A Bunch Of Reasons Christianity Is True： special guest Jonathan McLatchie

Introduction: cumulative case for Christianity

Mike Winger introduces Jonathan McLatchie and the format for the livestream — seven lines of argument for Christianity, each with an explanation, example, and objection.

Predictive prophecy as criterion for divine inspiration

Jonathan McLatchie explains how the Bible itself uses predictive prophecy as a criterion for identifying divine inspiration.

Prophecy of the destruction of Tyre (Ezekiel 26)

McLatchie presents Ezekiel 26 as a case study in fulfilled non-messianic predictive prophecy.

Objection and response: the pronoun shift in Ezekiel 26 and Zechariah 9

Addressing the objection that the plural pronoun in Ezekiel 26 still refers only to Nebuchadnezzar.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 as messianic prophecy — full reading

McLatchie reads and introduces the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53 as the premier example of messianic prophecy.

Argument for the deity of Christ from Isaiah 52:13 — "high and lifted up"

McLatchie presents one of four arguments for the deity of the Messiah embedded within Isaiah 52-53.

Objection: Isaiah 53 is about Israel, not Jesus — and response

McLatchie addresses the modern rabbinic argument that Isaiah 53's Suffering Servant is a personification of the nation of Israel.

Unity of the Bible as a second argument for divine inspiration

Mike Winger introduces the unity of Scripture as a distinct argument from prophecy for divine inspiration.

Divine plurality in Zechariah 2 — Yahweh sent by Yahweh

McLatchie gives Zechariah 2 as an example of intricate harmonies pointing to the Trinity in the Old Testament.

Proverbs 30:1-4 — God and his Son in the Hebrew Bible

McLatchie highlights Proverbs 30:1-4 as an often-overlooked text implying the divine sonship within the Hebrew Scriptures.

Isaiah 63 — Three persons of the Trinity in the Old Testament

McLatchie presents Isaiah 63:7-10 as containing all three persons of the Trinity within a single Old Testament passage.

The Angel of the Lord as the messianic figure — Malachi 3 and Judges 2

McLatchie connects the Angel of the Lord to the "messenger of the covenant" in Malachi 3, establishing the Angel of the Lord as a messianic figure.

Winger invitation to deeper study: Jesus in the Old Testament series

Mike Winger points viewers to his 20-video series on Jesus in the Old Testament and other examples of intricate harmonies (Abraham/Isaac, priestly robes, Melchizedek, the Servant of the Lord).

Why unity argument doesn't work for Islam — Quran vs. Bible authorship

Cameron Bertuzzi's question: if unity of Scripture argues for divine inspiration, why doesn't it work for the Quran?

New Testament as the decryption key for Old Testament theology

Winger summarizes the unity argument: the NT makes sense of the OT, and the OT prepares for the NT.

Undesigned coincidences — definition and how they demonstrate historicity

Winger asks McLatchie to explain undesigned coincidences as a distinct argument for the historicity of the New Testament.

Undesigned coincidence: why Jesus addressed Philip at the feeding of the 5,000

McLatchie's first example of an undesigned coincidence involving John 6, John 12, and Luke 9.

Undesigned coincidence: John's Passover timeline and Mark's narrative calibrate perfectly

McLatchie's second Gospel-based undesigned coincidence — the precise synchronization of John 12 and Mark 11-14.

Undesigned coincidence: 1 Corinthians 4 and Acts 19 — Timothy's route to Corinth

McLatchie gives an example of undesigned coincidences between Paul's epistles and the book of Acts, confirming Luke as Paul's traveling companion.

Lydia McGrew's book on undesigned coincidences

Winger references Lydia McGrew's scholarly work as a resource for deeper study on undesigned coincidences.

General reliability of the Gospels and Acts as a fourth argument

Winger and McLatchie introduce the general historical reliability of the Gospels and Acts as an additional, related argument.

Extra-biblical corroboration: Herod Archelaus and Matthew 2:22

McLatchie gives Josephus as extra-biblical corroboration explaining Matthew's otherwise puzzling reference to Herod Archelaus.

Extra-biblical corroboration: Mark 10 — why Jesus taught about divorce in that context

McLatchie uses Mark 10's divorce passage to show Josephus provides context explaining why the teaching is historically plausible.

Extra-biblical corroboration: Luke 3 — soldiers on active duty near John the Baptist

McLatchie presents a subtle corroboration between Luke 3's soldiers and the specific military situation in the region during John the Baptist's ministry.

