Christ and Christianity have been under attack for almost 2000 years, they survive and flourish.

1
Christ and Christianity have been under attack
for almost 2000 years, they survive and flourish.

• Everyone believes
• in something!

2

• Romans 116

3
Attacks Come and Fail

• Lie disciples stole the body.
• Nero blamed Christians Rome.
• French infidel Voltaire (1778).
• Communist China Churches.

4
Movie is Our Opportunity
5
People have Honest Questions?
6
God has Raised up Different Fields of Apologetics

• Historical Doctrinal
• Social Philosophical
• Cultural Religious

7
Two Extremes to Avoid

• Dont have to wrestle with tough questions.
• Naive reliance on answers to questions will by
  themselves bring people to Jesus Christ.

8
Three Essential Questions

• Can We Know God Exists?
• What is the True History of the Bible?
• Who is Jesus Christ?

9
Question One Can we Know God Exists?

• Eight Step Chain
• of Communication from the
• Mind of God
• to the
• Mind and Actions of Man

10

• Revelation Mind of
• Inspiration God
• Canonicity
• Transmission
• Translation
• To the Illumination
• Mind of Interpretation
• Man Application

11

• Revelation - the Revealing of
• the truth of God
• Inspiration - Recording
• Canonicity - Recognizing
• Transmission - Reproducing
• Translation - Rendering into
• different languages.

12

• Illumination - Realizing the truth of God by Holy
  Spirit
• Interpretation - Researching to ascertain its
  meaning.
• Application - Responding to the truth of God in
  my life.

13

• Revelation God Exposing
• Inspiration Himself to Us.
• Canonicity
• Transmission
• Translation
• Illumination
• Interpretation
• Application

14

• Revelation
• The Revealing of the Truth of God
• Natural - Created Nature
• - Created Mankind
• Special - Written Word (Bible)
• - Living Word (Christ).

15
Kalam Argument

• Universe Exists

16
Kalam Argument

• Universe Exists
• Beginning No Beginning

17
Kalam Argument

• Universe Exists
• Beginning No Beginning
• Caused Not Caused

18
Kalam Argument

• Universe Exists
• Beginning No Beginning
• Caused Not Caused
• Personal Not Personal

19
Kalam Argument

• Universe Exists
• Beginning No Beginning
• Caused Not Caused
• Personal Not Personal

Who?
20

• Insert John 11-3
• Insert John 114
• Insert John 118

21
Question Two What is the True History of the
Bible?

• What is the Origin of the Scriptures?
• Is the New Testament Reliable as a History Book?

22

• Revelation Origin of
• Inspiration Scriptures
• Canonicity
• Transmission
• Translation
• Illumination
• Interpretation
• Application

23

• Inspiration
• The Recording of the Truth of God
• Verbal-Plenary-Organic-Infallible
• Divine Guidance
• of the human writers
• in the choice of words
• in the original autographs
• so that they were kept from all error and
  omission.

24

• Two Words of God
• God God
• Human HS Human HS
• Parent Over- Authors Super-
• Shadowing Intending
• Living Word Written Word
• Jesus Christ Bible
• Without Sin Without Error
• Biological Mystery Theological Mystery

25

• Canonicity
• Recognizing of the Truth of God
• Origen used the word Canon to Denote what we
  call the rule of faith, the standard by which
  we are to measure and evaluate.
• The church did not determine, but discovered and
  recognized which books had been inspired.

26
Five Tests for Canonicity

• Was the book written by a prophet of God, an
  Apostle or approved by an Apostle?
• 2. Was the writer confirmed by Acts of God?
• Did the message tell the truth about God?

27
Tests for Canonicity

• 4. Does it come with the power of God to
  transform life?
• 5. Was it accepted by the people of God?

28
Canonicity Verified God Preserving Man
Recognizing
29

• Revelation
• Inspiration
• Canonicity
• Is Transmission
• Bible Translation
• Reliable? Illumination
• Interpretation
• Application

30
Is the NT Historically Reliable?

• Transmission - Reproducing Copies
• Translation - Rendering to Language
• Three Principles of Historiography
• Bibliographical Test
• Internal Evidence
• External Evidence

31
Bibliographical Test
Original Manuscript AD 50-100 Copy
Copy (Fragments AD 114) Copy Copy (Books
AD 200) Copy Copy Copy (Most NT AD
250) Copy Copy (Complete NT AD
325) Compare Number of Copies and Time Interval
Between Original-Copy
32
Bibliographical Test (Continued)

• Greek Manuscripts - 5686
• Latin Vulgate - 10000
• Other Translations - 9300
• AD 160 Tatian - Harmony of the Four Gospels
  called Diatessaron.
• All of NT can be recreated from early writings
  except of 11 verses.
• Over 32000 quotations prior to Council of Nicea
  (AD 325).

