Search — Theology Explorer

Christian apologetics Hemant Mehta atheist objections to Christianity

20-video collaborative series answering Hemant Mehta's atheist objections, one video per day

Mike describes the structure and goals of the joint project

John McCrae Trinity John McCrae argument from contingency

John McCrae's favored arguments: contingency, Kalam, J.P. Moreland's argument from consciousness; also finds psychological features of the Bible's content persuasive

John introduces himself and shares his apologetic focus

John McCrae John McCrae J.P. Moreland argument from consciousness

Argument from consciousness: mind and matter are ontologically distinct; consciousness is irreducible to physical processes (the hard problem of consciousness)

John explains the argument from consciousness more fully

problem of evil moral realism nihilism

Mike's response to the problem of evil: if evil disproves God, then the moral framework that makes evil "evil" also collapses, creating a self-defeating argument

Mike shares his own perspective on the problem of evil

Revelation eschatology Revelation theodicy

The Christian hope of eschatological restoration answers the problem of evil: God wiping away every tear, remaking of heaven and earth

Mike elaborates his response to the problem of evil using Christian eschatology

gospel grace human nature

Humans are worse than they think they are, but Christ loves them more than they know — the paradox of the gospel

John wraps up his reflection on suffering and human nature

burden of proof intellectual honesty skepticism

Q&A: Most atheist arguments are refutations rather than positive cases for atheism — is that a problem?

Q&A question from Benjamin Rush about the asymmetry of atheist argumentation

Cameron Bertuzzi argument from contingency necessary being

Closing the gap problem in cosmological arguments: a necessary being with limited properties would require an explanation for those limits, but there can be no deeper explanation — therefore the necessary being must be unlimited/infinite in value (i.e., God)

Q&A question for Cameron about the gap problem in cosmological arguments

forgiveness sin free will

Q&A: Why would God create a world where things can exist that go against his nature? Answer: free will theodicy and soul-building theodicy

Q&A question from Skyler about the existence of sin in a world created by a holy God

omnipotence perfect being theology soul-building theodicy

Q&A on omnipotence: can a perfect God bring about states of affairs that are less than perfect? Cameron: yes — the question confuses God's perfection with the value of created states of affairs

Q&A question from "P or not P" about omnipotence and perfection

Capturing Christianity Christian apologetics Cameron Bertuzzi

Cameron Bertuzzi's ministry goal: expose the intellectual depth of Christian belief; counter the cultural assumption that atheism has all the intellectual high ground

Cameron shares his goals for Capturing Christianity

John McCrae gospel logical fallacies John McCrae

Closing message to skeptics from John: separate psychological/emotional persuasiveness from logical validity; the gospel has explanatory power for the whole world

Closing messages to atheist/skeptic viewers

John Schellenberg Richard Dawkins Cameron Bertuzzi Paul Draper

Closing message to skeptics from Cameron: dialogue doesn't have to be combative; take philosophy seriously; read atheist philosophers of religion (Paul Draper, Graham Oppy, John Schellenberg), not just popular atheists like Dawkins or Hitchens

Cameron's closing message to skeptic viewers

atonement gospel apologetics

Closing message from Mike to skeptics: the evidence for Christianity is robust and surprising; Jesus really died for sins; God is personal and loves people; life is not purposeless

Mike's closing address to skeptic viewers

A Manual for Creating Atheists Peter Boghossian Faith

Boghossian's multi-page substitution chart trains readers to mentally replace every use of "faith" with "pretending to know things you don't know"

Mike shows and reads from the chart in Boghossian's book

Mark 2 William Lane Craig Stand to Reason Tim Barnett

Tim Barnett (Stand to Reason): faith is not an epistemology but a way of trusting; knowledge and trust are distinct categories

Video clip from Tim Barnett responding to Boghossian

A Manual for Creating Atheists Peter Boghossian Street Epistemology

Pages 44-45: Boghossian romanticizes the Street Epistemologist as a hero rescuing people from the faith "virus"

Mike reads from pages 44-45

David Hume A Manual for Creating Atheists Peter Boghossian

Boghossian self-contradicts by quoting David Hume approvingly: "A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence"

Mike identifies a self-contradiction on page 45

Peter Boghossian Street Epistemology Socratic method

The SE tactic in practice: be friendly, don't disclose your agenda, and ask "how do you know that?" repeatedly

Mike describes the practical method of Street Epistemology

Greg Koukl Stand to Reason A Manual for Creating Atheists

Greg Koukl contrasts his book "Tactics" with Boghossian's book: both use questions, but Koukl cares about truth and intellectual virtue while Boghossian cares only about instilling doubt

Video clip from Greg Koukl (Stand to Reason)

Street Epistemology Doubt Psychological manipulation

The distinction between asking questions and using questions: SE uses questions as tools for instilling doubt, not seeking answers

Mike synthesizes the previous clip and explains SE's fundamental problem

Salvation Age of accountability Mental illness and salvation

Q&A: What about those who cannot understand the gospel due to severe mental illness? God holds people accountable for what they can know

Audience question about severely mentally ill people and salvation

Evangelism Gospel Street Epistemology

Closing appeal: false intellectual barriers constructed by Street Epistemology prevent people from seriously considering the gospel

Mike's closing statement

resurrection apostle sincerity conspiracy hypothesis

Introduction: purpose of the video is to examine whether the original resurrection eyewitnesses genuinely believed their claims about Jesus rising from the dead

Opening segment; Mike establishes the core question for the livestream

crucifixion of Jesus Pontius Pilate early Christian persecution

Tacitus (Annals, 109 AD) as non-Christian confirmation of early Christian persecution, crucifixion of Christ under Pontius Pilate, and the movement's origin in Judea

Mike quotes Tacitus as an external, non-Christian source confirming early persecution

