Apologetics Lane: Scripture

Showing posts with label Scripture. Show all posts

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Jonathan McLatchie Responds to Richard Carrier's Objections to Undesigned Coincidences

Rounding Off My Response to Richard Carrier On Undesigned Coincidences (Part 6) by Jonathan McLatchie
http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2020/04/rounding-off-my-response-to-richard.html

Part 6 links to parts 1-5.

See also the links and videos at my blogpost:

Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences
https://misclane.blogspot.com/2013/05/undesigned-scriptural-coincidences.html

Friday, July 14, 2017

10 Misconceptions About the NT Canon by Michael J. Kruger

https://michaeljkruger.com/the-complete-series-10-misconceptions-about-the-nt-canon/

Thursday, May 25, 2017

A Succinct Case for Sola Scriptura

With minor editing, the following blue paragraphs are my comments in Steve Hays' blogpost: "The priority of tradition" Any additional comments will be in black. BTW, I've argued for the following many times with greater force in various blog comments, but I've never collected their links or redacted them into a single blogpost. So, I decided to just post these comments here as a new blogpost.

There are different types of order and priority. For example, logical, chronological, causal, explanatory, importance, sequential et cetera. There's a sense in which one can say Church tradition has chronological, sequential, causal, explanatory priority to the NT Scriptures (I say NT because the OT existed prior to the formation of the NT church). Nevertheless, the NT Scriptures (and the Scriptures as a whole including the OT) has priority of importance over church tradition.

Even then, ultimately speaking God's Word/Revelation (either verbal or written) is chronologically, sequentially, causally and explanatorily prior to Church tradition since it's the Word/Revelation of God that put Adam under covenant with God, that initiated covenant with Abraham, Moses, David and the NT Church through the words of Christ (who is Himself God). Since the beginning of the enscripturation of Revelation into written form from the time of Moses it's [it has] always been the case that the already recognized and canonized written Revelation of God (i.e. the Scriptures) took priority over any further alleged revelations (whether written, verbal or oral). What could be termed the principle of Summa Scriptura. That was in operation EVEN DURING the time when inspired verbal revelation on par with Scripture was STILL being given. How much more when virtually no claiming [or is it "claimingly"?] Christian body believes NEW verbal revelation is being given on par with Scripture (not even Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and most charismatics; though exceptions would include cultists like Mormons etc.).

Since, church tradition does not solely contain revelation from God it's not pure, and therefore not reliable like Scripture is. Tradition may contain a mixed bag of human tradition and orally passed down inspired revelation. Say, hypothetically, it turns out that God really did inspire an Apostle to reveal that God's favorite color was green and that that [sic] revelation was recorded and preserved down to the present time through church tradition. That tradition must nevertheless be tested by the priorally greater authority of the written Scriptures because of the principle of Summa Scriptura. Even if the chain of transmission is impeccable. Interestingly, there is no such impeccably transmitted tradition which isn't already something recorded in Scripture.

We know from Scripture, Jewish tradition and Christian tradition that Scripture (whatever that might be, and irrespective of the correct canon) is reliable and possesses God's full authority (though for many Jews the Torah has more authority than the rest of the Tanakh). That can't be said about tradition. Jews claim that it's [it has] always been the case since the time of Moses that oral tradition was considered the Word of God, but Karaite Jews would demur and give good arguments against that claim. Similarly, Christians can also show from the Scriptures and Christian tradition itself that Scripture took priority over tradition. It was a later Catholic development that started to claim that Church "Tradition" (with a capital "T") was on par with Scripture, along with Ecumenical Councils (and a teaching magisterium for Catholicism). But that's not historical. It cannot be demonstrated from history that that's the case. On the contrary, the exact opposite can be demonstrated from the earliest church traditions. It's true that at times the Scriptures were spoken of as a subset of the greater traditions of the Church. But, many of those same church fathers would state that the Scriptures alone held the highest authority. So much so that some of them would say that a dogmatic doctrine of faith must be demonstrable from Scripture.

For concerning the divine and holy mysteries of the Faith, not even a casual statement must be delivered without the Holy Scriptures; nor must we be drawn aside by mere plausibility and artifices of speech. Even to me, who tell you these things, give not absolute credence, unless you receive the proof of the things which I announce from the Divine Scriptures. For this salvation which we believe depends not on ingenious reasoning, but on demonstration of the Holy Scriptures.” - Cyril of Jerusalem [from his Catechetical Lecture 4, 17]

That quotation is from Cyril's Catechetical Lectures where he was teaching about the basics of the Christian faith. Apparently it seems he was teaching something like the principle of Sola Scriptura or Summa Scriptura contrary to modern Catholic claims and teaching.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

On the Accuracy of Luke's Census

A well known apparent error in the Bible that skeptics have often pointed out is the issue of the historicity of Luke's record of a census while Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:1-2).

