Jesus Christ

Apologetics and Evangelism Jimmy Williams: A brief analysis of the relationship of faith and understanding in evangelism, and a look a several ineffective approaches and seven aggressive steps to effective evangelism.
Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? Jimmy Williams: A brief summary of factors determining whether the manuscript evidence for the Old and New Testament books is sound, or highly embellished and corrupted over time and transmission. How reliable are the texts of both Testaments we now have?
Are the Gospels Mythical? First Things, April 1996: Are the Gospels mythical? More specifically, is the story of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus more than a story? It has been compared to Greek myths since ancient times to undermine the uniqueness, and thus validity, of Christianity. In order for
The Authority of the Bible Patrick Zukeran: Explores why the Bible is the Word of God, by examining internal evidence (self-proclamation, the Holy Spirit, transforming ability, and unity) and external evidence (indestructibility, archeology, and prophecy).
Barrow and Tipler on the Anthropic Principle vs. Divine Design Dr. William Lane Craig: Barrow and Tipler's attempt to stave off the inference to divine design by appealing to the Weak Anthropic Principle is demonstrably logically fallacious unless one conjoins to it the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. But there is no reason for such a postulate. Their misgivings about the alternative of divine design are shown to be of little significance.
Beyond Blind Faith Paul E. Little: Is there a man in human history who claimed to be God and backed up those claims? Has any man ever conquered death and risen from the dead? This article looks at the claims and life of Jesus Christ. Who was he? What did he do?
The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Dr. William Lane Craig: It has been argued on the basis of Paul's testimony that Jesus's resurrection body was spiritual in the sense of being unextended, immaterial, intangible, and so forth. But neither the argument appealing to the nature of Paul's Damascus Road experience nor the argument from Paul's doctrine of the resurrection body supports such a conclusion. On the contrary, Paul's information serves to confirm the gospels' narratives of Jesus's bodily resurrection. Not only is the gospels? physicalism well-founded, but it is also, like Paul's doctrine, a nuanced physicalism.
Building Bridges for the Gospel John Studebaker: In order to effectively communicate the gospel, it is important to build bridges to lost people where they are, by seeking to understand them and share the gospel in a way that is meaningful to THEM rather than to US.
But I Worship God My Own Way. The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 1): Chapter 1 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "Can't I Just Experience God in Nature?" and "Isn't Everyone a Child of God?"
Campus Christianity Dr. Ray Bohlin: A practical guide for the Christian student to prosper in the faith at college with four principles to last a lifetime.
Can't I Just Live a Good Moral Life? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 4): Chapter 4 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "How could God condemn anyone?" "Isn't man basically good?" "What about some who's never heard?"
Christian Apologetics: This introduction to Christian apologetics, rather than delving into specific arguments for the faith, examines the need to think well and develop logic skills. It is important to be able to answer the charge of elitism that is often leveled at Christianity today, and this essay concludes with some cogent statements making a case for Christianity.
Christianity and Culture Jerry Solomon: The Christian is encouraged to become a transformer of culture as he seeks to glorify God in all of life.
A Christmas Quiz Dale Taliaferro: A quiz about various aspects of the biblical cause for Christmas: Christ's birth.
Connecting With the Divine Marilyn Adamson: An article that discusses Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and New Age; their main characteristics and perspectives on God, humanity and salvation.
Cruci-Fiction and Resuscitation Russ Wise: A paid advertisement in a campus newspaper declaring Christ's resurrection a hoax was deeply disturbing to its readers. This essay raises 9 problems with the ad and answers them.
Culture and the Bible Jerry Solomon: How does a Christian respond to his culture? The answer begins with biblical insights from the lives of those who came before us.
The Deity of Christ Don Closson: The belief that Jesus was and is God has always been a non-negotiable for Christianity. This belief is based on Jesus? own words as well as the teachings of the early church.
The Disciples' Inspection of the Empty Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: There are three alternatives concerning the relation of Luke and John's stories of the disciples' inspection of Jesus's empty tomb: (1) Luke is dependent upon John, (2) John is dependent upon Luke, or (3) Luke and John are dependent upon a common tradition. (1) is not a plausible hypothesis because in light of Luke 24:24, a later scribe borrowing from John would have had another disciple accompany Peter. (2) is not plausible in view of the non-Lukan elements in 24:12 which are characteristic of Johannine tradition. Moreover, good grounds exist for positing pre-Lukan tradition. (3) is most plausible in view of its ability to explain all the relevant data, the improbability of Luke's dependence on John, and the improbability of John's dependence on Luke.
