Ever wonder why Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and not a horse? Or why slavery in the Bible is different than we think of it? A common theme you'll hear from a lot of pastors and theologians is that, in order to understand a piece of Scripture, context is everything. In this episode, apologist Jon Topping looks at historical context, and how it can help us better understand what we read in the Bible.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/historical-context-OL7-p0I1lDa/

Beginning a new series on how to study Scripture, apologist Jon Topping goes into some helpful tips on how to get started reading the Bible.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/how-to-read-your-bible-0KMh-STBYc9/

What if differences in Gospel accounts actually favoured their reliability? In today’s episode of Ultimate Questions, apologist Jon Topping looks with a detective’s eye at some apparent Gospel contradictions.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/the-human-element-of-scripture-JTPCm2rLjA1/

Names, dates, and places are usually the more boring side of history. However, in this episode, apologist Jon Topping shows us how some of these details found in the New Testament can actually help us evaluate whether the people writing these accounts were actually present for what they're describing. In other words, were they really eyewitnesses? Here, we get to see another example of why we should have confidence in the eyewitness testimonies of the writers of the New Testament.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/helpful-details-in-the-new-zO9xRZ1hPtE/

Are the Gospels actually written by the people whose names are attached to them? How early are the Gospels? In this episode, apologist Jon Topping begins to look at whether the Gospels are pseudepigraphal, or whether they are written by their namesakes.

Republished with permission. Original at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/new-testament-authorship-an-gjGxmP1tcIU/

There is debate as to whether the Gospels and other New Testament books were written by eyewitnesses. In this episode apologist Jon Topping looks at some of the reasoning as to why we should consider these books to be eyewitness testimony, and that this gives them added credibility.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/eyewitness-testimonies-wicENYG6gAx/

Three new methods of historiography to look at. The motivation of the writers is crucial to seeing whether they're trustworthy. Other parts of history don't make much sense, so if we can find reasons for it, that helps us see it as worthy of believing. Lastly, when something doesn't match up to the cultural norm, that gives us a reason to think it's legitimate.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/historiography-3-motivation--mDrcSqBOkH/

Continuing our examination of how to study history, apologist Jon Topping takes a look at three new methods. How the enemies of a view can accidentally support it, how the original languages help, and how multiple sources for a piece of info work for us.

Reposted with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/historiography-2-enemy-215aOXMP4gt/

Historiography is the study of how we go about doing history. Timing, coherency, and embarrassment are three historiographical methods used to determine the reliability of a document’s content.  In this episode, apologist Jon Topping uses these methods to help us study the historicity of the New Testament.

Republished with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/historiography-1-early-OwyTnH_KJC0/

Why bother putting your faith in a 2,000-year-old book written by fishermen? In this episode, apologist Jon Topping looks at some reasons to think the books written in the first century about Jesus are actually reliable.

Reposted with permission. Original found at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ultimate-questions/the-reliability-of-the-new-0jMHcWrChe2/