Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
I recently read Dick Staub’s The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite. This is basically Staub’s response to different parts of the church that either attempt to completely reject culture or who uncritically embrace culture. Because many Christians have rejected culture, the churches influence … Read More “The Culturally Savvy Christian” »
I found a very neat quote from the early church father Ignatius that I thought was very appropriate for Christian leadership today. I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For … Read More “Advice from Ignatius” »
I recently read Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. In some ways, Ehrman should be commended for this book. He took what is to many people the very boring subject of textual crticism and turned it into a New York Times bestseller. That is no easy task! Textual … Read More “Misquoting Jesus” »
An article in the New York Timesrecently caused a stir as the discovery of the Gabriel Stone (it was actually discovered about eight years ago) has led some to suggest that it is a pre-Christian example of a messiah who dies and rises on the third day. This has had number of responses from both critics … Read More “Responding to the Gabriel Stone” »
Everyone at one time or another feels stuck. Organizations or churches get to a certain spot and then just can not move forward. One of the books that I had to read for the Arrow Leadership Program addresses this very issue. Unstuck by Keith Yamashita and Sandra Spataro is not a Christian book and is … Read More “Unstuck” »
For those of you interested in the recent Gabriel Stone discovery, CNN has an interesting video on it that you can find here. This video has a helpful but brief comment by New Testament scholar Ben Witherington. I plan to give a more detailed response to this discovery soon, but this will give people something … Read More “Gabriel Stone Video” »
There is always a need for instruction in the Bible and theology, whether one is a new believer or a graduate of seminary. One of the best resources that I have found on the Internet is a place called biblicaltraining.org. They have audio courses for Christians at three levels, from new believers to those who … Read More “Biblical Training” »
One of the books that I have recently read is C.H. Dodd’s The Founder of Christianity. Dodd was one of the most important New Testament scholars of a previous generation. This was his last book and it came out in 1970. Despite being an older book, it is still a good read. If you are looking … Read More “The Founder of Christianity” »
One of the books that I am reading for the Arrow Leadership Program is Paul Borthwick’s Six Dangerous Questions. Paul Borthwick is minister of missions at Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts. Description:How do you see the world? As lots of great vacation spots? As millions of people with problems too big to imagine? Missionary Paul … Read More “Six Dangerous Questions” »
From all my lame defeats and oh! much more From all the victories that I seemed to score; From cleverness shot forth on Thy behalf At which, while angels weep, the audience laugh; From all my proofs of Thy divinity, Thou, who wouldst give no sign, deliver me. Thoughts are but coins. Let me not … Read More “The Apologist’s Evening Prayer” »
Sometimes critics like to suggest that the New Testament is late, and that although individual writings may be earlier, the gathering of them as Scripture is a much later development. We are led to believe that there were just a bunch of writings, orthodox, gnostic and other, that were floating around and then Constantine had … Read More “Polycarp and the New Testament” »
One of the earliest examples of Christian apologetic writing is Mathetes’ Epistle to Diognetus. This is an anonymous letter as mathetes is simply Greek for ‘disciple.’ The author calls himself a disciple of the Apostles (ch. 11), and some have thought him to be a disciple of Paul. We do not know when the letter … Read More “Epistle to Diognetus” »
One of the ways critical scholars have looked at the Pentateuch is to see it as a compilation of numerous sources over a long period of time (most often JEDP) rather than as a work primarily by Moses. While there may be some truth to the documentary hypothesis or some form of it, it is … Read More “A Rabbinic Response to the Documentary Hypothesis” »
One of the issues that comes up often concerns how literal to read the Bible. Often times our view of interpretation is defined by our attitude toward inspiration. Some liberals take the Bible as just various authors and editors’ personal opinions on God and spirituality and so the Bible need not be taken literally. Some … Read More “Reading the Bible Literally” »
In an issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (a magazine that I really enjoy), there is an article on the Gospel of Judas by Birger A. Pearson. Pearson explains how National Geographic really messed up in their publication of the Gospel of Judas and there are problems in the translation that seriously hinder a proper interpretation. … Read More “Varieties of Christianity?” »
I have been thinking a lot about the role of apologetics. Traditionally aplogetics has been a sub-set of evangelism. It is a set of intellectual arguments that are used as one tool to bring people to faith in Christ. There is truth to this. There is a need to clear away some of the uncertainties … Read More “Apologetics as Worship” »
I finally got around to reading book I have been interested in for some time: The Quest of the Historical Jesus by Albert Schweitzer. Schweitzer (1875-1965) was an incredible individual with doctorates in theology, medicine and music. This is an older book (published in 1906) but it still has a very important role in the … Read More “The Quest of the Historical Jesus” »
