Search — Theology Explorer

resurrection miracles Bart Ehrman

Bart Ehrman's position: even if miracles happened, historians should not believe them

Examination of Bart Ehrman's approach to the resurrection

resurrection Bart Ehrman empty tomb

After the Craig debate, Ehrman changed position and now denies the burial — Mike argues this is ad hoc motivated reasoning

Mike's analysis of Ehrman's intellectual development post-debate

resurrection Richard Carrier mythicism

Richard Carrier is a mythicist — he denies Jesus existed at all, a fringe position among credentialed scholars

Introduction to Richard Carrier's approach

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection Paul the Apostle

Carrier teaches that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes events that occurred in outer space — a cosmic/celestial resurrection rather than an earthly one

Carrier's interpretation of the Pauline resurrection kerygma

Gospel origins Richard Carrier ad hoc reasoning

Carrier constructs a 'Frankenstein theory' drawing on ancient literature to claim Gospel narratives were plagiarized from myths

Carrier's literary dependence argument for the Gospel narratives

resurrection Dan Barker historical method

Barker's internal contradictions objection is a red herring — the five historical facts don't depend on biblical inerrancy

Mike's critique of Barker's third objection

resurrection Matt Dillahunty methodological naturalism

Dillahunty says he cannot think of any evidence that would convince him the resurrection happened — Mike calls this blind faith skepticism

Dillahunty's response to what evidence would change his mind

resurrection miracles Sam Harris

Sam Harris: no evidence — including multiple contemporaneous eyewitnesses — would be sufficient to establish the resurrection

Examination of Sam Harris's position on miracle claims

resurrection William Lane Craig Richard Carrier

The 'they're just Christians' dismissal commits the genetic fallacy — disqualifying scholars by association with their conclusions

Response to Richard Carrier's dismissal of pro-resurrection scholars as biased Christians

resurrection apologetics Richard Carrier

Apologetics is not 'hijacking history' — the historical facts preexist apologetic use; it is skeptics who abuse historical disciplines

Response to the charge that Christian apologists are inappropriately co-opting history

resurrection historical method historical Jesus

Denying evidence for Jesus requires denying historical methodology used to establish other historical events

The logical consistency argument for accepting historical evidence for Jesus

resurrection evidential standards miracle claims comparison

Comparison to other miracle claims fails because they don't have equivalent evidence — not all miracle claims are equal

Response to the tu quoque objection: 'You don't believe in other miracle workers, why believe in Jesus?'

resurrection Harry Potter comparison category error

Comparing Jesus's resurrection to Harry Potter is intellectually incoherent — a category error that reveals the accuser as a caricature

Response to an atheist who told Mike he should believe in Harry Potter if he believes the Bible

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection legendary growth

Five years is not enough time for legendary development — the 500-witness claim makes legendary embellishment implausible

Mike's argument against legendary development theory using the early dating of 1 Corinthians 15

apologetics spiritual blindness unbelief

Why unbelievers reject the resurrection: sin, pride, bias, desires — caution against over-generalizing

Q&A — response to George Cook's question about why unbelievers are 'blind'

Hebrews authorship Hebrews New Testament Paul the Apostle Hebrews authorship

Hebrews is not attributed to Paul by Mike; all other epistles he considers genuinely Pauline

Mike's personal view on Hebrews authorship within the Pauline authorship discussion

gospel resurrection atonement

The resurrection as the seal of approval on all Christian claims — it validates God's love, Jesus's atoning sacrifice, and the truth of the gospel

Q&A — response to Rachel Novoselac's question about how to know Jesus cares after the resurrection

Apologetics methodology Debate tactics Rhetorical dumping

The 'dumping' rhetorical tactic: rapid-fire accusations without allowing responses

Mike identifies a debate tactic Aaron Ra uses in the opening of his video — making many rapid accusations before ever reaching substantive arguments

Genesis 3 Numbers 22:28 Genesis 3 Numbers 22:28 Serpent in Eden

Aaron Ra's claim: snakes and donkeys cannot talk — Mike's rebuttal

Ra claims the Bible is factually wrong because snakes and donkeys cannot talk, citing Genesis 3 and Numbers 22

