“For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13).

On March 12, 2022, our Lord and Savior called one of His servants home to heaven. That servant was Joe Nichols. A devoted husband to Leola (March 17th would have been their 57th anniversary).  A strong Dad, Papaw, and Great-Granddaddy. A servant in Corydon Baptist Church and the Southeast Indiana region for many decades. To say Joe had a servant’s heart is to vastly understate it. 

For many years, Joe was the only Deacon in Corydon Baptist Church. He served alongside the former Pastor, Tommy Hullette, during some very difficult years for the church. He and Tommy leaned hard upon Christ and one another to sustain a genuine gospel ministry in the face of much opposition. 

By the time I arrived as the Preaching Pastor in January 2012, Brother Joe was the Chairman of a more robust deacon ministry. But Joe’s love and support for me was just as tenacious. Joe didn’t always agree with every decision I made. He did not shy away from telling me so, at least a few times over the last 10 years, and I appreciated all the many times we agreed, and the few times we didn’t. But so long as I was faithfully and rightly dividing the Word of God, and was seeking to shepherd and lead the flock of God in a way that honored Christ, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me. He was a true friend (Prov. 18:24).

Joe was on the Search Committee that called me to Corydon Baptist Church. I remember him asking me, “What is your leadership style?” I barked, “Aggressive.” Joe was a former Army Sergeant, and I think I saw a twinkle in his eye upon hearing my straight-forward answer.  [Many will be glad to know, however, that God’s sanctifying grace has softened me some over the years. Both physical and spiritual age have made me less aggressive, I think, although I still believe that Jesus and His Church deserve our full energy, devotion, intensity, trust and effort. Or, maybe God is just teaching me which hills to die on, and which to leave to the younger warriors. But I digress.]  

Perhaps my fondest memory of Joe was during the first Members’ Meeting after I became Pastor. I was not leading the meeting. Rather, I had another elder lead it so I could just listen and learn how these meetings were conducted. Joe stood up and said, “This church is not giving anything to missions and that ain’t right!” Typical Joe. Direct. Biblical. Right on target.  

His courage that day led the church to begin giving a small percentage of the tithes and offerings received to missions. And at the time, the church really couldn’t even pay me much. But it was a sacrifice I was joyful to see the church body make. God has given me a heart for missions, especially in areas where Christians are persecuted. So, I was happy to find a kindred spirit already among the church family. What God did through one man’s consecrated courage that day is nothing short of astonishing.

For the last several years, our church family has been blessed of God to be able to give $40,000 + to missions and missionaries each year. Our church is in the top 25 in our denomination in the state of Indiana for Cooperative Program giving (as of 2021). We have a ministry to train pastors (and women) in a country that is always in the top 5 worst countries for persecution against Christians. We directly support missions in Cameroon, Indonesia, Philippines, Nicaragua, Kenya, Louisville, and right here at home. One of our member families just moved to Colorado to plant a church in Las Animas, a town that is shrouded in drug abuse, depression and darkness. Our membership has never exceeded 130 in the decade of my pastorate.  But our God is BIG. It is to His glory alone!

I do not often publish the ways in which God is using this church body in missions around the world. I just do not want even an ounce of glory or credit to go to anyone other than the Lord God Almighty who sent His Son to be the Savior of the World (John 4:42). My boasting is in the Lord (1 Cor 1:31). He has done and is doing great things among us for the sake of Jesus’ name. It’s all of grace! 

But, as I mourn the loss of Brother Joe, whose absence will be deeply felt in our church for a long time, and as I celebrate Joe’s legacy of faithful service to Christ, I do want to encourage us all to never underestimate what God can and will do through one consecrated, courageous Christian. The woman at the well took a faith gulp of Living Water some 2000 years ago, and a village came to Christ (John 4). 

Joe stood up at a small church meeting 10 years ago, and challenged us to step out in faith. For the love of God and for the sake of lost souls near and far. For the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And look what God did! Look at what God is doing! Anticipate what God will do! And ask the Lord to raise up more consecrated, courageous Christians among us, and among our sister churches. 

“I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (John 4:38).

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

For my faithful few readers out there, you know that I try to resist the urge to blog as quickly as possible about whatever is in the 24-hour news cycles.  I think far too many pastors and Christian leaders and bloggers reverse James 1:19 and are quick to speak, and slow to listen.  

The plethora of opinions inundating Twitter and the blogosphere regarding the 6-day old war between Russia and Ukraine serves as Exhibit A.   

How quickly we jump onto whatever wagon the mainstream media is pulling.  How lightning fast we are to parrot our favorite politicians or political party lines in a matter in which, if we’re honest, most of us are very ignorant.  How many of us have actually read up on the history of Russia and Ukraine?  Have we educated ourselves for years on the complexities of the relationships between these two peoples and nations?  Do we actually know what was happening on the borders of Ukraine in the months and years leading up to the present conflict?  What role has our own government played in it all?    

From what I can gather, for many years the government of Ukraine has been a puppet.  It’s just a matter of who pulls the strings.  Russia?  Or Europe / US?  And from what I gather, the government of Ukraine as it has existed for decades has not been nor is it now an actual democracy.  Seems Kiev, like Moscow and Washington, D.C., is rife with corruption.  Jeremiah 17:9 is true not just of our lost, pagan neighbors, but also of our lost, pagan leaders.  It really is hard to know who or what to believe anymore when it comes to world events, isn’t it?    

To be sure, I have been formulating some thoughts on the present war in Ukraine.  As a former Captain of United States Marines, and an unashamed patriot, I rarely find myself thinking America should just stay out of the conflicts around the globe.  Truth be known, our government is very likely already involved in ways we could not fathom, and that might shock if not disgust us, long before these kinds of wars break out.  Neither do I, though, think we should commit our troops to every conflict around the globe.  But, it might be worth noting that the US Government did in years past promise to defend Ukraine if they would agree to denuclearize.  I wonder if the Ukrainian people are learning now to distrust the US Government as much as I am / do?  I mean what are we all to make of Climate Czar John Kerry expressing more concern for the climate change agenda than the men, women, boys and girls being slaughtered?  We’re being led by evil people who hate God!              

