Restitutio

Apologetics 7: Evidence for the Resurrection During this lecture, I played a video of William Lane Craig making a case for the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  What’s so brilliant about Craig’s approach is that he doesn’t assume the bible is true to make his case.  He treats the Gospels and Paul’s letters as normal historical sources and uses the standard historiography of skeptics and atheists to establish this ancient miracle.  He employs the minimal facts strategy, arguing that (1) the honorable burial, (2) the empty tomb, (3) the appearances, and (4) the resurrection belief are agreed to by critical scholars.  Thus, the hypothesis, “God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead,” is the best historical explanation of facts. If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Notes: Four Historical Facts Agreed upon by Most Historical Jesus Scholars 1. Honorable Burial: Jesus was buried by Joseph Arimethea in a known grave attested by very old tradition in 1 Cor 15 uses technical rabbinic terminology for tradition formulaic Paul received this within 5 years of his crucifixion burial story is part of an old source used by Mark when he wrote most of Mark is like pearls on a string, but once we get to the passion narrative it is smooth and chronological….which suggests that the passion narrative was from an actual written source gospels don’t diverge until after the burial account as a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be a Christian invention strong resentment toward Jewish leadership responsible for the execution of Jesus so it is highly improbable that Christians would invent that a member of the very court that condemned Christ would be the one to give him an honorable burial no competing burial story exists no controversy over the issue if it were false, we should expect to find some historical trace of what really happened 2. Empty Tomb: On Sunday after the crucifixion women found the empty tomb empty tomb is in pre-Markan passion source Mark’s source did not end with burial but with empty tomb old tradition in 1 Cor 15 implies an empty tomb “that he was buried and that he was raised” clearly implies an empty grave was left behind apostolic preaching in the book of Acts Mark’s story is simple and lacks signs of legendary embellishment compare to Gospel of Peter (from 2nd half of 2nd century)…tomb is surrounded by Roman guard and by chief priests, Pharisees, and a huge crowd….suddenly during the night a voice rings out….three gigantic figures come out of the tomb with heads reaching to the sun….the cross comes out of the tomb and speaks women’s testimony was less trustworthy than men counts in favor of the women’s role in the discovery of the empty tomb Josephus says, “due to the levity and temerity of their sex, women should not be allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a court of law” any later legendary account would have made male disciples like Peter and John to be the first to discover the empty tomb earliest Jewish allegation that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body presupposes that the body was in fact missing from the tomb 3. Appearances: on multiple occasions and under a variety of circumstances, individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus after his death list of eyewitnesses quoted by Paul in 1 Cor 15 Paul actually knew these people

Halloween comes from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain when the Celts believed the boundary between our world and the spirit world grew thin, allowing spirits, fairies, and disembodied souls to enter our realm. Consequently, they employed several strategies to appease and misdirect these nefarious ghosts from messing with them. However, in our secular age, most Americans who participate in Halloween neither believe in this ancient mythology nor are they even aware of it when they dress their children in costumes and ring doorbells for free candy. What’s a Christian to do? On one end, the purists refuse to participate and put signs on their doors alerting trick-or-treaters not to disturb them, and on the other, Christians decorate their lawns with grizzly scenes from horror movies and encourage their children to dress up as ghosts and monsters. Listen to this episode of Off-Script as we discuss this seasonal issue.