The Beliefnet web-site has a very interesting “blogalogue” between Bart Ehrman and N.T. Wright on the issue of suffering. Both are respected biblical scholars but Ehrman is a former evangelical who has left the faith and has become an agnostic while Wright is an evangelical Anglican bishop. Their conversation is quite stimulating. Ehrman makes some … Read More “Bart Ehrman and N.T. Wright on Suffering” »
One of the distinctives of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is their belief that Jesus is not God but is rather the archangel Michael. They derive this from the following passage. “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the … Read More “Is Jesus the Archangel Michael?” »
The web-site www.bethinking.org has a great lecture by Darrell Bock on the Jesus Seminar. I enjoy Darrell’s work and I read his blog regularly. Dr. Bock teaches New Testament at a conservative seminary (Dallas Theological Seminary), but I found his presentation to be quite balanced. Even though the focus of the lecture is on the Jesus … Read More “Bocking at the Jesus Seminar” »
Groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses sometimes point out that the Trinity is never mentioned in the Bible and yet traditional Christianity uses the Trinity as one of its major tests of orthodoxy. Could the Trinity be so important if it is never mentioned in the Bible? Does it even make sense? When you study … Read More “Why the Trinity Makes Sense” »
The following is an excerpt from our book Unmasking the Pagan Christ. In many ways the argument we give in this section should not be necessary as the suggestion of equating the raising of Lazarus and the raising of Osiris is ludicrous. But unfortunately some people, even with Ph.D.’s continue to make such claims. I … Read More “The Raising of El-Asar-us?” »
One of the most influential voices in suggesting that Gnosticism was a parallel and equal contender with Orthodoxy in being true Christianity is Elaine Pagels. Pagels, along with many others, claim that history was written by the winners and that Gnosticism is only considered a heresy because Orthodoxy won the theological war. I found an … Read More “The Gospel According to Elaine Pagels” »
Did Jesus receive his divinity by a vote at the Council of Nicaea? In part one of this discussion, we looked at Jewish monotheism and saw that there was some flexibility within that monotheism that could conceive of a divine figure beside the Heavenly Father. But just because there was potential within Judaism, does not … Read More “Divinity By Decree: Part Two” »
The subject of holidays with pagan origins came up recently in our discussion on Jehovah’s Witnesses. I mentioned that I consider this a “Samaritan” issue, that is a nonessential. However, I would like to pursue this a bit in that it has value in a lesson on applying biblical principles on a subject not directly mentioned … Read More “The Bible and Pagan Holidays” »
Recently two pleasant ladies came to our door. They were Jehovah’s Witnesses. I immediately I told them I was a pastor so as not to pretend that I was ignorant of the Bible and then to suddenly surprise them. They were still interested in talking to me, although I could tell they did change gears. … Read More “Jehovah’s Witnesses and What the Bible Really Teaches” »
There are many apologetics web-sites on the Internet. Some are better than others. I have seen some of the worst but thankfully there are some good ones as well. A good one that I have come across is www.bethinking.org that is particularly rich in audio files. Check it out, you might find something in your … Read More “Be Thinking” »
I just finished reading What Have They Done With Jesus? Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History – Why We Can Trust the Bible by Ben Witherington III. I like Ben Witherington’s stuff and I read his blog regularly. However, I was disappointed in this book in a way. The disappointment is actually with the title. … Read More “What Have They Done With Jesus?” »
How much of the Gospel accounts about Jesus are historical? What actually happened in Jesus’ life and what was the invention of the Gospel writers? E.P. Sanders says in his book The Historical Figure of Jesus, “The clearest cases of invention are in the birth narratives.” (p. 85) Sanders then goes on to describe a number … Read More “Virgin Birth” »
Dr. John Dickson has an interesting article on the resurrection that you can find here. I like what he says even if it might not be far enough for many Christians. Dickson attempts to find a balance between apologists who attempt to prove every minute detail of the biblical accounts and skeptics that deny pretty … Read More “Resurrection and History” »
When we look for the evidence of the historical Jesus, we must spend time dealing with the first century Jewish historian Josephus. Josephus wrote a number of books including one called the Antiquities of the Jews. This is a history of the Jews from creation to the Jewish War of 70 AD. If Jesus existed, … Read More “Testamonium Flavianum” »
I just finished reading Craig A. Evans’ Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. This was one of the best books on apologetics that I have ever read. Evans tackles the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, Bart Ehrman, Dan Brown, Barbara Thiering, Talpiot Tomb, Tom Harpur and more. You might wonder how any one … Read More “Fabricating Jesus” »
One of my favourite biblical scholars and writers is F.F. Bruce (1910-1990). Bruce’s career was the beginning of a renaissance in evangelical Christian scholarship. Bruce demonstrated that it was possible to be faithful to high levels of scholarship and the truth of the Bible. He inspired countless other evangelicals to continue to bridge this gap. I … Read More “The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?” »
I just finished reading a book called Jesus Now and Then by Richard Burridge and Graham Gould. The book is divided into two section written by each author: one on the New Testament and the other on church history. Both sections of the book focus on what Christians were saying about Jesus, especially in terms … Read More “Jesus Now and Then” »
