The Bible Archive

I figured I should write something about the recent discovery of the Gabriel Tablet as they’re calling it. New York Times asserts that this tablet might actually prove that Christianity isn’t unique with its resurrections claims. What I found interesting about that bit is that most informed Christians don’t make a point of arguing about the uniqueness of the death and resurrection but rather the historicity of the death and resurrection. Let me flesh that out a bit.

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Tags: Gabriel Tablet, historicity, resurrection
Posted in apologetics, current affairs | Comments (6)

Some have blurred the lines with the notion of earthly war and the concept of Biblical principles. For example, some atheists and agnostics use the wars in the Bible to show that Christianity is just as cruel as any other belief system when empowered but I think those groups make a faulty conclusion just as much as Christians do who claim the side of justifying any given war.

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Tags: just war, war
Posted in apologetics, current affairs | Comments (0)

At times, we find that our logic has limits so we reach to our Bible and our Strong’s concordance and find exactly how our opponent falls short of what Scripture Is Actually Saying. Unfortunately we go and use Scripture in exactly the way it shouldn’t be used and find that even though we might technically be making a good point we’re using Scripture in a wrong way to support that point. So I’ve decided to put together a post that shows the wrong way to use Scripture and although I use specific examples these are indicative of the types of things folk do all the time:

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Tags: bible study, exegetical fallacies
Posted in apologetics, study | Comments (0)

For a more careful execution of this topic refer to my Romans series at The Bible Archive. My main point will be this: that the Gospel winds up being a practical help that can be used to cure any form of boasting evidenced in cynicism, pharisaicism and judgmentalism. To prove this, I’ll focus on Paul’s argumentation in Romans.

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Tags: cynicicm, gospel, judgmentalism, romans, selfishness
Posted in apologetics, romans | Comments (0)

Theologica is a Theological discussion forum started by Michael Patton of Reclaiming the Mind Ministries for the goal of having irenic, open discussion on theological matters. But acceptance of that sort of thinking is slow in coming thus I’ve seen several things percolate on the board. Folk have their own pet theologies that they keep close by and whatever chance they get, it winds up on the table. Other folk have a single theology they abhor so every chance they get, they’re attacking it. But in all of this I’ve noticed that the way several folk go around attacking (or defending) is altogether off base. Here then is my list of argument mishaps that don’t prove your point-even if your point is technically right on.

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Tags: michael patton, theologica
Posted in apologetics | Comments (3)

A good introduction is like a good pair of shoes: when it fits it’ll go a long way. On the big screen, right after the title credits you see that line and automatically you start expecting historical fiction. Oh you’ll easily acknowledge what parts are fact (like the Revolution, or the signing of documents) and which parts are fiction (the messy love triangle maybe) but in the end you come out thinking you’ve actually seen a bit of history, Hollywood style. Well, maybe we’re not all that naïve-but do we ever go back and research the facts from the false?

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Tags: Canon, DaVinci code, New Testament
Posted in apologetics, history, religion, rey's a point | Comments (2)

The argument goes something like this: The Bible says that where two or three are gathered there is Jesus in the midst of them (Matt 18:20). That indicates that a gathering of two or three includes the very important presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. People wear their best clothes when they meet someone Important (like if one had a meeting with the President). This indicates that the esteem put on the person justifies the better clothing. Christ is more Important than anyone and to be greater esteemed. Therefore, when going to any meeting of the church a person should wear their best clothes.

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Posted in apologetics, brethren, church | Comments (1)

My buddy-blogger Darrell first scored Amillenial on the Eschatology quiz and then took dispensationalism to town citing some problems inherent in the system and some really bad press due to overzealous Left Behind Series theologians. Darrell rightly points out that taken to its extremes dispensationalism can become a sort of mythology which allows non-Christians to dismiss Christianity as a Sci-Fi Cult…a point which gave me pause.

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Posted in apologetics, church, eschatology | Comments (0)

I’ve tried to answer Laura’s questions by numbering them but i do hope that in the article I tried to be equally fair to all the positions. Here’s a post where I looked at the actual point of Genesis 1 .

