christian apologetics

key topics of christian apologetics

humanity + divinity of christ

data of christian apologetics

reason, history

audience of christian apologetics

non-christan theists (jews, hindus, muslims)

jesus mysticism

belief that jesus was not a real historical person

evidence to support existence of historical jesus

• success of christianity, non-christian scholars reject it

• christ’s teachings too challenging to be made up

• ancient extra-biblical sources speak of jesus

• mythicism of christ = arrived late (18th cent)

gospels

matthew mark luke john

principal source of the life and teachings of christ (function as his bibliography)

3 categories assessing whether gospels historically reliable

1. authorship

   1. written by apostles and companions, no anonymous gospels

2. veracity

   1. setting - written in lifetime of apostles that record real biographical events from witnesses

   2. internal consistency - gospels tell the same basic story (no contradictions)

   3. external consistency - testimony of apostolic fathers, non-christians, archeology

3. integrity

   1. lower time gap, more copies than other ancient works

   2. manuscripts of the gosepls = consistent, no big tampering

why untenable to conclude jesus was just a good moral teacher/prophet?

jesus claimed to be god, scripture identifies him as divine, untenable to compromise on his identity by considering solely a good moral teacher

jesus quintelemma

lord

• jesus is who he said he was

• the miracles confirmed his positive message + upright moral life

liar

• jesus knew he wasn’t god but claimed to be

• christ lacked good motives for lying, suffered death for it

lunatic

• jesus thought he was god but he was not

• his teachings were too impressive + people took him seriously

legend

• jesus never claimed to be god (title given later by followers)

• jesus clearly implies his divinity - used divine titles for himself, claimed to forgive sins not committed against him, killed for blasphemy

guru

• jesus claimed to be god in non-literal/pantheistic/polytheistic manner

• jesus = jewish monotheist

why incarnation not logical contradiction

possible for god to remain god while taking on human nature

if jesus is god, why would he pray to god and how could he die on the cross

all limitaitons of god attributed to his human, not divine, nature

3 misconceptions abt the meaning of the resurrection

1. ghostly appearance

   1. spirit = soul w/out a body, christ ate fish in front of ppl after resurrection (real body)

2. resucitation

   1. christ’s body cpaable of things beyond that of an earthly body + never suffered death later as others

3. reincarnation

   1. christ’s body was still his own

anti-resurrection theories

• swoon - jesus didn’t really die on the cross

  • how could jesus survive crucifixion, escape tomb, convince disciples he had risen + not die in the future

• missing twin

  • no evidence

• mass hallucination

  • jesus buried in prominent place, difficulty of having identical group hallucinations

• conspiracy

  • christ’s body would be hard to steal (guarded), apostles lacked ulterior motive

• myth

  • why would apostles suffer persecution for their belief in a myth

credibility of christ resurrection

1. shortcomings of anti-resurrection theories

2. stone tomb found empty + body never found

3. strong eye witness testimony

4. success of christianity

5. shroud of turn - photographic negative 3d qualities despite being 2d, no explanation for how made, forensically accurate for how christ was killed

relate terms being nature and personhood

god is one in being w/one divine nature, and is 3 in personhood

evidence for trinity, reason or scripture?

• reason cannot discover, but can help test it

• great commission (mt. 28:19) jesus tells apostles to go baptize in name of FSandHS

why trinity = theological mystery

mystery - existence of trinity known but not fully understood

contradict - god is one and three in different respects, he is one in being (god) and 3 in personhoods

how does scriptural revelation that god is love help us better understand trinity?

3 parts to love

1. F = lover

2. S = beloved

3. HS = love between them

love = attribute of god and ultimate vocation