Recently, someone said to me that the Warren Center’s upcoming Spring Apologetics Lectures program has great potential to challenge skeptical philosophy in its rejection of the Christian worldview and demoralization of American education and culture. I think this person is right, and I am excited to tell you why!
Read MoreA part of the apologetic armory of the Christian faith is fulfilled prophecy. One of the common methods of historical apologetics "calls attention to fulfilled prophecy. For example . . . the probability that all the biblical prophecies regarding the Messiah would be fulfilled in a single person (Jesus) without supernatural design is infmitesimally small" (Beilby 311). While there are no prophecies in the Qur'an, in the Hindu Vedas, in the sayings of Buddha, Confucius, or in the Book of Mormon, it has been estimated that "30% of the Bible consists of [predictive] prophecy of one kind or another, making it unique in religious literature" (Blanchard 408). "There is nothing in the Qur'an [or any of the other above purported revelations], by way of types and shadows, that serves as evidence of its divine origin, whereas the Bible contains large sections of typology (even entire books - cf. The Epistle to the Hebrews) that prove its divine origin" (Pugh 7).
Read MoreThe following study will briefly discuss the recent papyrus fragment, titled by Dr. Karen L. King as, “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.” Truth? No. Sensationalism? Yes. Wishful thinking? Yes. Falsehood? Yes.
Read More“What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22). Though this is the question that was asked by Pilate almost two thousand years ago, yet I consider it the supreme religious question of our own age.
Shall we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? or shall we, like those of His own day, cry out with violence: “Let Him be crucified!” To fail to answer, is but to answer.
Read MoreJesus Christ is unique. The word “begotten” (monogenes) in John 3:16 also means unique—the only one of its kind. First, Jesus is described in the Scriptures as unique. He is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16). He is the Son of man (Matthew 16:13, 27, 28). He is the King of Israel (John 1:49). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness (Revelation 3:14). He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He is the Lamb who takes away our sins (John 1:29). He is the prophet like Moses (Acts 3:22-23). He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). He is the good shepherd (John 10:11). He is the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). He is the light of the world (John 8:12). He is the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2).
Read MoreFrom April 1 to April 22, 1923, twenty-three sermons were delivered by the inimitable N.B. Hardeman at the famed Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry, in Tennessee's capital city of Nashville. The second of these sermons included an examination of the period between the Old and New Testaments in which Hardeman surveyed the reign of the infamous Herod the Great who occupied the throne when the angel of the Lord announced on that starlit night, that a Savior, Christ the Lord, has been born (Luke 2:8, 11).
Read MoreTwo thousand years ago, a baby, whose name was Jesus, was born in Bethlehem of Judea. The world has never been the same. Times change. Habits change. Nations forget their history. They never forget Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus really was born, lived, died, resurrected and ascended. These are historical facts. However, there is a sense in which we need to be careful as we speak of Jesus Christ as an "historical person." You see, the Person who was (is) Jesus, not only lived as an historical Person, but He has always existed.
Two thousand years ago a baby was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He was named Jesus. Since His birth, His name has filled twenty-one centuries of human history. E M. Blaiklock, who held the Chair of Classics at the University of Auckland and taught Latin, Greek, and Ancient History for more than four decades, wrote, “Times change. Habits change. Nations and men disastrously forget their history. They never forget Jesus of Nazareth” (8).
Read MoreWilbur M. Smith authored a classic study on the person and work of Jesus Christ titled, The Supernaturalness of Christ. In the Preface to the book, Smith says,
This volume is an attempt to set forth the basic facts involved in the birth, the Transfiguration, the miraculous acts, and the Resurrection, of Jesus Christ, that people may have an opportunity to individually come to definite conclusions as to whether Christ was or was not a truly supernatural person, the Son sent by the Father to be the Saviour of the world. (xv-xvi)
Nowhere in history are attacks upon the identity and work of a person and a religion more prevalent than over the identity and work of Jesus of Nazareth and Christianity.
The Bible gives us the only significant and trustworthy information about Jesus of Nazareth and His work. The significance of this information is apparent because of the inspiration of the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:1-16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21); thereby, giving the Bible inerrancy and trustworthiness
Christianity is a religion based on facts. This is a hard pill to swallow in our present generation. Postmodern religion is less concerned about knowledge and facts and more concerned with faith and what is believed. In spite of this current philosophy, the Bible clearly shows us that the two go hand-in-hand. Faith and belief must be founded upon facts and knowledge. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21; John 8:32; et. al.).
Read MoreDear Joe:
I cannot tell you how shocked I was to learn about your terrible loss. In one breathtaking, heartbreaking instant he left us, without warning or farewell. In one mind numbing moment he vanished from our midst. In a trance, we lowered his beloved body. . . . In total wonderment, we heard friends and family discuss him in the past tense. In a haze of horror, our thoughts came to grips with our feelings: We will never see him again in this world, his smile will never cheer our spirits one last time, his tenderness will never again touch our souls. . . .
From the first century up to the present day, the Sonship and divinity of Jesus have been attacked with amazingly and seemingly unending vigor and venom. One of the modern-day leaders in this attack against Christianity would certainly be Bertrand Russell, who was one of the most influential, and often outspoken, philosophers of the twentieth century. He was born in England in 1872 and continued to write and lecture in both Europe and the United States until not long before his death in 1970. His parents were freethinkers and close friends with John Stuart Mill, a pioneer in modern scientific thinking who devised rules for inductive scientific reasoning and was a leader of ethical utilitarianism (“Russell” 235).
Read MoreFor the last 2,000 years, the Christian faith has dominated the life and culture of the West. The
Bible is one of the most read books in human history, and the figures within its pages are among the most familiar and most beloved in world literature. Of all the characters in this book of books, none is more famous than Jesus Christ. Millions have prayed in His name and patterned their lives after His impeccable ethical example. His indelible impression on the world left it forever changed for the better.