However you come down on these matters politically, what seems clear is that a weak America hurts the world.  An America under judgment from Almighty God surely means more suffering for the peoples of the world.  And an American Church under His judgment is a dim city on a hill for the believers of the world.  Consider the irony (hypocrisy?) of two years of feckless prominent evangelical Christian voices berating us so-called “Christian Nationalists” only now to hear those same voices wildly idolizing the Christian Nationalists of Ukraine.  We’re in trouble, dear Americans.  All of us. Christian or not.  

An American military more intent on inculcating tenets of Critical Race Theory and ensuring women fight our wars is really in no position to defend much of anything.  A US Government that systematically drives out more conservative and overtly Christian soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, is ever-bit as insane as Putin.  An America that flirts with drafting our 18-year-old daughters is out of its mind. An America that wants a LGBTQ+ military, and spineless Generals who refuse to tell the truth on these issues as it pertains to actual combat effectiveness, is doomed to implode. National and State and Municipal governments all across America that handle peaceful protests with Police crackdowns are tyrannical.  And Christians who support such tyranny and encourage believers to vote more of them into office are at best horribly misled, and at worst, spiritually deceived.  Our freedoms come from God, and we ought to derive as much of our law as possible from God’s Word as well.   

Am I the only one struck by the scenes of courageous Russian citizens publicly protesting Putin’s war only to be arrested, sometimes beaten, imprisoned and silenced by military-style law enforcement?  It is now impossible to discern where such a scene is occurring.  Could be Canada. Might be Australia. London or Paris. Moscow or Beijing. Portland or New York City (unless it’s a BLM riot, of course, in which case it’s totally unthinkable for the police to crack down).  O dear Christian, the corruption of human governments is pandemic.  Freedom Bell’s ring is growing fainter by the day.  

To be sure, my heart goes out to both the peoples of Ukraine and Russia.  I hate war. I cannot bare to see the scenes of suffering now splashed across every screen. I pray daily for God to end this war quickly and with minimal loss of life.  I pray for the warriors on both sides who are having to engage in mankind’s most horrific act – mass slaughter of their fellow man.  The emotional, physical, mental, economic and spiritual toll of war is nearly unspeakable.  I pray especially for my brothers and sisters in Christ in both Russia and Ukraine.  Imagine every man in your church family taking up arms to wage war against the invading army now blowing up your city or village.  Imagine most of the women and children in your congregation fleeing for their lives, living as scared refugees, hoping for safety in a foreign land.  How now shall you do church?  O God have mercy!  Use their witness to raise up gospel beauty from these sinful ashes.  Get glory to the Name of Jesus, as only You can, even in and through this hellish atrocity.    

Our only refuge, our only hope, is that Jesus is Lord.  God still rules over the affairs of men. God still builds up and tears down nations. God still sets the boundaries of all peoples.  And God still saves sinners by the Spirit’s application of the bloody cross work of Jesus Christ to those who believe.  The most wicked act of mankind was nailing the spotless Son of God to a tree. And look what God has done, is doing, and will do in and through it!  

We long for the day when men will learn war no more.  We long for the only perfect government available in the whole universe – the Absolute Monarchy that is the cosmic consummated end-time rule and reign of King Jesus. 

Come quickly Lord Jesus. 

Session Notes

Supposed Bible Contradictions

Apologetics – Session 6

We, Christians, have presuppositions and these presuppositions are important as we think through these potential contradictions.

We believe in Plenary Verbal Inspiration

• Definition:
• God so superintended the writing of scripture, that every single word of scripture was exactly the word the human author wanted to write and exactly the word God wanted written.
• The claim of scripture is that ALL of the words of scripture are inspired by God. Scripture is not onlyGod's word (it is that), it is also man's word.
• Scripture always has 2 authors.
• How do we know human authors employ their own minds to writing of scripture?

 Inerrancy of Scripture

• Scripture, since God is true and does not lie, and inspired scripture, then scripture is Inerrant
• In the original autographs the Bible cannot communicate anything contrary to fact, or anything contradicting itself.
• Only the original autographic texts are inerrant.

We believe in the law of noncontradiction:

• “If the Bible is truly from God, and if God is a God of truth (as He is), then…if two parts seem to be in opposition or in contradiction to each other, our interpretation of one or both of these parts must be in error.” -James Montgomery Boice

Popular Supposed Contradictions

Textual Contradictions

• What is the order of the temptations of Jesus by Satan?
  • Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13
  • Reading the gospels vertically and
    • Reading the gospels vertically
      • Looking only at one gospel, in order to try to understand the major meaning the authors (divine and human) were seeking to communicate. In reading vertically, you seek to divide the gospel into sections, noticing the themes and major points given by the authors.
      • Example: 5 conflict stories in Mark 2-3. Meant to give the reader insight into the question: Why do the Scribes and Pharisees hate Jesus?

• Four questions asked and the fifth asked by Jesus.
• Mk 2: 7-8 Why does he say he can forgive sins?
• Mk 2:16 Why does he eat with tax collectors?
• Mk 2:18 Why doesn't his disciples fast?
• Mk 2:24 Why do they do what is unlawful on the Sabbath?
• Mk 3:3 Jesus asks whether it is right to do good or do harm on the Sabbath?
• Response of the Pharisees (v. 6) they go and plot how to destroy Jesus.
• Reading the Gospels horizontally- reading synoptic gospels side by side, comparing the story in one gospel with the same story in another gospel. Does something in this gospel highlight something specific compared to the same story in another gospel?

• Temptation of Jesus
  • Why is there a different order? Is there something Matthew or Luke are emphasizing by their order? Which one is intending to give a chronological order?
  • “The majority of scholars conclude that Matthew preserves the original order with the purpose of narrating chronological sequence, while Luke reverses the second and third in order to emphasize Jerusalem as the place of the climactic temple test, in accord with the temple theme of Luke-Acts…Luke uses simple connectors, ‘and’,which do not imply chronological progression. ” (955). – Joel Green
• How many angels were at the tomb of Jesus?
  • Matthew 28:2-5 – one angel; John 20:12 – two angels
  • How do you resolve this potential conflict?
• How many Gadarene demon-possessed men were there?
  • Matthew 8:28 - two
  • Mark 5:2-3- one
• Who was created first animals or humans?
  • Genesis 1:24-27 – animals then humans
  • Genesis 2:19 – seems to says humans then animals
    • “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.” (KJV) 

Theological Contradictions

• Saved by Works or Faith?
  • The most common theological supposed contradiction is between James 2:24 and Galatians 2:26.
  • What is your resolution to this potential contradiction and what other Scriptures might you use to reinforce your position

Omission of verses (sometimes bracketed)

• Mark’s ending – Mark 16:9-19
• Woman caught in adultery – John 7:53-8:11
• Notice in your ESV that both contain a disclaimer “the earliest manuscripts do not include…” and brackets the section as a reminder. 