The following are some links to resources that will help Christians deal with the problem.

The Census of Quirinius
https://youtu.be/VclDxog95Ck

Did Luke Misdate the Census of Quirinius?
https://youtu.be/wVR0jXxJDn0

Some Triablogue links:

Other links:

Once More: Quirinius's Census by Jared M. Compton
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/11/01/Once-More-Quiriniuss-Census.aspx

On Quirinius' Census by Darrell Bock
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWm0O93unDY&feature=related

Josephus Misdated the Census of Quirinius by John H. Rhoads
http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/54/54-1/JETS_54-1_65-87_Rhoads.pdf

Luke, Quirinius, and the Census by Dave Miller, Ph.D.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=907&utm_source=buffer&buffer_share=05f5f

Luke 2:2 and the Census by Stephen C. Carlson
http://hypotyposeis.org/weblog/2004/12/luke-22-and-the-census.html

A “most prominent” census: Carlson vs. Carrier

Luke, Quirinius, and the Census
http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=907

Unbelievable? Is Luke’s Description of Quirinius Historically Inaccurate?
http://coldcasechristianity.com/2017/unbelievable-is-lukes-description-of-quirinius-historically-inaccurate/

Controversial researcher Ernest L. Martin addressed the census in his book The Star of Bethlehem: The Star That Astonished the World.
Here's a link to Chapter 12

While I'm no longer a Roman Catholic, Catholic apologist Robert Sungenis wrote:

"Thanks to the work of Hugues de Nanteuil, we have found that the modern critics are wrong. Little known (or advertised by modern scholars) is that Josephus had two different dates for the death of Herod, and the interpretation of the source containing 4 B.C. is highly debatable. In Herod’s [sic] other work, he says Herod died in 7 or 8 BC."

If it's true that Josephus had two different dates for the death of Herod, then it would be a matter of fact that Josephus got it wrong at least once. Which also means Josephus could have gotten it wrong twice. Conversely, this also means that Luke could have gotten it right. In which case, skeptics put too much weight on this apparent Biblical error whenever they argue against Biblical Inerrancy. Unfortunately, Sungenis didn't give any more information in his reference to the work of Hugues de Nanteuil.

Michael Heiser lists some recent scholarly reasons why Herod may have died 1 BCE in an article here: http://drmsh.com/september-11-happy-birthday-to-jesus/

Heiser's two main sources in defense of a 1 BCE death of Herod are:

1. Herodian Chronology by Ormond Edwards,
from the Palestine Exploration Quarterly, volume 114, 1982 - Issue 1

2. When Did Herod the Great Reign? by Andrew E. Steinmann,
from Novum Testamentum 51 (2009) 1-29

Saturday, September 28, 2013

J.P. Holding's Review and Critique of The Case Against The Case For Christ by Robert M. Price

While there are some things to be wary about regarding J.P. Holding's apologetics (especially his earlier works and activity), the following is a link to his thought provoking review of Robert M. Price's book The Case Against The Case For Christ. It's a book which many skeptics love to refer to when trying to debunk Christianity. Price's book is itself a critique of Lee Strobel's book The Case For Christ. Holding was given the name "James Patrick Holding" at birth. When he was an infant, his name was legally changed to "Robert Turkel". Holding used his birth name as a pseudonym online, before formally changing his name to his birth name in July 2007.

The Price of Playing with a Bulldog by J.P Holding
http://www.tektonics.org/ezine/pricecase/pricecaseindex.html

Here's a link to an audio of a lecture by Holding on the "Christ Myth" hypothesis:
http://youtu.be/cLrbQnfGucA

