Christianity 101 (apologetics)
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Basic overview of introductory apologetics: (1) Can we prove God's existence? (2) Is the Bible reliable? (3) Was Jesus God or a good guy? [additional references found in "notes" section of each slide]
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Christianity 101 (apologetics)
- 1. Build a Firm Foundation
- 2. 1.Apologetics 2.Old Testament 3.New Testament 4.Basic Doctrine 5.The Church
- 3. /noun/: [1] systematic argumentative discourse in defense (as of a doctrine) /noun/: [2] a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity
- 4. 1. Can you prove God’s existence? 2. Is the Bible reliable? 3. Is Jesus God or just a good guy? APOLOGETICS
- 5. 1. Why doesn’t God “just reveal” himself? 1. Where are the miracles today? 2. “I don’t need apologetics. I just believe.” 3. Constructing a “ladder of apologetics.” 1. Can you prove God’s existence?
- 6. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 2 Corinthians 10.5 (ESV)
- 8. • Teleological Argument • Cosmological Argument • Moral Argument 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Theistic Proofs
- 9. • Also known as the argument from design • Looks at purpose, complexity, and intentionality • 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: Entropy 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Teleological Argument
- 11. 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Colossians 1:16–17 (NLT)
- 12. 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Teleological Argument Strengths Weaknesses Easiest to explain and understand Doesn’t necessarily point to the God of the Bible Abundant Scriptural support: Doesn’t explain evil and disorder Psalm 19.1; Job 38-39; Eph 1.11; Col 1.16-17
- 13. • Teleological Argument • Cosmological Argument • Moral Argument 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Theistic Proofs
- 14. • The argument of cause & effect • Every physical thing we observe is an effect • (it was caused by something else) • There cannot exist an infinite amount of causes • The universe had a beginning • 2nd Law of Thermodynamics 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Cosmological Argument
- 16. Until the Big Bang Theory, astrologers believed the universe did not have an origin.
- 17. 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Cosmological Argument Strengths Weaknesses Based on common sense Doesn’t prove a first cause Easy to illustrate Doesn’t explain evil and disorder In continuity with science
- 18. • Teleological Argument • Cosmological Argument • Moral Argument 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Theistic Proofs
- 19. • The argument of right from wrong • All humans have a universal moral law written on their hearts • That moral law had to come from a transcendent lawgiver 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Moral Argument
- 22. 1. Can you prove God’s existence? Moral Argument Strengths Weaknesses Most people will concede the basic idea of morality Doesn’t explain the origin of evil Most closely points to the God of Christianity
- 24. 1. Can you prove God’s existence? 2. Is the Bible reliable? 3. Is Jesus God or just a good guy? APOLOGETICS
- 25. • Christianity stands on the Bible • The Bible claims: • God-inspired (2 Tim 3.16) • Able to predict the future (Gal 3.8) • Powerful and active (Heb 4.12) • To offer salvation (Luke 11.28) 2. Is the Bible reliable? IF the Bible is true, then all other religions are false when/where they contradict Christianity.
- 26. 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NLT)
- 27. • Written over a 1500-yr time span • Covers over 40 generations • Written in different places • Wilderness, dungeon, prison, palace, island • Written by over 40 authors: • Kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, etc. 2. Is the Bible reliable? Fun Bible Facts
- 28. • Written on 3 different continents • Asia, Africa, Europe • Written in 3 different languages • Hebrew (2 Kings 18.26) • Aramaic (common language of Near East) • Greek (International language in 1st Century) • Composed of different genres: • History, poetry, prophecy, personal correspondence 2. Is the Bible reliable? Fun Bible Facts
- 30. • How were the books “chosen,” and by what criteria? • Internal Consistency • Fulfilled Prophecy • Archaeological Confirmation • Historical Accuracy 2. Is the Bible reliable? Biblical Reliability
- 31. • Internal Consistency 2. Is the Bible reliable? Biblical Reliability
- 32. After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them. Colossians 4.16 (NLT)
- 33. • Jesus’ arrival was predicted hundreds of years before he was born • Isaiah (681 BC) • Daniel (530 BC) 2. Is the Bible reliable? Biblical Reliability
- 34. 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)
- 35. 2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Micah 5:2 (ESV)
- 37. 2. Is the Bible reliable? Extant Ancient Documents Author Written Earliest Copy Time Span No. of Copies Pliny the Younger AD 61-113 AD 850 750 years 7 Aristotle 384-322 BC AD 1100 1400 years 5 Caesar 100-44 BC AD 900 1000 years 10 The Bible AD 40-80 AD 125/330 80-250 years 5300
- 38. 1. Was Jesus a real person? 2. How has he been viewed? 3. What does the Bible say about his identity? 4. Basic Intro to Christology WHO IS JESUS?
