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All (13) Mike Winger (13)
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

The one invalid way to use the Bible to prove itself is simple circularity: 'The Bible says it's God's Word, therefore it is.' This same logic could be applied to the Book of Mormon or the Quran, and Winger agrees with skeptics that this form of reasoning is illegitimate.

circular reasoning apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Claims from the biblical text can be tested against external archaeological evidence. Confirming one claim does not prove everything, but verification increases the text's historical credibility. When archaeology confirms a claim, it lends 'historicity' to the surrounding narrative.

apologetics archaeology Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger notes that skeptical scholars frequently assume biblical characters or events are fabricated while treating other ancient sources as valid by default. He characterizes this as an unjustified bias rather than sound historical methodology.

scholarly bias apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Textual criticism — comparing thousands of manuscript copies, locating them geographically, and dating them — has demonstrated that every New Testament book was written within the first century, much earlier than 19th-century skeptics claimed (~200s AD). It also shows the biblical text has been transmitted with remarkable fidelity.

textual criticism apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

The Bible is supported by thousands of manuscripts. Comparing them reveals only minor variations — spelling differences, word order — not substantive theological changes. A reader can trust modern John 1 reflects what was originally written.

textual criticism Bible reliability manuscript transmission
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger argues Ehrman's book creates a false impression of radical biblical change by using technically true statements in a misleading way. When pressed in an interview, Ehrman himself admitted the Gospels 'pretty much say exactly what they say in your Bible now,' undermining the impression his book creates.

textual criticism apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger's favorite counter to 'the Bible has been changed' claims: ask the person what specific doctrine or belief should be different based on their view of how the text has been altered. He says no one ever answers because the manuscript tradition is so stable that no theology would change.

textual criticism debate strategy apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Around 650 AD, Caliph Uthman collected competing Quran versions, created a single authorized text, and destroyed all variant manuscripts. This means the Quran — a later document than the Bible — has a worse manuscript tradition because independent confirmation of the original text was deliberately eliminated.

textual criticism manuscript tradition Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

The Bible is 66 books by 40+ authors spanning over 1,500 years in multiple languages. This provides the kind of multiple independent attestation historians look for when establishing historical reliability. Historians prize multiple witnesses close in time to events — criteria the New Testament's 27 first-century documents meet.

multiple attestation apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Valid prophecy requires dateable pre-event writing. Manuscript evidence (e.g., Dead Sea Scrolls) places Isaiah and the Psalms before Jesus, making their messianic content genuine prediction rather than post-hoc composition. This distinguishes biblical prophecy from the Book of Mormon or Quran examples.

Dead Sea Scrolls prophecy apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Despite being written by 40+ authors across 1,500+ years in multiple languages, the Bible displays cohesive internal unity — including undesigned coincidences and a sweeping meta-narrative centered on Christ. This coherence is evidence of a single divine author superintending the whole.

apologetics Bible reliability divine inspiration
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger explicitly frames his approach as a cumulative case: archaeology, textual criticism, multiple attestation, historical reconstruction, prophecy, unity/meta-narrative, and experiential evidence are each like different tests on a $100 bill — no single test is definitive, but together they build a compelling case for the Bible's authenticity and divine inspiration.

cumulative case apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Whether it is 'reasonable' to think some biblical claims are false depends entirely on one's prior conclusion about inspiration. If the Bible is demonstrated to be inspired by God, then assuming it contains errors becomes unreasonable, because God is reliable and dependable by nature.

apologetics Bible reliability epistemology