Reliability of the Scriptures v Islam

• We are thankful to have so many early manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments. This allows us to be able to have translation teams who put disclaimers like the ones we just looked at in your Bible.
• Unlike Christianity, Islam does not have the same history concerning their manuscripts for the Qu’ran.
• The 1^st Caliph Abu Bakr (573-634) commissioned an official rescension or version of the Qu’ran. After this, copies were made and copies were made of those copies. This itself is not a problem, after all that is how the Bible spread with people making meticulous copies. Regardless of how well the copiers did, we do not have their manuscripts to compare against because…
• The 3^rd Caliph Uthman (579-656), afraid of textual variants and scribal errors took Abu Bakr’s official rescension and said that anyone with a copy must dispose of that Qu’ran. The authorities gathered up the Qu’rans and had them burned.
  • Let’s hear this from an Islamic perspective. Notice how this historical event is justified by the speaker as strengthening the authority and reliability of the Qu’ran: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBxN3iwF9YE
• What is your response to this? Should we consider the Qu’ran more or less reliable than the Bible and why?

 

 

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised” (Song of Songs 8:6-7).

Valentine’s Day is hokey. Probably the epitome of a Hallmark holiday.  

Nevertheless, there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with observing special days or special occasions (Rom 14:5).  And genuine love is worth celebrating! Not just today, but every day.

Selfless, sacrificial commitment that always seeks God’s glory and the good of the beloved is hard to come by these days.  Love that mirrors the love of God in Christ is impossible apart from the regenerating and sanctifying Spirit of God and a faith-union with Christ.  We cannot even love God apart from Him setting His special saving love upon us in Christ our Lord (1 John 4:7-12).  

Love is not heart-shaped. It is cruciform.  

This is why husbands are commanded to “love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25).  I cannot say I have lived up to that standard nearly as often or as well as I should have.  But by God’s grace, it has been my aim for over 26 years now with the love of my life, Michele.  And to be honest, she has more often demonstrated Christ-like love to me than I have to her.  At least, it surely feels like it from my perspective.  With each passing year, I see more and more of Jesus in my wife.  Her love reminds me of the greatest love – that of Jesus for His bride, His blood-bought people.  Her love for me, like His, is totally unmerited and exceeds anything I could earn.  The joy she brings me is surpassed only by the joy of Jesus that floods my soul.  

Her love flashes with the very fire of the Lord.  And my love for her does too.  I am jealous for her. She is mine, and I am hers.  Exclusively. In this too, are reminders of the fierce love of God for us in Christ.    

Romance comes and goes. But many waters cannot quench love.     

By all means, buy her roses if you can and if she enjoys that kind of thing. And give sweet Hallmark cards to one another. Enjoy a steak together. Go on a walk. Watch a sunrise or sunset. Embrace. Hug and kiss, dear husbands and wives.  Enjoy what cannot be bought at any price!    

But never forget the love that surpasses them all. Never forget the love that makes all other true love possible. Never forget the everlasting love of God. He has loved the unlovable.  All true love must reflect His love.  All true lovers seek first and foremost to exalt Him.  

Thank You, O my Father, for giving us Your Son, and leaving Your Spirit until the work on earth is done!

And thank You, Lord, for the gift of my wife and her love, which daily reminds me so much of You. 

“Christ died for the ungodly . . . God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8).

“Fathers [parents], do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).  

For several months now, our newscasters have been reporting on the phenomenon of distraught parents pushing back against school boards, teachers, and the public educational system in general.  Granted, the demeanor of these parents is not always kind. And yet, many conservative Christians cannot help but feel empathy, if not just outright cheer them on.  Bible-treasuring believers have historically held that parents are the God-ordained authorities in the lives of children, followed by faithful pastors and other wise Christian mentors (Deut 6; Ps 78; Eph 6; Col 3; Titus 2).  

If anyone doubts the critical impact of either godly or ungodly, active or negligent parenting, one need only look to the Book of Judges.  That entire disastrously wicked period in Israel’s history was set off by poor parenting (see Judges 2:10-11).  

So, seeing even non-Christian parents awaken to the reality of their responsibilities around our nation is encouraging.  To use a worn-out phrase, the infiltration of Marxism (via CRT), Planned Parenthood and over-sexualization into the public schools has “awakened a sleeping giant.”  

But many of us are surprised it has taken so long.  For 30+ years, faithful Christian leaders such as Voddie Baucham and Albert Mohler have been warning parents, particularly Christian parents, of the inevitable impact of atheistic and/or demonic curricula in the state schools.  The science curricula for decades have been overtly atheistic, teaching Darwinism as fact, and squelching any pushback against this theory which becomes less and less scientific, and more and more religious (scientism) with each passing year.  And the social sciences curricula have been demonic for decades.  That might sound too harsh to some, but consider that students in Tennessee were required to recite the Islamic creed, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is His Prophet.”  Students in California are urged to use Buddhist meditation techniques to start their morning. And the list goes on, all across our land.  

Several years ago, I attended a high school graduation (held on a Sunday which is an obvious attack on Christianity), in my little town of Corydon, IN.  No public prayers were permitted as part of the ceremony.  Yet, the Valedictorian’s speech lambasted one man one woman marriage, and expressed overt support for so-called “gay marriage.”  So much for the mantra, “But our schools are different.  We’re not California.”  

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an unabashed supporter of homeschooling, particularly intentional biblical homeschooling, where God’s Word is the educational priority and all other subjects are filtered through its absolutely authoritative lens.  I have for decades encouraged parents in churches to prayerfully and seriously consider alternatives to the public schools.  At the same time, I have loved and prayed for and respected the public school teachers in the churches I serve.  They’re still in this fight with their biblical hands tied behind their backs.  Many of them are doing the very best they can to love and instruct children from insanely broken homes, for the glory of Christ.  And, I have loved and prayed for and respected parents in the churches I serve who disagree with me and prefer their children stay in public schools.  God is God. I am not.  We are all seeking to be faithful by His sanctifying grace.  I have known homeschool parents who shouldn’t be homeschooling.  And I have known public school parents who are just being lazy when they could and should homeschool.  If Christians in the same local church cannot have open, respectful and loving conversations and even disagreements in matters such as this, then we are clearly not as Spirit-filled as we might claim.  

