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 ...

In my last post , I mentioned that Dr. William Lane Craig's talk which took place yesterday at Imperial College, London would be streaming live. For those of you who missed the live event, below is a video of the entire talk "Evidence For the Existence of God" as given by Dr. Craig. Enjoy! Additionally, bethinking.org has details on all Reasonable Faith tour London debates that Dr. Craig is participating in should you be interested in attending. Go to this page for more information.

My introduction to the book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist  by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek began when I was making a wish list of apologetics books one day. The title was very intriguing to me, especially since I have had many an encounter with atheists, and the material presented within the pages did not let me down in the least! Norman Geisler describes the book as follows: “… the fact that we are Christians is not the issue; why we are Christians is the important point. And that’s the focus of this book.” The book, which makes for a great reference tool, covers such topics as absolute truth, SURGE as proof for creation by God, naturalism, evolution, miracles, early eyewitness testimony about Jesus, Mother Theresa vs. Hitler, Top ten reasons we know the New Testament writers told the truth, the Resurrection of Jesus, Was Jesus God or just a moral teacher?, and Jesus’ teachings about the Bible. Also included are three appendixes in which you will discover the ...

Recently,  an article came out stating that Richard Dawkins is a coward for refusing to debate Dr. William Lane Craig. According to the article, Dawkins received four requests from Dr. Craig via " The British Humanist Association, The Cambridge Debating Union, the Oxford Christian Union and Premier Radio," but he refused them all stating " that Prof Craig is not a figure worthy of his attention and has reportedly said that such a contest would 'look good' on his opponent’s CV but not on his own." One of Dawkin's colleagues is taking issue with this saying that  “The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part. “I notice that, by contrast, you are happy to discuss theological matters with television and radio presenters and other intellectual heavyweights like Pastor Ted Haggard of the National Association of Evangelicals and Pasto...

This week, I have a lot of information for those of you who are thinking about attending an apologetics conference. Here are this week's apologetics finds : 1) The 2011 Online Apologetics Conference is happening April 7-9 ! The theme this year is, "Defending Christianity and God’s Plan for Marriage, Family, and Life through Creative Arts such as Film and Literature." The keynote Speaker will be Dr. Gene Edward Veith Jr. Other Confirmed Speakers include  Mikel Del Rosario , Dr. Holly Ordway , and  Brian Auten  among others. If you are planning on attending, be sure to register soon, because early registrants pay half-price! 2) A debate will be taking place in North Carolina between Christian philosopher and theologian Dr. William Lane Craig and eminent atheist physicist Dr. Lawrence Krauss on the topic: Is There Evidence for God? The debate, which begins 6 pm, March 30th (end time, 9pm), can be viewed live via Internet webcast here .  (Anyt...

Welcome to another addition of Inspiring Story, where the goal is to provide you with a testimony that will encourage you, build up your faith, and demonstrate the power of God. He does exist, and He makes it perfectly clear, many times in our day-to-day lives. Today, I would like to share a few testimonies that I came across randomly (actually, that's not true -- I believe that the Lord led me to them as I was searching for a story this week), but they blessed me so much that I just had to share with my readers. This is the testimony of what God is doing through Heidi Baker and her ministry, Iris Ministries, in Mosambique, Africa. The first, is an interview that CBN did with Heidi. I was deeply encouraged by this one... And here is an amazing testimony of blind eyes seeing: "...One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.... Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and [yet] he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heare...

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...

If you're like me, you devour apologetics material (or, at least you look for material that will bolster your faith). Every week, I find a small collection of apologetics material -- be it articles, audio/podcasts, downloads, etc. -- that I would like to start sharing with my readers in hopes that it will provide you with information to "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15). So here are this week's picks: Apologetics: Does God Exist? - featuring a number of articles on the subject including some articles and videos by Dr. William Lane Craig Greg Koukl Offers Eight Tips on Witnessing 9 Points for Preaching on the Problem of Evil by Norman Geisler (You can also read an excerpt from his book "If God, Why Evil?" here .) And lastly, I wanted to share a little frugal tip with all you bookworms out there: When looking to purchase a book, never underestimate your local bargain ou...

Here is an interesting clip from comedian Ron Pearson called The Answers to Life... While I don't believe that the earth is millions of years old, Ron raised some good points. I also loved his conclusion, so I wanted to share this particular clip with you all. Right before this clip, Ron talks about the role of teachers . While I respect teachers, I do think the public school system as a whole is sorely lacking in teaching on Christianity. This clip also reminded me of a little story that I will leave you with: A little boy asked God, "Father, where were you when this tragedy happened at my school today?" God replied, "Son, I'm not allowed in your school."

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...