Leviticus 11 Taxonomy anachronism Bible and science Translation issues

Objection: bats are classified as birds in Leviticus 11 — Mike's rebuttal using Hebrew 'oph'

Ra claims the Bible incorrectly puts bats in the same category as birds in Leviticus 11

Leviticus 14 Leviticus 14 Purification rituals Quarantine laws

Leviticus purification rituals were quarantine protocols, not magic healing spells

Ra claims the Bible teaches that ritual spells can purify and cure illness, when diseases are actually caused by pathogens

Deuteronomy 23:12-13 Bible and science Mosaic law Bible and medicine

Mosaic sanitation laws anticipated modern hygiene knowledge (fecal disposal, contamination)

Continuing the response to Ra's charge that rituals don't cure illness

Genesis 1 Job - water cycle Hebrews 11 Genesis 1 Bible and science Job - water cycle

Aaron Ra's bold claim: 'Everything the Bible says about any field of science is laughably wrong'

Ra makes a sweeping claim that nothing in the Bible is scientifically accurate

Isaiah 53 Origen Messianic prophecy Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53: modern claim that it refers to Israel, not Messiah, is historically novel

Ra claims Isaiah 53 (the Suffering Servant) is about Israel personified, not Jesus, and that Jews have always understood it this way

Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 Rabbinic Judaism Biblical Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism is not biblical Judaism — it postdates Christianity and is a response to Messiah's coming

Ra implies that because modern Jews don't accept Jesus, Christians are misappropriating the Hebrew Bible

Isaiah 53:5 Suffering Servant Isaiah 53:5 Substitutionary atonement

Isaiah 53:5 — 'crushed for our iniquities': what does 'crushed' mean in context?

Ra claims Jesus was never 'crushed' as described in Isaiah 53

Isaiah 52:15 Isaiah 52:15 Kings shutting mouths Sprinkling many nations

Isaiah 52:15 — kings shutting their mouths: shocked silence at the Messiah's work

Ra claims kings were never 'shut up' by Jesus, fulfilling Isaiah 52:15

Isaiah 53 - seed/offspring Suffering Servant Isaiah 53 - seed/offspring New birth / born again

Isaiah 53 'seed/offspring': Ra's internal contradiction — he can't use Israel as both subject and the seed

Ra claims Jesus had no descendants ('seed') as required, and that 'seed' in Isaiah refers to physical offspring of Israel, not Jesus's followers

Isaiah 53:4-5 Suffering Servant Substitutionary atonement Isaiah 53:4-5

Isaiah 53:4 — people thought he was stricken by God, but he was actually suffering for others

Ra claims the passage says God struck Jesus, but that Jesus was never actually struck by God

Isaiah 53:10-11 Isaiah 53:9 Messianic prophecy Suffering Servant Isaiah 53:10-11

Isaiah 53:10-11 — 'prolonging his days' is a resurrection prophecy, not a failed prediction

Ra claims Jesus's days were never prolonged as Isaiah 53 predicts

Isaiah 53 - dividing spoils Romans 8:17 Isaiah 53 - dividing spoils Co-heirs with Christ Romans 8:17

Jesus dividing spoils: the co-heir theology of the New Testament

Ra claims Jesus never divided spoils with peers as Isaiah 53 requires

Psalm 22 Messianic prophecy Psalm 22 David as prophet

Psalm 22: David was not a prophet? Mike rebuts and notes Psalm 22 clearly speaks of future events

Ra argues Psalm 22 is not messianic because (1) David was not a prophet, (2) the Psalms are in the 'writings' section not the 'prophets,' and (3) David never experienced anything like what's described

Psalm 22 Messianic prophecy Psalm 22 Crucifixion prophecy

Psalm 22 describes crucifixion hundreds of years before it was invented

Continuing analysis of Psalm 22 as a crucifixion prophecy

Psalm 22:16 Septuagint Psalm 22:16 Crucifixion prophecy

Psalm 22:16 textual debate: 'like a lion' vs. 'they pierced' — three sources support 'pierced'

Ra claims 'they pierced my hands and feet' in Psalm 22:16 is a mistranslation — the correct Hebrew is 'like a lion they were at my hands and feet'

Matthew 26:23 John 13:26 Matthew 26:23 John 13:26 Last Supper

Q&A: Matthew 26:23 vs. John 13:26 — apparent contradiction at the Last Supper

Viewer question about differences between Matthew 26:23 and John 13:26 in identifying the betrayer

Apologetics methodology Evangelism Holy Spirit's role in conversion

Q&A: How do you persuade someone who refuses to engage with prophecy evidence?

