Restitutio

Apologetics 12: New Testament Trustworthiness

For the New Testament we can employ several of the same lines of reasoning as the Old Testament, though there are a couple more to consider like internal evidence and messianic prophecies that help bolster the case. Furthermore, many people’s lives have been changed by reading and believing the words of the New Testament. No other book has such a legacy for radical life transformation.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Reason #1: Archeology Supports the Bible

Reason #2: Unflattering Honesty

Reason #3: Changed Lives

Reason #4: Preservation

Reason #5: Internal Evidence

Reason #6: Messianic Prophesies

With this episode we are beginning a series on overcoming objections to Christianity.  To start with we want to address the criticism often leveled at bible-believing Christians today that our perspective on salvation is too narrow-minded and exclusive.  Who are we to say that all the other religions are wrong?  In order to tackle this issue, we begin with the words of Jesus himself who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14.6).  If we remain committed to scripture then the question is not, “Is Christ the only way to salvation?” but “How is that fair?”  What about the old lady in Fiji who never got a chance to hear about Jesus?  Listen in as we explore five answers to this important question.

Notes and Links:

Apologetics 11: New Testament Transmission

With the New Testament we can’t argue for a reliable transmission on the basis of meticulous Hebrew scribes. More often, especially early on, the Christian scribes focused more on quantity than quality so they could get the word out as quickly as possible. However, the sheer number of manuscripts that survived and the relatively early date of several ensure that we can employ a range of strategies to recover the original text with 99.5% accuracy. In fact, when we compare the New Testament to other ancient literature it is almost embarrassing how much better it is than the others.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

How To Determine Reliable Transmission

A Wealth of Manuscripts

Time Between Autograph and Extant Manuscript

Variants between Manuscripts

What do you believe about holiness?  Do you view it as an impossible ideal?  Slogans like “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” and “I don’t want to be holier than thou” show how uncomfortable we are with this whole subject.  Even so, God calls us to be holy as he is holy.  We cannot ignore or dismiss such a calling.  There must be some way to live up to his ideals.  In this episode, Keith Daniel, the revival preacher and evangelist from South Africa, brings a convicting and much needed message about holiness.

Notes and Links:

Apologetics 10: Old Testament Trustworthiness

Last time we looked as reasons to believe the Jewish scribes reliably transmitted the Old Testament so that what we have today is what they actually wrote. This time you’ll learn five main reasons why we believe the Hebrew bible is true: (1) archaeology, (2) medical insights, (3) unflattering honesty, (4) predictive prophecy, and (5) martyrdom. Although some of these are stronger than others, cumulatively they establish the veracity of scripture quite convincingly.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Five reasons to believe the bible is true:

Reason #1: Archeology Supports the Bible

Reason #2: Miraculous Medical Accuracy

Reason #3: Brutal Honesty

Reason #4: Predictive Prophesy

Kegan Chandler joins me once again to talk about the history of theology.  If you haven’t yet heard his story, check out Interview 8: A Restorationist Finds the God of Jesus.  In this episode, I ask Chandler about his book, The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma.  If you are at all interested in the history of ideas that influenced what Christians in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries believed about Jesus, this show is for you.  Chandler address the how Plato’s Greek philosophy influenced Christian theologians as well as how the Gnostics not only anticipated much trinitarian language, but also how they influenced “orthodox” theology.  After exposing the pagan influnences on the development of the Trinity, Chandler goes on to offer a better way of reading the New Testament–through the lens of second temple Judaism.  Instead of reading later ideas into scripture, why not read it in light of the Hebrew bible and contemporary Jewish literature, like the Dead Sea scrolls.

