Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then? Audio and Video by Daniel B. Wallace

Does the Bible we have today reflect what was originally written, or has it been substantially changed since it was first written? If you had subscribed to Biola University's Chapel video channel on Youtube, you would already know the answer. Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, answers this question in (part 1 and part 2) a lecture entitled: Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then? Check out the originals on Biola's Youtube channel. Audio below.

Full MP3 Audio here (1hr)

Enjoy.

Terminology Tuesday: Divine Action

Divine Action: Events brought about by God understood as an intentional agent. It is characteristic both of the biblical narrative and of classical theism to see God as a being who acts. Traditional theologians have distinguished between God's actions in creating and conserving the world and its general providential ordering and God's actions in special or particular providence and miracles at particular points in history. Some contemporary theologians do not think of God as an intentional agent and so regard all talk of divine action as metaphorical. Others are willing to accept God's activity in creation but regard "special acts" as events that are brought about through the normal natural order yet have a special revelatory function. Philosophical debates continue about the implications of divine action for God's relation to time and space.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 35.

Interview on Intelligent Design: Casey Luskin

Today's interview is with Casey Luskin, Research Coordinator for the Discovery Center's Center for Science and Culture. In this interview Casey talks about his background and interest in Intelligent Design, defining terms (ID, evolution, creationism, Darwinism), common objections to ID as a scientific endeavor, some milestones in the history of the ID movement, the Dover trial, responding to critics who say "ID is dead," "not science," and more. This is a good overall introduction to Intelligent Design.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (1hr)

• Check out Evolution News here.
• Subscribe to the ID the Future Podcast here.
• Check out the IDEA Center here.
• Discovery Institute's Summer Seminars here.

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

William Lane Craig on Results

"Success in witnessing is simply communicating Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. Similarly, effectiveness in apologetics is presenting cogent and persuasive arguments for the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results to God."

- William Lane Craig
Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, p. 50.

Book Review: Christian Ethics by Norman Geisler

Christian Ethics: Options and Issues by Norman Geisler is quite a read. Like Giesler's other books, this one is divided and outlined very clearly. It is easy to follow, but has lots of stimulating content. It is broken into two different parts with 310 pages.

Part 1
Chapter 1: All the Options
In Chapter 1 Geisler introduces the philosophical topic of ethics. He quickly summarizes ten different proposed foundations for ethics (including power, pleasure, human survival, and God's will). He then examines five unique attributes of Christian ethics and concludes by providing examples (using lying) of the different views of ethics.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (01/06 - 01/13)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Biomimicry
• Q&A with Lee Strobel
• Think Christianly Videos
• Word of the Week Quantum-Logic
• When Were The Gospels Written?
• Book Review: God Behaving Badly
• Interview with Daniel B. Wallace on Vimeo
• Crucifixion - Could Jesus have survived?
• How To Disagree Online Without Being A Total Jerk
• An Outline of Tegmark’s Four Levels of the Multiverse
• What is Apologetics? MP3 Series by Francis Schaeffer
• Coffee with Scholars – Mike Licona Interview, Part 2
• The Moral Argument: Mistakes to Avoid and Practical Advice
• Did Jesus Even Exist?-The Problematic Argument from Silence
• Does the Bible teach that faith is opposed to logic and evidence?
• A Defense of the Historicity of Jesus' Divine Self-Understanding
• Has The New Testament Been Substantially Edited Since It Was First Penned?
• Renaissance Christians: 12 Tips for Pursuing Knowledge and Wisdom in Daily Life

• Shopping via Amazon this year? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315 while we wait for our 501c3 approval.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
Or just add this feed to your RSS reader.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Read Along: Christian Apologetics Ch18

Today we continue with chapter eighteen of Read Along with Apologetics315, a weekly chapter-by-chapter study through Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Christianity by Douglas Groothuis. Please leave a comment on your reading below. This is where you can interact with others reading the book, ask questions, or add your own thoughts. Series index here. Click below for the audio intro, chapter 18 study questions PDF, and summary:

Can Science Inform Our Understanding of God? MP3 Series

Here is a series of lectures given at the Science and Faith Conference on December 2, 2011, entitled Can Science Inform Our Understanding of God? There is a pretty good lineup of speakers, each covering a topic pertinent to the science/faith issue. Each talk is followed by a response from another speaker. Original audio can be found here at the Conference Website (but the audio files are huge there). See website for videos of each lecture as well. Click to download smaller MP3 files here, or use this RSS feed to get the whole batch in your iTunes or RSS reader.

