DAY 8

CHALLENGE

“What evidence do we have that Jesus even existed?”

DEFENSE

Apart from the references to Jesus in early Christian and non-Christian literature, the appearance and rapid spread of Christianity provide powerful evidence for the existence of Jesus.

Josephus indicates Jesus was a Jew in first-century Palestine (thus Jesus’ “brother” was executed in A.D. 62; Antiquities of the Jews 20:9:1).

Tacitus says Jesus was “executed during the rule of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate” (Annals 15:44). Pilate’s tenure was A.D. 26 to 36.

Writing around A.D. 110, Pliny the Younge…

DAY 7

CHALLENGE

“Why would a good God allow physical evils like suffering and death?”

DEFENSE

We don’t have full answers to the problem of evil in this life, but we can see that at least some physical evils are helpful.

God can tolerate some physical evils because good comes from them. According to John Paul II: “Certain forms of physical ‘evil’ . . . belong to the very structure of created beings, which by their nature are con- tingent and passing, and therefore corruptible. Besides, we know that material beings are in a close relation of interdependence as expressed by the old saying…

DAY 6

CHALLENGE

“By definition, miracles are improbable. In any given instance it’s very unlikely that a miracle will occur. The greater probability is the non-miraculous. We should accept the greatest probability, so we should not believe in miracles.”

DEFENSE

This assumes we should refuse to believe a miracle has happened without looking at the evidence.

Supernatural interventions are not improbable by definition. They could be happening all around us, but with such regularity that we don’t identify them as miracles.

Interventions we would recognize as miracles (water turning to wine…

DAY 5

CHALLENGE

“It is a foundational principle that you need to be able to prove your theological beliefs by Scripture alone, and Catholics can’t do that.”

DEFENSE

Sola scriptura may be a foundational principle of Protestantism, but not of Catholicism. Further, it does not meet its own test.

Catholics do not accept the principle of sola scriptura (“Scripture alone”), and so they have no need to justify their theological beliefs using only the Bible. In many apologetic discussions, it can be helpful to do so, since many Christian and non-Christian groups see Scripture, or parts of it, …

DAY 4

CHALLENGE

“The Crucifixion seems irrational. Couldn’t an omnipotent God save us without Jesus dying on a cross?”

DEFENSE

God could have chosen another way to bring about the salvation of the world. According to the common view, he could simply have forgiven our sins and saved us without any earthly sacrifice. But there are reasons why he chose the Crucifixion.

By using the Crucifixion to accomplish the redemption, God drew on a theme that first-century Jews would have understood: sacrifice. In fact, this was something everybody in the ancient world understood. The impulse to sacr…

DAY 3

CHALLENGE

“Why should we bother praying? If God is all-knowing, he knows what we need, and we can’t change his mind because he’s changeless.”

DEFENSE

Prayer is not about giving God information or changing his mind. It is an activity he wants us to do because it draws us out of ourselves and builds relationships—with him and our fellow human beings. That’s why he rewards it.

Jesus made the point that prayer is not about giving God information: “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt. 6:8). The reason God wants us to pray is that it keeps us from cl…

DAY 2

CHALLENGE

“The Christian idea of an omnipotent God is logically contradictory. Can God make a stone so heavy he can’t lift it? If he can then there is something he can’t do (lift the stone), but if he can’t, then there’s also something he can’t do (make the stone).”

DEFENSE

To accuse others of a logical contradiction, first you must understand their idea correctly. Otherwise you commit the straw man fallacy. This objection misunderstands omnipotence.

The term “omnipotent” means “all-powerful” (Latin, omnis, “all,” and potens, “powerful”). This is often said to mean that God can “…

DAY 1

CHALLENGE

”I consider myself spiritual rather than religious. Why isn’t that enough?”

DEFENSE

Because God loves you and wants even better things for you.

When people say they are spiritual rather than religious, they frequently mean that, although they don’t practice a specific religion, they recognize there is more to the world than matter; that it has a spiritual dimension. This is good! But it doesn’t go very far. Wouldn’t it be nice to know more about the world’s spiritual dimension? In every field, having more knowledge is better, and it makes sense to ask if we can learn …

Introduction

The history of Christianity is one of debate. As the Gospels reveal, Jesus was challenged right from the start. Rival schools like the Pharisees and Sadducees posed pointed questions to him, trying to trap him in his words and even to get him in trouble with the authorities. Some of Jesus’ most famous statements were responses to challenges from his critics:

“What God has joined together, let man not put asunder.”

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.”

Our world is very different from the one in which …

Starting January 1, 2023 join Jimmy Akin as he gives you your daily dose of apologetics one challenge at a time!

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