Today, Houston Baptist University officially announced Lee Strobel as the newest member of our faculty in the School of Christian Thought! I am very excited. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the the thought that I will be working with Lee Strobel. Only about a decade ago, I began to read Lee’s book, The Case for Christ, as part of my own investigation into the evidence for the existence of God. His work was instrumental in finding scholars who could answer my questions. I began listening to lectures and debates by the people Lee had interviewed in his books. Plus, I began to read the works by these authors: Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, Love God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland, True for You, But Not for Me by Paul Copan and many more. It will be such an honor to serve alongside a man whose work has already been so influential in my life!
HBU faculty Licona, Sharp, and Strobel with Mark Mittelberg at EPS 2012
I hope you will considering joining us at HBU for your degree. We have a lot of “awesome” going on here! Check out our master’s degree in apologetics. Through our program you have the opportunity to study with top notch scholars! Michael Ward is heading up the C.S. Lewis Center,
through which HBU apologetics students have the opportunity to study in
Oxford. Plus, Nancy Pearcey, the founder and director of the Francis Schaeffer Center for Worldview and Culture and The Pearcey Report, is additionally offering two-track apologetics courses with a graduate track alongside the undergraduate track! It’s very exciting here in Houston!
Thanks to BIOLA MAGAZINE for their “Where Are They Now?” feature! It is hard for me to believe it has been five years since I graduated! I encourage you to check out BIOLA MAGAZINE:
About Biola Magazine
Biola Magazine is published quarterly — summer, fall, winter and spring — by the University Communications and Marketing department at Biola University. The purpose of Biola Magazine is to inform, equip and inspire Biola alumni and friends to impact the world for Jesus Christ — carrying out Biola’s mission. It is sent at no charge to nearly 63,000 alumni, supporters, parents of students, and friends of the university.
A Summer viewing beautiful mountains and learning a Defense of the Faith? Yes, please. Consider an apologetics or worldview camp for your student. Act quickly for the Summit Ministries Camps; they fill up fast.
I will be on the faculty with Summit Ministries this Summer and would enjoy helping your student be equipped for the questions and situations he or she will be placed in as a Christian. Christians have the best answers to the most difficult questions; send your student our way and we’ll make sure they are prepared to give an answer.
Join us as we celebrate 20 years of Stand to Reason and clear thinking Christianity. The event kicks off Friday night with stimulating apologetics lectures and a celebration! Join us for the full conference on Saturday featuring lectures from the Stand to Reason speakers and friends. Can’t make it to Biola? This event will be available via live stream online.
Featuring Greg Koukl, J.P. Moreland, Sean McDowell, Craig Hazen, Brett Kunkle, Alan Shlemon, J. Warner Wallace, Mary Jo Sharp, and more!
Conference Schedule:
Friday Night, May 10 (7:00 – 9:30 pm)
6:15 pm – Doors Opens 7:00 – 8:05 pm – Lectures from J.P. Moreland, Sean McDowell, Mary Jo Sharp, and Craig Hazen 8:05 – 8:25 pm – Break 8:15 – 9:30 pm – Panel featuring Stand to Reason’s Speakers Greg Koukl, Brett Kunkle, Alan Shlemon, and J. Warner Wallace 9:30 pm – Cake & Book Signing in the Courtyard
Saturday, May 11 (9:00 am – 12:30 pm)
8:00 am – Registration Opens 8:30 am – Doors Opens 9:00 – 9:50 am – Session 1: “Who’s Waiting for Your Kids?” Lecture by Stand to Reason’s Brett Kunkle 9:50 – 10:00 am – Break 10:00 – 10:40 am – Session 2: “Compromise Is Not an Option” Lecture by Stand to Reason’s Alan Shlemon 10:40 – 10:50 am – Break 10:50 – 11:30 am – Session 3: “Cold-case Christianity” Lecture by Stand to Reason’s J. Warner Wallace 11:30 – 11:40 am – Break 11:40 am – 12:30 pm – Session 4: “Still Standing” Lecture by Stand to Reason’s Greg Koukl
Conference Location:
Friday Night & Saturday: Sutherland Auditorium Biola University 13800 Biola Avenue La Mirada, CA 90639 View Map
The Dove company hired an experienced criminal sketch artist to draw women as they describe/perceive themselves and then to draw them as someone else perceives them. The result was a powerful video demonstrating to women the overly critical view they are carrying of themselves. At the end of the video, the Dove company chose to include this statement, “You are more beautiful than you think.”
Being involved in apologetics, I began to analyze the video. Maybe the criminal sketch artist had a biased view going into the drawings because he was informed as to the goal. Maybe the “strangers” caught onto the intentions of the producers who were filming this video. Maybe…and then I stopped. I remembered that this video initially caught my attention because of the concept: we have a different view of ourselves than others. We also have a different view of ourselves than God. It’s probably a less charitable view than the Lord’s view of us. To be sure, I am not saying that humans are perfectly good or that God doesn’t care about the evil found in individuals. However, watching the video was a reminder of the truth of God’s love of his beautiful creation (Genesis 1:31).