- 39. “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.” -H.G. Wells
- 40. “As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.” -Historian Kenneth Scott Latourette
- 42. “Nero fastened the guilt on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome…” 1. Was Jesus a Real Person? Tacitus, AD 56-117 Non-Biblical Historical Sources
- 43. “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food–but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.” 1. Was Jesus a Real Person? Pliny the Younger, AD 61-112 Non-Biblical Historical Sources
- 44. “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he wrought surprising feats. He was the Christ. When Pilate condemned him to be crucified, those who had come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared restored to life. And the tribe of Christians has not disappeared.” 1. Was Jesus a Real Person? Josephus, AD 37- 100 Non-Biblical Historical Sources
- 45. The Christians worship a man to this day–the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.” 1. Was Jesus a Real Person? Lucian, AD 125- 180 Non-Biblical Historical Sources
- 47. “There is more physical and documented proof that the historical Jesus lived 2000 years ago than there exists proof of Alexander the Great.” -Josh McDowell, author, researcher 1. Was Jesus a Real Person?
- 48. 2. How has he been viewed? Who Do You Say That I Am? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erK28tenDnA
- 49. 3. What Does the Bible Say? How Would You Defend the Deity of Christ?
- 50. Divine Titles Divine Roles Divine Actions Object of Worship OT Applied to Jesus Explicit Affirmations of Deity 3. What Does the Bible Say?
- 51. Explicit Affirmations of Deity John 1:1, John 1:18, John 20:28, Acts 20:28 Romans 9:5, Titus 1:13, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:1 1 John 5:20 OT Applied to Jesus Matthew 3:3 (Is 40:3), Hebrews 1:10-12 (Ps 102:25-27), 1 Cor 8:6 (Deut 6:4) Object of Worship Matthew 2:2*, 2:8, 2:11*, 8:2, 9:18, 14:33*, 15:25, 20:20, 28:9*, 28:17* Revelation 4:5*, 7:9- 12, 22:3*, 22:8-9* Divine Actions Mark 2:5-12, 4:35-41 (Ps 107:23-31), 6:47-52 (Job 9:8) Divine Roles Psalm 3:8 (Jonah 2:9), Matthew 1:21-23, Revelation 7:10, John 10:11-15, Ezekiel 34:11- 16, Acts 2:16-18 (Joel 2:28-32), Acts 2:33, John 16:7 Divine Titles Mark 10:45, Daniel 7, Psalm 8, Psalm 2:7-9, Romans 1:1-4, John 1:49, John 5:25-27
- 52. 4. Intro to Christology THE CHALCEDONIAN CREED We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
- 54. “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” -C.S. Lewis
Editor's Notes
- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apologetics
- 1. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11.6) 1.1 A miracle is when God temporarily suspends a natural law of the universe, revealing himself to substantiate a specific revelation 2. Being able to clearly explain/defend Christianity can help others grow in faith (cf. 2 Cor 10.5) 3. A ladder of apologetics shortens the “leap of faith” required to believe in God.
- 3 of the most popular arguments for the existence of God
- The Teleological Argument goes like this: 1. Every design had a designer. 2. The universe has highly complex design. 3. Therefore, the universe had a Designer. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 95.
- If you were to spell out all of the A, T, C, and G in the “unjustly called ‘primitive’ amoeba” (as Dawkins describes it), the letters would fill 1,000 complete sets of an encyclopedia! Now, we must emphasize that these 1,000 encyclopedias do not consist of random letters but of letters in a very specific order—just like real encyclopedias. The complexity of DNA is not the only problem for Darwinists. Its origin is also a problem. A difficult chicken-egg dilemma exists because DNA relies on proteins for its production but proteins rely on DNA for their production. So which came first, proteins or DNA? One must already be in existence for the other to be made. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 116.
