Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 109

Ideas for a New Year's Resolution

As it’s the last day of the year, here are some posts from 2013 with ideas to help you make a study plan for 2014:

A Plan to Begin a Year of Learning – “Everything on this list is written at a level that a layperson can understand—there's nothing too technical or overly academic. It will give you a good foundation in the Bible (which is most important), cover a few topics in apologetics that are big right now, and give you tools on how to think and have productive conversations.”

Meet the Bible Before You Read It – “As part of their current series on ‘How to Read the Bible,’ the White Horse Inn posted some lectures by Michael Horton (about 30 minutes each) introducing and summarizing each of the major sections of the Bible, explaining how each part fits into the whole. (Related articles, books, audio, and other study aids are included in the links below.)  Take the time to listen this month, and you’ll be ready to start reading on January 1.”

You Can Change Our Culture’s Mind on Abortion – “Making the pro-life case is completely within your ability, I promise you. You just need to arm yourself with some information, a game plan, and some tools to help you get started. So I’ve put together a short list of resources, chosen for their simplicity, clarity, and accessibility. There are no textbooks in this list, and you don’t have to be a philosopher to understand any of this material…. I confined my list to a few essentials that cover the basics and will effectively equip anyone wanting to enter into this fight for universal human rights.”

If you'd like to take a bigger step, see this list of apologetics certificate and degree programs compiled by Jacob Allee.

Stand to Reason around the World

Greg reads two emails with stories about STR from the other side of the world:

If you’d like to play a part in our work here at STR as we move into 2014, please visit our donate page. Thank you, and happy New Year from everyone here at Stand at Reason!

What's the Best Passage in the Bible About Homosexuality? (Video)

Alan shares which passage in the Bible is the most appropriate to use when discussing homosexuality.

The Top Ten Videos of 2013

Yesterday, we linked to the top ten posts of the year. Today, we give you the most popular video posts of 2013:

10. Let Your Kids Decide about Religion?

9. Is the God of the Old Testament the Same God in the New Testament?

8. Will There Be Animals in Heaven?

7. If God Cannot Be in the Presence of Sin, How Could Satan Have Approached Him?

6. Is Apologetics a Failure?

5. Why Is the Bible More Reliable Than the Koran?

4. The Top Three Reasons the Bible Is Reliable

3. Why Is a Good God More Plausible Than an Evil God?

2. Understanding the Creation Account in Genesis

1. How Do We Know the Apostles Died As Martyrs?

The Top Ten Posts of 2013

Here are some popular posts (measured by number of page views in 2013) you may have missed this year. Enjoy!

10. Truth, Conviction, and Jesus Are Relevant – A story about a youth-group-member-turned-atheist shows that attempts to be relevant are making us irrelevant by crowding out what makes Christianity unique.

9. You Can Change Our Culture’s Mind on Abortion – “Making the pro-life case is completely within your ability, I promise you. You just need to arm yourself with some information, a game plan, and some tools to help you get started. So I’ve put together a short list of resources, chosen for their simplicity, clarity, and accessibility.”

8. Four Self-Refuting Statements Heard on College Campuses Across America – “I’ve started to collect some of the more popular self-refuting statements uttered by college professors. Here are the top four….”

7. Should Homosexual Couples Be Allowed to Adopt? – “The real question is whether a child who needs to be adopted is best served by a heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple – all things being equal. The question focuses on the needs of the child, not the wants of homosexuals who are politically motivated to normalize same-sex marriage and parenting.”

6. A Review of O’Reilly’s Killing Jesus – Melinda explains both the positive and negative aspects of Bill O’Reilly’s latest book, Killing Jesus: A History.

5. Be Ready to Discuss Same-Sex Marriage Today – “To equip you for…conversation, Ryan Anderson has a helpful, concise article titled ‘5 Things You Need to Know about the Supreme Court’s Marriage Cases.’ Here are the five things he covers….”

4. The Best Question to Ask When Starting a Conversation About God – “Ever found yourself looking for a way to initiate a conversation about God, but not sure exactly how to start?... I’ve tried a number of approaches. I continue to return to one simple, effective question, however, to start the most important of all conversations….”

