Christian Publishing House Blog
Apologetic Defense of the faith, the Bible, and Christianity
Some Christians say that we do not need Bible scholars. We only need the Holy Spirit. Some Christians feel that Bible scholars are the Devil's spawn. One Christian says the Bible scholars "are our present-day Pharisees." Yes, some Bible scholars can be a little snooty. But what would it be like if there was absolutely not one Bible scholar ever?
Some skeptics try to argue that the disciples had stolen Jesus' body, who then ran around claiming that Jesus had been resurrected. Others claim that the resurrection and appearing before others were nothing more than an illusion. Other skeptics make the claim that the resurrection was a hoax invented by Jesus' apostles. How can Christians respond?
“THIS is big. A lot of people are going to be upset.” “This changes the history of early Christianity.” (Andrew Cockburn, “The Judas Gospel,” National Geographic, May 2006, p. 91) These overly dramatic in the extreme statements came from scholars who, with open arms, welcomed, the publication of the “Gospel of Judas.” Did these predictions come true?
STEP 1: Raise your expectations. We dumb down the church with cartoon Bible study booklets, we dumb down our churchgoers with interpretive Bible translations (NIV, CEV, TEV, NLT, etc.) People will do what you expect them to do.
7 Steps to go ...
Was there really an epistle to the Laodiceans, and, if so why is it not in our Bibles? Some scholars maintain that the letter to the Ephesians was not specifically to those at Ephesus but rather it was a general letter to the Ephesians and the Laodiceans, mentioned at Colossians 4:16. In addition, they say, is that the words “which are at Ephesus” found in most translations of Ephesians 1:1 are an addition to the text. They argue the letter that we know as Ephesians was a general epistle sent to the churches in Asia. Are they correct?
Throughout the first 17 centuries of Christianity, the reliability of the Gospels was never really questioned in any serious way. However, especially from the 19th century forward, a number of scholars have viewed the Gospels, not as the inspired, inerrant Word God, but as being invented by men. Also, they have rejected that the Gospel writers had firsthand knowledge about Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be a skeptic? Are skeptics to be skeptical about all things or are they able to be skeptical about some things, while being a true believer about other things?
‘An easy and elegant skepticism is the attitude expected of an educated adult.’—British Philosopher Bertrand Russell.
Skepticism is generally a questioning attitude or doubts towards one or more items of putative knowledge or belief or dogma. It is often directed at domains, such as the supernatural, morality, theism, or knowledge.
As Christian apologetic evangelists who must reason, explain, prove, persuade, and defend, Christians show that Jesus Christ did live by using sources other than the Bible and the writing of the early Church Fathers. For those who question Christian the authority of the New Testament documents, examine carefully what the secular historians and other writers have written that, in fact, corroborates the testimony of the Bible.
This sickly, delicate, weak, halo-encircled, effeminate, melancholy, long-haired Christ, which is the common depiction in the art, is not even close to what Jesus would have looked like. In fact, it is far removed from the biblical Jesus. Find out from a Scriptural investigation what Jesus would have looked like.