Theistic Approach To Old Testament “Texts Of Terror”

Although this post dates to 2013, Roger Olson has a pretty good survey here.

Ninety Apologetics Illustrations

See the categorized list here.

An Overlooked Argument for Jesus' Resurrection

Michael Kruger suggests one here. Although I am not sure that it is really all that overlooked.

Peter Williams on the Words of Jesus and God

Peter Williams was recently the speaker of the Sizemore Lectures at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can access his two messages using the links below.

Can we Know the Exact Words of God?
Can We Know the Exact Words of Jesus?

HT: Daniel Watson

10 Ways the Bible Uses Apologetics

See this post.

Audio: The Historical Reliability of the Gospels

Credo Courses is offering audio of Craig Blomberg's "The Historical Reliability of the Gospels" for $5. That is not bad for over 13 hours of content. Credo is also offering 50%-off for video and other materials associated with this course. You can see the details here.

Joshua's Long Day, Again

This new study dates and explains the sun standing still Joshua 10. The study assumes the solar eclipse explanation. I believe that the dating is wrong and I am doubtful that the eclipse view best explains the event.

Free Logos Book for May: Why God Won't Go Away

The free Logos Book for May is Why God Won't Go Away by Alister McGrath. You can also purchase Dawkins Delusion authored by McGrath and others for $1.99 and enter to win the ten-volume SPCK Alister McGrath Collection. For all these offers you can go to the Logos' Free Book of Month page here.

Free Audio: I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist

Christianaudio.com's free audio selection for February is Norm Geisler and Frank Turek's I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist. You can access the offer here.

Free Audio Book: Francis Schaeffer's How Should We then Live?

Christianaudio.com is offering Francis Schaeffer's well-known work How Should We then Live? as their free download for the month of September. The book was first published in 1976. It also served as the basis for a series of ten films. To read more about the book and to get your free audio download go here.

Is Religion the #1 Cause of War?

Robin Schumacher has an interesting article that seems to undermine the often asserted idea that religion is the primary cause for war. See Schumacher's article here.

HT: Rob Bradshaw

Jesus' Prediction of the Fall of Jerusalem

Jimmy Akin has a nice post defending the idea that Jesus could predict the fall of Jerusalem here. Akin is largely correct here, but the reason that many in biblical studies who reject Jesus' prediction do so because of an a priori rejection of the possibility of predictive prophecy in general.  

Jesus Merely a Good Religious Teacher?

Uh, No.

As Alister McGrath states:

"We need more than a good religious teacher.

"Throughout our long history, we have had lots of religious teachers. What good is one more? If Jesus is simply a man, he shares the common human problem - sin, suffering and death. If Jesus is just a human being, like us, then he is not the solution to the human problem. What we need is someone who will change the human situation, not just tell us more about it. The Christian assertion that Jesus is God incarnate tells us that God has come into the world and become involved with it. It changes our understanding of what God is like. It forces us to give up silly or inadequate views of God - like God being totally distant and remote, and unconcerned for his world. It forces us to give up inadequate views of Jesus - like Jesus being just a good religious teacher."

Alister McGrath, Explaining Your Faith (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 62.

Top 15 Apologetic Books

Michael Patton lists the following fifteen books as must haves for apologetics.

15. Pensees, Blaise Pascal (can be read through Peter Kreeft, Christianity of Modern Pagans)

14. Letters from a Skeptic, Gregory Boyd

13. How Do You Know Your Not Wrong, Paul Copan

12. Reasonable Faith, William Craig

11. Scaling the Secular City, J. P. Moreland

10. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Norman Geisler

9. Case for Christ, Lee Strobel

8. Reason for God, Tim Keller

7. Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell

6. The Analytic Theist, Alvin Plantinga

5. The God Who is There, Francis Schaeffer

4. Faith Has its Reasons, Rob Bowman and Kenneth Boa

3. The Resurrection of the Son of God, N. T. Wright

2. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Habermas and Licona

1. Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis

Read the entire post here.

Review of “True for You but Not for Me” Overcoming Objections to the Christian Faith

Paul Copan, “True for You but Not for Me” Overcoming Objections to the Christian Faith, rev. ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2009).

Relativism and pluralism are two major philosophical challenges faced by Christians today. Furthermore, the concept of religious pluralism is a direct challenge to orthodox Christianity’s exclusivist claims. To this end, Paul Copan has done a great service for the church by addressing these challenges head on logically. philosophically, and biblically.