- 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: the universe has a finite (fixed, limited) amount of energy. If the universe had no beginning (IOW: extended eternally into the past), it would have run out of energy by now. “Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover.… That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 84–85.
- Each boxcar is moved (effect) by the car in front of it (cause) until the front of the train reveals a locomotive (first cause/God).
- Robert Jastrow suggested this when he ended his book God and the Astronomers with this classic line: “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 94.
- Regardless of whether we agree on the specifics of what is universally wrong or right, ALL humans have a sense of “ought” (aka: conscience) internally persuading us to choose good over evil. The ability to reason morally is what separates mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom (cf. Gen 1.27) “But you will find inside you, in addition to these two impulses, a third thing which tells you that you ought to follow the impulse to help, and suppress the impulse to run away. Now this thing that judges between two instincts, that decides which should be encouraged, cannot itself be either of them. You might as well say the sheet of music which tells you, at a given moment, to play one note on the piano and not another, is itself one of the notes on the keyboard. The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys.” (CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, pg. 22)
- There is no explanation for “evil” within Darwinian natural selection: everything that exists (including our behavior) is the result of chemical/material composition. A conscience persuading us to reason morally (and therefore choose what we “ought” to do) is not explainable within a Darwinian (macro-evolution) worldview. Per “survival of the fittest” (aka: natural selection) methodology, everything that exists is material—owing its existence merely to chemical composition. With that line of reasoning, it is not possible to judge between Hitler and Mother Teresa. Darwinism asserts that only materials exist, but materials don’t have morality. How much does hate weigh? Is there an atom for love? What’s the chemical composition of the murder molecule? These questions are meaningless because physical particles are not responsible for morality. If materials are solely responsible for morality, then Hitler had no real moral responsibility for what he did—he just had bad molecules. Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Dont Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 187.
- The moral argument gets us closer to the God of the Bible (a benevolent, moral lawgiver) than any of the other arguments.
- This is not to say other religions do not possess any truth whatsoever. They certainly do. However, all western religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) make exclusive claims limiting their compatibility with one another.
- See also: John 14.6, Mark 16.16, etc.
- Earlier in life, President Lincoln made anti-theism comments as well.
- …the decisions of church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries did not determine the canon, nor did they even first discover or recognize it. In no sense was the authority of the canonical books contingent upon the later church councils. All those councils did was to give later, broader, and final recognition to what was already a fact, namely, that God had inspired them and that the people of God had accepted them in the first century …the first centuries of the church (prior to a.d. 313) were times of great persecution that did not provide the resources nor allow for research, reflection, and recognition concerning the first-century situation. As soon as that was made possible (after a.d. 325), it was only a short time before there was general recognition of all the canonical books. That was accomplished by the councils of Hippo (a.d. 393) and Carthage (397). Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Rev. and expanded. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 231.
- There is ample evidence in Scripture that books were immediately accepted into the canon by contemporaries of the writers. For example, when Moses wrote, his books were immediately placed by the Ark (Deut. 31:26). Joshua’s writing was accepted in like manner (Josh. 24:26). Following him there were books by Samuel and others (1 Sam. 10:25). Daniel even had a copy of Moses and the Prophets (Dan. 9:2, 10–11) which included the book of his contemporary Jeremiah (Dan. 9:2). Likewise, in the New Testament Paul quoted the gospel of Luke as Scripture (1 Tim. 5:18) and Peter had a collection of Paul’s letters” (2 Peter 3:16). Indeed, the apostles exhorted that their letters be read and circulated among the churches (1 Thess. 5:27; Col. 4:16; Rev. 1:3).
- Canonizing the NT was merely recognizing what was already in practice for nearly two centuries. Though a list was clearly necessary to fulfill Constantine's commission in 331 of fifty copies of the Bible for the Church at Constantinople, no concrete evidence exists to indicate that it was considered to be a formal canon. In the absence of a canonical list, the resolution of questions would normally have been directed through the see of Constantinople, in consultation with Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (who was given the commission), and perhaps other bishops who were available locally. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of exactly the same books that would formally become the New Testament canon,[6] and he used the word "canonized" (kanonizomena) in regard to them.[7] The first council that accepted the present Catholic canon (the Canon of Trent) may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa (393); the acts of this council, however, are lost.
- Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament (PROPHECY O.T. REFERENCES N.T. FULFILLMENT) Seed of the woman Gen. 3:15 Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14 Through Noah’s sons Gen. 9:27 Luke 6:36 Seed of Abraham Gen. 12:3 Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:8, 16 Seed of Isaac Gen. 17:19 Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18 Blessing to nations Gen. 18:18 Gal. 3:8 Seed of Isaac Gen. 21:12 Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18 Blessing to Gentiles Gen. 22:18 Gal. 3:8, 16; Heb. 6:14 Blessing to Gentiles Gen. 26:4 Gal. 3:8, 16; Heb. 6:14 Blessing through Abraham Gen. 28:14 Gal. 3:8, 16; Heb. 6:14 Of the tribe of Judah Gen. 49:10 Rev. 5:5 No bone broken Ex. 12:46 John 19:36 Blessing to firstborn son Ex. 13:2 Luke 2:23 No bone broken Num. 9:12 John 19:36 Serpent in wilderness Num. 21:8–9 John 3:14–15 A star out of Jacob Num. 24:17–19 Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:33, 78; Rev. 22:16 As a prophet Deut. 18:15, 18–19 John 6:14; 7:40; Acts 3:22–23 Cursed on the tree Deut. 21:23 Gal. 3:13 The throne of David established forever 2 Sam. 7:12–13, 16, 25–26 1 Chron. 17:11–14, 23–27 2 Chron. 21:7 Matt. 19:28; 21:4; 25:31; Mark 12:37; Luke 1:32; John 7:4; Acts 2:30; 13:23 Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8 Heb. 1:5, 8; 8:1; 12:2; Rev. 22:1 A promised Redeemer Job 19:25–27 John 5:28–29; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:7, 11, 14 Declared to be the Son of God Ps. 2:1–12 Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Acts 4:25–26; 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Rev. 2:26–27; 19:15–16 His resurrection Ps. 16:8–10 Acts 2:27; 13:35; 26:23 Hands and feet pierced Ps. 22:1–31 Matt. 27:31, 35–36 Mocked and insulted Ps. 22:7–8 Matt. 27:39–43, 45–49 Soldiers cast lots for coat Ps. 22:18 Mark 15:20, 24–25, 34; Luke 19:24; 23:35; John 19:15–18, 23–24, 34; Acts 2:23–24 Accused by false witnesses Ps. 27:12 Matt. 26:60–61 He commits his spirit Ps. 31:5 Luke 23:46 No bone broken Ps. 34:20 John 19:36 Accused by false witnesses Ps. 35:11 Matt. 26:59–61; Mark 14:57–58 Hated without reason Ps. 35:19 John 15:24–25 Friends stand afar off Ps. 38:11 Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49 “I come to do Thy will” Ps. 40:6–8 Heb. 10:5–9 Betrayed by a friend Ps. 41:9 Matt. 26:14–16, 47, 50; Mark 14:17–21; Luke 22:19–23; John 13:18–19 Known for righteousness Ps. 45:2, 6–7 Heb. 1:8–9 His resurrection Ps. 49:15 Mark 16:6 Betrayed by a friend Ps. 55:12–14 John 13:18 His ascension Ps. 68:18 Eph. 4:8 Hated without reason Ps. 69:4 John 15:25 Stung by reproaches Ps. 69:9 John 2:17; Rom. 15:3 Given gall and vinegar Ps. 69:21 Matt. 