33

• Insert chart 1 from page 34 in evidence, Compare
  NT to Iliad.

34

• Insert Chart 1 comparing NT to other ancient
  writings.
• Page 38 in Evidence

35
Internal Tests - Consistency of Books of Bible to
Each Other

• Over a period of about 1500 years
• By more than 40 authors from all walks of life
• In different places (environments)
• At different times
• During different moods

36
Internal Tests - Consistency of Books of Bible to
Each Other

• On three continents
• In three languages
• Addresses hundreds of
• controversial subjects
• With an amazing degree of
• harmony
• But presents a single unfolding
• story...

37

• As I have dealt with one apparent discrepancy
  after another and have studied the alleged
  contradictions between the biblical record and
  the evidence of linguistics, archaeology, or
  science, my confidence in the trustworthiness of
  Scripture has been repeatedly verified and
  strengthened by the discovery that almost every
  problem in Scripture that has ever been

38

• discovered by man, from ancient times until now,
  has been dealt with in a completely satisfactory
  manner by the biblical text itself - or else by
  objective archaeological information. The
  deductions that may be validly drawn from ancient
  Egyptian, Sumerian, or Akkadian documents all
  harmonize with the biblical record

39

• and no properly trained evangelical scholar has
  anything to fear from the hostile arguments and
  challenges of humanistic rationalists or
  detractors of any and every persuasion.
• Dr. Gleason Archer

40

• Temptation of Christ
• City of Jericho and Jesus healing the Ten Lepers.
• Death of Judas

41
External Evidences Non-Christian Confirmation
of New Testament History

• Josephus (AD 37-100)
• Pliny the Younger (AD 112)
• Lucian of Samosata (2nd cent)
• Confirmation of Archeology

42
Josephus (AD 37-100)

• Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man,
  if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a
  doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as
  receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to
  him both many of the Jews and many of the
  Gentiles.

43

• He was the Christ and when Pilate, at the
  suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had
  condemned him to the cross, those that loved him
  at the first did not forsake him. For he appeared
  to them alive again the third day,

44

• as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten
  thousand other wonderful things concerning him
  and the tribe of Christians, so named from him,
  are not extinct to this day.

45
Pliny the Younger (AD 112)

• They were in the habit of meeting on a certain
  fixed day before it was light, when they sang in
  alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god,
  and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to do
  any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud,

46

• theft or adultery, never to falsify their word,
  nor deny a trust when they should be called upon
  to deliver it up after which it was their custom
  to separate, and then reassemble to partake of
  food-but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.

47
Lucian of Samosata (2nd century Greek)

• The Christians, you know, worship a man to this
  day-the distinguished personage who introduced
  their novel rites, and was crucified on that
  account. ...You see, these misguided creatures
  start with the general conviction

48

• that they are immortal for all time, which
  explains the contempt of death and voluntary
  self-devotion which are so common among them and
  then it was impressed on them by their original
  lawgiver that they are all brothers,

49

• from the moment that they are converted, and deny
  the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified
  sage, and live after his laws. All this they take
  quite on faith, with the result that they
  despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them
  merely as common property.

50
External Evidences - Confirmation of Archeology

• Accuracy of Luke as a historian - Names 32
  countries, 54 Cities, and 9 islands without
  error.
• Pilot Inscription on stone.
• Walls of Jericho
• Tower of Babel in Iraq
• Moses and the Egyptian Army.

51

• Revelation Origin of
• Inspiration Scriptures
• Canonicity
• Is Transmission
• Bible Translation
• Reliable? Illumination
• Interpretation
• Application

52

• Revelation
• Inspiration
• Canonicity
• Transmission
• Translation
• Illumination
• Interpretation
• Who is Jesus? Application

53
Question Three Who is Jesus Christ?

• Illumination - Realizing the truth of God
  through the HS.
• Interpretation - Researching the truth of God
  to ascertain its meaning.
• Application - Responding to the truth of God in
  my life.

54

• Insert John 517-18
• 523-24
• 819,
• 858 cf Exodus 314-15,
• 148-9)

55

• Insert Chart 4, page 148 from evidence.

56

• Miracles of Jesus Christ demonstrate He was God.
• 61 Detailed Written Predictive Prophecies about
  Christ given BC 1200 to BC 400.
• Resurrection proves Jesus Christ was the Son of
  God (Son has two meanings Descendant or From
  the Order of (Priests, Singers, etc).

57

• Final Question
• What will you do with
• Jesus Christ?

58

• Insert chart 5, page 158 evidence

59

• Revelation Mind of
• Inspiration God
• Canonicity
• Transmission
• Translation
• To the Illumination
• Mind of Interpretation
• Man Application

60
(No Transcript)