3. It’s Not About Equality – When it comes to discussions about same-sex marriage, here’s an approach “that can help you move your conversations past the charge that you want to deny people equal rights to the real question: What is marriage?”

2. The Bible on the History Channel – Melinda reviews the miniseries The Bible.

1. How Tim Keller Made Peace with the Wrath of God – “In a sermon titled ‘The Dark Garden,’ Tim Keller explains how he came to understand that a god without wrath and Hell is not as loving as the God we find in the Bible….”

Horus? Mithras? Jesus?

Here’s some Christmas fun from Lutheran Satire: “Horus Ruins Christmas.” (For more on this topic, see Greg’s article “Jesus, the Recycled Redeemer.”)

 

(HT: @MZHemingway)

20 Years of Impact

In the long view, an organization’s success is not ultimately measured by its flashy triumphs—packed out venues, best-selling books, world-class web stats—but rather by the quiet victories of individual lives transformed through its faithful service.

Put another way, it’s not the occasional home runs that make a successful team, but rather the consistent singles and doubles it delivers every time at bat.

That’s what I think of as Stand to Reason closes out it’s 20th anniversary year, not the glitz or the glamour, but rather the multitudes of ordinary folk in STR’s ranks who’ve been standing faithfully where God has placed them. Listen to a few of their stories, in their own words:

As a foot soldier in the third column, I’ve benefitted from those who have led the charge, including you. It spurred me on to begin a monthly apologetics forum for women across Atlanta. Thank you for your inspiration and encouragement in my life. I am ever grateful to you and to others who have given me the tools to be a small part of what the Lord is doing in this generation.—Jana

I was part of the youth group that went with STR to Berkeley in June. Your organization is outstanding for representing Jesus and furthering the Kingdom. It is a lifetime opportunity to learn from you.—Heidi

I was in Udaipur, India, last week and met a fellow at a restaurant who was teaching apologetics at a local Bible college. I asked if he knew of Greg Koukl and he responded, “I love his work!” Thanks to all of you at STR for your work that is making an impact in all corners of the world.—Jack

I forwarded your Deepak Chopra debate DVD to my boss who frequently throws me out of his office for talking about the Lord. He was convinced by Greg’s argument and changed his position on the validity of the Scriptures. After watching all of Greg’s video’s on YouTube, I decided to debate a few atheists on the web. They wanted to know what “brand” of Christianity I was because it didn’t sound “crazy.” Thank you for your commitment to God’s Word. It has fanned the flames of my faith into a roaring fire.—Tania

More ought to know about the work you do. Everything about STR is of the highest quality and reflects the values of our great God. Many thanks!—Debbie

We both serve as military musicians in Naples, Italy, so our job often keeps us from consistent fellowship at our church. STR podcasts and CDs have filled in those gaps. Soon we will be starting a weekly group to work through the “Ambassador” curriculum we got through the web site.—Luis and Sara

Finally, there’s this note from “down under”:

G’day, Greg. We met in 2005 in Toowoomba, Australia, and I have listened to every podcast since. I was 19 at the time and working in the video department of the church where you spoke. In many ways, what you and others spoke about that weekend allowed me to become a Christian. For the first time I saw that people could be smart at the same time as being Christians and, in fact, Christianity is the most logical answer to life’s really tough questions. All because years ago you left “a stone in my shoe.”

These “quiet victories” are just the tip of the iceberg. They are multiplied thousands of times over all around the world—individual people standing for Christ, able to stand because of what you have helped us do in their lives by God’s grace.

Wherever we go around the world, whoever we train, and whenever people open an STR resource or browse the webpage, you go with us, standing beside us through your support.

I closed Stand to Reason’s 20th anniversary conference in May with a keynote address titled, “Still Standing.” In it, I told of how small acts of faithfulness—one person standing at pivotal points in our history—have made a massive difference in STR’s story.

I’d like to send a CD of “Still Standing” to you as a token of our thanks for your generous gift as you stand with STR here at the end of 2013.

Speaking for myself and for our entire staff, thank you for your generous partnership in STR’s work. I hope the CD you receive will encourage you in your own quiet victories so that you will be found “still standing,” faithful wherever God has placed you.

Support STR

The Bible Is Offensive

Maybe we in the West were so steeped in Christianity for so long that its words ceased to be shocking and became merely familiar words. However it happened, somewhere along the way we forgot something very important: the Bible is offensive.

