Apologetics – HillFaith

THINK ABOUT THIS: Thoughts On God In And Out Of Time

When Stephen Hawking wrote his best-selling “A Brief History of Time” in his quest to do away with God, the renowned Cambridge mathematician had to invent a second kind of time, which he called “imaginary” time.

Astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe.

The imaginary time was a necessary posit because Hawking knew that if there is the time we know of as part, present and future, then there must be a beginning of time and that means in turn there must be a creator of time. But that creator is exactly what Hawking wanted to do away with.

Dr. Hugh Ross is an astro-physicist, not a mathematician, but he and Hawking both wrote best-sellers on multiple aspects of the God question. Ross also is the founder of Reasons To Believe (RTB), an excellent apologetics think tank with an emphasis on relating faith and science.

“That God created the time dimension of the universe implies that he could create other time dimensions. Therefore, God could operate within as many time dimensions as he chooses,” Ross writes today on the RTB web site. If you have time — no, not a joke — I heartily encourage you to give a read to Ross on God and time.

APOLOGETICS: Professor Crushes ‘Early Christians Just Gave Jesus Borrowed Pagan Resurrection’ Myths

There was a time more than a century ago when it was not uncommon to hear religion scholars argue that early Christians borrowed from common Middle Eastern pagan resurrection myths of their day to explain away Jesus’ death on the cross and the fact of His missing body.

Houston Baptist University Assistant Professor of Apologetics Mary Jo Sharp (Screen shot).

But about the only place that claim is made today is on the Internet. That’s why, at least on a popular culture level, the claim is enjoying something of a revival among skeptics looking for reasons to reject Christianity. There are reasons, however, why reputable scholars stopped making the argument a long time ago.

Houston Baptist University’s (HBU) Mary Jo Sharp gives three reasons why none of the pagan myths involved in the debate could have been the source of the disciples’ claim that Jesus was resurrected on the third day after he was crucified dead and buried. Continue reading “APOLOGETICS: Professor Crushes ‘Early Christians Just Gave Jesus Borrowed Pagan Resurrection’ Myths”

THINK ABOUT THIS: Lord, Liar Or Lunatic?

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’

“That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So what say you?

Noted Physicist Says Multiverse Theory Of Creation Is Religion, Not Science

Strike up a conversation with folks around Capitol Hill about their view of how and why the universe came into existence and odds are very good you will sooner or later hear the theory ours is just one of many universes.

Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder. (Screen shot from YouTube.)

This is the “multiverse” explanation for why there is something rather than nothing, and it is a concept that in recent years has gained numerous advocates within the scientific community and disciples in the popular press.

I’m also quite certain that more than a few knowing nods of the head would be seen in any gathering of congressional aides who could be asked if they are aware of the multiverse concept. And some of them could explain it, at least in basic terms. Continue reading “Noted Physicist Says Multiverse Theory Of Creation Is Religion, Not Science”

7 Tests That Show The Gospels Are Trustworthy Accounts of Jesus’ Life, Death And Resurrection

Christianity is either established or destroyed by whether or not a single historical event actually happened, as claimed in the four Gospels concerning the resurrection of Jesus.

Cold-Case Detective J. Warner Wallace, left, with investigative partner, Deputy LA District Attorney John Lewin. (Screen shot)

If Jesus was indeed resurrected three days after being crucified dead and buried, then was seen and heard by a multitude of witnesses in the 40 days thereafter, as claimed by the Gospel authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, then every human being who ever has or ever will live must decide whether to accept or reject His claim to be God Incarnate and the only way to Heaven.

If Jesus was not physically resurrected as claimed by the Gospels, then, as Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:17-19, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile … and we are of all people most to be pitied.”

But how can we know if the eyewitness testimony of the Gospels can be believed? That’s where NBC “Dateline” cold-case detective expert and “Cold-Case Christianity” author J. Warner Wallace comes into this discussion. Continue reading “7 Tests That Show The Gospels Are Trustworthy Accounts of Jesus’ Life, Death And Resurrection”

How To Be Confident Christianity Nails It On All The God Questions

Christian apologists like J. Warner Wallace, the famous NBC “Dateline” cold-case detective, speak to lots of college and high school groups and they often get the most penetrating questions from the students.

Such was the case at the recent Grounded Youth Apologetics Conference hosted by the Donelson Fellowship in Nashville. A student noted that Wallace had spoken of how he believes Christianity “fits” science better than religions like Islam and Hindu and asked him why the others don’t.

Wallace answered by pointing out that religions, including even those like Deism, may well fit with much of science, but stopping there “doesn’t get you to Christianity. The strength of Christianity is determined by the strength in the historical record regarding the claims of Jesus.” Christianity rests upon real events. Continue reading “How To Be Confident Christianity Nails It On All The God Questions”

AND FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT: From Sachi’s Socratic Dialogue With Kurosawa On Evil

By Willow Viney

Sachi was having lunch in the hospital cafeteria with her mentor, Nurse Kurosawa. “Ma’am, please tell me, why does God allow evil? I don’t understand it.”

Kurosawa put down her sandwich. “Hmm, you know that’s a fair question,” Kurosawa tapped her chin in thought, “Let me think for a moment how to answer that for you.”

Sachi waited patiently while Kurosawa looked down while thinking. Then she looked up again. “Hmm, all right. Tell me, Sachi, I have a question for you.” Continue reading “AND FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT: From Sachi’s Socratic Dialogue With Kurosawa On Evil”