Dr. Michael Behe - MP3
"The Modern Scientific Theory of Intelligent Design: Strengths and Limitations”
Dr. Stephen Barr - MP3
"Physics, the Nature of Time and Theology”
Dr. Jay W. Richards - MP3
"Signs of Design from Physics and Astronomy”
Dr. Edward Feser - MP3
“Natural Theology Must Be Grounded in the Philosophy of Nature, Not Natural Science”
Dr. Benjamin Wiker - MP3
“Can Science Demonstrate the Existence of God?”
Dr. Alvin Plantinga - MP3
"Science and Religion: Where the Conflict Really Lies”

Enjoy.

Best Selling Apologetics Books of 2011

In reviewing some statistics from last year's Amazon affiliate links, a top-10 post came  together. The best-selling book of 2011 by far was Doug Groothuis' excellent book Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. It is also the focus of Ap315's first Read Along project, so that could play a part in its popularity (at least through this site). Others on the list are perennial best-sellers (see #2), and others are especially suitable for group study (see #3). Koukl's Tactics, of course, is essential reading (#4). So here's the list of the top-selling books through Apologetics 315 in 2011, based upon those purchased through Ap315's affiliate links:

1. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis
2. Know Why You Believe by Paul Little
3. On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision by William Lane Craig
4. Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl
5. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog by James Sire
6. When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences by Norman Geisler
7. Seven Days That Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science by John Lennox
8. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics by William Lane Craig
9. Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan
10. Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts by Craig S. Keener

What was your favorite book of 2011?

Terminology Tuesday: Necessary Truths

Necessary Truths: Those propositions whose falsehood is logically impossible. A necessary truth can be understood (following Gottfried Leibniz) as one that is true in every possible world. (Similarly, contingent propositions are true in at least one possible world; necessarily false propositions are true in no possible world.1

1. C.Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), pp. 79-80.

New Testament Scholar Interview: Daniel B. Wallace

Today's interview is with Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and an authority on Koine Greek grammar and New Testament textual criticism. He is founder of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. He talks about his background and current work, photographing NT manuscripts, the current number of manuscripts, some of the most important manuscripts (and some great stories), his testimony journey into textual criticism, the trustworthiness of the Bible, the meaning of textual variants (how they are really counted, and what they affect), how he approaches apparent Bible contradictions, the doctrine of inerrancy, his interactions and debates with Bart Ehrman, comparing the popular vs. the scholarly Ehrman, "we don't have the originals!", determining the authorship of the Gospels, advice for apologists (great stuff), and do's and don'ts for defending the Bible. Visit CSNTM.org to assist his work.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (64 min)

Check out Wallace's debates with Ehrman:

• Greer-Heard Forum debate (book)

• SMU Debate (on DVD)

• Debate at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Feb. 1, 2012

Books by Daniel B. Wallace include:

• Dethroning Jesus (with Darrell Bock)
• The Basics of New Testament Syntax

• Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics

• Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament

Wallace's recommended books to get started:

• The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? by F.F. Bruce

• The Historical Reliability of the Gospels by Craig Blomberg

• Reinventing Jesus by Komoszewski, Sawyer, and Wallace

Enjoy.

Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

Darrell Bock on the Bible

"The Bible is not a book like any other. It makes a claim that God spoke and speaks through its message. It argues that as his creatures, we are accountable to him for what he has revealed. The trustworthiness of Scripture points to its authority as well. Scripture is far more than a history book, as good and trustworthy as that history is. It is a book that calls us to examine our lives and relationship to God. Beyond the fascinating history, it contains vital and life-transforming truths about God and us."

- Darrell Bock
Can I Trust the Bible, p. 52.

Book Review: Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists

One of the brashest challenges that religious truth has experienced over the past several decades is the remarkable rise of the pugnacious New Atheists. Sean McDowell and Jonathan Marrow, new generation Christian apologists, have undertaken the task of contesting this anti-theistic upsurge. And in Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists the authors have pulled together a wide range of research that powerfully critiques the arguments from the combative non-theists.

Worldviews are in dispute: Christian theism vs. modern atheism. There are powerful and compelling arguments for the existence of God, but one wouldn’t know it if one only read the works of Hitchens, Harris, and Dawkins. They assert numerous fallacious and deceptive arguments as they often erect the frailest of straw men in order to push them down with the greatest of rhetorical ease.

Weekly Apologetics Bonus Links (12/30 - 01/06)

Here are this week's recommended apologetics links. Enjoy.
• Absence of Evidence
• Did Jesus even exist?
• Is fine-tuning a fallacy?
• Minds Are Part of Reality
• Blaise Pascal – God and Reason
• Manuscript Evidence for the Bible
• What Bible Should I Own (by Dan Wallace)
• Free Audiobook: Knowing God by J.I. Packer
• New year's resolutions for the mind
• How to Boost Your Reading Comprehension
• How to Start an Apologetics Ministry in Your Church
• Some Tips in Sharing the Messiah with Jewish People
• The Top 10 Graduate Programs in Christian Apologetics
• Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences: The Ring Of Truth
• Coffee with Scholars - Interview with Mike Licona (MP3)
• Is Allah the Same As Yahweh? Skype interview with Jay Smith
• Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey on Kindle for only $2.69!
• Book Review: Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament
• MIT physicist explains the challenge of cosmic fine-tuning for naturalism
• What if God Were Really Bad? (Glenn Peoples responds to the evil God challenge) MP3

• Shopping via Amazon this year? If you use this link, a bit of your purchase goes to fund Apologetics 315. Thanks for those of you using the link, as it helps Ap315 while we wait for our 501c3 approval.