In his article titled “When You Defend Phil Robertson, Here’s What You’re Really Defending,” Josh Barro has this to say about the controversy over Phil Robertson’s GQ interview:

3. Robertson hates gay people. Robertson in [a speech at a church in] 2010: "Women with women, men with men, they committed indecent acts with one another, and they received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions. They’re full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, God-haters. They are heartless, they are faithless, they are senseless, they are ruthless. They invent ways of doing evil."

This last one [#3] is key. My inbox is full of "love the sinner, hate the sin" defenses of Robertson's 2013 remarks. But Robertson doesn't love gay people. He thinks they're, well, "full of murder." His views on gays are hateful, inasmuch as they are full of hate.

Barro sees this quote from Robertson as being the key bit of evidence that he hates gay people. The only problem is that this quote didn’t originally come from Robertson, it’s from Romans 1:26-30, and the passage is far worse than Barro thinks, because the “they” referred to in the second half of the quote isn’t who he thinks it is.

If this chapter—and the words of murder, envy, and strife—were only about gay people, then most of us could just rest easy, express some righteous indignation on behalf of “the other guy,” and then walk away without feeling personally confronted or facing any nagging fear of our own condemnation.

But the passage is much worse than that.

Romans 1-3 calls homosexuals sinners. And me. And you. And everyone under the Law, and everyone not under the Law, and…well, everyone. As the very first verse following the section quoted by Robertson points out:

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

The first three chapters of Romans are devoted to making it clear that God disapproves of your lifestyle of sin. No one except Jesus is exempted from these chapters. No one. Barro should be much more offended than he actually is.

The Duck Dynasty controversy is a good indication that our culture has come out of Christianity far enough to start feeling the impact of its radical words once again, and that’s not a bad thing if it can cause people to reflect on three things: 1) I am a sinner, 2) God is a perfect Judge, and 3) I need a savior.

If the media think the Bible only applies these three truths to gay people, just wait until they figure out how “hateful” the Bible really is. My hope is that when our culture finally does feel the full weight of the offense, the conclusion of Romans 1-3 will once again be seen as equally radical:

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The glory of Christianity is that we don’t have to deny God’s justice or His loving grace. We can face our own sin without fear because the cross preserved God’s justice, making way for His grace.

Knowledge of these radically beautiful truths has to begin with knowledge of something radically ugly, something very offensive indeed: our own sin. Let one and all discover their just condemnation so we can show them the cross. We are all “by nature children of wrath, even as the rest,” make no mistake about it. As Phil Robertson has made clear about his own life, “Among [condemned sinners] we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh”…

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-7).

Will "Doing Your Best" Satisfy God?

How do you respond to someone who thinks God will be satisfied as long as we are doing our best?

A Brief Sample of Archaeology Corroborating the Claims of the New Testament

Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, a 19th century English historian and prolific writer, held a pervasive anti-Biblical bias. He believed the historical accounts in the Book of Acts were written in the mid-2nd century. Ramsay was skeptical of Luke’s authorship and the historicity of the Book of Acts, and he set out to prove his suspicions. He began a detailed study of the archaeological evidence, and eventually came to an illuminating conclusion: the historical and archaeological evidence supported Luke’s 1st century authorship and historical reliability:

“(There are) reasons for placing the author of Acts among the historians of the first rank” (Sir William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, p. 4).

Ramsay became convinced of Luke’s reliability based on the accurate description of historical events and settings. Ramsay wasn’t the only scholar to be impressed by Luke’s accuracy:

“One of the most remarkable tokens of (Luke’s) accuracy is his sure familiarity with the proper titles of all the notable persons who are mentioned . . . Cyprus, for example, which was an imperial province until 22 BC, became a senatorial province in that year, and was therefore governed no longer by an imperial legate but by a proconsul. And so, when Paul and Barnabas arrived in Cyprus about AD 47, it was the proconsul Sergius Paullus whom they met . . .’ (F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, p. 82).

