Nashville Bible Study

This week we wrap up by having a guest speaker. Diana is an ex-atheist turned Christian and she shares her testimony with us, which emphasizes the importance of knowing why you believe what you do, and how to defend it.

In this last session we discuss the point of all the information we have learned. Once we can establish the historical reliability of the NT documents then the claims Jesus made have to be taken seriously, and we are left with only three options: Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar... or Lord

When it comes to the English language there are so many translations out there. Which one should we read? Are some more accurate than others? Does it even matter?  

This week we discuss different translation philosophies and techniques, and give guidance as to which translations are to be avoided when it comes to doing Bible Studies, and which fall within a safe range within which you can pick your own personal preference.

How were the books in the NT selected? Why were some left out? Who made those decisions? When was the NT Canon closed? 

 We cover all this and more this week.  

We also touch on the OT Apocrypha, as well as why we believe scripture is inspired by God.

Many critics say the Bible cannot be trusted due to the 'overwhelming' amount of contradictions it contains. But is this true?  

This week we discuss whether contradictions exist, and if they exist, how do we handle or reconcile them?

Vide audio taken from:

Are there Contradictions in the Gospels? by Dr. Bill Mounce

This week we discuss two topics.

First we discuss if the gospel writers intended to record accurate history. There are many genres of writing. How do we know that they didn't intend to write a fictional or metaphorical story?

Secondly, if it was their intention to record history, then DID they accurately record it?

Video Audio taken from:

Why The Gospel Writers Intended To Write History

and

Why The Gospel Writers Did Write Accurate History

by Scott Sullivan, Ph.D.

This week we discuss two topics: 

1. Who wrote the gospels? - The original gospels where anonymous, so how can we be certain of who wrote them, and that they were actually eyewitnesses? 

2. Were the gospels written early enough? - There is a 20-35 year gap between when Jesus died and when the first gospel accounts were written. Is this gap too large? How do we know if the writers were able to remember accurately the events they were reporting?

Video Audio taken from

Do We Know Who Wrote The Gospels?

and

Oral Tradition: Was Memory of the Writer Accurate?

by Bill Mounce, Ph.D

Part 4 of Defending Your Faith. This week we discuss how we got the NT that we have today, including how the documents were copied and preserved. We go into the overwhelming textual evidence in terms of both the amount of manuscripts, as well as the great wealth of ancient manuscripts still available today. This week was very visual and we did many visual exercises together so if you're only listening on audio, this week may be hard to follow. We suggest writing out the 8 documents as they are read out - with corresponding details - in order for you to get as close to the full experience as possible

Please note I made an error and kept using the term "old"/"older" for documents when I meant to say "later".  "Old" would indicate they were earlier. Hopefully from the context of the sentences you'll be able to figure out what was meant in each situation.

Video was taken from:

How We Got The New Testament by Scott Sullivan, Ph.D.

In Part 3 of Defend Your Faith we cover whether Jesus actually existed. Was He a fictional character? Do we have any historical documents verifying His existence? Are any of those documents by secular authors? How much can we trust them?  

The 2 videos played in this session are: Historical Sources for Jesus by Scott Sullivan, Ph.D Did Jesus Live by Bill Mounce, Ph.D

Part 2 to the course on Defending Your Faith.

In this session we cover the differences between faith worldviews/foundations, what reasonable faith is, and dive into Proper Historical Methods 1 and Proper Historical Methods Part 2 - which teach us methods for examining historical documents, and how to determine if a document is historically accurate.

(Please Note: The recordings played in this episode are taken from the course 'Christ 101 - The Evidence For Christianity' by Scott M. Sullivan, Ph.D.