Divine Foreknowledge and Newcomb's Paradox Dr. William Lane Craig: Newcomb's Paradox provides an illuminating non-theological illustration of the problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. We are to imagine a being with great predictive powers and to suppose we are confronted with two boxes, B1 and B2. B1 contains $1,000; B2 contains either $1,000,000 or nothing. We may choose either B2 alone or B1 and B2 together. If the being predicts that you choose both boxes, he does not put anything in B2; if he predicts that you choose B2 only, he puts $1,000,000 in B2. What should you choose? A proper construction of the pay-off matrix for the decision vindicates the one-box choice. If this is correct, then those who claim that God?s knowledge is counterfactually dependent on future contingents foreknown by Him are likewise vindicated.
Divine Timelessness and Necessary Existence William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that if God is temporal, He is essentially temporal; and that since He is a necessary being, time therefore exists necessarily, but that since time is in fact contingent, God is therefore atemporal. Leftow's arguments for time's contingency are, however, ineffective against the Newtonian, who holds that time and space are emanative effects of God's being. An untenable reductionism vitiates Leftow's claim that God cannot be temporal, yet non-spatial. Leftow's argument that God cannot be contingently temporal is undermined by the coherence of suggested scenarios illustrating such a state of affairs.
Do All Paths Lead to the Same Destination? Keith E. Johnson: Is it possible that Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, etc. represent differing, yet valid, paths to the same destination? This article examines arguments for and against the claim that all paths lead to the same destination.
Do You Believe in Evolution? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 7): Chapter 7 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "How can I believe in a literal Adam and Eve?" "Isn't the world millions of years old?"
The Doctrine Of God's Preservation John H. Stoll, Ph.D.: Once an individual has willfully accepted the regenerating work of Christ, and is justified (i.e. declared righteous by God), it is impossible for God's child to become an eternally lost person. There are five Biblical principles that undergird this doctrine.
The Doctrine Of Justification John H. Stoll, Ph.D.: The doctrine of justification is basic to our understanding of God's way of salvation. This outline lists the source, the grounds, the means, and the evidence of our justification.
Does Christianity Work? ESC Real Life: Josh McDowell's testimony told as an evangelistic piece for college students.
Does God Exist? A Debate Between Dr. William Lane Craig & Dr. Corey Washington: The transcript of a debate on the existence of God, between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington, which took place on 9 February 1995 at the University of Washington, before an audience well over 1500 people.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's First Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's first rebuttal.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Third Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's third rebuttal..
Does God Exist? A Debate between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Douglas M. Jesseph: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Moderator's Opening Comments: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Question and Answer Session: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is the question and answer session
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Second Rebuttal: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's second rebuttal..
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Opening Argument: Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington debate the existence of God. This is Dr. Craig's opening argument.
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's First Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Second Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Opening Argument: No abstract available for this article
Does God Exist? Dr. Craig's Third Rebuttal: No abstract available for this article
An Easter Quiz Dale Taliaferro: A quiz about the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord.
Evangelizing Theory First Things, March 1996: Up until Vatican II, the Church relied on religious orders to perform its missionary and evangelical functions. Now the Church expects its members as a whole to share in these duties. Catholics still, however, show a great reluctance to share their fait
Evidence for the Resurrection by Josh McDowell: For centuries many of the world's distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity as being irrational, superstitious, and absurd. Many have chosen simply to ignore the central issue of the resurrection. Other have tried to explain it away through various theories. But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.
From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed Once More Examination of James Robinson's Proposed Resurrection Appearance Trajectories: James Robinson argues that parallel trajectories, springing from primitive Christian experiences of post-resurrection appearances of Christ as a luminous bodily form, issued in the second-century Gnostic understanding of the appearance as unembodied radiance and in the second-century orthodox view of the appearances as nonluminous physical encounter. Craig examines his four arguments in support of these hypothesized trajectories and finds them unconvincing. Them is no mason to think that the primitive experiences always involved luminosity or that if they did, this was taken to imply non-physicality. Nor does the evidence support the view that Gnostics rejected corporal or even physical resurrection appearances of Christ.
The Gift of Salvation First Things, January 1998: This document, following the spirit established in the the previously issued "Catholics and Evangelicals Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millenium," addresses the divisive issue of the doctrine of justification.