I [Richard Carrier] still find many of his [Robert Price's] claims under-documented and his arguments often weaker than they need to be, his methods are often a cipher, and he is bad at clarifying (e.g. he will defend many different mutually-contradictory theories without explaining what we are supposed to conclude from the fact that he does that, such as whether he thinks they are all equally likely or whether he thinks some are more likely than others but that all are more likely than historicity, or if he even thinks they are more likely than historicity rather than only just as likely or unlikely but likely enough to be uncertain of historicity, etc.; and that’s not the only confusion Price will lead you into, it’s just the one that I often notice the most). He also never thoroughly defends a single coherent theory of Christian origins, making him a moving target for critics (contrast with Doherty, who does a generally good job at this, and is the best mythicist to read, although he still stubbornly falls short of dissertation quality argumentation and just complains when I say that rather than trying to work out how to formulate and document arguments in a way that would pass a fair peer review–such as learning to stop crowding strong arguments with weak arguments, and instead drop the weak arguments and just shore up the strong arguments).
http://freethoughtblogs.com/carrier/archives/4664/comment-page-1#comment-54444

I [Bart Ehrman] should say that one of the things that struck me, quite forcefully, in the aftermath of the publication of the book, was just how virulent, mean-spirited, and militant some atheists can be. The hate-mail and hate-response that I received for this book from the far left was absolutely as vehement as the hate-mail and hate-response that I have received for other books from the far right. It’s not easy being a historian, wanting simply to know what happened in the past, when so many have so many vested interests in having things their own way. Many of the mythicists are simply fundamentalists of a different stripe. Or so I’ve experienced!
http://ehrmanblog.org/video-jesus-exist/

See also the resources at the following links:
Christian CADRE

Triablogue

Book Reviews of Recent Atheist Authors by Christian Apologists

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Answering Moral Objections to the Bible

Before listing the links answering moral objections to the Bible, here are some blogposts that are related:

Why Obey God?
http://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/09/why-obey-god-rough-draft.html

God in Relation to Law: Ex Lex, Sub Lego or Sibi Ipsi Lex
http://misclane.blogspot.com/2014/05/god-in-relation-to-law-ex-lex-sub-lego.html

Audio/Video:

Richard Hess: Did God Command Joshua and Israel to Commit Genocide?
https://youtu.be/wI4d-6oqmNc

Answering Moral Objections to the Old Testament (videos) by Peter J. Williams
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/09/26/answering-moral-objections-to-the-old-testament/
or
Here

New Atheists & Old Testament by Peter J. Williams (during the Reasonable Faith Tour 2011)
http://youtu.be/ulCbh_1SlwE

Is the Old Testament Ethical? by Peter J. Williams
http://www.apologetics315.com/2009/08/is-old-testament-ethical-peter-williams.html

Short Audio/Visual materials by Peter J. Williams HERE

Is it reasonable to believe in Old Testament morality? by Peter S. Williams
http://youtu.be/QjaVuB51uHc

Is God a Moral Monster? by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/1C3q3Zr_R8E

Is God a Moral Monster by Paul Copan (Tactical Faith Live Stream)
http://youtu.be/Ohz3Aa3wucs

Is God a Moral Monster? A Conversation with Dr. Paul Copan
https://youtu.be/YU7CEl55qXY

Slavery and Genocide in the Bible? by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/1yuEFfTCOhw

Did God Sanction Slavery in the Old Testament? by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/CyLpygp4eSE

Questions & Answers by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/EZuYOvdgNHs

Good God and Evil World by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/ORqzUTPvHOo

Talking with Paul Copan about Genocide in Old Testament
http://youtu.be/4lap_BdOJQo

Is God a Moral Monster? Paul Copan Interview
http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/01/apologist-interview-paul-copan-is-god.html

God commands Abraham to kill his son by Dr. Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/0SCehNfyJaY

The killing of the Canaanite woman and children - Dr. Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/X1K8pEB2xic

Is God a Moral Monster? by Dr. Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/xWJ-raa3lOQ

The killing of the Canaanites in The Old Testament by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/-F9RYE2G2SE

The penalty for Israel breaking laws in The Old Testament by Paul Copan
http://youtu.be/uQiRaqS8nHM

Old Testament God vs The New Atheists | Paul Copan, PhD
http://youtu.be/oHUIOBrGnYg

Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Paul Copan)
https://youtu.be/bksANxAv2JA

Old Testament Atrocities by William Lane Craig
http://youtu.be/k2kSST8O93Y

Did God Command Genocide In the Bible? by William Lane Craig
http://youtu.be/9FGv9aOCcyU

Did God Command Genocide in the Bible? - William Lane Craig vs. Richard Dawkins' Statements
http://youtu.be/gH0c_rWkang

The "Slaughter" of the Canaanite Tribes Revisited
https://youtu.be/DZt1giKdDpA

Did God Commit Atrocities in the Old Testament? by William Lane Craig (Podcast)
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/did-god-commit-atrocities-in-the-old-testament