Apologetics 6: Historical Jesus Have you ever heard of the Jesus mythicists? They teach that Jesus never existed, that he’s a myth. How would you go about debunking this claim? Are you aware of what historical sources mention Jesus and early Christianity? In this lecture you’ll learn what’s out there from biblical authors, historians, and hostile witnesses. The cumulative case for the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth is nothing short of staggering. If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Notes: New Testament is not one witness. It was not originally published as a single volume. Pre-Pauline Quotations 1 Corinthians 15.3-4 Philippians 2.6-10 Paul (wrote between a.d. 51 and 62) earliest written documents that mention Jesus written 20 – 30 years after death of Jesus born of a woman (Gal 4.4; Rom 1.3) had disciples (1 Cor 15.5) had brothers (1 Cor 9.5; Gal 1.19) Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11.23-25) crucified (1 Cor 2.2; 11.23; Gal 3.1) put to death by Jews (1 Thes 2.15) buried (1 Cor 15.4; Rom 6.4) raised from the dead (1 Cor 15.21) ascended into heaven (Eph 1.20-23) James (a.d. <62) slave of Jesus (1.1) Jesus is Lord Messiah (1.1) he is coming back (5.7) coming is near (5.8) Peter (a.d. <62) Christ suffered, sinless, bore our sins, did not revile (1 Peter 2.21-24) eyewitness of his majesty (transfiguration) (2 Peter 1.16-17) he is coming back (2 Peter 3.2-4) Jude (?) slave of Jesus several mentions of him, but not historical, mostly future Mark (a.d < 62) got his gospel from Peter miracles some sayings passion narrative resurrection stated Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15.21)…as if his audience knew Alexander and Rufus Matthew (after Mark) eye-witness birth narrative extensive teachings miracles passion narrative resurrection appearances Luke (after Mark) investigator, second hand birth narrative extensive teachings miracles lots of dinners passion narrative resurrection appearances ascension continuity with the church (Acts) Hebrews (after 62 before 70) mostly theological concerned with making the point that Jesus is superior to angels, Moses, Aaron, etc. because he is priest after Melchizedek, better covenant, better promises, etc. Christ died (9.26; 10.12; 12.2) tempted yet sinless (4.15) made like his brethren in all things (2.17) John (<a.d. 100) eye-witness pre-ministry miracle (wedding at Cana) miracles as signs attending festivals self-revelatory (“I am… statements) resurrection appreances Flavius Josephus (a.d. 93) first non-Christian to write about Jesus Passage 1 (about James) “but this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, {a} who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper o

Horror movies inspire fear, causing our hearts to beat faster and our adrenaline to flow.  Their monsters, murder, and jump scares have won them a dedicated following.  In this episode, we discuss whether Christians have any business watching horror movies.  We talk about where to draw the line and what exactly is problematic about this genre.  Furthermore, we talk about haunted houses and the idea of using such fear tactics to win people to the Lord.  Whether you love horror or hate it, this episode should help you to think through this issue from a biblical perspective.

Apologetics 5: Arguments for God (Part Two) In this lecture, you’ll learn four more reasons for God’s existence, including the cosmological argument, moral argument, miracles argument, and the ontological argument. These are each quite different from each other, which is great because it increases their cumulative effect. Last of all, you’ll learn about “Pascal’s Wager,” which is really just an appeal to self-interest, so you can share your faith effectively with skeptics. If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Notes: First Cause (Cosmological Argument) Here are all the possibilities for thinking about the beginning of the universe: Three step argument Everything that has a beginning has a cause of its beginning The universe has a beginning 2nd law of thermo (Meister, p. 93-94) big bang theory(Meister, p. 96) cannot cross an actual infinite series of events (Mesiter, p. 99) The universe has a cause of its beginning The universe did not cause itself because it did not exist before its beginning The cause of the universe must be external to it (i.e. super-natural) This cause must be sufficiently powerful to bring the universe into existence There are only two kinds of causes: personal or impersonal processes If a process caused the universe to come into existence then how does one explain the fact that the universe did not always exist? Can an impersonal process one day begin to do something? Thus the cause must have been personal (i.e. a being or beings with a will(s)) Two drawbacks to this argument it does not rule out multiple gods it does not rule out the possibility of an infinite succession of gods Who made God? God was always there. Since he does not have a beginning he does not need a cause. then the universe could have always been here and we don’t need to posit the existence of a god to explain it theoretically this is correct except for one thing: all scientists now agree that the universe did not always exist (2nd law of thermodynamics)   Argument from Morality Some actions are morally wrong (like torturing children for the fun of it) These actions are moral absolutes If there are moral absolutes there must be some moral law by which they can be determined If there is a moral law then there must be a moral law giver or else it must be produced by natural processes Assuming naturalism one social “law” becomes apparent: might makes right (also called survival of the fittest) If this is the true law by which morals are to be determined then it is moral to do anything one wants so long as he or she is strong enough to accomplish it This legalizes rape, murder, genocide, and torturing children for the fun of it But we have already said that torturing children for the fun of it is absolutely morally wrong Thus, morals are not determined by nature and there exists (or existed) a moral law giver who is itself the locus of true morality this doesn’t mean athiests are not moral people, they may be, they just don’t have a grounding or foundation for being moral   God Experiences miracles defined as an event that could not happen based on the laws of nature there are many claims to miracles throughout time and also in our own day