God Was Born? Leadership University Special Feature: What was so special about that child born in the stable at Bethlehem some two millennia ago? Was he a great sage or philosopher? Or, was he God?
God's Chinese Son First Things, June/July 1996: Christian missionaries had made great advances in China by the 1840's. Then an ambitious Chinese youth, Hong Xiuquan, read the missionaries' tracts and decided that he was also God's son, the younger brother of Jesus. He sought to begin a new dynasty for
God's Pattern Of Salvation John H. Stoll, Ph.D.: The Hebrew and Greek words for "salvation" imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. Salvation is the great inclusive word of the Gospel, gathering into itself all the Redemptive acts and processes:
God, Time, and Eternity Dr. William Lane Craig: Is God's eternity to be construed as timeless or temporal? Given that the universe began to exist, a relational view of time suggests that time also began to exist. God's existence "prior to" or sans creation would not entail the existence of time if God in such a state is changeless. But if God sustains real relations with the world, the co-existence of God and the world imply that God is temporal subsequent to the moment of creation. Given the superiority of a relational over a non-relational (Newtonian) view of time, God ought to be considered as timeless sans creation and temporal subsequent to creation.
The Guard at the Tomb Dr. William Lane Craig: Matthew's story of the guard at the tomb of Jesus is widely regarded as an apologetic legend. Although some of the reasons given in support of this judgement are not weighty, two are more serious: (1) the story is found only in Matthew, and (2) the story presupposes that Jesus predicted his resurrection and that only the Jewish leaders understood those predictions. But the absence of the story from the other gospels may be due to their lack of interest in Jewish-Christian polemics. There are no good reasons to deny that Jesus predicted his resurrection, in which case the second objection becomes basically an argument from silence. On the positive side, the historicity of the story is supported by two considerations: (1) as an apologetic, the story is not a fail-safe answer to the charge of body-snatching, and (2) a reconstruction of the history of tradition lying behind Jewish-Christian polemic makes the fictitiousness of the guard unlikely.
A Harvest of Evangelical Theology First Things, May 1996: Dogmatics is not a subject one identifies with evangelicals. Reviewer Carl Braaten in this essay sorts through several books that attempt to define dogmas from an evangelical point of view. Despite this common theme, these authors have radically differe
Hinduism: A Christian Perspective Rick Rood: The history and basic beliefs and practices of Hinduism are discussed as well as a Christian evaluation of Hinduism.
The Historical Christ: A Response to 'From Jesus to Christ' Rick Wade: Rick Wade examines the recent PBS special 'From Jesus to Christ' in terms of the three historical 'quests' for Jesus. He begins by focusing on the theological presuppositions of those who deny the supernatural and instead search for the 'historical Jesus.' He examines the development of these views from Davis Strauss, to Rudolf Bultmann, to the Jesus Seminar and the work of Dominic Crosson. Drawing from the work of Craig Blomberg of Denver Seminar, the author ably presents arguments for the early dating of the Synoptic Gospels and the historical accuracy and authenticity of their authors. Finally, he demonstrates that the differences in the synoptic accounts can be reconciled without resorting to questioning their historicity. The conclusion is that the Christ of faith IS indeed the Jesus of history.
The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus: An examination of both Pauline and gospel material leads to eight lines of evidence in support of the conclusion that Jesus's tomb was discovered empty: (1) Paul's testimony implies the historicity of the empty tomb, (2) the presence of the empty tomb pericope in the pre-Markan passion story supports its historicity, (3) the use of 'on the first day of the week' instead of 'on the third day' points to the primitiveness of the tradition, (4) the narrative is theologically unadorned and non-apologetic, (5) the discovery of the tomb by women is highly probable, (6) the investigation of the empty tomb by the disciples is historically probable, (7) it would have been impossible for the disciples to proclaim the resurrection in Jerusalem had the tomb not been empty, (8) the Jewish polemic presupposes the empty tomb.
How Do You Spell Truth? Don Closson: A discussion of apologetics and different ways to view truth. The question of how Christians might handle both modernist and post-modernist arguments is considered.
How to Know God: Explains how to know God personally.
How to Pick Your Own God Comparative Religions: An article that looks at the optimal attributes for a God and which religion has a God that we would naturally find attractive.
How to Think About Secularism First Things, June/July 1996: What effects does the secularization of society have on Christians? Does it not tend to make them doubt the validity of their faith? The author gives an overview of the intellectual history of secularism and summarizes the challenges that it presents to
I'd Like to Know God, but Why do I Need Jesus? The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Chapter 3): Chapter 3 of Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs. This chapter examines the questions: "Why did Jesus die?" "Why should it make any difference to me?"