God has blessed me with church members who do, by His grace, know how to keep the gospel central and love each other through these kinds of debates, discussions and disagreements.  A recent conversation I had with a teacher in my congregation reminded me that whenever a parent leaves a child with anyone, be it a teacher, minister, nursery worker, or another parent / home, he or she is in fact delegating responsibility.  So, every parent at some point will entrust someone else to nurture and instruct his or her child.  The only question is to whom will we entrust them and for how long?  

For many years I have said that parents who send their children to a school for 6-8 hours a day for 12 years are, in fact, entrusting those teachers, the curricula, and the system to raise their child.  In many cases, the child spends far more time with teachers and coaches than he does with parents.  Though I have received tons of pushback on my assertion, I think the claim is a simple matter of logic.  He who has the most access to the child, is likely to have the most influence upon the child.  After all, what does it mean to “nurture / bring up” a child?  The biblical view of parenting seems to me to be holistic, so to teach and train a child is to nurture and raise up a child.  So again, the only question for parents is to whom will I entrust my child, and for how long and for what purposes?  

All of this means I am torn. On the one hand I stand on the side of God-given parental authority.  Part of me cheers on these parents who are tackling school boards and seeking to reclaim some authority over what their child learns.  On the other hand, I think in some respect, a parent must admit that there really is no way for her to dominate or even consistently supervise the public schools, at least not without sitting in every class with the child all day long.  Sending your child to school is in essence a delegation of authority, which implies some measure of trust (one hopes a large measure).

And therein lies the problem, right?  Many parents have lost trust in the state educational systems, the boards, and in many cases (thanks to students filming everything in the classroom on i-phones) the teachers.  No doubt, blame lies upon both parties.  Both parties must come to the negotiating table with respect for one another.  Where compromises can be made, both parties must make them, for the good of the children.  In the end, it could be a good thing that parents are finally back in board meetings, and are fully engaged in their children’s upbringing, of which education is a monumentally significant plank.

But whether or not a system dominated by pagans and ungodly worldviews, and homes broken by sin and enslaved to selfish lusts, can respectfully and lovingly listen to one another, well, my theology tells me it’s just not going to happen.  This is what it’s like, dear Christians, to live in a truly pagan society.  

May God give us strength, courage, and the love of Christ to live as salt and light.  May we speak the good news of salvation in Jesus for those who repent and believe.  Students in public schools 100-150 years ago learned to read and write with Bible in hand.  They memorized Scripture. Often their teachers taught in the one-room school house, which also happened to be the town’s church.  And those teachers worshipped the risen Christ together with students and their families every Sunday.  O God, awaken us.  America is lost.  Lord Jesus, please seek us, and find us, and rescue us from our sin.  

“But understand this, in the last days perilous times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim 3:1-4).

And Paul’s talking about people inside the churches!  Just read vv. 5-9.  God have mercy on us.  If this is the state of the Church, woe unto the Country.  Only Jesus can save us from ourselves, and from God’s wrath against our sin.  May He save more American sinners.  Only then will transformation begin.

Session Notes

Reliability of the Bible

Apologetics – Sessions 4&5

General Revelation

• General Revelation = God’s revelation of Himself through creation and the conscience
• God has revealed His existence and aspects of His nature to all people by means of His creation.
  • Psalm 19:1
  • Romans 1:18-32
  • Romans 2:15 –
• General Revelation is sufficient to condemn, but cannot save.
• Logic is an aspect of General Revelation.

Special Revelation

• God’s revelation of Himself by His word, or His mighty deeds to specific people, in specific places, at specific times.
• Types of Special Revelation
  

• All scripture is special revelation, but not all special revelation is scripture.
• What does special revelation reveal?
• Name and identity of God
• Love of God and what that means
• The Triune nature of God
• Plan of Salvation through Christ

What is the relationship between Apologetics and Scripture?

• Defense of the Christian faith requires defense of Scripture.
• Christian Apologetics may include more than defense of Scripture, but it cannot include

Historical Reliability of the Bible

The most common “hard” question to answer is typically as follows: How can you believe that the Bible is completely true when it is so old and was transmitted like a giant game of telephone?

This question is actually comprised of a series of mini-questions, each of which we ought to address. Here are the various topics being covered in this question:

1. How does the age of a document affect its validity?
2. How is an ancient document validated and how does the Bible fare in comparison to other texts of antiquity?
3. Does the transmission of documents affect the document’s validity and if so, how?

There are also other topics that are helpful to address when considering an apologetic of the Reliability of the Bible:

4. What do we know about the validity of the Old Testament?
5. How did we get the books of the New Testament? (Canonization)
6. How does Scripture validate its own claim of divine authorship?
   1. Prophecy Fulfillment
   2. 2 Peter 1:16-21, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:12-13

1. How does the age of a document affect its validity?

• A common presupposition that we must expose is that the age of a document does not affect its validity.
  
  

2. How is an ancient document validated and how does the Bible fare in comparison to other texts of antiquity? 

• If the Bible is not valid then the rest of our works of antiquity are not valid either.
  • The way works of antiquity are validated is by three categories:
    • Time Gap between the events and when they were written,
    • the number of manuscripts,
    • and the agreement between the manuscripts.
  • Time Gap
    • The Bible has the closest time gap between the events and when the manuscripts were written (in the case of the Gospels it is around 20-70 years). The NT was written within the 1^st generation while the eyewitnesses were still alive.  The next closest is Homer’s Iliad which has a gap of 500 years.
  • Number of Manuscripts
    • The Bible has more manuscripts than any other work of antiquity, with 24,000 manuscripts (not full texts) in many different languages (Greek, Latin, Sahidic, and Coptic).
  • Agreement between the Manuscripts
    • The Bible also has the highest text to text agreement with 99.5% agreement.

Reliability of the NT text.

