Date post: | 14-Apr-2017 |
Category: |
Spiritual |
Upload: | richard-chamberlain |
View: | 103 times |
Download: | 0 times |
ASK FOR A PDF HTTP ://RDCHAMBERL A IN .COM
FACEBOOK (S I L IGUR I ) EMA I L :
RDCHAMBERL A IN50@GMAIL . COM
UNDER ATTACK : DEFEND ING YOUR FA I TH
The importance of Christian
apologetics in 21st century
STARTING TO THINK INTELLIGENTLY
ABOUT WHAT YOU BELIEVE…
APOLOGETICSGREEK WORD :”SPEAK ING IN DEFENSE"
REASONED ARGUMENTS TO PROVE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
APOLOGETICS… - EVERY CHRISTIAN
- KNOW GOD’S WORD - BE ABLE TO ANSWER
QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIONS
( I S THAT ) A GOOD PO INT?
…from the Bible that we should be engaged in apologetics - what are the important texts?
Could you…
1 Peter 3:15
…Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to
give the reason for the hope that you
have. But do this with gentleness and
respect,
This is an order.
Philemon 6
And I pray that the sharing of
your faith may become
effective for the full knowledge
of every good thing that is in
us for the sake of Christ.
Romans 10:11-15
How then will they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And
how are they to believe in him of
whom they have never heard? And
how are they to hear without
someone preaching [telling them]?
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you, and
you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of
the earth.
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them,
“All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all
nations…”
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?I am not a sinner / I am a good person
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?I am not a sinner / I am a good person
I already believe in God
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?I am not a sinner / I am a good person
I already believe in God
I am an atheist. I don't believe in God
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?I am not a sinner / I am a good person
I already believe in God
I am an atheist. I don't believe in God
Why did Jesus have to die in orderfor me to go to heaven?
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY…?I am not a sinner / I am a good person
I already believe in God
I am an atheist. I don't believe in God
Why did Jesus have to die in orderfor me to go to heaven?
What makes you think the Bible isthe word of God?
OPEN DOORS WORLD WATCH LIST 2015
OPEN DOORS WORLD WATCH LIST 2015
A FEW EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE
EARTH IS PERFECTLY
DESIGNED FOR LIFE
EARTH IS PERFECTLY
DESIGNED FOR LIFE
✦ If Earth were smaller it couldn’t support an atmosphere, like on Mercury. If it were larger, like Jupiter, the atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, which is poison for us.
✦ If Earth were smaller it couldn’t support an atmosphere, like on Mercury. If it were larger, like Jupiter, the atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, which is poison for us.
✦ Earth is the only planet we know of that contains an atmosphere that can support human, animal, and plant life.
✦ The Earth is at a “just right” distance from the sun and the other planets in our solar system. If we were closer to the sun, we’d burn up. If we were farther away, we’d freeze.
✦ Earth rotates on every 24 hours:
So the sun warms the planet evenly. On the moon there are massive temperature variations because it lacks enough atmosphere or water to keep or deflect the sun’s energy.
A SENSE OF MORALITY
IF WE JUST EVOLVED FROM THE APES, AND THERE IS NOTHING
EXCEPT SPACE, TIME, AND MATTER, THEN FROM WHERE DID OUR MORAL SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG ARISE?
DOSTOYEVSKY, “IF THERE IS NO GOD, THEN EVERYTHING IS
PERMISSIBLE.”
Children, without being taught, know if something is “fair.”
Who taught them what fair is?
We are born with an inner sense of what is fair, right and good - though it gets distorted over time.
Certain values can be found in all human cultures…
✦ Murdering people is wrong.
✦ Lying and cheating are wrong.
✦ Stealing is wrong
✦...etc.
Does feeling guilty indicate ultimate right and wrong?
We feel guilty when we think we’ve broken a moral rule. And that feeling hurts our souls. Guilt is — ethical pain.
Life starts with us knowing right and wrong, showing that we are made in the image of God.
When someone does us wrong we feel bad because a moral law has been broken — a moral law given by a moral law giver.
POPULAR CULTURE SAYS…
POPULAR CULTURE SAYS…
FINE TUNING OF THE UNIVERSE
Many people think that science disproves the need to believe in God.
Many respected and world known scientists believe in God.
The discoveries of physics and cosmology in the last 50 years strongly support God’s existence.
Apologists and scientists talk of the world being fine tuned for life. That means the world was precisely designed in such a way that complex life was possible.
Here are some (simplified) examples of that design.
3 Categories:
1. Fine-tuning of the laws of nature
2. Fine-tuning of the constants of physics
3. Fine-tuning of the initial distribution of mass-energy of the universe at the time of the big bang.
3 Categories:
1. Fine-tuning of the laws of nature
2. Fine-tuning of the constants of physics
3. Fine-tuning of the initial distribution of mass-energy of the universe at the time of the big bang.
T WO EXAMPLES
The value of the weak force (the force operating inside the nucleus of an atom) is so fine tuned that if it were changed by even one part in 10x100 a life permitting universe would not have occurred.
T WO EXAMPLES
A change in the cosmological constant (which drives the acceleration of the universes expansion) by as little as 10x120 would have prevented a life permitting universe.
