth, Old Earth Creationists, Philosophy of Science, reasons to believe, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Young Earth Creationists
By Luke Nix Introduction Last month I was alerted to a debate on Justin Brierley’s podcast “Unbelievable.” This debate was a discussion between a young-earth creationist (Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis) and an old-earth creationist (Jeff Zweerink of Reasons to Believe). This, of course, caught my attention because of my focus on science/faith issues. I decided to take a listen but found myself quite frustrated within just minutes of Justin giving his introductions. Here is a link to the episode for those who would like to hear it for themselves: Do we live on a young or old earth? Ken Ham vs. Jeff Zweerink Throughout the discussion, Ken Ham presented many strawmen and misrepresentations of Zweerink’s old-earth creationist view in order to argue against the view. I recognized many of these myths…
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