The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus

Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona — Kindle highlights from 'The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus'. 110 highlights.

The Giving Part 2: Judas the Betrayer, a Balanced View of the Sovereignty of God

[Music] the giving is a balanced view of the sovereignty of God God's sovereignty is vitally important for us to know God yet it's God's sovereignty taught as a system of theological thought which can lead to a person reading into the biblical text an outside concept that is foreign to the writers i...

Does Matthew conflict with Luke about Judas?

In my post about Judas and the last supper, Colin Maxwell, a Calvinist responded to my post, although not responding on this blog, but on his twitter account @weeCalvin.

T4G Comp Tied To Gospel

The 2010 Together for the Gospel conference is on right now as I write this article. The conference this year is called The Unadjusted Gospel and according to J

Semigalitariansim And Feminist Air

When does explaining God’s Word make one an enemy of the church. According to Mike Seaver, a woman who is allowed to teach the Word of God to men, even if she is under the authority of her husband and even if she has received authority from her pastor to teach the Bible (and assuming her pastor is m

Debating On Women Pastors

Did you ever feel pulled in a direction you really didn’t want to go in. Well, this has been my life for the last 3 1/2 years

Christian obligation to receive and understand scripture fully

Mike states his commitment to believing and supporting what scripture teaches, even on difficult topics.

Q&A — Why didn't God send each country a Bible in their own language to prevent mistranslation?

Follow-up question on biblical reliability and translation

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

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.

Q&A: Is the Bible's text perfectly preserved like Muslims claim about the Quran?

Viewer question about textual preservation and inerrancy.

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.

Q&A: The Q document — does it matter if Gospel writers used written sources?

Q&A question about the hypothetical Q source document.

Q&A: The ending of Mark 16 — short vs. long ending; not a threat to Gospel reliability

Q&A from an atheist about the ending of Mark and supposed Gospel contradictions.

Q&A: Do the Gospels contradict each other? Mike's strong stance on harmonization

Q&A follow-up on Gospel contradictions from the same atheist questioner.

Parallelomania: ancient Near Eastern parallels (flood, creation) do not prove the Bible borrowed; similarities are explained by common events or themes

Q from Folky about how to respond to claims that the OT is not true because the Bible copied surrounding cultures (flood, Exodus).

Evidence for the Exodus exists and is growing; Inspiring Philosophy preparing a detailed video on the topic

Continued response on OT historical reliability, specifically the Exodus.

Matthew 8 two demoniacs vs. Mark 5 one demoniac: narrative selectivity, not contradiction

Question from CM (from Germany) about the apparent discrepancy between Matthew 8 and Mark 5.

Mark 16:9-20 (the longer ending) is likely not original to the gospel

Responding to a question from Max Bolser about Mark 16:17-18 and signs following believers

Early church creeds: authoritative insofar as they reflect Scripture, not equal to Scripture; beware anachronism

Question about the Athanasian Creed and whether it is biblical, specifically the implication that one must believe in the Trinity to be saved.

Who is a brother or sister in Christ? Core doctrines required: the identity and saving work of Jesus — his real existence, death, resurrection, and forgiveness of sins through faith.

Question from Rosie A. about the minimum beliefs required to consider someone a fellow Christian.

Adam and Eve as historical people: consistency as a Christian requires affirming their historicity, but salvation does not depend on this doctrine.

Question from Loretta Taylor about whether Christian faith requires Adam and Eve to be literal historical people.

Question: Thoughts on the ecumenical movement — should I leave a church that is part of it?

Viewer in Finland asks about ecumenism, since most Finnish churches are officially part of the ecumenical movement.

Non-negotiable Christian doctrines — essentials vs. secondary issues

DJ Diner asks what doctrines Christians should plant their flag on and never back down from.

Textual variants and extra verses in modern translations do not undermine inerrancy or preservation — they represent more, not less

Q18 from Chris Levy: How do we reconcile inerrancy and preservation when modern translations say verses have been added (e.g., ending of Mark, Acts 8:37)?

Q: Difference between a false teacher and someone you disagree with? False teachers violate essential Christian truths (e.g., denying Christ's deity). Secondary issues (like inerrancy debates) are in-house disagreements, not false teaching. The line can get blurry on some issues.

Q&A — false teachers vs disagreement

Key examples of alleged literary devices: (1) John moved the temple cleansing from Passion Week to early ministry; (2) John invented "I thirst" on the cross as a theological symbol; (3) Matthew's raised saints as "special effects." McGrew argues all are unnecessary — simpler historical explanations exist.

Examples of literary devices McGrew disputes

The literary devices view has serious apologetic consequences: it eliminates resurrection appearances, undermines doubting Thomas, weakens the case for Jesus's deity from John's "I AM" sayings, and gives ammunition to cults and skeptics.

Apologetic implications of accepting literary devices in the Gospels

Are All of God’s Actions Infallible?: How do I approach a conversation with someone who doesn't believe God is infallible? He believes in the God of the Bible, but he doesn't think all of God's actions are "good," like in the book of Job.

Q&A question: Are All of God’s Actions Infallible?

How Important is Inerrancy?: I found out that several big teachers and content writers at my church don't believe that the Bible is inerrant? Should I be concerned?

Q&A question: How Important is Inerrancy?

About the Septuagint & Masoretic Text: Is the Greek LXX (Septuagint) considered a flawed copy? The genealogy of Shem adds hundreds of years which is quite significant. Is the Masoretic Text inerrant, or am I misunderstanding inerrancy?

Q&A question: About the Septuagint & Masoretic Text

About OT Quotes in the NT: How should we understand inerrancy for New Testament passages that appear to quote the Old Testament, but no clear reference can be found? (e.g., James 4:5, Matthew 2: 23).

Q&A question: About OT Quotes in the NT

Defining Inerrancy: How can we biblically define inerrancy? Even the writers of the Chicago Statement seem to hold slightly different views on harmonization (according to Mike Licona).

Q&A question: Defining Inerrancy

Gospel Contradictions?: Is there an irreconcilable contradiction in the Gospels as to whether Jesus instructed The Twelve to take a staff (Matt 10: 10, Mark 6:8)? How should this affect our view on inerrancy?

Q&A question: Gospel Contradictions?

Contradicting Passages?: In the plague after the incident at Peor, 24,000 people died. But, in 1 Corinthians 10:8, Paul says 23,000. How can I hold to inerrancy?

Q&A question: Contradicting Passages?