Is Christmas Necessary? Jerry Solomon: Christians have had to respond to the customs of the surrounding culture since the beginning of the church. In the end, though, Christmas is necessary only in terms of its historical and theological content.
Is There a God? Marilyn Adamson: A discussion of the evidence for God's existence. Simple, straightforward reasons that would lead one to conclude there is a God.
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Trinity Patrick Zukeran: This essay defends the doctrine of the Trinity and teaches Christians how they can refute the basic arguments JW's use to disprove the Trinity.
Jehovah's Witnesses: Witnessing to the Witnesses Patrick Zukeran: This work gives Christians four simple arguments to use when witnessing to those in the JW organization: the record of false prophecy, the name Jehovah, the Resurrection of of Jesus' body, and the personhood of the Holy Spirit.
The Jesus Seminar Jimmy Williams: An analysis of the Jesus Seminar's findings.
The Jesus Seminar Leadership University Special Focus: The Jesus Seminar is a group of New Testament scholars who have been meeting periodically since 1985. The initial two hundred has now dwindled to about seventy-four active members. They initially focused on the sayings of Jesus within the four Gospels to determine the probability of His actually having said the things attributed to Him.
Jesus the Christ Leadership University Special Focus: Leadership University exists to explore the truths about Jesus Christ and the Christian worldview. This special focus pages explores the biblical and historical Jesus, personal stories of those who have accepted Christ's claims, and asks the question "Would You Like To Know Christ Personally?"
Jesus the Jew Jonathan Went: The author looks at issues surrounding the question of the "historical Jesus" and discusses the Jewishness of Jesus
Jesus' Claims to be God Sue Bohlin: This essay was written in response to a friend's request: "Can you tell me where in the Bible Jesus claimed to be God?" Although not an exhaustive list of Christ's claims to be God, this article does cover the major ones. I suggest you read this with a Bible open, as I have not posted all the scriptures listed.
Mercy Killing At Golgotha First Things, October 1996: In this fictional letter, an ancient Roman commander describes to a colleague the premature killing he performs, as an act of mercy, on crucified criminals. Having been stationed in Jerusalem, he anticipates the execution of Jesus the Nazarene.
Middle Knowledge and Christian Exclusivism Dr. William Lane Craig: David Hunt has criticized a middle knowledge perspective on Christian exclusivism on evangelistic and metaphysical grounds. He argues that from a middle knowledge perspective attempts to evangelize another person are either futile or superfluous and that an omnibenevolent God would have created a post-mortem state of the blessed without ever creating any of the damned. Hunt?s evangelistic objection is unfounded because by our evangelistic efforts we may bring it about that people are saved who otherwise would not have been saved. Hunt?s metaphysical objection errs in thinking that God judges people on the basis of what they would do rather than what they in fact do.
More Than Eggs Leadership University Special Focus: Seeing stores filled with chocolate bunnies, toy chicks and colored eggs reminds us that it is Easter time again. But is there more to this holiday than the pretty bonnets and baskets on a nice spring day? See our special focus on the subject of Easter.
The Mystery Of God Incarnate Paul D. Adams: Excerpted from a thesis submitted to Denver Seminary, this paper is a defense of the classical, historic doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth. After laying out the views of John Hick, which could be said to represent much of the current thinking on Jesus' deity, a historical, biblical defense is put forth to demonstrate that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and God the Son. No other doctrine of the Christian faith is more critical for the Church to understand and defend than the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.
"No Other Name" A Middle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ: The conviction of the New Testament writers was that there is no salvation apart from Jesus. This orthodox doctrine is widely rejected today because God's condemnation of persons in other world religions seems incompatible with various attributes of God. Analysis reveals the real problem to involve certain counterfactuals of freedom, e.g., why did not God create a world in which all people would freely believe in Christ and be saved? Such questions presuppose that God possesses middle knowledge. But it can be shown that no inconsistency exists between God's having middle knowledge and certain persons' being damned; on the contrary it can be positively shown that these two notions are compatible.
