DAY 167

CHALLENGE

“Jesus said, ‘There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power’ (Mark 9:1; cf. Matt. 16:28, Luke 9:27). But that generation died long ago and the world hasn’t ended. So Jesus’ prediction was false.”

DEFENSE

Jesus was not referring to the end of the world.

There is a sense in which the kingdom of God comes at the end of the world (1 Cor. 15:24), but the kingdom is a complex reality that includes God’s activity before that time (1 Cor. 15:25). Jesus recognized this. Asked when the kingdom would come, he …

DAY 166

CHALLENGE

“God is simply an exalted man. The Bible says we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27), and it refers to the strong right arm

of God (Deut. 4:34), his all-seeing eyes (Prov. 15:3), and so on.”

DEFENSE

Scripture is clear that God and man are fundamentally different.

Mormonism is known for teaching that God and man are the same species. Mormons frequently use the couplet, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”

By contrast, Scripture states: “God is not a man” (Num. 23:19), “he is not a man” (1 Sam. 15:29).

God has always been God; he was never a man…

DAY 165

CHALLENGE

“The Catholic Church hid God’s commandment against idolatry by removing it from the Ten Commandments.”

DEFENSE

The Church didn’t try to hide the commandment against idolatry. In fact, it condemns idolatry.

The Ten Commandments are in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. If you look in a Catholic Bible, the prohibition is right there: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your Go…

DAY 164

CHALLENGE

“Even if a person only has the burden of proof when trying to convince someone else of a belief (see Day 86), he still should have evidence

for his own beliefs. We shouldn’t adopt beliefs for no reason.”

DEFENSE

We should have reasons for our beliefs, but this does not allow us to dismiss religious beliefs.

First, we sometimes have practical reasons to make decisions on religious matters, even when we do not have evidential reasons (see Day 336).

Second, though it is not ideal, we must sometimes make decisions regarding beliefs using partial, inconclusive evidence. As…

DAY 163

CHALLENGE

“Religion was invented to give some people control over others.”

DEFENSE

This is an easy claim to make if you don’t look at the evidence.

Religions propose moral values and rules of conduct (don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder), but so do other institutions—like philosophy and government. Yet no one would say that philosophy or government were invented merely to control people. Like religion, philosophy seeks to answer profound questions (where did we come from, where are we going, what is ultimately real). Also like religion, government seeks to promote human well…

DAY 162

CHALLENGE

“Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus contradicts Luke’s. Matthew says Shealtiel’s father was Jeconiah, while Luke says it was Neri (Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27). Similarly, Matthew says Joseph’s father was Jacob, while Luke says it was Heli (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23).”

DEFENSE

There are multiple explanations, given how Israelite genealogies worked.

Hebrew and Aramaic didn’t distinguish between fathers, grandfathers, and so on. All male ancestors were called “fathers” (see Day 106). Consequently, since one person can be descended from another by more than one line (see Day 85), both J…

DAY 161

CHALLENGE

“The Catholic Church is wrong to say there are seven sacraments. It’s even inconsistent with its own history. Historically, some Catholic authorities have listed as many as thirty sacraments.”

DEFENSE

How many sacraments there are depends on how you use the term.

The Latin term sacramentum comes from sacrare, which means “to make sacred” or “to consecrate.” At one point, sacramentum referred to a sacred oath, but it came to refer to sacred rites in any religion.

St. Augustine wrote: “There can be no religious society, whether the religion be true or false, without s…

DAY 160

CHALLENGE

“Scripture indicates that God has predestined certain people to go to heaven (Rom. 8:28–30), so I’m either one of them or I’m not. Either way, I don’t need to do anything with respect to my salvation. I can simply await my fate.”

DEFENSE

This misunderstands the nature of predestination and the role of free will.

First, predestination involves both the end and the means by which the end is accomplished. Heaven may be the end—the destination—but the means of getting there is accepting God’s offer of salvation. God doesn’t predestine people to go to heaven regardless of …

DAY 159

CHALLENGE

“Our calendars are mistaken. Jesus wasn’t born in 1 B.C. but around 7–6 B.C.”

DEFENSE

The year of the calendar is not a matter of faith.

The Anno Domini (Latin, “Year of the Lord”) system of reckoning was created in A.D. 525 by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis “the Short” or “the Humble”). It later came into international use. Made centuries after Christ, this calculation is in no way essential to the Faith. The Church does not teach Christ was born in any particular year, and it is universally recognized that Dionysius’s calculations are probably slightly off…

DAY 158

CHALLENGE

“Perhaps it doesn’t disprove consciousness after death, but Scripture does not provide a basis for believing it, either.”

DEFENSE

There are Bible verses that demonstrate consciousness after death.

The prophet Samuel is conscious when summoned by the witch of Endor (1 Sam. 28; note the text does not challenge the idea that it is Samuel who is summoned). This is an exceptional incident since a medium is involved (Deut. 18:11–12), but it indicates the possibility of and belief in consciousness after death.

1 Peter 3:19–20 refers to Christ preaching, after death, to spiri…