For the second part on the reliability of the Bible, we are going to take a look another favorite subject that skeptics like to bring up; the authorship of the books in the Bible. The idea of this type of attack is that if the skeptic can make win the question who wrote a particular book of the Bible then the text cannot be reliable. Again, please keep in mind I am keeping these arguments at a layman’s level of someone who has had little prior exposure to these type of challenges. This is a primer to give reason to one’s faith and to answer basic challenges. It will not equip you to debate an experienced or hard-core skeptic. (more…)
Archive for November, 2015
Practical Apologetics – Reliability of the Bible, Part 2
Posted: November 23, 2015 in ApologeticsTags: Apologetics, Bible, Biblical reliability, blind faith, Christmas, Discovery Channel, Easter, history, History Channel, religion, theology
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Practical Apologetics – Reliability of the Bible, Part 1
Posted: November 16, 2015 in ApologeticsTags: Apologetics, Bible, Biblical reliability, blind faith, Christmas, Discovery Channel, Easter, history, History Channel, theology
Welcome to the first topic of what I hope will be a series of articles on “Practical Apologetics.” This series is not intended to be any sort of a scholarly work. Its goal is to be a source of practical application for the layman in simple articles that can be easily digested. To prepare against the hit pieces making their way through the various documentary channels (especially since it is Christmas season as I write), this first article addresses a favorite attack made against Christians; the reliability of the Bible. (more…)
Practical Apologetics – The Peter Principle
Posted: November 9, 2015 in ApologeticsTags: Apologetics, Bible, Biblical reliability, blind faith, Christmas, Discovery Channel, Easter, History Channel, religion, theology
I have written in the past about the dangers of abandoning apologetics in the Church (see: Apologetics: Never Having to Say You’re Sorry). In that article I had taken issue with the number of believers who rely on a blind faith rather than being able to “give an account for the hope that is within you,” as Peter put it (1 Peter 3:15). Another part of the problem is the mental connection that apologetics has with academia. Not only does this connection tend to relegate apologetics to higher education or the clergy, it also compartmentalizes apologetics into an intellectual or theoretical endeavor that does not have real and practical use for the layman. I have the highest respect for the professional apologist, and indeed, rely on their knowledge and research. I also think that without a practical application for all Christians, the field would be nothing more than knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Unfortunately, far too few laymen know enough about was apologetics is – much less the actual arguments themselves – to make practical use of it. As I write this, we are coming into the Christmas season. This is one of the two times of year that we begin seeing special after special on channels like Discovery or History about the holiday. These shows speak much to the historical events of Christmas or Easter and devote a great deal of effort to show us the “historical Jesus.”
Sounds good, right? (more…)