On the Argument for Divine Timelessness from the Incompleteness of Temporal Life William Lane Craig: A promising argument for divine timelessness is that temporal life is possessed only moment by moment, which is incompatible with the existence of a perfect being. Since the argument is based on the experience of time's passage, it cannot be circumvented by appeal to a tenseless theory of time. Neither can the argument be subverted by appeals to a temporal deity's possession of a specious present of infinite duration. Nonetheless, because the argument concerns one's experience of time's passage rather than the objective reality of temporal becoming itself, it is considerably weakened by the fact that an omniscient being possessing perfect memory and foreknowledge, need not find such experience to be an imperfection.
Passover, Last Supper and Eucharist Jonathan Went: The author looks at the Last Supper and the Lord's Supper as they compare to the Passover seder.
Politically Incorrect Salvation William Lane Craig: Contemporary religious pluralism regards the traditional Christian doctrine of salvation through Christ alone as unconscionable. The problem seems to be that the existence of an all-loving and all-powerful God seems incompatible with the claim that persons who do not hear and embrace the gospel of salvation through Christ will be damned. Closer analysis reveals the problem to be counterfactual in nature: God could not condemn persons who, though freely rejecting God's sufficient grace for salvation revealed through nature and conscience, would have received His salvific grace mediated through the gospel. In response, it may be pointed out that God's being all-powerful does not guarantee that He can create a world in which all persons freely embrace His salvation and that His being all-loving does not entail that, even if such a world were feasible for Him, God would prefer such a world over a world in which some persons freely reject His salvation. Furthermore, it is possible that God has created a world having an optimal balance between saved and lost and that God has so providentially ordered the world that those who fail to hear the gospel and be saved would not have freely responded affirmatively to it even if they had heard it.
The Politics of Baptism First Things, December 1996: Bringing baptism to the gentiles was a seminal event in ancient history. The wide spread of Christian thought and practice throughout the Roman Empire ultimately destroyed the division between the patricians and plebians. This class struggle had long sus
Preface The Artful Dodger: A Skeptic Confronts Christianity (Preface): The preface to Dr. Alan Scholes book. The story of one skeptic's confrontation with Christian beliefs.
Probe Answers Our E-Mail: 3 Days and Nights: Answers the question, 'If Jesus was crucified on Friday, how was He dead for three nights?'
Probe Answers Our E-Mail: Jesus Seminar: Answers the question, 'Are the Ideas of the Jesus Seminar Now Catholic Doctrine?'
Probe Answers Our E-Mail: Unknown Jesus: Answers the question, 'Evidence that Jesus Didn't Become the Christ Till Centuries Later?'
The Problem Of Miracles A Historical And Philosophical Perspective: Modern skepticism concerning the gospel miracles first asserted itself by denying the miraculous nature of the events. Soon, however, the historicity of the events themselves was denied. Behind this skepticism lay the broad conception of a Newtonian world-machine, the arguments of Spinoza against the possibility of miracles, and the arguments of Hume against the identification of miracles. Counterpoised to these attacks were the defenses of miracles written by Le Clerc, Clarke, Less, Paley, and others. An assessment of the debate shows that, contra the Newtonian conception, miracles should not be understood as violations of the laws of nature, but as naturally impossible events. Contra Spinoza, admission of miracles would not serve to subvert natural law, and the possibility that a miracle is a result of an unknown natural law is minimized when the miracles are numerous, various, momentous, and unique. Contra Hume, it is question-begging or invalid to claim that uniform experience is against miracles.
The Problem of Evil Rick Rood: The problem is discussed of how a good and powerful God could allow evil and suffering in His creation--both from a philosophical and religious perspective.
Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Against the second premiss of the kalam cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, J. L. Mackie objects that the arguments for it either assume an infinitely distant beginning point or fail to understand the nature of infinity. In fact, the argument does not assume any sort of beginning point, whereas Mackie himself commits the fallacy of composition. Mackie fails to show that infinite collections can be instantiated in the real world. Against the first premiss, that whatever begins to exist has a cause, Mackie objects that there is no good reason to accept a priori this premiss and that creatio ex nihilo is problematic. But Mackie does not refute the premiss and even admits its plausibility. One can resolve the conundrums of creatio ex nihilo by holding God to be timeless sans creation and temporal with creation.
The Public Square: Jews for Jesus, Established A.D. 32 First Things, December 1996: Much controversy surrounded the recent statement by the Southern Baptist Convention on the importance of evangelizing to Jews. Should this be a part of the Christian mission? If so, what means are both appropriate and respectful?