Roger Penrose of Oxford University, the odds of the low entropy state which exists in our universe, existing by chance are 10x10(123)!
To put this fine tuning in context - an accuracy of one part in 10x60 is like firing a bullet towards the other side of the observable universe, 20 billion light years away, and hitting a one inch target.
Steven Hawking:
“The remarkable fact is that the
values of these numbers [i.e. the
constants of physics] seem to have
been very finely adjusted to make
possible the development of life.”
“A Brief History of Time,” p. 125
THE BIBLE
“YOU CHRISTIANS LOOK AFTER A DOCUMENT CONTAINING ENOUGH
DYNAMITE TO BLOW ALL CIVILISATION TO PIECES, TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE
DOWN AND BRING PEACE TO A BATTLE-TORN PLANET. BUT YOU TREAT IT AS
THOUGH IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN A PIECE OF LITERATURE.”― MAHATMA
GANDHI
Can We Trust the New Testament as a Historical Document?
Does it tell the truth?
The Bible in historical terms is the most reliable ancient document in history.
THE B IBL IOGRAPH IC AL TES T
The number of copies
The time interval between the originaland the existing copies
The degree of accuracy of the copies
5,686 hand written Greek N.T. manuscripts
10,000 Latin Vulgate
9300 Old Latin, Slavic, Arabic, AngloSaxon, etc. Other Languages –
A total of 24,970 manuscript copies ofportions of the New Testament exist todayJosh McDowell, The New Evidence ThatDemands A Verdict P. 34
Author Date Written Earliest Copy
Approx Time between original & copy
Number of Copies
Accuracy of Copies
Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 yrs 10 ----
Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D 1400 yrs 193 ----
Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%
New Testament
1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.
2nd Cent. A.D.
(c.130 A.D.)
less than 100 years 5600 99.5%
Author Date Written Earliest Copy
Approx Time between original & copy
Number of Copies
Accuracy of Copies
Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 yrs 10 ----
Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D 1400 yrs 193 ----
Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%
New Testament
1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.
2nd Cent. A.D.
(c.130 A.D.)
less than 100 years 5600 99.5%
The Amount of Time
Modern version
Earliest Copy
x Years
Is it better for X to be longer or shorter?
The shorter time (X) between the earliest copy and the original copies, the less chance things have been changed or added
Modern version
Earliest Copy
x Years
For the New Testament X = 75 years
ARCHAEOLOGY
A lot of history is recorded in the Bible – places, people, and events.
Archaeology has shown many of these are true.
This shows the Bible records things truthfully.
In John 5:1-15 Jesus heals a man at the Pool of Bethesda. Five porticoes were discovered 40 feet (14m) underground matching John's description.
In 9:7 John mentions the Pool of Siloam. People had suggested it didn’t exist.
This pool was discovered in 1897, showing the accuracy of John.
A stone bearing the writing,
“Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea” 26-37 A.D. (Discovered 1961)
JESUS
THERESURRECTION
Every sermon preached by Christians in the NT centres on the resurrection.
The Gospel is the good news of Christ’s resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, was the greatest event in human history.
Other religious leaders still lie in the grave - only one, Jesus, has ever risen from the dead!
The disciples were changed after the resurrection - before hidden behind closed doors, after confident world changers ready to face death.
Other religious leaders still lie in the grave - only one, Jesus, has ever risen from the dead!
The disciples were changed after the resurrection - before hidden behind closed doors, after confident world changers ready to face death.
The resurrection can be proved and believed with as much historical credibility as any other well documented event in ancient history.
There are 5 theories about what happened.
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceivedJesus didn’t
rise
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceivedJesus didn’t
rise
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
4. ConspiracyThe apostles were deceivers
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
4. ConspiracyThe apostles were deceivers
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
4. ConspiracyThe apostles
were deceiversJesus
didn’t die 5. Fainted
Jesus Died Jesus Rose 1. Christianity
5 Theories about the resurrection
2. HallucinationJesus didn’t rise
The apostles were deceived
3. Myth
Jesus didn’t rise
The apostles were myth-makers
4. ConspiracyThe apostles
were deceiversJesus
didn’t die 5. Fainted
THE SWOON (FAINTING)
THEORY
1. Jesus could not have survived crucifixion. Roman procedures were very careful to eliminate that possibility.
2. The Roman soldier did not break Jesus' legs, as he did to the other two crucified criminals (Jn 19:31-33)
This means that the soldier was sure Jesus was dead.
3. John, an eyewitness, certified that he saw blood and water come from Jesus' pierced heart (Jn 19:34-35). This shows that Jesus' lungs had collapsed and he had died of asphyxiation.
4. The body was totally covered in bandages and in a sealed tomb (Jn 19:38-42).
5. The Roman guards at the tomb were overpowered by a man who had been beaten and crucified?
THE CONSPIRACY THEORY
Did the disciples make up the whole story?
- The apostles were great liars
- No one ever confessed to lying, even under intense pressure
- They were attacking the Roman and religious authorities
- The disciples were changed people - by what power?
- Many were martyred for a “lie”
- These simple “uneducated” men made up the greatest story - the Gospel
THE END
THE END