In Defense of the Christian Faith

Welcome to part nine of the Resurrection series. Please see all preceding parts before continuing. Today, we will be talking about the importance of the Resurrection in conjunction with God's existence. Another issue that must be answered by the skeptics is Jesus’ claims about Himself. Jesus claimed to be “Son of Man” first. Was this really true of Jesus or was the title invented, as many skeptics would have us believe? In order to answer this question, we must first consider that the term is referred to in the New Testament only three times outside of the Gospels, and Christians writings within 120 years after Jesus only mention it three times. This debunks the claim that the church made up the title as “Jesus’ favorite self-description” (page 241) – the church did not refer to Jesus in this way! Secondly, all of the four Gospels use this title in reference to Jesus. Thirdly, this title actually places more emphasis on Jesus’ humanity; this in itself seems to disprove the ...

Welcome to part seven of the Resurrection series, based on the book, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus . Today, we will be talking about science as a means to explain away the supernatural. Please see all preceding parts before continuing. Since the “supernatural” of the alien theory does not work, another favorite approach of many skeptics is to use naturalism to explain the Resurrection. Appealing to science is a common tactic: “Only what science proves is true,” they say, in an effort to remain true to naturalism. But science has its limits; it relates to what is observable and testable. It cannot measure love, for instance, but this does not mean that love does not exist. Regardless, this is not an excuse to deny the Resurrection. It is important to also consider that when a scientist is placed in a room with all the latest technology, he cannot prove that “only what science proves is true.” Thus this tactic fails its own test; it is self-refuting. Additionall...

Welcome to part six of the resurrection series based on the book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Please see all preceding parts before reading this post. Today, we will continue to talk about a few more objections to the Resurrection that are often brought up by the skeptics. The next method of the critic, then, is to claim that there are discrepancies in the Resurrection accounts, thereby calling into question the Bible’s inerrancy. But this approach does not call into question the Gospel writers’ “general trustworthiness when recording historical events” (page 122). Additionally, when a historian looks at an event, he does not immediately conclude that because there are discrepancies in the testimonies that the event did not occur. No one rejects other works of antiquity where discrepancies are present; instead, the data is examined more closely. In fact, the differences in the Gospels only points to more than one witness, giving the historian further proof of it...

Harold Camping is best known for his statement that the world would end May 21, 2011 . When that didn't happen, Camping maintained that it would happen October 21, instead... which, if you haven't noticed, is tomorrow! Camping is still maintaining this position; according to a  recent message he gave  to his followers, he stated in part: If he had not kept us from knowing everything that we didn't know, we would not have been able to be used of Him to bring about the tremendous event that occurred on May 21 of this year [ DCFblog note : Camping believes that on May 21st a "spiritual" rapture did indeed take place], and which probably will be finished out on October 21, that's coming very shortly. That looks like it will be at this point, it looks like it will be the final end of everything. Whereas the true believers will quietly receive the new heaven and the new earth. I really am beginning to think as I restudied these matters that there's going to be...

Saw this over at the Stand To Reason blog and just had to share it. In this video, Brett Kunkle talks about the laws of the Old Testament versus those of the New Testament and explains that the teachings of the Old Testament are not at all inconsistent with Christian beliefs today as some would have us believe. This was a video response to the  Backyard Skeptics  who tore some pages out of a Bible in an effort to demonstrate that "when given a immoral biblical law, nearly all Christians agree with atheists that the law should not be used in today's society." If you like what you see in this video, be sure to stop by the STR blog for a weekly Challenge and Brett's Challenge Response. Enjoy!

The following was written (by me) in response to some comments made on another blog a while back. I stumbled across this last night and thought it provided some good insight into why theistic evolution doesn't hold it's own weight . The quote at the beginning was written by a Christian who was rebuttling this TE. ---------- I know you may say your natural reading of the text isn't necessarily my natural meaning of the text etc. but words have specific, objective meanings, and in the context of the Bible most of these words, chapters and books can be understood straightforwardly in their immediate context and in the context of the rest of the Bible. While it is true that people interpret the Bible in different ways, we are called to "rightly divide the Word of truth." We are also told to "test all things." God made it perfectly clear what He was talking about; that's why the same things are stated in the Bible in so many different ways, and when w...

I was first introduced to The Truth Project's new series "True U" when I saw "The Toughest Test in College" documentary -- the first in the series. Needless to say, I was very impressed. This second installment --   Is The Bible Reliable?   -- was no less disappointing. In classroom setting, Dr. Stephen Meyer confidently teaches students why we can trust that our Bible is reliable.   The synopsis of  Is The Bible Reliable?  is as follows: Who is God, and how can we know Him? The Bible claims to be the direct revelation of our Creator. So if the biblical record is true, it is a primary means by which the God of the universe has revealed Himself to mankind. However, if it can be proved false, then the God of whom it speaks is simply one more pretender in the assembly of gods that man has created.  In  Is The Bible Reliable?  Dr. Stephen Meyer challenges you to examine the historical and archaeological evidence to determine for yourself the ver...