Notes and Links:

Apologetics 9: Old Testament Transmission

What reasons do we have for believing the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) was reliable transmitted from antiquity to today? This lecture provides four arguments: (1) Jewish scribes were competent, (2) people memorized large portions of the text, (3) the consequences for false prophecy, and (4) the Dead Sea Scrolls function as a time capsule. The Old Testament is excellently preserved, especially in comparison to other ancient texts.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Introduction

OT Manuscript Tradition

Scribal Argument

Memorization argument

Kegan Chandler grew up as a bible-believing Christian in Texas.  His grandfather, Pat E. Harrell, was a leader within Church of Christ who founded their Restoration Quarterly publication.  As a result of his grandparents’ and parents’ passion for God, Chandler grew up in a family steeped in bible study and theological reflection.  One day the Mormon’s came knocking and Chandler, the consummate apologist and champion of orthodoxy, licked his lips at the chance to set them straight.  However, in the course of that conversation, one of the missionaries asked Chandler, “Well, who do you say that Jesus is?”  Strangely enough, this one question caught him off guard.  The young man wasn’t asking, “Who do your parents, your pastor, or your seminary say that Jesus is?” but “Who do you say that Jesus is?”  The intensely personal nature of this question started Chandler on a quest to firm up his orthodox answer, which eventually led to a complete reconsideration of his beliefs about God, Jesus, and the spirit.  Over the course of several years, he came to see the bible from a more Hebrew perspective.  After intense bible study and a thorough investigation into church history, he discovered the God of Jesus.  Here is his story.

Notes and Links:

Apologetics 8: More Evidence for the Resurrection

Because secular historians don’t accept the inspiration of the bible, they don’t trust the Gospels as reliable witnesses about Jesus. Consequently, they’ve come up with various “criteria of authenticity” to sift the sayings and deeds recorded in the Gospels into historical and mythical categories. Last time we saw how Jesus’ resurrection still passes with flying colors when employing such a skeptical approach. This time we’ll discuss another historical consideration under the able guidance of N. T. Wright. He enumerates seven mutations within Judaism that cry out for an explanation. In the end, history seems to have a hole in it about the size and shape of an actual resurrection. The most plausible explanation is that God really did intervene in the middle of history and perform a miracle.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Criteria secular historians use to determine authenticity:

Two indisputable facts about Jesus (according to Paula Fredriksen)

Jesus as apocalypticist (Ehrman, Fredriksen, Sanders, etc.)

N.T. Wright has articulated seven mutations from the Jewish understanding of resurrection in the early Christian communities which cry out for an explanation. It turns out that the explanation of the missing event which would make sense of these mutations takes the exact shape of a grave-emptying bodily resurrection. His seven mutations are as follows:

This election cycle American political discourse has sunk to a new low.  Rather than presenting facts and offering persuasive arguments based on policies, we’ve seen a whole slew of false claims and personal attacks.  The exchanges between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been so caustic and shameful that when I discovered my ten year-old was watching one of the presidential debates with his mom, I immediately ushered him out of the room, muttering that such language and behavior was inappropriate for him to see.  (He had weaseled his way in to watch it on the excuse that he couldn’t sleep.)  What does it say about the way politics works itself out on national TV that I felt horrified that my son was exposed to such bickering and animosity among those who are vying for the highest and noblest governmental office in the land?

I could deal with all of this, but what I can’t handle is the fact that Christians don’t seem to carry themselves any differently than their worldly counterparts.  Social media channels and email boxes overflow with vitriol and exaggeration as each side shouts ever louder, trying to drown out the sound of the other.  In this episode of off script, we offer some suggestions on how to think and behave when engaging in political discourse as Christians.  We begin by discussing an episode of Ira Glass’ This American Life podcast episode “Seriously?” in which he addressed how misinformation and lies dominate political conversations.  Listen to the first 20 minutes to hear the part we discuss.  Also, we engaged with Justin Brierly’s Unbelievable? podcast episode “Should Christians vote for Trump?” where Republican John Zmirak and Democrat Christina Rees discuss what Christians should do.  For Zmirak’s “dead moose” comment, skip to 18 minutes.

Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.