Purtill on Fatalism and Truth Dr. William Lane Craig: Richard Purtill's recent contribution to the fatalism debate does not, I think, succeed in the author's intent of proving that the omnitemporality of truth implies fatalism, nor that the past is unchangeable in a non-trivial sense, nor that the consequences of his argument are not detrimental to logic and theology.
The Puzzle of Our Lives Douglas Yeo: Douglas Yeo, Bass Trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and faculty rnember at Boston University School for the Arts relates his answer to the frequently asked question, "How did you get where you are today?" His message of challenge, hope and comfort is an encouragement to all who seek fulfillment and balance in life whether in music or other disciplines.
Quien se Quido con el Cuerpo Rusty Wright: ?A quien le importa? ?Que diferencia hay si Jesus resucito de los muertos? Esto hace toda la diferencia del mundo. Si Cristo no hubiera resucitado, entonces miles de cristianos han vivido y muerto por una mentira. Si, de todos modos, El resucito, entonces El vive todavia y puede actuar ahora para poner orden en nuestro caotico mundo. Los hechos hablan mas fuerte que las opiniones. Echemos una mirada a algunas evidencias historicas de la resurreccion y veamos adonde los hechos nos guian.
Reaching the World That Has Come to Us Rick Rood: This article discusses a Christian response to the presence of a half-million international university students in the U.S. each year.
The Real Jesus & The Jesus Quest First Things, June/July 1996: In this review essay, Richard B. Hays considers two books on the historicity of Jesus: "The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth" by Ben Witherington III and "The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of
Real Life: What it is and Where to find it ESC Real Life: Three testimonies offering perspective on being a Christian at college.
Reincarnation and the Message of Jesus Douglas Groothuis: A brief look at the issue of reincarnation, particularly in light of the Christian doctrine of grace and forgiveness, by Douglass Groothuis, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary.
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology Joe Dallas: Former gay activist and Metropolitan Community Church elder Joe Dallas explains why he no longer promotes or accepts gay theology.
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology Joe Dallas: This article addresses the pro-gay theology by dividing its arguments--or tenants--into three categories: social justice arguments, general religious arguments, and scriptural arguments. A brief description of these arguments is provided, followed by a response/rebuttal to each.
The Resurrection: Fact or Fiction? Pat Zukeran: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important event in history and the one essential cornerstone for the Christian faith to be true. This essay examines the historical evidence for the Resurrection and demonstrates why five common explanations for it are not valid.
The Resurrection: Fact or Fiction? Pat Zukeran: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important event in history and the one essential
Smoke and Mirrors at the Crystal Cathedral First Things, June/July 1997: A spectacular presentation of Christ's Passion story minus the redemptive element? The renowned production of the "Glory of Easter" by the Crystal Cathedral is the subject of this review.
Special Class Protections for Alleged Gays A Question of Orientation and Consequences: In recent years, self-alleged extremist homosexual, lesbian and bisexual activists and their supporters have launched a multi-pronged legislative offensive, on national, state and local government levels. Their goal? To secure for "gay sexual orientations" the same (plus additional) class advantages, protections and privileges under civil rights laws now enjoyed by legitimate, disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups. Tony Marco (America for Family Values) has crafted a comprehensive public policy analysis that was instrumental in the passage of Colorado's Amendment 2.
Tachyons, Time Travel, and Divine Omniscience Dr. William Lane Craig: The problem of divine foreknowledge and human freedom is parallel to the problems raised by tachyons and time travel. Both tachyons and time travel would seem to engender logically pernicious self-inhibiting situations. Solutions can be found parallel to the solution to theological fatalism; namely, backtracking counterfactuals are allowed such that past states are counterfactually dependent upon future states. The inquietude which this move occasions with respect to tachyons and time travel can be alleviated by a proper analysis of conditionship and personal power.
Talbott's Universalism William Lane Craig: Thomas Talbott rejects the Free Will Defense against the soteriological problem of evil because (i) it is incoherent to claim that someone could freely and irrevocably reject God, and (ii) in any case, God would not permit such a choice to be made because it would pain the saved. I argue that a Molinist account escapes Talbott's objections. It is possible both that in no world realizable by God do all persons freely accept salvation and that God alone will endure the pain of knowledge of the lost.
Talbott's Universalism Once More William Lane Craig: In the debate between universalism and particularism, three questions need to be addressed: (I) Has it been shown that it is inconsistent to affirm both that God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent and that some persons do not receive Christ and are damned? (II) Can these two affirmations be shown to be consistent? (III) Is it plausible that both affirmations are true? In this on-going debate with Thomas Talbott, I argue that Talbott has failed to show the above affirmations to be inconsistent, that while one cannot prove them to be consistent, it is plausible that they are, and that it is also plausible that both affirmations are in fact true.