Viewer asks how to get through to someone who won't listen to fulfilled prophecy arguments

Hosea 11:1 Matthew 2:15 Typology Hosea 11:1 Matthew 2:15

Hosea 11:1 used in Matthew 2:15 — typological fulfillment vs. direct prophecy

Viewer question: how can Hosea 11:1 ('out of Egypt I called my son') be messianic when it is clearly about Israel in context?

Jesus in the Old Testament Ancient rabbinical interpretation Typology

Ancient rabbinical tradition: entire Old Testament is about the Messiah

Continuing discussion of Matthew's typological use of Hosea

Atheist arguments Moral argument for God Logical consistency

Q&A: Can an atheist legitimately argue about a God they don't believe exists?

Viewer question: isn't it a contradiction for an atheist to argue about God using a Bible they don't believe?

Apologetics methodology Criteria for fulfilled prophecy Biblical prophecy standards

Q&A: Minimum requirements for a prophecy to count as fulfilled

Viewer asks what minimum criteria a prophecy must meet to be considered fulfilled, referencing Aaron Ra's outro

apologetics biblical inspiration online skepticism

Introduction: purpose of responding to popular skeptical attacks on the Bible

Mike introduces the article 'Six and a Half Reasons Why the Bible Is Not Divinely Inspired' from the Friendly Atheist website (Patheos), which had over 15,000 shares.

biblical inspiration dictation theory verbal plenary inspiration

Clarification: the Bible claims inspiration, not dictation

The article under review assumes God 'wrote' the Bible. Mike corrects this mischaracterization before engaging the specific arguments.

inspiration tests 41000 denominations Christian denominations

Reason 3 refuted: The '41,000 interpretations' claim is a sourcing error; difficulty of some passages ≠ general cryptic nature

The skeptic claims the Bible is cryptic and subject to 41,000 different interpretations, citing a Wikipedia article.

James 2 James 2 inspiration tests biblical contradictions

Reason 4 refuted: The psychological power of contradiction lists outweighs their actual evidential force; contradictions would not disprove inspiration anyway

The skeptic links to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible list of hundreds of alleged biblical contradictions.

Ezekiel Matthew 24 fulfilled prophecy Ezekiel Matthew 24

Reason 5 affirmed and answered: Fulfilled prophecy is the correct test for biblical inspiration, and the Bible passes it

The skeptic argues that an inspired Bible would contain specific, verifiable prophecies — but calls biblical prophecies 'feeble in the extreme.'

Genesis 1 Hebrews 11:3 Genesis 1 inspiration tests scientific foreknowledge

Reason 6 addressed: Scientific foreknowledge in the Bible — prophecy is superior to scientific insight as apologetic evidence

The skeptic argues an inspired Bible would contain scientific knowledge humans couldn't have had (e.g., quantum mechanics, germ theory). Mike largely treats this as a restatement of Reason 5.

geographic objection special pleading meme apologetics

The 'God only acts in the Middle East' meme refuted as incoherent special pleading

Between numbered reasons, the article inserts a meme claiming all of God's actions in the Bible occur in a tiny geographic circle around the Middle East, ignoring Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

fulfilled prophecy biblical inspiration inspiration tests

Summary conclusion: Five reasons are false and irrelevant to inspiration; two are legitimate tests the Bible passes

Mike wraps up the main article before taking Q&A.

Revelation eschatology Revelation preterism

Q&A: Satan's final judgment — is Satan already in the lake of fire because of the cross?

Viewer question: Did Christ's victory at the cross cast Satan into the lake of fire? Is Satan now just a puppet?