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36; John 19:29 Exalted by God Ps. 72:1–19 Matt. 2:2; Phil. 2:9–11; Heb. 1–8 He speaks in parables Ps. 78:2 Matt. 13:34–25:34 Seed of David exalted Ps. 89:3–4, 19, 27–29, 35–37 Luke 1:32; Acts 2:30; 13:23; Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8 Son of Man comes in glory Ps. 102:16 Luke 21:24, 27; Rev. 12:5–10 “Thou remainest” Ps. 102:24–27 Heb. 1:10–12 Prays for his enemies Ps. 109:4 Luke 23:34 Another to succeed Judas Ps. 109:7–8 Acts 1:16–20 A priest like Melchizedek Ps. 110:1–7 Matt. 22:41–45; 26:64; Mark 12:35–37; 16:19; Acts 7:56; Eph. 1:20; Col. 1:20; Heb. 1:13; 2:8; 5:6; 6:20; 7:21; 8:1; 10:11–13; 12:2 The chief corner stone Ps. 118:22–23 Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17; John 1:11; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4 The King comes in the name of the Lord Ps. 118:26 Matt. 21:9; 23:39; Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35; 19:38; John 12:13 David’s seed to reign Ps. 132:11 cf. 2 Sam. 7:12–13, 16, 25–26, 29 Matt. 1:1 Declared to be the Son of God Prov. 30:4 Matt. 3:17; Mark 14:61–62; Luke 1:35; John 3:13; 9:35–38; 11:21; Rom. 1:2–4; 10:6–9; 2 Pet. 1:17 Repentance for the nations Isa. 2:2–4 Luke 24:47 Hearts are hardened Isa. 6:9–10 Matt. 13:14, 15; John 12:39, 40; Acts 28:25–27 Born of a virgin Isa. 7:14 Matt. 1:22, 23 A rock of offense Isa. 8:14, 15 Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8 Light out of darkness Isa. 9:1, 2 Matt. 4:14–16; Luke 2:32 God with us Isa. 9:6, 7 Matt. 1:21, 23; Luke 1:32, 33; John 8:58; 10:30; 14:19; 2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 2:9 Full of wisdom and power Isa. 11:1–10 Matt. 3:16; John 3:34; Rom. 15:12; Heb. 1:9 Reigning in mercy Isa. 16:4–5 Luke 1:31–33 Peg in a sure place Isa. 22:21–25 Rev. 3:7 Death swallowed up in victory Isa. 25:6–12 1 Cor. 15:54 A stone in Zion Isa. 28:16 Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6 The deaf hear, the blind see Isa. 29:18–19 Matt. 5:3; 11:5; John 9:39 King of kings, Lord of lords Isa. 32:1–4 Rev. 19:16; 20:6 Son of the Highest Isa. 33:22 Luke 1:32; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15 Healing for the needy Isa. 35:4–10 Matt. 9:30; 11:5; 12:22; 20:34; 21:14; Mark 7:30; John 5:9 Make ready the way of the Lord Isa. 40:3–5 Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4–5; John 1:23 The Shepherd dies for his sheep Isa. 40:10–11 John 10:11; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:24–25 The meek Servant Isa. 42:1–16 Matt. 12:17–21; Luke 2:32 A light to the Gentiles Isa. 49:6–12 Acts 13:47; 2 Cor. 6:2 Scourged and spat upon Isa. 50:6 Matt. 26:67; 27:26, 30; Mark 14:65; 15:15, 19; Luke 22:63–65; John 19:1 Rejected by his people Isa. 52:13–53:12 Matt. 8:17; 27:1–2, 12–14, 38 Suffered vicariously Isa. 53:4–5 Mark 15:3–4, 27–28; Luke 23:1–25, 32–34 Silent when accused Isa. 53:7 John 1:29; 11:49–52 Crucified with transgressors Isa. 53:12 John 12:37–38; Acts 8:28–35 Buried with the rich Isa. 53:9 Acts 10:43; 13:38–39; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:21–25; 1 John 1:7, 9 Calling of those not a people Isa. 55:4, 5 John 18:37; Rom. 9:25–26; Rev. 1:5 Deliver out of Zion