The Teleological Argument And The Anthropic Principle William Lane Craig: The discovery during our generation of the so-called anthropic coincidences in the initial conditions of the universe has breathed new life into the teleological argument. Use of the Anthropic Principle to nullify our wonder at these coincidences is logically fallacious unless conjoined with the metaphysical hypothesis of a World Ensemble. There are no reasons to believe that such an Ensemble exists nor that, if it does, it has the properties necessary for the Anthropic Principle to function. Typical objections to the alternative hypothesis of divine design are not probative.
Timelessness and Creation William Lane Craig: Brian Leftow argues that a temporal God could not be the creator of time and that therefore God should be conceived as timeless. Leftow's first argument, that there is no time at which a temporal God could act to create time fails because God could act at any time t to create t or, alternatively, could act at t in such a way as to be responsible for time existing prior to t. Leftow's second argument, that a temporal God could not have decided at any time t whether time should have a beginning or not fails because Leftow erroneously presupposes that in order for God to be responsible for times topological properties, there must have been a time at which He made such a decision.
The Truth About Jesus ESC Black History: Charles Gilmer debunks the myth that Christianity is a "white man's religion."
Truth or Tolerance? Scott Scruggs: There are terrible implications if truth is relative instead of absolute. Tolerance has become the ultimate virtue, especially on university campuses. A Christian response to this alarming trend.
The Uniqueness of Jesus: A serious study of the Gospels leads to one of three conclusions about Jesus Christ: He was either a liar, a lunatic, or truly Lord.
The Uniqueness of Jesus Pat Zikeran: A serious study of the Gospels leads to one of three conclusions about Jesus Christ: He was either a liar, a lunatic, or truly Lord.
Using God's Design to Communicate Faith John Studebaker: We can use evidence of several kinds of God's design to communicate the reasonableness of the Christian faith: the design of the earth, of biological life, of history, and moral design.
Wallace Matson and the Crude Cosmological Argument Dr. William Lane Craig: Wallace Matson objects to the second premiss of the "crude" cosmological argument, that the universe began to exist, by pointing out that the natural number series shows the logical possibility of an infinite collection of things. The cosmological argument proves only that an infinite collection cannot be formed in a finite time. But the argument asserts the real, not the logical, impossibility of an actual infinite. Nor does it assume that time is finite: one cannot explain how one infinite collection (the series of events) can be formed by successive addition merely by superimposing another (the series of moments) upon it. Matson objects to the first premiss, that everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence, by asserting that if it were true, then God would also need a cause. But Matson misconstrues the premiss to state everything has a cause of its existence. The correct premiss does not imply a cause of God, since He did not begin to exist.
Was Jesus Really Born of a Virgin?: This article examines some of the philosophical, biblical and historical objections that have traditionally been raised against the doctrine of Jesus' virgin birth.
What's Wrong with Evangelical Theology? First Things, August/September 1996: As liberal Christianity sought to define itself through human experience (rather than the Bible and doctrine), it lost anything that was distinctively Christian. Evangelical Christians face a similar problem. In his book "No Place for Truth," David Wel
Where Have All Our Heroes Gone? Ray Cotton: A discussion of the need for heroes with some modern-day examples.
Why Care About Theology? Jerry Solomon: The contemporary church is in need of theological reflection. What we believe about theology impacts our thinking and our behavior, even though we may not be aware of it.
Why Isn't the Evidence Clearer? Lou Whitworth: Sometimes unbelievers complain, "If God really exists, why isn't the evidence more plain and simple?" "Is God tricking us by making us hunt and search for answers?" They say, "Why isn't the evidence for the God of the Bible clearer?" That is, why isn't the evidence for the truth of the Scriptures so obvious and undeniable that virtually everyone would acknowledge it, repent, and accept Christ as personal savior? For the balance of this pamphlet, we'll be looking at this issue of the clarity of the evidence from several perspectives. We'll consider the scientific and historical perspectives on this question; we'll attempt to look at it from God's point of view and from our own human vantage point. Finally, we'll summarize the results of our analysis in light of God's grace and our human accountability.
Would You Like to Know God Personally?: The following four principles will help you discover how to know God personally and experience the abundant life He promised.