In my previous interview with Professor Dale Tuggy, we discussed his journey of faith.  In this conversation I ask him to discuss logical and biblical problems with the Trinity.  This is a higher level conversation, but well worth the listen if you are at all curious about the Trinity or are interesting in hearing how analytic philosophers approach complex doctrines. For more about Professor Tuggy and his work, including his amazing podcast, visit trinities.org.  

Apologetics 4: Teleological Arguments for God’s Existence If someone asked you, “Why do you believe in God?” How would you answer? Sadly, most of us would flounder around, maybe talking about the bible or second-hand miracles. However, philosophers have long identified three classic approaches to reasoning about God’s existence: the ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments. In this lecture, you’ll learn several versions of the teleological argument–evidence for intelligent design–so that you can reason from the complexity of creation to the existence of the creator. If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Notes: introduce three main arguments cosmological: cause and effect teleological: order and design ontological: reason alone general approach for teleological arguments: the universe exhibits a certain level of order and design a design requires a designer a designer of the universe exists what proof is there that a painter exists? a painting what does a building prove? a builder exists what about a tree? it is more complex than a painting or building, doesn’t this prove a tree-maker exists relating to design or purpose especially in nature (m-w.com) it is based on order and design Romans 1.18-20 and Psalm 19.1-4 Advantages to the teleological argument It is very easy to prove because it is in experience The argument uses well established scientific facts to prove the existence of God True science will always lead to God. In the end science it the study of the creation and thus an indirect study of the Creator. “The conflicts between ‘science’ and ‘religion’ occur in historical science, not in operational science.” (Answer’s Book, p. 21) classic formulation: William Paley’s Watchmaker Argument Suppose you were walking along the beach and saw a watch on the ground… How many parts are in the watch? biological complexity, cosmic complexity, the just right conditions for earth (distance from sun, etc.) Cell Complexity (Biological Teleological Argument) Consider a human cell blood-clotting mechanism, the bacterial flagellum, photosynthetic apparatus, pupal transformation from caterpillars to butterflies, complexity of human brain, “The most reasonable inference from such observations is that outside intelligence was responsible for a vast original store of biological information in the form of created populations of fully functioning organisms. Such intelligence vastly surpasses human intelligence…” (Answer’s Book, p. 29) Information in DNA (Origin of Code Approach) it is an encoding/decoding system the sequence represents something other than itself (i.e. the genes contain the information about what an organism will be) It has an alphabet and a syntax (the combinations of letters mean something) A DNA sequence can be copied and stored on other media without a loss of information (only language has this property) In fact even committed atheists will refer to it as the DNA code (code is a language; think of Morse code or computer code) The DNA code contains information which is neither matter nor energy (though it is stored/transmitted/encoded/decoded by matter and energy) Language comes from a mind (there are no languages that do not come from a mind) this argument hinges on this assertion