Isa. 59:16–20 Rom. 11:26–2 Nations walk in the light Isa. 60:1–3 Luke 2:32 Anointed to preach liberty Isa. 60:1–2 Luke 4:17–19; Acts 10:38 Called by a new name Isa. 62:11 Luke 2:32; Rev. 3:12 The King cometh Isa. 62:11 Matt. 21:5 A vesture dipped in blood Isa. 63:1–3 Rev. 19:13 Afflicted with the afflicted. Isa. 63:8–9 Matt. 25:34–40 The elect shall inherit Isa. 65:9 Rom. 11:5, 7; Heb. 7:14; Rev. 5:5 New heavens and a new earth Isa. 65:17–25 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1 The Lord our righteousness Jer. 23:5, 6 John 2:19–21; Rom. 1:3–4; Eph. 2:20–21; 1 Pet. 2:5 Born a King Jer. 30:9 John 18:37; Rev. 1:5 Massacre of infants Jer. 31:15 Matt. 2:17–18 Conceived by the Holy Spirit Jer. 31:22 Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35 A New Covenant Jer. 31:31–34 Matt. 26:27–29; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:8–12; 10:15–17; 12:24; 13:20 A spiritual house Jer. 33:15–17 John 2:19–21; Eph. 2:20–21; 1 Pet. 2:5 A tree planted by God Ezek. 17:22–24 Matt. 13:31–32 The humble exalted Ezek. 21:26–27 Luke 1:52 The good Shepherd Ezek. 34:23–24 John 10:11 Stone cut without hands Dan. 2:34–35 Acts 4:10–12 His kingdom triumphant Dan. 2:44–45 Luke 1:33; 1 Cor. 15:24; Rev. 11:15 An everlasting dominion Dan. 7:13–14 Matt. 24:30; 25:31; 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62; Acts 1:9–11; Rev. 1:7 Kingdom for the saints Dan. 7:27 Luke 1:33; 1 Cor. 15:24; Rev. 11:15 Time of His birth Dan. 9:24–27 Matt. 24:15–21; Luke 3:1 Israel restored Hos. 3:5 John 18:37; Rom. 11:25–27 Flight into Egypt Hos. 11:1 Matt. 2:15 Promise of the Spirit Joel 2:28–32 Acts 2:17–21; Rom. 15:13 The sun darkened Amos 8:9 Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20; Rev. 6:12 Restoration of tabernacle Amos 9:11–12 Acts 15:16–18 Israel regathered Mic. 2:12–13 John 10:14, 26 The Kingdom established Mic. 4:1–8 Luke 1:33 Born in Bethlehem Mic. 5:1–5 Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4, 10–11 Earth filled with knowledge of the glory of the Lord Hab. 2:14 Rom. 11:26; Rev. 21:23–26 The Lamb on the throne Zech. 2:10–13 Rev. 5:13; 6:9; 21:24; 22:1–5 A holy priesthood Zech. 3:8 John 2:19–21; Eph. 2:20–21; 1 Pet. 2:5 A heavenly High Priest Zech. 6:12–13 Heb. 4:4; 8:1–2 Triumphal entry Zech. 9:9–10 Matt. 21:4–5; Mark 11:9–10; Luke 20:38; John 12:13–15 Sold for pieces of silver Zech. 11:12–13 Matt. 26:14–15 Money buys potter’s field Zech. 11:12–13 Matt. 27:9 Piercing of his body Zech. 12:10 John 19:34, 37 Shepherd smitten—sheep scattered Zech. 13:1, 6–7 Matt. 26:31; John 16:32 Preceded by Forerunner Mal. 3:1 Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27 Our sins purged Mal. 3:3 Heb. 1:3 The light of the world Mal. 4:2–3 Luke 1:78; John 1:9; 12:46; 2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28; 19:11–16; 22:16 The coming of Elijah Mal. 4:5–6 Matt. 11:14; 17:10–12 Ralph P. Martin, “Messiah,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1112–1115.
