A question often asked by curious Christians and critics: “Since Jesus’ disciples spoke Aramaic, how could they write any New Testament books — in Greek, no less — if they couldn’t even read or write in their own language?” That sounds like a solid query … until you realize that the question is based on… Read more »
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 »
GQ recently posted an article titled, “21 Books You Don’t Have to Read.” It includes many classics such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. And it also includes the Bible. [Original post by Sean McDowell here.] It would be easy to criticize this post. And I will… 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 »
Historical Documentation Resoundingly Says, “Yes!” In a previous blog post in this series, we saw that the New Testament can rightly claim to be more reliable and accurate than another other ancient document in history. Can we also trust the authenticity of the Old Testament? Fortunately, we have really old biblical manuscripts to help us… Read more »