Acts corroboration: Ananias falsely acting as high priest — Acts 23

McLatchie gives a final Acts example showing extra-biblical corroboration explaining an apparent difficulty in the text.

Peter Williams — Can We Trust the Gospels?

Winger recommends Peter Williams's book as a resource for the general reliability of the Gospels.

Unlikely origin of the disciples' belief in the deity of Jesus — fifth argument

McLatchie introduces the argument that the disciples' belief in Jesus's deity is historically inexplicable without the resurrection, given the Jewish context.

Objection: Jesus's deity borrowed from pagan deities — and response

Addressing the popular online claim that the deity of Jesus was borrowed from pagan mythologies.

Kalam Cosmological Argument — everything that begins to exist has a cause

McLatchie presents the Kalam Cosmological Argument as part of natural theology.

Biological complexity — DNA as digitally encoded information pointing to design

McLatchie introduces biological fine-tuning and intelligent design via biological complexity.

Doug Axe's research — probability of functional proteins

McLatchie cites Douglas Axe's research on the ratio of functional to non-functional protein sequences.

Homochirality problem — origin of life obstacle

McLatchie raises the chirality problem as a further challenge to naturalistic origin-of-life scenarios.

Antony Flew's conversion from atheism due to biological complexity

Winger cites Antony Flew as a historical example of someone persuaded by biological complexity to abandon atheism.

Fine-tuning of the genetic code itself

McLatchie argues that the genetic code is itself exquisitely fine-tuned beyond what chance could produce.

Objection: God of the gaps — and the response from information theory

McLatchie addresses the most popular objection to intelligent design: the God of the gaps fallacy.

Cosmic fine-tuning — constants and fundamental properties of the universe

McLatchie presents the argument from cosmic fine-tuning: the fundamental constants of the universe appear precisely calibrated for life.

Bayesian approach: fine-tuning evidence favors theism over atheism

McLatchie articulates a Bayesian argument: the fine-tuning evidence is far more expected on theism than on atheism.

Objection: anthropic principle — we shouldn't be surprised we live in a life-permitting universe

McLatchie addresses the anthropic objection to the fine-tuning argument.

Why natural theology arguments point to the God of Christianity, not Hinduism

McLatchie explains why the cosmological and design arguments favor the Abrahamic God over polytheistic conceptions.

Philosophical argument for the Trinity from God's essential love

McLatchie presents a philosophical argument that the triune nature of God is required by God's essential attribute of selfless love.

Historical case for the resurrection — basis and overview

McLatchie introduces the historical argument for the resurrection of Jesus, which is the seventh main line of argument.

1 Corinthians 15 creedal tradition — early apostolic testimony to the resurrection

McLatchie analyzes 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 as a pre-Pauline creed containing the earliest testimony to the resurrection.

Martyrdom of Peter and Paul as evidence for the sincerity of resurrection belief

McLatchie cites the willingness of the apostles to die for their testimony as evidence they genuinely believed in the resurrection.

James the brother of Jesus — conversion from skeptic to martyr

McLatchie presents the conversion and martyrdom of James, Jesus's brother, as particularly strong evidence for the resurrection.

Criterion of restraint — no narratives of private resurrection appearances to Peter and James

McLatchie introduces the "criterion of restraint" as further corroboration of the resurrection's historicity.

Empty tomb evidence — women as primary witnesses

McLatchie presents the role of women as primary witnesses to the empty tomb as evidence for its historicity.

Earliest Jewish polemic presupposes the empty tomb — Matthew 28

McLatchie points to the earliest Jewish counter-argument to the resurrection as presupposing the tomb was empty.

Irreconcilable variation in empty tomb accounts — evidence for independence

McLatchie presents apparent discrepancies between Gospel accounts of the empty tomb as evidence for their independence.

Undesigned coincidence within Luke: women from Galilee thread through Luke 8, 23, and 24

McLatchie presents an intra-Gospel undesigned coincidence within Luke demonstrating the authentic, non-fabricated character of the resurrection narrative.

The cumulative case — power and robustness of multiple converging arguments

McLatchie explains the logic and strength of the cumulative case approach as the seventh and final major point.

Closing remarks and resources — Apologetics Academy

Winger and McLatchie wrap up the livestream with closing remarks and resource recommendations.