Here are the DCF blog's top 10 posts of all time (from May 2010 - January 2011) in order of most popular to least popular. Beside each, I have provided a description of the contents. I am aware that a few of these were mentioned in my last post, but those were my favorites; these are YOUR favorites... Enjoy! ----------- 1) Inspiring Story: Dr. Kent Hovind - This is an essay on the Godly character of young-earth-creationist Dr.Kent Hovind. I'm not surprised at all that this made it to the top, since this post generated a lot of comments and traffic (845 searches for "Kent Hovind update," and 44 searches for "Kent Hovind Update 2010"; 914 total pageviews)! I'm grateful to each person who took the time to write a comment in support of Dr. Hovind. 2) Did Pontius Pilate actually exist? - In this post, learn about a remarkable archeaological find that proves that Pontius Pilate exists, lending support to even the small details in the Bible. 3)  Kent H...

This is one of my favorite scenes from the "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" movie. In this clip, Ben Stein interviews Richard Dawkins... Despite Dawkin's anti-God view, the interview is quite thought-provoking... Speaking of the movie "Expelled," for those of you who liked the film (and haven't heard this yet), the creators of the film are coming out with another film which is set for production in 2011! This film is entitled, " Dr. Dino: "Where Creation and Evolution Collide." The site states,  “Dr. Dino”, Resurrection Pictures’ original film project, is a biopic that dramatizes the life of Kent “Dr. Dino” Hovind, tracing his rise to prominence as one of America’s best known creation evangelists, and his eventual fall from grace due to his conflict with the IRS. The film is written by Kevin Miller, the writer of “EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed.” It is scheduled for production in 2011. Disturbed by the devastating effect Darw...

OK, this is a feature that I haven't done in a while. The point is that if I find a site -- containing some good apologetics material -- that I would like to feature on my blog, it becomes my "featured site." If you'd like to have your blog or site featured, just let me know.... and I am aware of several great sites which I shall feature soon, so sit tight! :D But on to today's featured site... This year, I started a series called "Is Jesus God?" in which I show from the Scriptures that Jesus is indeed God. Many of these Scriptures incorporate the prophecies concerning the Messiah. You can see the first three of the series here (and I will be continuing it soon, I promise). Recently, I found a website that provides almost (if not) all of these Prophecies with Scriptural references so that you can dig into these matters for yourself: Is Jesus really God? Click here to get started, and don't forget to peruse other areas of the site; it contains som...

The other day, I listened to an amazing audio of Holly Ordway and Steven Notman, two former atheists, sharing their testimony of their journeys out of atheism. The audio is approximately 50 minutes, but if you want to quick scoop, you can watch this video. I also recommend that you check out their blogs - Holly's is here , and Steven's is here .

I just watched this short video about the mathematical existence for God. While I am aware that to an atheist this would not be sufficient proof of God's existence, it is pretty cool! Check it out!

Today, I rediscovered a video by comedian Mark Lowry, entitled, " Home Depot/Dealing With An Atheist." The first half has absolutely nothing to do with apologetics, but I thought it was so funny that I included it anyways. In the second half, Mark shares a story of his first encounter with an atheist. I do have a few disclaimers for this video, though: First of all, do NOT watch the first half while you are eating (for more than one reason, as you shall see)! :) Secondly,  while I do not endorse Home Depot due to its support of homosexuals , I did find the first half to be quite humerous -- because it is true! :D Thirdly, I am in no way attacking atheists by posting this video; however, I do find Mark's points to be quite pertinent to the "Does God Exist?" debate. Sometimes, I think it's good to be lighthearted about topics like this, because it's a unique way to get the point across. I was "laughing my head off" all the way through it; I h...

Today, I'd like to share a message by Mark Cahill that I found to be very inspiring, yet challenging to us as Christians. It's called "Lukewarm - NO MORE!" It is an hour long, but I encourage you to at least listen while you do other things if you can't give it your undivided attention; it will be an hour well spent! Special thanks to Alice for pointing me to it! :)

"I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone: the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity." ~ George Gallup

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Recently, I encountered an atheist (whom I shall call "A") who stated the following in response to the question, "Why do you think God does/doesn't exist?" :  "() <--- See? Nothing... just like God." Recognizing this as a "straw-man" analogy (setting up a straw man in order to tear it down), I responded, "You use the parenthesis to say that there is no God, but you deliberately CHOSE to not include Him inside the parenthesis. (GOD). See? God exists, you just have to look for Him." This started a discussion on God's existence. We didn't get very far before the atheist chose to no longer respond (I'm afraid I may have tired him out!); but I think the conversation is worth mentioning here, since there are some great things to be learned. ...

Hey everybody! I have some apologetics new for y'all. Brian from Apologetics315 has a free e-book consisting of 23 essays on why Christianity is true. I encourage you to go download it! Also, I just discovered a new site called " Debate God " via Twitter. This is one of my favorite topics of discussion, so I was thrilled to see that they have a blog, forums, and much more for discussing whether or not you believe in God. I personally love to engage in such topics, because it's such a great opportunity to examine yourself -- why do you believe what you do? -- and also to learn about others beliefs and, hopefully, show them the soundness of Christianity. And thirdly, a group of top Christian apologists have recently launched a new website, the Library of Historical Apologetics , whose goal is to "be the world’s leading resource for lay apologists, pastors, students, and scholars seeking historical apologetics materials for self-study, church classes, sermon prepar...