GOT HOPE? Christianity Delivers
The original version of the Gospel of Mark may have ended at Mark 16:8. This point is not disputed by Christians as multiple versions in English of Mark’s Gospel explicitly state that the earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9-20. Atheists use this point to claim the author of Mark …
Continue reading "Did the Author of Mark NOT Believe in Jesus’ Divinity?"
Skeptics have often cited the following two passages in the Gospels to suggest that they refer to two different (and conflicting) dates: 4 B.C. for Herod's death and 6 A.D. for Quirinius' census. The intention in this article is to offer support for later dating for Herod's death and the possibility that Quirinius completed his …
Skeptics often claim the birth narratives of Jesus are in conflict with one another, noting that Matthew dates Jesus' birth prior to the death of Herod the Great (which some have argued is in 4 B.C.) while Luke's account places Jesus' birth at the time when Quirinius governed Syria in 6 A.D. The intention of …
What If We Didn’t Have the Gospels? We have a variety of means by which we can determine the truth of Christianity or any other religious or faith claim. These include whether (1) the person making the claim is sincere; (2) the person has no material incentives for fabrication; (3) the claim has been corroborated …
Recall the richest king of the Bible: Solomon. He wrote the book of Proverbs, which showed us his great wisdom. He had amassed a fortune, yet he didn’t obey the Lord. He married women of other religions and eventually came to worship their gods. In Ecclesiastes, we see the outcome of his missteps as he …
Continue reading "Evidence of the Light and Love of the Son"
An interesting and rather embarrassing aspect of the Bible is that its forty or more authors never attempt to shield us from the (sometimes ugly) truth. In fact, the ugly truth is what differentiates the Gospels from the Gnostic texts, which were written much later. In the Gnostic Infancy Gospel of Thomas (140-170 AD), the …
Continue reading "Evidence for Jesus’ Divinity from Peter, James and Paul"
I sat next to a pastor on a plane around 2012 and he read part of the following passage to me and asked me whom it described. Isaiah 53 was written around 700 B.C. and to me, it quite clearly describes Jesus. In fact, it's one of the most frequently cited passages by the Jews …
Continue reading "Is the Suffering Servant the Nation or People of Israel? No!"
“The great difficulty is to get audiences to realize that you are preaching Christianity simply because you happen to think it true.” – CS Lewis In a conversation I had with philosophy professor Tim McGrew, he asked me which place I thought starting a new religion would be successful: Mecca (Saudi Arabia) or Milwaukee, Wisconsin. …
Continue reading "Evidence for Early Christian Persecution: Reasons to Believe"
The prophet Daniel lived between 605 B.C. and 530 B.C. He and his fellow Israelites were captives in Babylon under the King Nebuchadnezzar. After correctly explaining one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, he was given a position of power under him. He often prayed to God while in this position and the Lord gave him numerous …
Continue reading "The Biblical Prophecy that Changed the World!"
According to the New Testament, after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus’ crucifixion, he felt remorse so he killed himself. We have two accounts of this action, which were written by (or attributed to) Matthew and Luke. Skeptics often point to the two accounts of Judas’ death to claim the New Testament contains conflicting …
Christian Apologist 