New Series: Does the Bible Ever Get it Wrong? Facing Scripture’s Difficult Passages
From Christianity’s earliest days, the Scriptures have had their critics. Porphyry, a third-century neoplatonic philosopher, was particularly aggressive in his attacks on the historical veracity of the Gospels, often pointing out what he deemed to be their inconsistencies, contradictions, and historical problems.
For example, he pointed out how Mark 1:2 is not really quoting (just) Isaiah as the passage seems to indicate (frag. 9). Instead, it is actually a composite quote of Isaiah 40:3 and Mal 3:1 (with a little Ex 23:20 thrown in). Porphyry also attacked the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke, claiming they contradict one another (frag. 11).
Feeling the weight of Porphyry’s attacks, Christian thinkers began … Continue reading...
Gospel Critics and the Argument from Silence
“You can’t say everything.” This is one of the refrains I often cite to my students as we discuss historical documents. When ancient authors put quill to papyrus (or parchment), we need to remember that they had a limited amount of space, a limited amount of time, a limited number of goals, and often a very specific purpose for which they wrote.
Inevitably, therefore, an historical account will include some things that other historical accounts (of the same event) might omit, and they might omit some things that other historical accounts might include.
This reality is particularly important to remember when the Gospel accounts are analyzed and compared with one … Continue reading...
Are Christians Narrow-Minded and Intolerant?
When it comes to modern religious discourse, there is no greater sin than to claim your religion is the only one that is true. You can believe just about anything and receive a shrug of the shoulders from an unbelieving world, but say that you believe in one way to heaven and accusations of narrow-mindedness and intolerance are inevitable.
Years ago, there was a well-known interview between Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise about Scientology. Oprah was clearly skeptical of Cruise’s religious beliefs, but she then asked the million dollar question: “You don’t believe Scientology is the only true religion, do you?” It was easy to tell that the question was … Continue reading...
Bible Secrets Revealed: The Complete Series
For the last few months I have been working through the various episodes of Bible Secrets Revealed from the History Channel. This series challenges a number of popular beliefs and conceptions that people hold about the Bible, and raises questions about the integrity and reliability of the Scriptures. In each of the posts below, I summarize the main content of each episode and offer an evaluation and response.
This entire series has reminded me of two critical truths:
1. Our popular culture is prone to distort and misrepresent the teachings of the Bible. I was struck again by how sensationalistic and misleading popular-level programming can actually be when it … Continue reading...
One of the Best Apologetics Books in Years
Every once in a while a book is published that is so helpful, so original, and so needed, that it makes one wonder, Why was this book not written before now? James Anderson, associate professor of theology and philosophy here at RTS Charlotte, has written such a book: What’s Your Worldview? An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions (Crossway, 2o14).
This is a wonderful little book for a number of reasons. (1) Target audience. Although this book is certainly for Christians, it has a strong evangelistic thrust to it. It is designed to be given to non-Christians. (2) Methodology: Anderson has written this book from a presuppositional … Continue reading...