The fourth of July is here again, and while we get an extended weekend and enjoy family time, it can be easy to forget just WHY we celebrate this day every year. So I just wanted to share a few quotes that summarize just what the big deal is about the fourth of July -- Independence Day: “It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” ~ Patrick Henry, May 1765 Speech to the House of Burgesses “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is ...

If you've been into apologetics for any length of time, you've probably heard the skeptics compare believing in God to believing in unicorns, right? Well, it may surprise you that unicorns actually DO exist -- but they are not like the mythical horse character with a horn on the top of his head that no one has ever seen before. It's much simpler than that; unicorns are actually mentioned in the Bible nine times, and from this, we can deduce what the unicorn actually was/is! Watch this very interesting video entitled "Of Course There Are Unicorns: Part 1" to learn more:

Dear Mr. Camping, I am disheartened to hear that you have again predicted the end of the world – this time on October 21, 2011. I have read numerous articles on your predictions that May 21 st was initially the end of the world; and more importantly, I have read the Bible on the topic, Mr. Camping. I would like to bring to your attention several things which it appears that you missed when researching this in your Bible. First and foremost, in an interview that you did just ten days before May 21st , you stated that the Bible is “very factual.” You also stated elsewhere that you had developed some mathematical equations using the Bible – the book of Genesis particularly –from which you arrived at your conclusions. But stating that the Bible is simply “very factual” would seem to downplay that it is inerrant, being “God-breathed” – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the m...

With only a few minutes until the 6 PM deadline when Christ returns, according to Harold Camping, I wanted to share a few thoughts on this topic. Firstly, I wonder if Camping may be of Jehovah's Witness background. The Watchtower has been predicting the end of the world for years now and each time they are wrong. Camping even made an identical prediction in 1994 . This would seem to indicate that he is a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 18:22 which states: when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. ~ Deuteronomy 18:22 What gets me is how Camping could think he can accurately predict the end of the world to the exact time when Jesus clearly said, "“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Mark 13:32). I find it sad that so many ...

I just saw this short video, and since Good Friday is fast approaching, I wanted to share it with you all. The description is as follows: Dr Peter Williams and Dr David Instone-Brewer look at the Munich Talmud, which contains traditional Jewish teaching, and discover how even the deleted text provides evidence for Jesus' crucifixion! "Ye know that after two days is [the feast of] the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified." ~ Jesus (Matthew 26:2)

In recent weeks, it seems that attacks upon some of Christianity's core beliefs have been escalating in several major areas, so I wanted to share my thoughts on these in today's post -- from a purely Christian perspective. 1) A few months before Christmas last year, the American Atheists erected a billboard claiming that true message of Christmas was all just a myth. Now, an ad stating, "You Can Live Moral, Meaningful Lives without God" has been posted at Farragut West Metro station in Washington, D.C. Craig Hazen made some good points for a moral lawgiver in the article. For my thoughts on this, see a guest post that apologetics speaker and trainer Mikel Del Rosario wrote for the DCF blog. (Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments under that post!) 2) It seems that the issue of homosexuality has taken a turn for the worst recently, with many Christians "coming out of the closet" and claiming to be both Christian...

I recently had the chance to review Accessible Apologetics , a curriculum by apologetics speaker and trainer Mikel Del Rosario . Accessible Apologetics is a compilation of Mikel’s teaching notes (based on other apologist’s works and ten years of teaching and training) put into 5 easy-to-understand lessons on defending Christianity. “This class in defending the faith is all about increasing your confidence as a Christian by exploring the reasons and evidences for the faith, and preparing yourself to be a more effective ambassador of Jesus Christ.” Each lesson includes a Power Point presentation, Leaders’ Notes and suggested correspondence follow-ups (before and after class), Student Notes with room for student answers, interactive activities to aid in learning the material, and Student absentee handouts. All of the above make for a very enjoyable 5 to 10 week learning experience in Christian apologetics with your group or church. Lesson 1 - “What is Christian apologetics?” and “Wh...

I read this story yesterday at the Baptist Press and I just had to share it for today's Inspiring Story. The names have been changed (by the authors) for privacy and protection. Enjoy! --------  No one notices the young Chinese woman silently crying in the back pew. It's the only place she finds solace from her deep depression and fear of death. She's not even sure why she sits in this church every afternoon; her communist education and Buddhist religion teach against a belief in God. Yet something keeps drawing Lily Wang here. She pulls a Bible from the pew. It's not in her native Mandarin, but she flips it open anyway. She learned to read a little Thai after moving to Thailand a few years ago to teach school, but she hasn't learned enough to really understand this. So many questions cloud her mind that she finally musters enough courage to speak to a man carrying the same book. He brushes past the petite woman and goes about his business. The rejection ...