Can We Trust these Ancient Storytellers? Christians view the Bible as the true and inspired word of God, which it is. In the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—we learn details of the incredible ministry of Jesus. Not intended to be strict biographies, these detail-rich texts are interpretations by four individual authors, which they penned for specific audiences,… Read more »
It’s a critically important question. If the holy, morally perfect God were to become incarnate as a human being, one would reasonably expect that He would live a good and righteous life. We have solid reasons to think that Jesus Christ did fit this description. Let’s look at biblical references, both by Jesus and about… Read more »
Can a religion claim to be “Christian” if it changes biblical truths about Christ and God? One of the things I find interesting about Christian history is how quickly Scripture can be corrupted. The early church, for example, had to fight off gnosticism, which, among other false ideas, taught that salvation was gained through the… Read more »
Christianity: Unique Among All Religions. Mythicists confidently assert, “Christianity is nothing more than a patchwork quilt of ancient pagan and mystery religions.” Bottom line: They believe that the early Church borrowed heavily from pagan deities already in existence at the time of Jesus. To make their case, they cite extensive lists of apparent similarities between Christianity and… Read more »
The resurrection of Jesus is critical to the Christian faith; without it, we don’t have much of a foundation for believing that Jesus was and is God. #lightinthedarkness Yet the resurrection is one of the hot topics of Christianity. Skeptics argue it’s not provable. But is that true? Let’s look at some important pre-resurrection facts… Read more »
Why the Resurrection Matters. Christians believe the resurrection is true, and that historical accounts of it have provided adequate evidence to certify it as a real event. Why is the resurrection so important? Because without it, our faith has no basis. The apostle Paul suspends the weight of Christianity on this single thread: If Jesus… Read more »
Who is Jesus of Nazareth? While many have asked and offered to answer the question, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?”, no one can escape the evidence that He was a historical person and that His life radically altered human history. As world-renowned historian Jaroslav Pelikan put it: “It is from His birth that most of… Read more »
Scripture must meet exacting criteria to be included in the Bible. The “lost gospels” don’t make the cut. One argument used by critics to try to discredit God’s Word is by asserting that the Bible was developed via a power struggle. Namely, that what’s included in the Bible — and conversely what was excluded —… Read more »
Scribes are human; humans make mistakes. Does that mean the Bible’s accuracy is in question? The answer, in a word: No. It can’t be denied that both unintended error and intentional modification have occurred in biblical texts over time. But most of these can be identified, categorized, and properly understood in their relation to the overall reliability… Read more »
Modern Christians don’t have to defend the validity of the Bible! Historical manuscripts have already done so! In last week’s blog post we answered the question, “Did ancient scribes faithfully transcribe biblical texts?” Resoundingly, research shouts, “YES!” I hope one truth you’re learning, as we travel this series together, is that the Bible is THE… Read more »
