Context; Context; Context. Robert Mayer reflects on how important Bible reading has been in his long journey of Christian faith and suggests how some key ideas for reading the Bible well helps us learn to better follow Jesus in a complex world.
Read MoreIf you have ever encountered a Jehovah’s Witness, you may have been told that Jesus was not crucified on a cross, but rather nailed to an upright torture stake with no horizontal crossbeam. They say this is because of a mistranslation from the Greek to English language. Is this actually the case? And either way, why is this such an important issue? In this article, we will examine the claims of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and explain why this is such a big deal to them.
Read MoreIt is no secret that the Bible boasts a wealth of fulfilled prophecies, but I would venture a guess that few Christians could name one if asked. My favorite prophecy as of now is the destruction of Tyre (the capital of the Phoenician empire). This prophecy holds a special place in my mind because of its verifiability due to the extra biblical historical and geographic evidence available to us 2300 years after its fulfillment!
Read MoreSome skeptics have claimed that Jesus was a false apocalyptic prophet based on a couple of statements He made in the gospels. As a younger Christian, these verses troubled me and caused me to wonder the same thing. But a careful reading of the passages in question is sufficient to show why they should not be of concern to believers.
Read MoreA great many skeptics have defined “faith” as “a belief that is not based on evidence,” and for some reason, many evangelicals accept this definition. But is this the way “faith” is used in the New Testament when Paul, Peter, or Jesus use it? Is this definition accurate in relation to the way the word was used in other works of ancient Greco-Roman literature? How do writers like Aristotle, Herodotus, Diodorus, and others who wrote in Koine Greek use the same word? Do they use it to mean “belief without evidence”? Or do they mean something entirely different. In this article we will explore these questions and clarify what is really meant by “faith.”
Read MoreThe Moral Argument has been one of the most effective arguments for God’s existence, and one that believers can use in a vast array of situations. Of all of the debates I have watched between atheists/agnostics and Christian philosophers, it has been the most difficult for the skeptics to answer. Even in my own dialogues on social media I have only encountered two responses to the Moral Argument: evasion and insult. Either the person I’ve presented this argument to attempts to avoid having to deal with the argument by trying to change the subject, ends the conversation, or proceeds to call me a cultist, bigot, flat-earther, religious zealot, or homophobe or misogynist if discussing abortion or homosexuality.
Read MoreWe’re back to my favorite apologetics subject: Ancient History! Many New Testament scholars today will differ in their positions on the dates the four gospels were written. This article will not weigh in on that discussion. This article is written to show that the gospel itself dates back to within 6 months of the crucifixion! I hope that peaks your interest. Let’s dive right into the data.
Read MoreIs it pagan in origin?
Read MorePerhaps you’ve heard a skeptic say, “Religious belief is largely influenced by geography. If you were born in the Middle-East, you’d probably be a muslim. Or, if you were born in India, you’d probably be a hindu. Truth should be based on evidence and facts, not on where you were born.” Most who put forth this challenge are unaware that they have committed the Genetic Fallacy. What is the genetic fallacy? This article will tell you just that, and how to answer someone who commits it.
Read MoreThere is a certain crowd who creates unnecessary conflict within the body of Christ. You can find their positions all over social media, YouTube, and sometimes even on TV. In this article, we will call them the “Anti-Holiday” crowd.
Read Moreabout Christianity. I myself have found myself slipping into this temptation that so easily entangles. Many apologists begin studying apologetics with great intentions: to bolster their faith or the faith of their fellow Christians, to become a more confident and effective ambassador for Christ, etc. However, it is easy to lose sight of these goals and become distracted by our prideful nature. Yes, the danger of apologetics is arrogance.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever wondered where you would stand on human rights issues of the past if you had lived through them (I.e. American slavery, the Holocaust if you lived in Germany), or whether you would have stood up for what is right in a culture that was morally indifferent on a certain evil, you can get a pretty good idea of where you would land back then by examining where you stand on the mass murder of our day: Abortion.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever wondered where you would stand on human rights issues of the past if you had lived through them (I.e. American slavery, the Holocaust if you lived in Germany), or whether you would have stood up for what is right in a culture that was morally indifferent on a certain evil, you can get a pretty good idea of where you would land back then by examining where you stand on the mass murder of our day: Abortion.
Read MoreThe United States has been through the wringer in the past few weeks. This election has turned friends into enemies and tolerance seems to have all but died. But there is another side of this election that affects evangelism greatly. There have been many self-proclaimed prophets claiming that they had heard from God that Donald Trump would win the election, and they “prophesied” just that.
Read MoreCults such as Mormonism often take unclear passages of scripture and make more out of them than is justified by the context, original language, or, more importantly, the teaching of the rest of the Bible.
Read MoreToday is election day. And it is an unusually important one in the eyes of many. If you look to either end of the political spectrum, you will quickly hear that this election will determine if our democratic-republic stands or falls. Worse yet, many claim that the fate of our entire planet rests on this day and on who is elected as the next president of the United States of America. There are concerns of political unrest, and, in some places, threats have even been made against people who may vote for the “unfavorable” candidate.
Read MoreChristianity has historically taken to the task to bring imaginative detail to the lacuna and difficulties of the biblical text. This imagination finds full and wonderful expression in the church’s art, homiletic tradition, and symbol. Rather than invest in the continuation and growth of such expressions, the new fad of a thinking Christianity is one at least obliquely initiated in the pursuits of historical criticism…
Read MoreEvery year, toward the end of October, the church experiences a difficult division amongst believers. Questions begin floating around the congregation: “Should Christians celebrate Halloween?” “Is Halloween pagan?” and the like. There are so many different aspects to consider when tackling this topic, but we’ll just look at a couple.
Read Morehere is a popular pastor in America who has been causing unnecessary heartache among the LGBT community and distorting people’s perception of the gospel: Steven Anderson…
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