• Here’s the worst case scenario: If we take all of the handwritten NT texts before the invention of the printing press (~ 1600 yrs of texts) we have ~ 400,000 variants (text to text differences).
  • There are 138,162 words in the NT so that would mean we would have nearly 3 variants per word. So we would have 2 other options for every word…how can we trust the NT?
  • Well, 99% of all variants do not impact the meaning of the text. They are common spelling errors or differences in word order. 
  • Remaining 1% of 400,000 variants = 4,000 meaningful variants out of 138,162 words.
    • Only half of these are viable (feesable) because many are scribal errors.
      • What I mean is, the not viable ones are often the author copying the text in a hurry to get it back to their city. Often the scribal error is a mistaken ending similar to the English “ing’, “es”, or “ed” in the wrong place or tense.
    • There are only 1500 - 2000 meaningful variants.
      • The more manuscripts you have the more variants you have. If we only had 10 manuscripts and have this many variants that would be more of a problem.
        • We have ~5780 manuscripts which at an average of 200 pages each = 1.3 million pages of hand written text. This means we have about 0.0013 meaningful variants per page.

END SESSION 4

3. Does the transmission of documents affect the document’s validity and if so, how?

• The “telephone game”
  • All Bibles are originally translated from the Greek and Hebrew texts.
    • “We have plenty of different “versions” (CSB, ESV, NASB, KJV, etc.) but each of those versions are seeking to be a faithful translation of the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts into English, utilizing either a word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase methodology for translation. The Bible did not transmit like this. We have access to the manuscripts and they can be read.
  • The initial NT wasn’t all compiled into 1 work. The gospels were written mostly for local distribution and the epistles were letters sent to a location.  Then the copies of these were made and sent elsewhere.
    • Because the Bible didn’t follow one single stream, if you wanted to change it, you would have had to round up every single manuscript and change them. This is impossible and even if it were possible, all we would need to do is discover one manuscript that is older than all of the changed ones and it would be obvious that changes were made. As older manuscripts have been found they have only said the same thing as the rest.

4. What do we know about the validity of the Old Testament?

Read excerpt from “How We Got the Bible” by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones (p.39-40

Dead Sea Scrolls video – “Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls So Important?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUwLDzs91CI

5. How did we get the books of the New Testament? (Canonization)

Canonization

• By 100 AD all 27 books of the NT were in circulation and all but Hebrews, Peter, James, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation were universally accepted.
• 170-175 AD Tatian created a harmony of the 4 Gospels known as Diatessaron.
• 170-200 AD the Muratorian Canon is written. It is the oldest known orthodox list of the NT and it contains 23 of the 27 NT books omitting Hebrews, 1&2 Peter, and 3 John.
• 325 AD Council of Nicea.
• 363 AD Council of Laodicea stated that only the OT and the 27 books of the NT were to be read and used in churches as canon.
• 367 AD Athanasius of Alexandria declares the list of authoritative books as the OT and the 27 books of the NT.
• 393 AD Synod of Hippo and 397 Council of Carthage ruled on the list of “inspired writings” affirming the 27 books of the NT as canon.
• Councils used the following to determine if a NT book was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
  1. The author had to be an original apostle or have a direct connection to an apostle (such as Luke or Mark). Eyewitness testimony was important.

Eyewitnesses

The NT was written by eyewitnesses or associates of the eyewitnesses in the 1^st generation after the events while the eyewitnesses were still alive and could be consulted or could correct if the account was not accurate. 

• Luke 1:1-4
• John 1:14
• 1 John 1:1-3
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Canonization continued (repeat #1)

1. The author had to be an original apostle or have a direct connection to an apostle. Eyewitness testimony was important.
   2. The book had to be accepted by the body of Christ at large.
   3. The book had to contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching.
   4. The book had to bear evidence of high moral and scriptural values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit.
      
      
2. How does Scripture validate its own claim of Divine Authorship?

Prophecy Fulfillment

The Bible is full or prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy.  This shows that God wrote it (which we will touch on more next week) because only God knows the future.  The fact that these prophecies are given and then sometimes hundreds of years later are fulfilled exactly shows that the scriptures are solid and that they have Divine Authorship

• Prophecy: Genesis 15:18-21
• Fulfillment: Joshua 21:43-45
• Prophecy: Daniel 5:24-31
• Fulfillment: Daniel 5:30
• Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 are prophecies foretelling the crucifixion of Jesus.
  • Isaiah 53: (v.3) He was despised and rejected by men. (v.4) he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. (v.10) it was the will of the Lord to crush him. (v.12) he bore the sins of many.
  • Psalm 22: (v.1) my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [Matthew 27:46] (v.16) dogs encompass me a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet. (v.18) they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. [John 19:23-24]
• Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2, Luke 21:5-6: Destruction of the 2^nd Temple
  • This was fulfilled in 70 AD when Rome destroyed the temple.

Scriptural Testimony concerning Divine Authorship

• 2 Peter 1:16-21,
• 2 Timothy 3:15-17
• Hebrews 4:12-13

Conclusion

It is rational to believe that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are reliable documents of antiquity. We can be very confident that the message of the manuscripts we have for the Old and New Testament is a reliable copy of the original autographs and has been translated faithfully from the Greek and Hebrew texts into English and other languages.

Additionally, all that Scripture records accurately concerning fulfilled prophecies, especially concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ and His resurrection, and Scripture’s own appeal to Divine Authorship puts the individual at a fork in the road where they must either accept the strong plausibility that the Scripture is indeed the Word of God or reject the faithful and reliable argument presented, despite its accuracy.

Ultimately, however, we recognize that the reason the Bible is rejected and misinformation is spread about its reliability is due to the reality of the depraved nature of mankind that rejects the truth about God. This brings us full circle back to our discussion of General and Special Revelation. Though we believe that Romans 1 teaches that all humanity has a knowledge of God’s existence and limited knowledge of His character, that knowledge is only sufficient to condemn and cause the sinful heart to respond in rebellion.

Christians understand that for someone to believe that the Bible is indeed God’s very word occurs experientially when God gives us new life in Christ. Apart from the work of God Himself, we would not have faith.