The book consists of a preface and introduction, five major sections containing thirty-three chapters, and endnotes (see the table of contents below). All the chapters are titled after common statements and questions (e.g., “That’s Just Your Opinion”). The chapters contain a brief discussion of the issue expressed by the statement or question, a bulleted summary, and a further reading list. Both the discussion and format are helpful. One minor criticism though, is that some of the discussion gets a bit redundant. It might have been better to have grouped similar statements/questions together for one discussion.

This book would be useful for Christians who have honest questions about their faith and Christians who are involved in evangelism and might need a bit of help in answering common questions. A free PDF study guide tied to the book is available at the author’s website: www.paulcopan.com.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

PART I: Absolutely Relative
1. “That’s True for You, But Not for Me.”
2. “So Many People Disagree—Relativism Must Be True.”
3. “You’re Just Using Western Logic.”
4. “Who Are You to Judge Others?”
5. “Christians Are Intolerant of Other Viewpoints!”
6. “What Right Do You Have to Convert Others to Your Views?”
7. “It’s All Just a Matter of Perspective.”
8. “Perception Is Reality.”
9. “That’s Just Your Opinion!”
10. “You Can Choose Whichever Religion You Want.”

PART II: The Absolutism of Moral Relativism
11. “Why Believe in Any Moral Values When They’re So Wildly Different?
12. “Your Values Are Right for You, But Not for Me.”
13. “Who Are You To Impose Your Morality on Others?”
14. “You Can’t Legislate Morality.”
15. “It’s Arrogant To Say Your Values Are Better than Others’.”
16. “Biological Evolution Explains Morality.”
17. “We Can Be Good Without God”: Part I
18. “We Can Be Good Without God”: Part II

Part III: The Exclusivism of Religious Pluralism
19. “All Religions Are Basically the Same.”
20. “All Roads Lead to the Top of the Mountain.”
21. “Christianity Is Arrogant and Imperialistic.”
22. “If You Grew Up in Thailand, You’d Be a Buddhist.”
23. “Mahatma Gandhi Was a Saint If Ever There Was One.”

PART IV: The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ: Myth or Reality?
24. “You Can’t Trust the Gospels. They’re Unreliable.”
25. “Jesus’ Followers Fabricated the Stories and Sayings of Jesus.”
26. “Jesus Is Just Like Any Other Great Religious Leader.”
27. “But Jesus Never Said, ‘I Am God.’”
28. “People Claim JFK and Elvis Are Alive, Too!”

PART V: “No Other Name”: The Question of the Unevangelized
29. “It Doesn’t Matter What You Believe—as Long as You’re Sincere.”
30. “If Jesus Is the Only Way to God, What About Those Who Have Never Heard of Him?” Response #1: The Agnostic View
31. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …” Response #2: The Inclusivist or Wider-Hope View
32. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …” A Response to the Inclusivist/Wider-Hope View
33. “If Jesus Is the Only Way …“ Response #3: The Accessibilist or Middle-Knowledge Perspective

The Plan of God and Apologetics in Luke-Acts

According to John T. Squires:

“The exposition of central aspects of the faith is the major type of apologetic activity which is present in Luke-Acts. Two key events have recurred throughout our investigation, for it is these two events which are pivotal to the plan of God and which therefore need to be expounded in some detail. (a) The necessity and centrality of the passion of Jesus is asserted and expounded, in opposition to the deed of the Jewish leaders and the misunderstanding of the disciples, as being central to the plan of God. (b) The integral role of the mission to the Gentiles, as an important part of the plan of God, is asserted and expounded in opposition to Jewish objectives and misgivings on the part of certain Christians. Each of these events is central to the plan of God; each of them is explained by recourse to divine providence.”

John T. Squires, The Plan of God in Luke-Acts Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 76, ed. Margaret Thrall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 194

Apologetics Resources

Patrick Chan has provided some helpful links to some free apologetic resources. You can check it out here.

New Website for Associates for Biblical Research

The Associates for Biblical Research have a redesigned website. It looks pretty good. Check it out here.

Matt Weymeyer has a good post answering the question, "How can we trust the NT if we don't have the original manuscripts. To summarize, Weymeyer offers three reasons for trusting the reliability of the New Testament.

1. The Abundance of Existing Manuscripts
2. The Insignificance of Most Variants
3. The Preservation of Primary Doctrines