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Evolution is a funny word that gets bandied about. Saying it in different context evokes different responses, sometimes laughter and sometimes justified anger. In fact, I’ve been in conversations where a person is using evolution in one sense and me in a completely different sense and both of us have gotten riled up until we pinned down our terms.

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Posted in apologetics, genesis, history, human, rey's a point, text/language | Comments (2)

Justin over at Politics and Religion has begun a series on Christianity’s Downfall by starting off and highlighting fundamentalism. In hopes of education rather than attacking he points out that fundamentalism (in general and in Christianity particularly) is (1) dangerous (2) intolerant (3) rigid (4) illogical and (5) surface-reading which he equates with literalism. Of course, he doesn’t delineate his points as such and is careful to point out what the fundamentalist is rigidly adhering to (and thus obviously dangerous) are the specific doctrines that make Christians who they are: but he does point out that “in many cases, the fundamentalist Christian believes what he…does because it was told to him” and he adheres to a strict literalism. I’ll deal with both these points below.

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Posted in apologetics, brethren, text/language | Comments (0)

I hate that I’m embedding this video and I abhor how it’s defaming the name of Christ in what it’s doing but it has to be addressed: it’s wrong and a defamation of God’s Gospel. The video consists of a certain group of professing Christians who publicly protest funerals by raising banners and saying “This Person Has Gone To Hell” or the sort—even if the persons were professing believers like the case of the Amish girls who were killed in Lancaster County. This is the same group that raises signs like “God Hates Fags” and the sort but I think they’re actually making a blight of the Gospel and causing the name of Christ to be blasphemed.

For example, John would state that God loved the world in a specific manner. John doesn’t use world to mean the elect or even to mean the whole expansive planet and all the creatures on it but John uses world (very often) to mean the corrupt and immoral system. Yet these so-called Christians say God Hates The World because they are sinners: contrary to the words of John. Paul will add to John’s argument by showing that the sin in the world is actually God’s systematic judgment—not the cause for His supreme judgment. Then Paul will say that God demonstrated His love in the death of Jesus Christ which these professing Christians reserve solely for there elitist group.

In fact their wrong is akin to that of the Pharisee in Jesus’ illustration who prays in the public saying “Thank you God that I’m not like this filthy sinful tax collector” while the tax collector beats on his chest saying “God forgive me a sinner.” What’s so utterly wrong about this is that the Pharisee (and these professing Christians) are forgetting (or denying) that they are sinners just as bad as the Hitlers in the world and it was God’s love, mercy, and grace that offered a salvation to them as well as the Hitler’s in the world.

God’s righteous Gospel is glorious, is far-reaching, is patient, forbearing and for the worst of the worst sinners for whom Christ died. The fact that these Christians profess the exact opposite leaves me thinking that they don’t understand or really know who Christ is and what He is like. Video after the jump. Remember: I think it is evil.

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Posted in apologetics, salvation | Comments (0)

I get a lot of email but most of it is spam. But some are from innocent bystanding readers who’ve witnessed a Rey-Post-Astrophe and had some questions. More often than not, these folk drop me a line and I stammer out an answer but some questions have come up often enough that I feel confident in rewording the questions and sharing my general response sharing my response and Putting It Out There as an Old Testament witness (you know, where you hiss as you walk by the ashes of a blog and see the goatlings prancing about and not even the Spammers make their home there since its so devoid of life). As homage to Click and Clack, here is my first Stump the Chump question plus response: If Adam and Evil were tricked by the Devil—why did they get in trouble?

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Posted in apologetics, stump | Comments (0)

Read it over at Newsweek.

Posted in apologetics, current affairs | Comments (0)

“How can It be wrong if God made me this way?” That was the quote from a recent Law and Order Special Victim’s Unit where a gay Christian young man realized that his pastor father had killed his lover. The young man was part of an extremist group of Christians who performed plays depicting sinners screaming and burning in hell. But his question got me thinking: was he on point?

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Posted in apologetics, rey's a point, sin, study | Comments (0)