Romans 10:17  

Luke 16:19-31

Session Notes

Reliability of the Bible

Apologetics – Session 5

1. How does the age of a document affect its validity?

2. How is an ancient document validated and how does the Bible fare in comparison to other texts of antiquity?

3. Does the transmission of documents affect the document’s validity and if so, how?

• The “telephone game”
  • All Bibles are originally translated from the Greek and Hebrew texts.
    • “We have plenty of different “versions” (CSB, ESV, NASB, KJV, etc.) but each of those versions are seeking to be a faithful translation of the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts into English, utilizing either a word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase methodology for translation. The Bible did not transmit like this. We have access to the manuscripts and they can be read.
  • The initial NT wasn’t all compiled into 1 work. The gospels were written mostly for local distribution and the epistles were letters sent to a location.  Then the copies of these were made and sent elsewhere.
    • Because the Bible didn’t follow one single stream, if you wanted to change it, you would have had to round up every single manuscript and change them. This is impossible and even if it were possible, all we would need to do is discover one manuscript that is older than all of the changed ones and it would be obvious that changes were made. As older manuscripts have been found they have only said the same thing as the rest.

4. What do we know about the validity of the Old Testament?

Read excerpt from “How We Got the Bible” by Dr. Timothy Paul Jones (p.39-40

Dead Sea Scrolls video – “Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls So Important?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUwLDzs91CI

5. How did we get the books of the New Testament? (Canonization)

Canonization

• By 100 AD all 27 books of the NT were in circulation and all but Hebrews, Peter, James, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation were universally accepted.
• 170-175 AD Tatian created a harmony of the 4 Gospels known as Diatessaron.
• 170-200 AD the Muratorian Canon is written. It is the oldest known orthodox list of the NT and it contains 23 of the 27 NT books omitting Hebrews, 1&2 Peter, and 3 John.
• 325 AD Council of Nicea.
• 363 AD Council of Laodicea stated that only the OT and the 27 books of the NT were to be read and used in churches as canon.
• 367 AD Athanasius of Alexandria declares the list of authoritative books as the OT and the 27 books of the NT.
• 393 AD Synod of Hippo and 397 Council of Carthage ruled on the list of “inspired writings” affirming the 27 books of the NT as canon.
• Councils used the following to determine if a NT book was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
  1. The author had to be an original apostle or have a direct connection to an apostle (such as Luke or Mark). Eyewitness testimony was important.

Eyewitnesses

The NT was written by eyewitnesses or associates of the eyewitnesses in the 1^st generation after the events while the eyewitnesses were still alive and could be consulted or could correct if the account was not accurate. 

• Luke 1:1-4
• John 1:14
• 1 John 1:1-3
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Canonization continued (repeat #1)

1. The author had to be an original apostle or have a direct connection to an apostle. Eyewitness testimony was important.
   2. The book had to be accepted by the body of Christ at large.
   3. The book had to contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching.
   4. The book had to bear evidence of high moral and scriptural values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit.
      
      
2. How does Scripture validate its own claim of Divine Authorship?

Prophecy Fulfillment

The Bible is full or prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy.  This shows that God wrote it (which we will touch on more next week) because only God knows the future.  The fact that these prophecies are given and then sometimes hundreds of years later are fulfilled exactly shows that the scriptures are solid and that they have Divine Authorship

• Prophecy: Genesis 15:18-21
• Fulfillment: Joshua 21:43-45
• Prophecy: Daniel 5:24-31
• Fulfillment: Daniel 5:30
• Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 are prophecies foretelling the crucifixion of Jesus.
  • Isaiah 53: (v.3) He was despised and rejected by men. (v.4) he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. (v.10) it was the will of the Lord to crush him. (v.12) he bore the sins of many.
  • Psalm 22: (v.1) my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [Matthew 27:46] (v.16) dogs encompass me a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet. (v.18) they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. [John 19:23-24]
• Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2, Luke 21:5-6: Destruction of the 2^nd Temple
  • This was fulfilled in 70 AD when Rome destroyed the temple.

Scriptural Testimony concerning Divine Authorship

• 2 Peter 1:16-21,
• 2 Timothy 3:15-17
• Hebrews 4:12-13

Conclusion

It is rational to believe that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are reliable documents of antiquity. We can be very confident that the message of the manuscripts we have for the Old and New Testament is a reliable copy of the original autographs and has been translated faithfully from the Greek and Hebrew texts into English and other languages.

Additionally, all that Scripture records accurately concerning fulfilled prophecies, especially concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ and His resurrection, and Scripture’s own appeal to Divine Authorship puts the individual at a fork in the road where they must either accept the strong plausibility that the Scripture is indeed the Word of God or reject the faithful and reliable argument presented, despite its accuracy. 

Ultimately, however, we recognize that the reason the Bible is rejected and misinformation is spread about its reliability is due to the reality of the depraved nature of mankind that rejects the truth about God. This brings us full circle back to our discussion of General and Special Revelation. Though we believe that Romans 1 teaches that all humanity has a knowledge of God’s existence and limited knowledge of His character, that knowledge is only sufficient to condemn and cause the sinful heart to respond in rebellion.

Christians understand that for someone to believe that the Bible is indeed God’s very word occurs experientially when God gives us new life in Christ. Apart from the work of God Himself, we would not have faith.

Romans 10:17

Luke 16:19-31

Watch/Critique Video (concerning Qu'ran's reliability) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBxN3iwF9YE&t=202s

 

For any American Christian who imagined that the radical Marxist, anti-Christian, church-hating agenda of the LGBTQ+ movement would simply remain in Europe, Canada (see my previous blog) and California, think again.  

In my home state of Indiana, in the city of West Lafayette, the city council is pushing to pass an ordinance that mirrors Bill C-4 in Canada.  If passed, the city ordinance would essentially criminalize (with fines of up to $1,000 a day), any attempt at so-called “conversion therapy.”  But take careful note that the West Lafayette City Council is specifically targeting only “unlicensed” counselors and counseling.  If anyone dreams that this is not a direct assault on the evangelical churches who practice biblical counseling, you must already be living in a utopian colony on Mars.  

In particular, Faith Baptist Church in West Lafayette has been offering their members and community free biblical counseling services for decades.  This church has served as a model and inspiration for so many other evangelical churches who believe, yea know, that the only hope for the sin-wrecked heart and the sin-muddled mind and the sin-hurt body, is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no secular therapy or counsel that is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes (Rom 1:16).  There is no prescription med that can get a person’s sins forgiven, and place that sinner into a right standing with a Holy God. There is no gene therapy or talk therapy or Zen meditative therapy that can actually give someone the power and presence of Holy Spirit God to enable him or her to “walk in the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).  

What are the desires of the flesh which only the Spirit-filled believer in Christ can struggle against victoriously?  “Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Gal 5:19-21).  