What About Violence in the Bible (David Wood, PhD)
https://youtu.be/3-b5yRkOKLM

Is God a Moral Monster? by Frank Turek
http://youtu.be/3sO087AjU08

Q & A: God's Sovereignty and the Genocide of the Old Testament by Ravi Zacharias
http://youtu.be/avyEziBHEx4

Violence in the Old Testament: Seven Minute Seminary
Part 1 http://youtu.be/7hotJ7p0f9I
Part 2 http://youtu.be/pGVn1gaSsAs
Part 3 http://youtu.be/Tf2lX1nYkKw

God Behaving Badly: Author Interview of David Lamb
http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/06/author-interview-david-lamb-god.html

Though the Crusades happened after the writing of the Bible, atheists often cite the Crusades as examples of Christian hypocrisy or of the carrying out in practice the logical implications of Christianity. So, here are interviews of Clay Jones Crusades
Part 1 http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/01/clay-jones-interview-crusades-part-1.html
Part 2 http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/01/clay-jones-interview-crusades-part-2.html
Part 3 http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/02/clay-jones-interview-crusades-part-3.html

The Violence of The Old Testament by Richard Swinburne
http://youtu.be/QjbXwZMst9w
I hesitated to include this video of Swinburne because while his ultimate point is true, it skirts the issue of the inspiration of the Old Testament texts that were gathered and accepted by Christians. The fact is that the documents were originally received or eventually recognized by the Jews as inspired revelation by God before they were accepted by the Christian community. In fact, (and more precisely) the original Christians were themselves Jews who accepted the Tanach as inspired Scripture.

Genocide in the Old Testament with Dr. Bob Chisholm, Dr. Gordon Johnston and Dr. Darrell Bock
http://youtu.be/fZEwPmtuusU

Old Testament Violence with Sam Shamoun and David Wood
https://youtu.be/ieIn6vyg3Rc

Online Written Materials:

How is the Islamic idea of jihad different from the violence in the Bible?
https://www.gotquestions.org/jihad-Bible.html

Common Objections to Christianity by Steve Hays (a blogger at Triablogue)
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2011/10/common-objections-to-christianity.html

There are many blogs at Triablogue that deal with the moral objections to the Bible from a Calvinistic perspective (e.g. those by Steve Hays and Paul Manata). One can perform a search for those blogs. There are also books there that touch on the subject by the Triabloggers (though not all the authors or contributors are Calvinists).

The End of Infidelity by the Triabloggers
http://calvindude.org/ebooks/stevehays/The-End-of-Infidelity.pdf

The Infidel Delusion by the Triabloggers
http://calvindude.org/ebooks/stevehays/Infidel-Delusion.pdf

Why I Believe by Steve Hays
Part 1 http://calvindude.org/ebooks/stevehays/Why-I-Believe-1.pdf

Part 2 http://calvindude.org/ebooks/stevehays/Why-I-Believe-2.pdf

Chattel slavery by Steve Hays

Slave trade by Steve Hays

Runaway slaves by Steve Hays

Good Jesus meets bad atheist by Steve Hays

The slave trade by Steve Hays

Voluntary slavery by Steve Hays

Flogging by Steve Hays

Polyester by Steve Hays

Feminist Misogyny by Steve Hays
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/misogyny.html

The Long Branch Saloon by Steve Hays
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-long-branch-saloon.html

Revenge killings, honor killings, and Scripture
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2015/09/revenge-killings-honor-killings-and.html

Kill the infidel
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2015/01/kill-infidel.html

Slaughter of the Canaanites by William Lane Craig (Q & A #16)
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/slaughter-of-the-canaanites

The “Slaughter” of the Canaanites Re-visited by William Lane Craig (Q & A #225)
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-slaughter-of-the-canaanites-re-visited

Once More: The Slaughter of the Canaanites by William Lane Craig (Q & A #331)
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/once-more-the-slaughter-of-the-canaanites

Slavery in the Bible: Articles & Audio at Apologetics315 website
http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/09/slavery-in-bible-articles-audio.html

Does the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? An Overview (Part 1) by Paul Copan
http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201102/201102_108_slavery.htm.cfm

Does the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? (Part 2) by Paul Copan
http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201103/201103_124_OTSlave.cfm

Why Is the New Testament Silent on Slavery — or Is It? by Paul Copan
http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201104/201104_108_NT_slavery.cfm

The Question of Slavery by Break Point website
https://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/breakpoint-columns/entry/2/17244