Get these sorts of links and more by following on Twitter.
Or just add this feed to your RSS reader.
For daily post links, please follow on Facebook.

Read Along: Christian Apologetics Ch17

Today we continue with chapter seventeen of Read Along with Apologetics315, a weekly chapter-by-chapter study through Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Christianity by Douglas Groothuis. Please leave a comment on your reading below. This is where you can interact with others reading the book, ask questions, or add your own thoughts. Series index here. Click below for the audio intro, chapter 17 study questions PDF, and summary:

Doubt: RZIM Conference Audio

Last year, RZIM held a day-conference in Oxford, entitled Doubt. They tackled a number of important topics surrounding how to answer tough issues. (You may want to register for RZIM's Training Day, coming up on the 28th of January here.) If you want all the audios downloaded into a podcast feed, plug this RSS feed into your iTunes or feed reader. Or you can download each talk individually by clicking or right-clicking the links below.
Here's the audio from the conference:

Alister McGrath
• What is Doubt?
John Lennox
• Doubt and Confidence – A Biblical and Scientific Perspective
• Doubt and Confidence – Question and Answer Session
Michael Ramsden and Amy Orr-Ewing
• Contemporary challenges faced by those of faith
Tanya Walker
• Cultural Doubt
Question & Answer Session

Enjoy.

10 Pitfalls of the Foolish Apologist

A Christian ambassador desires to be tactful, persuasive, sensitive, and thoughtful. Being a good apologist and being able to give good reasons for the truth of the Christian view takes prayer, patience, study, and persistence. For those who have made it their goal to become good defenders of the faith, there are certain positive disciplines and character traits that one would do well to develop. These help you become a wise apologist.

But on the other hand, there are certain pitfalls that can appear that, when left unchecked, can become character traits and make you a foolish apologist. Although there are surely more, here are Ten Pitfalls of the Foolish Apologist:

Terminology Tuesday: Criticism

Criticism (biblical, canonical, form, redaction): A term used in reference to any method of interpreting texts that uses modern scientific insights into the nature of history, language, culture and literature. More specifically, biblical criticism is the attempt to interpret the Scriptures by uncovering the original meaning of the text, looking to the original historical setting in which it was written without reference to later theological traditions. In contrast, canonical criticism is the attempt to interpret the Bible in light of the final form of Scripture as a theologically unified collection of books rather than seeking to understand the books in their precanonical form and function. Form criticism is the attempt to go back to the original sources lying behind the text prior to its written form, such as by uncovering oral traditions and layers of material added to the scriptural say-ings in the process of oral tradition. Redaction criticism is the attempt to identify the ways in which the writer or editor (e.g. Gospel writer) utilized sources in composing a biblical book in order to understand the author's theology and setting.1

1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 34.

Craig Keener Interview on Miracles

Dr. Craig Keener has written a monumental new two-volume work entitled Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Dr. Michael Brown recently interviewed Dr. Keener on the Line of Fire program regarding this book (podcast available here). This is a 90-minute interview on the topic of miracles and the content of the book, with questions from callers.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (1hr 28min)
Enjoy

C.S. Lewis on the Meaning of Morality

"If 'good' or 'better' are terms deriving their sole meaning from the ideology of each people, then of course ideologies themselves cannot be better or worse than each other. Unless the measuring rod is independent of the things measured, we can do no measuring, For the same reason it is useless to compare the moral ideas of one age with those of another: progress and decadence are alike meaningless words."

- C.S. Lewis
Christian Reflections, p. 73

Book Review: Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge by Dallas Willard

In Knowing Christ Today Dallas Willard sets out to show that spiritual knowledge is real knowledge, that it can be tested, and it should be trusted. 

In the introduction (which should not be skipped) Willard identifies the prevailing cultural attitude towards Christian truth claims and crisply defines “knowledge” as contrasted to “belief” and “profession [of belief]”. These distinctions are important for subsequent chapters. The introduction ends with a warning to readers that this book will require “significant mental effort to understand.” (10) This reviewer finds the level of understanding required to appreciate this book to be comparable to, but slightly higher than, the level required for Edgar Andrews’ Who Made God: Searching for a Theory of Everything which was previously reviewed on this site here.