The idea that Jesus was not a historical figure stubbornly remains in some areas. Is there truly any historical evidence for Jesus? There most definitely is. Some of the best non-biblical evidence comes from the first century Jewish historian, Josephus. Before we look at what Josephus said about Jesus, let us look at what Josephus … Read More “Josephus, John the Baptist and the Historical Jesus” »
My co-author on Unmasking the Pagan Christ, Stan Porter, was recently on the Drew Marshall Show, a Christian radio talk show. Stan co-wrote a book on the Gospel of Judas with the church history professor at McMaster Divinity College, Gord Heath titled The Lost Gospel of Judas: Separating Fact from Fiction. If you are interested … Read More “Gospel of Judas” »
There seems to be no lack of Jesus movies but a new one has come out that should capture some attention. It is called the Messiah and it was made by Iranian filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh. You can get some more information on this film and read an interview with Talebzadeh here. This film attempts to … Read More “The Muslim Jesus” »
One of my interests is the claim that Jesus was not a historical figure but rather just another myth. Despite my interest, I must confess a certain level of frustration. In many ways it is a silly argument. We deal with this in a number of ways in our book, Unmasking the Pagan Christ. However, there … Read More “The Jesus Myth” »
When writers attempt to revise the meaning of Christianity, imposing their own radical views, one of the ancient authors that they are often drawn to is the Alexandrian scholar Origen. Origen lived 185-254 AD, was known for his allegorical interpretations and was considered by some to be a heretic. You can see why he would … Read More “Origen of the Problem” »
It was commented that my use of the category ‘cult’ for Christian Science is not the most helpful for dialogue. I must confess that in the past I have been uncomfortable with that term as well. Therefore, I thought it would be worth looking at the issue of cults. Here are some definitions: 1 a … Read More “What is a Cult?” »
First of all, I want to say that I am not on an anti-Christian Science crusade. People are free to believe whatever they want to believe. But I am enjoying our conversation so I am going to keep going. It is very clear that a central tenet of Christian Science is the illusion of matter. … Read More “Matter Matters” »
My post on Christian Science seemed to gather a lot of interest, so I thought I would dig a little deeper. Since my previous post relied on the writings of an author critical of sectarian groups, in this post I would like to rely on Christian Science texts and the Bible. Their web-site (www.Christianscience.com) has … Read More “Christian Science and Jesus Christ” »
One of the things that I have encountered from time to time is the claim that Jesus received his divinity by vote at the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). For many Christians it seems preposterous that anyone could become a god by a decree. On this, the critics are not completely wrong. In the Roman Empire, … Read More “Divinity By Decree: Part One” »
One of my favourite authors and scholars is N.T. Wright. He is more of a New Testament scholar and historian than an apologist, but his work often has an apologetic tone. He has some great sections in his book Resurrection of the Son of God where he argues that the resurrection of Jesus can be … Read More “The Wright Stuff” »
A year ago or so, I received a phone call at the church from a young couple looking to get married. They wanted to rent our church but they would supply their own minister. I asked what church they belonged to and they told me they were a part of the Community of Christ. I … Read More “Community of Christ” »
As previously mentioned, I have been reading Emerging Churches: Creating Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger. Since some Christians are very concerned about the emerging church, some even considering it a heresy, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the emerging church. First of all, it is difficult … Read More “Emerging Ideas about the Emerging Church” »
We are very fortunate in our area to have a very high quality Christian radio station called Life 100.3. I enjoy the station but I was shocked this morning. At the end of their news broadcast they always have a good news segment. This morning it was promoting a web-site that testified of people getting … Read More “Christian Science is Not Christian” »
Should people care about defending the truth? Should we not just accept our differences and embrace our diversity? Actually, I am all for respecting differences and embracing diversity, inside and outside the Church. There are many grey areas that we must humbly listen to others with a teachable mind and heart. But there are other areas … Read More “Standing Up for the Truth” »
One of the things that I get frustrated with is the claim that the Apostle Paul never spoke of the historical Jesus. If this is true, it leaves wide open the claim that the early Christians saw Jesus not as a literal person but as a symbol for our own spiritual journey. Now it is … Read More “Paul and the Historical Jesus” »
The claim last year that archaeologists discovered the tomb of Jesus, including His remains, keeps coming back up. Scholars have clearly proven that the Talpiot tomb may have contained a Jesus (one of the most common names at that time), but it certainly was not the Jesus of the New Testament. Ben Witherington has a … Read More “The Tomb of Jesus” »
As part of my studies with the Arrow Leadership Program, I am doing some reading on the emerging church, specifically the book, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger. The emerging church is a movement (some would say a conversation) that embraces the postmodern worldview and often … Read More “Apologetics and the Emerging Church” »