Doesn’t the Bible Support Slavery?
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/doesnt-the-bible-support-slavery/

Slavery in the Bible: 8 Quick Resources
http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/06/slavery-in-bible-8-quick-resources.html?m=1

Does the Bible Condone Slavery?
http://rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/does-the-bible-condone-slavery/

Common Objections: The Old Testament is Full of Rape, Murder, Slavery, Homophobia http://www.monergism.com/blog/common-objections-old-testament-full-rape-murder-slavery-homophobia

Should sodomites be executed?
http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2017/03/should-sodomites-be-executed.html

The Bible’s Attitude to Rape by George Athas
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2014/06/the-bibles-attitude-to-rape/

The Punishment for Rape and Bad Translations
https://reformedtheonomy.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/the-punishment-for-rape-and-bad-translations/

Does the God of the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? Why Does the Bible Never Condemn Slavery? http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/skeptics/03slavery.html

Does the Bible Condone Slavery and Sexism by James M. Hamilton
http://jimhamilton.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Does-the-Bible-Condone-Slavery-and-Sexism.pdf

Why Does the Bible Condone Genocide? by John Hendryx
http://www.monergism.com/blog/why-does-bible-condone-genocide-john-hendryx

Our Poisoned Culture of Libel and Defamation by John Hendryx
http://www.monergism.com/blog/our-poisoned-culture-libel-and-defamation

Holy War in Joshua: Texts of Terror?Michael S. Horton
http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=1502&var3=main

Five Differences between Sharia and Old Testament Law by David Wood
http://www.equip.org/article/five-differences-sharia-old-testament-law/

Slavery and the Bible: Is the Good Book Really 'Good?' by Richard Klaus
https://www.christianpost.com/voice/slavery-and-the-bible-is-the-good-book-really-good.html

Recommended books:

Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan

Toward Old Testament Ethics by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
Kaiser's other books are also relevant. But especially the one above because it explains much of the rationale of Old Testament ethics.

God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? by David T. Lamb

Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide editor by Stanley N. Gundry

See also my other blogs:

The issue of Rape and Deut. 22:28-29

Could God Command a Christian to Kill?

Resources for Dealing with Alleged Bible Contradictions, Discrepancies and Errors

Dealing with Christian Doubts

Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It? by William Lane Craig

Book Reviews of Recent Atheist Authors by Christian Apologists

Detecting and Finding God

"Unveiling" The Hiddenness of God

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Real Jesus: Paul Maier presents New Evidence from History and Archaeology at Iowa State

https://youtu.be/XAN3kQHTKWI

Here's a link to a similar lecture Paul Maier gave:

Jesus in the New Testament & Beyond MP3 Audio by Paul Maier

More stuff on Paul Maier

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences

Here are links to J.J. Blunt's classic book:

Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings Both of the Old and New Testaments, An Argument of Their Veracity; With an Appendix

http://biblecourses.com.au/blunt/index.html

or

http://www.archive.org/details/undesignedcoinci1851blun

or

http://books.google.com/books?id=g8hCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Here's are links to lectures by Tim McGrew on this topic. I'm not sure if any of the lectures are duplicates.

http://apologetics315.blogspot.com/2011/04/undesigned-coincidences-in-gospels-by.html

http://www.evidence4faith.com/shows/e4f-042411.mp3
http://youtu.be/9wUcrwYocgM

Here's a series of articles by Tim McGrew on Undesigned Coincidences:
Part ONE
Part TWO
Part THREE
Part FOUR
Part FIVE
Part SIX

A related work that touches upon these issues is Edmund Bennett's book The Four Gospels from a Lawyer’s Standpoint (1893)

In honestly I have to say that some of the force of the arguments that both Blunt and McGrew make are weakened if you take into consideration how tradition in the early Christian community (during the times when the Gospels were being written) could account for some of the coincidences. Along with that, the theory of Markan Priority can account for some of the coincidences. In other words, if we assume that Mark was the first Gospel written, then Matthew and Luke borrow from Mark, while John was written last (and probably with the awareness of the prior three), then some of the coincidences aren't that startling. The theory of Markan Priority isn't necessarily true, but a conservative Christian can consistently consider it as possibly true without compromising his beliefs. I myself lean toward Markan Priority (but not dogmatic on it). While Most liberal and conservative scholars hold to Markan Priority, not all do. For example, Messianic Jewish scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum holds to Matthean Priority.

Update:

Ehrman vs McGrew on Undesigned Coincidences