In this interview with philosopher Dr. Dale Tuggy, I ask him questions about his personal spiritual journey.  Dr. Tuggy is an analytic philosopher who works on world religions and the doctrine of the Trinity.  He’s a tenured professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia.  Furthermore, he runs a popular website called trinities.org where he blogs and hosts a podcast of the same name.  Dr. Tuggy also wrote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Trinity, an excellent read, including a very informative supplemental reading called “unitarianism.”  In what follows I interview Dr. Tuggy about his own journey of faith, including how he became a Christian, what got him into philosophy, how he came to doubt the traditional doctrine of the trinity, and where he sees the future of the biblical unitarian movement going. To get in touch with Professor Tuggy, visit Trinities.org or his personal bio page.  Also, you can subscribe to his podcast on iTunes or Google Play and follow him Youtube.

Apologetics 3: Theism, Atheism, and Pantheism In Building Belief, Chad Meister uses a worldview comparison chart to simplify all the religions of the world into three broad categories: theism, atheism, and pantheism. This strategy will help you to compare and contrast five major aspects of these three worldviews, including theology, ontology, epistemology, axiology, and anthropology. Next, you can evaluate each of the three main possibilities on the basis of logic and livability. This way of looking at world religions can especially help you in talking to others about the faith. If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Here now is lecture three: Theism, Atheism, and Pantheism. Notes: worldview: “a collection of beliefs and ideas about the central issues of life…the lens through which we ‘see’ all of reality” (Meister, 39)[1] theology: is there a God, if so what is God like? ontology: what is ultimate reality? epistemology: how do we acquire knowledge? axiology: what is the basis for morality? anthropology: who are we as human beings (Mesiter, p. 40) origin, meaning, morals, destiny the worldview approach is so helpful because there are thousands of religions and no one would have the time to study and evaluate them all since they can be categorized into three main worldviews, we can immediately eliminate huge numbers of them if we can disprove or prove one of these to be correct According to Meister, there are three worldviews: atheism, theism, and pantheism common objection1: how do you know that Christianity is right and all the other thousands of religions are wrong? how can you be so arrogant? common objection2: all religions are just the same anyhow like the blind man and the elephant   paradigm atheism pantheism theism God/gods/divinity (theology) no supernatural arguments for God God is everything; everything is God if God has a mind then he can’t be a rock; if he doesn’t have a mind then he is not a person one or more gods exist apart from nature problem of evil; no empirical test for supernatural beings reality (ontology) naturalism (big bang + evolution) big bang needs cause, origin of 1st life, Cambrian explosion no distinction between creator and creation why can’t I read minds if there is only one mind? physical and spiritual realities both exist; spiritual first then physical God of the gaps knowledge (epistemology) scientific method can’t prove logic, can’t understand love or altruism can’t trust senses; learn through meditation; look with in then I don’t need to listen to you teach me how to think about pantheism (only ideas I conceive of are true) knowledge gained through senses (scientific method) and revelation (divine insight) what about wackos who say God told them to kill their children? morality (axiology/ethics) socially constructed, determined by evolution if no absolute source for morals, then why follow them? selfishness leads to dysfunction evil is an illusion; eliminate attachments can’t detach from loving my children God sets absolute standard for right and wrong Euthyphro dilemma humanity (anthropology) physical only, electro-mechanical machines difficult to explain consciousness spiritual only, physical is a deception but I know I have a physical body! both physical and spiritual brain damage affects personality atheism description: theology: no God or supernatural ontology: naturalism (big bang + evolution) nothing outside of nature exists epistemology: scientific method, empiricism

What standards should Christians have when it comes to entertainment?  Can the bible offer any guidance for such a modern issue?  Every day shows, movies, books, and songs bombard us with all kinds of ideas and depictions that constantly nudge us in different directions.  Although, we like to think of ourselves as impervious to the subtle effects of violent movies, sex scenes, foul language, and so on, the truth is we are more like sponges than stones.  This is an important topic worthy of your consideration.