- Dead Sea Scrolls. Collection of biblical and extrabiblical manuscripts from Qumran, an ancient Jewish religious community near the Dead Sea. The discovery of the scrolls in caves near the Dead Sea in 1947 is considered by many scholars to be the most important manuscript discovery of modern times. Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Importance for OT Studies. Before the Qumran discoveries the oldest existing Hebrew manuscripts of the OT dated from about a.d. 900. The oldest complete manuscript was the Firkowitsch Codex from a.d. 1010. The greatest importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, therefore, lies in the discovery of biblical manuscripts dating back to only about 300 years after the close of the OT canon. That makes them 1,000 years earlier than the oldest manuscripts previously known to biblical scholars. The most frequently represented OT books are Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah. The oldest text is a fragment of Exodus dating from about 250 b.c. The Isaiah Scroll from Cave I dates from about 100 b.c. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that the OT text has been handed down along three main lines of transmission. The first is the Masoretic text, which was preserved in the oldest Hebrew manuscripts known before the Qumran discoveries. The Masoretes, whose scholarly school flourished between a.d. 500 and 1000 at the city of Tiberias, standardized the traditional consonantal text by adding vowels and marginal notes (the ancient Hebrew alphabet had no vowels). Some scholars dated the origin of the consonantal Masoretic text to the editorial activities of Rabbi Akiba and his colleagues in the second century a.d. The discoveries at Qumran, however, proved them wrong, by showing that the Masoretic text went back several more centuries into antiquity and had been accurately copied and transmitted. Although there are some differences in spelling and grammar between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic text, the differences have not warranted any major changes in the substance of the OT. Yet they have helped biblical scholars gain a clearer understanding of the text. Importance for NT Studies. Continuing investigations around the Qumran area have become increasingly important for NT studies. Because Qumran was a Jewish, not a Christian community, scholars were not expecting to find NT documents there. The 1955 discovery of Cave VII (7Q), therefore, caused some surprise. The contents of Cave VII, not made known until 1962, were unique in that they yielded only Greek fragments, whereas most of the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Hebrew. Of the 19 papyrus fragments found in Cave VII, only two—one from the Book of Exodus and the other from an apocryphal book known as the Letter of Jeremiah—had been deciphered and identified by 1962. The remaining 17 unidentified fragments were assumed to belong to the OT. In 1972, however, José O’Callahan, a Spanish Jesuit scholar and papyrologist from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, suggested that certain fragments found among the scrolls should be identified with various NT writings. Using the science of paleography he deciphered nine NT fragments, including four from Mark’s Gospel and one each from Acts, Romans, 1 Timothy, James, and 2 Peter. The dates assigned to those fragments are in the range a.d. 50–100. O’Callahan’s report has shaken the scholarly world. If true, it means that the fragments are the oldest NT documents so far discovered. (The earliest, before that announcement, was the John Rylands fragment of the Gospel of John, dating from about a.d. 130.) Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 601.
- 1. Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11.6) 1.1 A miracle is when God temporarily suspends a natural law of the universe, revealing himself to substantiate a specific revelation 2. Being able to clearly explain/defend Christianity can help others grow in faith (cf. 2 Cor 10.5) 3. A ladder of apologetics shortens the “leap of faith” required to believe in God.
- Historian Edwin Yamauchi calls calls this “the most important reference to Jesus outside the New Testament.” Reporting on Emperor Nero’s decision to blame the Christians for the fire that had destroyed Rome in A.D. 64, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote:
- Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. In one of his letters, dated around A.D. 112, he asks Trajan’s advice about the appropriate way to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. Pliny says that he needed to consult the emperor about this issue because a great multitude of every age, class, and sex stood accused of Christianity. Pliny, Letters, transl. by William Melmoth, rev. by W.M.L. Hutchinson (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1935), vol. II, X:96, cited in Habermas, The Historical Jesus, 199.
- Perhaps the most remarkable reference to Jesus outside the Bible can be found in the writings of Josephus, a first century Jewish historian. On two occasions, in his Jewish Antiquities, he mentions Jesus. Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64, cited in Yamauchi, “Jesus Outside the New Testament”, 212.
- Lucian of Samosata was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his works, he wrote of the early Christians as follows:
- Historians date Alexamenos’ graffiti to approximately 200 A.D., making it the earliest surviving depiction of Jesus upon the cross. Yet this is not a religious icon meant to elicit awe or worship. This graffiti is a mockery of Alexamenos, an ancient Christian, and a mockery of a God who would die the shameful death of a criminal.
- Lucian of Samosata was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his works, he wrote of the early Christians as follows: Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11-13, in The Works of Lucian of Samosata, transl. by H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, 4 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949), vol. 4., cited in Habermas, The Historical Jesus, 206.
- 3 of the most popular arguments for the existence of God
- 3 of the most popular arguments for the existence of God
- This creed was adopted at the Fourth Ecumenical Council held at Chalcedon–located in what is now Turkey–in 451 as a response to certain heretical views concerning the nature of Christ. It established the orthodox view that Christ has two natures (human and divine) that are unified in one person. This creed builds some very important parameters around the person of Christ and the Trinity. To best explain the contribution of this creed I have borrowed a very helpful diagram that seeks to do just that. The diagram below is called the Chalcedonian Box. It captures the boundary markers for thinking about the person of Christ. Orthodox Christology falls within these parameters.