Pliny the Younger Emperor Trajan early Christian persecution

Pliny the Younger's letter to Emperor Trajan (112 AD): institutionalized Roman policy of executing Christians who refused to recant

Second external Roman source confirming systematic persecution

John 9:22 John 9:34 early Christian persecution John 9:22 John 9:34

John 9: Expulsion from the synagogue for confessing Jesus as Christ — evidence of persecution even during Jesus's ministry

Persecution predates the death of Jesus; it began during his earthly ministry

Acts of the Apostles Paul the Apostle early Christian persecution Acts of the Apostles

The book of Acts as a sustained narrative of persecution — Paul's pre-conversion role as persecutor and post-conversion experience of being persecuted

Persecution is the central recurring theme of Acts

James the brother of Jesus Paul the Apostle apostle sincerity conspiracy hypothesis

Focus narrowed to Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and Paul as the three central resurrection eyewitnesses whose sincerity needs to be established

Transition from general persecution to specific apostolic martyrdoms

John 13:36-38 apostolic martyrdom Peter the Apostle John 13:36-38

John 13:36-38 — Jesus tells Peter he cannot follow now but will follow later; Peter's boast and denial as literary and historical backdrop for his ultimate martyrdom

John 13 passage linking Peter's discipleship trajectory to eventual death

2 Peter 1:12-14 Bart Ehrman apostolic martyrdom Peter the Apostle

2 Peter 1:12-14 — Peter's awareness of his impending death and intent to leave a written legacy; response to Bart Ehrman's pseudonymity argument

Third biblical source for Peter's martyrdom awareness, with engagement with the Ehrman pseudonymity objection

apostolic martyrdom 1 Clement Candida Moss

Refutation of Candida Moss's argument that "suffered unto death" in 1 Clement is not a reference to martyrdom, using Polycarp's parallel usage

Addressing a specific scholarly objection to the martyrdom reading of 1 Clement

Acts of Peter Acts 4 Tertullian apostolic martyrdom Peter the Apostle

Catalog of additional sources for Peter's martyrdom: Apocalypse of Peter, Ascension of Isaiah, Acts of Peter, Apocryphon of James, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Muratorian Canon

Demonstrating that Peter's martyrdom is attested by multiple independent streams of tradition

2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Paul the Apostle apostolic martyrdom apostle sincerity

2 Corinthians 11:24-28 — Paul's own catalog of sufferings as direct first-person evidence of his willingness to endure persecution for Christ

Paul's own testimony as evidence of sincerity

Philippians Paul the Apostle apostolic martyrdom apostle sincerity

Philippians — Paul's pastoral management of his congregation's grief over his suffering as evidence that his persecution was a given, publicly known reality

Paul's suffering was so consistent and well-known that he had to repeatedly address the pastoral fallout from it

James the brother of Jesus James the Just apostolic martyrdom Hegesippus legendary development

Hegesippus's account of James the Just's martyrdom — legendary elements identified and evaluated; the historical core extraction methodology applied

Primary patristic source for the martyrdom of James, with critical methodology

James the brother of Jesus F.F. Bruce apostolic martyrdom Hegesippus

F.F. Bruce's distillation of the historical core in Hegesippus: James killed because he refused to deny that Jesus was the Messiah, threatening the political stability of the Jewish leadership

Scholarly evaluation of what the Hegesippus account preserves historically

James the brother of Jesus argument from silence Paul the Apostle Justin Martyr

Absence of any recantation tradition for Peter, James, or Paul — an argument from silence that is evidentially significant given second-century apologetic engagement

The negative evidence: no source anywhere suggests any of these eyewitnesses recanted

James the brother of Jesus resurrection Paul the Apostle apostle sincerity

Conclusion: Peter, Paul, and James were sincerely convinced they had seen Jesus alive — the conspiracy/lying hypothesis is eliminated by the evidence

Summary conclusion of the main argument

resurrection eyewitness testimony apostle sincerity

Response to the objection "9/11 bombers were also sincere" — the distinction between sincere indoctrinated believers and sincere eyewitnesses

Q&A style engagement with the most common objection to the sincerity argument

James the brother of Jesus James's pre-resurrection unbelief resurrection Paul the Apostle criterion of embarrassment

Three embarrassing facts that authenticate the disciples' sincerity: Peter's denial, James's pre-resurrection unbelief, and Paul's role as persecutor of the church

The criterion of embarrassment applied to the three key witnesses

eyewitness testimony apostle sincerity sincerity objection

Q&A: How to respond to the argument that members of non-Christian religions also die for their beliefs — eyewitness distinction restated

Viewer question on comparative religious martyrdom

poll methodology atheist activism

Poll manipulation: atheists voted fraudulently as Christians to skew results; example of Jen admitting it

Discussing poll integrity

former Christian atheists faith as denial of evidence

Charles Moss (former Christian) defines faith as active denial of observation to preserve belief

Examining former Christians' definitions of faith

Hebrews 11:1 Hebrews 11:1 former Christian atheists faith as hope vs. evidence

Greg Mater (former Christian) incorrectly cited Hebrews 11:1 as a definition of faith rather than a description

Examining a former Christian's use of Hebrews 11:1

forgiveness of sins paralytic lowered through roof faith grounded in evidence

Jesus healed the paralytic to provide evidence for his authority to forgive sins — faith is evidence-based

Biblical example of evidence-based faith

Matt Dillahunty evidence for the resurrection God of the gaps

JD Flier defines faith as "belief in an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance" — the God-of-the-gaps argument

Examining another atheist definition of faith

Matt Dillahunty resurrection of Jesus inference to the best explanation

Upcoming debate with Matt Dillahunty on whether belief in the resurrection is reasonable; science is not the only method of knowing

Announcing the Dillahunty debate and defending historical methodology