Luke’s narratives include detailed and specific descriptions related to the locations, people, offices and titles within the Roman Empire. In fact, many of Luke’s claims were eventually confirmed by archaeological discoveries:

Related to Quirinius
Luke wrote that Joseph and Mary returned to Bethlehem because a Syrian governor named Quirinius was conducting a census (Luke 2:1–3). Archaeological discoveries in the nineteenth century revealed Quirinius (or someone with the same name) was also a proconsul of Syria and Cilicia from 11 BC to the death of Herod. Quirinius’s name has been discovered on a coin from this period of time, and on the base of a statue erected in Pisidian Antioch.

Related to Erastus
In Romans 16:23, Paul wrote, “Erastus, the city treasurer greets you.” A piece of pavement was discovered in Corinth in 1929 confirming his existence.

Related to Lysanias
Luke described a tetrarch named Lysanias and wrote that this man reigned over Abilene when John the Baptist began his ministry (Luke 3:1). Two inscriptions have been discovered that mention Lysanias by name. One of these, dated from AD 14–37, identifies Lysanias as the tetrarch in Abila near Damascus.

Related to Iconium
In Acts 13:51, Luke described this city in Phyrigia. Some ancient writers (like Cicero) wrote that Iconium was located in Lycaonia, rather than Phyrigia, but a monument was discovered in 1910 that confirmed Iconium as a city in Phyrigia.

Related to the Pool of Bethesda
John wrote about the existence of a pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–9) and said that it was located in the region of Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, surrounded by five porticos. In 1888, archaeologists began excavating the area near St. Anne’s Church in Jerusalem and discovered the remains of the pool, complete with steps leading down from one side and five shallow porticos on another side.

Related to Politarchs
For many centuries, Luke was the only ancient writer to use the word Politarch to describe “rulers of the city.” Skeptics doubted that it was a legitimate Greek term until nineteen inscriptions were discovered. Five of these were in reference to Thessalonica (the very city in which Luke was claiming to have heard the term).

Related to the Pool of Siloam
John wrote about the “Pool of Siloam” (John 9:1–12) and described it as a place of ceremonial cleansing. Archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukrun excavated the pool and dated it from 100 BC to AD 100 (based on the features of the pool and coins found in the plaster).

Related to Pontius Pilate
For many years, the only corroboration we had for the existence of Pontius Pilate (the governor of Judea who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus) was a very brief citation by Tacitus. In 1961, however, a piece of limestone was discovered bearing an inscription with Pilate’s name. The inscription was discovered in Caesarea, a provincial capital during Pilate’s term (AD 26–36), and it describes a building dedication from Pilate to Tiberius Caesar.

Related to the Custom of Crucifixion
While thousands of condemned criminals and war prisoners were reportedly executed in this manner, not a single one of them had ever been discovered in any archaeological site. In 1968, Vassilios Tzaferis found the first remains of a crucifixion victim, Yohanan Ben Ha’galgol, buried in a proper Jewish “kôkhîmtype” tomb.

Related to Sergius Paulus
In Acts 13, Luke identified Sergius Paulus, a proconsul in Paphos. Skeptics doubted the existence of this man and claimed that any leader of this area would be a “propraetor” rather than a proconsul. But an inscription was discovered at Soli in Cyprus that acknowledged Paulus and identified him as a proconsul.

In addition to these archaeological discoveries, there are many other details recorded in the Book of Acts corroborating its historical accuracy. Luke describes features of the Roman world corroborated by other non-Christian historians:

Luke includes a correct description of two ways to gain Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28)

Luke includes an accurate explanation of provincial penal procedure (Acts 24:1-9)

Luke includes a correct depiction of invoking one’s roman citizenship, including the legal formula, de quibus cognoscere volebam (Acts 25:18)

Luke includes a accurate description of being in Roman custody and the conditions of being imprisoned at one’s own expense (Acts 28:16 and Acts 28:30-31)

Archaeology is a discipline of “fractions.” Given the nature of archaeology, we shouldn’t expect to find corroboration for every claim of history, regardless of historic author. But in spite of the inherent difficulties and limitations of the discipline, the archaeological evidence supporting the claims of the New Testament is incredibly robust (refer to the Biblical Archaeology Society for additional evidence). As a detective, I’ve also come to respect and recognize the limits of corroborative evidence. Archaeology sufficiently corroborates the history of the New Testament, providing us with “remarkable tokens of (Luke’s) accuracy.”