What factors actually formed the New Testament and the faith of the early church? Conspiratorial reconstructions suggest that church leaders selected texts that preserved and expanded their own political powers. If so, what shaped the early church were books and theological beliefs that were chosen with the goal of control. The problem is, the […]
[Read More...]Family Ministry: How Paul’s Teachings About the Family Apply Today
Not long ago, I shared with Christianity.com some thoughts about how Christians can apply Paul’s teaching in their homes. Paul established a priority-changing paradigm for marriages and families in Ephesians 5 and 6. He invited parents to view their task not simply as behavioral management but as gospel proclamation, viewing their children not only as […]
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Apologetics: Was the New Testament Miscopied?
Apologetics: Was Scripture Modified to Oppose Women and Jews?
According to Dr. Bart Ehrman, in his book Misquoting Jesus, there exists a category of New Testament alterations which includes changes that occurred because copyists “who were not altogether satisfied with what the New Testament books said modified their words to make them … more vigorously oppose heretics, women, Jews, and pagans.” Yet he fails to come […]
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Apologetics: Can We Trust a Copy of a Copy?
I slumped in an unpadded pew, half-listening to the morning Bible study. I wasn’t particularly interested in what the Bible teacher in this small Christian high school had to say. But, when the teacher commented that the Gospels always reported word-for-word what Jesus said, I perked up and lifted my hand. This statement brought […]
[Read More...]Proclamation: “Don’t Worry. I Read the Book. He Doesn’t Stay Dead.”
One rule in our household is that, if a book is turned into a movie, everyone must read the book before watching the movie. Our oldest daughter was eight years old when C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was turned into a feature film. In the weeks leading up to the movie’s […]
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Apologetics: What Are the Chances That Jesus’ Body Was Left On the Cross?
:: The Obscenity of the Cross in the Ancient World :: With few exceptions, even the most skeptical scholars admit that Jesus was crucified—and with good reason. Not only Christian authors but also the Roman historian Tacitus mention the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s highly unlikely that first-century Christians would have fabricated such a shameful fate […]
[Read More...]Apologetics: Why the Acts of Paul and Gospel of Peter Aren’t On Your Schedule for Reading the Bible in a Year
Perhaps you, like many others, are planning to read through the Bible this year. If you do, you’re likely to ask yourself at some point, “Weren’t there other Gospels and letters that didn’t make it into the Bible? Why am I reading these texts instead of those?” So what about those other Gospels? Well, from […]
[Read More...]Apologetics: Why Some Books Made It Into the New Testament and Others Didn’t
It’s New Year’s Eve! Tomorrow, many of you will begin reading through the Bible in a year. Before you do, I want to plant a question in your mind: Why these books? Why spend the year reading through these ancient texts and not some other documents? What’s so important about these books that owe their […]
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Study: Tom Schreiner on the Uniqueness of Luke’s Gospel
The Gospel According to Luke provides the most comprehensive and most familiar account of the birth of Jesus—and, perhaps most significant of all, it’s the account that appears in A Charlie Brown Christmas. If you’re interested in learning more about Luke’s Gospel than Linus Van Pelt is able to tell you, Matt Smethurst has posted […]
[Read More...]Apologetics: How The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife May Have Been Forged
Earlier this week, I mentioned that the news of the fragment known as Gospel of Jesus’s Wife will end “quite possibly with the revelation that the fragment was a forgery in the first place.” My rationale for this suspicion was and is insufficient to advance any sort of argument. I am no expert in Coptic […]
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Apologetics: Why the Singleness of Jesus Makes the Best Sense of the Evidence
“It is an embarrassing insight into human nature that the more fantastic the scenario, the more sensational is the promotion it receives and the more intense the faddish interest it attracts,” biblical scholar Raymond Brown wrote nearly two decades ago. “People who would never bother reading a responsible analysis of the traditions about how Jesus […]
[Read More...]Today on The Janet Mefferd Show
Today, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, I will appear on the Dallas-based Janet Mefferd Show. Janet and I will be talking together about the importance of history for understanding the New Testament. Click here to listen. Click here to learn more about the resources that Janet and I will be discussing. June 22, 2012
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Why No Baptized Lions Or Talking Crosses Made It Into Your Bible
From the first century forward, Christians viewed testimony that could be connected to eyewitnesses of Jesus as uniquely authoritative. The logic of this standard was simple: The people most likely to know the truth about Jesus were either eyewitnesses who had encountered Jesus personally or close associates of these witnesses. So, although Christians wrangled for […]
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