Ironically, evangelical biblical counselors oppose secular “conversion therapy” just as much as the LGBTQ+ community does.  Indeed, this is a key reason that biblical counselors do not seek or submit to State sanctioned certifications or licensures.  Biblical counselors reject the entire premises and worldview of secular counseling.  Biblical counselors know they have no power, no eloquence, no ability to convert a human heart, or to make a sinner have a changed mind that leads to repentance of sin and faith in Jesus.  

So, the biblical counselor simply loves the sinner, warts, confusion, rage, hate, victim mentality, and all.  The biblical counselor listens, empathizes as a fellow sinner, indeed the chief of sinners, who understands “there but for the grace of God go I” (John Bradford).  The biblical counselor then opens his or her Bible, reads and studies it with the counselee, praying fervently and believing that only the Son can possibly set the sinner free (John 8:36).  Believing that a sinner can only be born again as the Spirit applies the Word (John 3:8; 1 Peter 1:23).  Knowing that only the Word of God saves and makes a sinner holy (John 17:17). And loving the sinner enough to proclaim, with Jesus, “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).  

Why would this be considered criminal?  In Canada or anywhere for that matter?  

And I remind you, now, that this is happening in West Lafayette, Indiana.  

Turns out, our enemy stalks about as a roaring lion even in the Red State heartland.  Church, we had better wake up!  We had better be raising our children to expect to suffer for Christ, even as we ask God for the grace to do so faithfully ourselves.  God teach us to rejoice to share in suffering for our Savior (Matt 5;11-12; Phil 3:7-11; James 1:2-4).  To my West Lafayette, Hoosier brothers, I say “Preach the Word!”  And may our God fight for you as you calmly trust in Him and His Word (Ex 14:14).   

To hear keen analysis on the West Lafayette ordinance, listen to Dr. Albert Mohler’s podcast: https://albertmohler.com/the-briefing 

To become much more well-informed on the comprehensive Marxist strategy to upend the American Constitution and Institutions, as well as to cut us from any biblical moorings as a society, read Erwin Lutzer’s book We Shall Not be Silenced (Harvest House: Eugene, OR, 2020).  Seriously, get the book and read it.

“Whereas conversion therapy causes harm to the persons who are subjected to it;

Whereas conversion therapy causes harm to society because, among other things, it is based on and propagates myths and stereotypes about sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including the myth that heterosexuality, cisgender gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions;

And whereas, in light of those harms, it is important to discourage and denounce the provision of conversion therapy in order to protect the human dignity and equality of all Canadians . . .” (Preamble to Bill C-4 passed by Parliament of Canada on December 8, 2021). 

Just a few days ago, one of the most wicked pieces of legislation in the history of humanity took effect in Canada.  Bill C-4 effectively criminalized what has been labeled “conversion therapy” regarding sexuality and gender.  Any Canadian citizen who promotes or attempts in any way to convince a person that heterosexuality and/or actual biological gender is to be preferred may now be imprisoned for up to 5 years!     

Take careful note of the language of the preamble. It labels any ideologies that dare to assert biological sex at birth is to be preferred, and/or that asserts any certain sexual orientation is to be preferred, are “myths and stereotypes.”  One wonders what kind of biology they are teaching up north.  This is anti-scientific science at it worst. 

But far graver are the implications for biblical Christians in Canada.  The Parliament of Canada has now officially called the Bible myth (along with many other religious texts considered sacred by adherents).  The Canadian Parliament has ascended the throne of the Almighty, and declared His decrees to be myth.  This Bill criminalizes the faithful preaching of the Word of God, as well as the faithful practice of New Testament Christianity, which demands sinners repent of all sin and be converted by and to Christ.  True evangelism is now outlawed in Canada!  True preaching is now criminal!  And true love is damned. 

Friends, it is not loving to let sinners plunge headlong into hell without a warning.  It is not loving to let people do harm to themselves and scar themselves (in every way) for life.  Sexual sin and gender dysphoria are ultimately sicknesses of depraved, self-deceived hearts (like all sins).  And the only answer to sin-sick, spiritually dead, self-deceived hearts has always been the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 7:14-23; Rom 1:16-17; Eph 2:1-10).  To withhold the only true balm for the soul is the most hateful act any person or people or Parliament could ever do.  Canada’s government is now officially on record as hating God and loving Satan.

If any American Christian is still wondering where this “Social Justice” train takes a society, all confusion is surely now cleared up.  Canada is Exhibit A.  And be warned, even the “conservatives” in Canada’s Parliament approved this legislation.          

But fear not, little flock.  It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom! Many pastors in Canada are planning to preach the truth of God’s Word on sexuality and gender this Sunday, January 16^th. They have asked American pastors and believers to stand with them in solidarity.  So, I want to publish here a few strong encouragements for all who love God, submit to the absolute authority of His Word, and who treasure political freedoms derived from the very commands of God Himself.

To read the Nashville Statement, which is part of our church’s official statement of faith, click here:

https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement#articles

Here’s an alarming and simultaneously encouraging podcast, where two Canadian pastors speak out against the godlessness of Bill C-4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77QBzt1KyMM

“If sinners be damned at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for” (C. H. Spurgeon).

And let us conclude with the absolutely sufficient and authoritative Word of the Living God, to which we all one day will answer:

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). 

Preach the Word, my dear Canadian brothers in Christ! Preach on!  May God Almighty raise up a new generation of William Tyndale’s, John Bunyan’s and John Knox’s.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Session Notes

Miracles

Apologetics – Session 3

 

What is a miracle? How would we define a miracle?

• “an event that involves the direct and powerful action of God, transcending the ordinary laws of nature and defying common expectations of behavior.” (gotquestions.org)
  • Natural Law
  • Transcending the ordinary laws of nature

 

Why are we talking about defending miracles?

• If we are using a Classical Apologetics Method, we will follow the two-step method by first arguing for God’s Existence and then moving on to the defense of a miracle, typically the resurrection of Jesus.
• When using a Presuppositional Apologetics Method, providing a defense for the rationality of miracles is a way to undermine a naturalistic presupposition.
  • Naturalism – Naturalism is a system of belief that all things have a natural cause. This system excludes supernatural explanations for anything that occurs in the universe.
  • Someone with a Naturalistic presupposition presupposes that nothing supernatural can occur and, thus, discounts the Bible and its claims as irrational.
    • David Hume – 1700s Enlightenment Philosopher

Analyze the following quotation from David Hume. What is his main argument? What are some of his presuppositions that are causing him arrive at his conclusions? What critique(s) do you have of his argument?