My provost at Houston Baptist University, John Mark Reynolds, calls people, “beautiful souls.” I think the Dove company has found a way to convey a reflection of that beauty found in us, that sometimes takes a stranger to see.
For our SPRING FUND RAISER we are reserving 100 new copies of “Defending the Faith” for ministry partners who give a one-time donation of $50! Will you help us reach our goal by supporting Confident Christianity Apologetics Ministry? Click above to reserve your free copy!
I’m going to admit my bias at the onset on this review. I
heard Jim Warner Wallace of Please Convince Me speak on this material at the Apologetics Canada Conference in 2012, almost a
year before his book released. I was ready to dig into anything he put into
print because I so enjoyed his crime scene investigator-type presentation. So,
when I had the opportunity to review his book, I was excited to do so! And
Wallace’s book did not disappoint.
I have the privilege of speaking at conferences on similar
topics as Wallace. One of the main
questions I field after giving a presentation on the reliability of the
transmission of the New Testament is, “But why should I trust the authors who
wrote these letters?” More specifically, the question usually refers to “how
can I know these authors were telling the truth?” Jim Warner Wallace’s book, Cold-Case Christianitysets out to
answer this question, as well as make a cumulative case for the Christian faith.
Wallace approaches the New Testament as a cold-case homicide
detective looking at the circumstantial evidence for the veracity of the Gospel
stories. Part of that endeavor includes establishing the trustworthiness of the
eyewitness testimony. Wallace utilizes the same standards he would apply in establishing
eyewitness testimony in court with the authors of the Gospels to discern
whether or not there was a conspiracy afoot.
He states four reasons why it is unreasonable to assume the
disciples of Jesus (and the authors of the Gospels) were involved in a
conspiracy—directly combatting the popular-level claims of internet movies,
“The God Who Wasn’t There,” and “Zeitgeist: The Movie.”
#1. The apostles had little or no effective way to
communicate with one another in a quick or thorough manner. They were dispersed
far from one another across the Roman Empire, and interrogated and martyred far
away from one another.
#2. The apostles would have been required to protect their
conspiratorial lies for an incredibly long time.
#3. Many of them [the apostles] were complete strangers to
one another prior to their time together as disciples of Jesus. This reason stems from Wallace’s professional crime investigation observation of why
conspirators stick to or give up on their stories. One of the sticking points
is how close they are relationally with the co-conspirators. The closer the
relationship, the more likely the conspirators are to stick to the conspiracy
story.
#4. Successful conspiracies are unpressured conspiracies.
The apostles, however were aggressively persecuted as they were scattered from
Italy to India.
Wallace states, “I can’t imagine a less favorable set of circumstances for a
successful conspiracy than those that the twelve apostles faced.” Granted, one could conceivably imagine a less
favorable set of circumstances or one could still conceivably imagine the
possibility that the authors were co-conspirators. However, Wallace is after
reasonable evidence, not possibilities. It’s the actual evidence he can use in a
cold-case trial; he cannot use the possible scenarios for which he lacks evidence.
Establishing an understanding of what constitutes enough
evidence, and what is admissible as evidence, is what makes up the first half
of the book. This is what gives his work weightiness and offers a unique and
fresh perspective. He doesn’t just make a cumulative case argument for belief
in God, he spends much time in establishing how a cumulative case works to
provide reasonable evidence for a verdict. The first half of his work stands in
defiance to hyper-skepticism. It helps the reader to see problems with their
way of thinking about the evidence available. Dallas Willard once said
(paraphrased), “Not only should you doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts,
but you also have to be willing to doubt your doubts and believe your
beliefs.” Jim Warner Wallace provides a
stepping-off point to help people understand the trustworthiness of the Gospel
authors so they can move towards “doubting their doubts” and “believing their
beliefs.”
The second half of the book moves into establishing the trustworthiness of the
Gospel authors using the criteria laid out in the first half. This is the
evidential section in which the details are given and the sources are brought
to light. I would have liked more in this section, but I understand why there
is not more: as a writer, you have to stop somewhere. This second half could potentially involve volumes and volumes
of works. Wallace does provide, however,
a “chain of custody” of the writings of the New Testament authors as passed down
from the
original writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—to their disciples, and
their disciples’ disciples, and so forth, all the way up to the Council of
Laodicea in the fourth century. Here, Wallace refutes the argument that we
cannot really know the story of Jesus, because all we have today are copies of
copies of copies that have been drastically altered over the years; such as
argued by New Testament scholar, Bart Ehrman.
The cold-case theme of this book, its
crime-scene investigation tactics, the focus on establishing a case from
circumstantial evidence, and the stories used to relay each concept all come
together to make this an effective and powerful resource. I highly recommend
this book. It would be good to read with fellow believers, seekers, skeptics,
or anyone who has questions about the trustworthiness of the Gospel authors.
Plus, it has great cultural appeal in that it conveys its message in a language that matches the current fascination with criminal
investigation television shows. Consider using it for homeschooling associations, church discipleship classes, small group study, book clubs, and seminary/university courses.
Picking up an extra copy for a friend!
I hope
you will pick up a copy of this book for yourself and one to share with someone
else!
