(Go to the first post on the Trustworthiness of the Gospels) In the prior post I did a bit of preaching about God’s ways of relating to human beings, suggesting that God’s nature and methods are often the opposite of what we might expect. In this post: One of the objections I hear on college campuses about the Bible is …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 7 of 8: Me Preaching A Bit
The prior post on Embarrassing Material is here. In the process of writing this series of posts I found myself getting preachy at times. So I thought automatically to exclude that material because I promised in the first post to refrain from such. But then it occurred to me that certain readers might appreciate a more passionate voice from a …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 6 of 8: Embarrassing Material
Again, I want to pause and say thanks if you if you’ve been following along in these blogs but don’t think of yourself as a Christian. I truly hope they are helpful to your spiritual journey. This is part six in my series of short arguments for the historical Jesus. In the prior post I asked what we are to …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 5 of 8: Differences
In the prior post I paused to reach out to those who’ve been put off by the church. And I talked about evaluating miracle claims, suggesting that philosopher David Hume’s “doctrine” of skepticism would blind a person to a true miracle if it occurred. In this post: What can be said about the disagreements between the four Gospel accounts? If …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 3 of 8: Do Multiple Sources Matter?
In the last post I mentioned that, historically speaking, it’s highly unlikely that Jesus’ followers fabricated his divinity. More likely, they discovered the Son of God in their midst. In this post, a simple argument: Palestinian Jews and their close associates were eyewitnesses of the Son of God, and they recorded their observations. They wrote down what they saw and experienced, and …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 2 of 8: Monotheism
Hi again. In my prior post I suggested the possibility that faith and reason belong together. This may seem strange to some but the idea goes all the way back to Jesus himself who said, “Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand . . .” Jesus was essentially saying, “Use your head. Examine …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 1 of 8: Evidence and Faith
Introduction: Normally I write brief blog posts. But in this special series I go more in-depth on an important topic, the trustworthiness (reliability) of the four Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus in the New Testament (NT): Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Even with the added depth I’ve tried to keep the posts accessible and not overly technical. Feel …
Invitation to Consider the Trustworthiness of the Gospels, Part 4 of 8: An Apology to the Wounded
The prior post on Multiple Sources is here. I hope you are tracking along in our study. It’s meant on my part to be an accumulation of smallish arguments that add up to something convincing by day’s end. I leave it to you to judge whether or not I’ve been successful. And I realize the general topic of trustworthiness in …
Slippage Part 5 of 5: Is the Ancient Faith Dismissible?
In my prior post I shared about Sean and how his new found progressive religion reshaped the entire faith of his upbringing. Here is my response to Sean: Since traditional Christianity was no longer relevant to Sean – and even seemed to block the pathway toward his ideals of justice and compassion – he merely dismissed it. But it seems …
Slippage Part 4 of 5: How Sean Lost His Faith (or most of it)
In my last post I noted how the dismissal of biblical social ethics regarding gender, sexuality, and religious pluralism is often a result of ignorance. Leavers too often believe the media/cultural hype about the Bible and the “institutional church.” Thus, there is a bandwagon effect of rejecting parts or all of Christianity. But another group of critics is more …