“A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined. Why is it more than probable, that all men must die; that lead cannot, of itself, remain suspended in the air; that fire consumes wood, and is extinguished by water; unless it be, that these events are found agreeable to the laws of nature, and there is required a violation of these laws, or in other words, a miracle to prevent them? Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it ever happen in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden: because such a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to happen. But it is a miracle, that a dead man should come to life; because that has never been observed in any age or country. There must, therefore, be a uniform experience against every miraculous event, otherwise the event would not merit that appellation....

The plain consequence is (and it is a general maxim worthy of our attention), 'That no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish....' When anyone tells me, that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself, whether it be more probable, that this person should either deceive or be deceived, or that the fact, which he relates, should really have happened. I weigh the one miracle against the other; and according to the superiority, which I discover, I pronounce my decision, and always reject the greater miracle. If the falsehood of his testimony would be more miraculous, than the event which he relates; then, and not till then, can he pretend to command my belief or opinion.

In the foregoing reasoning we have supposed, that the testimony, upon which a miracle is founded, may possibly amount to an entire proof, and that the falsehood of that testimony would be a real prodigy: But it is easy to shew, that we have been a great deal too liberal in our concession, and that there never was a miraculous event established on so full an evidence.

From David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, L. A. Selby Bigge, ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902), pp. 114-16.

We want to argue that it is, indeed, rational to believe that miracles have occurred and that such miracles have a supernatural agent as the cause of the miracle.

 

Argument for Miracles (Another argument for the existence of God) [1]

1. There are kinds of possible circumstances and events the best explanations for which invoke supernatural agency.
2. Some circumstances and events of those kinds have actually occurred.
3. Therefore, there is a supernatural agent.

 

1. There are kinds of possible circumstances and events the best explanations for which invoke supernatural agency.
   1. 1 Corinthians 15:3-17
      1. Eyewitness testimony.
      2. The eyewitnesses of the miracle died for their belief that Jesus resurrected from the dead.
   2. A higher frequency of miracles lends credibility to the legitimacy of the miracles.
   3. Thus, it is rational to believe that there are events for which supernatural agency is the most probable explanation, aka. Miracles occur and a supernatural being causes them.
2. Some circumstances and events of those kinds have actually occurred.
   1. Many stories of supernatural healing that have been verified by medical professionals have occurred.
   2. Scripture is reliable in its record of miracles.
3. Therefore, there is a supernatural agent.
   1. Depending on how you argue this, you may not actually establish that the supernatural agent is the Christian God.

 

Hard Question: What about miracles from other religions? Doesn’t this apologetic potentially validate other “gods”? 

 

Lady Fatima - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9QO9Wxo8Ek

 

These quotations are pulled directly from www.fatima.org

"The Angel demonstrated to the children the fervent, attentive, and composed manner in which we should all pray, and the reverence we should show toward God in prayer. He also explained to them the great importance of praying and making sacrifices in reparation for the offenses committed against God. He told them: 'Make of everything you can a sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication, for the conversion of sinners.' In his third and final apparition to the children, the Angel gave them Holy Communion, and demonstrated the proper way to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist: all three children knelt to receive Communion; Lucy was given the Sacred Host on the tongue and the Angel shared the Blood of the Chalice between Francisco and Jacinta.

"Our Lady stressed the importance of praying the Rosary in each of Her apparitions, asking the children to pray the Rosary every day for peace. Another principal part of the Message of Fatima is devotion to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, which is terribly outraged and offended by the sins of humanity, and we are lovingly urged to console Her by making reparation. She showed Her Heart, surrounded by piercing thorns (which represented the sins against Her Immaculate Heart), to the children, who understood that their sacrifices could help to console Her.

"The children also saw that God is terribly offended by the sins of humanity, and that He desires each of us and all mankind to abandon sin and make reparation for their crimes through prayer and sacrifice. Our Lady sadly pleaded: 'Do not offend the Lord our God any more, for He is already too much offended!'

"The children were also told to pray and sacrifice themselves for sinners, in order to save them from hell. The children were briefly shown a vision of hell, after which Our Lady told them: 'You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.'

"Our Lady indicated to us the specific root of all the troubles in the world, the one that causes world wars and such terrible suffering: sin. She then gave a solution, first to individual people, then to the Church’s leaders.God asks each one of us to stop offending Him. We must pray, especially the Rosary. By this frequent prayer of the Rosary, we will get the graces we need to overcome sin. God wants us to have devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to work to spread this devotion throughout the world. Our Lady said, 'My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.' If we wish to go to God, we have a sure way to Him through true devotion to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother.

"In order to move ever closer to Her, and therefore to Her Son, Our Lady stressed the importance of praying at least five decades of the Rosary daily. She asked us to wear the Brown Scapular. And we must make sacrifices, especially the sacrifice of doing our daily duty, in reparation for the sins committed against Our Lord and Our Lady. She also stressed the necessity of prayers and sacrifices to save poor sinners from hell. The Message of Fatima, to individual souls, is summarized in these things."

 

The reality of Satanic Miracles

• We might answer the individual questioning concerning the miracles of other religions (like the Lady of Fatima, for example) by talking about the reality that Satan can perform miracles.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:14 – Appear as angel of light
  • Exodus 7:8-11 – Magi of Egypt repeat some of the 10 plagues
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, Matthew 24:24 – Antichrist will perform miracles in order to deceive
• Thus, we must test the spirits as John exhorts in 1 Jn 4:1-3:
  • If we apply John’s principle to the apparition of Mary (message of Fatima), what does the overall message tell us about Jesus and the gospel message?

 

Ultimately, using this apologetic of defending miracles serves to get us to the point in the conversation where Scripture will likely become the next topic.

• Why believe in this God?
• Who is this God?
  • Miracles reveal God’s character.
• The greatest miracle that we definitely want to employ in our apologetic conversations is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This miracle gets us into a gospel conversation because believing in the resurrection of Jesus is rational and it is believing in Christ’s resurrection that is a crucial component of saving faith.

 

[1]Daniel Bonevac. The Argument from Miracles (2009), 3.