Luke begins his Gospel be telling Theophilus that his purpose is “So that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” What does he do next? Well, in our contemporary context, we would expect someone with that intent to begin to teach Theophilus some apologetics, to help him think systematically through… Continue reading Take them to Jesus and tell them stories
Category: Apologetics
Do we need to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus for salvation (a response to NT Wright)?
NT Wright has recently raised the question as to whether it is necessary to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It’s in relation to his friend Marcus Borg, a more liberal scholar. Wright’s assessment is that Borg was a muddled Christian, he didn’t think the body mattered and had rejected a more dogmatic form… Continue reading Do we need to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus for salvation (a response to NT Wright)?
Do we believe in the same God?
I had previously written about the question of whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Recently I picked up on the same type of question through for different reasons, asking whether Evangelicals and Roman Catholics believe in the same God. Well when I started to think about that question, I was already thinking that… Continue reading Do we believe in the same God?
“I have seen the Lord” What difference does Easter make? (John 20)
On Friday the tomb was closed and sealed. We left the disciples deserted, despairing, denying, and doubting. Then came the dawn of that Sunday morning . Some women arrive at the tomb and see angels before heading off to tell the other disciples back at Bethany. On the way, they meet Jesus. Mary Magdalene seems… Continue reading “I have seen the Lord” What difference does Easter make? (John 20)
What did Luke want us to be certain about?
Our church have started working through Luke’s Gospel. Chris who was preaching on the first bit of Luke 1 noted that we can be so caught up in the apologetic type questions about eye witnesses and reliability that we forger to read the Bible itself. This is a helpful corrective to how we tend to… Continue reading What did Luke want us to be certain about?
Wicked and the Gospel
The other day I shared my thoughts on a review of the new film adaption of the stage musical “Wicked”. I thought that the review missed the mark in terms of its cultural analysis. I thought it would be worth following up by sharing how I would engage with the story from a Gospel perspective.… Continue reading Wicked and the Gospel
Were we just Halloween lite?
With most events and activities, we tend to spend a bit of time planning before hand but also reflecting afterwards. Christmas tends to see a lot of up front planning and a lot of resources provided from outside, Easter not so much so. Halloween, reflecting perhaps our uncertainty of where it fits in tends to… Continue reading Were we just Halloween lite?
Is the Quran really wrong about crucifixion?
A blog post offers a tantalizing refutation of the Quran and therefore seemingly a surefire knock down argument for engaging with Muslims. You can read the argument here. In short, it is that the Quran has Joseph and others talking about crucifixion, so for example the baker whose dream is interpreted is crucified instead of… Continue reading Is the Quran really wrong about crucifixion?
Fragments and distortion
Original Revelation is the theory that humanity started with a clear revelation of God and truth. Sin means that this became increasingly fragmented and disrupted. It’s central to the form of apologetics I’m most aligned to, presuppositional apologetics and the thinking of my favourite missiologist, JH Bavinck. You’ll also find it showing up in the… Continue reading Fragments and distortion
The Gospel does not depend on our ropey apologetics
I was reading this article the other day which touches on how Paul appears to use a creedal form in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and… Continue reading The Gospel does not depend on our ropey apologetics
Faithroots 